1997 Pittsburgh Pirates

1997 Pittsburgh Pirates / Franchise: Pittsburgh Pirates / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 79-83, Finished 2nd in NL Central Division (1997 NL)

Coached: Joe Jones, Jack Lind, Lloyd McClendon, Pete Vuckovich and Spin Williams

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

Commonly known as "The Freak Show" to Bucco loyalists, the 1997 Pirates made a run at the NL Central title and a .500 record with a team payroll of $10.5 million, slightly more than Albert Belle was making by himself that year.

Led by a rotation consisting of future 20-game winners Esteban Loaiza and Jon Lieber, as well as future Giants ace Jason Schmidt, this Bucco team won with great pitching and timely hitting.

Kevin Young led the offense with 18 home runs. Tony Womack stole 60 bases. Jason Kendall, Joe Randa and Al Martin all hit around .300.

As of 2008, this was the last brush with success the Pirates have had since 1992. All of the players from this team were gone by 2004, the last being Jason Kendall who was traded to the A's that year.