1981 Pittsburgh Pirates season
| 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Division | Eastern Division | |
| Ballpark | Three Rivers Stadium | |
| City | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1] | |
| Record | First half: 25–23 (.521) Second half: 21–33 (.389) | |
| Owners | John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Thomas Johnson (minority shareholder) | |
| Managers | Chuck Tanner | |
| Television | KDKA-TV Lanny Frattare, Jim Rooker, John Sanders Action-TV Bob Prince, Ray Scott | |
| Radio | KDKA Lanny Frattare, Jim Rooker | |
| ||
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.
Regular season
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.[2]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 59 | 43 | .578 | — | 32–21 | 27–22 |
| Montreal Expos | 60 | 48 | .556 | 2 | 38–18 | 22–30 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 59 | 48 | .551 | 2½ | 36–19 | 23–29 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 46 | 56 | .451 | 13 | 22–28 | 24–28 |
| New York Mets | 41 | 62 | .398 | 18½ | 24–27 | 17–35 |
| Chicago Cubs | 38 | 65 | .369 | 21½ | 27–30 | 11–35 |
| NL East First Half Standings |
W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies | 34 | 21 | .618 | — |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 30 | 20 | .600 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Montreal Expos | 30 | 25 | .545 | 4 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 25 | 23 | .521 | 5+1⁄2 |
| New York Mets | 17 | 34 | .333 | 15 |
| Chicago Cubs | 15 | 37 | .288 | 17+1⁄2 |
| NL East Second Half Standings |
W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Expos | 30 | 23 | .566 | — |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1⁄2 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 25 | 27 | .481 | 4+1⁄2 |
| New York Mets | 24 | 28 | .462 | 5+1⁄2 |
| Chicago Cubs | 23 | 28 | .451 | 6 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 21 | 33 | .389 | 9+1⁄2 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — | |||||
Game Log
| 1981 Game Log (46–56) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April (7–6)
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May (13–14)
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June (5–3)
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August (7–15)
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September (13–15)
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October (1–3)
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| Legend: = Win = Loss = Tie Bold = Pirates team member | ||||||||
Roster
| 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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Opening Day lineup
- CF – Omar Moreno
- SS – Tim Foli
- RF – Dave Parker
- 1B – Jason Thompson
- LF – Mike Easler
- 3B – Bill Madlock
- 2B – Dale Berra
- C – Steve Nicosia
- P – Jim Bibby
Player stats
- Batting
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- Pitching
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Awards and honors
1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
- Dave Parker, RF, Starter
- Bill Madlock, 3B, Reserve
- Mike Easler, OF, Reserve
- Phil Garner, 2B, Reserve
Transactions
- October 22, 1980 – Jesse Jefferson granted Free Agency.
- October 22, 1980 – John Milner granted Free Agency.
- October 29, 1980 – Traded a player to be named later and cash to the Seattle Mariners. Received Odell Jones. The Pittsburgh Pirates sent Larry Andersen (October 29, 1980) to the Seattle Mariners to complete the trade.
- December 9, 1980 – Traded Bert Blyleven and Manny Sanguillén to the Cleveland Indians. Received Gary Alexander, Victor Cruz, Bob Owchinko and Rafael Vasquez.
- January 13, 1981 – Drafted John Kruk in the 3rd round of the 1981 amateur draft (January), but did not sign the player.
- January 19, 1981 – Signed Larvell Blanks as a free agent.
- January 20, 1981 – Signed Rusty Torres as a free agent.
- January 23, 1981 – Signed John Milner as a free agent.
- February 23, 1981 – Signed Luis Tiant as a free agent.
- April 1, 1981 – Traded Mickey Mahler and Ed Ott to the California Angels. Received Jason Thompson.
- April 5, 1981 – Purchased Jim Smith from the Baltimore Orioles.
- April 5, 1981 – Traded Dave Dravecky to the San Diego Padres. Received Bobby Mitchell (minors).
- April 6, 1981 – Traded Bob Owchinko to the Oakland Athletics. Received a player to be named later and cash. The Oakland Athletics sent Ernie Camacho (April 10, 1981) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
- May 4, 1981 – Signed Willie Horton as a free agent.
- June 8, 1981 – Drafted Ray Krawczyk in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft (June Secondary).
- June 8, 1981 – Drafted Jim Winn in the 1st round (14th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft.
- June 8, 1981 – Drafted Lee Tunnell in the 2nd round of the 1981 amateur draft.
- June 8, 1981 – Drafted Bip Roberts in the 5th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
- June 8, 1981 – Drafted Scott Bankhead in the 17th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
- June 8, 1981 – Drafted Chris Bosio in the 29th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
- June 8, 1981 – Drafted Lance Johnson in the 30th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
- June 25, 1981 – Signed Denny González as an amateur free agent.
- July 11, 1981 – Signed Bobby Bonilla as an amateur free agent.
- August 20, 1981 – Traded John Milner to the Montreal Expos. Received Willie Montañez.
- August 31, 1981 – Traded Phil Garner to the Houston Astros. Received players to be named later and Johnny Ray. The Houston Astros sent Randy Niemann (September 9, 1981) and Kevin Houston (minors) (September 9, 1981) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
- September 1, 1981 – Sold Grant Jackson to the Montreal Expos for $50,000.
- October 5, 1981 – Released Luis Tiant.
- October 23, 1981 – Purchased Manny Sarmiento from the Boston Red Sox.
- October 26, 1981 – Released Kurt Bevacqua.
Farm system
Notes
- ^ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
- ^ Associated Press (April 24, 1981). "Pirates Considering New Orleans Move". Ellensburg Daily Record. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
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References
- 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Reference
- 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Almanac
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.