Pittsburgh Pirates

** Played in the era prior to uniform numbers; wore 33 while serving as coach. King Kong has been spoofed many times in films and literature; one of the more effective satires of the film was by British author Terry Pratchett, whose book Moving Pictures climaxes with a giant woman carrying a screaming ape up a tall tower. * Manager. Other similar films include the Korean APE, the Hong Kong made Mighty Peking Man, the British Konga and Queen Kong, and the American Mighty Gorga (presumably an alternate name for Mighty Joe Young). Despite this, the Pirates' mediocre performance has translated to subpar attendance figures. This movie also inspired a 1988 animated feature, The Mighty Kong, which starred Jodi Benson. Due to its simple, unpretentious concept and strategic usage of the remarkably beautiful Pittsburgh skyline, it is frequently regarded (as in a recent ESPN article) as currently the best park in baseball. King Kong also appeared in two Japanese kaiju films: King Kong vs Godzilla and King Kong Escapes.

The Pirates opened a new stadium, PNC Park, in 2001. King Kong also bears some similarities to an earlier O'Brien effort, The Lost World (1925), in which dinosaurs are found living on an isolated plateau. Though this rash of trades has not been popular in Pittsburgh, it is generally accepted that it can mostly be attributed to the aforementioned "small market syndrome." It is felt that Littlefield is attempting, with perhaps mixed success, to follow the blueprint created by overachieving small market teams such as the Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins. The premise of a giant gorilla brought to the United States for entertainment purposes and wreaking havoc was recycled in Mighty Joe Young, (1949, 1998). After the 2004 season, Kendall's salary was also dumped on the Oakland Athletics. See King Kong (2005 movie). Pirate fans found this trade much more palatable in the short run, as Pérez led the majors in strikeouts per inning and Bay won the Rookie of the Year Award award in 2004, while Giles put up a subpar season by his standards. Jackson says that he plans to go deeper into the personality of Kong.

Brian Giles was one of the National League's best hitters for several years, but he and his $9 million salary were also traded in 2003 to the San Diego Padres for youngsters Oliver Pérez, Jason Bay, and Cory Stewart. It is targeted for a December 2005 release and is currently in production. Enigmatic but talented third baseman Aramis Ramirez was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 2003 for a fairly minimal return under pressure to dump his $6 million salary for 2004, and he proceeded to become a star for the Cubs. In 2003, Universal Pictures planned another remake with director Peter Jackson, best known for directing the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Current General Manager Dave Littlefield was installed midway through the 2001 season and began overhauling the team to comply with owner Kevin McClatchy's dictum to drastically reduce the payroll. (See King Kong (1976).) A sequel, King Kong Lives, starring Linda Hamilton, followed a decade later. However, the failure of the Pirates to compete in recent years has been blamed on "small market syndrome"; teams located in small cities such as Pittsburgh and Kansas City cannot compete with New York and Boston without a salary cap or similar agreement, as the better players tend to gravitate towards cities where teams generate more revenue, meaning larger salaries. The film was generally panned by critics and was a commercial flop.

(Interestingly, video footage of Kendall's leg breaking from under him has been circulated on shock sites.). Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges starred. No such incident has occurred with Kendall, but he has lost almost all of his power and much of his speed following a broken leg in 1999. In 1976, King Kong was remade by Dino De Laurentiis. Despite poor play in 2001, Bell announced that he would begin "Operation Shutdown", a passive-aggressive ploy in which he would fail to play effectively in response to losing his role as a starter. The story concerned a return expedition to Skull Island that discovers that Kong has left behind an albino son. Their overall lack of success in the last decade have been blamed partly on former General Manager Cam Bonifay, who gave large contracts to players such as Derek Bell and Jason Kendall while failing to identify, develop, and retain numerous young potential star players. A sequel, The Son of Kong, was also released in 1933.

However, they did miraculously contend for the 1997 division title, finishing second and only being eliminated in the season's final week, despite having a payroll of only 9 million dollars. It was on display in London until a few years ago in the now-closed Museum of the Moving Image. Since then, the Pirates have not had a winning season. The original metal armature used to bring Kong to life, as well as other original props from the 1933 film, can be seen in the book It Came From Bob's Basement. Both players complained about the preferential treatment given to Van Slyke, leading some to believe that racism was well-ingrained in Pittsburgh sports. The story of the fate of many props from the original film can be found at King Kong Lost and Found (http://www.fullyarticulated.com/KongBoomer.html). Before the 1993 season, Bonilla and Bonds would leave for more lucrative contracts elsewhere. This film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

The Pirates would win the first three division titles of the 1990s, but failed to advance to the World Series each time, the second two losing closely contested seven-game series to the Atlanta Braves on questionable calls at the end of the final game. King Kong premiered in New York City on March 2, 1933. Jim Leyland took over as manager, and the Pirates gradually climbed out of the cellar behind young and exciting players such as Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds, Jay Bell, and Andy Van Slyke. In the finale, which has become an enduring pop icon, Kong carries a screaming Fay Wray to the top of the Empire State Building but is gunned down by a swarm of Army biplanes. Following was a period of decline until the Pirates were regarded as the worst team in baseball during the mid-1980s. Schoedsack, is notable for Willis O'Brien's stop-motion animation, Max Steiner's musical score, and actress Fay Wray's performance as the ape's improbable love interest. Adopting the then-popular disco anthem "We Are Family" as their theme song, the Pirates won a fifth World Series, again in seven games, in 1979. Cooper and Ernest B.

Stargell, speedy Omar Moreno and power-hitting but ostentatious and unpopular Dave Parker became the cornerstones of the Pirates as Murtaugh left and Chuck Tanner took over as manager in 1977. The film, directed by Merian C. Clemente died tragically in a plane crash in 1972 while attempting to ship supplies to the victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua, and is today regarded as the most prominent figure in Pirates history, with a riverfront park and suspension bridge named for him. It was based on a story by Edgar Wallace, and starred Bruce Cabot and Robert Armstrong. He retired soon afterwards. King Kong is a classic 1933 Hollywood horror/adventure film from RKO about a gigantic prehistoric gorilla, brought from a remote island to New York City to be exhibited as a natural wonder, that escapes to cause mass destruction. However, in 1973, Blass suffered a mysterious breakdown in his pitching abilities and posted an outrageous 9.85 ERA. The giant gate used in the 1933 movie was burned along with other old studio sets for the burning of Atlanta scene in Gone With the Wind.

They also thought they had a genuine superstar pitcher (historically rare for the Pirates) in Steve Blass, who pitched two excellent games in the World Series and put together excellent seasons in 1968 and 1972. "King" was added to the title by studio publicists. The Pirates won their first of five division titles over the next six years, and won their fourth World Series the next year behind a .414 batting average by Clemente. In the original movie the gorilla is named "Kong". Slugger Willie Stargell became a fixture in the Pittsburgh lineup, and the Pirates would return to prominence in 1970 when Murtaugh returned as manager and the Pirates' home field, Forbes Field, was demolished in favor of the multi-purpose Three Rivers Stadium. However, the Pirates struggled for the remainder of the decade, and Murtaugh was replaced by Harry Walker in 1965.

The 1960s would continue with extremely solid defensive play by Mazeroski and the first Puerto Rican superstar, Roberto Clemente. Clemente was regarded as both one of the game's best all-time hitters and right fielders. In arguably the most memorable World Series in history, the Pirates were defeated by more than ten runs in three games, won three close games, then recovering from a 7-4 deficit late in Game 7 to eventually win on a walk-off home run by Bill Mazeroski. The 1960 team featured eight All-Stars, but was widely predicted to lose the World Series to a powerful New York Yankees team. Murtaugh is widely credited for inventing the concept of the closer by frequently playing pitcher Roy Face late in close games.

The Pirates would have only one winning season until 1958, when Danny Murtaugh took over as manager. The post-World War II years were not kind to the Pirates, despite the presence of a genuine superstar in Ralph Kiner. The 1927 season was the first for the sharp-hitting combination of brothers Lloyd Waner and Paul Waner, who along with shortstop Arky Vaughan ensured that the Pirates had plenty of Hall of Fame-caliber position players through 1941. The Pirates recovered from a 3-1 deficit to win the 1925 World Series over the Washington Senators, and reached the 1927 World Series before losing in a sweep to the New York Yankees, who at that time had built the most dominant team in baseball.

However, veteran outfielder Max Carey and young players Pie Traynor and Kiki Cuyler, along with a steady if unspectacular pitching staff, brought the Pirates back into the spotlight. The decline of Honus Wagner, considered by some to be the greatest shortstop ever, led to a number of losing seasons, culminating in a disastrous 51-103 record in 1917, Wagner's last season. With largely the same star players, the Pirates would continue to be a strong team over the next few years and got their first World Series title in 1909, defeating the Detroit Tigers in seven games. Deacon Phillippe pitched five complete games, winning three of them; but it was not enough.

However, owing to injuries to their starting pitchers, they lost the first World Series ever played, in 1903 to Boston. The 1901-1903 Pirates completely dominated the National League, in part because they lost few star players to the rival American League. In 1900, the Pirates picked up star players from the defunct Louisville, Kentucky club, including greats like Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke (who also served as the team's manager from 1900 to 1915), triggering a long string of pennants. In 1890, they merged with the Pittsburgh team from the Players League after that league folded.

The AA club picked up a number of players from a defunct Columbus, Ohio team in 1885. In its early days, the club benefitted three times from mergers with defunct clubs. They are in the Central Division of the National League. The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Bradenton Pirates. Lynchburg Hillcats
Hickory Crawdads
Williamsport Crosscutters. Altoona Curve. Indianapolis Indians.

National League
. Pitching strikeouts: Bob Veale (276, 1965). Pitching wins: 28 Jack Chesbro (28, 1902). Hitting streak: Danny O'Connell (26 games, 1953).

Walks: Ralph Kiner (137, 1951). Stolen bases: Omar Moreno (96, 1980). Owen Wilson (36, 1912) [MLB record]. Triples: J.

Doubles: Paul Waner (62, 1932). Hits: Paul Waner (237, 1927). Runs: Kiki Cuyler (144, 1925). Runs batted in: Paul Waner (131, 1927).

Home runs: Ralph Kiner (54, 1949). Batting average: Arky Vaughan (.385, 1935). Branch Rickey. Bob Prince (legendary announcer nicknamed The Gunner).

Bill McKechnie. John Galbreath. Barney Dreyfuss (former owner and creator of the World Series). 42 Jackie Robinson (retired throughout baseball).

40 Danny Murtaugh *. 33 Honus Wagner **. 21 Roberto Clemente. 20 Pie Traynor.

  9 Bill Mazeroski.   8 Willie Stargell.   4 Ralph Kiner.   1 Billy Meyer *.

Jim Leyland (1990, 1992). Manager of the Year