1977 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1977 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Three Rivers Stadium (since 1970)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[1] (since 1907)
Results
Record	96–66 (.593)
Divisional place	2nd
Other information
Owner(s)	John W. Galbreath (majority shareholder); Bing Crosby, Thomas Johnson (minority shareholders)
General manager(s)	Harding "Pete" Peterson
Manager(s)	Chuck Tanner
Local television	KDKA-TV Milo Hamilton, Lanny Frattare
Local radio	KDKA Milo Hamilton, Lanny Frattare
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The 1977 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 96th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; their 91st in the National League. The Pirates finished second in the National League East with a record of 96–66.

Offseason

• November 5, 1976: Manny Sanguillén was traded by the Pirates to the Oakland Athletics for manager Chuck Tanner.^[2]
• December 10, 1976: Richie Zisk and Silvio Martínez were traded by the Pirates to the Chicago White Sox for Goose Gossage and Terry Forster.^[3]
• March 15, 1977: Rick Langford, Tony Armas, Doug Bair, Dave Giusti, Doc Medich, and Mitchell Page were traded by the Pirates to the Oakland Athletics for Phil Garner, Tommy Helms, and Chris Batton.^[4]

Regular season

• May 11: Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner appointed himself manager of the team before a game against the Pirates.^[5] After losing the game 2-1, Turner stepped down.
• June 30: Willie Stargell hits his 400th career home run versus Philadelphia Phillies.

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Phillies	101	61	0.623	—	60–21	41–40
Pittsburgh Pirates	96	66	0.593	5	58–23	38–43
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	0.512	18	52–31	31–48
Chicago Cubs	81	81	0.500	20	46–35	35–46
Montreal Expos	75	87	0.463	26	38–43	37–44
New York Mets	64	98	0.395	37	35–44	29–54

Record vs. opponents

1977 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	4–14	9–9	5–13	6–6	7–5	2–10	3–9	11–7	8–10	1–11
Chicago	7–5	—	7–5	6–6	6–6	10–8	9–9	6–12	7–11	7–5	9–3	7–11
Cincinnati	14–4	5–7	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	10–2	8–4	3–9	11–7	10–8	5–7
Houston	9–9	6–6	13–5	—	9–9	8–4	6–6	4–8	4–8	8–10	9–9	5–7
Los Angeles	13–5	6–6	8–10	9–9	—	7–5	8–4	6–6	9–3	12–6	14–4	6–6
Montreal	6–6	8–10	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	10–8	7–11	7–11	5–7	6–6	12–6
New York	5–7	9–9	2–10	6–6	4–8	8–10	—	5–13	4–14	6–6	7–5	8–10
Philadelphia	10-2	12–6	4–8	8–4	6–6	11–7	13–5	—	8–10	9–3	9–3	11–7
Pittsburgh	9–3	11–7	9–3	8–4	3–9	11–7	14–4	10–8	—	10–2	2–10	9–9
San Diego	7–11	5–7	7–11	10–8	6–12	7–5	6–6	3–9	2–10	—	8–10	8–4
San Francisco	10–8	3–9	8–10	9–9	4–14	6–6	5–7	3–9	10–2	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	11–1	11–7	7–5	7–5	6–6	6–12	10–8	7–11	9–9	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• June 7, 1977: Wayne Tolleson was drafted by the Pirates in the 12th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.^[6]
• June 15, 1977: Ed Kirkpatrick was traded by the Pirates to the Texas Rangers for Jim Fregosi.^[7]
• July 27, 1977: The Pirates traded a player to be named later to the Seattle Mariners for Dave Pagan. The Pirates completed the deal by sending Rick Honeycutt to the Mariners on August 22.^[8]
• August 18, 1977: Doug Frobel was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent.^[9]

Roster

1977 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 45 John Candelaria 44 Larry Demery 51 Terry Forster 54 Goose Gossage 31 Al Holland 23,35 Grant Jackson 36 Odell Jones 48 Tim Jones 25 Bruce Kison 34 Dave Pagan 41 Jerry Reuss 19 Jim Rooker 27 Kent Tekulve 46 Ed Whitson		Catchers  5 Duffy Dyer 14 Ed Ott Infielders  4 Dale Berra 26 Mike Edwards 29 Jim Fregosi 3,17 Phil Garner 13 Fernando González 23 Ed Kirkpatrick 29,30 Ken Macha 11 Mario Mendoza 28 Bill Robinson  8 Willie Stargell  6 Rennie Stennett 10 Frank Taveras 24 Bobby Tolan		Outfielders 37 Miguel Diloné 24 Mike Easler 22 Jerry Hairston 18 Omar Moreno 16 Al Oliver 39 Dave Parker Other batters 24 Tommy Helms		Manager  7 Chuck Tanner Coaches 32 Joe Lonnett 42 Alex Monchak  2 José Pagán 43 Larry Sherry

Player stats

Batting

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	Garner, PhilPhil Garner	153	585	152	.260	17	77
RF	Parker, DaveDave Parker	159	637	215	.338	21	88

Other batters

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

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Stargell, WillieWillie Stargell	63	186	51	.274	13	35
Mendoza, MarioMario Mendoza	70	81	16	.198	0	4
Fregosi, JimJim Fregosi	36	56	16	.286	3	16
Kirkpatrick, EdEd Kirkpatrick	21	28	4	.143	1	4
Helms, TommyTommy Helms	15	12	0	.000	0	0
Edwards, MikeMike Edwards	7	6	0	.000	0	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
Candelaria, JohnJohn Candelaria	33	230.2	20	5	2.34	133
Reuss, JerryJerry Reuss	33	208	10	13	4.11	116

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
Jones, OdellOdell Jones	34	108	3	7	5.08	66
Demery, LarryLarry Demery	39	90.1	6	5	5.08	35
Forster, TerryTerry Forster	33	87.1	6	4	4.43	58
Whitson, EdEd Whitson	5	15.2	1	0	3.45	10

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
Gossage, GooseGoose Gossage	72	11	9	26	1.62	151
Tekulve, KentKent Tekulve	72	10	1	7	3.06	59
Jackson, GrantGrant Jackson	49	5	3	4	3.86	41
Holland, AlAl Holland	2	0	0	0	7.71	1
Pagan, DaveDave Pagan	1	0	0	0	0.00	4
Mendoza, MarioMario Mendoza	1	0	0	0	13.50	0

Awards and honors

1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Dave Parker, outfield, starter
• John Candelaria, reserve
• Goose Gossage, reserve

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Columbus Clippers	International League	Tim Murtaugh and Johnny Lipon
AA	Shreveport Captains	Texas League	Johnny Lipon and Tim Murtaugh
A	Salem Pirates	Carolina League	Steve Demeter
A	Charleston Patriots	Western Carolinas League	Jim Mahoney
A-Short Season	Niagara Falls Pirates	New York–Penn League	Luther Quinn
Rookie	GCL Pirates	Gulf Coast League	Woody Huyke

Notes

1. From 1882–1906, the team played in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which became annexed by Pittsburgh as the North Shore in 1907.
2. Chuck Tanner page at Baseball Reference
3. Rich Gossage page at Baseball Reference
4. Rick Langford page at Baseball Reference
5. Sandomir, Richard (March 8, 1998). "Long Before Murdoch, There Was Ted Turner". The New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
6. Wayne Tolleson page at Baseball Reference
7. Jim Fregosi page at Baseball Reference
8. Dave Pagan page at Baseball Reference
9. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/frobedo01.shtm

References

• 1977 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1977 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• 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.