The newsletter is slowly browsing the best 50. The best team in baseball. Today’s story focuses on Pittsburgh Pirates 11 in 1925.
Here is a quick boilerplate note attached to each story I have in this series:
I compiled the best 50 by analyzing 2,544 major league teams from 1903 to 2024. (The historical percentile for a given club is the percentage of its other 2,543 teams.)
Please refer to my book to explain my TS calculations. The book also offers a separate breakdown of the best and worst clubs every decade, along with a comprehensive overview of the best 50 (including a position-by-position lineup and more information than you will find in this newsletter), and a similar summary of the 10 worst teams of all time.
Now enter today’s profile.
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Team: Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925
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Team Score: 90.381 points
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Ranking History: 11 of 2,544
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Historical percentile: 99.61%
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Seasonal record: 95-58 (.621)
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Season position: No. 1 in the National League
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Final identity: World Champion
The Pirates have not won the National League since 1909, but in the early 1920s they were hunting. Their leaders lag behind less than nine games each year from 1921 to 1924, reducing profit margins to three in the following season.
The breakthrough finally appeared in 1925, although it was far from stable. Pittsburgh stumbled out of the door, trailing nine games before May 21.
Offensive firepower is the key to the Pittsburgh revival. The Pirates won seven double-digit games during their 36-game winning streak. Seven of their eight players have hit averages above 0.300 (down to .298) during the season, with four Pirates driving home more than 100 times.
Pittsburgh beat the Giants in 8.5 games in the final three months of the season.
Get a complete low in 50 greatest (and 10 weakest) clubs of all time
Smart Money favored Washington in the 1925 World Series, why not? The Nationals are the defending champions and their pitchers are clearly superior to the Pirates’ rotation. The first four games confirmed that expectation, with Washington leading Pittsburgh 14-7 and reaching one with three games.
But the Pirates followed the regular season template. They rallied from adversity to forcing the seventh game, which was played in a constant rainstorm. Damon Runyon wrote: “The audience could hardly see the misty curtains and the outfielder was just outlined, blurry and dark.”
A pair of doubles in the eighth innings won Pittsburgh’s 9-7 victory. Pinch batsman Carson Bigbee Put the game together 7-7, then right-guard shooter Kiki Cuyler Driving home twice won. “As one of the excellent markers of Diamond’s progress, this hit will go into history.” Pittsburgh Gazette Times.
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Historians refer to Pittsburgh’s 1925 right fielder Kiki Cuyler, although his contemporaries usually call him by his name. The local newspaper, known as the “Clean Life, Good Hazen Cuyler”, is a line drive that broke into the pro with 165 hits and an average of A.354 in the 1924 rookie season.
35 years old Max Carey He has been playing for the Pirates since 1910, but he remained a club racer at his senior age. The center fielder hit 0.343 and led the national league with 46 stolen bases.
Pittsburgh infield left side of the left side – Shortstop Glenn Wright and the third baseman Paitreno – Combined into 227 RBI and solid gloves. Wright snatched a lining on May 7 before quickly stomping on second base and tagged an upcoming runner for an unassisted three-pointer. “That’s one of the easiest dramas I’ve ever done. I can’t help it,” he said. Traynor set an NL field record in 1925, a third baseman’s doubles. The trademark will last for 25 years.
The Pirates surpassed the NL in most offensive statistics in 1925, especially the team’s average shooting percentage was .307, but the quality of their pitchers was not the same. The ace is Lee Meadowsan 11-year veteran, set a personal record with 19 wins. Meadows will be remembered as the first major league player to wear glasses on the court in the 20th century.
