The Beginning - The Pittsburgh Alleghenies joined the American Association in 1882. They joined the National League in 1887 and became the Pirates in 1891.

Later Developments - The early spark for the Pirates organization came with the collapse of their National League rival Louisville Colonels. With the collapse, the Pirates added Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke, and Chief Zimmer, amongst others. The Pirates would win four division titles and a World Series between 1901 and 1909.

Best Trade in Team History - In 1998, 28 year-old Brian Giles posted a .396 OBP in just 112 games; Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove just couldn't find him at bats in an outfield that included Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton, David Justice, and Mark Whiten. Pittsburgh GM Cam Bonifay did have room for the man, and in perhaps the only good move during his Pittsburgh tenure, managed to swap lefty specialist Ricardo Rincon for Giles straight up. During the next four seasons with the Pirates, Giles never hit fewer than 35 homers, drove in or scored fewer than 95 runs, posted a BA lower than .298, an OBP lower than .400, or a SLG lower than .590. And in July of 2003, new GM David Littlefield even managed to parlay Giles into Jason Bay and Oliver Perez, now the nucleus of an exciting young team.

Worst Trade in Team History - Here's a more typical Bonifay Boner: the Pirates gave up on Jason Schmidt in 2001, trading him to the Giants for Armando Rios and a Ryan Vogelsong. Rios injured himself almost immediately and played in just 78 games for the Buccos. Ryan Vogelsong is the worst pitcher in franchise history. But Schmidt became an elite starter immediately after joining San Francisco.

All Pittsburgh Pirates Stories

2010 Pirates Team Preview
Pittsburgh is putting more money into scouting and player development, building a foundation for the future

Pirate Exodus
Pittsburgh did better in its trade deadline deals than people are giving them credit for

2009 Pirates Team Preview
Bad money is coming off the books, giving the franchise a glimmer of hope

2008 Pirates Team Preview
There are some good signs, but 2008 will be rough

So You Are The Pittsburgh Pirates
So, you are a small market team with no good players and you want to rehabilitate your Organization...

2007 Pirates Team Preview
Will Keith continue to overestimate the Pittsburgh Pirates?

Revolutionary Comptitive Balance
How can Pittsburgh re-capture the magic of 1997?

2006 Pirates Team Preview
Guest contributor Brad Keller likes the offense, but remains skeptical overall.

Keith's Second Half 2005 Prediction for the Pirates 7/11/05
So far in 2005, the Pirates have had an up-and down season. They had two stretches of winning 9 of 12 games, but also three stretches of losing five in a row. Jason Bay has managed to avoid a sophomore slump to say the least, but Oliver Perez has gone from the most exciting young pitcher in the NL to the main reason that the Buccos have a losing record.
Here are the top five reasons that the Pirates will still finish the season at .500.

Unable to Evaluate Closers 5/18/05
Jose Mesa, who had a WHIP of 1.41 last year, is being praised for converting 23 save chances in a row dating back to last year. It's no wonder that this is Baseball Evolution's Bonehead Sports Article of the month for May of 2005.

Another Beaner In Oakland?
Asher considers the ramifications of the deal that sent Jason Kendall to Oakland.

The Bigfield Universe 1/12/05
Many people from our universe would be shocked to learn just how easy it could have been for the Pirates to have finished over .500 last season... with the best pitching staff in baseball.
Enter the Bigfield Universe.

Pittsburgh Pirates Archive