1987 Pittsburgh Pirates season

1987 Pittsburgh Pirates
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1887)
Eastern Division (since 1969)
Location
Three Rivers Stadium (since 1970)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (since 1907)
Results
Record	80–82 (.494)
Divisional place	4th (tie)
Other information
Owner(s)	Pittsburgh Associates
General manager(s)	Syd Thrift
Manager(s)	Jim Leyland
Local television	KDKA-TV Lanny Frattare, Jim Rooker, John Sanders Pirates Cable Network Steve Blass, Mike Lange
Local radio	KDKA Lanny Frattare, Jim Rooker
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The 1987 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 106th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; and their 101st season in the National League. The Pirates finished fifth in the National League East with a record of 80–82.

Regular season

Season standings

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	95	67	0.586	—	49–32	46–35
New York Mets	92	70	0.568	3	49–32	43–38
Montreal Expos	91	71	0.562	4	48–33	43–38
Philadelphia Phillies	80	82	0.494	15	43–38	37–44
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	82	0.494	15	47–34	33–48
Chicago Cubs	76	85	0.472	18½	40–40	36–45

Record vs. opponents

1987 National League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	6–5	8–10	8–10	6–12	3–9	7–5	7–5	7–5	6–12	8–10	3–9
Chicago	5–6	—	6–6	8–4	6–6	10–8	9–9	8–10	4–14	9–3	5–7	6–12
Cincinnati	10–8	6–6	—	13–5	10–8	6–6	7–5	5–7	4–8	12–6	7–11	4–8
Houston	10–8	4–8	5–13	—	12–6	7–5	6–6	6–6	6–6	5–13	10–8	5–7
Los Angeles	12–6	6–6	8–10	6–12	—	3–9	6–6	2–10	6–6	11–7	10–8	3–9
Montreal	9–3	8–10	6–6	5–7	9–3	—	8–10	10–8	11–7	9–3	5–7	11–7
New York	5–7	9–9	5–7	6–6	6–6	10–8	—	13–5	12–6	8–4	9–3	9–9
Philadelphia	5-7	10–8	7–5	6–6	10–2	8–10	5–13	—	11–7	8–4	2–10	8–10
Pittsburgh	5–7	14–4	8–4	6–6	6–6	7–11	6–12	7–11	—	8–4	6–6	7–11
San Diego	12–6	3–9	6–12	13–5	7–11	3–9	4–8	4–8	4–8	—	5–13	4–8
San Francisco	10–8	7–5	11–7	8–10	8–10	7–5	3–9	10–2	6–6	13–5	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3	12–6	8–4	7–5	9–3	7–11	9–9	10–8	11–7	8–4	5–7	—

Roster

1987 Pittsburgh Pirates
Roster
Pitchers 34 Mike Bielecki 15 Doug Drabek 55 Tim Drummond 41 Mike Dunne 42 Logan Easley 36,54 Brian Fisher 28 Miguel García 58 Brett Gideon 35 Jim Gott 56 Dave Johnson 50 Barry Jones 16 Bob Kipper 38 Vicente Palacios 30 Bob Patterson 49 Hipólito Peña 48 Rick Reuschel 43 Don Robinson 49 Jeff Robinson 49 Mark Ross 57 John Smiley 52 Dorn Taylor 17 Bob Walk	Catchers 4,12 Mike LaValliere 26 Junior Ortiz 46 Tom Prince  2 Mackey Sasser Infielders 12 Bill Almon  6 Rafael Belliard 25 Bobby Bonilla  5 Sid Bream 29 Félix Fermín 28 Denny González 19 Houston Jiménez 27 Sam Khalifa 13 José Lind  2 Jim Morrison 22 Al Pedrique  3 Johnny Ray  3 U L Washington	Outfielders 24 Barry Bonds 22,44 John Cangelosi  7 Darnell Coles 58 Butch Davis 14 Mike Diaz 47 Tommy Gregg 19 Terry Harper 23 R. J. Reynolds 18 Andy Van Slyke Other batters 29 Onix Concepción	Manager 10 Jim Leyland Coaches 45 Rich Donnelly (bullpen) 32 Gene Lamont (third base) 39 Milt May (hitting) 31 Ray Miller (pitching) 37 Tommy Sandt (first base)

Opening Day starters

• CF – Barry Bonds
•  C – Junior Ortiz
• 2B – Johnny Ray
• LF – Bobby Bonilla
• RF – Andy Van Slyke
• 3B – Jim Morrison
• 1B – Sid Bream
• SS – Rafael Belliard
•  P – Bob Patterson

Player stats

Batting

Regular Season

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
O. Concepción	1	1	1	1.000	0	0
B. Gideon	29	1	1	1.000	0	2
J. Lind	35	143	46	0.322	0	11
A. Pedrique	88	246	74	0.301	1	27
B. Bonilla	141	466	140	0.300	15	77
M. LaValliere	121	340	102	0.300	1	36
U. Washington	10	10	3	0.300	0	0
A. Van Slyke	157	564	165	0.293	21	82
T. Harper	36	66	19	0.288	1	7
S. Bream	149	516	142	0.275	13	65
J. Cangelosi	104	182	50	0.275	4	18
J. Ray	123	472	129	0.273	5	54
J. Ortiz	75	192	52	0.271	1	22
J. Morrison	96	348	92	0.264	9	46
B. Bonds	150	551	144	0.261	25	59
R. Reynolds	117	335	87	0.260	7	51
F. Fermín	23	68	17	0.250	0	4
T. Gregg	10	8	2	0.250	0	0
J. Robinson	18	4	1	0.250	1	1
B. Kipper	26	33	8	0.242	0	0
M. Diaz	103	241	58	0.241	16	48
B. Walk	39	26	6	0.231	0	5
D. Coles	40	119	27	0.227	6	24
T. Prince	4	9	2	0.222	1	2
M. Sasser	12	23	5	0.217	0	2
R. Belliard	81	203	42	0.207	1	15
B. Almon	19	20	4	0.200	0	1
B. Fisher	37	58	11	0.190	2	9
S. Khalifa	5	17	3	0.176	0	2
H. Peña	16	6	1	0.167	0	0
D. Taylor	15	18	3	0.167	0	0
R. Reuschel	25	60	9	0.150	1	5
B. Davis	7	7	1	0.143	0	0
D. Robinson	44	7	1	0.143	0	1
J. Smiley	63	7	1	0.143	0	1
D. Drabek	30	59	7	0.119	0	4
V. Palacios	6	9	1	0.111	0	0
M. Dunne	23	53	5	0.094	0	3
B. Patterson	15	12	1	0.083	0	0
M. Bielecki	8	16	1	0.063	0	0
T. Drummond	6	1	0	0.000	0	0
L. Easley	17	2	0	0.000	0	0
D. González	5	7	0	0.000	0	0
J. Gott	25	1	0	0.000	0	0
H. Jiménez	5	6	0	0.000	0	0
B. Jones	32	3	0	0.000	0	0
M. García	1	0	0	—	0	0
D. Johnson	5	0	0	—	0	0
M. Ross	1	0	0	—	0	0

Pitching

Regular Season

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
M. García	1	02⁄3	0	0	0.00	0
J. Gott	25	31	0	2	1.45	27
R. Reuschel	25	177	8	6	2.75	80
M. Dunne	23	1631⁄3	13	6	3.03	72
J. Robinson	18	262⁄3	2	1	3.04	19
B. Walk	39	117	8	2	3.31	78
D. Robinson	42	651⁄3	6	6	3.86	53
D. Drabek	29	1761⁄3	11	12	3.88	120
V. Palacios	6	291⁄3	2	1	4.30	13
T. Drummond	6	6	0	0	4.50	5
B. Fisher	37	1851⁄3	11	9	4.52	117
H. Peña	16	252⁄3	0	3	4.56	16
B. Gideon	29	362⁄3	1	5	4.66	31
M. Bielecki	8	452⁄3	2	3	4.73	25
L. Easley	17	261⁄3	1	1	5.47	21
B. Jones	32	431⁄3	2	4	5.61	28
D. Taylor	14	531⁄3	2	3	5.74	37
J. Smiley	63	75	5	5	5.76	58
B. Kipper	24	1102⁄3	5	9	5.94	83
B. Patterson	15	43	1	4	6.70	27
M. Ross	1	1	0	0	9.00	0
D. Johnson	5	61⁄3	0	0	9.95	4

Awards and honors

1987 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

• Rick Reuschel, P, Reserve

Transactions

• November 7, 1986 – Released U.L. Washington.
• November 12, 1986 – Released Ray Krawczyk.
• November 26, 1986 – Traded Pat Clements, Cecilio Guante and Rick Rhoden to the New York Yankees. Received Doug Drabek, Logan Easley and Brian Fisher.
• December 4, 1986 – Signed Butch Davis as a free agent.
• December 4, 1986 – Signed Vicente Palacios as a free agent.
• December 4, 1986 – Signed Mark Ross as a free agent.
• December 5, 1986 – Traded Rick Renteria to the Seattle Mariners. Received a player to be named later. The Seattle Mariners sent Bob Siegel (minors) (December 10, 1986) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
• December 8, 1986 – Cecil Espy drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 1986 rule 5 draft.
• December 8, 1986 – Vicente Palacios drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1986 rule 5 draft.
• December 10, 1986 – Signed Houston Jimenez as a free agent.
• December 20, 1986 – Released Lee Tunnell.
• January 9, 1987 – Signed Carlos Garcia as an amateur free agent.
• January 20, 1987 – Signed U.L. Washington as a free agent.
• February 6, 1987 – Signed Lee Tunnell as a free agent.
• February 9, 1987 – Signed Onix Concepcion as a free agent.
• March 22, 1987 – Purchased Dann Bilardello from the Montreal Expos.
• March 27, 1987 – Traded Jim Winn to the Chicago White Sox. Received John Cangelosi.
• March 31, 1987 – Released Mike Brown.
• April 1, 1987 – Traded Tony Pena to the St. Louis Cardinals. Received Mike Dunne, Mike LaValliere and Andy Van Slyke.
• April 3, 1987 – The Milwaukee Brewers returned Vicente Palacios (earlier draft pick).
• April 6, 1987 – Sold Lee Tunnell to the St. Louis Cardinals.
• April 6, 1987 – Released Larry McWilliams.
• May 19, 1987 – Purchased Paul Wilmet from the St. Louis Cardinals.
• May 29, 1987 – Traded Bill Almon to the New York Mets. Received Scott Little and Al Pedrique.
• June 2, 1987 – Drafted Ben Shelton in the 2nd round of the 1987 amateur draft.
• June 2, 1987 – Drafted Brian Williams in the 3rd round of the 1987 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
• June 2, 1987 – Drafted Wes Chamberlain in the 4th round of the 1987 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 1987.
• June 2, 1987 – Drafted Mickey Morandini in the 7th round of the 1987 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
• June 2, 1987 – Drafted Kurt Knudsen in the 8th round of the 1987 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
• June 2, 1987 – Drafted Steve Carter in the 17th round of the 1987 amateur draft.
• June 2, 1987 – Drafted Mike Fyhrie in the 19th round of the 1987 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
• June 2, 1987 – Drafted Bob Ayrault in the 26th round of the 1987 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
• June 2, 1987 – Drafted Paul Miller in the 53rd round of the 1987 amateur draft.
• June 15, 1987 – Released Onix Concepcion.
• June 26, 1987 – Traded Pete Rice (minors) and Shawn Holman to the Detroit Tigers. Received Terry Harper.
• July 23, 1987 – Sold Dann Bilardello to the Kansas City Royals.
• July 31, 1987 – Traded Don Robinson to the San Francisco Giants. Received Mackey Sasser and $50,000.
• August 3, 1987 – Selected Jim Gott off waivers from the San Francisco Giants.
• August 7, 1987 – Traded Jim Morrison to the Detroit Tigers. Received a player to be named later and Darnell Coles. The Detroit Tigers sent Morris Madden (August 12, 1987) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
• August 21, 1987 – Traded Rick Reuschel to the San Francisco Giants. Received Scott Medvin and Jeff Robinson.
• August 29, 1987 – Traded Johnny Ray to the California Angels. Received a player to be named later and Billie Merrifield (minors). The California Angels sent Miguel Garcia (September 3, 1987) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
• October 5, 1987 – Released U.L. Washington.
• October 15, 1987 – Butch Davis granted Free Agency.
• October 15, 1987 – Houston Jimenez granted Free Agency.
• October 15, 1987 – Mark Ross granted Free Agency.

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Vancouver Canadians	Pacific Coast League	Rocky Bridges
AA	Harrisburg Senators	Eastern League	Dave Trembley
A	Salem Buccaneers	Carolina League	Steve Demeter
A	Macon Pirates	South Atlantic League	Dennis Rogers
Short-Season A	Watertown Pirates	New York-Penn League	Jeff Cox
Rookie	GCL Pirates	Gulf Coast League	Woody Huyke

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Harrisburg, Salem

References

• 1987 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at Baseball Reference
• 1987 Pittsburgh Pirates team page at www.baseball-almanac.com