<P> In those early days, the club benefited three times from mergers with defunct clubs . The A.A. club picked up a number of players from a defunct Columbus, Ohio, team in 1885 . </P> <P> The Alleghenys were severely crippled during the 1890 season, when nearly all of their stars jumped to the Pittsburgh Burghers of the Players' League . With a decimated roster, the team experienced what is still the worst season in franchise history, going 23--113 . The battle nearly ruined McKnight, and he was forced to return his franchise to the league . However, almost immediately after this, McKnight joined the backers of the Burghers as a minority owner, which then repurchased the Pittsburgh National League franchise and rechartered it under a different corporate name . They were thus able to legally recover the services of most of the players who had jumped to the upstart league a year earlier . </P> <P> The new owners also signed highly regarded second baseman Lou Bierbauer, who had previously played with the AA's Philadelphia Athletics . The Athletics failed to include him on their reserve list, and the Alleghenys picked him up . Nonetheless, this led to loud protests by the Athletics, and in an official complaint, an AA official claimed the Alleghenys' actions were "piratical". This incident (which is discussed at some length in The Beer and Whisky League, by David Nemec, 1994) quickly accelerated into a schism between the leagues that contributed to the demise of the A.A. Although the Alleghenys were never found guilty of wrongdoing, they made sport of being denounced for being "piratical" by renaming themselves "the Pirates" for the 1891 season . The nickname was first acknowledged on the team's uniforms in 1912 . </P> <P> After the 1899 season, the Pirates made what is arguably the best player transaction in franchise history when they picked up nearly all of the star players from the Louisville Colonels . Louisville owner Barney Dreyfuss had been told that the Colonels were slated for elimination when the N.L. contracted from 12 to 8 teams . He secretly purchased a half - interest in the Pirates, then after the season sent nearly all of the Colonels' stars up the Ohio River to Pittsburgh . Since the transaction occurred before the Colonels officially folded, it was structured as a trade; the Pirates sent four relatively unknown players to Louisville . Despite their nickname, the Pirates at least waited until after the season to pull off this blockbuster trade . This is unlike what happened in 1899 to the Cleveland Spiders and, to a lesser extent, the Baltimore Orioles, who were also part of two - team ownerships . Dreyfuss later bought full control of the team and kept it until his death in 1932 . </P>

Where did the pittsburgh pirates get their name
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