While the Pittsburgh Pirates had 20 consecutive losing season from 1993 – 2012, they still had some talented players that can construct a good lineup.
1993 – 2012 was a rough 20 season stretched for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans. During this stretch the team suffered through 20 consecutive losing seasons, and outside of the ‘Freak Show’ team in 1997 and the 2012 squad, there were not any seasons in which the team was even competitive into the season’s final two months. Even that 2012 squad still provided plenty of pain for fans, as they imploded in the month of September after seemingly having a winning record all but assured.
Despite two decades of futility, the Pittsburgh Pirates still had their fair share of good players during this stretch. This includes some of the best hitters and defenders in franchise history. However, due to the team being bad a lot of these players are not remembered the way they should be.
Recently, Cody constructed an all-time lineup for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Today, we will do a similar exercise as we create another all-time lineup. This lineup, however, will be the Pirates all-time lineup from the 20 consecutive losing seasons.
Before delving into the lineup, there is a caveat that needs to be mentioned. Only players who never played on a winning squad are eligible for this lineup. This eliminates some all-time Pittsburgh Pirates greats such as Andy Van Slyke, Andrew McCutchen, and Starling Marte who, while they were here for either the beginning or the ending of the losing, they were also on Pirate squads that had winning records and made trips to the postseason.