Visits: 9
If you’re around my age, your first taste of Pirates baseball was visiting Three Rivers Stadium. Three Rivers Stadium was home to the Bucs from 1970 to 2000 and hosted two World Series championship teams (’71 and ’79) and saw the Pirates make the playoffs nine times.
16 of those 31 seasons the Pirates had a winning record and compiled an overall record of 2,451 wins versus 2,355 losses. The Bucs had an even better record in home games those years compiling 1,326 wins to 1,081 defeats.
At times, the Pirates had the best team in major league baseball and also some of the worst teams as well. Which players would comprise the Pittsburgh Pirates All-Time Three Rivers Stadium team?
Keep in mind certain players were so versatile that by playing more than one position, that reduced their chances to be considered for a single position. Bill Robinson, for example, played first base, third base, and all three outfield positions. Bobby Bonilla split time between third base and right field. Phil Garner played 415 games at second base and 266 at third base.
With that in mind, let’s look at the Pirates All-Time Three Rivers Stadium team position-by-position.
CATCHER: Manny Sanguillen. Sanguillen spent 10 of his 12 seasons as a Pirate playing in Three Rivers Stadium and the other two years playing in Forbes Field. A three-time All-Star, Sangy hit .299 during his Three Rivers Stadium years. On three occasions, Sanguillen finished in the top seven in hitting in the National League: .325 in 1970 (3rd), .319 in 1971 (7th) and 328 in 1975 (4th).
Sanguillen may well have been the second-best catcher in the National League behind perhaps the greatest catcher of all-time in Johnny Bench. Sanguillen called the pitches for the Pirates World Series winning season in 1971 and what may have been the best Pirate starting pitching staff since the dead ball era in 1972.
Honorable Mention: Tony Pena and Jason Kendall
Pena was best known for his defense winning three Gold Gloves and was a four-time All-Star in his seven seasons as a Pirate. Many don’t realize that Pena hit .286 to go along with his defensive skills.
Kendall spent his first five seasons as a Pirate playing in Three Rivers Stadium and his last four in PNC Park. Kendall was a three-time All-Star and hit .314 in his five seasons in Three Rivers Stadium, hitting .327 in 1998 (5th in the National League), .332 in 1999 and .320 in 2000.
FIRST BASE: Willie Stargell. Who else but the Captain, Wilver Dornell Stargell? Stargell played some first base during his Forbes Field days and was the Pirates first baseman in 1972 in Three Rivers Stadium and then played first base exclusively from 1975-1982. During those years at first base, Stargell hit 162 home runs, had two All-Star appearances and was the National League MVP in 1979 leading the Pirates to a World Series title and being named World Series MVP.
Honorable mention: Kevin Young. Young played nine of his 12 Pirate seasons at Three Rivers Stadium hitting 104 home runs and hitting .267. Young’s two best seasons were in 1998 and 1999 when in 1998, he hit 40 doubles, 27 home runs, had 108 runs batted in and batted .270. He followed that up in 1999 with 41 doubles, 26 home runs, 106 runs batted in and hit .298.
Honorable mention: Jason Thompson and Bob Robertson. Thompson spent five years in Pittsburgh hitting 93 home runs and was an All-Star in 1982 when he hit 31 home runs and 101 runs batted in, drawing 101 walks and hitting .284. Robertson hit a combined 53 home runs for the Pirates in 1970 and 1971 and 106 home runs in his nine-year Pirate career.
SECOND BASE: If there’s one position that had a run of quality players for the Pirates during their Three Rivers Stadium years, it was second base.
The choice here is Rennie Stennett. Not only did he hold the position the longest, nine years with Johnny Ray next with seven, but Stennett had the highest single season batting average of any Three Rivers Stadium second basemen with .336 in 1977 before injuring his ankle that season. Stennett also had the most hits in a season of any Three Rivers Stadium Pirate second baseman with 196 in 1974 and batted a cumulative .278 batting average as a Pirate.
Honorable mention: Dave Cash, Phil Garner, Johnny Ray, Jose Lind and Tony Womack. Cash hit .285 in his five years with the Pirates and managed to succeed the greatest Pirate second baseman in Bill Mazeroski without much criticism. Garner played primarily third base in 1977, and split time at second and third in ’78 and ’79 till Bill Madlock was acquired in a trade and Garner had a great World Series for the Pirates in 1979. Garner was the everyday second baseman in 1980 and an All-Star that year and in 1981 and was traded during the 1981 season.
Ray hit .286 for the Pirates and twice led the National League in doubles. Lind played six years for the Pirates hitting .255 and winning a Gold Glove in 1992. Womack spent five years with the Pirates and hit .278 leading the National League in steals twice and was an All-Star in 1997.
SHORTSTOP: Jay Bell. Bell spent eight seasons as a Pirate and hit .269 earning one All-Star game appearance and a Gold Glove. Unlike so many weak-hitting shortstops, Bell had 355 extra base hits as a Pirate.
Honorable Mention: Tim Foli and Frank Taveras. Foli was a steady shortstop that made the routine plays in his four years as a Pirate and hit .269 as a Bucco and teamed with Garner for an effective middle-infield pair during the Pirates 1979 World Series winning season. Frank Tavares spent eight years as a Pirate shortstop and led the National League in steals in 1977 with 70 and hit .253 as a Pirate.
THIRD BASE: Bill Madlock. Madlock hit .297 over his seven seasons as a Pirate and was a two-time All-Star and won two National League batting titles hitting .341 in 1981 and .323 in 1983.
Honorable Mention: Richie Hebner. Hebner spent nine years manning the hot corner in Three Rivers Stadium for the Pirates driving in 473 runs during that time.
LEFT FIELD: Barry Bonds. During his seven Three Rivers Stadium seasons, Bonds hit 176 home runs, drove in 556 runs, stole 251 bases and hit. 275. Three times Bonds led the National League In OPS, was a two-time All-Star and two-time National League MVP and three-time Gold Glove winner.
CENTER FIELD: You want a good defensive outfielder playing center field and by virtue of his defense and five Gold Gloves, Andy Van Slyke is the pick here. Van Slyke was a three-time All-Star and hit .283 in his eight years in Pittsburgh.
Honorable mention: Three-time Pirate All-Star Al Oliver would rate greater consideration here, but Scoop was versatile enough to play first base which reduced his time as a center fielder. Oliver played center field primarily from 1971-1976 and during those years he had three All-Star seasons and hit .301 with 482 runs batted in. Had Oliver played center field more he may have been the pick here. If Scoop is your pick for center field, I won’t argue with you.
Honorable mention: Omar Moreno. Moreno earns honorable mention as the Antelope stole 412 bases in his eight years as a Pirate, three times stealing more than 70 bases in a season leading the National League twice in steals with a career and Pirates single-season high 96 in 1980.
RIGHT FIELD: Dave Parker. The Cobra spent 11 seasons patrolling right field and was a dominant force in the National League. Parker was a two-time batting champion and was NL MVP in 1978, a four-time Pirate All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, and hit 166 home runs with 758 runs batted in and hit. 305 as a Pirate.
STARTING PITCHER: John Candelaria. The Candy Man spent 12 seasons as a Pirate and in those 12 seasons, he won 124 games to 87 losses and had an ERA of 3.17 with 45 complete games. An All-Star in 1977, Candelaria had a 20-5 record with a 2.34 ERA. Candelaria was the winningest Pirate pitcher during the Three Rivers Stadium years and the only pitcher to win more than 100 games as a Pirate from 1970-2000.
STARTING PITCHER: Doug Drabek. Drabek spent six years as a Pirate and compiled a 92-62 record with a 3.02 ERA. In 1990, Drabek had a 22-6 record and was one of the few Pirates ever to win the National League Cy Young award.
STARTING PITCHER: Dock Ellis. The controversial Ellis spent seven of his Pirate nine seasons playing in Three Rivers Stadium and during those years he won 79 games to only 58 losses. An All-Star in 1971, Ellis had a 19-9 record with a 3.06 ERA.
STARTING PITCHER: Jim Rooker. Some may be surprised with the selection of Rooker, but he had a record of 82-65 with a 3.24 ERA in his eight seasons with the Pirates with two 15+ win seasons.
STARTING PITCHER: Jerry Reuss. In Reuss’ six seasons with the Pirates, he compiled a 61-46 record with a 3.52 ERA. An all-star in 1975, Reuss compiled an 18-11 record with an impressive 2.54 ERA.
Honorable mention: Bob Walk 82 wins in 10 years, Rick Rhoden 79 wins in eight seasons, Bruce Kison 81 wins in nine years, and Jim Bibby 50 wins in five Pirate seasons.
CLOSER: Kent Tekulve. Tekulve spent 12 years as a Pirate and compiled a 70-61 won-loss record with an ERA of 2.68 and is second all-time on the Pirates career save list saving 158 games in 722 appearances.
Honorable mention: Dave Giusti. Giusti amassed 133 saves in seven years for the Battlin’ Bucs and had a 47-28 record with a 2.94 ERA.
MANAGER: Danny Murtaugh. The Whistling Irishman is the obvious choice here. In his six seasons at Three Rivers Stadium, Murtaugh never had a losing record compiling a 471-364 record with four division titles and one World Series championship.
Honorable mention: Chuck Tanner. Tanner led the Pirates to their second World Series title in Three Rivers Stadium history in 1979. Tanner had six winning seasons out of nine as the Pirates’ skipper and compiled an overall record of 711 wins and 685 losses.
What about Jim Leyland? Leyland had only four winning seasons out of 11 with three of them making the post-season but never advancing to the World Series. Leyland’s overall record with the Pirates was 851-863.
If you care to read about the Pirates All-time Forbes Field team, check out: https://johnbaranowski.wordpress.com/2021/12/21/the-pittsburgh-pirates-all-time-forbes-field-1909-1970-team/
If you care to read about the Pirates All-time PNC Park team, check out: https://johnbaranowski.wordpress.com/2021/12/21/the-pittsburgh-pirates-all-time-pnc-park-2001-2021-team/(opens in a new tab)
Three Rivers Stadium Photo credit: Steve Tiesdell Legacy Collection on VisualHunt.com
Manny Sanguillen Photo credit: openprivacy on VisualHunt.com
Willie Stargell Photo credit: podolux on Visualhunt
Barry Bonds Photo credit: Keith Fujimoto on VisualHunt
John Candelaria Photo credit: jmd41280 on Visualhunt.com
Kent Tekulve Photo credit: TheJosephBoys on Visualhunt.com
Danny Murtaugh Photo credit: kevin dooley on VisualHunt
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