Willie Stargell: an autobiography
by Willie Stargell and Tom Bird
Last Updated 31 May 1996
I read Willie's auto-biography during spring training 1996. Willie retired in 1982 and this book was published in 1984. Many of the details of his career are still fresh in his memory, and the book is packed with specific details of particular games and players. The only critical comment I'll make is that I'm not sure that at the time the book was written, Willie had been able to reflect on the significance of some of his accomplishments and those around him. Now that Willie has been retired for almost 15 years and been inducted into the Hall of Fame, I wonder if his insights might be a little different or deeper.
Perhaps an update to the book might be welcome for the 20th anniversary of the 1979 World Champion Pirates team. Here are a few highlights from the book that I found interesting:
Willie recounts several of his monumental home run blasts (p 38) including Forbes Field, Three Rivers Stadium, Dodger Stadium, and Park Jerry. I have listed most of these blasts on a page called Tales of the Tape (mostly from a 1995 Pirates Magazine source). Willie was the only left-hander to hit a home run over the left field scoreboard at Forbes Field. (p 109)

Willie's high school team included future major leaguers Tommy Harper (p 43) and Curt Motton (p 45). Willie and Motton faced off against each other in the 1971 World Series when his former high school teammate played for the Baltimore Orioles.

"On the Hill with Will" actually originated in the minors in Asheville (1961). There was a small hill beyond the Right-Center Field wall that the local fans encouraged Willie to park a hit - on the hill (p 81). Most Pirate fans would be surprised to hear that Gene Alley out-homered Willie one year in the minors. Alley hit 14 round trippers at Grand Forks in 1960 while Willie only hit 11 (p 72). Willie was groomed in the minor leagues to be a center fielder and it was planned for him to take over for Bill Virdon. Here's Willie's comment concerning minor league players: "Prospects are not chose because of their statistics. They are picked according to their levels of physical and mental maturity." (p 81) There is a good lesson there to consider still today.

Willie's first major league hit was a triple, but third base coach Frank Oceak waved him home for a chance at an inside- the-park home run; Willie was an easy out at the plate (p 95). However, Willie's first Major League At Bat was a strikeout; Here's Dick Stuart's advice to Willie just prior to Stargell's first hacks in the big leagues, "When you KO, rookie, don't feel bad" (p 93).
During the 1979 season in San Francisco, right hander Kent Tekulve was protecting a 5-3 lead in the 9th inning with one on and two out. Left handed power hitting Darrell Evans was scheduled to bat. Manager Chuck Tanner wanted lefty Grant Jackson to pitch to Evans, but he also wanted Teke available to face the on deck batter if necessary. Tanner sent Tekulve to left field in order to keep him in the game. Everyone hoped that Jackson would retire the batter and the double-switch strategy would work. Jackson kept the ball away from Evans, but the slugger went with the pitch and drove a fly ball to left field. Tekulve happened to be in perfect position. After waving his arms frantically to signal that he had it, Teke raised his glove and squeezed the ball for the final out of the game. (p 210)

Other Comments:
Willie Stargell provides some interesting insights into the Pirate history from 1962-1982. He played with Clemente, Murtaugh, Mazeroski, Parker, Sanguillen, Madlock, Candelaria and more. This book provides a window of insight into the Pirate clubhouse. I recommend it to you for your summer reading list.

Glenn Gearhard

Chuck_Blahous@simpson.senate.gov added these comments:

I've enjoyed the discussion about the Stargell bio co-authored with Tom Bird. I also have read that book; I picked up a copy for something like $1.98 on a remainder table some years ago.
The book is especially interesting, I think, for what it reveals about Stargell's mindset, the values and priorities he had, which are important mostly because of the influence Stargell had on the clubhouse atmosphere of the Bucs in the late 1970s, especially the 1979 team.
One passage that sticks in my mind is about Dave Roberts, a pitcher whose best days were behind him. Stargell goes out of his way to explain why he awarded a "Stargell star" to Roberts after he was shelled in a game in the heat of the pennant race. Roberts had nothing that day, he was getting crushed, the game was long lost, but Tanner kept him out there on the mound because he needed to save the rest of his bullpen as the Bucs were in the heat of a pennant race.
Obviously in a championship race you want a lot more out of your pitching staff than the ability to get crushed, but Stargell talks convincingly about how Roberts was a very talented and successful pitcher at one point, still had a lot of professional pride, but endured a somewhat humiliating ordeal for the rest of the team. Stargell says that this is the kind of attitude that enables teams to win, and it certainly is true that the Pirates remained absolutely torrid down the stretch that year, barely nosing out the Expos, and this was largely because the bullpen of Romo, Jackson, and Tekulve was used in a stable and effective way.

Chuck

Is there something here you like, that needs to be changed,
or would you like to see something that is not included?
Send me an
e-mail

Go back to Glenn's Pirates Page

Go back to Glenn's Home Page