Association of America, beating Jack Meyer of the Philadelphia Phillies. After the 1955 season, the Cardinals hired Frank Lane, nicknamed "The Trader", as their general manager. Virdon slumped to begin the 1956 season, and the Cardinals traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates in May 1956 for Bobby Del Greco and Dick Littlefield. Lane claimed that Virdon's late season slump in 1955 was because he tired down the stretch, and that is why he chose to trade him. Lane later referred to the trade as "the worst trade [he] ever made". When he arrived at Pittsburgh, he developed an eye condition, for which he received treatment, missing one week of the season. Virdon's vision improved, and he challenged Hank Aaron for the NL batting title. Virdon batted .334 for the Pirates during remainder of the season, which increased his season batting average to .319, second-best in the NL to Aaron, who batted .328. Pirates' announcer Bob Prince gave Virdon the nickname "Quail" due to the frequency of his soft-hit infield hits. The Pirates hired Danny Murtaugh as their manager during the 1957 season; Virdon credited Murtaugh with pushing him to perform at his best. Virdon consistently batted in the .260s for the next several seasons. He led all NL center fielders in assists in 1959 with 16, and in double plays turned with five. In 1960, Virdon, along with right fielder Roberto Clemente, shortstop Dick Groat, second baseman Bill Mazeroski, and third baseman Don Hoak, formed a strong defensive unit for the Pirates, and they reached the 1960 World Series, where they faced the New York Yankees. Virdon batted .241 during the seven game series. In the deciding Game 7, he hit a ground ball that struck Yankees shortstop Tony Kubek in the throat after taking an unpredictable bounce, enabling Virdon to reach base safely. This started a rally for the Pirates that culminated in Bill Mazeroski's home run that won the series for Pittsburgh. Virdon led the NL in triples with 10 during the 1962 season. That year, he won the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. He struggled in the 1964 season, batting only .243. Though his batting average improved to .279 in the 1965 season, Virdon retired after the season due to his desire to become a manager. Virdon retired with 1,596 MLB hits and a career batting average of .267 with 91 home runs during his 1,583-game NL career.