THE PNC PARK YEARS

PNC Park officially opened its gates on April 9, 2001. Regarded by many as the best ballpark ever built, PNC Park is an intimate two-level structure which offers all fans dramatic views of the downtown skyline as well as the natural grass playing surface. After touring all 30 major league ballparks during the summer of 2003, ESPN.com ranked PNC Park as the best in baseball.

The anticipation and joy of a new ballpark turned to sorrow, when on the morning of the first regular season game at PNC Park, a beloved member of the Pirates family was lost when Willie Stargell passed away on April 9, 2001.

Despite suffering 100 losses for just the seventh time in club history in 2001, fans came out in record numbers as the Bucs played in front of 19 sellouts and a total of 2,436,139 customers during the inaugural season at PNC Park.

On June 25, 2002, the Pirates registered the 9,000th win in the history of the franchise with a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Expos, thus becoming just the fourth club to produce 9,000 wins.

The Pirates have had a long list of sluggers in their history and Brian Giles added his name to that list during his five seasons in a Bucco uniform. He hit 30 or more home runs in each of his first four seasons with the club, just one of three Pirates to hit 30 or more long balls in four consecutive years (also Hall-of-Famers Ralph Kiner and Willie Stargell). His 165 home runs with Pittsburgh rank seventh in club history.

Catcher Jason Kendall spent each of his first nine big league seasons in a Pittsburgh uniform after being selected in the first round of the 1992 June draft. In that time, he made 1,205 appearances behind the plate. That figure ranks first all-time in the annals of the club, 50 games ahead of George Gibson, who caught for the Bucs from 1906 thru 1915. Kendall surpassed Gibson's 90-year-old record in Los Angeles on August 3, 2004.

For the first time in team history a Pittsburgh player captured Rookie-of-the-Year honors as outfielder Jason Bay took home the honors in 2004. A two-time National League All-Star, Bay was a fan favorite at the 2006 All-Star Game in Pittsburgh.

The national spotlight shined once again on the city of Pittsburgh during the 2006 season as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played at PNC Park, marking the fifth time the event has been held in the Steel City. The American League won a dramatic 3-2 decision in the Midsummer Classic as the Pirates became the first team in baseball history to host the All-Star Game in three different venues.

Also in 2006, Freddy Sanchez added his name to the club's record list of 25 batting champions as his .344 average led the National League. Sanchez banged out 200 hits in 2006 and led the N.L. with 53 doubles while being named to his first of two All-Star teams.

On January 18, 2007, Bob Nutting officially assumed control of the ballclub, thus becoming only the sixth principal owner in the Pirates storied history. Following a deep look into the team's operations, Nutting has built a fundamentally different
organization by introducing Frank Coonelly as the team's new president on September 13, 2007 and, in-turn, Neal Huntington as the team's new general manager on September 25, 2007. From there the new leadership team has made significant changes to each of the three major areas - Major League manager/coaching staff, Scouting Director and Farm Director, with the goal of building an organization that can consistently compete.

Since 2009, fans have witnessed the debuts of many first-round draft picks, including Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon along with appearances of many other young players, including Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco and Josh Bell.

Clint Hurdle was named manager of the Pirates on November 15, 2010, and in his first seven seasons at the helm, the inspirational leader of the club has posted a 584-549-1 record while leading the Bucs to the postseason three times.

During the 2012 campaign, Bucco fans showed their great support of the club as the Pirates played host to 17 sellouts during the season.

McCutchen also emerged as one of the best players in the game, winning a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award in 2012 while finishing third in the National League MVP voting.

In 2013 the Pirates returned to prominence in the league as they won 94 regular season games and appeared in the postseason for the first time since 1992.

The Pirates placed five players on the 2013 All-Star team - the most since also having five selected to the 1972 Midsummer Classic. Along with McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Jason Grilli, Jeff Locke and Mark Melancon represented the Bucs at the 2013 All-Star Game, played at Citi Field in New York.

Led by 16-game winner and the National League Comeback Player-of-the-Year Francisco Liriano, the Bucco pitching staff posted 16 shutouts in 2013 and ranked third in the N.L. with a 3.26 ERA; the best mark by the pitching staff since 1984. Grilli (33) and Melancon (16) picked up 49 of the club-record and National League leading 55 saves.

The offense was led by McCutchen, who took home N.L. MVP honors in 2013 after hitting .317 with 97 runs, 38 doubles, 21 home runs, 84 RBI and 27 stolen bases in 157 games. McCutchen became the sixth player in club history to win the MVP award, joining Dick Groat (1960), Roberto Clemente (1966), Dave Parker (1978), Willie Stargell (1979) and Barry Bonds (1990, 1992).

Silver Slugger award winner Pedro Alvarez shared the league lead in home runs in 2013, as the young slugger smacked 36 long balls to become the first Bucco to lead or share the N.L. lead in homers since Willie Stargell did so with 44 in 1973.

After winning 94 games during the 2013 regular season and finishing second in the N.L. Central division standings, the Pirates defeated the Reds in the Wild Card playoff game, played before a sold out crowd at PNC Park on October 1. The game would officially launch the kickoff to Buctober for years to come.

The Pirates had a two-games-to-one lead in the best of five Division Series playoff against the Cardinals, but dropped the final two games to bring an end to their magical 2013 campaign.

The Pirates produced a record 23 sellouts during the 2013 regular season before playing in front of three standing-room only crowds in the postseason.

Clint Hurdle also took home some hardware following the 2013 season as he was named the N.L. Manager-of-the Year; just the second Bucco skipper to win the award.

The Pirates reached the postseason again in 2014 while drawing 2,442,564 fans and averaging 30,155 for their 81 home dates. In addition, the Bucs posted 23 regular season sellouts for the second consecutive year.

With a combination of the second-best OBP in the National League (.333) and a pitching staff that posted the second- lowest ERA (2.94) over the final two months of the season, the Pirates won 88 games in 2014, finishing 2.0 games behind St. Louis in the Central division race.

Josh Harrison finished second in the N.L. batting race while Andrew McCutchen once again put up MVP-type numbers, leading the Pirates to the postseason in back-to-back seasons for just the sixth time in franchise history.

The final game of the 2014 season was played on October 1 as a standing-room only crowd of 40,629 watched eventual World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner shut down the Bucs in the Wild Card Game as the Giants began their run toward the championship.

For the sixth time in franchise history, and for the first time since 1991, the Pirates won 98 games in a season as the 2015 squad posted a 98-64 record. The Pirates also established a club-record attendance figure in 2015, drawing 2,498,596 fans and averaging 30,847 fans for their 81 home dates. The Bucs went 53-28 at home, setting a record for most wins in a season at PNC Park.

During the 2015 campaign, Pittsburgh posted its 10,000th franchise win on September 24, becoming the fifth club to record as many victories.

For the third straight year the Pirates hosted the N.L. Wild Card Game in 2015, making the postseason three consecutive years for just the fourth time in team history.

Mark Melancon set a club record and led the Major Leagues with 51 saves in 2015. In addition, Gerrit Cole won 19 games, Starling Marte captured a Gold Glove Award for his fielding excellence and Korean import Jung Ho Kang was a finalist for N.L. Rookie- of-the-Year.

The 2017 season saw the emergence of another young talented player as Josh Bell set a National League record for most home runs hit by a switch-hitting rookie (26).

Bell placed his name in the record books during the 2019 season, putting up one of the best offensive months in MLB history. The N.L. All-Star hit .390 with 12 homers, 31 RBI and a 1.238 OPS in May while setting the club record for most total bases (94) in a month. He also became just the third National League player in history to produce at least 12 doubles and 12 home runs in any calendar month.

Derek Shelton was named the 41st manager in team history on November 27, 2019 while Ben Cherington took over General Manager duties - the 13th GM in Pirates history - prior to the 2020 campaign.

The 2020 season was shortened to 60 games due to the international COVID-19 pandemic. Travel was also limited as the Pirates played teams only from the N.L. and A.L. Central divisions.

For the 50th time in club history, a Gold Glove award was given to a Pirates player as Jacob Stallings took home the hardware for his catching excellence in 2021.

A total of 25 rookies appeared in at least one game for the Bucs in 2022 and combined for a club-record 56 home runs, led by Jack Suwinski (19) and Oneil Cruz (17).

In 2023, Mitch Keller set the club record for most strikeouts by a right-handed pitcher (210) while third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes captured a Gold Glove award - the first won by a Pittsburgh player at that position.