Ranking the Pittsburgh Pirates' five World Series winning teams

The Pittsburgh Pirates have won five World Series in their long and storied history, but which is the best among the five?

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a storied franchise and one of the oldest teams in Major League Baseball. They’ve been around since 1887 and participated in the first World Series, but lost to Boston in 1903. Since then, the Pirates have won five World Series rings, the first in 1909 and the latest in 1979.

Note that I am not solely looking at how many wins each team got or how quickly it took them to get to the World Series. I am mostly focusing on the team’s roster, who played (such as league factors), and the contributions they made. Stats like wRC+ and ERA+, where 100 is always league average, 101 is 1% better than average, and 99 is 1% worse than average, will be heavily weighed as it’s the best way to compare teams from so many different eras of baseball.

While the Pirates haven’t taken home a World Series trophy in a while, here’s to hoping they do in the near future. But among the five teams that have won a ring in the franchise’s history, how do they compare to one another, and who is the best?

Number Five
1960

The best way to describe the 1960 team is an extremely well rounded team, albeit with one without major star power. There was no pitcher or position player who was head and shoulders better than anyone else on the staff. They had a lot of players who came in and gave them solid results.

The 1960 team had seven position players with 300+ plate appearances and a league average or better wRC+ (100 or greater). Bill Mazeroski and Gino Cimoli were the only two below league average. Even then, both were in the ballpark of league average, with Maz sitting at 90 and Cimoli at 88. However, none had a wRC+ above 125.

The most valuable hitter on the team was Don Hoak, who slashed .282/.366/.445 with a .358 wOBA and 124 wRC+. While Hoak was second to Roberto Clemente in wOBA, wRC+, and OPS, Hoak had +5.1 fWAR while Clemente was at +3.4. Both were extremely valuable to the team’s line-up. Dick Groat, who won the National League MVP, batted .325/.371/.394 with a .347 wOBA and 116 wRC+ and was another highly productive member of the 1960 Pirates. Plus he was a fantastic defensive shortstop with +16 total zone runs.

Like on the hitting front of things, there wasn’t any starter that was so far below average that he was costing the team games. The worst was Harvey Haddix, who still had a 3.94 ERA (107 ERA-), 3.01 FIP (84 FIP-), and 1.32 WHIP. The team’s best pitcher that year was Bob Friend, who worked to a 3.00 ERA (81 ERA-), 2.54 FIP (72 FIP-), and 1.13 WHIP in 275.1 innings.

Surprisingly, a lot of the contributions came from unsung heroes, like Hal Smith (135 wRC+/286 PAs), Rocky Nelson (132 wRC+/234 PAs), Dick Schofield (129 wRC+/121 PAs). Roy Face and Fred Green were a knock-out set-up/closing duo. Combined, this team won 95 games. One of the few below-average hitters, Mazeroski, delivered one of the most iconic home runs in Major League history with his walk-off home run in World Series Game 7.

Number Four
1925

You can draw some comparisons between the 1960s Pirates team and the 1925 team. Both teams had a very well-rounded roster. Although the 1960s team didn’t have one star player who stood out above the rest, the 1925 team did, which, in my opinion, gives this vintage team the edge and puts it in our number four spot.

Again, this team didn’t really have a bad hitter. Eight players received at least 300 plate appearances. All had a wRC+ of 102 or greater. The lowest was Glenn Wright, their shortstop, who still posted a solid .308/.341/.480 triple slash, 18 home runs, and a 102 wRC+. Wright was also an extremely valuable defender, racking up +14 total zone runs.

Most of the Pirates’ regulars this season sat in the 110-130 wRC+ range. Five of the eight regulars fell into this range. One was then-future Hall of Famers, third baseman Pie Traynor and center fielder Max Carey. Although this was an era when rosters weren’t nearly as deep, and players were expected to play almost every single day, bench guys like Johnny Gooch and Stuffy McInnis both were pretty solid semi-regulars.

Though like I stated earlier, there was one player who stood out above the rest, and that was outfielder Kiki Cuyler. Cuyler batted .357/.434/.598 with a 151 wRC+. Cuyler was a positive influence in center field with +5 total zone runs. In terms of fWAR and wRC+, this was the very best season of the Hall Of Fame outfielder’s career.

The pitching staff was also quality. Five pitchers started 26 or more games, but each had an ERA+ of 108 or better. In terms of ERA, all were 5% better than average or better. Again, none stood out as better than the rest, with the best being Lee Meadows with his 3.67 ERA, 2.96 FIP, and 1.32 WHIP.

The worst was Emil Yde. Even though Yde was technically the worst, he still had a quality 4.13 ERA, 3.61 FIP, and 1.59 WHIP. It is worth noting that all five starters had a FIP below 4.00. 43-year-old Babe Adams was the only pitcher to have appeared in at least 25 games and have a below-average ERA. But even then, he still had a solid 2.92 FIP.

Number Two
1909

Our second-best Pirates World Series-winning team is the very first of the franchise. We have to go back to the days of Honus Wagner for this one. Wagner led the charge on this team, but overall, they had one of the best offenses and pitching staffs among any of the Pirates’ World Series-winning teams.

Wagner batted .339/.420/.489 that season with a league and park-adjusted 174 wRC+. All three of his triple-slash numbers led the league, as well as his OPS+ (and, in proxy, OPS), doubles at 39, and RBI at 100. Wagner was by far the team’s best hitter this season, but he wasn’t the only notable batter.

Fred Clarke (130), Dots Miller (121), Tommy Leach (118), and George Gibson (107) were all above league average hitters, per wRC+. Overall, this Pirates team led the league in runs scored at 701, batting average at .260, slugging percentage at .353, wOBA at .335, and OPS at .680. They also ranked second in the league in OBP at .327.

The Pirates’ pitching this season was also phenomenal. Their best arm was Howie Camnitz, who had a 1.62 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 2.12 FIP through 283 innings of work. Camnitz allowed just one home run. His 4.2 K/9 ratio was well above the league average, and overall, he had the sixth-best ERA. Once you adjust for league and park factors, Camnitz had a 158 ERA+.

But every single Pirates pitcher who threw at least 100 innings was great. In total, six Pirates pitchers threw 100+ frames, with the lowest ERA+ being Lefty Leifield at 109. Camnitz was only the second-highest on the team. Babe Adams had the best ERA+ at 232 (1.11 ERA) in 130 innings pitched (25 total appearances, 12 starts). As a team, their 2.07 ERA was the 2nd best in baseball.

Number One
1971

Unlike the 1960 team, this was a squad with star talent all the way around. Willie Stargell was in his prime, Roberto Clemente was still one of baseball’s best outfielders, even as he was approaching his late 30s, and Manny Sanguillen was also one of the top players at his position. Plus they got major contributions from Al Oliver and Richie Hebner.

The 1960 team didn’t have a regular who exceeded a wRC+ of 130. Four Pirates players did that in ‘71. Stargell was by far the best, as he hit .295/.398/.628 with 48 home runs. Stargell had a 186 wRC+ and a +8.2 fWAR. Even though he wasn’t known for his defensive prowess, he was actually above average this season with +3 TZR in left field. He truly deserved the MVP award this year, but Joe Torre of the St. Louis Cardinals stole it.

Besides Stargell, Clemente, despite being 36, had a 148 wRC+, .388 wOBA, and .871 OPS, all of which ranked top 15 in the league in what ended up tragically being his next to last season. Bob Robertson also had a 140 wRC+ in 536 plate appearances. Sanguillen (117), Hebner (131), and Oliver (116), each were at least 16% better than league average in the eyes of wRC+. Gene Alley was the only batter who was significantly below average with a 77 wRC+.

While hitting was the major carrying point of this team, the Pirates still had four starters with 90+ IP and an ERA+ of 100 or greater. Steve Blass ended up having the best year, with a 2.85 ERA, 3.06 FIP, and 1.23 WHIP in 33 starts/240 IP. But Dock Ellis made his one and only all-star game in ‘71, and finished out the year with a 3.06 ERA, 2.96 FIP, and 1.19 WHIP. Bob Johnson (100 ERA+/174.2 IP) and then-rookie Bruce Kinson (102 ERA+/95.1 IP) were also productive members of the staff.

Dave Giusti was the team’s closer, and he saved 30 games en route to a 2.93 ERA, 3.04 FIP, and 1.28 WHIP. He had support from swingman Nelson Briles (3.04 ERA/3.32 FIP in 37 games/14 starts), Mudcat Grant, and Jim Nelson.