Our All Time Top 50 Pittsburgh Pirates have been revised to reflect the 2024 Season
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2024 revision of our top 50 Pittsburgh Pirates.
As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.
Please note that our algorithm has changed, which yielded minor changes throughout the baseball lists.
Last year, the small market Pirates again finished in the NL East basement, finishing 76-86. There were three new entrants, though all enter based on the new algorithm and they are players from many years ago.
As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes.
1. Honus Wagner
3. Paul Waner
4. Arky Vaughan
You can find the entire list here.
Andrew McCutchen was unable to get past #11.
The three new entrants are Second Baseman Claude Ritchey at #48, Third Base Richie Hebner at #49 and Pitcher Vic Willis at #50.
We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.
Our All-Time Top 50 Pittsburgh Pirates Have been revised to reflect the 2023 Season
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out, and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our post-2023 revision of our top 50 Pittsburgh Pirates.
As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in Major League Baseball.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.
Last year, the Pirates got off to a good start but were unable to hold that momentum, and they again missed the playoffs. There were no new entrants but one small elevation.
As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:
1. Honus Wagner
3. Paul Waner
4. Arky Vaughan
You can find the entire list here.
The only change was the returning Andrew McCutchen, who went up one spot to #11.
We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.
Our All-Time Top 50 Pittsburgh Pirates are now up!
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. We have a new one to unveil today, that of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pittsburgh Pirates first came into existence in 1882, first as the Alleghenys before changing their name to the Pirates in 1892. They played in the first modern World Series in 1903, and won their first in 1909. Since then, they have won four more, 1925, 1960, 1971 & 1979, and was the home of some of the greatest names in the game.
This list is up to the end of the 2022 regular season.
Our Top 50 lists in Baseball look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.
This list is updated up until the end of the 2022 Season.
The complete list can be found here, but as always, we announce our top five in this article. They are:
1. Honus Wagner
3. Paul Waner
4. Arky Vaughan
We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.
Look for our more material coming soon!
As always, we thank you for your support.
3. Paul Waner
The 1920s brought us the Home Run era that we still enjoy today, but spray hitters have never gone out of style. One of the best was Paul Waner.
Waner learned how to bat by hitting corncobs from Oklahoma, but that is not the most unique part about developing his skills. Waner had poor eyesight, specifically due to astigmatism, and he learned how to hit the blurry baseballs in the middle. Unique as it was, it worked, and he tore it up in the Minors and would land a job in Pittsburgh in 1926 as their Rightfielder.
Waner had a terrific rookie year, leading the NL in Triples (22) with a .336 Batting Average. As an MLB sophomore, Waner had his best year as a professional, topping the league in Hits (237), Triples (18), RBIs (131), and Batting Average (.380). Waner rightfully won the MVP, and although we will argue this was his peak campaign, it was not his last excellent one.
Over the next ten years, Waner could be counted on to produce Hits, Runs, and a high Batting Average. From his rookie year in '26 until 1937, Waner never finished a year with a Batting Average lower than .300, and he won two more Batting Titles (1934 & 1936) to add to the one he captured when he was an MVP. Waner had nine years with over 100 Runs (including two league-leading years), was a two-time Hit leader, and two-time leader in Doubles. He never did capture a second MVP, but he was in the top five three times.
As Waner got older, his skills slipped, and the Pirates traded him to Brooklyn during the 1940 Season. He played five more years, but had he never played baseball after Pittsburgh, Waner would have been Cooperstown-worthy. With the Pirates, he had 2,868 Hits, with a Batting Average of .340.
Waner was chosen for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1952, his seventh year on the ballot.
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