Steve Blass was a major pitcher in the Pirates’ race for the pennant and later the World Series championship in 1971. In 1971 his record was 15-8 with a league-leading five shutouts. The following year his record was 19-8. However, in 1973 Steve struggled throughout most of the year having difficulty throwing strikes. That year his record was 3-9 and his ERA rocketed from 2.49 to 9.81. In 1974 Steve retired. Today he is a popular radio and television announcer.

Jason Bay plays left field for the Pirates. In 2005 Bay had only 4 errors in 2329 innings. His fielding is great but his batting isn’t. In 2005 Bay ranked in the top 10 in the National League in walks. However, Bay is an effective base runner. He tied the major league record for the most steals without getting caught (21).

Willie Stargell also known as Pops played for the Pirates from 1962-1982 as an outfielder and first basemen. In Stargell`s 21-year career he batted .282, had 2232 hits, 423 doubles, 475 home runs, and 1540 RBI’s. Pops helped the Pirates capture six National League East Division Titles, two National League pennants, and two World Series, which were in 1971 and 1979. Today Willie Stargell is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bobby Bonilla played with the Pirates from 1986-1991 along with Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke. During his years with the Pittsburgh team. he played 3^rd base. Bobby was a six-time All-Star with 2010 hits, 287 home runs, 1173 RBI’s and a career batting average of .279.  When Bobby left the Pirates he played for seven other teams in ten years.  Bonilla will be remembered as a batting powerhouse, who played many positions in the field. 

Roberto Clemente played his whole career with the Pirates. Which was from 1955 to 1972 while playing right field. Roberto won the National League MLB MVP Award in 1966 and was the MVP of the 1971 World Series. However in 1972 Clemente died in a plane crash ending his career. But, the next year Roberto became only the second Hispanic American to be selected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Andy Van Slyke played with the Pirates from 1987-1994. He too played with Barry Bonds and bobby Bonilla. While with the Pirates, Van Slyke played mostly center field. However, during his 13-year career Van Slyke appeared in three All-Star games (1988,1992,1993). He won 5 Gold Glove awards and 2 Silver Sluggers’ awards. Today Andy’s the first base coach for the Detroit Tigers under Jim Leiland, his coach while he played for Pittsburgh.

Freddy Sanchez, number 12 and current Pirates third baseman, had a fantastic 2005-2006 season for Pittsburgh. Sanchez received over 800,000 votes for the 2006 All-Star game leading him to be on the National league All-Star team as a reserve. Sanchez won the 2006 National League Batting Title with a .344 batting average. It was the 25^th title in Pirates history. Considering Sanchez started the season as a backup he ended the season on a high note.