Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Association in 1881 under the name Pittsburgh Alleghenys, the club joined the National League in 1887 and was a member of the National League East from 1969 through 1993. The Pirates have won five World Series championships, nine National League pennants, nine National League East division titles and made three appearances in the Wild Card Game.

The Pirates were among the best teams in baseball at the start of the 20th century, playing in the inaugural World Series in 1903 and winning their first title in 1909 behind Honus Wagner. The Pirates took part in arguably the most famous World Series ending, winning the 1960 World Series against the New York Yankees on a walk-off home run by Bill Mazeroski, the only time that Game 7 of the World Series has ever ended with a home run. They won again in 1971 behind Roberto Clemente, the first Latin-American enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 1979 under the leadership of Willie Stargell.

Since their last World Series in 1979, the Pirates have largely endured a period of great struggle — most notably during the 2000s, when they failed to post a winning percentage higher than 0.463 throughout that decade. They have only had eleven winning seasons (1980, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2018), six postseason appearances (1990, 1991, 1992, 2013, 2014 and 2015), three division titles (1990, 1991 and 1992), and have advanced just once in the postseason with a victory in the 2013 National League Wild Card Game. The Pirates additionally posted a losing record in 20 consecutive seasons from 1993 to 2012, a record streak in both MLB and the four major North American professional sports leagues.

The Pirates currently have the fifth-longest World Series championship drought (behind the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, and Seattle Mariners—all of which except the Guardians have never won a World Series), second-longest World Series appearance drought in Major League Baseball (behind only the Mariners, who have never appeared in a World Series), the longest pennant drought in the National League, the longest League Championship Series appearance drought in either league and are tied for the longest MLB division championship drought with the Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins (both of whom joined as expansion teams the season after the Pirates' most recent division title). From 1882 to 2023, the Pirates have an overall record of 10,763–10,733–140 (.501 winning 'percentage').

The Pirates are also often referred to as the "Bucs" or the "Buccos" (derived from buccaneer, a synonym for pirate). Since 2001 the team has played its home games at PNC Park, a 39,000-seat stadium along the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh's North Side. The Pirates previously played at Forbes Field from 1909 to 1970 and at Three Rivers Stadium from 1970 to 2000. Since 1948 the Pirates' colors have been black, gold and white, derived from the flag of Pittsburgh and matching the other major professional sports teams in Pittsburgh, the Steelers and the Penguins.