Pirates Hall of Fame Ceremony: Barry Bonds, Jim Leyland, and Manny Sanguillen are inducted!

fans at this time we direct your attention to home plate for tonight's Pirates Hall of Fame ceremony please welcome Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown Matt Fargo thank you very much and good evening and welcome those of us here tonight and those watching on sportset Pittsburgh two years ago the Pirates inducted 19 players into their inaugural Hall of Fame class celebrating the rich and stored history of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise a franchise that dates back to 1882 but began playing in the national league in 1887 it's been quite a run the Pirates are one of only three teams in professional sports that has continually operated in one pro sports league in the same city for 138 years the Cardinals and the Cubs are the only teams that can boast such historical ties to a city with its sports team that's any sports team by the way in North America and what an awesome honor it is to be here tonight to help honor the greatest who have played for this great great franchise the first 19 members of the Pirates Hall of Fame which included four negro league players from the homestead Grays and Pittsburgh crawfords were chosen for their accomplishments on the field and for the impact each man made on the game of baseball and the City of Pittsburgh last year the organization inducted four new members as dick Gro Eloy face Bob friend and Kent Tuli joined the baseball greats in the Pirates Hall of Fame and with us tonight we have two members from the first two induction classes including from the inaugural class a valued member of the Pirates Organization for over 60 years one of the best pitchers in the National League during his era and the pitching hero of the 1971 World Series longtime Pirates broadcaster now an official Pirates Ambassador Pirates Hall of Famer Steve blast number [Music] 28 inducted last year into the Pirates Hall of Fame he was used exclusively in relief during his 16 years in the major leagues ranks first in the national league history and innings pitched as a relief pitcher second in wins as a Rel his 158 saves with the Pirates ranked first in team history since 1969 and his 94 wins in relief ranked second in national league history behind only Elroy face a member of the 1979 We Are Family Champion Pirates a 2023 Hall of Fame inductee the rubber Band Man Kent Tuli earlier today during a ceremony just inside the Roberto Clemente gate and center field the organization inducted three new members into the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame three men inducted this year Bridging the Gap from the World Series champion teams of the 70s to the division winning clubs of the early 90s in addition the gold Hall of Fame jacket they're wearing each of these three great players were presented with a special replica plaque similar to the solid bronze plaque that is now hanging on the Hall of Fame wall just inside the Roberto Clemente entrance in center field this brings the total to 26 who are Now official members of the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame created just three summers ago and now we meet the three new members of the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame our first new member spent 12 of his 13 Major League Seasons playing for the Pirates can still be found at PNC Park Flash ing that Signature Smile At His barbecue stand in center field Manny sangan was one of the best catchers in Major League Baseball a three-time Allstar one of the top offensive catchers in baseball and one of the best defensive catchers of his era a member of two World Series Pirates teams man he sayangan the starting catcher in all seven games of the 71 World Series hit 379 second only to MVP Roberto Clemente following a trade that brought Chuck Tanner to the pirates from Oakland in 1977 he returned to his beloved pirates in 1978 one of the heroes of the 79 World Series delivered the game-winning RBI as a pinch hitter with two outs at the top of the ninth in Baltimore that gave the Pirates a 3-2 win over the Orioles and even the series at a game AP piece his career 299 batting average fifth all time among all National League catchers in the modern era that goes back to 1900 third all time in games caught in Pirates history one of the kindest happiest men to ever wear a pirates uniform here today with his wife Ronda son Manny Jr daughter Sarah Brothers Kalisto and Simon and three grandchildren Hannah Isaiah and Kellen ladies and gentlemen Pirates Hall of Famer Manny sangan [Music] maybe we could ask Manny what this moment means to you it's really blessful for me and my family all the people from Pittsburgh I came in here with no idea they're going to compete with the Bas Cas the baseball t b Johnny Bench but I give it I I he M with the wrong guy because I have a good right hand so I stay there I I find he more yeah I thank you the Pittsburgh fire it take everybody from the the grand coup the people that clean the the the stadio the one they cook and take care of I love everyone and then I finally the Roberto Clemente me big Bo We are family I have my people with you congratulations Manny Sayang We are family thank you Manny our next inductee was one of the most feared hitters in the history of the game he began his historic 22-year career with the Pirates in 1986 after being selected by the team out of Arizona state in the first round of the 1985 draft it was his combination of speed and power that displayed during his seven years in Black in Gold he helped lead the Pirates out of the National League E Celler to the first of three consecutive division titles beginning with the first of his two MVP seasons in 1990 he hit 301 with 33 homers 114 rbi's 52 stolen bases led the league in slugging with a 565 Mark and an on base and slugging for an Ops of 970 also led the league in RB's the next year drove in 116 led the national league with a 410 on base percentage again in Ops 924 in his MVP season of 1992 again drove in over a 100 runs 34 homers led the league in runs scored led the league in on base percentage in slugging percentage and set the third highest OPS Mark in Pirates history 1,090 only Hall of Famers AR EV vau and Ralph ker ever had a higher single season Ops in his remarkable 1992 season the only player in team history to steal 50 bases and hit 30 homers in one season Remains the only player with at least 175 career homers and 200 stolen bases in Pirates history a three-time gold glove Award winner two-time Allstar in his Seven Seasons with the Pirates he ranks fifth alltime in home runs for the bucks Jim leelan called him simply the greatest player I have ever managed accompanied tonight by by his mother Pat his two daughters Shakira and ASA here is Pirates Hall of Famer Barry Bonds [Applause] thank you thank you thank you we got to make it short cuz these boys got a game to play I I want to thank my mom and my daughters for being here I want to thank the ownership the organization but most of all I I got to thank all of you this 21y old boy living on Mount Wasington and you accepted me as one of your own thank you McGee hospital for having my babies I love you it's a great honor to the teammates that I had I played with I miss you I love you we tried damn hard thank you fans for booing us when we needed it we respect that thank you for cheering us when we most needed it and last but not least skip thank you for being my manager I love you Pirates Hall of Famer Barry Bonds he just mentioned skip no stranger to PNC Park he was here earlier of course this season throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day he began his big league managerial career right here in Pittsburgh in 1986 and quickly established himself as a non-nonsense winning manager he guided his teams to three straight National League Eastern Division championships in 1990 91 and '92 as those Killer Bees LED all major league teams with 289 wins in that stretch he won manager of the Year honors with the Pirates in 1990 and again in 1992 the only manager in the history of the team to win the award twice his 851 wins with the Pirates ranked third all time behind fellow bucko Hall of Fame managers Fred Clark and Danny myall earlier this summer inducted at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in coopertown joined on the field tonight with his wife Katie and his daughter Kelly here is the skipper Hall of Famer Jim [Music] Leland thank you very much thank you so so much uh the last couple of hours and last night we spent a lot of time thanking pirate ownership and those who were involved in putting this most majestic day together so tonight it's time to thank you the fans we've thanked everybody else I hope that some of you saw my hall of fame speech because in my hall of fame speech I said managing in Pittsburgh was not like manager and fans it was like manager and Friends and I appreciated that from day one when the newspaper said Jim who you accepted me from the beginning and you have to this day people ask me on several occasions what is it about Pittsburgh and why do you love it so much and I'll tell you why I have friends at the golf building I have friends at the courthouse and I have friends the gas station thank you very much Pirates Hall of Famer Jim Leland and how about it ladies and gentlemen one more time the new members of the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame Manny sangi Barry and Jim [Applause] Leland stick around we're moments away from a very special ceremonial first pitch [Music] and participating in the first pitch throwing to Pirate Skipper Derek Shelton Jim Leland Andrew McCutchen will receive the first pitch from Barry bonss and in a reversal looks like sangy will throw to Steve Blass here we go and there it is once again thank you and congratulations Manny sangi and Jim leand and Barry [Applause] Bonds an absolutely beautiful day here in downtown Pittsburgh is coming to a close after an absolutely beautiful ceremony here in PNC Park Jim lein Barry Bonds Manny sang are now the newest members of the Pirates Hall of Fame