List of Pittsburgh Pirates owners and executives

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the National League Central division. The team began play in 1882 as the Alleghenies (alternately spelled "Alleghenys"[1]) in the American Association. The franchise moved to the National League after owner William Nimick became upset over a contract dispute, thus beginning the modern day franchise.[2]

From the franchise's beginning, the owner and manager fulfilled the duties of the general manager. However, in 1946, Roy Hamey left his position as president of the second American Association to become the Pirates' first general manager.[3] The franchise's second general manager, Branch Rickey, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1967.[4] Hired in September 2007, Neal Huntington is the Pirates's previous general manager.[5] Barney Dreyfuss purchased the franchise in 1900, bringing players including Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke with him from the Louisville Colonels, which he had previously owned. In his 32 years as owner, Dreyfuss built Forbes Field and helped to organize the World Series.[6] Dreyfuss was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008.[7] Robert Nutting served as chairman of the board from 2003 to 2007, at which point he became majority owner of the franchise.[8]

Table key

edit
Years Seasons; each is linked to an article about that particular season
Div Division titles: number of division titles won by the general manager
Pen Pennants: number of pennants (league championships) won by the manager
WS World Series: number of World Series victories achieved by the manager
* Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Owners

edit
Owner(s) Years Div Pen WS Ref
Denny McKnight 18821886 [9]
William A. Nimick 18871891 [10]
William Kerr and Phil Auten 18921899 [10]
Barney Dreyfuss* 19001932 0 6 2 [6]
Florence W. Dreyfuss 19321946 [11]
John Galbreath (99% 1946–82, 51% 1983–86),
with Frank E. McKinney, Thomas P. Johnson,
Bing Crosby (1%) and Warner Communications (48% 1982–86)
19461986 6 3 3 [12][13]
Pittsburgh Associates 19861996 3 0 0 [14]
Kevin McClatchy 19962007 [15]
Robert Nutting 2007–present [8]

General managers

edit
# General manager Years Div Pen WS
1 Denny McKnight 18821883
2 Edmund C. Converse 1884
3 William A. Nimick 18851890
4 J. Palmer O'Neil 1891
5 William Chase Temple 1892
6 Al Buckenberger 1893
7 William Kerr 18941897
8 Bill Watkins 1898
9 William Kerr 1899
10 Barney Dreyfuss* 19001932 0 6 2
11 William Benswanger 19321946
  • Prior to 1946, the club presidents performed the current duties of general manager.
  • As the deceased owner's son-in-law, Benswanger officially served as "president and chief executive" but in effect was general manager for his mother-in-law owner.
# General manager Years Div Pen WS Ref
12 Ray Kennedy 1946 [16]
13 Roy Hamey 19461950 [3]
14 Branch Rickey* 19511955 [16]
15 Joe L. Brown 19561976, 1985 5 2 2 [17]
16 Harding Peterson 19761985 1 1 1 [18]
17 Syd Thrift 19851988 [19]
18 Larry Doughty 19881992 2 0 0 [16]
19 Ted Simmons 19921993 1 0 0 [20]
20 Cam Bonifay 19932001 [21]
21 Dave Littlefield 20012007 [22]
22 Neal Huntington 20072019 [5]
23 Ben Cherington 2019–present

Presidents

edit
# President Years Div Pen WS Ref
1 Denny McKnight 18821883 [23]
2 Edmund C. Converse 1884 [23]
3 William A. Nimick 18851890 [23]
4 J. Palmer O'Neil 1891 [23]
5 William Chase Temple 1892 [23]
6 Al Buckenberger 1893 [23]
7 William Kerr 18941897 [23]
8 Bill Watkins 1898 [23]
9 William Kerr 1899 [23]
10 Barney Dreyfuss* 19001932 0 6 2 [23]
11 William Benswanger 19321946 [23]
12 Frank E. McKinney 19461950 [23]
13 John Galbreath 19511969 1 1 1 [23]
14 Dan Galbreath 19701985 2 2 2 [23]
15 Malcolm Prine 19861987 [23]
16 Carl Barger 19891991 1 0 0
17 Mark Sauer 19911996 2 0 0
18 Kevin McClatchy 19962007
19 Frank Coonelly 20072019
20 Travis Williams 2019–present

Other executives

edit

References

edit
General
  • Finoli, David; Ranier, Bill (2003). The Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia (Illustrated ed.). Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing L.L.C. p. 626. ISBN 1-58261-416-4. OCLC 52480758.
Specific
  1. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates History & Encyclopedia". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  2. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, pp. 2–3
  3. ^ a b Finoli & Ranier 2003, p. 463
  4. ^ "Branch Rickey". The Hall of Famers. BaseballHallofFame.org. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  5. ^ a b Langosch, Jenifer (25 September 2007). "Pirates hire Huntington as new GM". MLB.com. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
  6. ^ a b Finoli & Ranier 2003, p. 472
  7. ^ "Barney Dreyfuss". The Hall of Famers. BaseballHallofFame.org. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  8. ^ a b "Robert Nutting, Chairman". Front Office biographies. PittsburghPirates.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
  9. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, pp. 1–2
  10. ^ a b Finoli & Ranier 2003, p. 471
  11. ^ Johnson, Vince (2 January 1947). "Benswanger, Out of Game, Relaxes By Writing History of Baseball". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  12. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, p. 474
  13. ^ "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  14. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, p. 473
  15. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, p. 476
  16. ^ a b c Finoli & Ranier 2003, pp. 464–65
  17. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, pp. 465–66
  18. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, pp. 466–67
  19. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, pp. 467–68
  20. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, p. 469
  21. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, pp. 469–70
  22. ^ Finoli & Ranier 2003, p. 470
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Thorn, J.; Palmer, P.; Gershman, M., eds. (2001). Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball (7th ed.). Kingston, NY: Total Sports Publishing. p. 2460. ISBN 978-1-930844-01-8.
edit