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Pittsburgh Pirates: Teams You Didn’t Know These Players Played For

By Noah Wright

SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 8: Andrew McCutchen #26 of the New York Yankees is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run during a game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on September 8, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. The Yankees won 4-2. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - SEPTEMBER 8: Andrew McCutchen #26 of the New York Yankees is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run during a game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on September 8, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. The Yankees won 4-2. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK – AUGUST 06: John Smotlz #29 of the Boston Red Sox throws a pitch in the first inning of the AL baseball game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 6, 2009 in New York, New York. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – AUGUST 06: John Smotlz #29 of the Boston Red Sox throws a pitch in the first inning of the AL baseball game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 6, 2009 in New York, New York. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images) /

There are plenty of players in the Pittsburgh Pirates history who are known for their tenure in Pittsburgh, but did you know these players played for these teams?

At the beginning or end of a player’s career, they will often play for the team they’re not known for playing on. This includes plenty of notable players from the long, storied history of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

John Smoltz spent the 2009 season with the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox. Randy Johnson’s last season was spent in a San Francisco Giants uniform. Anthony Rizzo played his first 49 MLB games as a San Diego Padre. Justin Turner was a Baltimore Oriole for 17 games in 2009 and 2010. Manny Ramirez played his last MLB game with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Many of the best players in Pittsburgh Pirates history spent a season or even less with a team that you probably didn’t know they played for. Most of the time, it was at the very end of their career, the very start of their career, or, as in one case we’ll look at today, was traded as a rental on an expiring contract.

(Honorable mention goes to Willie Stargell being the Atlanta Braves first base coach in 1986-1988)

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