History of Baseball Team Nicknames - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates

The original Pittsburgh club, formed in 1882, was in the then-separate city of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, across the Allegheny River northwest of downtown Pittsburgh. Thus the club was called "Allegheny" in the standings, and in the style of the day, the "Alleghenys" (note that it was not "Alleghenies"). The Alleghenys played in the American Association during 1882-1886, then transferred to the National League in 1887. The team restyled itself as "Pittsburgh" (then often spelled "Pittsburg") around 1890, although Allegheny remained a separate city until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907.

The club was accused of "pirating" Lou Bierbauer in the Players' League settlement following the 1890 season, which led to their nickname. This fact is a detail of the larger story of what was happening in professional baseball around that time.

In 1888, baseball owners established rules to categorize players and pay them according to rank. Since the owners set the categories themselves, their new system at first lowered, and then eventually froze players salaries. Shortly before this, in 1885, John Montgomery Ward, a current Major League pitcher and Columbia Law School graduate, had founded the "Brotherhood of Base Ball Players" an association to protect and promote players interests. Baseball owners had instituted their new rules in the off-season without talking with the players, and this led to a rift between them and the players. Despite yearlong efforts to negotiate with the owners over these new restrictions on players, Ward could not get them to bargain or even recognize the Brotherhood. Players revolted and in 1890 they started a new league called the Players' League. The Players' League was spearheaded by Ward, who not only gained financial backers, but he also solicited star players to jump from the National League and American Association to the new league.

With three professional leagues competing, many in the same cities, there was not enough revenue to go around, and each league lost money. Although the Players' League's attendance was the best of the three leagues, it folded after one year. The financially hemorrhaging American Association folded one year later, and the National League absorbed four of its teams.

In 1890, Philadelphia Athletics players Lou Bierbauer and Harry Stovey had jumped to the Players' League. After the Players' League collapsed, through a clerical error the Athletics had failed to reserve Bierbauer's and Stovey's services. Pittsburgh signed Bierbauer and Stovey to contracts. The Athletics protested losing these players, and this led to an impartial Arbitration Board, which included American Association President Allan W. Thurman. The board ruled in Pittsburgh's favor. Despite the ruling, the Athletics still grumbled at the decision, and ridiculed their cross-state rivals by calling them "Pirates" for "stealing" their players. The "Pirates" tag stuck and the alliterative name was eventually adopted as Pittsburgh's official team nickname. By the time of the 1903 World Series, the team was commonly known as "Pirates", although the club did not acknowledge it on their uniforms until 1912.

Alternate nicknames such as "Bucs" or "Buccos", short for "buccaneer", have been used through the years. "Buccaneer" is typically used synonymously with "pirate", although historically "buccaneer" is a more specific term that refers to pirates who operated in the Caribbean Sea, especially along the Spanish Main coast.

"No Smoky City club ever had a nickname until 1890. Then the team, which lost 113 games while winning only 23, was tagged the Innocents — apparently being innocent of victorious aspirations. In 1890, during the off-season, Pittsburgh owners signed second baseman Louis Bierbauer, whom the bankrupt Athletic club of Philadelphia had forgotten to reserve. The Pittsburgh club became known as the Pirates, in reference to so-called "pirating" of players." (BBG)

The Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL began as the Pittsburgh Pirates, in reference to the baseball team from which they rented Forbes Field in their early years. There was also a short-lived NHL entry in the 1920s-1930s called the Pittsburgh Pirates.