Tony Pena signed with the Pirates as an Amateur Free Agent in 1975, and five years later, the Dominican Catcher made his first appearance for the parent club.

Pena became Pittsburgh’s lead Catcher in 1982, and he was an All-Star that year.  Batting .301 with 15 Home Runs in 1983, Pena received the most MVP votes of his career, with an 11^th place finish.  Pena also won the Gold Glove, his first of three straight, and over the next two seasons he led the NL in Runners Caught Stealing.  He would also finish in the top ten Defensive bWAR four times, including a league-leading 2.5 in 1984.  

Pena went to three more All-Star Games as a Pirate and had five consecutive double-digit years in Home Runs (1982-86).  He was traded to St. Louis after the 1986 Season, leaving the club with 821 Hits, a .286 Batting Average, and 63 Home Runs.

Gene Alley played his entire career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, debuting in 1963 until he retired after the 1973 Season.

Alley became Pittsburgh’s starting Shortstop in 1965, and though he was not a potent hitter, he proved to be an excellent defensive player.  In Alley's best offensive year, 1966, he had career-highs in Hits (173) and Batting Average (.299), was 11^th in MVP voting, and won the first of two Gold Gloves.  Alley went to two All-Star Games (1967 & 1968), was twice the National League leader in Defensive bWAR (1965 & 1968), and aided the Pirates in their 1971 World Series win.

Alley had 999 career Hits with a lifetime Defensive bWAR of 14.7.

While Ring of Honor has seen better days, having announced they are moving forward without any contracted talents, they are still operating, and have announced they will be having their own Hall of Fame.  The first inductees have been announced, Mark and Jay Briscoe, the most successful tag team in the promotion’s history.

The pair were with ROH when the organization started back in 2002.  Winning 12 Tag Team Titles with ROH, as well as being the current champs, Jay Briscoe also won the ROH World Championship twice.  

There will be inductees revealed over the next three Mondays.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the Briscoes for earning this accolade.

When Jay Bell played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he knew his role was; provide good defense and get his baserunners over.  He did his job well!

Bell was the player to be named later in the pre-1989 season transaction with Cleveland, and after appearing in 70 Games that year, he entered 1990 as Pittsburgh's starting Shortstop.  What Bell lacked in pure athleticism, he made up for in intelligence.  Bell always seemed to know where the batters would hit ground balls, and as a Pirate, he was in the top six in Defensive bWAR three times, while also leading all National League Shortstops in Assists four times and Putouts three times.

Bell was not a power hitter, but he was selfless.  A two-time leader in Sacrifice Hits, Bell was able to get Hits still, primarily shown in 1993, when stars like Barry Bonds and Barry Bonilla had already left.  Bell batted .310 that year, had a career-high 187 Hits, and went to his first All-Star Game.  He also won the Silver Slugger that year.

Bell’s time with the Pirates ended when Kansas City traded for him after the 1996 Season.  He had 1,124 Hits with a .269 Batting Average for the team.