I'm part of the Pittsburgh Pirates fans LinkedIn group, and one of the members started an interesting (IMO) topic as follows:

"So after last years season, I do think the Pirates will finish with 82 wins, just enough to end the streak. I want to put a list together of the top 10 Pirates during the streak. To be considered for the list they could not have played for the Pirates for the 1992 season or before.

Names I think should be there is Craig Wilson, my personal favorite, Jason Kendall, Abraham Núñez, Kevin Young, Tony Womack, Aramis Ramirez, Mike Benjamin, Rob Mackowiak, Óliver Pérez, Jason Bay, Brian Giles, Adam Hyzdu, Ryan Doumit, Mike Gonzalez, Zack Duke, Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson, Nate McLouth, Matt Capps, Pedro Alvarez, Paul Maholm, and Neil Walker would be the names I would consider before narrowing it down to the top 10.

I think the criteria would be anything you want. I used a combination of fan support and stats to get the list to 22."

Many of the players he lists are folks I'd rather forget, but fair enough, it's his opinion. My top 10 Pirates during the losing streak and who did not play in '92 or before are as follows:

1. Jason Bay
2. Andrew McCutchen
3. Brian Giles
4. Jason Kendall
5. Jason Schmidt
6. Freddy Sanchez
7. Jack Wilson
8. Craig Wilson
9. James McDonald
10. Joel Hanrahan

Anyone else?

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Brian Giles without question was 10x the player Jason Bay was.

10x is a bit much. I always thought they were about the same. Giles was better than Bay statistically, but not by 10X.

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This. So was Kendall.

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Giles was a juggernaut of an offensive force. The wikipedia page of him does great justice so i'll just paste it....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Giles

In 1999 with the Pirates, Giles emerged as a power-hitting outfielder who also hit for average and showed plate discipline. He began a streak of four straight 30-homer seasons, during which he batted no lower than .298 and was named Pittsburgh Pirates Player of the Year each year.

Giles led 2000 club in doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs and walks. His 123 RBI were eight shy of Paul Waner's club record of 131 set in 1927. He became the first Pirate ever to hit at least .300 with 30 plus home runs and 100 plus RBIs in back-to-back seasons, he became the third player in club history with 100 runs, 100 RBIs and 100 walks in same season, Barry Bonds in 1992 and Ralph Kiner from 1948-51. His 114 walks were the most by a Pirate since 1992, Bonds with 127. Giles' 74 home runs in two seasons with club represent the most in back-to-back seasons since Willie Stargell hit 77 in 1972-73. He was named National League Player-of-the-Week after hitting .400 with two doubles, three home runs and 12 RBI between May 2 to the 7 and shared Player-of-the-Week honors with Colorado's Todd Helton after hitting .523 with three doubles, one triple, three home runs, eight RBI and six runs scored between August 12 to the 20. Giles was named to All- Star team for first time in career. He finished 9th in voting among National League outfielders.

In 2001 Giles established career highs in games played, at bats, runs and hits. He tied career highs in doubles, triples and stolen bases. At the end of the season he ranked tenth among N.L. players in runs, on-base percentage, .404, and slugging percentage, .590. He led the Pirates in batting, home runs and walks. He tied Dave Parker's club record for most total bases, 340, by a left-handed hitter. Giles hit his 100th career home run as a member of the Pirates on August 9, he is one of just 17 players to homer 100 times as a Pirate. He was selected to play in the All- Star Game for the second consecutive year.

Giles ranked second in the league in walks behind San Francisco's Barry Bonds led with 198 in 2002. He also established the club record for most base on balls in a season by a left-handed batter. His .450 on-base percentage tied him for the second-best mark in the majors, he also ranked second in the league in slugging percentage with .622, sixth in home runs, second with 80 extra-base hits ranked second behind San Francisco's Jeff Kent, tied for second in the league with 13 outfield assists and also finished third in the N.L. with 24 intentional walks. He homered once every 13.1 at bats, the third-best ratio in the league behind Bonds' 8.8 and Sammy Sosa's 11.3.

While Bay was a nice player and excellent compensation in the Giles-Bay trade, the power and overall talent was with Giles.

A lineup with a young Brian Giles and Aramis Ramirez...would love to have a pair like that now.

It's awesome to think they turned Ricardo Rincon into Giles, Giles into Jason Bay, Oliver Perez and Corey Stewart.

And then Bay, Perez, and Stewar turned into Bryan Morris, Andy LaRoche, Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss, Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, Xavier Nady, Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen.

Woof.

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Jack, that's a pretty decent list. I'd have to roll with my brothers Hacksaw and Sham regarding Giles. He would top my list, followed by Cutch, followed by Kendall, followed by Bay at slot 4.

I predict one day Cutch will lead that list, and Pedro Alvarez will be on it eventually as well.

Right now, though, I'd have to figure a way to get GI Jones on there. I know he's a favorite whipping boy on this board, but he's provided some nice power during times when we had little to none, has some position versatility and just comes out to play every day. He's far from the most talented guy on the field, but he tries hard and plays hard, and at times, he can be murder on opposing pitchers, particularly if they are right-handed.

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Playing football was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. If I could go out today and suit up, I would do it.--Jack Butler

I think a more challenging list would be the top ten worst Pirates over that time frame.

I got an even better list....


The Top 10 Pirates who management kept putting out there even though they were underperforming to a high degree....



this guy should be on there

Giles by far was the Pirates best player since '93. Also people might laugh at this but Al Martin actually put up pretty decent #s. Outside of Cutch his #s put everyone elses on this teams to shame. Kevin Young as well. Aramis Ramirez?