[ifspuds]

Author's Note: With Time Warp still on hiatus, I don't have any new news on this team. However, since I've been thinking a lot about the league lately, I thought I'd bring over the 50 or so seasons of historical rambling I've done on the Time Warp forums. One post a season through the 1951 season, at which point I'll think about whether or not I want to condense 1951-1970 in the same fashion.

If there are non-Time Warp regulars reading the thread, I hope you enjoy, at least in part, reliving the mostly miserable history of the Pirates franchise.

1901: A Slow Start

Top Hitter: RF Scott Podlasek (.317, 10 HR, 82 RBI)
Top Pitcher: Sam Covallini (17-15, 3.58)
Top Prospect: C Jonathan Clark

Team Record: 67-72, 7th place
Awards: Gold Glove, P Sam Covallini
Trades: P Kareem Roth, P Ryan Wahlen and P Brad Bush to BOS for LF Harris Lambertini.

There were some good moments in the first season for the Pirates, and while a 67-72 record isn’t terrible, they finished 15 games back of the Phillies. Only two teams in the NL finished above .500 in 1901, so the Pirates had plenty of company. Scott Podlasek, the first draft choice of the Pittsburgh franchise, started off on the right foot, hitting .317/.401/.455 with 10 homers, one of 6 times in his career he would hit in double digits. Sam Covallini, Pittsburgh’s second draft choice, turned in a solid season (17-15, 3.58), a pattern he would follow until his retirement in 1911.