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The 20 Greatest Pittsburgh Pirates of All-Time

Rankings based on seasons 1901 – 2021.

To be eligible, position players needed 1,500 plate appearances and starting pitchers had to have started a minimum of 75 games for the franchise.

  1. Honus Wagner
    • Age: 26 – 43
    • Years: 1900 – 1917
    • Position(s): SS, RF, 1B, 3B

    Honus Wagner
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    113.7 150 2298 9640 8507 1414 2766 506 210 78 1375 601 836 327 .325 .383 .461 .845

  2. Roberto Clemente
    • Age: 20 – 37
    • Years: 1955 – 1972
    • Position(s): RF, CF

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

  3. Arky Vaughan
    • Age: 20 – 29
    • Years: 1932 – 1941
    • Position(s): SS

    Arky Vaughan
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    67.8 144 1411 6181 5268 936 1709 291 116 84 764 86 778 227 .324 .408 .471 .880

  4. Barry Bonds
    • Age: 21 – 27
    • Years: 1986 – 1992
    • Position(s): LF, CF

    Barry Bonds
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    50.3 145 1010 4255 3584 672 984 220 36 176 556 251 611 590 .275 .379 .503 .882

  5. Ralph Kiner
    • Age: 23 – 30
    • Years: 1946 – 1953
    • Position(s): LF, CF, 1B

    Ralph Kiner
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    43.3 154 1095 4732 3913 754 1097 153 32 301 801 19 795 546 .280 .404 .566 .970

  6. Willie Stargell
    • Age: 22 – 42
    • Years: 1962 – 1982
    • Position(s): LF, 1B, RF

    Willie Stargell
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    57.5 145 2360 9026 7927 1194 2232 423 55 475 1540 17 937 1936 .282 .359 .528 .888

  7. Paul Waner
    • Age: 23 – 37
    • Years: 1926 – 1940
    • Position(s): RF, 1B

    Paul Waner
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    69.4 138 2154 9532 8429 1493 2868 558 187 109 1177 100 909 325 .340 .400 .489 .889

  8. Andrew McCutchen
    • Age: 22 – 30
    • Years: 2009 – 2017
    • Position(s): CF

    Andrew McCutchen
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    40.4 137 1346 5829 5033 814 1463 292 44 203 725 171 685 1038 .291 .378 .487 .866

  9. Dave Parker
    • Age: 22 – 32
    • Years: 1973 – 1983
    • Position(s): RF

    Dave Parker
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    34.8 131 1301 5267 4848 728 1479 296 62 166 758 123 346 777 .305 .353 .494 .847

  10. Brian Giles
    • Age: 28 – 32
    • Years: 1999 – 2003
    • Position(s): LF, CF, RF

    Brian Giles
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    26.1 156 715 3114 2541 501 782 174 26 165 506 40 519 338 .308 .426 .591 1.017

  11. Babe Adams
    • Age: 25, 27 – 34, 36 – 44
    • Years: 1907, 1909 – 1916, 1918 – 1926
    • Position(s): SP

    Babe Adams
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO % WHIP
    50.4 85 481 354 194 139 2.74 2991.1 206 44 15 1121 911 428 1036 7.0% 1.09

  12. Wilbur Cooper
    • Age: 20 – 32
    • Years: 1912 – 1924
    • Position(s): SP

    Wilbur Cooper
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO % WHIP
    48.2 84 469 371 202 159 2.74 3199 263 33 14 1241 974 762 1191 8.9% 1.20

  13. Fred Clarke
    • Age: 27 – 38, 40 – 42
    • Years: 1900 – 1911, 1913 – 1915
    • Position(s): LF

    Fred Clarke
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    44.3 136 1373 5902 5073 931 1528 223 144 30 590 240 579 50 .301 .367 .419 .787

  14. Bob Friend
    • Age: 20 – 34
    • Years: 1951 – 1965
    • Position(s): SP

    Bob Friend
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO % WHIP
    47.6 92 568 477 191 218 3.55 3480.1 161 35 10 1575 1372 869 1682 11.5% 1.29

  15. Andy Van Slyke
    • Age: 26 – 33
    • Years: 1987 – 1994
    • Position(s): CF

    Andy Van Slyke
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    31.0 125 1057 4432 3922 598 1108 203 67 117 564 134 431 733 .283 .351 .457 .809

  16. Max Carey
    • Age: 20 – 36
    • Years: 1910 – 1926
    • Position(s): CF, LF

    Max Carey
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    52.7 113 2178 9654 8406 1414 2416 375 148 67 719 688 918 646 .287 .352 .391 .744

  17. John Candelaria
    • Age: 21 – 31, 39
    • Years: 1975 – 1985, 1993
    • Position(s): SP

    John Candelaria
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO % WHIP
    32.0 86 345 271 124 87 3.17 1873 45 9 16 731 660 436 1159 15.2% 1.17

  18. Starling Marte
    • Age: 23 – 30
    • Years: 2012 – 2019
    • Position(s): LF, CF

    Starling Marte
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    28.4 116 953 3986 3647 555 1047 192 42 108 420 239 196 812 .287 .341 .452 .793

  19. Elbie Fletcher
    • Age: 23 – 27, 30 – 31
    • Years: 1939 – 1943, 1946 – 1947
    • Position(s): 1B

    Elbie Fletcher
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    25.8 132 916 3820 3140 509 875 154 43 60 464 20 625 306 .279 .399 .412 .811

  20. Jason Kendall
    • Age: 22 – 30
    • Years: 1996 – 2004
    • Position(s): C

    Jason Kendall
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    30.7 113 1252 5282 4606 706 1409 256 29 67 471 140 454 403 .306 .389 .418 .807

8 Comments »

  1. 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.

    Like

  2. 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.

    Like

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