Pittsburgh Pirates: Five Best Second Basemen in Franchise History

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PITTSBURGH, PA – 1977: Rennie Stennett of the Pittsburgh Pirates bats during a Major League Baseball game at Three Rivers Stadium in 1977 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images) /

Number 5 – Rennie Stennet

Now Rennie Stennett was never that big of a batter. In his Pittsburgh Pirates tenure, which went from 1971 to 1979, the light hitting Stennet only had a .278/.309/.366 line, and 88 OPS+ and 90 wRC+. Although he did not walk much with a 4.2% walk rate, he struck out just 7.2% of the time. However he did have his moments with the bat like in 1977 when he hit .336/.376/.430 with a 115 OPS+ and 117 wRC+.

But despite that, Stennett was a great fielder. At the keystone for the Bucs, Stennet had +55 total zone runs above average. That’s the 4th highest among all Pirates second basemen. Overall, the middle infielder has a 14.3 fWAR with the Pirates, which is the 6th highest among all Pirates second basemen with at least 2000 plate appearances in a Pirate uniform.

He also has the distinction of the being part of the first all-minority line-up in baseball history. On September 1st, 1971, he batted lead off for the Pirates along with Gene Clines, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Manny Sanguillen, Dave Cash, Al Oliver, Jackie Hernandez, and Dock Ellis.

Stennett also played in 14 postseason games with the Pirates, which included winning a World Series Championship in 1979. He also took home a ring in 1971, even though he was not on the postseason roster.

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