The 20 Greatest Pittsburgh Pirates of All-Time

In: Teams, The Greatest Players of Each Franchise

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.

  1. Honus WagnerHOF

    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

  2. Roberto ClementeHOFMVP

    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

  3. Arky VaughanHOF

    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

  4. Barry Bonds2x MVP

    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

  5. Ralph KinerHOF

    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

  6. Paul WanerHOFMVP

    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

  7. Willie StargellHOFMVP

    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

  8. 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

  9. Dave ParkerHOFMVP

    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

  10. Brian Giles

    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

  11. 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

  12. Wilbur Cooper

    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

  13. Fred ClarkeHOF

    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

  14. Bob Friend

    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

  15. Andy Van Slyke

    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

  16. Max CareyHOF

    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

  17. John Candelaria

    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

  18. Elbie Fletcher

    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

  19. Jason Kendall

    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

  20. Starling Marte

    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

    21. The Next 5

  21. 21. Tommy Leach
  22. 22. Bobby Bonilla
  23. 23. Sam Leever
  24. 24. Al Oliver
  25. 25. Ray Kremer

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

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    10 Comments

    1. Pie Traynor? Bill Mazeroski? Jason Kendall?

    2. 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.

    3. 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.

    5. It’s Starling Marte not “Martels”

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

    9. 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.

    10. A lot of guys in there I wouldn’t have thought of (Fred Clarke? Jason Kendall? Elbie Fletcher? Starling Marte?), and a lot of guys missing (Bill Mazeroski, Lloyd Waner, Pie Traynor, Ki-Ki Cuyler, Dick Groat, Jason Bay, Doug Drabek, Dock Ellis, Kent Tekulve, Elroy Face).

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