PITTSBURGH — Jim Leyland, Dick Groat, Jack Wilson — all received thunderous ovations from the PNC Park record crowd of 39,833 when introduced Monday.

Barry Bonds?

Not so much.

Baseball's home run king was greeted with a mixture of boos and cheers when he was introduced during pre-game ceremonies.

No matter. Bonds smiled and waved to the throng regardless.

“We had some good times here,” Bonds said. “We worked hard to try to win championships. We just fell a little short.

“I have great memories of Pittsburgh. It's a beautiful city. When the Pirates called and invited me back, I was excited to come back.”

And so it went. The Pirates brought back pieces of their celebrated past to celebrate the present.

Wilson, who won a National League Silver Slugger Award in 2004, was on hand to help present 2013 Silver Slugger honors to Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez. Former multiple MVP Bonds was there to give the NL MVP Award to McCutchen, as was 1960 NL MVP Groat.

Leyland came back to present the NL Manager of the Year honor to Clint Hurdle. Francisco Liriano, the Bucs' Opening Day starter last year, was last year's NL Comeback Player of the Year.

“Last year was a lot of fun, but we're still progressing,” Hurdle said. “We were one of eight teams invited to the dance last year, but Boston was the only one to come away with the championship.

“We feel like we have a good team and we're ready to take this car for a spin. It may get some dents along the way, but you fix them up and get back on the road again.”

Leyland described Hurdle as “a people person” and said that was the key to being a successful manager.

“That's his strongest asset,” Leyland said. “Clint came in here and embraced this city, not just this team. Pittsburgh accepted him, just like they accepted me all those years ago.

“And like me, Clint has become a Pittsburgher.”

Wilson recalled watching McCutchen go through a pre-draft workout one day.

“He was a 165-pound kid who was hitting the ball father than anyone we had on our team at the time,” Wilson said. “You could tell he was going to be something special.”

Bonds would not compare McCutchen to himself, saying that the young Pirate star deserved to create his own path.

“Now he has to go out and do it again,” Bonds said. “That's the expectation. That's what we were always told. If you can do it once, you can do it again.”

McCutchen and Alvarez are the first Pirate teammates to earn Silver Slugger awards in the same year since Bonds was a part of a tandem in 1992.

Groat said he was “born and bred here” and considers Pittsburgh “the greatest city in America.”

When it comes to PNC Park, Leyland insists there is none better.

“It's the most beautiful ballpark in the country ... and I've been in 'em all,” he said.

Wilson may have summed up the day best.

“The day I was traded to Seattle, I became a Pittsburgh Pirate fan,” he said. “I'm proud to have had the privilege to play for this organization.”