The Pirates have retired the numbers of seven of their
players, all Hall of Famers. The standard is high to be immortalized by the
Pirates, but the long history of black-and-gold baseball features some of the
game's all-time greats. Stroll around the perimeter of beautiful PNC Park, and
you will find some of them -- Honus Wagner, Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente
and Bill Mazeroski -- looming larger than life. That is an accurate
representation of those players, icons in baseball and Pittsburgh alike.
BILLY MEYER, MANAGER: NO. 1
NUMBER RETIRED:
1954
Meyer played parts of three seasons in the Majors for the
White Sox and Athletics from 1913-17, won eight pennants as a Minor League
manager from 1926-47 and became the Pirates' manager in 1948. In his first
season, the well-liked Meyer was named Sporting News Manager of the Year as
Pittsburgh finished 83-71. Overall, the Pirates went 317-452 during Meyer's
five seasons at the helm.
RALPH KINER, OF: NO. 4
NUMBER RETIRED:
1987
Kiner, inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in
1975, won or shared the National League home run title in each of his seven
full seasons with the Pirates and went deep 301 times overall for Pittsburgh.
In 1949, Kiner hit a single-season club record 54 home runs while recording his
second 127-RBI season in three years. Kiner put together five straight
40-homer, 100-RBI seasons from 1947-51.
WILLIE STARGELL, OF/1B: NO. 8
NUMBER RETIRED:
1982
The legendary, beloved "Pops" spent his entire
21-year career in Pittsburgh and still stands as the club's all-time leader in
home runs, RBIs and extra-base hits. The two-time World Series champion (1971
and '79) and '79 National League co-MVP batted .282 with 475 home runs and
1,540 RBIs in 2,360 Major League games. A seven-time NL All-Star who won NLCS
and World Series MVP honors in 1979, Stargell was inducted into the Hall of
Fame in 1988, his first year of eligibility. Stargell was also the first Pirate
to win MLB's Roberto Clemente Award, taking home the honor named for his former
teammate in 1974.
BILL MAZEROSKI, 2B: NO. 9
NUMBER RETIRED:
1987
Mazeroski hit one of the most famous home runs in Major
League history, the walk-off winner against the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1960
World Series -- the first and only World Series Game 7 walk-off homer. But
Mazeroski reached the Hall of Fame in 2001 due to his reputation as perhaps the
best defensive second basemen ever. "Maz" won eight Gold Glove
Awards, made seven All-Star teams and secured two World Series rings with the
Pirates. Mazeroski retired after 17 seasons with the Pirates as the owner of
2,016 hits, a .260 lifetime average and 138 home runs.
PAUL WANER, OF: NO. 11
NUMBER RETIRED:
2007
The Pirates retired Waner's No. 11 in 2007, 42 years after
his death and 62 years after the final game of his 20-year career as an
extra-base machine. "Big Poison" batted a franchise-record .340
during his 15 seasons with the Pirates while recording 2,868 of his 3,152
career hits and 558 of his 605 career doubles. Waner was the first player in
Pirates history to win the National League MVP Award in 1927, when he recorded
237 hits and 131 RBIs for the NL pennant-winning Bucs. One of the most
accomplished hitters of the 1930s, Waner retired in 1945 with the sixth-highest
hit total in MLB history. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of
Fame in 1952.
PIE TRAYNOR, 3B: NO. 20
NUMBER RETIRED:
1972
Traynor spent 17 seasons with the Pirates, earning a
reputation as the best third baseman of his era while posting a career .320
average. Traynor slugged only 58 home runs but recorded 2,416 hits and 1,273
RBIs and recorded more walks than strikeouts in his career. A World Series
champion in 1925, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1948 -- the first
third baseman ever voted in by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Traynor also managed the Pirates from 1934-39.
ROBERTO CLEMENTE, OF: NO. 21
NUMBER RETIRED:
1973
An icon on and off the field, Clemente's success in a
Pirates uniform was surpassed only by his humanitarian work. Clemente won four
batting titles, batted .317 in his career and recorded exactly 3,000 career
hits while slugging 240 home runs. He was a 12-time All-Star, the 1966 NL MVP,
a two-time World Series champion and the '71 World Series MVP. Known for his
powerful arm in right field, Clemente won 12 straight Gold Glove Awards from
1961-72. Clemente tragically passed away in a plane crash while attempting to
deliver relief supplies from his native Puerto Rico to Nicaragua on Dec. 31,
1972. The Hall of Fame waived its five-year waiting period and inducted
Clemente in 1973.
HONUS WAGNER, SS: NO. 33
NUMBER RETIRED:
1952
Widely regarded as the game's greatest shortstop and the
Pirates' best player, Wagner was one of five players inducted into the Hall of
Fame's first class in 1936. "The Flying Dutchman" played for
Pittsburgh from 1900-17, won eight batting titles and recorded 2,967 of his
3,420 career hits for the Pirates. Wagner, born in Carnegie, also finished his
21-year career with 1,732 RBIs and 723 stolen bases; he led the NL in steals
five times and won four NL RBI titles. A statue of Wagner has followed the
Pirates from Schenley Park, near Forbes Field, to Three Rivers Stadium and,
now, the home-plate entrance of PNC Park.
DANNY MURTAUGH, MANAGER: NO. 40
NUMBER RETIRED:
1977
In his 15 years as manager, Murtaugh guided the Pirates to
two World Series victories (1960 and '71) while posting an overall record of
1,115-950. He ranks second on the Pirates' all-time win list behind only Fred
Clarke. Murtaugh, named the Sporting News Manager of the Year in 1960 and '70,
served four stints as Pittsburgh's manager after finishing his playing career
with the Pirates. Murtaugh also wrote out a historic lineup on Sept. 1, 1971,
when the Pirates fielded MLB's first all-minority lineup.
NOTE: On April
15, 1997, the Pirates joined every team in MLB in retiring No. 42 in honor of
Jackie Robinson.
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