1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1976 Pittsburgh Pirates
1976 Pittsburgh Pirates
Division	Eastern Division
Ballpark	Three Rivers Stadium
City	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Record	92–70 (.568)
Owners	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas P. Johnson (minority shareholders)
Managers	Danny Murtaugh
Television	KDKA-TV; Milo Hamilton, Lanny Frattare
Radio	KDKA; Milo Hamilton, Lanny Frattare

The 1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 90th in the National League, and the 95th in franchise history. The Pirates compiled a 92–70 record during the season, as they finished in second place in the NL East, nine games behind their cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. As a result, their run of five division titles in a six-year span came to an end. It was also the final season for Danny Murtaugh as the Pirates' manager.

Offseason

December 4, 1975: Rafael Vásquez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.^[2]
December 11, 1975: Dock Ellis, Ken Brett and Willie Randolph were traded by the Pirates to the New York Yankees for Doc Medich.^[3]
January 27, 1976: Pascual Pérez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.^[4]

Regular season

August 9, 1976: John Candelaria pitched a no hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[5]

Season standings

v
t
e
NL East
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Phillies	101	61	.623	—	53‍–‍28	48‍–‍33
Pittsburgh Pirates	92	70	.568	9	47‍–‍34	45‍–‍36
New York Mets	86	76	.531	15	45‍–‍37	41‍–‍39
Chicago Cubs	75	87	.463	26	42‍–‍39	33‍–‍48
St. Louis Cardinals	72	90	.444	29	37‍–‍44	35‍–‍46
Montreal Expos	55	107	.340	46	27‍–‍53	28‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

1976 National League record v t e 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	—	6–6	6–12	7–11	8–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	3–9	10–8	9–9	4–8
Chicago	6–6	—	3–9	5–7	3–9	11–7	5–13	8–10	8–10	6–6	8–4	12–6
Cincinnati	12–6	9–3	—	12–6	13–5	9–3	6–6	5–7	8–4	13–5	9–9	6–6
Houston	11–7	7–5	6–12	—	5–13	10–2	6–6	4–8	2–10	10–8	10–8	9–3
Los Angeles	10–8	9–3	5–13	13–5	—	10–2	7–5	5–7	9–3	6–12	8–10	10–2
Montreal	4–8	7–11	3–9	2–10	2–10	—	8–10	3–15	8–10	4–8	7–5	7–11
New York	8–4	13–5	6–6	6–6	5–7	10–8	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	7–5	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	10–8	7–5	8–4	7–5	15–3	13–5	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	12–6
Pittsburgh	9–3	10–8	4–8	10–2	3–9	10–8	8–10	10–8	—	7–5	9–3	12–6
San Diego	8–10	6–6	5–13	8–10	12–6	8–4	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	9–9	4–8	9–9	8–10	10–8	5–7	5–7	6–6	3–9	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	8–4	6–12	6–6	3–9	2–10	11–7	9–9	6–12	6–12	8–4	7–5	—

Game log

1976 Game Log: 92–70 (Home: 47–34; Away: 45–36)

April: 8–8 (Home: 4–3; Away: 4–5)

May: 17–11 (Home: 10–6; Away: 7–5)

June: 16–10 (Home: 6–6; Away: 10–4)

July: 15–15 (Home: 8–7; Away: 7–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
71	July 2	Phillies	10–9 (10)	Hernandez (2–1)	Garber	—	39,328	42–29
72	July 3	Phillies	2–3	McGraw	Moose (3–4)	—	19,327	42–30
73	July 4	Phillies	5–10	Carlton	Demery (5–2)	Reed		42–31
74	July 4	Phillies	7–1	Kison (7–4)	Kaat	—	32,422	43–31
75	July 5	@ Braves	6–8	Dal Canton	Hernandez (2–2)	Marshall	48,467	43–32
76	July 6	@ Braves	2–4	Messersmith	Rooker (7–4)	Marshall	12,448	43–33
77	July 7	@ Braves	9–7	Reuss (8–5)	Ruthven	Moose (10)	11,480	44–33
78	July 9	@ Reds	11–12 (10)	Eastwick	Demery (5–3)	—		44–34
79	July 9	@ Reds	1–2	Norman	Medich (5–7)	—	53,328	44–35
80	July 10	@ Reds	7–1	Candelaria (8–4)	Billingham	—	50,756	45–35
81	July 11	@ Reds	8–5	Tekulve (1–1)	Borbon	Reuss (1)	47,153	46–35
82	July 15	Braves	13–1	Candelaria (9–4)	Niekro	—	10,488	47–35
83	July 16	Braves	7–2	Reuss (9–5)	Messersmith	—	11,151	48–35
84	July 17	Braves	2–10	Ruthven	Kison (7–5)	—	14,776	48–36
85	July 18	Reds	8–9	Billingham	Medich (5–8)	Eastwick	33,697	48–37
86	July 19	Reds	2–4	Zachry	Rooker (7–5)	—	26,585	48–38
87	July 20	Astros	9–5	Candelaria (10–4)	Griffin	Tekulve (2)		49–38
88	July 20	Astros	3–4	Forsch	Giusti (0–1)	—	11,922	49–39
89	July 21	Astros	5–1	Reuss (10–5)	Dierker	—		50–39
90	July 21	Astros	4–1	Demery (6–3)	Andujar	Giusti (4)	12,209	51–39
91	July 22	@ Phillies	0–3	Underwood	Kison (7–6)	Reed	43,050	51–40
92	July 23	@ Phillies	1–11	Lonborg	Medich (5–9)	—	40,120	51–41
93	July 24	@ Phillies	8–5	Rooker (8–5)	Christenson	Giusti (5)		52–41
94	July 24	@ Phillies	1–7	Carlton	Moose (3–5)	—	57,723	52–42
95	July 25	@ Phillies	7–13	Reed	Giusti (0–2)	—	37,692	52–43
96	July 27	@ Cardinals	3–1	Kison (8–6)	Falcone	—	13,953	53–43
97	July 28	@ Mets	1–0 (13)	Giusti (1–2)	Sanders	—	22,215	54–43
98	July 29	@ Mets	2–1 (10)	Tekulve (2–1)	Lockwood	—	12,588	55–43
99	July 30	Expos	4–3 (13)	Tekulve (3–1)	Kerrigan	—	12,774	56–43
100	July 31	Expos	6–7	Murray	Moose (3–6)	—	10,981	56–44

August: 16–13 (Home: 8–8; Away: 8–5)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
101	August 1	Expos	0–2	Rogers	Kison (8–7)	—	17,150	56–45
102	August 2	Cardinals	0–4	Falcone	Medich (5–10)	—	7,553	56–46
103	August 3	Cardinals	2–1	Rooker (9–5)	Greif	—		57–46
104	August 3	Cardinals	2–4	Hrabosky	Giusti (1–3)	Wallace	14,781	57–47
105	August 4	Cardinals	2–1 (12)	Giusti (2–3)	Wallace	—	8,426	58–47
106	August 5	Mets	4–7	Matlack	Reuss (10–6)	Lockwood	7,836	58–48
107	August 7	Mets	12–3	Kison (9–7)	Seaver	—		59–48
108	August 7	Mets	2–4	Espinosa	Medich (5–11)	Lockwood	12,364	59–49
109	August 8	Mets	4–7	Lolich	Rooker (9–6)	—	16,538	59–50
110	August 9	Dodgers	2–0	Candelaria (11–4)	Rau	—	9,860	60–50
111	August 10	Dodgers	1–5	Sutton	Reuss (10–7)	—	13,670	60–51
112	August 11	Dodgers	0–2	Rhoden	Demery (6–4)	—	16,222	60–52
113	August 13	@ Astros	8–5	Tekulve (4–1)	Niekro	—	17,876	61–52
114	August 14	@ Astros	5–4	Giusti (3–3)	Pentz	—	9,721	62–52
115	August 15	@ Astros	8–6	Medich (6–11)	Larson	Tekulve (3)		63–52
116	August 15	@ Astros	3–0	Reuss (11–7)	Sambito	—	16,326	64–52
117	August 17	@ Giants	6–7	Lavelle	Moose (3–7)	Williams	9,215	64–53
118	August 18	@ Giants	12–1 (7)	Rooker (10–6)	Montefusco	—	3,817	65–53
119	August 19	@ Giants	1–0	Candelaria (12–4)	Barr	—	2,709	66–53
120	August 20	@ Dodgers	1–8	Rau	Kison (9–8)	Hough	25,107	66–54
121	August 21	@ Dodgers	1–5	Sutton	Moose (3–8)	—	42,235	66–55
122	August 22	@ Dodgers	6–1	Demery (7–4)	Rhoden	Tekulve (4)	24,295	67–55
123	August 23	@ Padres	4–5	Johnson	Rooker (10–7)	Metzger	18,396	67–56
124	August 24	@ Padres	3–7	Strom	Candelaria (12–5)	—	11,002	67–57
125	August 25	@ Padres	3–0	Kison (10–8)	Freisleben	—	10,963	68–57
126	August 27	Giants	5–2	Demery (8–4)	Montefusco	—	12,580	69–57
127	August 28	Giants	7–1	Rooker (11–7)	D'Acquisto	—	11,043	70–57
128	August 29	Giants	3–2 (11)	Candelaria (13–5)	Moffitt	—	12,972	71–57
129	August 31	Padres	3–0	Reuss (12–7)	Jones	—	9,674	72–57

September: 17–13 (Home: 8–4; Away: 9–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
130	September 1	Padres	4–1	Kison (11–8)	Strom	Tekulve (5)	5,381	73–57
131	September 2	Padres	5–0	Demery (9–4)	Freisleben	—	5,545	74–57
132	September 3	@ Expos	9–7	Rooker (12–7)	Stanhouse	Tekulve (6)		75–57
133	September 3	@ Expos	7–2	Candelaria (14–5)	Carrithers	—	6,342	76–57
134	September 4	@ Expos	5–3	Giusti (4–3)	Murray	Tekulve (7)	3,290	77–57
135	September 5	@ Expos	0–1	Fryman	Reuss (12–8)	—	6,180	77–58
136	September 6	Phillies	6–2	Kison (12–8)	Kaat	—		78–58
137	September 6	Phillies	5–1	Demery (10–4)	Underwood	—	41,703	79–58
138	September 8	Phillies	6–1	Rooker (13–7)	Carlton	—	30,976	80–58
139	September 10	Expos	2–4	Fryman	Candelaria (14–6)	—	12,032	80–59
140	September 11	Expos	4–3	Reuss (13–8)	Rogers	Tekulve (8)	7,509	81–59
141	September 12	Expos	6–1	Kison (13–8)	Stanhouse	Tekulve (9)	12,765	82–59
142	September 13	Mets	0–5	Seaver	Demery (10–5)	—	7,892	82–60
143	September 14	Mets	3–4	Lockwood	Rooker (13–8)	—	7,867	82–61
144	September 15	@ Phillies	7–2	Candelaria (15–6)	Kaat	—	45,010	83–61
145	September 16	@ Phillies	7–6	Tekulve (5–1)	Reed	—	35,806	84–61
146	September 17	@ Mets	4–1	Medich (7–11)	Matlack	Giusti (6)	14,304	85–61
147	September 18	@ Mets	2–6	Seaver	Demery (10–6)	—	15,879	85–62
148	September 19	@ Mets	6–7	Espinosa	Giusti (4–4)	Lockwood	18,652	85–63
149	September 20	@ Mets	4–5	Apodaca	Tekulve (5–2)	—	5,922	85–64
150	September 21	@ Cubs	4–3	Kison (14–8)	Renko	Rooker (1)		86–64
151	September 21	@ Cubs	1–2 (13)	Reuschel	Moose (3–9)	—	5,017	86–65
152	September 22	@ Cubs	3–4	Coleman	Tekulve (5–3)	—	3,375	86–66
153	September 23	@ Cubs	5–4 (10)	Giusti (5–4)	Knowles	Kison (1)	2,132	87–66
154	September 24	@ Cardinals	6–10	Forsch	Candelaria (15–7)	—		87–67
155	September 24	@ Cardinals	11–1	Rooker (14–8)	Curtis	—	10,368	88–67
156	September 25	@ Cardinals	0–3	McGlothen	Reuss (13–9)	—	7,858	88–68
157	September 26	@ Cardinals	2–5	Denny	Kison (14–9)	Hrabosky	10,456	88–69
158	September 28	Cubs	5–1	Medich (8–11)	Reuschel	Reuss (2)	2,880	89–69
159	September 29	Cubs	0–1	Renko	Demery (10–7)	—	2,880	89–70

October: 3–0 (Home: 3–0; Away: 0–0)

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Pirates team member

Opening Day lineup

Notable transactions

June 8, 1976: Bob Long was drafted by the Pirates in the 24th round of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft.^[6]
July 2, 1976: Albert Williams was released by the Pirates.^[7]
September 8, 1976: Ramón Hernández was purchased from the Pirates by the Chicago Cubs.^[8]

Roster

1976 Pittsburgh Pirates

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

40 Danny Murtaugh

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Manny Sanguillén	114	389	52	113	.290	2	36	2
1B	Willie Stargell	117	428	54	110	.257	20	65	2
2B	Rennie Stennett	157	654	59	168	.257	2	60	18
3B	Richie Hebner	132	434	60	108	.249	8	51	1
SS	Frank Taveras	144	519	76	134	.258	0	24	58
LF	Richie Zisk	155	581	91	168	.323	21	89	1
CF	Al Oliver	121	443	62	143	.323	12	61	6
RF	Dave Parker	138	537	82	168	.313	13	90	19

^[9]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg.= Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Bill Robinson	122	393	55	119	.303	21	64	2
Duffy Dyer	69	184	12	41	.223	3	9	0
Ed Kirkpatrick	83	146	14	34	.233	0	16	1
Bob Robertson	61	129	10	28	.217	2	25	0
Omar Moreno	48	122	24	33	.270	2	12	15
Mario Mendoza	50	92	6	17	.185	0	12	0
Tommy Helms	62	87	10	24	.276	1	13	0
Ed Ott	27	39	2	12	.308	0	5	0
Miguel Diloné	16	17	7	4	.235	0	0	5
Tony Armas	4	6	0	2	.333	0	1	0
Craig Reynolds	7	4	1	1	.250	1	1	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
John Candelaria	32	220	16	7	3.15	138
Jerry Reuss	31	209.1	14	9	3.53	108
Jim Rooker	30	198.2	15	8	3.35	92
Bruce Kison	31	193	14	9	3.08	98
Doc Medich	29	179	8	11	3.52	86

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Larry Demery	36	145	10	7	3.17	72

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Kent Tekulve	64	5	3	9	2.45	68
Bob Moose	53	3	9	10	3.68	38
Dave Giusti	40	5	4	6	4.32	24
Ramón Hernández	37	2	2	3	3.56	17
Rick Langford	12	0	1	0	6.26	17
Doug Bair	4	0	0	0	5.68	4

Awards and honors

1976 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Charleston Charlies	International League	Tim Murtaugh
AA	Shreveport Captains	Texas League	Johnny Lipon
A	Salem Pirates	Carolina League	Steve Demeter
A	Charleston Patriots	Western Carolinas League	Mike Ryan
A-Short Season	Niagara Falls Pirates	New York–Penn League	Glenn Ezell
Rookie	GCL Pirates	Gulf Coast League	Woody Huyke

Notes

^ From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
^ Rafael Vásquez Statistics at Baseball Reference
^ Dock Ellis at Baseball Reference
^ Pascual Pérez Statistics at Baseball Reference
^ August 9, 1976 Dodgers-Pirates box score at Baseball Reference
^ Bob Long at Baseball Reference
^ Albert Williams at Baseball Reference
^ Ramón Hernández at Baseball Reference
^ https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PIT/1976.shtml

References

1976 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Reference
1976 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Almanac
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.

[1] From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.

[2] Rafael Vásquez Statistics at Baseball Reference

[3] Dock Ellis at Baseball Reference

[4] Pascual Pérez Statistics at Baseball Reference

[5] August 9, 1976 Dodgers-Pirates box score at Baseball Reference

[6] Bob Long at Baseball Reference

[7] Albert Williams at Baseball Reference

[8] Ramón Hernández at Baseball Reference

[9] ttps://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/PIT/1976.shtml

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