Willie Stargell

Lore & Background

Stargell was born in Earlsboro, Oklahoma, but later moved to Florida with an aunt after his parents divorced. Later, he returned to Alameda, California, to live with his mother. He attended Encinal High School, where his baseball teammates included future MLB players Tommy Harper and Curt Motton. Stargell signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and entered minor league baseball in 1959.

Stargell played for farm teams in New Mexico, North Dakota, Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, and Ohio. While on the road with some of those teams, Stargell was not allowed to stay in the same accommodations as the white players. Lodging for black players was located in the poor black areas of those towns. While in Plainview, Texas, he was accosted at gunpoint by a man who threatened his life if he played in that night's game.

Stargell played and nothing came of the incident. He might have quit baseball over the racial difficulties that he experienced, but he was encouraged by letters he received from friend and baseball scout Bob Zuk.

Reader's Guide

Beloved in Pittsburgh for his style of play and affable manner, Stargell hit seven of the 18 balls ever hit over Forbes Field's 86-foot-high right-field stands and several of the upper-tier home runs at its successor, Three Rivers Stadium. Though he became quickly known as Willie Stargell, his autograph suggests that he preferred his given name, Wilver. Biographer Frank Garland relates that Stargell's family and friends called him Wilver and that Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully also made a point of using Stargell's given name.

Scully said that because he used the name Wilver, he became Stargell's mother's favorite broadcaster. Standing 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) with long arms and a unique bat-handling practice of holding only the knob of the bat with his lower hand to provide extra bat extension, Stargell seemed larger than most batters. Stargell's swings seemed designed to hit home runs of Ruthian proportions. When most batters used a simple lead-weighted bat in the on-deck circle, Stargell took to warming up with a sledgehammer.

While standing in the batter's box, he would windmill his bat until the pitcher started his windup. Stargell made his MLB debut at the end of the 1962 season at the age of 22. His 1963 rookie season was lackluster, but he enjoyed much more success the following season, his first as an everyday player. Stargell began and ended the season as the Pirates' everyday left-fielder, but spent extended periods playing first base as well.

He hit the first home run at Shea Stadium in the first game played in that stadium on April 17, 1964. He made his first of seven trips to the All-Star Game that year. He returned to the All-Star Game the next two seasons, recording over 100 runs batted in (RBIs) in both years, and finishing respectively 14th and 15th in MVP voting. He won the first of the three NL Player of the Month awards of his career in June 1965 (.330, 10 HRs, 35 RBIs).

Frequent offseason conditioning problems came to a head in 1967, when Stargell showed up to spring training at a weight of 235 pounds. The team mandated that he diet to get down to a weight of 215 pounds. His batting average dropped more than 40 points that season from .315 in 1966 to .271 in 1967; his home run total was reduced from 33 in 1966 to 20 in 1967.

Did You Know?

• He was the first and only player to win the NL MVP, NLCS MVP, and World Series MVP in the same season (1979).
• Stargell collected five extra-base hits in a single game on August 1, 1970.

Career Trajectory and Statistical Dominance

Wilver Dornell Stargell spent all 21 of his MLB seasons (1962–1982) with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He batted .282 with 2,232 hits, 1,194 runs, 423 doubles, 475 home runs, and 1,540 RBIs. He had the most home runs (296) of any player in the 1970s. He was a seven-time All-Star and two-time NL home run leader. In 1971, he hit 48 home runs, edging out Hank Aaron's 47 on the final week of the season. In 1973, he led the league in both doubles and homers, becoming the first player with 40 of each since Hank Greenberg in 1940. He also led the league in RBIs and slugging percentage that year. He helped the Pirates win six NL East titles, two NL pennants, and two World Series championships in 1971 and 1979.

The Historic 1979 Campaign

At age 39, Stargell became the first and currently only player to win the NL MVP, NL Championship Series MVP, and World Series MVP in one season. He hit a dramatic home run in Baltimore during the late innings of a close Game 7 to seal the Pirates' championship. It was his third home run of the series. He also won three NL Player of the Month awards in his career: June 1965, April 1971, and June 1971. In 1971, he hit 3 home runs in a game twice—on April 10 at Atlanta and on April 21 at home. He finished second in MVP voting that year despite those numbers.

Overcoming Racial Adversity in the Minors

Stargell signed with the Pirates organization in 1959 and played for farm teams in New Mexico, North Dakota, Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, and Ohio. While on the road, he was not allowed to stay in the same accommodations as white players; lodging for black players was located in poor black areas. In Plainview, Texas, he was accosted at gunpoint by a man who threatened his life if he played that night's game. Stargell played and nothing came of the incident. He might have quit baseball over the racial difficulties, but was encouraged by letters from friend and baseball scout Bob Zuk.

Legacy, Hall of Fame, and Unique Persona

Stargell was beloved in Pittsburgh for his style of play and affable manner. Though known as Willie, his autograph suggests he preferred his given name, Wilver. Broadcaster Vin Scully used the name Wilver, which made him Stargell's mother's favorite broadcaster. He hit seven of the 18 balls ever hit over Forbes Field's 86-foot-high right-field stands. In 1982, the Pirates retired his uniform number 8. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988 in his first year of eligibility. He was nicknamed "Pops" later in his career.

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