# 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 100th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; their 95th in the National League. The Pirates finished fourth in the National League East in the first half of the season with a record of 25–23 and sixth in the second half with a record of 21–33.

## Regular season

Officials of the Louisiana Superdome met with Pirates management in April 1981 about moving the club to New Orleans when the Pirates were unhappy with their lease at Three Rivers Stadium.

### Season standings

vteNL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 59 | 43 | .578 | — | 32‍–‍21 | 27‍–‍22 |
| Montreal Expos | 60 | 48 | .556 | 2 | 38‍–‍18 | 22‍–‍30 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 59 | 48 | .551 | 2½ | 36‍–‍19 | 23‍–‍29 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 46 | 56 | .451 | 13 | 22‍–‍28 | 24‍–‍28 |
| New York Mets | 41 | 62 | .398 | 18½ | 24‍–‍27 | 17‍–‍35 |
| Chicago Cubs | 38 | 65 | .369 | 21½ | 27‍–‍30 | 11‍–‍35 |
| NL East First Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 34 | 21 | .618 | — |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 30 | 20 | .600 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Montreal Expos | 30 | 25 | .545 | 4 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 25 | 23 | .521 | 5+1⁄2 |
| New York Mets | 17 | 34 | .333 | 15 |
| Chicago Cubs | 15 | 37 | .288 | 17+1⁄2 |
| NL East Second Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Montreal Expos | 30 | 23 | .566 | — |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 29 | 23 | .558 | 1⁄2 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 25 | 27 | .481 | 4+1⁄2 |
| New York Mets | 24 | 28 | .462 | 5+1⁄2 |
| Chicago Cubs | 23 | 28 | .451 | 6 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 21 | 33 | .389 | 9+1⁄2 |

### Record vs. opponents

1981 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 3–2–1 | 6–5 | 4–8 | 7–7 | 3–7 | 3–3 | 4–5 | 2–3 | 9–6 | 5–7 | 4–3 |
| Chicago | 2–3–1 | — | 1–5 | 1–6 | 6–4 | 4–7 | 5–8–1 | 2–10 | 4–10 | 3–3 | 5–5 | 5–4–1 |
| Cincinnati | 5–6 | 5–1 | — | 8–4 | 8–8 | 5–4 | 7–3 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 10–2 | 9–5 | 0–5 |
| Houston | 8–4 | 6–1 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 5–2 | 6–3 | 4–6 | 2–4 | 11–3 | 9–6 | 2–4 |
| Los Angeles | 7–7 | 4–6 | 8–8 | 8–4 | — | 5–2 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 6–5 | 7–5 | 5–5 |
| Montreal | 7–3 | 7–4 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 2–5 | — | 9–3 | 7–4 | 10–3 | 4–2 | 2–5 | 6–9 |
| New York | 3–3 | 8–5–1 | 3–7 | 3–6 | 1–5 | 3–9 | — | 7–7 | 3–6–1 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 6–5 |
| Philadelphia | 5-4 | 10–2 | 2–5 | 6–4 | 3–3 | 4–7 | 7–7 | — | 7–5 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 7–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–2 | 10–4 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 3–10 | 6–3–1 | 5–7 | — | 6–4 | 3–7 | 3–8 |
| San Diego | 6–9 | 3–3 | 2–10 | 3–11 | 5–6 | 2–4 | 5–2 | 2–4 | 4–6 | — | 6–7 | 3–7 |
| San Francisco | 7–5 | 5–5 | 5–9 | 6–9 | 5–7 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 7–3 | 7–6 | — | 2–3 |
| St. Louis | 3–4 | 4–5–1 | 5–0 | 4–2 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 5–6 | 6–7 | 8–3 | 7–3 | 3–2 | — |

### Game log

1981 Game Log: 46–56 (Home: 22–28; Away: 24–28) :
April: 7–6 (Home: 1–3; Away: 6–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
1April 9Expos5–6FrymanTekulve (0–1)—40,3320–1
2April 12Expos3–2Rhoden (1–0)BurrisRomo (1)8,4301–1
3April 13@ Phillies1–5CarltonCandelaria (0–1)—60,4041–2
4April 15@ Phillies3–4 (11)McGrawRomo (0–1)—27,4501–3
5April 16@ Phillies3–5RuthvenRobinson (0–1)McGraw26,7801–4
6April 17@ Astros4–3Rhoden (2–0)SuttonRomo (2)39,1192–4
7April 18@ Astros6–3 (11)Jackson (1–0)Smith—29,7903–4
8April 19@ Astros2–0Scurry (1–0)NiekroSolomon (1)30,3944–4
9April 22Mets2–2—7,5304–4
10April 25Cardinals1–5ShirleyCandelaria (0–2)—7,3344–5
11April 26Cardinals2–3KaatJackson (1–1)Sutter8,1394–6
12April 28@ Mets8–0Rhoden (3–0)Scott—6,9735–6
13April 29@ Mets10–0Bibby (1–0)Roberts—7,1756–6
14April 30@ Mets7–4Candelaria (1–2)JonesJackson (1)5,5537–6 :
May: 13–14 (Home: 5–6; Away: 8–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
15May 1Astros3–5SambitoSolomon (0–1)—7,0127–7
16May 2Astros5–4 (12)Solomon (1–1)Smith—21,9938–7
17May 3Astros1–3SuttonBibby (1–1)Smith10,4388–8
18May 6@ Reds8–9HumeJackson (1–2)—14,5518–9
19May 7@ Reds3–1Rhoden (4–0)SotoRomo (3)9–9
20May 7@ Reds7–1Solomon (2–1)LaCoss—20,30110–9
21May 8@ Cardinals4–5ShirleyBibby (1–2)Kaat20,10810–10
22May 9@ Cardinals0–13RinconScurry (1–1)—21,36110–11
23May 10@ Cardinals8–2Candelaria (2–2)SorensenRomo (4)11,11211–11
24May 11@ Braves2–3 (10)MahlerTekulve (0–2)—4,26011–12
25May 12@ Braves0–2NiekroSolomon (2–2)—9,71111–13
26May 13@ Braves7–5 (13)Cruz (1–0)BoggsScurry (1)10,63812–13
27May 15Reds1–4PriceRomo (0–2)Hume10,59212–14
28May 16Reds0–4LaCossScurry (1–2)—11,89012–15
29May 17Reds3–4SotoSolomon (2–3)—11,77512–16
30May 19Braves5–0Bibby (2–2)Niekro—5,51413–16
31May 20Braves6–1Rhoden (5–0)WalkRomo (5)8,35114–16
32May 22Phillies3–1Perez (1–0)Christenson—20,69515–16
33May 23Phillies4–6ProlyTekulve (0–3)Reed20,34015–17
34May 24Phillies7–1Bibby (3–2)BystromCruz (1)21,77116–17
35May 25@ Cubs9–10 (11)TidrowCruz (1–1)—18,50616–18
36May 26@ Cubs6–4Tekulve (1–3)KrukowRomo (6)6,98817–18
37May 27@ Cubs3–2Perez (2–0)Reuschel—6,97018–18
38May 28@ Cubs9–4Solomon (3–3)Caudill—7,88619–18
39May 29@ Expos2–3SandersonBibby (3–3)Lee36,66219–19
40May 30@ Expos3–2Rhoden (6–0)Gullickson—31,64920–19
41May 31@ Expos1–5RogersPerez (2–1)—45,78420–20 :
June: 5–3 (Home: 5–3; Away: 0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
42June 2Cubs16–3Solomon (4–3)Caudill—6,43721–20
43June 3Cubs3–2Bibby (4–3)MartzRomo (7)5,00322–20
44June 4Cubs5–4 (10)Tekulve (2–3)McGlothen—6,74023–20
45June 5Giants3–5BreiningRomo (0–3)Lavelle8,36123–21
46June 6Giants7–6Scurry (2–2)GriffinTekulve (1)11,36224–21
47June 7Giants3–2Solomon (5–3)BlueRomo (8)32,24425–21
48June 9Padres4–7MuraRhoden (6–1)Lucas9,14525–22
49June 10Padres2–3EichelbergerPerez (2–2)Lucas9,45025–23 :
August: 7–15 (Home: 4–8; Away: 3–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
50August 10@ Expos1–3LeePerez (2–3)—37,27525–24
51August 11@ Expos6–3Tekulve (3–3)Fryman—33,04526–24
52August 12Expos2–3BurrisSolomon (5–4)Lee12,06926–25
53August 13Expos2–7RogersTiant (0–1)—11,73526–26
54August 15@ Cubs3–4 (15)MartzScurry (2–3)—15,38826–27
55August 16@ Cubs4–3 (11)Tekulve (4–3)SmithJackson (2)27–27
56August 16@ Cubs4–6HowellPerez (2–4)Martz18,99127–28
57August 17Giants1–5 (11)MintonScurry (2–4)—7,11727–29
58August 18Giants2–4WhitsonTiant (0–2)Minton9,36227–30
59August 19Giants7–3Jones (1–0)AlexanderJackson (3)8,41428–30
60August 21Padres4–2Rhoden (7–1)MuraJackson (4)29–30
61August 21Padres3–2Bibby (5–3)LollarTekulve (2)19,04930–30
62August 22Padres6–7CurtisTekulve (4–4)Lucas11,86530–31
63August 23Padres5–2Scurry (3–4)WelshRomo (9)23,73631–31
64August 24Dodgers0–3HootonJones (1–1)—12,30831–32
65August 25Dodgers7–9 (11)PenaTekulve (4–5)Niedenfuer16,77031–33
66August 26Dodgers6–16ReussRhoden (7–2)—11,14431–34
67August 27@ Giants4–5 (13)HollandRobinson (0–2)—10,80731–35
68August 28@ Giants1–5WhitsonScurry (3–5)—8,41831–36
69August 29@ Giants3–8AlexanderTiant (0–3)—10,73831–37
70August 30@ Giants0–5GriffinPerez (2–5)—18,11731–38
71August 31@ Dodgers5–4 (10)Jones (2–1)StewartRobinson (1)35,86232–38 :
September: 13–15 (Home: 6–5; Away: 7–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
72September 1@ Dodgers2–3 (14)NiedenfuerJones (2–2)—50,13432–39
73September 2@ Dodgers2–6WelchLong (0–1)Pena32,02732–40
74September 3@ Padres7–3Tiant (1–3)EichelbergerScurry (2)6,15333–40
75September 4@ Padres4–5LittlefieldRobinson (0–3)Show8,12833–41
76September 5@ Padres2–1Rhoden (8–2)MuraScurry (3)7,29734–41
77September 6@ Padres9–5Solomon (6–4)WiseRobinson (2)4,17735–41
78September 7Mets2–1Jones (3–2)AllenScurry (4)36–41
79September 7Mets5–4Long (1–1)BoitanoLee (3)9,93537–41
80September 8Mets1–3LynchTiant (1–4)Allen5,38337–42
81September 9Mets3–5LeachPerez (2–6)Searage7,08937–43
82September 11Phillies0–8CarltonRhoden (8–3)—12,79937–44
83September 12Phillies6–2Solomon (7–4)NolesScurry (5)11,37038–44
84September 13Phillies3–2Jones (4–2)ReedTekulve (3)16,49339–44
85September 15@ Cubs8–2Tiant (2–4)Griffin—5,25440–44
86September 18@ Phillies7–6Scurry (4–5)ReedLee (4)24,53741–44
87September 19@ Phillies2–8LarsonJones (4–3)Christenson30,44641–45
88September 20@ Phillies4–5LyleSolomon (7–5)—31,48941–46
89September 21@ Mets3–4 (13)BoitanoLee (0–1)—7,42941–47
90September 22@ Mets5–3Bibby (6–3)ScottScurry (6)6,85542–47
91September 23@ Expos2–3JacksonRhoden (8–4)—10,08142–48
92September 24@ Expos1–7LeeJones (4–4)—23,45942–49
93September 25@ Cardinals5–4Solomon (8–5)KaatScurry (7)15,37743–49
94September 26@ Cardinals3–5ForschLee (0–2)Sutter19,76143–50
95September 27@ Cardinals5–7LaPointPerez (2–7)Sutter17,70343–51
96September 28Cubs4–0Rhoden (9–4)Griffin—44–51
97September 28Cubs1–3GeiselLong (1–2)Martz3,69844–52
98September 29Cubs10–6Romo (1–3)Tidrow—3,43945–52
99September 30Expos2–3GullicksonSolomon (8–6)Fryman5,82645–53 :
October: 1–3 (Home: 1–3; Away: 0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
100October 1Expos2–5BurrisTiant (2–5)Reardon2,93145–54
101October 2Cardinals8–7Tekulve (5–5)Sutter—2,34846–54
102October 3Cardinals3–8MartinCamacho (0–1)—3,58946–55
103October 4Cardinals0–4ShirleyJones (4–5)—10,02246–56 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Tie Bold = Pirates team member :

## Roster
### Opening Day Lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| # | Name | Position |
| 18 | Omar Moreno | CF |
| 10 | Tim Foli | SS |
| 39 | Dave Parker | RF |
| 30 | Jason Thompson | 1B |
| 24 | Mike Easler | LF |
| 5 | Bill Madlock | 3B |
| 4 | Dale Berra | 2B |
| 16 | Steve Nicosia | C |
| 26 | Jim Bibby | P |

## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Regular Season :
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| M. Lee | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Alexander | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0.364 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Madlock | 82 | 279 | 95 | 0.341 | 6 | 45 |
| T. Peña | 66 | 210 | 63 | 0.300 | 2 | 17 |
| M. Easler | 95 | 339 | 97 | 0.286 | 7 | 42 |
| W. Stargell | 38 | 60 | 17 | 0.283 | 0 | 9 |
| O. Moreno | 103 | 434 | 120 | 0.276 | 1 | 35 |
| L. Lacy | 78 | 213 | 57 | 0.268 | 2 | 10 |
| W. Montañez | 29 | 38 | 10 | 0.263 | 1 | 1 |
| K. Bevacqua | 29 | 27 | 7 | 0.259 | 1 | 4 |
| D. Parker | 67 | 240 | 62 | 0.258 | 9 | 48 |
| P. Garner | 56 | 181 | 46 | 0.254 | 1 | 20 |
| D. Robinson | 17 | 12 | 3 | 0.250 | 0 | 1 |
| T. Foli | 86 | 316 | 78 | 0.247 | 0 | 20 |
| J. Ray | 31 | 102 | 25 | 0.245 | 0 | 6 |
| J. Thompson | 86 | 223 | 54 | 0.242 | 15 | 42 |
| D. Berra | 81 | 232 | 56 | 0.241 | 2 | 27 |
| J. Milner | 34 | 59 | 14 | 0.237 | 2 | 9 |
| J. Candelaria | 6 | 13 | 3 | 0.231 | 0 | 3 |
| S. Nicosia | 54 | 169 | 39 | 0.231 | 2 | 18 |
| B. Robinson | 39 | 88 | 19 | 0.216 | 2 | 8 |
| G. Alexander | 21 | 47 | 10 | 0.213 | 1 | 6 |
| O. Jones | 13 | 10 | 2 | 0.200 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Rhoden | 21 | 48 | 9 | 0.188 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Tiant | 9 | 16 | 3 | 0.188 | 0 | 4 |
| E. Solomon | 25 | 43 | 7 | 0.163 | 0 | 3 |
| R. Scurry | 27 | 19 | 3 | 0.158 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Bibby | 14 | 28 | 4 | 0.143 | 1 | 3 |
| P. Pérez | 18 | 22 | 3 | 0.136 | 0 | 0 |
| V. Law | 30 | 67 | 9 | 0.134 | 0 | 3 |
| D. Boyland | 11 | 8 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Camacho | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 |
| V. Cruz | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 |
| G. Jackson | 35 | 2 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Long | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Romo | 33 | 4 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Tekulve | 45 | 2 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 103 | 3,576 | 920 | 0.257 | 55 | 384 |

### Pitching

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Regular Season :
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| K. Tekulve | 45 | 65 | 5 | 5 | 2.49 | 34 |
| J. Bibby | 14 | 932⁄3 | 6 | 3 | 2.50 | 48 |
| G. Jackson | 35 | 321⁄3 | 1 | 2 | 2.51 | 17 |
| V. Cruz | 22 | 34 | 1 | 1 | 2.65 | 28 |
| M. Lee | 12 | 192⁄3 | 0 | 2 | 2.75 | 5 |
| E. Solomon | 22 | 127 | 8 | 6 | 3.12 | 38 |
| O. Jones | 13 | 541⁄3 | 4 | 5 | 3.31 | 30 |
| J. Candelaria | 6 | 402⁄3 | 2 | 2 | 3.54 | 14 |
| R. Scurry | 27 | 74 | 4 | 5 | 3.77 | 65 |
| R. Rhoden | 21 | 1361⁄3 | 9 | 4 | 3.89 | 76 |
| L. Tiant | 9 | 571⁄3 | 2 | 5 | 3.92 | 32 |
| P. Pérez | 17 | 861⁄3 | 2 | 7 | 3.96 | 46 |
| E. Romo | 33 | 412⁄3 | 1 | 3 | 4.54 | 23 |
| E. Camacho | 7 | 212⁄3 | 0 | 1 | 4.98 | 11 |
| D. Robinson | 16 | 381⁄3 | 0 | 3 | 5.87 | 17 |
| B. Long | 5 | 192⁄3 | 1 | 2 | 5.95 | 8 |
| Team Totals | 103 | 942 | 46 | 56 | 3.56 | 492 |

## Awards and honors

1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Dave Parker, RF, starter
* Bill Madlock, 3B, reserve
* Mike Easler, OF, reserve
* Phil Garner, 2B, reserve

## Transactions

* October 22, 1980 – Jesse Jefferson granted free agency.
* October 22, 1980 – John Milner granted free agency.
* October 29, 1980 – Traded a player to be named later and cash to the Seattle Mariners. Received Odell Jones. The Pittsburgh Pirates sent Larry Andersen (October 29, 1980) to the Seattle Mariners to complete the trade.
* December 9, 1980 – Traded Bert Blyleven and Manny Sanguillén to the Cleveland Indians. Received Gary Alexander, Victor Cruz, Bob Owchinko and Rafael Vasquez.
* January 13, 1981 – Drafted John Kruk in the 3rd round of the 1981 amateur draft (January), but did not sign the player.
* January 19, 1981 – Signed Larvell Blanks as a free agent.
* January 20, 1981 – Signed Rusty Torres as a free agent.
* January 23, 1981 – Signed John Milner as a free agent.
* February 23, 1981 – Signed Luis Tiant as a free agent.
* April 1, 1981 – Traded Mickey Mahler and Ed Ott to the California Angels. Received Jason Thompson.
* April 5, 1981 – Purchased Jim Smith from the Baltimore Orioles.
* April 5, 1981 – Traded Dave Dravecky to the San Diego Padres. Received Bobby Mitchell (minors).
* April 6, 1981 – Traded Bob Owchinko to the Oakland Athletics. Received a player to be named later and cash. The Oakland Athletics sent Ernie Camacho (April 10, 1981) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
* May 4, 1981 – Signed Willie Horton as a free agent.
* June 8, 1981 – Drafted Ray Krawczyk in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft (June Secondary).
* June 8, 1981 – Drafted Jim Winn in the 1st round (14th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft.
* June 8, 1981 – Drafted Lee Tunnell in the 2nd round of the 1981 amateur draft.
* June 8, 1981 – Drafted Bip Roberts in the 5th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
* June 8, 1981 – Drafted Scott Bankhead in the 17th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
* June 8, 1981 – Drafted Chris Bosio in the 29th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
* June 8, 1981 – Drafted Lance Johnson in the 30th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
* June 25, 1981 – Signed Denny González as an amateur free agent.
* July 11, 1981 – Signed Bobby Bonilla as an amateur free agent.
* August 20, 1981 – Traded John Milner to the Montreal Expos. Received Willie Montañez.
* August 31, 1981 – Traded Phil Garner to the Houston Astros. Received players to be named later and Johnny Ray. The Houston Astros sent Randy Niemann (September 9, 1981) and Kevin Houston (minors) (September 9, 1981) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
* September 1, 1981 – Sold Grant Jackson to the Montreal Expos for $50,000.
* October 5, 1981 – Released Luis Tiant.
* October 23, 1981 – Purchased Manny Sarmiento from the Boston Red Sox.
* October 26, 1981 – Released Kurt Bevacqua.

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Portland Beavers | Pacific Coast League | Pete Ward |
| AA | Buffalo Bisons | Eastern League | Johnny Lipon |
| A | Alexandria Pirates | Carolina League | Mike Toomey |
| A | Greenwood Pirates | South Atlantic League | Joe Frisina |
| Rookie | GCL Pirates | Gulf Coast League | Woody Huyke |