Pittsburgh Associates was a consortium of the City of Pittsburgh and local businesses which owned the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

from 1986 to 1996. It was spearheaded during a dark year for the ball club with national media focused on the

Pittsburgh drug trials The Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985 were the catalyst for a Major League Baseball-related cocaine scandal. Several current and former members of the Pittsburgh Pirates – Dale Berra, Lee Lacy, Lee Mazzilli, John Milner, Dave Parker, Rod Scurry � ...

, where many former Pirates as well as other major leaguers were brought up on Federal drug charges for offenses through the early 1980s. The Pirates had gone from a World Series victory in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and contention as late as 1983, to a 100-loss season in 1985. At the same time, longtime owner

John W. Galbreath John Wilmer Galbreath (August 10, 1897 – July 20, 1988) was an American building contractor and sportsman. Born in Derby, Ohio, he grew up in Mount Sterling, Ohio, where he graduated from high school. He then graduated from Ohio University in ...

was looking for a new buyer, and cities such as New Orleans and Portland were making attractive bids. The Associates were spearheaded by popular Pittsburgh Mayor

Richard S. Caliguiri Richard S. Caliguiri (October 20, 1931 – May 6, 1988) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1977 until his death in 1988. Early career Caliguiri was of Italian Arbëreshë people, Arbëresh ances ...

and some prominent corporate leaders of such companies as Westinghouse,

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

, PPG,

United States Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

, PNC, Mellon Financial,

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

and

Ryan Homes NVR, Inc. is a company engaged in home construction headquartered in Reston, Virginia. It also operates a mortgage banking and title services business. The company primarily operates on the East Coast of the United States, but its operations enco ...

. Other investors include Chicago real estate developer Harvey Walken, Pittsburgh contractor Frank Schneider and Pittsburgh businessman Frank Fuhrer as well as Block Communications co-owner and

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

publisher William Block. The deal was intended to ensure that the Pirates would stay in Pittsburgh until a new long-term buyer could be found to keep the club in the city. However, the consortium's stewardship of the Pirates would last for 10 years until

Kevin McClatchy Kevin S. McClatchy (born January 13, 1963) is the chairman of McClatchy and former owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. He led a group of investors that purchased the team in 1996, and served as the team's CEO and lead owner until 200 ...

bought the team in 1996. During their time as owners, Pittsburgh Associates saw the Pirates win three straight NL East titles (1990–92); however, the Pirates would fall in the NLCS all three times.

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References

Pittsburgh Pirates owners {{Pittsburgh-stub