‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 41: Pirates’ Jerry Reuss a player of the decades

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. 41: Jerry Reuss

When Jerry Reuss was added to the Pittsburgh Pirates roster for their stretch run in September 1990, he was just an extra veteran left-handed arm. He made only three meaningful appearances covering 2¹⁄₃ innings over the first 32 days of the 33-day period of MLB’s annual roster expansion.

But the first of those appearances — getting four outs and allowing three men to reach during the eighth and ninth innings of a Sept. 7 game against the Montreal Expos — moved Reuss into some historical context in MLB.

For a 41-year-old who made his MLB debut Sept. 27, 1969, being active during the 1990 season made Reuss a major leaguer over the span of four decades. When Reuss accomplished the feat, he was the 22nd player to do so. Now, the list stands at 29, and, barring a comeback by Bartolo Colon or something else unforeseen, it will stay that way until at least 2030.

Super B-Day to Jerry Reuss who won 220 games while pitching in 4 decades. He also knew how to rock a pillbox cap. pic.twitter.com/i4YFS5cm7t

— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) June 20, 2015

As a tribute to his long career and as something of a retirement gift, Pirates manager Jim Leyland called upon Reuss to start the Oct. 3 season finale that year. The Pirates signed Reuss — then pitching in the minors — in July, and they clinched the National League East before the season’s final weekend.

Reuss wore No. 49 during that final game because Zane Smith had claimed No. 41 upon joining the Pirates that August. But Reuss wore No. 41 for the Pirates over a five-season span in the 1970s. He won 58 games with 48 complete games and 12 shutouts over the first four years of that time (1974-77), a pillar of the starting rotation for Pirates teams that averaged 92 wins and won the NL East twice.

Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Rick Rhoden in 1979, Reuss finished second in the Cy Young balloting the next year and was part of a World Series championship team the year after that. Reuss won 220 games and had a 3.64 ERA over his 22-year career.

Never hang out alone with Jerry Reuss, @MLB’s resident expert in pranking. https://t.co/e4ojq6c6Fi pic.twitter.com/CMtgbkQUgL

— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 5, 2017

Reuss’ dual Pirates tenures and overall longevity gave him the advantage over a pair of other starting pitchers who wore No. 41 for the Pirates: Smith and Mike Dunne.

Smith went 47-41 with a 3.35 ERA over 121 starts for the Pirates in the 1990s (though when he returned in 1996, he was wearing No. 24).

Smith started two games during the 1991 NLCS, allowing one run over 14 2/3 innings. Both games ended 1-0, with the Pirates and Atlanta Braves each winning one.

Dunne was the lowest-profile member of one of the most famous and consequential trades in Pirates history, the swapping of fan-favorite catcher Tony Pena to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dunne, Andy Van Slyke and Mike LaValliere.

Over the long term, Van Slyke and LaValliere proved cornerstones of the Pirates’ NL East run of 1990-92. But initial returns of the trade suggested Dunne might be the best of the return in the trade.

The rest of his career, though, Dunne went 8-12 in 62 games (54 starts) for three teams. His final MLB appearance came in 1992 at age 29 for the Chicago White Sox.

The most prominent No. 41 for the Steelers was safety Lee Flowers. A fifth-round pick in 1995, he played in the Super Bowl XXX loss to the Dallas Cowboys as a rookie.

This story was updated to correct the number of players who appeared in MLB games over four different decades.