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What's In A Name?
An "Act of Piracy" it was called after
Manager Ed Hanlon signed a loose infielder claimed by the American Association.
Thus the Pittsburgh Pirates came into being. The year was 1891, and the
Alleghenies, as they had been known, were last in the National League, but
improving. In the previous season they had accomplished the distinctive feat
of winning 23 games while losing 113.
The Alleghenies were organized in 1876
as the city's first professional baseball club. Five years later they were
playing in the new American Association, called the "Beer and Whiskey League"
because most of its six teams were backed by liquor distillers. In 1887,
they joined the National League and moved into Exposition Park, a former
race track on the banks of the Allegheny River.
The hapless Alleghenies were the
league's worst team, always finishing in last place. In 1891, the team
acquired Louis Bierbauer, the disputed player, and became known around the
league as the Pirates. The term stuck and soon was adopted as the team's
official name. The alleged theft helped the team to their only winning
season of the 19th century, finishing second in 1893.
In 1900, Barney Dreyfuss brought his
team up from Louisville and merged with the Pirates. The Pirates became
instant winners, finishing first from 1900 to 1903. They won a World Series
in 1909 and posted winning seasons in the first 14 years of the 20th
century.
Today's Pirates may resemble the
hapless Alleghenies of the 1800s, and may have to resort to another act of
piracy to somehow climb out of the cellar of despair. But, despite their
mediocre performance in the first years of the 21st century, they are our
beloved Pirates and have built up quite a legacy in their nearly 130 years
as a professional franchise.
A last note on "Pirates." When modern
professional football came to the city on September 20, 1933, the first game
was played at Forbes Field in front of 25,000 fans. The final score: New York
Giants 20, Pittsburgh Pirates 2. The team, owned by Arthur J. Rooney soon
changed their name to Steelers. Forty-odd years later, the Pittsburgh Steelers
combined with the Pittsburgh Pirates to give the city a new name. During the
decade of the 1970s, Pittsburgh was known as the "City of
Champions."
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