The Pittsburgh Pirates are a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) franchise based in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. They play in the

National League Central The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League ...

division. The team began play in 1882 as the Alleghenies (alternately spelled "Alleghenys") in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

. The franchise moved to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

after owner William Nimick became upset over a contract dispute, thus beginning the modern day franchise. From the franchise's beginning, the owner and manager fulfilled the duties of the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. However, in 1946,

Roy Hamey Henry Roy Hamey (June 9, 1902 – December 14, 1983) was an American front-office executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). A longtime employee of the New York Yankees, he was appointed the club's general manager in November 1960. Inheriting a ...

left his position as president of the second

to become the Pirates' first general manager. The franchise's second general manager, Branch Rickey, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1967. Hired in September 2007,

Neal Huntington Neal Alden Huntington (born February 4, 1969) is the former General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball and currently works in the front office of the Cleveland Guardians. Background A native of Amherst, New Hampshire, Hun ...

is the Pirates's previous general manager.

Barney Dreyfuss Bernhard "Barney" Dreyfuss (February 23, 1865 – February 5, 1932) was an executive in Major League Baseball who owned the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise from 1900 to his death. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008. Dr ...

purchased the franchise in 1900, bringing players including Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke with him from the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

, which he had previously owned. In his 32 years as owner, Dreyfuss built Forbes Field and helped to organize the World Series. Dreyfuss was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008. Robert Nutting served as chairman of the board from 2003 to 2007, at which point he became majority owner of the franchise.

Table key

Owners

General managers

* Prior to 1946, the club presidents performed the current duties of general manager. * As the deceased owner's son-in-law, Benswanger officially served as "president and chief executive" but in effect was general manager for his mother-in-law owner.

Presidents

Other executives

* Jim Bowden *

Murray Cook Murray James Cook, AM (born 30 June 1960) is an Australian musician, actor, and Disc jockey. Cook was one of the founding members of the children's band the Wiggles from 1991 to 2012. Cook provided guitar, vocals, and songwriting in the group ...

* Brian Graham *

Bill Lajoie William Richard Lajoie (September 27, 1934 – December 28, 2010) was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and front-office executive. The general manager of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball from 1984 to 1990, he he ...

* Branch Rickey, Jr. * Roy Smith *

Pete Vuckovich Peter Dennis Vuckovich ''(VOO-koh-vich)'' (born October 27, 1952) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher who played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1975 to 1986. He came across as an intimidating presence on ...

References

;General * ;Specific

External links

Baseball America: Executive Database
{{Pittsburgh Pirates general managers

Owners and executives