1981 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 1981 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 100th season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; their 95th in the National League. The Pirates finished fourth in the National League East in the first half of the season with a record of 25–23 and sixth in the second half with a record of 21–33.

Regular season

Officials of the Louisiana Superdome met with Pirates management in April 1981 about moving the club to New Orleans when the Pirates were unhappy with their lease at Three Rivers Stadium.

Player stats

;Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player
	12	2	1	0.500	0	0
	15	11	4	0.364	0	0
	82	279	95	0.341	6	45
	66	210	63	0.300	2	17
	95	339	97	0.286	7	42
	38	60	17	0.283	0	9
	103	434	120	0.276	1	35
	78	213	57	0.268	2	10
	29	38	10	0.263	1	1
	29	27	7	0.259	1	4
	67	240	62	0.258	9	48
	56	181	46	0.254	1	20
	17	12	3	0.250	0	1
	86	316	78	0.247	0	20
	31	102	25	0.245	0	6
	86	223	54	0.242	15	42
	81	232	56	0.241	2	27
	34	59	14	0.237	2	9
	6	13	3	0.231	0	3
	54	169	39	0.231	2	18
	39	88	19	0.216	2	8
	21	47	10	0.213	1	6
	13	10	2	0.200	0	0
	21	48	9	0.188	0	0
	9	16	3	0.188	0	4
	25	43	7	0.163	0	3
	27	19	3	0.158	0	0
	14	28	4	0.143	1	3
	18	22	3	0.136	0	0
	30	67	9	0.134	0	3
	11	8	0	0.000	0	0
	7	4	0	0.000	0	0
	22	4	0	0.000	0	0
	35	2	0	0.000	0	0
	5	4	0	0.000	0	0
	33	4	0	0.000	0	0
	45	2	0	0.000	0	0
Team Totals	103	3,576	920	0.257	55	384

;Pitching
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player
	45	65	5	5	2.49	34
	14	93	6	3	2.50	48
	35	32	1	2	2.51	17
	22	34	1	1	2.65	28
	12	19	0	2	2.75	5
	22	127	8	6	3.12	38
	13	54	4	5	3.31	30
	6	40	2	2	3.54	14
	27	74	4	5	3.77	65
	21	136	9	4	3.89	76
	9	57	2	5	3.92	32
	17	86	2	7	3.96	46
	33	41	1	3	4.54	23
	7	21	0	1	4.98	11
	16	38	0	3	5.87	17
	5	19	1	2	5.95	8
Team Totals	103	942	46	56	3.56	492

Awards and honors

1981 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Dave Parker, RF, starter
Bill Madlock, 3B, reserve
Mike Easler, OF, reserve
Phil Garner, 2B, reserve

Transactions

October 22, 1980 – Jesse Jefferson granted free agency.
October 22, 1980 – John Milner granted free agency.
October 29, 1980 – Traded a player to be named later and cash to the Seattle Mariners. Received Odell Jones. The Pittsburgh Pirates sent Larry Andersen to the Seattle Mariners to complete the trade.
December 9, 1980 – Traded Bert Blyleven and Manny Sanguillén to the Cleveland Indians. Received Gary Alexander, Victor Cruz, Bob Owchinko and Rafael Vasquez.
January 13, 1981 – Drafted John Kruk in the 3rd round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
January 19, 1981 – Signed Larvell Blanks as a free agent.
January 20, 1981 – Signed Rusty Torres as a free agent.
January 23, 1981 – Signed John Milner as a free agent.
February 23, 1981 – Signed Luis Tiant as a free agent.
April 1, 1981 – Traded Mickey Mahler and Ed Ott to the California Angels. Received Jason Thompson.
April 5, 1981 – Purchased Jim Smith from the Baltimore Orioles.
April 5, 1981 – Traded Dave Dravecky to the San Diego Padres. Received Bobby Mitchell.
April 6, 1981 – Traded Bob Owchinko to the Oakland Athletics. Received a player to be named later and cash. The Oakland Athletics sent Ernie Camacho to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
May 4, 1981 – Signed Willie Horton as a free agent.
June 8, 1981 – Drafted Ray Krawczyk in the 1st round of the 1981 amateur draft.
June 8, 1981 – Drafted Jim Winn in the 1st round of the 1981 amateur draft.
June 8, 1981 – Drafted Lee Tunnell in the 2nd round of the 1981 amateur draft.
June 8, 1981 – Drafted Bip Roberts in the 5th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
June 8, 1981 – Drafted Scott Bankhead in the 17th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
June 8, 1981 – Drafted Chris Bosio in the 29th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
June 8, 1981 – Drafted Lance Johnson in the 30th round of the 1981 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.
June 25, 1981 – Signed Denny González as an amateur free agent.
July 11, 1981 – Signed Bobby Bonilla as an amateur free agent.
August 20, 1981 – Traded John Milner to the Montreal Expos. Received Willie Montañez.
August 31, 1981 – Traded Phil Garner to the Houston Astros. Received players to be named later and Johnny Ray. The Houston Astros sent Randy Niemann and Kevin Houston to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.
September 1, 1981 – Sold Grant Jackson to the Montreal Expos for $50,000.
October 5, 1981 – Released Luis Tiant.
October 23, 1981 – Purchased Manny Sarmiento from the Boston Red Sox.
October 26, 1981 – Released Kurt Bevacqua.