I struggled with where exactly to end this era and what exactly to call it. In the end I decided the best stopping place would be the last year before the pitcher's mound was lowered and the strike zone changed. Basically this is a combination of the Post-War Era and the Dead Ball 2 Era. I really had no clue what to call this time frame though. For some reason I always considered post World War II to be the beginning of the modern era. Why? I'm not really sure maybe it’s because it was around this time the relief pitcher role started to become more prominent. Anyway you should all know the drill by now:
Catcher: Like most races we find ourselves with two qualified candidates that have several seasons that fit the bill. Jim Pagliaroni and Smokey Burgess are the two choices here. Pagliaroni's best year came in 1964 and Burgess's best year came two years earlier in 1962. Both were strong candidates but I gave the edge to Burgess as his year featured a little bit more power and he knocked in more runs. During his 1962 campaign Smokey Burgess batted .328/.375/.500 with a wRC+ of 129. He hit 13 HR on the year and like Burgess always was he was particularly difficult to strike out going down on strikes under 5% of the time. Being honest here from 1959-1962 (with the exception of a little less power in 1960) Burgess largely posted the same basic stat line.
First Base: In 1951 Kiner saw his only action at 1B and had it been enough to qualify him his season would have easily won him a spot on this team and quite possibly the 1B job on the all time team. Kiner ended the year with significantly more time in the OF though leaving us with a handful of lesser but still worthy candidates. Donn Clendenon, Dick Stuart, Hank Greenberg and Dale Long all posted at least one season worthy of consideration as did Johnny Hopp but I quickly dismissed his best season due to a low amount of PA. Long was the next one to fall out as I saw his numbers as no better than comparable to the others and he did so in less playing time as well. That left Clendenon's '66 season, Stuart's '61 season and Greenberg's '47. They all had power with the lowest HR total being 25 and all showed good OBP skills with the lowest being .344. Really I could have went with any of three but I ended up giving this title to Stuart's 1961 season where he belted 35 HR and hit .301/.344/.581. It was easily the best power season of the trio and with a wRC+ of 141 it was tied with Clendenon's 1966 for best offensive season relative to the league. As an odd fact I have yet to put a stolen base on the team as both Burgess and Stuart had 0 during the year I selected.
Second Base: Even the casual Pirates fan should know who ruled the second base position during this time frame. With all due respect to a fine 1948 and 1950 season from Danny Murtaugh this came down to picking which season was Bill Mazeroski's best. A renowned defender I simply picked his best offensive season which I judged to be 1959 when he hit 19 home runs. We finally have our first steal on the team although he only got one on the year. His overall line of .275/.308/.439 and a 97 wRC+ makes him one of the worst offensive players on any of the team's so far but we all know that offense really wasn't what Mazeroski was all about.
Third Base: Maury Wills and Bob Bailey each had a few decent seasons but this race ultimately came down to two players. The race ended up being as most others between on base ability and power with the representatives in this case being Don Hoak and Frank Thomas respectively. The first thing to consider was that Thomas also spent the earlier part of his career in the outfield and had a few fine seasons there but as you might already realize there was no place for him in either corner spot. I tend to prefer high OBP guys over big power guys but Thomas' 1958 season kept drawing me to it. Essentially I had them in a dead heat so I ended up using simple logic to break it. Thomas spent the majority of his career as an OF therefore I assumed his defense wasn't the best and gave it to the Hoak who was regular 3B throughout his career. Hoak had fairly similar seasons in 1960 and 1961 so it was a tossup as to which one I ended up giving the edge to 1960. His slash line of .282/.366/.445 was a little worse than his 1961 marks but in 1960 he hit more home runs (16 to 12), scored more runs (97 to 72) and batted in more runs (79 to 61). Hoak posted a wRC+ of 123 on the season and stole 3 bases bringing our team total to 4.
Shortstop: For the first time since the Pre-1900 era we actually have something of a battle for the shortstop position. The two players who I considered for this spot are Gene Alley and Dick Groat. Neither player was an outstanding offensive performer like we had in the last two eras but both were solid for their position and are widely considered to be good defenders. Both players had multiple seasons worthy of consideration with Alley having the slight edge on power and Groat OBP but the differences were small. My final decision by a hair ended up being Dick Groat's 1960 and to be honest I'm not 100% sure why I picked it other than it just felt a tad better than the other choices. That year Groat his .325/.371/.394 with a 116 wRC+. He only hit 2 HR on the year and as is a theme with this team stole no bases. It continues to amaze me how stationary this team is so far.
Left Field: There is no debate to be had here on the player worthy of this honor just which season of his to select. Recently due to his passing a lot has been said about the great Ralph Kiner and let be another voice in that chorus. The man was simply an outstanding baseball player one of the all time Pirates greats. I of course never got to see him play but I've heard stories about him and know it would have been a privilege to watch him. Us of a more recent vintage know what it is like to watch a bad baseball team but have something that is special on it (Brian Giles, Jack Wilson's defense, Oliver Perez and his one amazing summer) and for the teams of the late 40's early 50's Kiner was that something special. Picking his best season was no easy challenge but really I couldn't ignore 54 HR and a .310/.432/.658 batting line in 1949. He drove in 127 runs that year and had an offensive performance 80% above league average. Not only all this but he also contributed was is currently a team high 6 SB.
Center Field: I'd say in all there are 5 reasonable options here and they are Matty Alou, Wally Westlake, Manny Mota, Bill Virdon and the return of Frank Thomas. Manny Mota was the first one dropped as his best season came with limited PA. Westlake and Thomas were essentially the exact same type of player and posted near identical stat lines during their best seasons in CF. Bill Virdon had a bunch of good seasons but only his 1956 measures up to the rest of the pack. Matty Alou was the center fielder during the deepest part of second dead ball era and while his numbers are slightly behind the rest in raw terms they are very comparable given the environment he played in. With the differences being so small here I used a tiebreaker which is probably not the best idea to use but it fits just as well as everything else and that was who fits what I need on this team the most. From the earlier positions you can see me talking about the lack of steals well that’s because with no true base stealing and therefore leadoff hitter on this team I used that to decide the race here and give the edge to Matty Alou. Alou had a few similar seasons but 1968 was the year of the pitcher making his .332/.362/.396 line and 128 wRC+ my favorite. Alou hit no home runs that season but stole 18 bases.
Right Field: Left field was an incredibly easy choice but it wasn't the easiest one for this team. That honor belongs to the right fielder. The choice here was quite simply Roberto Clemente with the only detail being which one to choose. For the record I wound up choosing his 1967 performance when he hit .357/.400/.554 with a 170 wRC+. He hit 23 HR that season and chipped in 9 stolen bases. As for Clemente I don't think I really need to say anything here anyone even remotely familiar with the Pittsburgh Pirates (meaning you know there is a baseball team in Pittsburgh) knows about Roberto Clemente.
Bench: I mentioned so many great players that failed to earn a spot that it seems a little odd to me I would even consider going with someone who didn't even prove worthy of a mention above but that is what I did and he ended up being my choice. I really feel bad for leaving Frank Thomas off my list and Gene Alley was a very good shortstop and Donn Clendenon, Hank Greenberg, Maury Wills, etc were all very deserving but in the end the bench spot went to a young player who is more known for what he did in the next era and for being the veteran leader of those teams. Without spoiling anything I can say Willie Stargell is guaranteed a spot on the next era's team but the fact he slides in here comes as a bit of a surprise to me. In 1966 as the regular LF Willie Stargell put up an excellent season but if you reread the LF section you will notice didn't even worthy a mention that is how good Kiner was. As for Stargell's season he hit an impressive .315/.381/.581 (a 159 wRC+) while knocking out 33 HR and driving in 102 runs. Let's just say if my team ever needs a DH we are in pretty good shape.
Starting Rotation: This is the first era that has something close to a modern day split. The starting pitchers are still throwing a few more games and more innings that their current counter parts but they rarely pitch in relief now and for the most part there is a clear distinction between starting pitchers and relief pitchers. As for the rotation it features two guys who stand a head above the rest and then a lot of other quality choices.
1964 Bob Veale: I could have chose any of Veale’s seasons from 1964-1966 as all three were very good but I went with his ’64 campaign as he reached a career high in both innings pitched, wins and of this 3 year stretch posted his best ERA. Veale pitched 279.2 innings compiling a record of 18-12 with a 2.74 ERA. He was a strikeout pitcher with 8.05 K/9 but had some trouble with control with a walk rate of 3.99 BB/9. In his 1968 campaign he posted a better ERA but that was the year of the pitcher and his K rates were far lower making his ’64 season the better one in my mind.
1963 Bob Friend: Friend’s 1960 season might have been a hair better than his 1963 campaign but this campaign featured a much better ERA of 2.34 (compared to 3.00). The shiny ERA proved too much for me to ignore especially since the rest of his numbers were similar. Friend was a polar opposite of Veale relying more on control than strikeout ability. In 1963 Friend struck out only 4.82 batters per nine but displayed excellent command with 1.47 BB/9. His record on the year was an unimpressive 17-16 and he pitched 268.2 innings on the season.
1960 Vern Law: I didn’t put Law with the top two as he felt a step behind to me but he was clearly a touch above the others. It wasn’t his best season ERA wise but to me I think 1960 was the best of his career. Law posted a solid 3.08 ERA while relying on control with 3.98 K/9 compared to 1.33 BB/9. On the season he was a great 20-9 starting 35 games and pitching a total of 271.2 innings.
1968 Steve Blass: I had originally set out with the intention to try to avoid the year of the pitcher but Blass’s performance this year was too good not to put here. Veale’s 1968 was great but there is a strong case to be made that Blass’s was better. Blass posted a miniscule 2.12 ERA on his way to an 18-6 record. His rates were 5.39 K/9 and 2.33 BB/9. He pitched 220.1 innings on the year starting 31 games and appearing in relief twice more.
1959 Harvey Haddix: This ended up being a tight race between Haddix and Joe Gibbon’s 1961 season. In the end I went with Haddix for two main reasons. Gibbon’s ’61 season would have marked the first starter to make a team with less than 200 IP and having a 5th starter who pitched a game where he threw 12 perfect innings was too hard to pass up. The best game ever pitched was thrown by Haddix this year and though his season as a whole doesn’t quite measure up to the top 3 in the staff that one game was still something special. On the year Haddix went only 12-12 over 224.1 innings logging an ERA of 3.13. He struck out 5.98 batters per nine while walking only 1.97.
As previously mentioned Joe Gibbon’s 1961 season would be my 6th starter. Others I considered include Murray Dickerson, Bob Moose and Ron Kline.
Relief Pitcher: Al McBean had a spectacular 1964 where he saved 22 games with a microscopic 1.91 ERA and he had another great campaign in 1965 but let’s be honest with ourselves here he never really stood a chance. The relief pitcher of this era is undoubtedly Roy Face. In 1962 he appeared in 63 games recording an era high 28 saves all while posting a 1.88 ERA. That right there should have been the easy winner but Face three years earlier did something that is impossible to ignore. That year Face saved only 10 games posting a good but not spectacular 2.70 ERA but he went an out of this world 18-1 in only 93.1 innings pitched. Simply a remarkable feat but still not enough on its own to top his 1962 season however his 1959 season is pushed over the top by its superior K/9 rate (6.65 to 4.45) and better FIP (2.60 to 3.25). For the record Face started no games either year making him our first relief pitcher with that distinction.
Once again here is the just for fun Opening Day lineup
1. 1968 Matty Alou, CF (L)
2. 1960 Don Hoak, 3B (R)
3. 1967 Roberto Clemente, RF (R)
4. 1949 Ralph Kiner, LF (R)
5. 1961 Dick Stuart, 1B (R)
6. 1962 Smoky Burgess, C (L)
7. 1960 Dick Groat, SS (R)
8. 1959 Bill Mazeroski, 2B (R)
9. 1964 Bob Veale, P (S)
Now of course what the team looks like just looking at the era as a whole instead of individual seasons.
C: Smoky Burgess
1B: Donn Clendenon
2B: Bill Mazeroski
3B: Don Hoak
SS: Dick Groat
LF: Ralph Kiner
CF: Bill Virdon
RF: Roberto Clemente
BN: Willie Stargell
We are left with a very similar makeup. Clendenon edges out Stuart based on longevity and Virdon does the same Matty Alou but that is it. Frank Thomas made a good run at Hoak but lost out do to not spending a lot of time at the position. The bench spot pretty much came down to Stargell's bat versus Gene Alley's glove. Bob Skinner and Frank Thomas made runs here but feel a little short.
SP: Bob Friend
SP: Vern Law
SP: Bob Veale
SP: Murry Dickson
SP: Harvey Haddix
RP: Roy Face
Once again few changes. Dickson replaces Blass in the rotation and Haddix once again barely holds off Joe Gibbon. Face has a strong challenger in Al McBean but easily holds on.
