Pittsburgh is a lot of things, and “sports town” is near the top of the list. Yinzers bleed black and gold, but some take it a step further and join their hometown teams.
These seven Pirates from Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania have made some of the greatest impacts in club history.
Honus Wagner (born Feb. 24, 1874, in Chartiers, Pa.)
Before becoming part of the inaugural Hall of Fame class, winning the 1909 World Series or being the face of the holy grail of baseball cards, Wagner was a Pittsburgh-area kid.
An eight-time batting champion, Wagner is arguably the greatest Pirate in franchise history. Although he started his career with the Louisville Colonels, the Chartiers kid spent the final 18 years of his 21-season career with his hometown team.
Wagner stayed in Western Pennsylvania after hanging it up as a player, serving as a coach with the Pirates and even running for Allegheny County sheriff in 1925. He died in Carnegie, Pa., in 1955 at the age of 81.
Dick Groat (born Nov. 4, 1930, in Wilkinsburg, Pa.)
Groat just might be the greatest athlete in Pittsburgh-area history. A star on the hardwood, Groat was the first player to have his number retired by the Duke University men’s basketball program. He briefly played in the NBA, but his real impact was in baseball with the Pirates, where he played nine of his 14 Major League seasons.
Groat was the National League MVP in 1960, helping propel the Pirates to the World Series title. Six of his eight All-Star nods came with Pittsburgh, and he won the batting title in 1960 with a .325 average.
Groat stayed in town after retiring as a player and spent 40 years calling Pitt basketball games. He passed away on April 27, 2023, shortly after being told he was being inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame.
Bill Mazeroski (born Sept. 5, 1936, in Wheeling, W. Va.)
OK, we’re technically crossing state lines here, but Wheeling is only a one-hour drive from PNC Park. We can extend the boundaries by a bit.
Mazeroski is best known for hitting the only Game 7 walk-off home run in World Series history, but there is so much more to the Hall of Famer’s career than just that one swing, as he's widely considered one of the best second basemen of all-time. A 10-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner, Mazeroski accrued 2,016 hits over his 17-year Major League career, all of which was spent with the Pirates. His 2,163 games played rank fifth all-time in franchise history, and his No. 9 was retired by the club in 1987.
Neil Walker (born Sept. 10, 1985, in Pittsburgh)
Nicknamed “The Pittsburgh Kid,” Walker was part of the core that helped snap 20 seasons of sub-.500 baseball and brought the Pirates back to the postseason. The Pine-Richland High School (Gibsonia, Pa.) graduate won a Silver Slugger at second base in 2014, and 93 of his 149 career home runs came in black and gold.
Walker stayed in Pittsburgh after his 12-year career ended and is now part of the rotation of color commentators on Pirates broadcasts.
David Bednar (born Oct. 10, 1994, in Pittsburgh)
The closer from Mars, Pa., was a fan favorite during his five-year run in the Pirates’ bullpen, earning a pair of All-Star nods and saving 101 games with his hometown team. Bednar was also very involved in the community, selected as the Pirates’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award three years in a row.
Bednar needed to go to the other side of the commonwealth to find a scholarship with Lafayette College, but the 35th-round Draft pick (San Diego, 2016) became one of the game’s elite closers in his time with the Pirates.
Isaac Mattson (born July 14, 1995, in Erie, Pa.)
Mattson knows Western Pennsylvania baseball. After graduating from Harbor Creek High School, he pitched at the University of Pittsburgh and was drafted in 2017 by the Angels, eventually reaching the big leagues in ’21 with the Orioles. After a 2024 stint with the Pirates’ Double-A affiliate in Altoona, Pa., Mattson returned to the Majors with Pittsburgh.
He pitched his way back on to the Pirates’ roster in 2025, becoming one of the team’s most valuable relievers. For someone who spent three years between Major League outings, he became a big part of the team’s bullpen.
Don Kelly (born Feb. 15, 1980, in Butler, Pa.)
Kelly was best known as a player for the Tigers, but he started his nine-year Major League career with the Pirates in 2007. His tenure with his hometown team lasted only 25 games, but the Mount Lebanon High School and Point Park University product eventually became the club’s manager in 2025.
New Castle, Pa., native Chuck Tanner never played for the Pirates, but he also managed his hometown team, leading the Bucs to the 1979 World Series title.