Pittsburgh Pirates: Three MVPs You May Have Forgotten

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UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1991: Former Los Angeles Dodger Maury Wills #30 bats during an Old Timers Baseball game circa 1991. Wills played for the Dodgers from 1959-66 and 1969-72. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

While the Pittsburgh Pirates have a handful of MVP’s in their franchise’s history, who are some players who won MVP awards with other teams, but play with the Bucs?

The Pittsburgh Pirates have received eight MVP awards from seven players. The eight include Andrew McCutchen’s 2013 award, Barry Bonds taking it home in 1990 and 1992, Willie Stargell in 1979, Dave Parker a year prior in 1978, Roberto Clemente in 1966, Dick Groat in 1960, and Paul Waner in 1927. In total, an MVP award has been handed out every season since 1911.

But the Pirates have had players in the organization that has won an MVP award, just not with the Bucs. Today, I want to look at three former players who were MVP recipients and played with the Pirates. These three players may have won the significant award, but it wasn’t in black and gold.

Maury Wills

Maury Wills was a five-time all-star from 1959 through 1972. Wills played most of his major league career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team he won his one and only MVP award with. However, he also spent two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1967 and 1968.

His MVP campaign was certainly a product of his era. Wills batted .299/.347/.373 with just a 99 OPS+ and 103 wRC+. Others like Willie Mays and Frank Robinson had far better offensive and defensive seasons. While his offense wasn’t terrible, the modern equivalent would be like if Chicago White Sox’s shortstop Tim Anderson took the award home in 2022. But Wills did swipe 104 bases in 117 total attempts.

Wills’s two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates were pretty similar to what he did in 1962. During his time in black and gold, Wills batted .290/.330/.340 with a 100 wRC+ 98 OPS+. Wills may not have swiped triple-digit bags, but he still stole 81, albeit in 112 total attempts (72.3% success rate). Although Wills had played shortstop for almost his entire career up to this point, the Pirates slid the infielder over to third base as the team had all-star Gene Alley on hand to man shortstop.

After his time in Pittsburgh, Wills would start the 1969 season out with the Montreal Expos before eventually finding his way back to the Dodgers. Wills would go on to play in the 1970-1972 campaigns before retiring. Sadly, Wills recently passed away in late September of this year.

Justin Morneau

Justin Morneau is one of the Minnesota Twins’ more memorable players. The first baseman played over the first ten seasons of his career in the Twin Cities. But one of the best seasons of his career was in 2006 when he took home the American League MVP award.

During that season, Morneau pieced together a .321/.375/.559 line, crushing 34 home runs. Morneau only struck out 14.1% of the time while posting a solid 8% walk rate. His .238 isolated slugging percentage was also well above average. Overall, Morneau had a .390 wOBA and 138 wRC+. While his numbers were far from terrible, others like Grady Sizemore, Alex Rodriguez, Vernon Wells, and Travis Hafner posted comparable or better numbers at the dish while providing a similar or better glove at their respective positions.

Regardless, Morneau would go on to play nearly seven more seasons with the Twins and make four all-star games. These were the only four all-star appearances he made and his 2006 season was a rare instance where a player won MVP despite not making the Mid-Summer Classic. In 2013, the first baseman had a solid .259/.315/.426 line, including a 102 wRC+, the Twins decided to trade Morneau at the August waiver deadline, given that they were just 58-76 at the time. Morneau was sent to the Pirates for outfielder Alex Presley and pitcher Duke Welker, but the former MVP would struggle down the line.

Morneau would bat just 260/.370/.312 with a 99 wRC+ in 25 games/92 plate appearances in black and gold. Although Morneau drew 13 walks and struck out just 12 times, he had just four extra-base hits during his time in Pittsburgh. They were all doubles, and he did not hit a single home run in September. Morneau had just a .052 ISO, a far cry from the .167 mark he had with Minnesota in ’13’13.

After the 2013 season, Morneau would go on to play with the Colorado Rockies in 2014 and 2015 and then the Chicago White Sox in 2016. Although Morneau never reached his late-2000s/early-2010s peak again because of a head injury, he still had some decent seasons in the home stretch of his playing career.

ST. LOUIS – SEPTEMBER 17, 1928. St. Louis Browns outfield for the 1928 season pose for a group portrait in Sportsmans Park in September. (L-R) are Heinie Manush, Fred Schulte, and Frank McGowan. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images) /

Frank Schulte

The very first-ever MVP winner also played in a Pirate uniform. Frank Schulte played over 1500 games with the Chicago Cubs, winning the MVP in 1911 and taking home two World Series rings. Schulte’s first MVP award was definitely a deserving one at that too.

During that season of the outfielder’s career, Schulte batted .300/.384/.534 with a 156 OPS+ and 149 wRC+. Schulte led the National League in OPS+, total home runs with 21 and ranked third in wRC+. Schulte’sSchulte’s 21 home runs today may not be too impressive, but up to this point in Major League Baseball history, he was one of just seven players to reach the 20 home run milestone. Honus Wagner was also a highly deserving candidate, but it could have gone either way in this era in baseball.

Schulte would make his way to Pittsburgh in the 1916 season. He appeared in the subsequent 1917 season but overall did not perform like the MVP he was in 1911. He only collected 311 plate appearances, batting .239/.308/.304 without a single home run and having an 87 OPS+. After his tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he would go on to play with the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Senators.

Next. Four Pirates Robbed of Rookie of the Year. dark

While Schulte may not be in the Hall of Fame or a top player in the sport’s history, he still has the distinction of being the first player ever to receive an MVP award in Major League Baseball. He was a power hitter before power hitting became a thing, and 20 home runs in this era of baseball essentially made him the 1911’s Aaron Judge.

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While the Pittsburgh Pirates have a handful of MVP’s in their franchise’s history, who are some players who won MVP awards with other teams, but play with the Bucs?

Maury Wills

Justin Morneau

Frank Schulte

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