1985 - The news was leaked that the Pirates hired Syd Thrift as their GM, replacing Harding Peterson (They held the official team press conference two days later). Syd, who enjoyed hardball politics as much as strategy, lasted until 1988 after a contentious relationship with the owners, but laid the groundwork for the powerhouse early-ninety clubs. Thrift traded for Doug Drabek, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Mike LaValliere, then hired Jim Leyland to run the show.
1990 - Whole lotta shakin’ going on as the following Bucs became free agents after the season: IF Wally Backman, RHP Doug Bair, SS Rafe Belliard, 1B Sid Bream, RHP Ted Power, OF Gary Redus, LHP Jerry Reuss, OF RJ Reynolds, C Don Slaught & LHP Zane Smith. Redus, Sluggo and Smith rejoined the team while the others moved on: Belliard & Bream to Atlanta, Backman to Philly, Bair spent two years on minor league deals and was done, Power to Cincy, Reuss retired, and Reynolds went to Japan for three years with a final season in Mexico.
1997 - The Regional Renaissance Initiative was soundly defeated at the polls. A funding mechanism for a new stadium, its defeat cast doubts as to whether Kevin McClatchy’s Pirates team could remain in Pittsburgh. Some later political twists and turns eventually led to the selling of the team and the building of PNC Park to save the franchise for the City.
2007 - The Pirates named third base coach John Russell as manager, replacing Jim Tracy. The Bucs' new skipper was the 2006 International League Manager of the Year at Scranton. He was never given much to work with, and in 2010 was fired as the Pirates manager after a 105 loss season and an overall record of 186-299. He was later replaced by Clint Hurdle.
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| Nate McLouth - 2008 Topps |
2008 - CF Nate McLouth won his first Golden Glove award, the first Bucco to take home the trophy since SS Jay Bell in 1993. Nate the Great committed one error during the season (a wayward throw in September), getting himself on the radar not only with his leather but by his hitting line of .276 BA/26 HR/46 2B/94 RBI/113 RS/26 SB. He also made the 2008 All-Star team.
2013 - LHP Francisco Liriano was named the Baseball Writer’s “Comeback Player of the Year.” It was the second time the southpaw took home the honor, having earlier won the same recognition from The Sporting News after 26 starts with a line of 16-8/3.02/9.1K per game posted after 26 starts.
2014 - C Russ Martin was named the Wilson Major League Defensive Catcher of the Year after losing the Golden Glove award to Yadier Molina the day before. Russell threw out 39% of the base-stealers who challenged him (league average - 28%), allowed just three passed balls and had a .994 fielding average while starting 106 regular season games behind the dish.
2015 - 3B Aramis Ramirez retired after 18 years in the show. A-Ram, 37, hit .283/.341/.492 with 386 home runs. He made his debut with the Pirates in 1998 and played here for parts of six years before being traded to the Chicago Cubs in a salary dump that still rankles. He returned as a stretch run rental from the Brewers in 2015, hitting .245 with six long balls. Ramirez played 17 seasons as a third baseman, never taking the field at another position other than DH, until that September when he manned 1B for the Bucs five times in his final go-round.
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| Corey Dickerson - 2018 Rawlings |
2018 - Corey Dickerson belied his rep as a meh gloveman with his work in PNC Park’s massive left field and took home his first Golden Glove award. He ranked first among NL left fielders with a .996 fielding percentage while making just one error in 263 chances and setting career highs with seven assists in 122 starts. Corey posted 16 defensive runs saved and recorded 10 outs above average to join Barry Bonds and Starling Marte as Bucco LF’s to win a GG.
2023 - Ke’Bryan Hayes won his first Rawlings Golden Glove, ending the 10-year reign of the Card’s Nolan Arenado and becoming the first Bucco hot cornerman to win a GG. There were many who thought he deserved the honor in 2022, when he outperformed Arenado in several key defensive metrics. Key led the MLB with 24 Defensive Runs Saved and all third basemen with +18 Outs Above Average. He claimed his second GG in ‘25, his last year as a Bucco before being traded to the Reds at the deadline.
2025 - The Pirates began its annual fall hosecleaning. During the postseason, OFs Andrew McCutchen and Tommy Pham became FAs. OTD, the FO placed OF Ji Hwan Bae, IF Liover Peguero and RHP Jack Little on waivers.The Mets claimed Bae, the Tigers took Little and Peguero became a free agent. The next day, RHPs Michael Darrel-Hicks and Dugan Darnell were DFA'ed. They needed the space as RHP Jared Jones, C/1B Endy Rodriguez, OF Ronny Simon and IF Enmanuel Valdez were reinstated from the IL to the 40-man. The club also added hard-throwing Indy RHP Ryan Harbin to the 40-man to keep him from FA to bring the roster to 39 players. Minor league guys who became FAs were C Brett Sullivan, 3B Nick Solak, OF Nelson Velazquez, RHP Beau Burrows and RHP Ryder Ryan; Sullivan, Solak and Ryan all got cups of coffee in Pgh during the ‘25 campaign.
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