Prior to this era all the other eras have been defined by changes in baseball history such as the end of the dead ball era, the end of segregation and the lowering of the mound but this era finds itself defined by something unique to the Pirates. When I started this exercise I knew I wanted to create an all streak team and that the formation of such a team would cause a pre streak team hence the reason for this era. Now to me this era seems to cover a large amount of time but in actuality it is roughly the same size as all the other eras at just a little over 20 years. Going into this I figured there would be good competitions between the 70's World Series teams and the early 90's NLCS teams and for the most part that held up but surprising me were some strong competitors from the 80s.
Catcher: Only two catchers proved to be worth consideration here and they are Manny Sanguillen and Tony Pena. Both are on the short list for best catcher in Pirates history making this a very intriguing battle. Each player had 2 or 3 seasons which were strong contenders for the crown but coming out on top of my list was Manny Sanguillen's 1975. That year Sanguillen posted a batting line of .328/.391/.451 good for a 134 wRC+. The 9 home runs he hit that year were the second highest total of his career. What made this year stand out above Pena's season and the rest of Sanguillen's was his ability to get on base. The .391 OBP was easily the best of his career and his 8.9 BB% more than doubled his career rate of 4.1%.
First Base: I expected this to end up an easy win for Stargell but he ended up with some tight competition as his best years came in left field. The thought of putting Stargell in left field and choosing someone else here entered my mind briefly before I recalled that Stargell wasn't going to win the LF job. With all due respect to Bob Robertson and Al Oliver this position ended up being a battle between Stargell and 1982 Jason Thompson. Thompson's season wasn't as good as Stargell's best during this era but it was definitely comparable to any season he posted while playing primarily first base. In the end possibly because of sheer reverence to Stargell I gave him the nod. Much like I chose to do with Kiki Cuyler in an earlier era though I didn't limit myself to just picking his best 1B season seeing as he won the position anyway. Stargell's best season as a 1B was either his first 1972 or 1978. Personally I preferred 1972 when he hit 33 HR and had a batting line of .293/.373/.558 with a wRC+ of 161. The season was fine in its own right but due to the Kiki Cuyler role I made up I was able to choose his best season which was either 1971 or 1973. The seasons were very similar but I gave the edge to 1971. That season Stargell belted 48 home runs and posted a batting line of .295/.398/.628 good for a 186 wRC+.
Second Base: There were really three good competitors here between Johnny Ray, Rennie Stennett and Phil Garner. Stennett was the first player I dismissed as his best offensive season came in a year where he recorded only 490 PA and that season wasn't clearly better the other competitors who had significantly more PA. In the end it came down to Johnny Ray's 1984 and Phil Garner's 1979. Garner spent that season splitting his time almost evenly between 2B and 3B which made it tough for me to figure out just what to do with him. He did spend a little more time at 2B than 3B but the difference was small. Admittedly it was probably a dumb tie breaker to use but it’s all I could come up with so Johnny Ray's 1984 got the crown. On the season Ray hit .312/.354/.434 good for a wRC+ of 121. He added in 6 HR and 11 SB.
Third Base: Bill Madlock posted a fine season in 1982 but aside from an initial acknowledgement of how good the season was I didn't end up giving it much consideration because of the seasons posted by two other players. The players and seasons I'm talking about are Richie Hebner's 1972 and Bobby Bonilla's 1991. It was shaping up to be a fine race problem is though Bonilla spent most of 1991 as an OF disqualifying that season from the position unless he could win the title with a qualified year (my Kiki Cuyler rule). Well while his 1988 and 1989 seasons were good they were in my mind clearly a step behind what Hebner did it 1972. That season Hebner batted .300/.378/.508 good for a 151 wRC+. It should be noted he did only have 492 PA on the year which is a mark I probably would have used to given the title to Bonilla's 1991 season had it been eligible but that is still sufficient enough playing time to hold on to the title seeing as his season was clearly a touch better than the closest competitors.
Shortstop: It surprised me to see that the 70's didn't really have a strong shortstop presence. There were some ok seasons on there but really this ended up being the easiest race in the infield as the title went to Jay Bell. As for which season there was little competition there either as his 1991 campaign was clearly his best with the Pirates. That year Bell hit .270/.330/.428 good for a 116 wRC+. He added 16 HR and 10 SB.
Left Field: It is amazing to me that the performance Stargell in 1971 and 1973 wasn't enough to win this position. Aside from Wagner finishing second to himself Stargell's season is probably the best in Pirates history that wouldn't win a starting spot on one of my all era teams. The winner as I'm sure most of you know is Barry Bonds. Bonds had a few very special seasons with the Pirates but there is only one that stands head and shoulders above not only his but Stargell's best years and that is 1992. Aside from Wagner this is probably the best season a Pirates player has ever had. Bonds hit an amazing .311/.456/.624 good for a 198 wRC+ almost twice as good as league average. Bonds added in 34 home runs and 39 stolen bases. Bonds 1990 and 1991 would have made for a fascinating debate with Stargell's 1971 and 1973 but this season makes that debate moot.
Center Field: Barry Bonds and Al Oliver had a few fine seasons as center fielders for the Pirates but this one ended up being a one person race with Andy Van Slyke coming away with the title. Unlike the shortstop position though I was left with a tough decision as to which year to choose. His best two seasons were 1988 and 1992. The 1992 seasons had the superior OBP while the two were essentially tied in slugging but 1988 featured better raw numbers with more home runs and more stolen bases. I ended up choosing the better raw number line and taking 1988 when Van Slyke hit 25 home runs and stole 30 bases. His batting line that year was .288/.345/.506 good for a 144 wRC+.
Right Field: There have been a lot of good battles for starting jobs thus far but I think this one might be the most interesting. Trying to defend his title from the previous era is the great one Roberto Clemente and challenging him is Dave Parker. Clemente's best season during this stretch was the first year of the era 1969 and Parker's best year in my mind at least was 1978. The race was close and though it pained me to do so I believe I did the right thing and gave the title to 1978 Dave Parker. Parker hit 30 home runs and stole 20 bases that season while posting a batting line of .334/.394/.585 good for a performance 67% above league average.
Bench: This one should be quite easy to figure out. Bobby Bonilla would have won the 3B title with his 1991 season had he been eligible but didn't even get mentioned at the position he was actually eligible for which should tell just how big of a gap there was between the two right field candidates and the rest of the crop. I would be remiss if I also didn't mention fine 1982 campaigns from Jason Thompson and Bill Madlock here but quite simply this is Clemente's spot. Clemente's 1969 season which I alluded to in the right field section was the best he had in this era and in my mind the second best season of his great career. He joins Max Carey and Stargell as players who have made two separate teams one as a bench player and one as a regular. In the 1969 season Clemente hit .345/.411/.544 a performance good enough for a 163 wRC+.
Starting Rotation: This is the most competitive group of starters I have come across so far. It was difficult limiting this down to 5 as I could have probably made a case for 8-10 starters rather easily.
1972 Bob Moose: It was a tight race all around but Bob Moose's 1972 season gets the distinction of ace season for this era. Moose started 30 games while saving another and totaling 226 innings pitched. On the year his strike out rate was 5.73 K/9 and walk rate was 1.87 BB/9. He posted a solid 2.91 ERA and backed it up with a good 2.43 FIP. His record on the year wasn't great at 13-10 but it was enough to make him the era's ace.
1969 Bob Veale: Veale is a holdover from the previous regime. His 1969 season actually has the highest ERA for any pitcher on this team at 3.23 but his FIP was a team best 2.33. He is also the best strikeout pitcher on the staff with 8.49 K/9 but he puts the most runners on base with 3.63 BB/9. At 13-14 he also possesses the only losing record on the staff but he started 34 games and pitched a strong 225.2 innings.
1992 Doug Drabek: Though he boosts a team high 2.97 FIP Drabek comes in as the number 3 starter in part because of his workhorse ability as he leads the staff with 256.2 innings pitched. He also holds the team high of 15 wins and a team best 3.28 K/BB. He did all of this while posting a solid 2.77 ERA on the season.
1985 Rick Reuschel: Reuschel becomes our first starting pitcher to make a team with less than 200 innings pitched as he only recording 194 in 1985. With his innings pitched total lower than the rest of his competition his stats are of course outstanding with a 2.27 ERA and 14-8 record. He only started 26 games on the season but appeared in relief 5 other times. His rates were 6.40 K/9 and 2.41 BB/9.
1978 Bert Blyleven: In 1978 Blyleven pitched 243.2 innings over 34 starts posting a record of 14-10. On the year he posted solid rates of 6.72 K/9 and 2.44 BB/9. Overall his ERA was 3.03 and FIP 2.88. Marks that make him an excellent 5th starter for this team.
As I previously mentioned there were quite a few other players I consider including Jim Rooker, Rick Rhoden, Dock Ellis, John Candelaria, Zane Smith and Steve Blass. This was easily the deepest group of pitchers I have encountered in any era.
Relief Pitcher: I came in fully expecting to give this title to Kent Tekulve and his 1978 and 1979 seasons where he saved 31 games each year were certainly deserving of consideration but they both fell short. Also briefly entering the discussion was Jim Gott's 1988 where he saved an era high 38 games. There are a few others such as Dave Giusti and Bill Landrum who I looked at but quickly dismissed. To me the best relief pitcher season of this era came from Rich Gossage in 1977. Gossage pitched in 72 games that season compiling 133 innings and a 11-9 record. His 26 saves on the season are tied for 5th best of the era. What really made Gossage's seasons stand out though is his 1.62 ERA and 10.22 K/9.
Opening Day lineup:
1. 1988 Andy Van Slyke, CF (L)
2. 1975 Manny Sanguillen, C (R)
3. 1992 Barry Bonds, LF (L)
4. 1971 Willie Stargell, 1B (L)
5. 1978 Dave Parker, RF (L)
6. 1972 Richie Hebner, 3B (L)
7. 1984 Johnny Ray, 2B (S)
8. 1991 Jay Bell, SS (R)
9. 1972 Bob Moose, P (R)
And now the team when ignoring the single season part.
C: Manny Sanguillen
1B: Willie Stargell
2B: Johnny Ray
3B: Richie Hebner
SS: Jay Bell
LF: Barry Bonds
CF: Andy Van Slyke
RF: Dave Parker
BN: Al Oliver
Our first team to have its starting lineup match exactly. We had the same battles with the closest ones being Tony Pena and Manny Sanguillen at catcher, Johnny Ray and Phil Garner (and Rennie Stennett) at 2B and Richie Hebner and Bobby Bonilla at 3B. Al Oliver takes the bench job due to his longevity edging out Clemente and Bonilla.
SP: John Candelaria
SP: Dock Ellis
SP: Rick Rhoden
SP: Doug Drabek
SP: Jim Rooker
RP: Kent Tekulve
With the exception of Drabek we turn over the entire rotation and bullpen job. The pitching is really a tight group on a single season basis but as for Pirates career in this era these 5 along with Bob Moose stand out above the rest for me.
