Pittsburgh Pirates Brief History
The Pirates originally played in Recreation, Union and Exposition Ballparks ' all of them located in Allegheny City. Then they moved to Forbes Field where they trained and played their home stands for more than 60 years. The next ballpark was Three Rivers Stadium, which was the Pirates' home field till 2000, and the present-day baseball stadium is called PNC Park. The team moved to PNC as soon as the stadium had been opened in 2001 in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates made quite a successful start in the mid 1920s, when they won the 1925 World Series in the struggle against the Washington Senators. In 1927, the Pirates reached the World Series as well but lost to the New York Yankees who were one of the most successful teams at that time. Of course, the Pirates' devastating defeats of 1927 and 1938 were tremendous setbacks but the team did not lose their temper and enthusiasm and continued the struggle for victories.
All in all, the Pirates were World Series Champions 5 times: in 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979. They became National League Champions also 5 times: in 1901, 1902, 1903, 1925, and 1927. The team won the National League Eastern Division Championship 8 times: in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1990, 1991 and 1992.
At present, the situation with the Pirates' playing is very weird. They have not had a winning season since 1992. The Pirates gained a reputation of constant losers, having 15 consecutive losing seasons behind. Now, it seems, they still can break the records, but rather losing records than winning ones. If the Pirates end up the 2008 and 2009 seasons with a losing record again, they will crush the Philadelphia Phillies' record of 16 consecutive losing seasons.