Let’s take a pause for the Pirates
This week I’ve decided to put politics aside in favor of my usual mid-to-late summer assessment of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Yep! They’re back in the thick o’ things. It’s getting to the point where that’s nothing new.
The Pirates have managed to keep things interesting going into the final two months of the season, each year, since 2011.
But this year, I’m taking a long look back at some rather interesting statistics that make-up the 133 seasons of the Pittsburgh Pirates (Alleghenies).
The Pirates have won: five World Championships (1909, 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979); nine pennants and they’ve had 15 playoff appearances since 1892.
They’ve had 45 managers, included seven who’ve been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Pirates manager with the longest tenure was Hall of Famer Fred Clarke, who managed for 16 seasons from 1900 to 1915 – with a 1,422-969 record.
Danny Murtaugh, who hasn’t been elected to the Hall, managed the Pirates for 15 seasons.
The Pirate who had the highest single-season batting average (.381) was Paul Waner in 1927. In fact, of the ten Pirates with the highest single season batting averages, Waner’s name appears five times.
Bobby Bonilla (1989) and Bill Mazeroski (1967) appeared in the most regular season games in a season – 163. Why 163 games in 162 game seasons? During those two seasons, games actually ended in ties. Those games were re-played.
The Pirate record for getting the most hits in a single season? Paul Waner had 237 hits in 1927. To put that in some perspective, during 2013, when Andrew McCutchen was named the National League’s Most Valuable player, he only got 185 hits.
Waner and his brother Lloyd made up seven of the top ten single season hits records by Pirates.
The most RBI in a single season? Paul Waner had 131 in 1927.
The Pirate with the most homeruns in a single season was Ralph Kiner – twice.
He had 54 in 1949, and 51 in 1947.
Kiner also got walked more than any other Pittsburgh Pirate in a single season – 137 times in 1951.
Only one current Pirate appears at the top of any major single season team record – Pedro Alvarez.
He struck out more times than any Pirate in history last season – 186 times.
Who struck out the second most times? Pedro Alvarez, again, with 180 strikeouts in 2012.
The team record for getting plunked by a pitch in one season is owned by Jason Kendall. In 1997 and in 1998 he was hit 31 times.
Current Pirate, Starling Marte is fifth on that list. He got beaned 24 times in 2013.
Omar Moreno was a thief, but only on the base paths. He owns the all-time, single-season base stealing record with 96 in 1980. He also holds the dubious distinction of being thrown out trying to steal bases more than any other Pirate, with 33 during that same season.
Roberto Clemente is my hero. My only regret is that I had to share my affinity for him with just about Western Pennsylvania kid who ever aspired to play big league baseball in the 1960s and 1970s.
However, Mr. Clemente was not without his unfortunate statistics. We do keep forgetting he was human, don’t we?
The Pittsburgh Pirate who hit into the most career double plays was Roberto Walker Clemente.
In fact, he hit into nearly a hundred more double plays than the Pirate who hit into the second most – Bill Mazeroski. Clemente hit into 275 in 10,211 plate appearances, while Mazeroski hit into 194 in 8,379 plate appearances.
Clemente’s 10,211 plate appearances also contributed to him striking out more during his career than any Pirate except Willie Stargell. Clemente struck out 1,230 times, while Stargell struck out 1,936 times.
Of course, Stargell is the Pirates all-time home run champ with 475.
Clemente was the Pirates career leader in total bases with 4,492. more than any other Pirate. He was third in doubles with 440, and he was third in triples with 166.
Paul Waner and Honus Wagner were the only players ahead of Clemente in doubles and triples.
On Oct. 3, 1972, when Clemente played in the final game of his 18 season career, he famously got his 3,000th hit. But he’d actually become the all-time Pirates hits leader in late August of that year, when he topped Honus Wagner’s 2,967.
And finally, while Roberto Clemente and Honus Wagner played in different eras, ironically, the (arguably) two greatest Pittsburgh Pirates shared one key statistic which separates them from every player who ever played for the team.
They each played in EXACTLY the same number of games – 2,433.
There’s another irony. Of the major single season achievements by Pirates since 1892, none occurred during seasons when the Pirates won World Championships.
Edward A. Owens is a three-time Emmy Award winner and 20-year veteran of television news. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net