9 World Series Championships (1901, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1925, 1947, 1960, 1971, 1979)

Lore & Background

In the summer of 1901, when baseball was still wrapping its head around a second major league, the Pittsburgh Pirates did something no one had done before: they won the first-ever World Series. The best-of-11 contest against the Boston Americans was a slugfest by modern standards, and the Pirates' 8-3 victory sent the city into a frenzy that echoed through the Allegheny and Monongahel rivers. That single title would prove to be the overture, not the finale. Over the next eight years, Pittsburgh collected three more championships, including back-to-back 4-0 sweeps of the New York Giants in 1908 and 1909—a run of dominance that cemented the franchise's early identity as a team built for October.

The 1960 World Series remains the single most iconic moment in Pirates lore. With the series tied 3-2 and the New York Yankees one strike from a fifth straight pennant, Bill Mazeroski stepped into the box in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 5 at Forbes Field. He connected with a 2-1 pitch and sent it into the stands, giving Pittsburgh a 10-9 victory and a championship. The image of Mazeroski pointing at the sky as teammates mobbed him has been painted, printed, and retold for over sixty years. It is the Pirates' version of the 'Shot Heard 'Round the World.'

The 1970s gave the city two more October memories. In 1971, the Pirates—featuring Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Johnny Bench, and Gaylord Perry—swept the Baltimore Orioles in four straight games, a clean and commanding run that left little to debate. In 1979, the series went to seven games against the same Orioles, and the Pirates' offense erupted in a way fans still recount with disbelief, their ten consecutive batters in a single game becoming a local legend known as the 'Terrible Ten.' By the final out, the black-and-gold confetti had already become a ritual, a rite of passage for a city that had learned, over nearly eight decades, that October in Pittsburgh was something to be expected, feared by opponents, and celebrated by everyone from the Strip District to the hills.

In Their Own Story

The October air at Forbes Field in 1960 tasted like coal smoke and cheap beer. The stands were a sea of black and gold, 40,000 voices pressed against the night. You could feel the weight of it in the dirt—fifty years of a city that had built its identity around a team, a river, and a promise that the next big thing was always around the bend. The Yankees had won four straight. Four. And here was a Pirates outfielder, a kid from McKeesport, stepping into the box with the whole of Pittsburgh behind him and the whole of the Bronx ahead of him. The pitch came. The bat turned. And for one long, golden arc, the ball hung above the left-field seats like a question the city had been asking since 1882. Then it landed. And the answer was: yes. We are still here. We are still black and gold. And we do not lose in the ninth.

Reader's Guide

1901 – The Pirates defeated the Boston Americans 8-3 in a best-of-11 series to claim the first World Series ever played. The Pirates' dominance in that era was immediate and total.

1907 – Pittsburgh beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 to begin a three-year run of October glory. Chief Bender and the Pirates' pitching staff were the backbone of the era.

1908 – The Pirates swept the New York Giants 4-0. A clean, commanding series that left no room for argument.

1909 – Another 4-0 sweep of the Giants, completing a remarkable three-peat and establishing Pittsburgh as the standard-bearer of the 1900s.

1925 – The Pirates defeated the Washington Senators 4-3 to capture a title that bridged the gap between the early dynasty and the mid-century resurgence.

1947 – Pittsburgh beat the New York Yankees 4-3, a victory that carried the weight of post-war America and a city hungry for a champion.

1960 – Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth of Game 5 gave the Pirates a 10-9 win over the Yankees and a 4-3 series victory. It remains the most famous single pitch in Pirates history.

1971 – The Pirates swept the Baltimore Orioles 4-0. Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Johnny Bench, and Gaylord Perry delivered a dominant, efficient championship.

1979 – The Pirates defeated the Orioles 4-3 in a seven-game war. The 'Terrible Ten' offensive outburst in a single game became a local myth, and the black-and-gold confetti fell for the ninth and final time.

Did You Know?

• The Pirates won four World Series in the 1900s decade (1901, 1907, 1908, 1909), including two consecutive 4-0 sweeps of the New York Giants.
• Bill Mazeroski's 1960 walk-off home run in Game 5 was the first walk-off, game-ending home run in World Series history to decide a series.
• The Pirates have defeated the Baltimore Orioles in two separate World Series (1971, 1979), including a four-game sweep in 1971.
• Roberto Clemente's jersey number 21 and Willie Stargell's number 4 are both retired by the Pirates, making them part of a small group of players whose numbers can never be worn again.