The Baseball Scholar

Pittsburgh Pirates Best Single Seasons

Dave Franks
2–3 minutes

This is a list of the Pittsburgh Pirates best single seasons. I decided to select two players for each infield position, six outfielders (regardless of specific position), and one designated hitter for each AL team. Hitters had to play at least 51% of games at their position. For pitching, we selected seven starting pitchers, three non-closers, and two closers. Starting pitchers had to start at least 20 games during the selected season. Relief pitchers were deemed non-closers if they saved less than 10 games. Closers are pitchers that save more than 10 games.


  • Catcher – Jason Kendall, 1998

    • Jason Kendall
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    136 .390 5.6 149 627 95 175 36 3 12 75 26 51 51 .327 .411 .473 .884

  • First Base – Elbie Fletcher, 1941

    • Elbie Fletcher
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    150 .411 5.8 151 641 95 150 29 13 11 74 5 118 54 .288 .421 .457 .878

  • Second Base – George Grantham, 1929

    • George Grantham
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    143 .446 3.7 110 458 85 107 23 10 12 90 10 93 38 .307 .454 .533 .987

  • Third Base – Bill Madlock, 1982

    • Bill Madlock
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    133 .369 6.2 154 634 92 181 33 3 19 95 18 48 39 .319 .368 .488 .856

  • Shortstop – Honus Wagner, 1908

    • Honus Wagner
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    194 .459 11.5 151 640 100 201 39 19 10 109 53 54 22 .354 .415 .542 .957

  • Outfield – Barry Bonds, 1992

    • Barry Bonds
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    198 .459 9.0 140 612 109 147 36 5 34 103 39 127 69 .311 .456 .624 1.080

  • Outfield – Ralph Kiner, 1949

    • Ralph Kiner
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    180 .484 8.1 152 667 116 170 19 5 54 127 6 117 61 .310 .432 .658 1.089

  • Outfield – Willie Stargell, 1971

    • Willie Stargell
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    186 .445 7.9 141 606 104 151 26 0 48 125 0 83 154 .295 .398 .628 1.026

  • Starting Pitcher – Babe Adams, 1919

    • Babe Adams
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    67 7.2 34 29 17 10 1.98 263.1 23 6 1 66 58 23 92 3.1 0..896

  • Starting Pitcher – John Candelaria, 1977

    • John Candelaria
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    59 7.4 33 33 20 5 2.34 230.2 6 1 0 64 60 50 133 5.2 1.071

  • Starting Pitcher – Vic Willis, 1906

    • Vic Willis
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    66 8.2 41 36 23 13 1.73 322 32 6 1 84 62 76 124 3.5 1.152

  • Starting Pitcher – Cy Blanton, 1935

    • Cy Blanton
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    64 7.2 35 30 18 13 2.58 254.1 23 4 1 93 73 55 142 5.0 1.081

  • Starting Pitcher – Howie Camnitz, 1909

    • Howie Camnitz
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    63 5.5 41 30 25 6 1.62 283 20 6 3 75 51 68 133 4.2 0.972

  • Relief Pitcher – Mike Gonzalez, 2004

    • Mike Gonzalez
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    29 2.0 47 0 3 1 1.25 43.1 0 0 1 7 6 6 55 11.4 0.877

  • Relief Pitcher – Tony Watson, 2014

    • Tony Watson
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    46 2.5 78 0 10 2 1.63 77.1 0 0 2 16 14 15 81 9.4 1.022

  • Closer – Rich Gossage, 1977

    • Rich Gossage
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    41 6.0 72 0 11 9 1.62 133 0 0 26 27 24 49 151 10.2 0.955

Bench

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