# List of Pittsburgh Pirates managers

The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the National League Central division. The team began play in 1882 as the Alleghenies (alternatively spelled "Alleghenys") in the American Association. The franchise moved to the National League after owner William Nimick became upset over a contract dispute, thus beginning the modern day franchise. The team currently plays home games at PNC Park which they moved into in 2001. Prior to PNC Park, the Pirates played games at Three Rivers Stadium and Forbes Field, among other stadiums.
There have been 46 managers for the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. The Pirates' first manager upon joining the National League was Horace Phillips, who had coached the team before their move to the National League. In 1900, Fred Clarke began his tenure with the franchise. Clarke's 1422 victories and 969 losses lead all managers of the Pirates in their respective categories, Clarke also had the longest tenure as manager in his 16 years in the position. Clarke managed the franchise to its first World Series victory, a feat that would also be accomplished by Bill McKechnie, Danny Murtaugh, and Chuck Tanner. Thirteen Pirates managers have been player-managers—those who take on simultaneous roles as a player and manager. McKechnie, Connie Mack, and Ned Hanlon were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum as managers. Five Pirates managers were inducted into the Hall of Fame for their performance as players. Billy Meyer's number 1, Pie Traynor's number 20, Honus Wagner's number 33, and Murtaugh's number 40 have been retired by the franchise. Hired before the 2020 season, the Pirates' current manager is Derek Shelton.

## Table key

| Years | Seasons managed; each is linked to an article about that particular season |
| WPct | Winning percentage: number of wins divided by number of games managed |
| PA | Playoff appearances: number of years this manager has led the franchise to the playoffs |
| PW | Playoff wins: number of wins this manager has accrued in the playoffs |
| PL | Playoff losses: number of losses this manager has accrued in the playoffs |
| Div | Division titles: number of division titles won by the general manager |
| Pen | Pennants: number of pennants (league championships) won by the manager |
| WS | World Series: number of World Series victories achieved by the manager |
| † or * | Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum († denotes induction as manager) |

## American Association

| # | Manager | Years | Wins | Losses | WPct |
| 1 | Al Pratt | 1882–1883 | 51 | 59 | .464 |
| 2 | Ormond Butler | 1883 | 17 | 36 | .321 |
| 3 | Joe Battin | 1883, 1884 | 8 | 18 | .308 |
| 4 | Denny McKnight | 1884 | 4 | 8 | .333 |
| 5 | Bob Ferguson | 1884 | 11 | 31 | .262 |
| 6 | George Creamer | 1884 | 0 | 8 | .000 |
| 7 | Horace Phillips | 1885–1886 | 145 | 136 | .516 |

## National League

| # | Manager | Years | Wins | Losses | WPct | PA | PW | PL | Pen | WS |
| 1 | Horace Phillips | 1887–1889 | 149 | 180 | .453 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | Fred Dunlap | 1889 | 7 | 10 | .412 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | Ned Hanlon† | 1889, 1891 | 57 | 65 | .467 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Guy Hecker | 1890 | 23 | 113 | .169 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Bill McGunnigle | 1891 | 24 | 33 | .421 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | Tom Burns | 1892 | 27 | 32 | .458 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | Al Buckenberger | 1892–1894 | 187 | 144 | .565 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8 | Connie Mack† | 1894–1896 | 149 | 134 | .527 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | Patsy Donovan | 1897, 1899 | 129 | 129 | .500 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Bill Watkins | 1898–1899 | 79 | 91 | .465 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 11 | Fred Clarke* | 1900–1915 | 1422 | 969 | .595 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| 12 | Nixey Callahan | 1916–1917 | 85 | 129 | .397 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 13 | Honus Wagner* | 1917 | 1 | 4 | .200 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 14 | Hugo Bezdek | 1917–1919 | 166 | 187 | .470 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | George Gibson | 1920–1922, 1932–1934 | 401 | 330 | .549 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 16 | Bill McKechnie† | 1922–1926 | 409 | 293 | .583 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Donie Bush | 1927–1929 | 246 | 178 | .580 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | Jewel Ens | 1929–1931 | 176 | 167 | .513 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 19 | Pie Traynor* | 1934–1939 | 457 | 406 | .530 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 20 | Frankie Frisch* | 1940–1946 | 539 | 528 | .505 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 21 | Spud Davis | 1946 | 1 | 2 | .333 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 22 | Billy Herman* | 1947 | 61 | 92 | .399 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 23 | Bill Burwell | 1947 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 24 | Billy Meyer | 1948–1952 | 317 | 452 | .412 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 25 | Fred Haney | 1953–1955 | 163 | 299 | .353 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 26 | Bobby Bragan | 1956–1957 | 102 | 155 | .397 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 27 | Danny Murtaugh | 1957–1964, 1967, 1970–1971, 1973–1976 | 1115 | 950 | .540 | 5 | 15 | 13 | 2 | 2 |
| 28 | Harry Walker | 1965–1967 | 224 | 184 | .549 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 29 | Larry Shepard | 1968–1969 | 164 | 155 | .514 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 30 | Alex Grammas | 1969 | 4 | 1 | .800 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 31 | Bill Virdon | 1972–1973 | 163 | 128 | .560 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Chuck Tanner | 1977–1985 | 711 | 685 | .509 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 33 | Jim Leyland | 1986–1996 | 851 | 863 | .496 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Gene Lamont | 1997–2000 | 295 | 352 | .456 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 35 | Lloyd McClendon | 2001–2005 | 336 | 446 | .430 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 36 | Pete Mackanin | 2005 | 12 | 14 | .462 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 37 | Jim Tracy | 2006–2007 | 135 | 189 | .417 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 38 | John Russell | 2008–2010 | 186 | 299 | .384 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 39 | Clint Hurdle | 2011–2019 | 735 | 720 | .505 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Derek Shelton | 2020–present | 294 | 414 | .415 | — | — | — | — | — |

## Footnotes

* a^ The Alleghenies began the 1889 season with a record of 28–43; manager Horace Phillips suffered a mental breakdown and was replaced by Fred Dunlap who coached the team to a 7–10 record over the next 17 games. Ned Hanlon, the team's center fielder, was brought in to finish the season as manager, leading the team to a winning record of 26–18.
* b^ Hanlon left the team to join the Players' League in 1890, but returned after the League disbanded after one season. Upon his return Hanlon replaced Guy Hecker. After disagreements with management, however, Hanlon was demoted as manager with a 31–47 record in his second stint as manager. Bill McGunnigle finished the 1891 season as manager.
* c^ Patsy Donovan managed the team to a 60–71 record in 1897, finishing in eighth place. He was replaced by Bill Watkins who managed the team for over one season, but after a 7–15 start to the 1899 campaign Donovan resumed his position as manager and finished his second stint with a 69–58 record.
* d^ George Gibson coached 374 games from 1920 to 1922, winning 201 and losing 173. He coached 359 games from 1932 to 1934, winning 200 and losing 159.
* e^ Bobby Bragan coached the Pirates to a 36–67 record in 1957, before being replaced by Danny Murtaugh. Murtaugh coached the team for eight seasons during his first stint, coaching 1154 games for 605 wins and 549 losses. Harry Walker took over for Murtaugh, until a 42–42 start in 1967 caused management to bring back Murtaugh to finish the season as manager. Murtaugh went 39–39 to conclude the 1967 campaign. Murtaugh's third stint as Pirates manager lasted two seasons, he was 186–138 overall, winning a World Series in the second season. Bill Virdon was the Pirates for one season, but after beginning his second 67–69, Murtaugh was brought in for his fourth term as manager. Murtaugh finished his final term with a 285–226 record.

## Image gallery

* Clint Hurdle served as the manager of the Pirates from 2011 until 2019.