The Best/My Favorite... Pittsburgh Pirates

After a brief conversation a few weeks ago with Matthew Scott of the Pirates blog BOB WALK the PLANK I started thinking about the best Pittsburgh Pirates players of All-Time and my personal favorite Pirates players.





⚾ The Pittsburgh Pirates started playing baseball in 1882, and joined the National League in 1891.




The 1903 Pirates played in the very first World Series, have won 7 N.L. Pennants and 4 World Series Championships, in 1925, 1960, 1971, and 1979.




Their have been 37 Hall of Fame Baseball Players who played part of their careers in Pittsburgh.



These are my Top 5 All-Time Pittsburgh Pirates players...


⚾ Roberto Clemente 

⚾ Honus Wagner

⚾ Willie Stargell 

⚾ Pie Traynor

⚾ Andrew McCutcheon 




These are my 5 Favorite Pittsburgh Pirates...


⚾ Roberto Clemente 

⚾ Andrew McCutcheon 

⚾ Willie Stargell 

⚾ Honus Wagner 

⚾ Don Hoak 

Don Hoak... I have him 5th on my list for this great clip from the movie City Slickers...

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Matthew's Top 5 All-Time Pittsburgh Pirates are...

1. Honus Wagner - I love the analytical stats. Because of the time period he played in he might be even underrated.  He is 5th all time in WAR! The only people ahead of him are Babe Ruth, Bonds, Mays and Ty Cobb. 

2. Roberto Clemente -

3. Paul Waner - One of my prized possessions is a 30's era Paul Waner card

4. Willie Stargell

5. Barry Bonds - I feel like he needs to be on the list even if his Pirates tenure was short. Steroids or not the only comparable player to him is Babe Ruth. WAR wise he is 8th all time in Pirates history, but the guys ahead of him were no where near the player he was during his tenure.  

Honorable Mentions - Ralph Kiner, Arky Vaughn Andrew McCutchen.

Matthew's Favorite 5 Pittsburgh Pirates are...

Favorite Pirates - This list is based on an unscientific formula of combining actual playing ability and enjoyment of watching that person play.

1. Jason Bay - Bay is ahead of Cutch because he was the only Pirate that many card sets would produce in the mid 2000's. I have a soft spot for anything Jason Bay.

2. Andrew McCutchen - The key component to making the Pirates relevant again. 

3. Jason Kendall - He had the best baseball card photos of anybody on the Pirates during the 90's and early 2000's. Loved watching him play. 

4. Gregory Polanco - The first guy that I really went out of my way to try and pick up cards before he even debuted. 

5. Kent Tekulve - The overall coolness of a Tekulve card puts him on the list.  I was 7 years old when he retired so I never got to witness him play.

Honorable Mentions - Gerrit Cole, Andy Van Slyke, Starling Marte

Terrific lists!



Because Matthew writes a baseball card blog I had to go find a couple of Pirates cards to add to this post...

This Jason Kendall card is one of my favorites...

...and I have some Barry Bonds cards when he was a terrific player first the Buccos.

I hope to continue this series of posts, getting great baseball fans like Matthew, to talk about their love of baseball and the players who have fueled that passion.



Thanks again to Matthew for being the very first...make sure you check out his blog...even if you're not a Pirates fan...he does a great job!


Play Ball! ⚾