Here’s a look at the Pirates’ initial in-house Hall of Fame class, which gets inducted Sept. 3 at PNC Park before the team's game vs. Toronto.
Jake Beckley: died in 1918.
Steve Blass: not dead.
Ray Brown: died in 1965.
Max Carey: died in 1976.
Oscar Charleston: died in 1954.
Fred Clarke: died in 1960.
Roberto Clemente: died in 1972.
Josh Gibson: died in 1947.
Ralph Kiner: died in 2014.
Buck Leonard: died in 1997.
Bill Mazeroski: not dead.
Danny Murtaugh: died in 1976.
Dave Parker: not dead.
Willie Stargell: died in 2001.
Pie Traynor: died in 1972.
Arky Vaughan: died in 1952.
Honus Wagner: died in 1956.
Lloyd Waner: died in 1982.
Paul Waner: died in 1965.
I know baseball is dead in Pittsburgh, but this is absurd. Sixteen out of the 19 inductees are buried even deeper than the current Pirates are in the National League Central.
Induct some deserving ex-Bucs that are still living. Like Dick Groat, the NL MVP in 1960 when the Pirates won the World Series. Groat is 91.
There’s plenty of time to enshrine the dead. They will still be dead.
To read more on the Pirates’ inaugural Hall of Fame Class, click HERE. Or check the obituaries.
Photo: Getty Images