Pittsburgh Pirates: 30 greatest players in franchise history

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18 Mar 1999: A general view of the of the Pittsburgh Pirates logo painted on the field during the Spring Training game against the Philadelphia Phillies at the McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Florida. The Pirates defeated the Phillies 7-6. /

. SS. 1932-41. Arky Vaughan. 5. player. 4

Old-school baseball names don’t get much better than Arky Vaughan. Born as Joseph Floyd Vaughan in Arkansas, we can guess where the nickname came from.

In 10 seasons with the Pirates, he never once hit below .300. He led the league in multiple categories throughout his career. You could often find him atop the list of players in runs scored, OBP and triples. He was, without a doubt, consistently one of the best players in the league.

Vaughan’s statistics are impossible to comprehend from today’s standard. He walked 778 times with the Pirates. During the decade he spent in Pittsburgh, Vaughan only struck out 227 times. Drawing walks was a specialty of his; something he led the league in three times.

Vaughan doesn’t hold any major lifetime records for the Pirates. However, his 1935 season is one of the best a Pirates player has ever had.

The year finished with Vaughan batting .385/.491/.607. The batting average and OBP are both single-season Pirates records that remain today. I don’t expect anyone to beat them either. The 1.098 OPS also set a new high. While there have been challengers in Pirates uniforms since, nobody has reached his number.

An All-Star selection was all but a given for Vaughan during his Pittsburgh days. From 1934 to 1941, he cracked the roster each season. In addition to this honor, he placed third in the MVP vote twice.

Vaughan’s final contribution to the Pirates came in 1985 when he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The overdue honor, unfortunately, came well after he passed away.

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