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25th Anniversary
World Series Recap
Baseball - Beyond
The Bucs
Willie Stargell
Listen Here
TheFamily
The 1979 World
Champion Pittsburgh Pirates
by Michael
Aubrecht
Excerpts
from World Series and Year In Review written for
Baseball-Almanac.com and The Highlander's '79 Pirates 25th
Anniversary Sources: Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia, The
Bucs (The Story of the Pirates), Post Gazette, Sporting News
Vault, Baseball-Almanac, The Baseball Timeline, The Baseball
Library, The Baseball Chronicle, Time.com, CNN.com
Introduction
"Everyone can see we're together - as we walk on by." (We Are Family) Sister Sledge
Known around the National League as "Lumber and Lightning", the '79 Pittsburgh Pirates personified the true, blue-collar baseball team. On the field, they shined as bright as the uniforms that they wore (64 possible combinations of black, gold and pinstripes), not to mention their pillbox caps adorned with the coveted "Stargell stars". Off the field, they captured the hearts and minds of fans everywhere with their adopted "We Are Family" slogan.
Pittsburgh played 162 games during the '79 season. In the end, they won 98, lost 64, and finished in first position with a .605 winning percentage. After losing three of the first four games to the Orioles in the World Series, the Bucs came back with a dramatic "movie-like" fashion to win the final three games at Baltimore for the franchise's fifth title. Team captain Willie Stargell, the National League's co-MVP in the regular season, capped off the team's Cinderella season by hitting the winning home run in Game 7. Amazingly, the 1979 World Champions still remain as the only one in baseball's past century to win a World Series title without a 15-game winner and a 100-RBI hitter in their line-up.
In honor of the 25th Anniversary of that magical year, we present a tribute to the boys in black and gold.
COMING
SOON: The Fall Classic and the Pittsburgh
Pirates This Pinstripe Press eBook contains the
complete Bucco's World Series recaps w/ links to complete
statistics and additional information on
Baseball-Almanac.com. Vol.1 release date: June 2004
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Copyright
© 2004 Pinstripe Press. All Rights Reserved.
All essays researched and written by Michael Aubrecht.
This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the
Pittsburgh Pirates.