'It was time to celebrate it:' Pirates induct inaugural Hall of Fame class

The 2022 season continued to be a trying one for the Pirates Saturday, dropping yet another game to the Blue Jays at PNC Park, this time 4-1.

So if 2022 is rough, it does at least open the door to honor the past. The Pirates did that Saturday, unveiling the first 19 members of its inaugural Hall of Fame class, ranging from Roberto Clemente and Honus Wagner to four of the greatest Negro League players who made their biggest impact for either the Homestead Grays or Pittsburgh Crawfords.

“We have so many great moments, so many great players [that] I think all of us thought, ‘They must already have one,’ ” Bob Nutting said. “It was time to formalize it. It was time to celebrate it.”

Of those first 19 inductees, 15 played for the Pirates:

• Roberto Clemente (RF, 1955-72)
• Honus Wagner (SS, 1900-1917)
• Willie Stargell (LF/1B, 1962-82)
• Ralph Kiner (LF, 1946-53)
• Bill Mazeroski (2B, 1956-72)
• Jake Beckley (1B, 1888-89, 1891-96)
• Max Carey (OF, 1910-26)
• Fred Clarke (LF, 1900-1911, 1913-15; manager, 1900-1915)
• Lloyd Waner (CF, 1927-41, 1944-45)
• Paul Waner (RF, 1926-40)
• Pie Traynor (3B, 1920-35, 1937; manager, 1934-39)
• Arky Vaughan (SS, 1932-41)
• Dave Parker (OF, 1973-83)
• Steve Blass (RHP, 1964-1974)
• Danny Murtaugh (manager, 1957-64, 1967, 1970-71, 1973-76) 

Mazeroski, Parker and Blass were the only living players to attend, with each receiving a gold jacket and plaque before posing for a group photo during an afternoon ceremony. Before the game, the three simultaneously threw out ceremonial first pitches, with Mazeroski throwing to Oneil Cruz, Blass to David Bednar and Parker to Bryan Reynolds:

"I didn't get emotional until I saw that plaque," Blass said. "I'm humbled to be included in this first class of the Pirates Hall of Fame, and somewhat intimidated to see my name on that list, to be quite honest."

The players listed above require no introduction, featuring a dozen Hall of Famers and some of the greatest and most influential players in the franchise's history.

Family of 11 of the other 15 players were there to celebrate their induction.

And the four Negro League stars were:

• Josh Gibson (Crawfords: C, 1933-36; Grays: C, 1937-40, 1942-46)
• Ray Brown (Grays: RHP/OF, 1933, 1935-45)
• Buck Leonard (Grays: 1B, 1935-48)
• Oscar Charleston (Grays: RF, 1929; Crawfords: 1B/manager, 1933-38)

Gibson was also "signed" to a contract, officially making him a Pirate as part of the ceremony.

“Honestly, this is something that we asked for,” Sean Gibson, Josh's great-grandson and the executive director of the Josh Gibson foundation, said. “We asked the Pirates to do this and they graciously accepted it. Our family had some concerns: How are you going to honor four players who didn’t play for the Pirates. One of the ways we thought would be this. They agreed to it and graciously we accepted it. When you talk about the Grays and the Crawfords, you’re talking about a lot of great history right here in Pittsburgh... We believe that if segregation was not going on, he would’ve been a Pirate."

For Sean, the inclusion of Negro League players is an educational tool after the removal of Legacy Square, an area that held statues to seven Negro Leagues greats, before the 2015 season. Including players like Gibson, Brown, Leonard and Charleston who played the majority of their career with the Grays or Crawfords alongside Pirates greats gives an opportunity to teach about the contributions those men made to baseball and the community.

“For me, it’s more of an educational thing for our youth, and then we can also help them understand, like, ‘Mr. Gibson, how are they in the Pirates Hall of Fame when they didn’t play for the Pirates?’ ” Gibson said. “We can explain that to them, because kids will understand, ‘Well, he didn’t play for the Pirates,’ and it says Negro Leagues or whatever. We can explain to them what happened this day, why it happened and how we’re moving past that.”

Those plaques are among the 15 others from the Pirates on the Riverwalk right inside the center field gate.

They'll be joined in future years by more former Pirates, with classes ranging somewhere from three to five moving forward. It could include more Negro League stars, managers or individuals who were not uniformed, such as broadcasters or executives.

"We intentionally have not pinned down a process because it's hard to know exactly what's going to happen as we go forward," Nutting said. "We're going to stay flexible, but we are going to find ways to continue to tell the stories, just as along the Allegheny River you have 21 baseballs celebrating everyone who had a connection to Pittsburgh who's in the Hall of Fame, celebrating the history with the flags with all of the championship teams, celebrating the [retired] numbers along the Riverwalk. I think it's such an important part of our legacy and we need to be responsible to share and celebrate that story every way we can."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Ok, I probably should talk about the game.

If you're looking towards the future, Saturday showed plenty of promise. Roansy Contreras tossed six innings of one run ball, working out of a couple jams with the only run on his ledger coming on a ground out after the Blue Jays opened the fourth by putting two runners in scoring position.

Getting through those jams has allowed him to stay in games longer. In his four starts since being recalled last month, Contreras has pitched at least five innings each time and six innings or more three times.

"Focusing on just throwing less pitches by trying to get ground balls, get some popups, and I feel like that’s what’s been giving me a lot better results," Contreras said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez.

Oneil Cruz provided a spark on offense too, picking up a couple hits and the only RBI of the game on a third-inning triple, off a lefty even.

But that's about where the good ends. The offense failed to get much going all night, and Duane Underwood Jr. lost a 10-pitch battle to Bo Bichette in the seventh for a bases clearing double, the big hit to ensure a Blue Jays win.

"That's his lane," Shelton said when asked why he stuck with Underwood in a leverage spot. "We've got to avoid the two walks. He's got to execute pitches. The Bichette at-bat was a heck of an at-bat by Bichette, but Duane's just got to execute pitches."

• Ke'Bryan Hayes' left shoulder improved Saturday, according to Shelton. He was not available to pinch-hit, Shelton said after the game after alluding to it being a possibility pregame.

• In case you missed it Saturday: Here's my one-on-one with Parker, some short stories with Mazeroski and a piece on the protestor who crashed the Hall of Fame ceremony.

• Posting again in the gamer to ensure it gets seen: Nutting declined to comment about the state of the franchise Saturday when asked.

"I really think today is a day to celebrate the Hall of Fame," Nutting said. "I really don't want to have anything that distracts from that or takes us away from that tonight."

• With the loss, the Pirates fall to 49-83 on the season and 10-29 since the All-Star break. Their .371 winning percentage puts them on pace for a 60-102 record. They need to go at least 14-16 down the stretch to avoid their second straight 100-loss season.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 15-day injured list: RHP David Bednar (back), RHP Colin Holderman (right shoulder), LHP Dillon Peters (left elbow)

• 60-day injured list: RHP Yerry De Los Santos (lat), OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), RHP Blake Cederlind (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Oneil Cruz, SS
2. Kevin Newman, 2B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Jack Suwinski, RF
5. Rodolfo Castro, 3B
6. Cal Mitchell, RF
7. Michael Chavis, 1B
8. Josh VanMeter, DH
9. Jason Delay, C

And for Casey Candaele's Blue Jays:

1. George Springer, DH
2. Vladimir Guerroro Jr., 1B
3. Teoscar Hernández, RF
4. Matt Chapman, 3B
5. Bo Bichette, SS
6. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF
7. Santiago Espinal, 2B
8. Raimel Tapia, CF
9. Danny Jensen, C

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will try to avoid the sweep Sunday. JT Brubaker (3-11, 4.39) will take the bump against Ross Stripling (6-4, 2.94), with first pitch coming a bit earlier than usual at 12:05 p.m. Chris has got the finale.

THE CONTENT

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