Bob Elliott had one of the best nicknames in all of sports; “Mr. Team.”

Elliott came up in 1939, first playing in the Outfield before he moved to Third Base.  An All-Star four times with the Pirates, Elliott batted over .290 five times, with three of those seasons gaining over 100 RBIs.  He earned a reputation as the consummate teammate, an honor that he took the next level with his second MLB team.

After the 1946 Season, Elliott was traded to the Boston Braves, immediately proving the Pirates wrong by winning the MVP in his first year there.  With the Pirates, Elliott collected 1,142 Hits and batted .292.

Elbie Fletcher was traded to Pittsburgh from Boston during the 1939 Season, where in Western Pennsylvania, he developed one of the keenest batting eyes of the game.

Fletcher finished the year strong, batting .303 for Pittsburgh, and though he would not bat over .300 again, he learned how to take pitches and would top the NL leaderboard in Walks twice (1940 & 1941) and On Base Percentage three straight years (1940-42).  He went into the U.S. Navy for two years, missing two seasons, but was not the same player when he returned and was traded after the 1947 Season.

Fletcher had 875 Hits for the Pirates along with a .403 OBP.

Ginger Beaumont was one of the better contact hitters in the 1900s, making history as the first National League player to lead the league in Hits three years in a row (1902-04).

Beaumont debuted for Pittsburgh in 1899, batting .352 as a rookie and exceeding .300 five consecutive seasons (1901-05), winning the Batting Title (.357) in 1902.  While he did not look fast, he was, swiping at least 20 Bases seven times with Pittsburgh.

The Pirates traded Beaumont to Boston after his disappointing 1906 Season, but Beaumont proved them wrong by finishing first in Hits in 1907.  Beaumont, overall as a Pirate, batted .321 with 1,292 Hits and 200 Stolen Bases.

Dick Groat was a two-sport star at Duke, playing both Baseball and Basketball, and was so good that he became the first man to be inducted to both the College Basketball and College Baseball Hall of Fame.  Groat even played a year in the NBA, but thankfully for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he made Baseball his main career choice.

Groat signed with the Pirates in 1952 and was third in Rookie of the Year voting but could not immediately capitalize as he was in the Military the next two years.  Returning in 1955, the Shortstop would patrol the infield for the Pirates until 1962, where he was an All-Star in three seasons, winning the Batting Title in 1960 (.325), leading the National League in Defensive bWAR (2.6) and the MVP.  Groat capped the season perfectly by leading Pittsburgh to a World Series win, completing one of the most successful years ever by a Pirate.

Groat was traded to St. Louis after the 1962 campaign, leaving Pittsburgh with 1,435 Hits and a .290 Batting Average.