By Dave Parsons
Nearly every major league baseball team has one weekend that they dedicate to welcoming some past players. In recent years, the Pittsburgh Pirates started including inducting some of the players into the Pirates Hall of Fame. Located on the wall near the left field gate at PNC Park, the first year in 2022 saw the Pirates enshrine the likes of Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski and 17 more into immortality in the steel city. In 2023, three more names were added.
The class of 2024 was comprised of 2 players and one manager that had an impact on Pittsburgh and the Pirates team and fans.
Jim Leyland managed the Pirates from 1986 to 1996. In that time, the Pirates won three consecutive National League East titles (1990–1992), and Leyland was manager of the year in 1990 and 1992, which is the only manager to win it twice. In his speech accepting the Pirates Hall of Fame, Leyland said he had spent the weekend thanking everyone in the organization, and they he was happy he now got to thank the fans. Leyland was also inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in Cooperstown earlier in 2024. In both speeches, he said “managing in Pittsburgh wasn’t like manager and fans, it was like manager and friends.” Proof of this claim is that Leyland has maintained a home in a Pittsburgh suburb, his entire managing career, even when he was coaching teams in Florida, Colorado and Michigan. The ovation the crowd gave him on this night showed the mutual admiration.
One of the two players of the 2024 class of the Pirates Hall of Fame, was Barry Bonds. Bonds began his career in Pittsburgh, before going on to hold the MLB records for most career home runs (762) and most home runs in a single season (73 in 2001). One of the most polarizing figures in sports history, Pirate fans were mixed on their feelings when his inclusion in the Pirates Hall of Fame was announced. Despite this, the Pirates fans made him feel welcome coming back to the Steel City, sending him off afterwards chanting his name.
It was the other new player member of the Pirates Hall of Fame that got the biggest ovation. Manny Sanguillen spent 12 of his 13 major league seasons with the Pirates as a catcher. A lifetime .296 hitter, Sanguillen was one of the greatest catchers in major league history. He was introduced as “one of the kindest, happiest men to ever wear a Pirates uniform”, and can be displayed at many Pirates home games today as he has a barbeque stand in center field and can be found signing autographs and taking pictures with any fan who wants to stop by for a minute.
Two previous inductees, Steve Blass and Kent Tekulve, were also on hand for the ceremony, that allowed Pirates fans to say thank you to players and a manager that gave them many fond memories of baseball in Pittsburgh.
