Subj : Death in "The Family" To : All From : Steve Quarrella Date : Mon Apr 09 2001 03:08 pm http://www.wfaa.com/printerarticle/1,2359,22529,00.html Willie Stargell Dead at 61 PITTSBURGH, Apr 09 - Willie Stargell, the thunderous home run hitter who carried the Pittsburgh Pirates into two World Series with his power and helped win them with his patriarchal leadership, died Monday. He was 61. Stargell had been in failing health for several years due to a kidney disorder, according to officials at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C., where he died. One of the greatest home run hitters ever, in volume and in distance, Stargell hit 475 homers -- many of them soaring, majestic shots that rattled a pitcher's confidence. With Stargell batting cleanup for most of his 20-year career, the Pirates won World Series championships and NL pennants in 1971 and 1979 and six NL East titles from 1970-79. Nicknamed "Pops," Stargell was a dynamic leader on the field with his tape-measure shots and a fatherly yet forceful presence off it, distributing his coveted Stargell stars for extra effort to teammates who proudly attached them to their ballcaps. "When you had Willie Stargell on your team, it was like having a diamond ring on your finger," said Chuck Tanner, the Pirates' manager for Stargell's final six seasons. At 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, and with a deep, commanding voice, Stargell intimidated pitchers even before they delivered the ball by pinwheeling the bat in rhythm with their delivery. Despite being overshadowed at times by more prolific home run hitters Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, and by his own Hall of Fame teammate, Roberto Clemente, Stargell's sheer power was unrivaled. He hit seven of the 18 homers over the right-field roof at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field from 1909-70 and once held the record for the longest homer in nearly half of the National League parks. "He didn't just hit pitchers, he took away their dignity," former Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton said. For nearly 30 years, Stargell was the only player to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium, and he did it twice. If he hadn't played his first 8 1/2 seasons at cavernous Forbes Field, then the majors' most spacious ballpark, he probably would have hit more than 600 homers. Stargell's first wife, Dolores, kept detailed statistics on every ball he hit and estimated he would have had 22 more homers in 1969 if the Pirates had played in Three Rivers Stadium, which opened a year later. For his first 10 years in the majors, Stargell was content to play in Clemente's shadow, even after Stargell surpassed him in production. Stargell reluctantly became the Pirates' leader upon Clemente's death in a Dec. 31, 1972, plane crash, saying, "There's a time in a man's life when he has to decide if he's going to be a man." Stargell wore the mantle of leadership as well as he did an outfielder's glove or a first baseman's mitt as an unappreciated defensive player. Stargell enjoyed his best season in 1971, with 48 homers and 125 RBIs. However, he was 0-for-14 in the NL playoffs against the Giants and had only one RBI in the Pirates' 7-game World Series victory over favored Baltimore. He left center stage to the 38-year-old Clemente, who, fearful he would never play in another Series, turned the postseason into a personal showcase of his grace, talent and determination. Only 14 months later, Clemente was dead. In 1979, it was Stargell's turn to transform the World Series into a one-man act for an aging star. At 39, seemingly several years past his prime, and after knee injuries had robbed him of his mobility and some of his strength, Stargell's postseason performance was every bit as haunting and as driven as Clemente's. After hitting 32 homers during a memorable regular season, he had two more during an NL playoff sweep of Cincinnati. He had three homers, including the decisive shot in Game 7 in Baltimore, as the Pirates rallied from a 3-1 deficit to wrest the World Series from the favored Orioles. Only months from his 40th birthday, he made an unprecedented three-way sweep of MVP awards, sharing the NL award with Keith Hernandez of St. Louis and winning it in the playoffs and World Series -- a feat still not matched. He remains the oldest player to win an MVP award. Years later, he said the nickname bestowed on that team -- the Family, from the Sister Sledge song, "We Are Family" -- wasn't a misnomer. "We won, we lived and we enjoyed as one," Stargell said. "We molded together dozens of different individuals into one working force. We were products of different races, were raised in different income brackets, but in the clubhouse and on the field we were one." Stargell played three more seasons on arthritis-ravaged knees, the last at the request of former MVP teammate Dave Parker, but had only 14 more homers and 64 more RBIs. Born in Oklahoma on March 6, 1940, of African-American and Seminole Indian descent, Stargell himself listed the date as March 7, 1941. He grew up in Oakland, Calif., where he was spotted by Pirates scout Bob Zuk while playing on a high school team. He was subjected to racism in the minor leagues, where an angry fan once confronted him with a shotgun. Stargell's career took off after the Pirates vacated Forbes Field's vast acreage for symmetrical Three Rivers and its 375-foot power alley. "I was like a kid on Christmas Eve who couldn't wait to open his presents," Stargell said of the mid-1970 move into Three Rivers. "I dreamed of the big crowds, artificial turf, our new tradition and my increased home run power." Stargell never hit more than 33 homers in Forbes Field, but hit 48 in his first full season in Three Rivers in 1971 and had 125 from 1971-73 until knee and elbow injuries cut into his production. He slumped badly in 1976, after Dolores developed a blood clot on her brain, but won the comeback player of the year award in 1978. The Pirates fell apart after Stargell retired in 1982. A clubhouse drug scandal and subsequent 1985 federal court trial in Pittsburgh implicated more than 30 major leaguers and badly tarnished not only the Pirates' image, but baseball's as well. Trying to win back their disillusioned fans during that 104-loss season, the Pirates had rehired Stargell as a coach but he left again a year later to rejoin Tanner, who was hired by the Atlanta Braves after being fired in Pittsburgh. Despite developing a kidney disorder that required frequent dialysis, Stargell later worked in the Braves' minor league department for 10 years until returning to the Pirates in 1997 as an aide to general manager Cam Bonifay. Stargell, who was divorced from Dolores, continued to live in Wilmington, N.C., with his wife Margaret. Stargell remained one of the most popular athletes in Pittsburgh history and received thunderous ovations at any public function he attended. One of the loudest came during the Pirates' final game at Three Rivers on Oct. 1, 2000, several days after it was announced a statue of him would be erected at PNC Park. Clearly not in good health, Stargell wiped away tears from his eyes as he hugged several players amid a wave of cheers that rolled across the stadium. The Pirates unveiled the 12-foot high statute of Stargell on Saturday. Statues of Honus Wagner and Clemente also are on the grounds of the park, which opens Monday. --- * Origin: Fnord (1:393/9005) .