‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 18: Andy Van Slyke was at center of division-winning Pirates teams

The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number.

No. 18: Andy Van Slyke

A 1987 trade that brought Andy Van Slyke to the Pittsburgh Pirates initially was highly unpopular with the franchise’s fanbase. But it ended up netting them one of their future favorites.

Along with Barry Bonds and a handful of others, Van Slyke would help foster the Pirates’ greatest period of sustained success over any point over the past four decades. It is for his co-starring role for the Pirates’ most recent three division championship teams from 1990-92 that Van Slyke was chosen by the Tribune-Review sports staff as the best athlete to wear No. 18 for a Pittsburgh team.

Love stand-up triples.

This would be the 1st of 4 multi-hit games Andy Van Slyke had in the postseason. pic.twitter.com/cbR1XPx1S3

— Pirates (@Pirates) April 21, 2020

Van Slyke won five consecutive National League Gold Glove awards for his play roaming center field at Three Rivers Stadium from 1988-92. Three times an All-Star and twice a Silver Slugger winner during his eight seasons with the Pirates, Van Slyke finished second in the 1992 NL batting race and three times was among the top 10 in the NL in Wins Above Replacement.

The No. 3 hole hitter for most of his Pirates’ tenure, Van Slyke was often flanked by Bonds and Bobby Bonilla in what was arguably the majors’ best outfield at this time 30 years ago. The 1998 NL leader in triples and 1992 leader in hits and doubles, Van Slyke drove in 100 runs in 1988 and scored at least 100 runs in ’88 and 1992.

Andy Van Slyke signing on his bobblehead night! pic.twitter.com/4od2fE3LMH

— Pirates (@Pirates) August 4, 2018

Van Slyke finished his Pirates career with 1,108 hits, 598 runs and a .283/.353/.458 batting split in 1,057 games for the team before leaving as free agent in 1995.

Van Slyke ended his MLB career with 1,562 hits, but he never won a World Series. He played in one for St. Louis in 1987, and his Pirates were one out away from reaching the 1992 Series before the infamous series events during the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series.

After former teammate Sid Bream scored on Francisco Cabrera’s single to give the Atlanta Braves the NLCS win against the Pirates, the shot of Van Slyke gloomily sitting alone on the Fulton County Stadium grass with his arms rested on his knees and cap bill pulled down his forehead is among the iconic sadder images in Pittsburgh sports history.

The team’s next playoff berth wouldn’t come until 21 years later. By then, Van Slyke’s son was in the majors — but in a sign of the elder Van Slyke’s popularity in Pittsburgh, he was chosen by the organization to throw the ceremonial first pitch of an NLDS game during that 2013 postseason.

Former Pirate Van Slyke still bleeds black and gold. http://t.co/icKylQQIWY

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) October 7, 2013

Van Slyke had some stiff competition from other former Pirates for consideration as the best to wear No. 18 in Pittsburgh. Bill Virdon accumulated 1,431 hits over parts of 11 seasons between 1956-68. He also managed the Pirates in 1972 and ’73 and served as a coach or instructor for the organization over multiple tenures at times in the decades since.

Matty Alou was a two-time All-Star who in 1969 led the National League in hits and doubles over a tenure with team that spanned five seasons. Jason Kendall was a three-time All-Star catcher and arguably the Pirates’ most popular and recognizable player over their record 20-season streak of losing seasons between 1993-2012. Over nine seasons with the franchise, Kendall became their all-time leader in games caught; including six additional seasons with four other teams, Kendall retired No. 5 on the MLB list for most games at catcher (2,025).

Most recently, Pine-Richland High School graduate Neil Walker was among the centerpieces of the Pirates’ mid-2010’s renaissance that helped them to the playoffs three consecutive seasons. A first-round pick as a high school catcher in 2004, Walker played almost exclusively second base for the Pirates over 836 games between 2009-15.

Though no Steelers presented viable alternatives to Van Slyke’s prominence wearing No. 18, a few have interesting footnotes in organizational lore. Though Jack Kemp threw only 18 passes during his 1957 rookie season for the Steelers, he’d go on to make 105 career starts at quarterback for the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers – and, later, serve in the U.S. House, in the cabinet of President George H.W. Bush, and as the Republican nominee for vice president in 1996.

Franklin native Ted Marchibroda started 11 games at quarterback for the 1956 Steelers. He’d eventually serve as an NFL head coach for 15 seasons, making the playoffs four rimes — including for the Indianapolis Colts when they lost to the Steelers in the 1995 season’s AFC championship game.

Also, Cliff Stoudt (16 starts in the 1980s) and Mike Tomczak (27 starts in the 1990s) were stopgap Steelers quarterbacks between the Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger eras.

Check out the entire ’Burgh’s Best to Wear It series here.

Love baseball? Stay up-to-date with the latest Pittsburgh Pirates news.