Pittsburgh Pirates: Examining Some of the Worst Teams in Franchise History

After hearing so many people at the beginning of every year saying ‘this year is the worst Pittsburgh Pirates team ever,’ it was time to do some research to determine which teams are the worst in franchise history

Now that the 2020 season has come to an end, it’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Pirates weren’t very good this year. Every year it seems like you hear fans say “this team sucks,” or “this team is going to lose 100,” or, my favorite, “spend Nutting win Nutting.” This year you heard, “well, they can’t lose 100, but they’ll probably lose 60.” With all that negative talk, it got me thinking how many times the Pirates lost 100 games or, at the very least, had a terrible season. For now, we will stick to the 100 loss seasons.

In the Pirates 133 years of existence, they have won a total of 10,564 games, including this year. Believe it or not, that places them 8th all-time for the most wins in MLB. With that being said, this franchise has seen some tumultuous times and some god awful records. So I am here to talk about it and discuss each year I list. We will start the list with a team from over 100 years ago.

1917 Pittsburgh Pirates, 51-103 Record

This was the first team in Pirate franchise to lose 100+ games. This team was historically bad. It was so bad that the team actually had three managers that year. The first manager was Jimmy Callahan, who spent only two years here in Pittsburgh. In 1917 he got fired after posting a 20-40 record and an overall record in Pittsburgh of 85-129. Even though it was a short time, the next was the “Flying Dutchman” Honus Wagner. He posted just a 1-4 record as manager before he was replaced by Hugo Bezdek. Bezdek could only muster a 30-59 record.

As far as the team goes, there wasn’t much to speak of. The guy who led pretty much all offensive categories was Hall of Famer Max Carey, who posted a .296/.369/.378 slash line. He also led the team in RBIs (51) and hits (174.) The pitchers in 1917 was led by Wilbur Cooper, who posted a 17-11 record with a 2.36 ERA. The crazy thing about that year was four out of five starting pitchers posted a 3.13 ERA or lower. Goes to show offense is important too.

1952 Pittsburgh Pirates, 42-112 Record

Good god almighty 112 losses is just incredibly bad, and guess who the manager was (pause for effect) YUP Billy Meyer (told you he would be back.) This team must’ve been so bad that Meyer never managed another game after that god awful year. The poor guy passed away five years later, and he will be remembered for managing the worst team in Pirates history. (Literally)

Not even Ralph Kiner could salvage enough games to save Meyer from that fate. 1952 was Kiner’s last full year with the Pirates, and he saw his worst year batting average-wise with the team with a .244 average but still, he knocked 37 homers and 87 RBIs to earn his second to last All-Star appearance.

The pitching wasn’t all that bad, but it was still bad (I know that makes no sense.) Murry Dickson led the team in wins with 14 as well as ERA among starters with a 3.57. Pirate Legend Bob Friend had a bad year in 1952, posting a 7-17 record with a 4.18 ERA in 23 starts. The good news is you won’t see a record as bad as this, but the bad news is I’ll see you in the next year.

1954 Pittsburgh Pirates, 53-101 Record

Yes, I know, I know I’ve gone three years in a row here, but you have to look at the facts with the Pirates losing 100 games seven times, three of them happened from 52-54. Managing these Pirates yet again was Haney. Haney managed the Pirates for another year after 1954 and posted a 163-299 record in those three years. Haney managed four more years in Milwaukee and never saw his team lose more than 70 games.

Outfielder Sid Gordon led the team in batting average with .306 and had a slash line of .306/.405/.438. Thomas yet again led the team in homers (23) RBI’s (94) and hits with 172. Thomas in 54 earned his first of three All-Star appearances that year, and rightfully so I must say. Even though he isn’t a “legend,” I must say Thomas was underrated for his time.

Dick Littlefield led the 1954 Pirates in both wins (10) and ERA (3.60.) Friend would have one more bad year with a 7-12 record and a career-high 5.07 ERA. Little did Pirate fans know he would be an excellent pitcher not long after. We also saw another Pirates legend in Vern Law pitch that year. After two years in the military, Law came back with a 5.51 ERA in 39 games (ouch.) I promise we are out of the ’50s.

1985 Pittsburgh Pirates, 57-104 Record

The 1980s, in general, were an ugly time not just in the fashion world but for Pittsburgh sports. In Chuck Tanner‘s last year in Pittsburgh, he saw the worst record he’s ever posted in his career. During his nine years in Pittsburgh, he posted a 711-685 record, an honestly, I can’t blame Tanner for the 1985 year.

The Pirates leader for average that year was outfielder Joe Orsulak he posted a .300/.342/.365 slash line. The second baseman Johnny Ray led the team with 70 RBIs and 163 hits. On a team that once saw the likes of Clemente, Stargell, and others, it’s sad to see how bad that team looked that year offensively.

The 36-year-old Rick Reuschel had a phenomenal year posting a 14-8 record and an incredible 2.27 ERA. Every other starter, though, had a 4.01 ERA or higher, unfortunately. The writing was just on the wall. The once-great Pittsburgh Pirates weren’t what they used to be back in the ’70s.

1985 also saw plenty of off the field turmoil for the Pirates. As ownership looked to sale there were rumors abound of a possible relocation to cities such as Tampa Bay or Denver. Also, there were the infamous Pittsburgh Drug Trials.

2001 Pittsburgh Pirates 62-100 Record

One of my favorite teams to talk about is the 2001 Pittsburgh Pirates team. In Lloyd McClendon‘s first year as a skipper, I can remember as a kid imitating his famous rant where he took the first base bag after getting tossed from the game. I loved the guy, and being born in 1995, it’s my first recollection of watching baseball with my grandma. McClendon would spend five years in Pittsburgh and posted a 336-446 record.

2001 was supposed to be a big year for the franchise. Well, it was. That is because 2001 was the year that the jewel on the North Shore, PNC Park, opened its gates for the first time. Unfortunately, the product on the field would not live up to the excitement of having a new ballpark.

On a team with Jason Kendall, Brian Giles and a young Aramis Ramirez, you would think they could produce more than just 62 wins, but, well. Giles led the team in batting average at a .309 mark as well homers with 37. Ramirez, who hit his fair share with 34, led the team in RBIs with 112 along with a team-leading 181 hits.

Pitching, on the other hand, well, let’s just say they had seen better days. The only starting pitcher with a record .500 or better was Jason Schmidt with a 6-6 record, and the only pitcher with a sub 4.47 ERA was David Williams, who had a 3.71 ERA. Omar Olivares takes home the worst ERA of the day with 6.55 for those who qualify in my eyes.

2010 Pittsburgh Pirates, 57-105 Record

John Russell has the privilege of being the last Pittsburgh Pirates manager to lose 100+ games, this occured in 2010. Thankfully, 2010 was also the final year Russell was manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. One thing we did see with the 2010 Pirates was a group of guys we would see lead the charge towards their last playoff push in 20+ years in 2013.

Some of those guys I’m talking about are Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez. Jose Tabata had the privilege of leading the team in batting average that year with a tick just below .300 at .299. Neil Walker hit .296, McCutchen hit .286, and El Torro hit .256. In both RBIs (86) and home runs (21), Garrett Jones led the last Pirate team to lose 100+ games.

One of my favorite stats with Pirates pitching that year was Charlie Morton. Now he is known as one of the better pitchers, but in 2010, we saw a 2-12 record and a team-high 7.57 ERA! Goes to show approach and good coaching make a difference. The lowest starting pitcher ERA came from Ross Ohlendorf, who posted a 4.07 ERA on a 1-11 record. Needless to say, the Pirates have seen much better times.

Final Thoughts

So after reading through all of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams and just reading all of the depressing things that go with those teams, I have found a renewed sense of hope. The dark times can only last so long, and I truly hope my kids don’t have to talk about the worst teams they have seen. So I leave you with this stay hopeful and keep on rooting for the Bucs!

Dishonorable Mentions:

2009 Pirates 62-99 record

2008 Pirates 67-95 record

1986 Pirates 64-98 record

1950 Pirates 57-96 record