|
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
Alleghenys, 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 Alleghenys 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 Alleghenys 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 Alleghenys 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 decade of the 21st century, they are our
beloved Pirates and have built up quite a legacy in their 130-something years
as a professional franchise.
So what's in a name? The Pittsburgh
Pirates may be synonymous with Major League Baseball, but the legacy of the
Pirates of Pittsburgh reaches beyond the baseball diamond and also has roots
in two other well-known professional sports.
Pittsburgh - The City of Champions
When modern NFL 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 23, Pittsburgh Pirates 2. The team, owned by Arthur J. Rooney, changed
their name to Steelers in 1940. Thirty-nine years later, the Pittsburgh Steelers
combined with the Pittsburgh Pirates to give the city a new name. After the
Pirates won the 1979 MLB championship and the Steelers won the 1979 NFL
championship, Pittsburgh became known as the "City of Champions."
 
"City of Champions" proved
a difficult title to hold onto. In the 1980s, the Pirates quickly fell into
obscurity and the Steeler's championship years had run their course. In 1991
and 1992, the resurgent Pirates and the Pittsburgh Penguins came close to bringing
the prestigious double-title back to the 'Burgh. Mario Lemieux and the Penguins
hoisted the Stanley Cup as champions of the NHL after both seasons, but the Pirates
fell short of a trip to the World Series in three consecutive playoff
appearances.
Then came 2009, the year of Big Ben and Sid
the Kid. In February, Ben Roethlisberger led the Steelers to their second Super Bowl
championship of the new millenium and sixth overall. The Penguins followed in June
when Sidney Crosby and the Comeback Kids brought the Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh
for the third time. On June 12, 2009, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, holder of the
Vince Lombardi Trophy and Lord Stanley's Cup, was once again dubbed the
"City of Champions."
 
History has taught us that the official
title may be as fleeting this time as it was thirty years ago, but what's in a
name? For those of us who live in the land of Black and Gold, Pittsburgh
will always be the City of Champions and we're proud of it.
What's In A Name?
A Final Note On The Pittsburgh Pirates:
The Pittsburgh Penguins joined the National
Hockey League as an expansion team in 1969. This was not, however, Pittsburgh's
first entry in the league. Back in 1925, the City of Pittsburgh became the seventh
franchise in the young NHL, which was entering only it's ninth season. The club
lasted a mere five seasons before being sold and relocated in 1930. The name of
the city's first NHL team was ... The Pittsburgh Pirates! The Pirates are shown below on Opening Night,
December 2, 1925.
|
