| 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Location | |
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| Results | |
| Record | First half: 25–23 (.521) Second half: 21–33 (.389) |
| Divisional place | First half: 4th Second half: 6th |
| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Thomas Johnson (minority shareholder) |
| General manager(s) | Harding "Pete" Peterson |
| Manager(s) | Chuck Tanner |
| Local television | KDKA-TV Lanny Frattare, Jim Rooker, John Sanders Action-TV Bob Prince, Ray Scott |
| Local radio | KDKA Lanny Frattare, Jim Rooker |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 100th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; their 95th in the National League. The Pirates finished fourth in the National League East in the first half of the season with a record of 25–23 and sixth in the second half with a record of 21–33.
Contents
Offseason[edit]
- December 9, 1980: Bert Blyleven and Manny Sanguillén were traded by the Pirates to the Cleveland Indians for Gary Alexander, Víctor Cruz, Rafael Vásquez, and Bob Owchinko.[2]
- January 19, 1981: Larvell Blanks was Signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.[3]
- February 23, 1981: Luis Tiant was signed as a free agent by the Pirates.[4]
Regular season[edit]
Officials of the Louisiana Superdome met with Pirates management in April 1981 about moving the club to New Orleans when the Pirates were unhappy with their lease at Three Rivers Stadium.[5]
Season standings[edit]
| NL East First Half standings |
Wins | Losses | Win % | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies | 34 | 21 | .618 | — |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 30 | 20 | .600 | 1.5 |
| Montreal Expos | 30 | 25 | .545 | 4.0 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 25 | 23 | .521 | 5.5 |
| New York Mets | 17 | 34 | .333 | 15.0 |
| Chicago Cubs | 15 | 37 | .288 | 17.5 |
| NL East Second Half standings |
Wins | Losses | Win % | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Expos | 30 | 23 | .566 | — |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 29 | 23 | .558 | 0.5 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 25 | 27 | .481 | 4.5 |
| New York Mets | 24 | 28 | .462 | 5.5 |
| Chicago Cubs | 23 | 28 | .451 | 6.0 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 21 | 33 | .389 | 9.5 |
Record vs. opponents[edit]
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1981 National League Records
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
| Atlanta | — | 3–2–1 | 6–5 | 4–8 | 7–7 | 3–7 | 3–3 | 4–5 | 2–3 | 9–6 | 5–7 | 4–3 | |||||
| Chicago | 2–3–1 | — | 1–5 | 1–6 | 6–4 | 4–7 | 5–8–1 | 2–10 | 4–10 | 3–3 | 5–5 | 5–4–1 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 5–6 | 5–1 | — | 8–4 | 8–8 | 5–4 | 7–3 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 10–2 | 9–5 | 0–5 | |||||
| Houston | 8–4 | 6–1 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 5–2 | 6–3 | 4–6 | 2–4 | 11–3 | 9–6 | 2–4 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 7–7 | 4–6 | 8–8 | 8–4 | — | 5–2 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 6–5 | 7–5 | 5–5 | |||||
| Montreal | 7–3 | 7–4 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 2–5 | — | 9–3 | 7–4 | 10–3 | 4–2 | 2–5 | 6–9 | |||||
| New York | 3–3 | 8–5–1 | 3–7 | 3–6 | 1–5 | 3–9 | — | 7–7 | 3–6–1 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 6–5 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 5-4 | 10–2 | 2–5 | 6–4 | 3–3 | 4–7 | 7–7 | — | 7–5 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 7–6 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 3–2 | 10–4 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 3–10 | 6–3–1 | 5–7 | — | 6–4 | 3–7 | 3–8 | |||||
| San Diego | 6–9 | 3–3 | 2–10 | 3–11 | 5–6 | 2–4 | 5–2 | 2–4 | 4–6 | — | 6–7 | 3–7 | |||||
| San Francisco | 7–5 | 5–5 | 5–9 | 6–9 | 5–7 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 7–3 | 7–6 | — | 2–3 | |||||
| St. Louis | 3–4 | 4–5–1 | 5–0 | 4–2 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 5–6 | 6–7 | 8–3 | 7–3 | 3–2 | — | |||||
Opening Day lineup[edit]
Notable transactions[edit]
- April 6, 1981: Bob Owchinko was traded by the Pirates to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Ernie Camacho to the Pirates on April 10.[6]
- May 4, 1981: Willie Horton was signed as a free agent by the Pirates.[7]
- June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball Draft
- Lee Tunnell was drafted by the Pirates in the 2nd round.[8]
- Lance Johnson was drafted by the Pirates in the 30th round, but did not sign.[9]
- July 11, 1981: Bobby Bonilla was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.[10]
- August 20, 1981: John Milner was traded by the Pirates to the Montreal Expos for Willie Montañez.[11]
Roster[edit]
| 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats[edit]
Batting[edit]
Starters by position[edit]
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Peña, TonyTony Peña | 66 | 210 | 63 | .300 | 2 | 17 |
| 1B | Thompson, JasonJason Thompson | 86 | 223 | 54 | .242 | 15 | 42 |
| CF | Moreno, OmarOmar Moreno | 103 | 434 | 120 | .276 | 1 | 35 |
| RF | Parker, DaveDave Parker | 67 | 240 | 62 | .258 | 9 | 48 |
Other batters[edit]
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robinson, BillBill Robinson | 39 | 88 | 19 | .216 | 2 | 8 |
| Stargell, WillieWillie Stargell | 38 | 60 | 17 | .283 | 0 | 9 |
| Milner, JohnJohn Milner | 34 | 59 | 14 | .237 | 2 | 9 |
| Alexander, GaryGary Alexander | 21 | 47 | 10 | .213 | 1 | 6 |
| Montañez, WillieWillie Montañez | 29 | 38 | 10 | .263 | 1 | 1 |
Pitching[edit]
Starting pitchers[edit]
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhoden, RickRick Rhoden | 21 | 136.1 | 9 | 4 | 3.89 | 76 |
| Solomon, EddieEddie Solomon | 22 | 127 | 8 | 6 | 3.12 | 38 |
| Bibby, JimJim Bibby | 14 | 93.2 | 6 | 3 | 2.50 | 48 |
| Pérez, PascualPascual Pérez | 17 | 86.1 | 2 | 7 | 3.96 | 46 |
| Tiant, LuisLuis Tiant | 9 | 57.1 | 2 | 5 | 3.92 | 32 |
| Candelaria, JohnJohn Candelaria | 6 | 40.2 | 2 | 2 | 3.54 | 14 |
Other pitchers[edit]
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scurry, RodRod Scurry | 27 | 74 | 4 | 5 | 3.77 | 65 |
| Camacho, ErnieErnie Camacho | 7 | 21.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.98 | 11 |
| Long, BobBob Long | 5 | 19.2 | 1 | 2 | 5.95 | 8 |
Relief pitchers[edit]
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romo, EnriqueEnrique Romo | 33 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 4.54 | 23 |
| Tekulve, KentKent Tekulve | 45 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2.49 | 34 |
| Cruz, VíctorVíctor Cruz | 22 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2.65 | 28 |
| Robinson, DonDon Robinson | 16 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5.87 | 17 |
| Lee, MarkMark Lee | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2.75 | 5 |
Awards and honors[edit]
1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
- Dave Parker, RF, Starter
- Bill Madlock, 3B, Reserve
- Mike Easler, OF, Reserve
- Phil Garner, 2B, Reserve
Farm system[edit]
See also: Minor league baseball
Notes[edit]
- ^ From 1882-1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
- ^ Bert Blyleven page at Baseball Reference
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/blankla01.shtml
- ^ Luis Tiant page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Associated Press (April 24, 1981). "Pirates Considering New Orleans Move". Ellensburg Daily Record. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
- ^ Ernie Camacho page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Lee Tunnell page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Lance Johnson page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Bobby Bonilla page at Baseball Reference
- ^ Willie Montañez page at Baseball Reference
References[edit]
- 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
- 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.
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