# 1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 90th in the National League, and the 95th in franchise history. The Pirates compiled a 92–70 record during the season, as they finished in second place in the National League East, nine games behind their cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. As a result, their run of five division titles in a six-year span came to an end. It was also the final season for Danny Murtaugh as the Pirates' manager.

## Offseason

* December 4, 1975: Rafael Vásquez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.
* December 11, 1975: Dock Ellis, Ken Brett and Willie Randolph were traded by the Pirates to the New York Yankees for Doc Medich.
* January 27, 1976: Pascual Pérez was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates.

## Regular season

* August 9, 1976: John Candelaria pitched a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 101 | 61 | .623 | — | 53‍–‍28 | 48‍–‍33 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 92 | 70 | .568 | 9 | 47‍–‍34 | 45‍–‍36 |
| New York Mets | 86 | 76 | .531 | 15 | 45‍–‍37 | 41‍–‍39 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 87 | .463 | 26 | 42‍–‍39 | 33‍–‍48 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | 90 | .444 | 29 | 37‍–‍44 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Montreal Expos | 55 | 107 | .340 | 46 | 27‍–‍53 | 28‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–6 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 12–6 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 9–3 | — | 12–6 | 13–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 | — | 5–13 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 2–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–3 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 9–3 | 5–13 | 13–5 | — | 10–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–2 |
| Montreal | 4–8 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 2–10 | — | 8–10 | 3–15 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–11 |
| New York | 8–4 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 15–3 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–3 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 10–2 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 12–6 |
| San Diego | 8–10 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 8–4 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Game log

1976 Game Log: 92–70 (Home: 47–34; Away: 45–36) :
April: 8–8 (Home: 4–3; Away: 4–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 10@ Phillies5–4 (11)Demery (1–0)McGraw—42,1471–0
2April 11@ Phillies8–3Kison (1–0)CarltonMoose (1)18,3732–0
3April 13Cardinals14–4Reuss (1–0)Falcone—40,9373–0
4April 15Cardinals9–3Rooker (1–0)McGlothenHernandez (1)9,4904–0
5April 16Mets3–1Medich (1–0)Lolich—19,8995–0
6April 17Mets1–17KoosmanKison (1–1)—13,0825–1
7April 18Mets7–5Reuss (2–0)SwanHernandez (2)9,1066–1
8April 20Phillies1–5KaatCandelaria (0–1)—8,8006–2
9April 21Phillies0–3UnderwoodMedich (1–1)McGraw9,1756–3
10April 23@ Giants3–7MontefuscoReuss (2–1)Lavelle15,6216–4
11April 24@ Giants1–3HalickiRooker (1–1)Lavelle9,2226–5
12April 25@ Giants3–0Candelaria (1–1)Caldwell—23,7007–5
13April 26@ Dodgers1–7JohnMedich (1–2)—23,3747–6
14April 27@ Dodgers3–5RauKison (1–2)Hough21,6127–7
15April 28@ Dodgers1–2HootonReuss (2–2)—22,7697–8
16April 30@ Padres4–3Rooker (2–1)SpillnerMoose (2)17,0108–8 :
May: 17–11 (Home: 10–6; Away: 7–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
17May 1@ Padres10–6Candelaria (2–1)Greif—21,7739–8
18May 2@ Padres2–4JonesMedich (1–3)—21,7029–9
19May 4Giants6–5Reuss (3–2)CaldwellMoose (3)4,72910–9
20May 5Giants6–1Kison (2–2)Halicki—6,32111–9
21May 6Giants3–0Rooker (3–1)BarrDemery (1)5,11112–9
22May 7Braves3–1Candelaria (3–1)Messersmith—6,04913–9
23May 8Braves5–3Medich (2–3)NiekroGiusti (1)6,86414–9
24May 9Braves5–2Reuss (4–2)Ruthven—9,27515–9
25May 11@ Reds0–6NolanKison (2–3)—26,85015–10
26May 12@ Reds6–3Rooker (4–1)Gullett—26,05316–10
27May 14Dodgers2–3HoughCandelaria (3–2)Marshall13,76416–11
28May 15Dodgers4–2Medich (3–3)RauMoose (4)12,16517–11
29May 16Dodgers0–6HootonReuss (4–3)—15,33417–12
30May 17@ Cardinals2–1Kison (3–3)CurtisMoose (5)10,53818–12
31May 18@ Cardinals4–1Rooker (5–1)Hrabosky—10,28819–12
32May 19@ Cardinals7–6Hernandez (1–0)RasmussenMoose (6)11,22920–12
33May 20@ Cardinals1–4DennyMedich (3–4)—11,31520–13
34May 21Cubs4–5ReuschelDemery (1–1)Knowles9,34220–14
35May 22Cubs4–3 (16)Moose (1–0)Reuschel—7,08121–14
36May 23Cubs5–6ZamoraTekulve (0–1)Sutter21–15
37May 23Cubs9–1Reuss (5–3)Garman—20,47722–15
38May 24Expos2–4FrymanCandelaria (3–3)Scherman5,42022–16
39May 25Expos3–6 (11)GrangerMoose (1–1)—4,80522–17
40May 26Expos6–3Demery (2–1)WarthenCandelaria (1)6,58123–17
41May 29@ Cubs1–4BonhamKison (3–4)Zamora12,35723–18
42May 30@ Cubs4–2Rooker (6–1)Burris—19,41024–18
43May 31@ Mets2–13MatlackReuss (5–4)—24–19
44May 31@ Mets2–1Medich (4–4)Apodaca—46,00425–19 :
June: 16–10 (Home: 6–6; Away: 10–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
45June 1@ Mets3–2Candelaria (4–3)Koosman—13,59626–19
46June 2@ Expos4–2Kison (4–4)FrymanGiusti (2)11,33727–19
47June 3@ Expos1–7StanhouseRooker (6–2)—7,95127–20
48June 4Padres7–2Reuss (6–4)Freisleben—9,24928–20
49June 5Padres9–11 (15)FreislebenHernandez (1–1)—15,55828–21
50June 6Padres1–6StromCandelaria (4–4)—51,72628–22
51June 7Reds5–4Moose (2–1)McEnaneyGiusti (3)16,00129–22
52June 8Reds5–10AlcalaRooker (6–3)McEnaney17,33129–23
53June 9Reds1–6NolanReuss (6–5)—18,12729–24
54June 10Reds1–6GullettMedich (4–5)—17,28029–25
55June 11@ Braves6–2Candelaria (5–4)MoretMoose (7)13,68730–25
56June 12@ Braves4–2 (11)Moose (3–1)DevineTekulve (1)20,11731–25
57June 13@ Braves6–5Demery (3–1)LeonMoose (8)15,65632–25
58June 14@ Astros2–1Reuss (7–5)Richard—9,88433–25
59June 16@ Astros6–3Medich (5–5)AndujarDemery (2)12,24934–25
60June 18Astros7–3Candelaria (6–4)Richard—19,14135–25
61June 20Astros4–9GriffinMoose (3–2)—18,67035–26
62June 22@ Cubs10–7Demery (4–1)KnowlesHernandez (3)10,11636–26
63June 23@ Cubs5–6ZamoraMoose (3–3)—17,66136–27
64June 24@ Cubs1–2 (13)ZamoraLangford (0–1)—3,82436–28
65June 25@ Expos9–2Kison (5–4)Carrithers—6,58137–28
66June 26@ Expos7–6Demery (5–1)Murray—10,44538–28
67June 27@ Expos3–4FrymanMedich (5–6)Murray12,82438–29
68June 28Cubs9–2Rooker (7–3)Coleman—7,37039–29
69June 29Cubs10–1Candelaria (7–4)Renko—8,77440–29
70June 30Cubs7–5Kison (6–4)BonhamMoose (9)10,68141–29 :
July: 15–15 (Home: 8–7; Away: 7–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
71July 2Phillies10–9 (10)Hernandez (2–1)Garber—39,32842–29
72July 3Phillies2–3McGrawMoose (3–4)—19,32742–30
73July 4Phillies5–10CarltonDemery (5–2)Reed42–31
74July 4Phillies7–1Kison (7–4)Kaat—32,42243–31
75July 5@ Braves6–8Dal CantonHernandez (2–2)Marshall48,46743–32
76July 6@ Braves2–4MessersmithRooker (7–4)Marshall12,44843–33
77July 7@ Braves9–7Reuss (8–5)RuthvenMoose (10)11,48044–33
78July 9@ Reds11–12 (10)EastwickDemery (5–3)—44–34
79July 9@ Reds1–2NormanMedich (5–7)—53,32844–35
80July 10@ Reds7–1Candelaria (8–4)Billingham—50,75645–35
81July 11@ Reds8–5Tekulve (1–1)BorbonReuss (1)47,15346–35
82July 15Braves13–1Candelaria (9–4)Niekro—10,48847–35
83July 16Braves7–2Reuss (9–5)Messersmith—11,15148–35
84July 17Braves2–10RuthvenKison (7–5)—14,77648–36
85July 18Reds8–9BillinghamMedich (5–8)Eastwick33,69748–37
86July 19Reds2–4ZachryRooker (7–5)—26,58548–38
87July 20Astros9–5Candelaria (10–4)GriffinTekulve (2)49–38
88July 20Astros3–4ForschGiusti (0–1)—11,92249–39
89July 21Astros5–1Reuss (10–5)Dierker—50–39
90July 21Astros4–1Demery (6–3)AndujarGiusti (4)12,20951–39
91July 22@ Phillies0–3UnderwoodKison (7–6)Reed43,05051–40
92July 23@ Phillies1–11LonborgMedich (5–9)—40,12051–41
93July 24@ Phillies8–5Rooker (8–5)ChristensonGiusti (5)52–41
94July 24@ Phillies1–7CarltonMoose (3–5)—57,72352–42
95July 25@ Phillies7–13ReedGiusti (0–2)—37,69252–43
96July 27@ Cardinals3–1Kison (8–6)Falcone—13,95353–43
97July 28@ Mets1–0 (13)Giusti (1–2)Sanders—22,21554–43
98July 29@ Mets2–1 (10)Tekulve (2–1)Lockwood—12,58855–43
99July 30Expos4–3 (13)Tekulve (3–1)Kerrigan—12,77456–43
100July 31Expos6–7MurrayMoose (3–6)—10,98156–44 :
August: 16–13 (Home: 8–8; Away: 8–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
101August 1Expos0–2RogersKison (8–7)—17,15056–45
102August 2Cardinals0–4FalconeMedich (5–10)—7,55356–46
103August 3Cardinals2–1Rooker (9–5)Greif—57–46
104August 3Cardinals2–4HraboskyGiusti (1–3)Wallace14,78157–47
105August 4Cardinals2–1 (12)Giusti (2–3)Wallace—8,42658–47
106August 5Mets4–7MatlackReuss (10–6)Lockwood7,83658–48
107August 7Mets12–3Kison (9–7)Seaver—59–48
108August 7Mets2–4EspinosaMedich (5–11)Lockwood12,36459–49
109August 8Mets4–7LolichRooker (9–6)—16,53859–50
110August 9Dodgers2–0Candelaria (11–4)Rau—9,86060–50
111August 10Dodgers1–5SuttonReuss (10–7)—13,67060–51
112August 11Dodgers0–2RhodenDemery (6–4)—16,22260–52
113August 13@ Astros8–5Tekulve (4–1)Niekro—17,87661–52
114August 14@ Astros5–4Giusti (3–3)Pentz—9,72162–52
115August 15@ Astros8–6Medich (6–11)LarsonTekulve (3)63–52
116August 15@ Astros3–0Reuss (11–7)Sambito—16,32664–52
117August 17@ Giants6–7LavelleMoose (3–7)Williams9,21564–53
118August 18@ Giants12–1 (7)Rooker (10–6)Montefusco—3,81765–53
119August 19@ Giants1–0Candelaria (12–4)Barr—2,70966–53
120August 20@ Dodgers1–8RauKison (9–8)Hough25,10766–54
121August 21@ Dodgers1–5SuttonMoose (3–8)—42,23566–55
122August 22@ Dodgers6–1Demery (7–4)RhodenTekulve (4)24,29567–55
123August 23@ Padres4–5JohnsonRooker (10–7)Metzger18,39667–56
124August 24@ Padres3–7StromCandelaria (12–5)—11,00267–57
125August 25@ Padres3–0Kison (10–8)Freisleben—10,96368–57
126August 27Giants5–2Demery (8–4)Montefusco—12,58069–57
127August 28Giants7–1Rooker (11–7)D'Acquisto—11,04370–57
128August 29Giants3–2 (11)Candelaria (13–5)Moffitt—12,97271–57
129August 31Padres3–0Reuss (12–7)Jones—9,67472–57 :
September: 17–13 (Home: 8–4; Away: 9–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
130September 1Padres4–1Kison (11–8)StromTekulve (5)5,38173–57
131September 2Padres5–0Demery (9–4)Freisleben—5,54574–57
132September 3@ Expos9–7Rooker (12–7)StanhouseTekulve (6)75–57
133September 3@ Expos7–2Candelaria (14–5)Carrithers—6,34276–57
134September 4@ Expos5–3Giusti (4–3)MurrayTekulve (7)3,29077–57
135September 5@ Expos0–1FrymanReuss (12–8)—6,18077–58
136September 6Phillies6–2Kison (12–8)Kaat—78–58
137September 6Phillies5–1Demery (10–4)Underwood—41,70379–58
138September 8Phillies6–1Rooker (13–7)Carlton—30,97680–58
139September 10Expos2–4FrymanCandelaria (14–6)—12,03280–59
140September 11Expos4–3Reuss (13–8)RogersTekulve (8)7,50981–59
141September 12Expos6–1Kison (13–8)StanhouseTekulve (9)12,76582–59
142September 13Mets0–5SeaverDemery (10–5)—7,89282–60
143September 14Mets3–4LockwoodRooker (13–8)—7,86782–61
144September 15@ Phillies7–2Candelaria (15–6)Kaat—45,01083–61
145September 16@ Phillies7–6Tekulve (5–1)Reed—35,80684–61
146September 17@ Mets4–1Medich (7–11)MatlackGiusti (6)14,30485–61
147September 18@ Mets2–6SeaverDemery (10–6)—15,87985–62
148September 19@ Mets6–7EspinosaGiusti (4–4)Lockwood18,65285–63
149September 20@ Mets4–5ApodacaTekulve (5–2)—5,92285–64
150September 21@ Cubs4–3Kison (14–8)RenkoRooker (1)86–64
151September 21@ Cubs1–2 (13)ReuschelMoose (3–9)—5,01786–65
152September 22@ Cubs3–4ColemanTekulve (5–3)—3,37586–66
153September 23@ Cubs5–4 (10)Giusti (5–4)KnowlesKison (1)2,13287–66
154September 24@ Cardinals6–10ForschCandelaria (15–7)—87–67
155September 24@ Cardinals11–1Rooker (14–8)Curtis—10,36888–67
156September 25@ Cardinals0–3McGlothenReuss (13–9)—7,85888–68
157September 26@ Cardinals2–5DennyKison (14–9)Hrabosky10,45688–69
158September 28Cubs5–1Medich (8–11)ReuschelReuss (2)2,88089–69
159September 29Cubs0–1RenkoDemery (10–7)—2,88089–70 :
October: 3–0 (Home: 3–0; Away: 0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
160October 2Cardinals8–0Candelaria (16–7)McGlothen—4,25090–70
161October 3Cardinals1–0Rooker (15–8)Denny—91–70
162October 3Cardinals1–0Reuss (14–9)Falcone—24,22892–70 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss Bold = Pirates team member :

### Notable transactions

* June 8, 1976: Bob Long was drafted by the Pirates in the 24th round of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft.
* July 2, 1976: Albert Williams was released by the Pirates.
* September 8, 1976: Ramón Hernández was purchased from the Pirates by the Chicago Cubs.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Manny Sanguillén | 114 | 389 | 52 | 113 | .290 | 2 | 36 | 2 |
| 1B | Willie Stargell | 117 | 428 | 54 | 110 | .257 | 20 | 65 | 2 |
| 2B | Rennie Stennett | 157 | 654 | 59 | 168 | .257 | 2 | 60 | 18 |
| 3B | Richie Hebner | 132 | 434 | 60 | 108 | .249 | 8 | 51 | 1 |
| SS | Frank Taveras | 144 | 519 | 76 | 134 | .258 | 0 | 24 | 58 |
| LF | Richie Zisk | 155 | 581 | 91 | 168 | .289 | 21 | 89 | 1 |
| CF | Al Oliver | 121 | 443 | 62 | 143 | .323 | 12 | 61 | 6 |
| RF | Dave Parker | 138 | 537 | 82 | 168 | .313 | 13 | 90 | 19 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg.= Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| Bill Robinson | 122 | 393 | 55 | 119 | .303 | 21 | 64 | 2 |
| Duffy Dyer | 69 | 184 | 12 | 41 | .223 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Ed Kirkpatrick | 83 | 146 | 14 | 34 | .233 | 0 | 16 | 1 |
| Bob Robertson | 61 | 129 | 10 | 28 | .217 | 2 | 25 | 0 |
| Omar Moreno | 48 | 122 | 24 | 33 | .270 | 2 | 12 | 15 |
| Mario Mendoza | 50 | 92 | 6 | 17 | .185 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| Tommy Helms | 62 | 87 | 10 | 24 | .276 | 1 | 13 | 0 |
| Ed Ott | 27 | 39 | 2 | 12 | .308 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Miguel Diloné | 16 | 17 | 7 | 4 | .235 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Tony Armas | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Craig Reynolds | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | .250 | 1 | 1 | 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 |
| John Candelaria | 32 | 220.0 | 16 | 7 | 3.15 | 138 |
| Jerry Reuss | 31 | 209.1 | 14 | 9 | 3.53 | 108 |
| Jim Rooker | 30 | 198.2 | 15 | 8 | 3.35 | 92 |
| Bruce Kison | 31 | 193.0 | 14 | 9 | 3.08 | 98 |
| Doc Medich | 29 | 179.0 | 8 | 11 | 3.52 | 86 |

#### 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 |
| Larry Demery | 36 | 145.0 | 10 | 7 | 3.17 | 72 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Moose | 53 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 3.68 | 38 |
| Kent Tekulve | 64 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 2.45 | 68 |
| Dave Giusti | 40 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4.32 | 24 |
| Ramón Hernández | 37 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3.56 | 17 |
| Rick Langford | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.26 | 17 |
| Doug Bair | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.68 | 4 |

## Awards and honors

1976 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Charleston Charlies | International League | Tim Murtaugh |
| AA | Shreveport Captains | Texas League | Johnny Lipon |
| A | Salem Pirates | Carolina League | Steve Demeter |
| A | Charleston Patriots | Western Carolinas League | Mike Ryan |
| A-Short Season | Niagara Falls Pirates | New York–Penn League | Glenn Ezell |
| Rookie | GCL Pirates | Gulf Coast League | Woody Huyke |