Hometown Kids: The Top Five Pirates From Pittsburgh
There have been many great players to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the team's 139-year history as an organization. Guys like Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente, and Babe Adams have all worn the Black and Gold and represented the city with pride. While the city takes pride in these great players, that pride booms, even more, when a player on the team was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Overall, the Steel City has produced over 130 MLB players, but only a select few have got the opportunity to play for their hometown team. Some have only made it a couple of games in Black and Gold, while others centered their entire career around being a Pittsburgh Pirate.
Today, we are taking a look at some of the best Pittsburgh natives to play in a Pirates uniform. Our list spans every season since the Pirates began back in 1882, and includes players from multiple different positions. Some were fan favorites on bad teams, others changed the clubs' culture, and some even helped lead the Pirates to the ultimate prize of being World Series Champions. No matter what they did on the field, there was always a special place for these players in the hearts of Pirates fans. Pittsburgh is a city that cherishes its professional athletes, and these players embodied that Pittsburgh blue-collar work ethic and achieved the ultimate prize of making the Big Leagues.
#5 IF John Wehner (1991 - 1996, 1999 - 2001)
While he never held a starting role on the team, there were few players as memorable in the 1990s as Pittsburgh's own John Wehner. Whener was drafted by his hometown team in 1988 and had a consistent spot on the Pirates bench throughout the 90s. In total, nine of his 11 Major League seasons were spent in Pittsburgh and he hit .250 with four home runs and 47 RBI in 364 games played. He was part of two of the three playoff teams in the early 90s, with his highest performance coming in 1991 when he hit .340 with no home runs and seven RBI. He played throughout the early 90s until the Pirates DFA'd him after the 1995 season and was claimed by the LA Angels.
He played two seasons in Florida before the Pirates resigned their hometown boy prior to the 1999 season. He resumed his role as a Pirates bench player and finished his career hitting .223 with two home runs and 23 RBI. One of Wehner's most memorable moments in a Pirates uniform came during the last home game at Three Rivers Stadium in 2000. On October 1st, 2000, Whener lifted the final home run in Three Rivers Stadium, a solo shot as the Pirates fell to the Cubs 10-9. It was the last home run of Wehner's Big League career and a moment fans will never forget. Wehner is still a member of the Pirates today, as a color commentator in the Broadcast Booth.
#4 IF Sean Casey (2006)
Pittsburgh's favorite son Sean Casey was a well-established Major Leaguer long before he came to the Pirates in 2006. He spent eight seasons with the rival Cincinnati Reds, and one with the Cleveland Indians, before being traded to Pittsburgh for David Williams before the 2006 season. He had also already written his name in the PNC Park history books, being the first player to hit a home run at PNC Park on Opening Day in 2001. When Casey came to Pittsburgh, he came with a lot of fanfare because Pittsburgh's son was coming home. He would win the starting first baseman's job out of Spring Training and played 59 games with the club that season.
He ended up having a successful run in the Black and Gold hitting .296 with three home runs and 29 RBI in 59 games. He didn't use the short porch in right field as much as the Pirates thought he would, but he was able to plug the big gaps at PNC Park, recording 15 doubles during the season. However, Casey wasn't in it for the long-haul in Pittsburgh and was brought in as a flip-candidate to get Pirates fans excited. He ended up being traded at the deadline that season to the Detroit Tigers for Brian Rogers. Casey's career may have ended up being a short one in Pittsburgh, but he brought some excitement to a fan base that was longing for a winner.
#3 IF Ed Abbaticchio (1907 - 1910)
In the early 1900s, the Pittsburgh Pirates were one of the most dominant teams in the MLB. They played the Boston Beaneaters in the first World Series in 1903 and continually were battling for the National League crown. However, in 1907, they were making another run to be the top team in the NL, and they brought in a local kid to help anchor the roster. That local kid was Latrobe's own Ed Abbaticchio, who in 1897 became the first Italian-American to play Major League Baseball. After missing the 1906 season, Abbaticchio burst back onto the MLB scene with his hometown Pirates in 1907 hitting .262 with two home runs and 82 RBI in 146 games played. He helped the Pirates to 91 wins that year, but it was good enough for a second-place finish behind the Chicago Cubs.
Abbaticchio would spend both the 1908 and 1909 seasons in a Pirates uniform and helped them build back to being a World Series Contender. 1908 was the last season that he was a starter for Pittsburgh, as he appeared in 146 games again, but this time hit just .250 with a home run and 61 RBI. It was an even better season for the Pirates as a team, posting a 98-56 record, but the three-way battle between the Pirates, Cubs, and New York Giants once again ended with the Cubs on top. Entering his age 32 season in 1909, Abbaticchio was replaced in the starting lineup by Dots Miller. Abbaticchio was reduced to a bench role but still managed to hit .230 with a home run and six RBI. He did not play a big role in the 1909 World Series, earning just one at-bat, but he did manage to help his team to their first World Series championship.
#2 IF Neil Walker (2009 - 2015)
For fans of the Pirates born after 1990, losing was all they really associated with the Pittsburgh Pirates. During the 21-year-losing streak, there were some good teams, but they never had the right combination to break .500. That was until 2013 when the team made the playoffs for the first time since 1992 and brought playoff baseball back to Pittsburgh. One of the key contributors to that team was hometown kid Neil Walker. Walker was drafted by the Pirates back in the 2004 MLB draft and made his MLB debut in 2009. All-in-All, he spent seven seasons in Pittsburgh and hit .272 with 93 home runs and 418 RBI over 836 games in a Pirates uniform.
However, some of his most productive years came when the Pirates were in the playoffs from 2013 - 2015. He put up middle-of-the-road numbers during the initial playoff push in 2013, hitting .251 with 16 home runs and 53 RBI, but it was during the 2014 playoff push that he really began to show what type of production he could provide. He ended up hitting .271 that season while setting a career-high in home runs (23) while driving in 76 RBI. The Pirates had three all-stars that season (Andrew McCutchen, Josh Harrison, and Tony Watson) but Walker was unfortunately not chosen. He finished out his Pirates career in 2015 when he saw a regress in power, hitting 16 home runs, and driving in 71 RBI. That would be his final year in a Pirates' uniform as he was traded to the New York Mets after the season. However, Walker will forever be loved in Pittsburgh for bringing winning baseball back to Pittsburgh.
#1 IF Honus Wagner (1900 - 1917)
Long before there was Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente, there was arguably one of the greatest Pirates to put on the uniform. Honus Wagner was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in the Chartiers Valley area. Baseball was his life, and after playing three years in Louisville, he returned to where it all started playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is one of the most decorated Pirates of all-time with a World Series Championship, seven batting titles, and four National League RBI crowns under his belt. From 1900 to 1913, he never had a batting average under the .320 mark. He is the Pirate's all-time hits leader with 3,420 hits and is one of just three Pirates players to ever eclipse the 3,000-hit mark.
Wagner played on a lot of successful teams in Pittsburgh, but his big moment was the 1909 season as he led the organization to their first-ever World Series Championship. He led the National League in doubles (39), RBI (100), batting average (.339), on-base percentage (.420), and slugging percentage (.489). The 1909 World Series featured two of the best players in the game going at it as Wagner led the Pirates against Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers. It was the first time the batting champions from each league faced each other in a World Series, and Wagner showed he was the superior hitter. He hit .333 over the seven-game series and stole a World Series record six bases. Wagner is not only the best Pittsburgh Pirates player from Pittsburgh of all-time but one of the best Pirates players of all-time.
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