Through games of June 29, 1974, the Pirates had lost six of seven games and were struggling to stay out of last place in the National League West. In the July 8 Sports Illustrated, Pat Jordan tries to diagnose Pittsburgh's steady tumble from World Series champs in 1971, and he identifies plenty of problems, among them:
-- Roberto Clemente was killed.
-- Nelson Briles, Dave Cash, Milt May and Vic Davalillo were traded away.
-- Steve Blass declined.
Jordan also spends a lot of time focusing on Stargell. Always very good, Stargell had been an amazing hitter since turning 30 in spring 1971: .295 with 48 home runs and 125 runs batted in in 1971, .293 with 33 and 112 in 1972 and .299 with 44 and 119 in 1973. The problem, apparently, was Stargell's being counted on as captain.
"He is a huge, soft man, with an almost inaudible voice," Jordan writes. "His teammates have nicknamed him 'Gentle Ben,' after the kindly bear in the television series. When Clemente was killed, Stargell was called upon to lead the Pirates both physically with his bat and emotionally with his personality. When hitting, he can lift the team, but whether he is hitting or not his unassuming personality is not the kind to inspire his teammates.
"'The front office made him the captain,' says (Dock) Ellis. 'Man, there's no way Willie wants to be captain. He don't wanna go talking to players for his manager. He's his own man. Now (Bill) Virdon, or Clemente, they could talk to players, make 'em hustle.'"
This storyline does not at all jibe with my understanding of the world. This 1979 World Series pretty much cemented Willie Stargell as sports' team captain of team captains. Willie Stargell was "Pops." Who the heck is this "Gentle Ben" guy?
But, you know, people grow--as individuals and as groups. Maybe it took Willie Stargell pretty much a whole decade to evolve into the team leader that the Pirates suddenly needed him to be after Clemente's death, or maybe it took pretty much the whole decade (and/or a lot of personnel changes) for the Pirates to fall in behind a personality like Stargell's. Or maybe Dock Ellis simply got it wrong in his assessment to Pat Jordan.
Whatever, in this 1979 rebroadcast, Willie Stargell ended up doubling to the left-center wall with two outs in the eighth inning (giving him a home run, two doubles and single in his four at-bats so far of Game 7), and now I'm watching him out on the mound, talking reliever Kent Tekulve through his warmups before climbing in to a two-on-and-one-out crucible in the bottom of the eighth and the Pirates still up by only one run.
ST. L 38-34 PHIL 0.5gb MONT 2
CHI 6.5 PITT 6.5 NY 8
LA 51-24 CIN 6.5gb ATL 10.5
HOUS 14 SF 18.5 SD 19.5
OAK 41-34 CHI 3.5gb KC 3.5
TEX 3.5 MINN 8.5 CAL 9
BOS 41-31 CLEV 3.5gb BALT 3.5
DET 4 MIL 4.5 NY 6.5
The whole premise of the article is just wrong. The Pirates were actually a remarkably stable and consistent franchise throughout the 1970s:
ReplyDelete1970: 89-73
1971: 97-65
1972: 96-59
1973: 80-82
1974: 88-74
1975: 92-69
1976: 92-70
1977: 96-66
1978: 88-73
1979: 98-64
The decline from 1972 to 1973 can easily be attributable to the death of Roberto Clemente and the collapse of Steve Blass (who mysteriously lost the ability to throw strikes). In 1972, Blass was 19-8 with an ERA of 2.49. In 1973, he was 3-9 with a 9.85 ERA.
So the "decline" of the Pirates didn't really happen, SI's worries to the contrary.
Well, this is true, but I can imagine what June 29, 1974, Pat Jordan was thinking. Pittsburgh had declined by 16 wins from 1972 to 1973, and now, nearing the All-Star break in 1974, it lost six of seven games to slide back into fifth place after having to put together a strong run just to overcome a last-place start. I think it's easy to see why the CW would be thinking the Pirates were done.
ReplyDeleteBut, then, that's the CW for you.