The History of the Pittsburgh Pirates: Every Era, from the First Season to Today
A franchise history of the Pittsburgh Pirates in eras, from the 1880s Alleghenys and Honus Wagner to Clemente, Stargell, five World Series titles, the 20-year losing streak and the PNC Park years.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are the rare franchise whose record is exactly level. Through the 2025 season the historical record shows 144 seasons, from 1882 on, with 10,910 wins and 10,910 losses. A club that has spent nearly a century and a half finishing precisely at .500 sounds like a dull subject, but the average hides a team that has lived in extremes: nine league pennants, five World Series titles, a 23-113 season in 1890, a 42-112 season in 1952 and, from 1993 through 2012, twenty consecutive losing seasons.
The titles came in clusters. Three straight pennants opened the twentieth century, with Honus Wagner at shortstop. The club won the World Series in 1909 and 1925, then waited until 1960 for the next, a wait ended by one of the most famous swings in the sport. Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell carried the club to titles in 1971 and 1979. After 1979 the Pirates have not won a pennant, though they have been closer than their .500 average suggests, especially in a three-year run of wild-card appearances beginning in 2013.
What follows is the story in order: the Alleghenys, the Wagner and Clarke years, the interwar Waner teams, the long slump after the war, the 1960 miracle, the Clemente and Stargell decade, the Bonds and Leyland years, the streak of losing seasons and the modern PNC Park era. Every figure comes from the historical record through 2025, and where the database cannot say something, the article does not either.
The record in one table
Before the chapters, the facts that frame them. The club was the Alleghenys from 1882 through 1890 and the Pirates from 1891 on. Its homes were few and each lasted a long while.
| Park | Seasons | Best season attendance |
|---|---|---|
| Exposition Park (first version) | 1882-1883 | not recorded |
| Recreation Park | 1884-1890 | 16,064 |
| Exposition Park | 1891-1908 | 394,877 |
| Forbes Field | 1909-1970 | 1,705,828 |
| Three Rivers Stadium | 1970-2000 | 2,065,302 |
| PNC Park | 2001-2025 | 2,498,596 |
The historical park labels overlap in the years of a move (1909 and 1970), which is why the rows above show some years twice. The highest attendance in club history is 2,498,596 in 2015, at PNC Park.
The honors, in brief. League pennants: 1901, 1902, 1903, 1909, 1925, 1927, 1960, 1971 and 1979. World Series titles: 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979. Division titles: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1990, 1991 and 1992. Wild-card berths: 2013, 2014 and 2015.
From the Alleghenys to the Pirates, 1882 to 1899
The franchise joined the major leagues in 1882 as the Alleghenys, in the American Association, and moved to the National League in 1887. The record for those years is thin: the club struggled in its early seasons, and in 1884 it went 30-78. The nadir was 1890, when it went 23-113. That was the year of the Players' League, a short-lived rival circuit formed by players tired of the reserve system, and many of the Alleghenys' best players left. The team that remained was one of the worst in the history of the major leagues.
The new name arrived the next year, and it came from a quarrel. When the Players' League collapsed, the Alleghenys signed a second baseman named Lou Bierbauer who had belonged to the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association. The Athletics complained that Pittsburgh had pirated him, and the club adopted the insult as its name. It is one of the better origin stories in the sport, and as far as the record goes it is true.
The 1890s brought no pennants, but the club record books still carry names from the era. Patsy Donovan is fourth on the club's stolen-base list with 312, and Ed Morris, who pitched for the club from 1885 to 1889, is eighth in strikeouts with 890 and tied for seventh in shutouts with 25.
Wagner, Clarke and the first dynasty, 1900 to 1909
When the National League cut down from twelve clubs to eight after the 1899 season, Pittsburgh acquired a group of players from the Louisville club, whose owner Barney Dreyfuss took over the Pirates, among them the outfielder and manager Fred Clarke and a young shortstop named Honus Wagner. Clarke managed the Pirates from 1900 through 1915 and won 1,422 games against 969 losses in 2,427 games, the most games and the most wins of any manager in club history. Wagner, who played for the Pirates from 1900 through 1917, finished with 2,967 hits, 1,521 runs scored and 1,475 runs batted in for the club, and a .328 career batting average that is second on the franchise list.
The results were quick. The Pirates won the pennant in 1901 at 90-49, in 1902 at 103-36 and in 1903 at 91-49. The 1902 team's 103 wins were the most in club history until 1909, and its record was 67 games over .500. In 1903 the Pirates met the Boston Americans, the club now called the Red Sox, in the first modern World Series, a best-of-nine, and lost it five games to three.
The ballpark changed at the end of the decade. Forbes Field opened in 1909, the work of the owner Barney Dreyfuss, and became the club's home for more than six decades. That same year the Pirates won 110 games and lost 42, the best record in franchise history, and beat Detroit four games to three in the World Series, a matchup that put Wagner against Ty Cobb. The Pirates had their first title. Babe Adams, a young pitcher, won three of the games.
The era produced a pitching legacy as well. Vic Willis has the lowest earned run average of any Pirate with 1,000 innings, 2.08, followed by Lefty Leifield at 2.38, Sam Leever at 2.47 and Deacon Phillippe at 2.50. Babe Adams leads the club in career shutouts with 44.
The Waner years and the second title, 1910 to 1945
After 1909 the club went through a lean period. The 1917 team went 51-103, one of the five worst seasons in franchise history, and the Pirates did not win another pennant until 1925. They spent the intervening years building another strong lineup. Max Carey, a center fielder, stole 688 bases for the club, the franchise record, and is tied for fourth in hits with 2,416. Pie Traynor, a third baseman, matched that total of 2,416 hits and added a .320 average. Wilbur Cooper won 202 games, still the most in club history.
The 1925 team finished 95-58, and it won the World Series in the most dramatic way possible: the Pirates trailed the Washington Senators (the franchise that later became the Minnesota Twins) three games to one, won three straight and took the Series four games to three. Kiki Cuyler, who stands in the Hall of Fame, hit the double that won the final game.
Two years later, in 1927, the Pirates won again but were swept by the Yankees, four games to none. The 1927 Pirates were led by a pair of brothers, Paul and Lloyd Waner. Paul, nicknamed Big Poison, won the National League's Most Valuable Player Award that year, and his .340 average remains the best among Pirates with 3,000 at-bats. Lloyd, Little Poison, is sixth in club history in hits with 2,317. Together they gave the club two Hall of Fame outfielders in the same lineup.
The following years were decent but no pennants followed. Arky Vaughan, a shortstop, hit .324 for the club over 10 seasons and is in the Hall of Fame. Frankie Frisch, himself a Hall of Famer, managed the club from 1940 to 1946 and went 539-528.
The long slump after the war, 1946 to 1957
The Pirates bottomed out in the years right after the war. The clearest picture is the standings: the club finished in last place in 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954 and 1955, with records that went 57-96, 42-112, 50-104, 53-101 and 60-94. The 1952 team's 42 wins is the second-worst season in club history by winning percentage, behind only 1890.
The one bright light was Ralph Kiner. The slugger hit 301 home runs in eight seasons for Pittsburgh, from 1946 through 1953, and he ranks second in club history in home runs and sixth in walks, with 795. Kiner led the National League in home runs year after year, and he did it for a team that finished at the bottom of the standings. He was traded in 1953, and the Pirates continued to lose. Branch Rickey, who ran the front office in the early 1950s, spent those years trying to rebuild through young players.
Bob Friend, the right-hander, pitched through the lean years and wound up with 191 wins and 1,682 strikeouts, and Vern Law, a more durable righty, won 162 games for the club. Roy Face, the franchise's all-time leader in appearances and saves, with 802 games and 188 saves, became a symbol of the relief pitcher's growing importance. Roberto Clemente joined the club in 1955. By 1958 the Pirates had risen to second place at 84-70.
1960 and Mazeroski's home run
The Pirates won the National League pennant in 1960 with a 95-59 record under Danny Murtaugh. Dick Groat, the shortstop, won the Most Valuable Player Award and Vern Law won the Cy Young Award, which at the time went to one pitcher across both leagues. Clemente, Bill Mazeroski and Bob Friend rounded out the core.
The World Series that followed against the Yankees is among the best-known in baseball history, partly because the Pirates were outscored by a wide margin and still won. The teams went the full seven games. In Game 7, at Forbes Field, Mazeroski led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a home run to left field that gave the Pirates a 10-9 win. It remains the only walk-off home run to end a seventh game of a World Series. Mazeroski, who is in the Hall of Fame, ended his career with 2,016 hits for the club and 853 runs batted in, and he was far more famous for his glove at second base than for that swing.
Murtaugh managed the club from 1957 through 1976 in several stints, and he finished with 1,115 wins and 950 losses in 2,068 games, second to Clarke in both categories. The 1960 title is the club's third, and it came 35 years after the second.
Clemente, Stargell and the 1970s
The next decade was the most successful stretch in club history by sustained excellence. The Pirates won six division titles between 1970 and 1979 and two World Series. They moved from Forbes Field to Three Rivers Stadium in 1970, and they did so with a lineup built around two Hall of Famers.
Roberto Clemente played his entire career with Pittsburgh, from 1955 through 1972. He won the 1966 Most Valuable Player Award, and he collected exactly 3,000 hits for the club, which tops the franchise list. He drove in 1,305 runs and hit 240 home runs. He finished with a .317 average. In the 1971 World Series, the Pirates beat Baltimore four games to three after losing the first two, and Clemente was named the Series MVP. He died in a plane crash on December 31, 1972, while carrying relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua; his 3,000th hit had come in the last regular-season game of that year. The Hall of Fame waived its waiting period and inducted him in 1973.
Willie Stargell led the club in home runs with 475, the franchise record by a wide margin, and in runs batted in with 1,540. He also leads in walks with 937 and spent 21 seasons with the club, more than any other Hall of Famer in the club's record. Dave Parker won the 1978 Most Valuable Player Award, and he hit 166 home runs for the Pirates.
The record of the decade is worth seeing in one place.
| Year | Record | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 89-73 | Lost to Cincinnati 0-3 in the NLCS |
| 1971 | 97-65 | Beat San Francisco 3-1 in the NLCS; beat Baltimore 4-3 in the World Series |
| 1972 | 96-59 | Lost to Cincinnati 2-3 in the NLCS |
| 1974 | 88-74 | Lost to Los Angeles 1-3 in the NLCS |
| 1975 | 92-69 | Lost to Cincinnati 0-3 in the NLCS |
| 1979 | 98-64 | Beat Cincinnati 3-0 in the NLCS; beat Baltimore 4-3 in the World Series |
The Pirates met the Big Red Machine in the NLCS in 1970, 1972 and 1975 and lost all three, and finally beat Cincinnati in 1979. The 1979 team, managed by Chuck Tanner, adopted the disco hit "We Are Family" as its anthem, and Stargell, called Pops, was its patriarch and the National League's co-Most Valuable Player. The Pirates trailed Baltimore three games to one in the World Series and won the last three. Tanner went 711-685 in his nine seasons with the club, from 1977 to 1985.
Bonds, Leyland and three near misses, 1980 to 1992
The 1980s were hard. After the title the club slipped, and by 1985 it had fallen to 57-104, matching the 104 losses of 1953. The Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985 and 1986 implicated several players and cost the club a good deal of goodwill. At one point the franchise's future in the city was in real doubt, though a group of local buyers kept it in place.
The rebuilding was led by the manager Jim Leyland, who took the job in 1986 and stayed through 1996 for a record of 851-863. Leyland's teams combined a young Barry Bonds with Bobby Bonilla and Doug Drabek. Bonds won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1990 and again in 1992, and he hit 176 home runs and stole 251 bases in seven seasons with the club. Drabek won the Cy Young Award in 1990.
The Pirates won the division three straight times, 1990 at 95-67, 1991 at 98-64 and 1992 at 96-66, and each time lost in the NLCS: to Cincinnati in six games in 1990, and to Atlanta in seven games in both 1991 and 1992. The 1992 loss ended with a famous ninth-inning rally in Game 7 that sent Atlanta to the World Series, and the Pirates have never played in an NLCS since. Bonds left as a free agent after the 1992 season. The team that remained began its long slide.
Twenty losing seasons, 1993 to 2012
The numbers here are stark. The Pirates finished with a losing record every year from 1993 through 2012, twenty seasons in a row, which is the longest such streak in the history of North American professional team sports. Some of the seasons were simply bad: 62-100 in 2001, 57-105 in 2010. Others were nearly respectable, like the 79-83 finish in 2012.
The club moved into PNC Park in 2001. The ballpark is on the north bank of the Allegheny River, with a view of the skyline across the water, and it is generally regarded as one of the best in the majors. The capacity is about 38,700. The dimensions are 325 feet down the left-field line, 383 to left-center, 399 to center, 375 to right-center and 320 down the right-field line, with a grass surface and an open roof, and the wall in right field is 21 feet high in honor of Clemente's uniform number. Our ballpark guide looks at how the park plays.
The streak had stars. Brian Giles hit 165 home runs from 1999 to 2003, and Jason Bay won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2004. But a small-market payroll kept the roster thin. The club went through managers, including Lloyd McClendon, who finished 336-445 from 2001 to 2005.
McCutchen, Hurdle and the return to October, 2013 to 2025
The streak ended in 2013. Clint Hurdle, who managed the club from 2011 through 2019 for a record of 734-719, led the Pirates to 94-68, and Andrew McCutchen, the center fielder, won the National League MVP award. The club hosted the 2013 wild-card game and beat Cincinnati 6-2, then lost to St. Louis in the division series, three games to two. McCutchen finished his Pirates career with 248 home runs and 875 RBI, third and sixth on the club lists, and he returned to the club late in his career.
The next two years brought more wild-card games and more losses. The Pirates went 88-74 in 2014 and lost the wild-card game to the Giants, 8-0, and in 2015 they won 98 games and lost the wild-card game to the Cubs, 4-0. Their attendance record of 2,498,596 was set in 2015. The three-year run brought three winning seasons and three postseason trips, and only one postseason round won, the 2013 wild-card game.
Since then the picture has been unsettled. The club finished 69-93 in 2019, 19-41 in the shortened 2020 season and 61-101 in 2021. Derek Shelton managed the club from 2020 through 2025 with a record of 306-440. The new bright spot is Paul Skenes, who won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2024 and the Cy Young Award in 2025, becoming the third Pirate to win the Cy Young. David Bednar, with 101 saves, is sixth in club history. Through 2025 the Pirates had won no pennant since 1979.
Common questions
How many World Series have the Pirates won? Five: 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979. Every one of them went the full seven games.
Why are they called the Pirates? The name dates to 1891 and comes from the Lou Bierbauer affair, in which the club signed a player another team considered its property. Opponents called the move piracy, and the club took the name.
What was the longest losing streak? Twenty consecutive losing seasons, 1993 through 2012. The club's first winning record afterward came in 2013.
Who is the greatest Pirate? Wagner, Clemente and Stargell each have a strong case. Wagner leads in runs and is second in hits, Clemente leads in hits, and Stargell leads in home runs and runs batted in. The all-time greats article sorts them by position.
Where do the Pirates play? PNC Park, which opened in 2001. The site has a ballpark page with dimensions and the club schedule.
Where to go next
For the most successful seasons and every postseason series, see the best Pittsburgh Pirates seasons and every October run. To compare the franchise with its division rivals, read the histories of the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers, or step back to the history of the World Series. The live club pages are the Pirates team page and the Pirates topic page.