Pittsburgh Pirates All-Time Team

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in first place while the St. Louis Cardinals are in last place. 

Also the Yankees are in the AL East basement, the Diamondbacks are a half game ahead of the Padres and the Marlins are keeping pace with the moneybag Mets. What is going on in baseball this year?!?


Let's take a look at the Pirates All-Time team before I jinx them. 

Pittsburgh benefited from home field advantage in the 1960 World Series, giving Bill Mazeroski the chance to walk off with a World championship. The Bucs also won the 1925 fall classic while playing their home games at Forbes Field. [There aren't any official Forbes Field cards so this will have to do.]

Danny Murtaugh won two titles as Pirates' skipper, in 1960 and 1971. He's second to player/manager Fred Clarke in games managed and victories for the franchise.

Here's Murtaugh's all-time lineup:

"Big Poison" Paul Waner is the DH, while "Maz" is here for one clutch hit and a whole lot of defense. Hold that thought.

Arky Vaughan would start on at least half the league's all-time teams. Murtaugh would love to move him to second base but the Hall of Fame shortstop played there just once in his career. The lineup looks pretty strong as-is, and yet....

	Pirates stats	oWAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Bill Mazeroski	19.7	0.260	0.299	0.367	0.667	84
	George Grantham	26.2	0.315	0.410	0.491	0.901	129
	*Jake Beckley	23.8	0.300	0.359	0.442	0.801	123

Meet George Grantham, the greatest second baseman in Pirates history. According to these stats Grantham should be starting for this squad, or at the very least taking Beckley's spot on the bench.

Taking a look at defensive stats, Mazeroski boasts the best dWAR in Pirates history at 24.0 (an all-time top-25 total). Beckley, the only primary first baseman on this roster, checks in with a cromulent 3.4 dWAR.

Our boy George may have been a heck of a hitter but in the field he was subpar, posting a -3.9 dWAR over seven Pirates seasons. Grantham won't be the only deserving star squeezed out of this roster.

There's no room for Andy Van Slyke with Clark and Parker on the Pittsburgh bench. That's not a knock against him, the Pirates outfield has at least a dozen options with Kiner, Cutch, Clemente, Waner, and more:

	Pirates stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Dave Parker	34.8	0.305	0.353	0.494	0.848	131
	Al Oliver	27.3	0.296	0.335	0.454	0.789	119
	Andy Van Slyke	31.0	0.283	0.353	0.458	0.811	124
	Ginger Beaumont	22.3	0.321	0.369	0.404	0.773	124
HOF	Lloyd Waner	29.5	0.319	0.356	0.399	0.755	100
HOF	Max Carey	53.4	0.287	0.363	0.391	0.754	111

Oh, and Willie Stargell was primarily a left fielder until the mid-1970s. It's too bad Murtaugh can't trade two of these guys for some starting pitching...

The question of who is the greatest pitcher in Pirates history? is what started this whole All-Time series. Aside from Bob Friend, every hurler in this rotation retired no later than 1926.

Murtaugh calls in some more modern arms to compete with these dead-ball stars.

	Pirates stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Bob Friend	47.6	3.55	108	1.94	1.287
	*Sam Leever	41.0	2.47	123	1.44	1.141
	John Candelaria	32.0	3.17	117	2.66	1.174
	Bob Veale	23.9	3.06	113	1.97	1.321
	Pud Galvin	22.7	3.10	107	1.17	1.253
	Vern Law	26.1	3.77	101	1.83	1.284

Okay, Pud Galvin isn't exactly modern but he's the only Hall of Famer here. The "Candy Man" should get the fifth spot - not over Leever, but Bob Friend. It's another tough call for Murtaugh, to keep or cut the franchise's leader in starts, wins, innings, and strikeouts. Once again, brand loyalty wins out. Thank you for being a Friend...

There are no new contenders in the Pirates' bullpen, though there is one minor decision for Murtaugh to make.

Who gets the ball in the 9th inning: Roy Face or Kent Tekulve?

	Pirates stats	SV	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Kent Tekulve	158	2.68	139	1.50	1.245
	*Roy Face	186	3.46	110	2.43	1.239

Face's numbers are especially impressive considering the era, but you can't go wrong with either guy. Honestly it should probably be Mark Melancon; his four Pirates seasons were unreal. 

Looking ahead, the Bucs handed out big bucks to extend Bryan Reynolds for eight seasons (what's more shocking, that or leading the NL Central on Cinco de Mayo?) Oneil Cruz and Ke'Bryan Hayes have stalled, but 2021 1st overall pick Henry Davis is on the way to my card collection.


TL; DR: No changes from the original roster. First time that's happened in this reboot.



Come back tomorrow for our next All-Time Team, the last place St. Louis Cardinals. (seriously, how weird is this season?)




Thanks for reading!



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