The 20 Greatest Pittsburgh Pirates of All-Time

August 29, 2019

1–2 minutes

Rankings based on seasons 1901 – 2025.

To be eligible, position players need 1,500 plate appearances, starting pitchers have to have started a minimum of 75 games, and relief pitchers need to have 150 innings pitched for the franchise.

Honus WagnerHOF

Age: 27–43
Years: 1901–1917
Positions: SS, OF, 1B, 3B
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Honus Wagner Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
113.6	150	2298	9640	8507	1414	2766	506	210	78	1375	601	15	836	327	.325	.383	.461	.845

Roberto ClementeHOFMVP

Age: 20–37
Years: 1955–1972
Positions: RF
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Roberto Clemente Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
94.8	129	2433	10212	9454	1416	3000	440	166	240	1305	83	46	621	1230	.317	.358	.475	.833

Arky VaughanHOF

Age: 20–29
Years: 1932–1941
Positions: SS
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Arky Vaughan Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
67.5	143	1411	6181	5268	936	1709	291	116	84	764	86	0	778	227	.324	.415	.472	.887

Barry Bonds2x MVP

Age: 21–27
Years: 1986–1992
Positions: LF
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Barry Bonds Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
50.3	144	1010	4255	3584	672	984	220	36	176	556	251	72	611	590	.275	.380	.503	.883

Ralph KinerHOF

Age: 23–30
Years: 1946–1953
Positions: LF
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Ralph Kiner Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
43.4	152	1095	4732	3913	754	1097	153	32	301	801	19	1	795	546	.280	.405	.567	.971

Paul WanerHOFMVP

Age: 23–37
Years: 1926–1940
Positions: RF
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Paul Waner Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
70.1	137	2154	9532	8429	1493	2868	558	187	109	1177	100	0	909	325	.340	.407	.490	.896

Willie StargellHOFMVP

Age: 22 – 42
Years: 1962-1982
Positions: LF
Teams:Pittsburgh Pirates

Willie Stargell Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
57.5	145	2360	9026	7927	1194	2232	423	55	475	1540	17	16	937	1936	.281	.359	.528	.888

Andrew McCutchenMVP

Age: 22–38
Years: 2009–2017, 2023–2025
Positions: CF, DH
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Andrew McCutchen Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
42.6	130	1713	7368	6348	986	1781	351	45	248	875	186	73	885	1389	.281	.372	.467	.839

Dave ParkerHOFMVP

Age: 22–32
Years: 1973–1983
Positions: RF
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Dave Parker Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
34.8	131	1301	5267	4848	728	1479	296	62	166	758	123	70	346	777	.305	.353	.494	.848

Brian Giles

Age: 28–32
Years: 1999–2003
Positions: LF
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Brian Giles Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
26.1	156	715	3114	2541	501	782	174	26	165	506	40	17	519	338	.308	.426	.591	1.018

Babe Adams

Age: 25–44
Years: 1907, 1909–1916, 1918–1926
Positions: SP
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Babe Adams Pitching Stats
WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	SHO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
50.5	85	481	354	194	139	2.74	2987.2	206	44	15	1121	911	428	1036		1.09

Wilbur Cooper

Age: 19–31
Years: 1912–1924
Positions: SP
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Wilbur Cooper Pitching Stats
WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	SHO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
48.1	84	469	371	202	159	2.74	3195.2	263	33	14	1241	974	762	1191		1.20

Fred ClarkeHOF

Age: 28–42
Years: 1901–1911, 1913–1915
Positions: LF
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Fred Clarke Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
44.4	136	1373	5902	5073	931	1528	223	144	30	590	240	0	579	50	.301	.380	.420	.799

Bob Friend

Age: 20–34
Years: 1951–1965
Positions: SP
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Bob Friend Pitching Stats
WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	SHO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
47.6	92	568	477	191	218	3.55	3476.2	161	35	10	1575	1372	869	1682	11.5%	1.29

Andy Van Slyke

Age: 26–33
Years: 1987–1994
Positions: CF
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Andy Van Slyke Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
31.0	125	1057	4441	3922	598	1108	203	67	117	564	134	33	431	733	.283	.353	.458	.811

Max CareyHOF

Age: 20–36
Years: 1910–1926
Positions: CF
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Max Carey Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
53.5	112	2178	9654	8406	1414	2416	375	148	67	719	688	92	918	646	.287	.363	.391	.754

John Candelaria

Age: 21–39
Years: 1975–1985, 1993
Positions: SP
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

John Candelaria Pitching Stats
WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	SHO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
32.0	85	345	271	124	87	3.18	1869.5	45	9	16	731	660	436	1159	15.1%	1.18

Elbie Fletcher

Age: 23–31
Years: 1939–1943, 1946–1947
Positions: 1B
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Elbie Fletcher Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
26.3	131	916	3820	3140	509	875	154	43	60	464	20	0	625	306	.279	.403	.412	.815

Jason Kendall

Age: 22–30
Years: 1996–2004
Positions: C
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Jason Kendall Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
30.7	113	1252	5283	4606	706	1409	256	29	67	471	140	65	454	403	.306	.387	.418	.805

Starling Marte

Age: 23–30
Years: 2012–2019
Positions: LF
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Starling Marte Hitting Stats
WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
28.2	116	953	3986	3647	555	1047	192	42	108	420	239	77	196	812	.287	.341	.452	.793

The Next 5

21. Tommy Leach

22. Bobby Bonilla

23. Sam Leever

24. Al Oliver

25. Ray Kremer

All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

9 responses to “The 20 Greatest Pittsburgh Pirates of All-Time”

Bill Lloyd

September 10, 2019 at 2:05 pm

Pie Traynor? Bill Mazeroski? Jason Kendall?

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Sal Critchfield

December 13, 2020 at 1:46 am

Jason Kendall made the list, Bill Lloyd.

#20

Wanted to see Jay Bell on this list. Can’t forget about Doug Drabek, Bonny Bonilla, Bob Walk, Stan Belinda, Tim Wakefield, or Aramis Ramirez.

Those guys could really play.

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Javier Ochowa

December 13, 2020 at 3:24 pm

Sal Critchfield –

Doug Drabek should definitely be on this list. It amazes me that he finished in the Top 5 in Cy Young voting and even managed to win one, yet was voted into only one All Star Game.

Drabek was anchored that pitching staff and help the Pirates reach 3 straight NLCS in the early 90s.

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John Torsiello

December 25, 2020 at 9:19 am

Lloyd Waner?

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ALT3R 3GOS

April 6, 2021 at 2:22 am

It’s Starling Marte not “Martels”

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Kevin Foley

November 5, 2021 at 1:33 am

Tigers Top 20 players as far as WAR beats everybody besides Yankees

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Anonymous

April 9, 2023 at 11:18 am

BILL MADLOCK

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Anonymous

April 9, 2023 at 10:15 pm

No Steve Blass, Kent Tekulve, Bruce Kison, Elroy Face, Dave Cash,
Manny Sanguillen or Richie Hebner ?

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Anonymous

March 8, 2024 at 3:27 pm

I would not have Bonds in there. As talented as he was he seemed to have a chip on both shoulder(s). Wasn’t hailed enough, wasn’t loved enough, didn’t like him because he was black…heck, he gave coach Bill Virdon a hard time (the much older Virdon would’ve put him in his place). And yes, he was a prima donna. Had to resort to drugs and a mechanical arm when he was in San Francisco. I saw him play many games in Pittsburgh. Really good offensively, average in the field. Misjudged fly balls, had an average arm, not consistently accurate throws.

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