Pittsburgh Pirates: The franchise all-time bracket

Five World Champions square off with three other great teams for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise supremacy.

Since the loss of its stars to free agency in the early 1990s, the Pittsburgh Pirates have generally been one of MLB’s laggard franchises. Since 1992, only four Pirates teams have posted winning records, all of those since 2013.

Historically, however, it’s a different story. Established in the early 1880s, the Pirates – despite their consistent recent losing ways – have a .503 franchise winning percentage. They also have produced five teams that won the World Series, plus a dozen others that made post-season appearances.

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In fact, it was a Pirate team – the 1903 club – that represented Pittsburgh in the first modern World Series ever played, losing to Boston in 1903.

The Pirates have a curious tendency to produce players whose standing approaches the status of mythical. Honus Wagner spent virtually all of his career with Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente and later Willie Stargell were lifetime Pirates. So was Paul Waner.

Those men all were elected to the Hall of Fame – Wagner with the inaugural class – and today are recognized as among the game’s immortals by any criteria, including off-field contributions.

The eight Pirate teams selected for this all-time bracket include the five World Series winners – the teams of 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979. Supplementing the field are three teams of unquestioned caliber that fill out the franchise’s storied history. They are the Pittsburgh Pirates of 1902, 1991 and 2015.

Each matchup in the tournament is decided based on seven criteria. You can think of each as a ‘game,’ the winner of four games advancing. The seven criteria are:

1. Game 1: Regular season winning percentage.
2. Game 2: Post-season winning percentage
3. Game 3: Team OPS+
4. Game 4: Team ERA+
5. Game 5 (if necessary): Team WAR
6. Game 6 (if necessary: Fielding percentage above the league average for the season in question.
7. Game 7 (if necessary): Hall of Famers or likely future Hall of Famers

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

No. 1 seed vs. No. 8 seed

The strength of the Pirate bracket is illustrated by the 1-8 matchup, pitting the 1909 World Series winners against the 1991 NL East division champions.

That 1991 team featured Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke, and Doug Drabek. Its 98-64 record dominated the NL East by 14 games, the only drawback being its loss in seven NLCS games to Atlanta. Bonds drove in 116 runs, Bonilla added 100 with a .302 average, and Drabek produced a 3.07  ERA in 35 starts.

The 1909 team is deserving of the overall top seed. That club raced through a tough National League with 110 victories against just 42 losses. Pittsburgh used a 16-game mid-September winning streak to salt away the pennant, improving on a 14-game streak from late May into mid-June.

Wagner batted .339 with 100 RBIs, while player-manager Fred Clarke hit .287. With a .260  team batting average, the Pittsburgh Pirates led the National League.

The team’s true strength, though, was on the mound. Howie Camnitz won 25 games, Vic Willis added 22 and the club’s top six pitchers all landed ERAs below 2.40.

Game 1: The 1909 team’s 110-42-2 regular-season record stands a full 17 games better than even the 1991 club’s 98-64 mark.

Game 2: The 1909 team won a seven-game World Series. The 1991 club lost a seven-game NLCS. That makes it 2-0 for 1909.

Game 3: By the narrowest of margins,  1991 gets on the board. That team’s 108 OPS+ is one point better than the 1909 team’s 107 OPS+.

Game 4: It’s going to be difficult for anybody to improve on the 1909  champions’ pitching. That team had a staff ERA+ of 125. Even with Drabek, the 1991 club, couldn’t manage better than 104.

Game 5: This series is over. The 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates compiled a 50.0 team WAR. The 1991 version only rose as high as 42.3.

Outcome: 1909 in six games

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

No. 2 vs. 7 seed

The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates were in some ways mirrors of the 1971  team. Clemente was gone, but Stargell remained, and Dave Parker had arisen as a powerful companion offensive force. Parker hit .310 with 94 RBIs, while Stargell —at age 39 – was still good for 82 RBIs. Bill Madlock led the team’s hitting stats at .328.

The 1979 team’s mound staff featured nobody with more than John Candelaria’s 14 victories, but Bert Blyleven made 37 starts and won 12 of his 17 decisions. The Pirates relied heavily on closer Kent Tekulve, who made 94 appearances, pitched 134 innings and finished 67 games, saving 31 of them.

The 2015 Pirates were the best team Pittsburgh fans have seen since 1991. Their 98 victories were good only for second in the NL Central, forcing them into a one-game playoff against the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta, who was virtually unhittable at that time. Arrieta and the Cubs won 4-0.

That 2015 team relied on its pitching. It ranked second in ERA at 3.21 and allowed a league-low 110 home runs.

Gerrit Cole emerged as a star, going 19-8 in 32 starts with a 2.60 ERA. Offensively, the approach emphasized balance, led by Starling Marte, Andrew McCutchen, and Neil Walker.

Game 1: This game ends in a un-resolvable tie. Both teams produced identical 98-64 records good for .605 winning percentages.

Game 2: The 1979 team won both its LCS and the World Series. That’s good enough to beat 2015, which lost its only post-season game.

Game 3: Neither team featured an overpowering offense. But the 1979 team’s 99 team OPS+ is a couple of notches better than the 2015 team’s 97.

Game 4: Cole is the key to the 2015 team’s pitching edge. That club had a 121 staff ERA+, good enough to beat 1979’s 114.

Game 5: The 1979 team takes a 3-1 advantage thanks to its collective WAR of 46.0, 5.5 points better than the 2015 team’s 40.5.

Game 6: The 2015 team’s .981 fielding percentage is three points below the league average for that season. In 1979, the Pittsburgh Pirates only fielded .979 … but that was one point better than the league average.

Result: 1979 by four games to one, with one tie

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

No. 3 vs. 6 seed

The 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates are probably the most obscure World Series champion in franchise history, and one of the more obscure in all of baseball. But it was a  deserving champion, led by Pie Traynor at third base and Max Carey in the outfield. Traynor hit .320, Carey batted .343 and right-fielder Clyde Barnhart hit .325. Yet none of them led the team in batting because center fielder Kiki Cuyler turned in a .357 mark.

At .307, the team led the National League in batting average. Traynor, Cuyler, Barnhart, and shortstop Glenn Wright all topped 100 RBIs.

The pitching wasn’t quite as dominant, but it was good enough with five 15-game winners.

Its opponent is another largely overlooked team the 1902 National League champions. This team pre-dated the 1903 inaugural World Series contestants by one season, but it was in many ways superior.

For starters, Jack Chesbro – who would jump to the American League at season’s end – led the 1902 team’s mound staff with an imposing 28 wins against just six defeats. The Pirates actually had three 20-game winners, counting Deacon Phillippe (20-9) and Jesse Tannehill (20-6) alongside Chesbro.

Wagner and Clarke were, of course, the offensive stars. Honus hit .330 in 1902 and Clark batted .316. But they had help. Outfielder Ginger Beaumont hit .357 and first baseman Kitty Bransfield batted .305. This was a deep and intimidating team both offensively and defensively, good enough to breeze to the NL pennant by a staggering 27.5 games.

In fact, the Pirates clinched the championship on Sept. 3, literally a month before the season’s end.

Game 1: The 1902 team’s 110-42-2 record, a .694 percentage, is one of the best in the game’s history, and is the best in franchise history.

Game 2: Since the World Series had not been invented in 1902, the 2015 team wins this one in a walkover, even with its 0-1 post-season record.

Game 3: The rout is on. The 1902 team’s 119 team OPS+ bludgeons the 2015 team’s 103.

Game 4: Not only did the 19102 Pirates have a 119 OPS+, but they also had a 119 ERA+. That’s good enough to beat even the 2015 club’s 115.

Game 5: The 1902 Pirates are too deep. Their 54.2 team WAR puts away the 2015 team, which manages just a 43 WAR.

Result: 1902 in five games

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

Semi-finals

1909 vs. 1971

Game 1: The 1909 teams .724 winning percentage is among the best in franchise history. The 1971 team’s pennant was based on a .599 winning percentage, but that’s not good enough.

Game 2: Both teams won the seven-game World Series. The 1971 team added a 3-1 win in the NLCS, giving them the edge.

Game 3: In 1909, the Pirates’ team OPS+ was 107. That’s good, but not quite good enough to beat the 1971 team’s 109.

Game 4: Pitching was the strength of the 1909 team, which had a staff ERA+ of 125. Since the 1971 team’s ERA+ was 104, that evens the series at two games each.

Game 5: The 1909 Pirates ran up a 50.0 WAR. That’s good enough to beat 1971, albeit just barely, given the 1971 team’s 49.4 WAR.

Game 6: The 1971 team’s .979 percentage was identical to the league fielding average. The 1909 team fielded .964. How did that compare with the 1909 league average? It’s eight points better.

Result: 1909 in six games

1979 vs. 1902

Game 1: The 1902 team’s 103-36 record amounts to a .738 percentage, the best in franchise history. As it did to its real-life competition, that buries the 1979 team’s .605 percentage by the equivalent of 16 and one-half games.

Game 2: Since the 1902 team did not play a post-season game, it concedes the second game to the 1979 World Series winners.

Game 3: Despite the presence of Madlock, Stargell, and Parker, the 1979 team’s offense was statistically average, measuring out to a 99 OPS+. Not so with the 1902 powerhouse, which turned in a 119 OPS+.

Game 4: the 1902 club also wins the pitching battle. With three pitchers above 125, its staff ERA+ is 11. The 1979 team’s staff ERA+ is close, at 114, but not good enough.

Game 5: Led by Wagner’s 7.3 season, the 1902 club amassed a 54.2 team WAR. The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates got a 6.7 season from parker, but the team  total stopped at 46.0

Result: 1902 in five games

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

Championship round

The Pittsburgh Pirates bracket heads into the way-back machine for a title match between the 1909 world champs and a 1902 team that was probably the best of its era. Both feature Wagner at his best supplemented by the insanely deep and talented pitching staff.

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Game 1: This is your basic knock-down, drag-out. Both teams top .690 in winning percentage. In the end, 1902’s 103-36-3 in 142 games equates to .738, making it better than the 1909 team’s 110-42-2 in 154 games, a .694 percentage.

Game 2: A forfeit to the 1909 club, evening the series at a game each.

Game 3: To date, none of the great Pirate teams have been able to match the 1902 club’s 119 OPS+…and the 1909 team’s 107 can’t either.

Game 4: 1902 also throws a 119 staff ERA+ at its opponents. The 1909 team’s impressive 114 staff ERA+ takes a rare defeat.

Game 5: The 50.0 WAR posted by Wagner’s 1909 team ought to beat almost any opponent. The problem is that Wagner’s 1902 team had a 54.2 WAR, giving it the victory.

Result: 1902 in five games

Although the 1902 club was never in this bracket extended beyond a fifth game, it’s worth noting that it’s .958 fielding percentage was an imposing 9 points better than the league’s .949 average that season.

And had the final gone to a seventh game – Hall of Famers—a tie-breaker would have been required. Both teams produced three: Chesbro, Clarke, and Wagner in 1902, Clarke, Wagner and pitcher Vic Willis in 1909.