2001 Pittsburgh Pirates season
Encyclopedia
The 2001 Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

 season was the 120th in franchise history. A new era in Pirates history began as the club moved into PNC Park. Longtime Pirate Bill Mazeroski
Bill Mazeroski
William Stanley Mazeroski , nicknamed "Maz", is a former Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career with the Pittsburgh Pirates...

 was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Offseason

  • February 1, 2001: Billy Taylor was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Roster

2001 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders Manager
Coaches (hitting) (third base) (first base) (bullpen) (bench) (pitching)

Notable transactions

  • April 2, 2001: Billy Taylor was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • April 3, 2001: Billy Taylor was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • April 11, 2001: Ramón Martínez was signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • June 5, 2001: Jeremy Guthrie
    Jeremy Guthrie
    Jeremy Shane Guthrie is a Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.-Early life and education:...

     was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 3rd round of the 2001 amateur draft, but did not sign.
  • July 30, 2001: John Vander Wal
    John Vander Wal
    John Henry Vander Wal is a former American Major League Baseball left-handed hitter who played outfield and first base for eight different teams over 14 seasons.-Early life:...

     was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates with Jason Schmidt to the San Francisco Giants for Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong.
  • July 30, 2001: Jason Schmidt
    Jason Schmidt
    Jason David Schmidt , is a former American Major League Baseball pitcher.Schmidt was born in Lewiston, Idaho. In his career he has played for the Los Angeles Dodgers , San Francisco Giants , Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves , by whom he had been drafted in the eighth round, 206th overall, of...

     was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates with John Vander Wal to the San Francisco Giants for Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong.

PNC Park

The Pirates opened the park with two pre-season games against the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

, the first was played on March 31, 2001. The first official baseball game played in PNC Park was between the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

 and the Pittsburgh Pirates, on April 9, 2001. The Reds won the game by the final score of 8–2. The first pitch was thrown by Todd Ritchie
Todd Ritchie
Todd Everett Ritchie is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played in the major leagues from -....

, a ball to Barry Larkin
Barry Larkin
Barry Louis Larkin is a retired Major League Baseball player. Larkin played shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds from 1986 to 2004 and was one of the pivotal players on the 1990 Reds' World Series championship team...

. In the top of the first inning
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...

, Sean Casey's two-run home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

 was the first hit in the park. The first Pirates' batter, Adrian Brown
Adrian Brown (baseball)
Adrian Demond Brown is a free agent Major League Baseball outfielder who has played from through . Brown is a switch-hitter and throws right-handed....

, struck out
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....

; however, later in the inning Jason Kendall
Jason Kendall
Jason Daniel Kendall is an American professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He is the son of former catcher Fred Kendall, who played in the majors from 1969–1980.-High school:...

 singled, the first hit
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

 by a Pirate. Two days later, John Vander Wal
John Vander Wal
John Henry Vander Wal is a former American Major League Baseball left-handed hitter who played outfield and first base for eight different teams over 14 seasons.-Early life:...

 became the first Pirate to hit a home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

 in the park.

Upon opening in 2001, PNC Park was praised by fans and media alike. Jim Caple
Jim Caple
Jim Caple is a columnist and senior writer for ESPN.com. He has worked previously with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and St. Paul Pioneer Press.Caple attended R.A...

, of ESPN.com
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...

, ranked PNC Park as the best stadium in Major League Baseball, with a score of 95 out of 100. He compared the park to Fallingwater
Fallingwater
Fallingwater or Kaufmann Residence is a house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh...

, calling the stadium itself "perfect", and citing the high ticket prices as the only negative aspect of visiting the park. Pirates' vice-president Steve Greenberg said, "We said when construction began that we would build the best ballpark in baseball, and we believe we've done that." Major League Baseball executive Paul Beeston
Paul Beeston
Paul McGill Beeston, CM is the former president of Major League Baseball and current president of the Toronto Blue Jays. On October 27th, 2009 Rogers Media announced the appointment of Paul Beeston as President and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club and Rogers Centre for a three year...

 has said the park was the best he's seen so far in baseball. Many of the workers who built the park said that it was the nicest that they have seen. In 2008, Men's Fitness
Men's Fitness
Men's Fitness is a men's magazine published by American Media, Inc and founded in the United States in 1987. The premier issue featured Michael Pare from the television series The Greatest American Hero....

 named the park one of "10 big league parks worth seeing this summer".

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In
Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
3B Aramis Ramirez
Aramis Ramírez
Aramis Nin Ramírez is an All-Star Major League Baseball third baseman for the Chicago Cubs.He started his professional career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1998, before being traded to the Cubs in 2003. On November 12, 2006, Ramírez signed a five-year deal with the Cubs...

 
158 603 181 .300 34 112

Other batters

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI

Starting pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Other pitchers

Player G IP W L ERA SO

Relief pitchers

Player G W L SV ERA SO

Awards and honors

2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 72nd playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League and National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 10, 2001 at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington, home of the...

  • Brian Giles
    Brian Giles
    Brian Stephen Giles is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. During his career he played for the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres...

    , OF, Reserve

Farm system

LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Williamsport
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