Pirates History

April 22, 1891

The Pirates play their first game at Exposition Park, located on the north shore of the Allegheny River across from downtown Pittsburgh; not far from the current site of PNC Park.

1887

April 30 -- The Pittsburgh Alleghenies play their first National League game, defeating the defending league champion Chicago White Stockings, 6-2, in front of nearly 10,000 fans at Recreation Park.

1889

December -- The Alleghenies are renamed Pirates after signing second baseman Louis Bierbauer away from the Philadelphia Athletics.

1900

Barney Dreyfuss, owner of the defunct Louisville club, acquires controlling interest of the Pirates and brings 14 players with him, including future Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke.

1901

Led by Honus Wagner, who hit .353 with 126 RBI, the Pirates win the National League pennant for the first time, compiling an impressive 90-49 record.

1902

The Pirates go a remarkable 103-36, finishing 271/2 games ahead of second place Brooklyn, en route to their second National League pennant.

1903

October 1 -- Deacon Phillippe defeats the legendary Ty Cobb as the Pirates down the hometown Boston Pilgrims, 7-3, in the first World Series game in baseball history.

October 6 -- A crowd of 18,801 fills Exposition Park as the Pirates defeat the Boston Pilgrims, 4-2, in the first World Series game played in Pittsburgh. Boston, however, later emerges as the Series winner, overcoming a three-games-to-one deficit to win the best-of-nine competition, five games to three.

1906

May 6 -- The Pirates become the first team to use a canvas tarp to cover the infield when it rains.

1907

September 20 -- Nicholas Maddox becomes the first Pirates pitcher to throw a no-hitter by defeating Brooklyn, 2-1, at Exposition Park.

1909

June 30 -- An overflow crowd of 30,338 witnesses the Pirates fall to the Chicago Cubs, 3-2, in the first game played at Forbes Field, the nation's first ballpark made completely of poured concrete and steel.

October 16 -- In a World Series showdown between two of baseball's premiere players - Honus Wagner vs. Ty Cobb - the Pirates down the hometown Detroit Tigers, 8-0, in Game Seven to become World Champions for the first time. The real star of the Series, though, is rookie pitcher Babe Adams, who notches three victories, including the decisive seventh game shutout.

1911

October 12 -- Honus Wagner closes out the season with a .334 average, good enough to earn the "Flying Dutchman" his National League record eighth, and final, batting title.

1915

Fred Clarke, who led the Pirates to four pennants, a World Championship and more than 1,400 victories as a player-manager, retires after 16 years at the helm.

September 15, 1938

Lloyd and Paul Waner hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning at the Polo Grounds to become the first brothers to accomplish the feat in a major league game.

1921

August 5 -- KDKA, the world's first commercial radio station to schedule broadcasts on a regular basis, airs the first broadcast of a Major League game as Harold Arlin describes the action of the Pirates' 8-5 win over the Phillies at Forbes Field.

1925

October 15 -- In Game Seven of the World Series at Forbes Field, Kiki Cuyler laces an eighth-inning, two out, bases loaded, double off Washington's Walter Johnson to lead the Pirates to a 9-7 victory and their second World Championship.

1927

October 8 -- The National League Champion Pirates lose, 4-3, and are swept in four games by the New York Yankees and their famous "Murderer's Row" lineup featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

1935

May 25 -- At Forbes Field, Babe Ruth strokes the last three home runs of his career. The final blow is the first ever to clear the then 10-year-old right field roof.

1936

February 2 -- Honus Wagner joins Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson in being elected by the baseball writers as the first players to enter the new Baseball Hall of Fame. The actual induction ceremony doesn't take place until June 12, 1939.

1937

June 4 -- First baseman Gus Suhr sets the Pirates franchise record by playing in his 822nd consecutive game.

1941

July 8 -- At Detroit's Briggs Stadium, Pittsburgh's Arky Vaughan becomes the first player to hit two home runs in an All-Star Game, cracking a pair of two-run homers in the National League's 7-5 loss.

1948

April 26 -- Legendary announcer Bob Prince broadcasts his first Pirates game, joining another Pittsburgh favorite, Rosey Rowswell on the air. "The Gunner", as Prince was known, goes on to describe Pirates action for 28 years.

October 13, 1960

In Game Seven of the World Series at Forbes Field, Bill Mazeroski leads off the bottom of the ninth with the most dramatic home run in Series history, a blast over the left field wall, breaking a 9-9 tie with the Yankees and bringing Pittsburgh its third World Championship.

1951

May 6 -- Cliff Chambers pitches the second no-hitter in Pirates' history, a 3-0 victory in the second game of a doubleheader at Boston.

1952

September 27 -- Ralph Kiner finishes the season with a league-leading 37 homers to clinch his seventh consecutive N.L. home run crown.

1953

June 4 -- General manager Branch Rickey traded future Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner, the only man to lead his league in home runs for seven consecutive seasons.

1954

April 13 -- Seven years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, Pittsburgh rookie second baseman Curt Roberts makes his major league debut during the season opener at Forbes Field to become the first African American to play for the Pirates

1955

April 17 -- Roberto Clemente, a 20-year-old rookie from Carolina, Puerto Rico, makes his Major League debut in right field at Forbes Field.

1956

May 28 -- First baseman Dale Long sets a major league record by hitting a home run in his eighth consecutive game, a 3-2 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers at Forbes Field.

October 17, 1979

In Game Seven at Baltimore, Willie Stargell's third World Series homer lifts the Pirates to a 4-1 win and their fifth World Championship. Stargell is named Series MVP after the Pirates erase a three-games-to-one deficit and ground the Orioles.

1970

June 12 -- At Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, Dock Ellis no-hits the Padres, 2-0, to become the fourth Pirates pitcher to accomplish the feat.

June 28 -- The Pirates sweep a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 and 4-1, in the final games at 61-year-old Forbes Field.

July 16 -- In the first game at Three Rivers Stadium, the Pirates take the field in revolutionary double knit uniforms, and leave the field 3-2 losers to the Cincinnati Reds.

1971

September 1 -- The Pirates field what is believed to be baseball's first all-minority lineup in a 10-7 win over the Phillies at Three Rivers.

October 13 – At Three Rivers Stadium, Milt May drives in the winning run with a pinch-hit single in the eighth as the Pirates defeat the Baltimore Orioles in Game Four of the Fall Classic, the first night World Series game in baseball history.

October 17 – Steve Blass hurls a four-hitter and Roberto Clemente homers as the Pirates win Game Seven of the World Series, 2-1, at Baltimore, earning Pittsburgh its fourth World Championship

1972

September 30 -- At Three Rivers Stadium, Roberto Clemente hits a fourth-inning double off Jon Matlack and becomes only the 11^th player in major league history to reach the 3,000 hit plateau.

1975

September 16 -- Rennie Stennett sets a modern major league record by going 7-for-7 in a nine-inning game at Chicago's Wrigley Field.

1976

April 10 -- LLanny Frattare makes his major league broadcast booth debut as the Pirates defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4, at Veterans Stadium.

August 9 -- The 500th game in Three Rivers Stadium history turns out to be one of the most memorable as John Candelaria throws the first-ever no-hit, no-run game by a Pirates' pitcher in Pittsburgh, a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

1982

July 21 -- Willie Stargell hits his club record 475th home run, an eighth-inning, game-winning, pinch-hit solo shot at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium.

September 21, 1990

Barry Bonds becomes the first Pirates' player (and just the second major leaguer) in history to hit 30 or more homers and steal 50 or more bases in the same season.

1994

July 12 -- The largest crowd in Pittsburgh baseball history, 59,568, turns out as Three Rivers Stadium plays host to baseball's 65th All-Star Game. In a Midsummer Classic that is truly a classic Tony Gwynn leads off the 10th with a single and comes around to score the game-winning run in dramatic fashion on a double by Moises Alou as the National League posts an 8-7 victory.

1996

February 14 -- Kevin McClatchy and his financial partners purchase the Pirates and save the franchise from a move out of Pittsburgh by other potential buyers.

1997

July 12 -- In front of a sellout crowd at Three Rivers, Mark Smith's pinch-hit, three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th caps off a no-hitter by Francisco Cordova (nine innings) and Ricardo Rincon (one inning), the first combined, extra-inning no-hitter in major league history.

1999

April 7 -- PNC Park ceremonial groundbreaking takes place and the Sixth Street Bridge is renamed the Roberto Clemente Bridge.

2000

October 1 -- A crowd of 55,351, the largest ever to see a regular season baseball game in Pittsburgh, watches the Pirates fall to the Chicago Cubs, 10-9, in the final game at Three Rivers Stadium.

2001

April 9 -- PNC Park, the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates since their inception in 1887, opens along the shore of the Allegheny River and adjacent to Federal Street.