Stargell, "Willie" (Wilver D.)
Baseball
b. March 6, 1941, Earlsboro, OK
d. April 9, 2001
The 6-foot-2 1/2, 225-pound Stargell joined the NL's Pittsburgh Pirates briefly in 1962 and became a starter the following season, usually in left field but sometimes at first base. A left-hander, he hit 20 or more home runs each year from 1964 through 1970.
Stargell wasn't much noticed until he led the NL with 48 home runs in 1971, when he batted .295 and had 125 RBI. The Pirates won the pennant and World Series that year, but Stargell didn't get a hit in the league championship series and batted only .208 in the World Series.
He had his best overall offensive season in 1973, when he led the league with 43 doubles, 44 home runs, 119 RBI, and a .646 slugging percentage. After he batted .301 with 25 home runs and 96 RBI in 1974, injuries began to trouble him. He played in only 63 games in 1977, and it seemed his career might be nearly over.
"Pops" had one last fine season, though. A team leader in the clubhouse as well as on the field, Stargell made the disco hit "We Are Family" the Pittsburgh theme song and batted .281 with 32 home runs and 82 RBI in just 126 games to help lead the Pirates to the 1979 Eastern Division championship.
He shared the league's most valuable player award with Keith Hernandez and was the MVP of Pittsburgh's league championship series win over the Cincinnati Reds, hitting .45 with 2 home runs. He hit 2 home runs in the first four games of the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles. Then, with Pittsburgh trailing 1-0 in the seventh game, Stargell hit a 2-run homer and the Pirates went on to win 4-1. He was also the World Series MVP and won the male athlete of the year award from the Associated Press.
Stargell played just 67 games in 1980, 38 in 1981, and 74 in 1982 before retiring.
Stargell was known for his prodigious home runs. During his career, only 16 home runs were hit entirely out of Forbes Field, the Pirates' former home; Stargell hit 7 of them. He also hit 2 of only 4 home runs that ever left Dodger Stadium, including the longest, which was measured at 506 feet. His longest may have been one he hit at Expo Stadium in Montreal, which was estimated to have traveled 535 feet.