At the conclusion of play on Aug. 1, 1973 the Pittsburgh Pirates, despite their 51-53 record, were in third place, six games behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals and two and one-half games behind the second place Chicago Cubs. The loss of the great Clemente was inestimable, but the inexplicable collapse of Steve Blass hurt almost as much. Right-handed hitting Richie Zisk who was in his first full season at the age of 24 and left-handed hitting Dave Parker, who at 22 years of age was in his first major league season, hit well, but no player or combination of players could replace Clemente.
Blass, who along with Clemente was instrumental in the 1971 World Championship and who blossomed into a 19-game winner in 1972, had as much difficulty finding home in 1973 as the kid who is away at college and discovers that his parents have moved without telling him.
The Pirates blanked the Cubs, 1-0 on Sept. 1. They were now one game above .500, tied for first place with the Cardinals. The teams were bunched so closely that the last place Philadelphia Phillies were a mere six games out of first. The Pirates played the Mets five critical games starting on Sept. 17. The teams split the first two at Three Rivers Stadium, but the Pirates lost all three in New York. They were now one game under .500, but what was worse, they trailed the first place Mets by one-half game. The key game that probably cost the Pirates the division title was the middle game of the three at Shea Stadium. Going into the game, the Pirates led the Mets by one and one-half games. They needed a win badly. When it was over, the Pirates lead was a slim one-half game.
Blass, who along with Clemente was instrumental in the 1971 World Championship and who blossomed into a 19-game winner in 1972, had as much difficulty finding home in 1973 as the kid who is away at college and discovers that his parents have moved without telling him.
The Pirates blanked the Cubs, 1-0 on Sept. 1. They were now one game above .500, tied for first place with the Cardinals. The teams were bunched so closely that the last place Philadelphia Phillies were a mere six games out of first. The Pirates played the Mets five critical games starting on Sept. 17. The teams split the first two at Three Rivers Stadium, but the Pirates lost all three in New York. They were now one game under .500, but what was worse, they trailed the first place Mets by one-half game. The key game that probably cost the Pirates the division title was the middle game of the three at Shea Stadium. Going into the game, the Pirates led the Mets by one and one-half games. They needed a win badly. When it was over, the Pirates lead was a slim one-half game.
The Pirates held the lead three times. Each time, the Mets tied them. Then came the play of the season, a play in which fate seemingly stepped in on the side of the Mets. Richie Zisk, a slow runner, was on first with one out in the top of the 13th inning. Dave Augustine hit a deep drive to left field that appeared to be headed over the wall, but it landed on top of the wall and took a weird bounce right to Cleon Jones. Zisk, who never stopped running, rounded third as Jones relayed into Wayne Garret, who fired to catcher Jerry Grote (it was actually Ron Hodges #42). Zisk was out at the plate. It's not fair to Zisk, but no one would have thrown out Clemente.
The starch was taken out of the Pirates, who sent the no longer effective Steve Blass to the mound against Tom Seaver the next day. It was no contest as the Mets pounded the Pirates, 10-2 to oust them from first. But it wasn't quite over. On the morning of Oct. 1, the Pirates and Cardinals had each lost 81 games. The Mets had lost 80. The season was supposed to have ended the day before, but rain-outs had to be played. The Pirates lost at home to the San Diego Padres while the Mets won the first of two games at Chicago. Now it was over. The Mets won only 82 games but were division champions. The Pirates finished at 80-82, which was good enough for only third place behind the 81-81 Cardinals.
The above synopsis came from an online article called "The Great Pittsburgh Pirates Disaster of the 1973 Season", by Harold Friend (9/29/2011). I would just like to add a few comments of my own in regards to the '73 Bucs:
- Only a die hard Met fan or a baseball neophyte could underestimate the loss of Clemente to this team. IMO, with Clemente in the lineup the Bucs win a minimum of 86 games, more than like 90. In either case they win the division.
- Moving Sanguillen to RF was an unmitigated disaster and thankfully he wound up back behind the dish. Still you can't discount how many losses that they were saddled with by weakening two positions.
- Blass going from the penthouse to the poorhouse (3-9, 9.85) has to be one of the strangest unsolved mysteries in sport. This man was a true ace and now he couldn't even find the plate. He walked 84 in 88 innings.
- The lowpoint of the season was July 8th. The team was 8 games under .500 (37-45) and 10 1/2 back.
- With 24 games to go the Bucs fired manager Bill Virdon and brought back for a 4th time the man who had won 2 World Championship for them, Danny Murtaugh, in hopes of a miracle. The team took over first place on September 12th for 9 days, before succumbing to the hard charging Mets.
- Pittsburgh would recover nicely and win the NL East the next 2 seasons ('74-'75).
Total of cards made for this set is 37. Topps did a reasonable job with the set, but I got my hands on a '73 Pirates yearbook and got ambitions and made my own full set of cards.
"Scoops" was one of my all time favorite players. He could hit for average and power and he could run. Its a travesty that he was never given much consideration for the HOF. 2,743 lifetime hits and a .303 lifetime average make his case. Add in 7 ASG appearances, 3 Silver Slugger awards and the runner up to the 1969 ROY and you got yourself some fine ballplayer.
This was a great yearbook photo that I scanned to create the new card.
After 10 seeasons as the Pirates Gold Glove centerfielder Virdon managed in the minor for the Mets and coached on the major league level for the Pirates before finally being given his chance to run the club in 1972. Virdon's first team out of the box won the NL East with 96 wins and lost in the NLCS in 5 games on a Bob Moose wild pitch. Big things were expected in '73, but even David Copperfield couldn't create enough magic to replace the loss of Clemente and the disappearance of Blass' control. With 24 games left and the team 3 games behind the Mets he was let go and replace by his former manager Danny Murtaugh. Don't feel bad for poor Bill. He was hired in the offseason to manage the Yankees, where he was originally signed as a prospect 20+ years before. Virdon will always be the answer to the trivia question: Name the Yankee manager who spent more than a full season with the team, but never won a single game in Yankee Stadium? After 2 years in NY he spent 8 seasons in Houston, where the team came within one win of the 1980 World Series. After Houston he managed 2 non-descript seasons in Montreal before moving into the coaching ranks for the rest of his time in baseball.
After being buried in the Mets pitching rich system for 7 seasons Johnson was rescued from obscurity with a trade to the Royals as a throw in along with Amos Otis for Joe Foy. On a second year expansion tea he was 8-13, 3.07. In need of a shortstop the Royals trade him in the offseason to the Bucs for lighly used Freddie Patek. In the '71 championship season Johnson was 9-10, 3.45, but more importantly he was a solid back of the rotation guy who ate innings. In '72 he split time between the rotation and the pen and thrived (4-4,2.96, 3sv). In 1973 he almost exclusively came out of the pen and ate up 92 innings of relief with a 4-2, 3.62 record. After 3 solid seasons in 3 Rivers he was dealt to Cleveland for a minor leaguer and had a sub par year and was picked up by the Rangers on waivers. After spending the full '75 & '76 seasons in AAA Johnson performed poorly. With the AL expanding to 14 teams in 1977 he got one final crack at the biggs with Atlanta and continued his poor pitching. After spending most of the '77 seasons in AAA he was released and out of baseball at the age of 34.
Moose packed a lot of action into a ten year career with the Bucs. He arrived on the scene back in '67 at the age of 19 and never left. Throughout his career he was plagued with inconsistencies and injuries that made his career look like a roller coaster. Whenever he was up he managed to crash. As he was crashing he would get up off the deck and fight. Many people in the organization viewed this hometown boy as a bit reckless and blame that trait on his tragic car accident that killed him and injured 2 others at the end of the '76 season. Still he is remembered for being a true gritty competitor and in 1973, without his best stuff, he was 12-13, 3.53 in 200 innings of work.
This new card was created from a nice '73 yearbook photo.
Robertson was strong as an ox and a big time post season performer (.438 with 4HR in '71 NLCS). After having back to back great seasons in 1970 and 71 he slipped badly in '72 and hit just .193. He rebounded slightly in '73 (.239-14-40) and had a similar year in '74. In limited platoon action in '75 he had a solid season hitting .274, but without his normal power numbers (just 10 xbh). After having surgery on both of his knees his game really began to slip. Having sat out the full '77 seasons he resurfaced in '78 and '79 with the two newest expansion teams (Seattle & Toronto). Without his health Robertson was reduced to a part time player with limited power, which led to his retirement. Still a folk hero in Pittsburgh, fans of the team remember broadcaster Bob Prince saying, "The Mount Savage Strongboy (Robertson) could hit a ball out of any park...including Yellowstone. This new card was created from a photo posted on the Topps Vault.
I think I spent more time looking for a Pirate photo of Zachary than he actually spent on the mound for the Bucs during the '73 season, which was his final shot in the biggs. In 6 games he pitched 12 innings and had an 0-1 record. His career started back in 1963 in Houston as a 19 year old. After spending parts of 5 seasons with the 'Stos he was injured for most of the '68 season and appeared in just 8 games in AAA. With expansion on the horizon in 1969 Houston was not about to protect an injured par time player, so he was selected by the Royals where he split time between AAA and KC. In 1970 he spent the full season in AAA split between Omaha (KCR) and Tulsa (STL). This mirrored the pattern of his career to this point...a guy who was on the shuttle between AAA and the biggs. After going 1-1, 1.41 in 38+ innings for the AL East Champion Tigers Topps issued his '71 card featuring him in a Tiger uni. No way they could have foreshadowed his April 2nd trade to Pittsburgh. To create this card I had to take his '73 Tiger card and superimpose a Pirate uni over it and change the zooming.
In my Braves post I talked a lot about Goggin, who is the most decorated Vietnam Vet to ever play major league baseball. That is the most important stat that you need to read about this fine man. I created this card by colorizing a B&W photo of him in a Pirates uniform, which I superimposed on top of a backdrop of Three Rivers Stadium. Goggin, who was a late season call up in '72 got his first hit on the same day that the great Roberto Clemente would get his 3,000th and final hit. In '73 he went 1-1 for the Bucs before having his contract sold to Atlanta.
If you look up the definition of "all glove, no bat shortstop" you just might see a photo of Dal Maxvill, who could really pick it. Maxvill was so good with the glove that in 1968 when he hit a career high .253 with one HR he finished 20th in the MVP voting. Coincidentally that was the only year he won the Gold Glove. After 3 pennants and decade with the Cardinals as their starting SS Maxvill bounced between the Pirates and A's during the final 3 years of his career, which allowed him to pick up 2 more rings in '72 and '74 with Oakland. During his tenure in Pittsburgh he wasn't as lucky with the team narrowly missing the post season in '73. In his only full year in Pittsburgh he hit .189 with no homers and 17 RBI's in 217 AB's at short.
Augustine was a 23 year old callup who hit .286 (2-7) in 11 games for the Bucs in September of 1973. His only career extra base hit would be that double that he hit off the top of the wall in Shea Stadium that bounced back onto the field of play and into Cleon Jones glove. Instead of HR he wound up with a two base hit that turned into a bang bang play at the plate with Richie Zisk out. That game changer shifted all the momentum to the Mets. After hitting .182 in '74 he would never again play in the majors even though he toiled in the minors (AAA) for the next 9 seasons.
Cash was the man who replaced future HOF'er Bill Mazeroski at second base, which was no easy task. In 5 seasons in Pittsburgh he hit .285 and played well, yet he was surprisingly dealt to the Phillies after the '73 season (.271-2-31) for well traveled lefty Ken Brett. Many speculate that the move was made to clear space for Rennie Stennett to become the full time second baseman. All he did in Philly was put together 3 straight All-Star seasons. After playing out his option he signed as a free agent and played 3 years in Montreal, before moving on to San Diego for one final season.
After the 1969 baseball season, Giusti was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. With the Pirates, he was converted into a relief pitcher by manager Danny Murtaugh, and Giusti soon became one of the leading relief pitchers in the National League. Using his sinking palmball heavily, Giusti recorded 20 or more saves in each of the next four baseball seasons, and he led the National League with 30 saves in 1971 for the Pirates. Giusti appeared in three games for Pittsburgh in the 1971 World Series, earning a save in Game Four. Giusti was awarded The Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award in 1971. In 1973, Giusti was selected for the National League's All-Star Team. Giusti pitched a one-two-three seventh inning as the National League won the game 7-1. Giusti was sent to the A's after the '76 season in a huge multi-player deal. At 37 years of age he went 3-3, 2.98 and saved 6. With the A's hopelessly out of playoff contention he was sold to the Cubs on August 5, 1977, where he bottomed out, then retired after the season ended.
22 year old Dave Parker flew through the Pirates system. Tabbed to be Clemente's "heir apparent", he was rushed to the big leagues in '73 after just 84 games in AAA, to fill the gaping hole left by #21's untimely passing. Let it be said that no one could ever replace Clemente, but once Parker hit his stride he became a league MVP. A youngster in '73 he hit a rock solid .288 in 139 AB's for a Pirate team that rallied back toward contention. In 11 seasons in Pittsburgh he hit .305 with 166 home runs to go along with 4 All-Star appearances, 3 Gold Gloves, 2 batting tittles and 1 MVP award in 1978. The Cobra played 19 seasons and finished up with a .290 career average with 339 homers and 2,712 hits.
Surrounding all the hype & showmanship around his LSD no-hitter and the curlers under his cap, Ellis was one heck of a pitcher in his 9 seasons with the Bucs, where he was 96-80, 3.16. In '73 he pitched his heart out, but got little run support going 12-14, 3.05 in 28 starts. Pittsburgh kind of tired of his act and traded him to the Yankees along with Ken Brett and Willie Randolph for Doc Medich (can you say "one sided deal"?). Ellis went 17-8 for the pennant wining bombers and Randolph went on to be fixture at second for almost a decade and a half. Ellis bounced from the Yanks to the A's to the Rangers and then the Mets. In fact he would play for 3 teams in 1979 with his 3rd and final stop being back in Pittsburgh, where he earned his second WS ring.
González started out 1973 as part of a search party frantically looking for his idol Roberto Clemente's downed plane. As a 22 year old Puerto Rican he grew up idolizing the great #21. He split the 1973 season between the Pirates and triple A Charleston Charlies, batting .224 with five runs batted in at the major league level and hitting his first major league home run on May 27 off the Houston Astros' Dave Roberts. After the season, he and pitcher Nelson Briles were traded to the Kansas City Royals for Kurt Bevacqua, Ed Kirkpatrick and minor leaguer Winston Cole. He split the '74 season between KC, the Yankees and their AAA Syracuse team. In '75 he wound up back in the Pirate organization and hit .279 in AAA Charleston. In a full season on the major league level he hit .276 for the '77 Bucs, but was traded mid season to San Diego. In over 300 AB's in 1979 he hit the most homers of his career (9), but saw his average sag to .217. San Diego let him lose and he was picked up by the Angels who assigned him to their Salt Lake City AAA affilate for the next 2 seasons before leaving for 3+ seasons in the Mexican League. In 1984 the Yankees invited him to join their Nashville AA team as a player coach. This would be his final season, at age 34, as an active on field player.
Another great yearbook photo, that I felt the urge to create a card out of. In many ways his original card might even be better, but when you're on a roll... By 1973 this former gold glover was declining fast. A succession of shoulder and knee injuries really began to take a toll on the two time All-Star. A starter since the '66 season, Alley became more of a platoon guy over the past 2-3 seasons, which is why they brought Maxvill in to hold down the position. After the season he retired from the game.
In a 10-season career, Clines posted a .277 batting average with 187 RBI, 71 stolen bases, and five home runs in 870 games. A fast runner with excellent defensive skills, Clines debuted in 1970 with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a reserve outfielder, hitting .405 (15-for-37) in 31 games in his rookie year. He went to the postseason with Pittsburgh in the 1971, 1972 and 1974 National League Championship Series, winning a World Series ring with the Pirates in 1971. His most productive season came in 1972, when he posted career-highs in average (.334), doubles (15), and triples (six) in 107 games. Clines also played with the New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs, and retired during the 1979 campaign and took over the Cubs' first base coaching duties. Since then he as worked for various major league teams in and out of uniform. Presently he is a senior advisor on player development with the Dodgers.
It was a lot of years and a lot of miles from that day in 1960 when 20 year old Jackie Hernandez debut as a shortstop for Dubuque of the old Midwestern D league. Stops in Burlington, Charleston, Portland, Seattle and Denver led to time in the biggs with the Angels (cup of joe in 1965), the Twins (1967-68) and the expansion Royals in 1969 and 1970, before Jackie arrived in Pittsburgh just in time to win a championship in 1971. Hernandez was never big with the bat, but he was a fine fielder. By the '73 season his playing time was limited with Maxvill and Alley in front of him, so he was farmed out to Charleston for the '74 season and hit a buck 99. After being released he went on to play 2 seasons in Mexico before hanging it up. The photo I used for this card came from the '73 Pirate yearbook.
McNertney's contract was purchased from Oakland on May 4th, where he was hitting .344 for their AAA Tucson affiliate. Just 2 months later (7/5) he was released by the Bucs having gone 1-4 in 9 games played. McNertney spent 11 years (1958-68) in the White Sox chain, with 4 of those seasons at the big league level. In 1969 he was take by the Pilots in the expansion draft where he caught 128 games (most in his career) and hit .241 with 6 home runs. The Pilots only lasted one season before relocating to Milwaukee and Jerry's name is etched in history as the final Pilot batter ever (10/2/69). After baseball he worked as a bullpen coach for a few franchises.
Son of former Dodger executive Al Campanis, Jim got his start in that very organization where he played parts of 3 seasons before being selected by the Royals in the 1979 expansion draft. He played 2 seasons with KC before being sent to Pittsburgh. During the '71 and '72 seasons he bounced between AA and AAA. After hitting .204 in Charleston (AAA) the Bucs recalled him where he went 1-6 in 6 games. He hit .277 for Charleston in '74, but there wasn't any call up to the show.
On November 30, 1972, Jim Foorwas traded by the Tigers with Norm McRae to the Pirates for outfielder Dick Sharon. In 1973, Foor pitched in three games for the Pirates, walking one, striking out one and giving up no earned runs. After the season, on March 28, 1974, Foor was once again traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Kansas City Royals for Wayne Simpson. He would never play again in the major leagues, and finished his career with a 1–0 record, a 12.00 earned run average, and five strikeouts.
I took a B&W picture and colorized it to create this card.
An alumnus of Otterbein College, McKee was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 4th round of the 1969 amateur draft. He pitched in a total of 17 games for the Pirates, and continued to pitch in their Minor League system until 1974. McKee died as a result of a car accident in 2002 at the age of 55. In 17 major league games, all with Pittsburgh, McKee compiled a 1-1, 4.78 lifetime record. In 6 minor league seasons he was 44-60, 3.63.
The change in scenery from upstart KC to contending Pittsburgh did wonders for the 30 year old lefty. Rookie answered the call right out of the gate posting a 10-6, 2.85 record for the Bucs, where he started 18 games and relieved in 23 (5 saves). Just to show it wasn't a fluke he followed it up 4 consecutive double digit winning seasons. In 1979 he pitched in 2 games and gave up 1 earned run helping the Bucs win the '79 World Championship. He would end his career a one year later with a lifetime 82-65, 3.29 as a Buc. After his career ended he joined the Pirates and ESPN's broadcast teams. In a game in 1989 with the Bucs up 10-0 he said, "if they lose this game I'll walk home". When they lost 15-10 he had to keep his word and after the season he did a 300 mile charity walk from Philly to Pittsburgh.
John Lamb followed in Steve Blass' footsteps as ace hurler for Houstonic HS in Connecticut. He followed Blass into the pros as well and amazingly got to play on the same team with him for 3 years in the 1970's. Unfortunately for Lamb he wasn't nearly as successful as Blass, who at one time was the Pirates ace. In 47 lifetime games for Pittsburgh Lamb was 0-2, 4.07 with 5 saves. His best season was 1970 where he was 0-1, 2.78 with 3 saves in 32 innings.
I colorized this B&W photo about 3-4 years ago to create this card. I was really proud of my handiwork. After doing a google search I found 3-4 new pictures that I could use to upgrade this card, which I'll do before I finish this project.
Moralan was 2-2, 3.95 in 10 games (7 starts) for Pittsburgh in 1973. In 65 innings of action the following year he was 0-2, 4.29. He would spend the next 3 seasons in AAA Charleston and Columbus before being released early on in the '77 season.
I created this card with a sharp photo from the '73 yearbook.
The owner and operator of Manny's BBQ, which is located in the left field concession area in PNC Park was at one time an All-Star catcher on two Pirate championship teams. That's right, that affable fun loving beloved guy with the glowing smile used to be a fearsome competitor wearing the tools of ignorance. After attempting to play RF and replace his good friend Roberto Clemente Sanguillen was moved back behind the plate in mind June and responded with another great season. A career .296 lifetime average is the 4th highest by a catcher since 1945. Sanguillen was an All-Star 3 times and missed out on earning a gold glove thanks to some guy named Bench playing in the Queen City.
I made this card using a great action shot from the '73 yearbook.
After 2 seasons as Sanguillen's backup May was slated to be the starting catcher in 1973 with Manny moving to RF. When that experiment failed and Manny moved back behind the plate May returned to the bench. He still put together a rock solid .269-7-31 season. At the end of the season he was traded to Houston for Jerry Reuss. The deal helped out both clubs. After 2 seasons in Houston he spent 4 1/2 in Detroit. Then it was off to Chicago and San Francisco with it all coming full circle when he returned to Pittsburgh for his final seasaon and a half. May's lifetime .263 average was certainly not aided by and "legged out" hits, since he was know to be the slowest runner in the league. In 15 years of action all of his 1035 appearances in the field were at the catcher's position.
Here is another yearbook photo turned into a card.
30 year old Ramon Hernandez had just two short stints in the biggs during the late 60's before taking a 2 year hiatus from professinal ball to figure out what he wanted to do and where he wanted to go. Hen he arrived back in the majors in 1971 he was 0-1, 0.73 for the World Champion Bucs. For the next 4+ seasons he was outstanding coming out of the pen. In fact he never started a single game in 9 seasons and 337 appearances. After leaving Pittsburgh he played parts of 2 seasons with the Cubs and Red Sox before retiring after 1977.
Another great yearbook photo used to make an updated card.
Panama native Rennie Stennett was the last major leaguer to go 7 for 7 in a game. In fact he was the only guy to do it in the whole 20th century. Stennett's hitting prowess was so good he Bucs traded Dave Cash to clear space for him in the lineup. Stennett was ripping up the league in '77 hitting .336 when his season ended when he broke his leg sliding into second. He would never be the same player again after he returned from the injury. In the '73 season he hit just .242 in 466 AB's.
I used an interesting pose from the '73 yearbook for this card.
The "Gravedigger" enjoyed his best seasons as the lefty part of a platoon at 3B for the Bucs from 1969-1976. He hit a career high 25 homers in '73 in 144 games. He made the post season an incredible 7 times during the 70's where he was a lifetime .270 hitter.
I used a "somewhat" action shot to create this card.
Zisk debuted on September 8, 1971, replacing Roberto Clemente in RF in the 8th inning of a 10-1 rout of the Cubbies, this would be a harbinger of things to come in 1973 when as a 24 year old rookie he was asked to replace Clemente's replacement (Sanguillen) in right field. Zisk ripped the cover off the ball and hit .324 in 333 AB's. Due to the fact that he only got into 103 games he finished 9th in ROY balloting. No Sophomore jinx for Zisk, who hit .319-17-100 in '74. In 6 seasons with the Bucs Zisk hit .299. He also hit an even .400 in his two post season appearances ('74 & '75). After the '76 season he was one year away from free agency, so Pirate management traded him to Chicago, where he played just one season, and hit 30 homers for the only time in his career. As a free agent he signed with Texas. By this time the injuries had begun to mount. 5 separate knee surgeries began to really slow him down. By the time he got to Seattle he had a few more dates with the surgeon as well as a nagging wrist injury. After hitting just .242, the only time in his 11 full seasons under .260, he decided to retire. To create this card I used a photo from the TVault collection and rescued him from a 3 person rookie panel card.
What more can I say about the great Roberto Clemente, who is arguably the greatest player in the history of the Pirate franchise. Clemente was a gift to the Pirates from the Dodgers, who failed to protect him on their 40 man roster back in 1955, so the astute Branch Rickey, who used to run the Dodgers, paid back the evil O'Malley who pushed him out of Brooklyn, by swiping the future mega-star. His accomplishments on the field are too great to list. His accomplishments as a team leader can not be understated. His accomplishments as a humanitarian are second to none. Some give of their time...some give of their money...some give of their heart...Mr. Clemente gave his life. His presence in 1973 was sorely missed.
I created this "career final" card by using a great close up photo from the '73 yearbook.
Current Pirates broadcaster, Steve Blass, is more widely know for his failures than his accomplishments. A world series hero in 1971, and ace of the Pirate staff, Blass inexplicably lost his ability to throw strikes. He went from 19-8, 2.49 (2nd in Cy Young balloting) in 1972 to 3-9, 9.85 in 1973. There were no injuries. There was no rhyme or reason for it. It just happened. His struggles over the next two seasons were well documented. In baseball terms when a pitcher just all of a sudden loses his control it is now referred to "Steve Blass Disease". Pitchers like Rick Ankiel and Dontrelle Willis suffered from it as well. Blass finished his career with a 103-76, 3.63 record in 10 seasons with the Bucs. Fans love him on Pirate broadcasts, which he's been working since the early 80's.
This card was created from a '73 yearbook photo.
In parts of 4 seasons in the majors from 1973-1976 Tom Dettore appeared in 68 games and posted a 8-11, 5.21 record. In his one season in Pittsburgh (1973) he was 0-1, 5.96 in 12 games. He had good minor league numbers in Charleston (AAA), but it just never seemed to translate to the major leagues. Same thing happened when he was with the Cubs. His final two ears in baseball ('76 & '77) saw his AAA numbers plumet. After his playing days ended he spent the next 40 years as a pitching coach on multiple levels with the Cubs and Mariners.
I created this card by colorizing a B&W photo that I found while doing a Google search.
After hitting just .184 during the first half of the season the Pirates figure Davalillo was done and sold his contract to the A's on July 31st. The change of scenery didn't help one bit during the regular season, but paid dividends in the ALCS where he hit an in credible .625 (5-8) in 4 games. After another slow start in '74, at the age of 37, the A's figured he was done and released him. The all time Venezuelan Winter League hit king was not to be deterred. Dav's headed to the Mexican league for 3 season, but still had the itch to play in the majors. In need of a lefty pinch hitter the Dodgers gave him a shot in '77 at the age of 40. For the next 4 seasons he was their big spot pinch hitter as the team won 2 pennants. During the '77 & '78 post season he was 3-7 pinch hitting in big spots. Each year he would go down to AAA to stay sharp and then come up to the big club for the playoff stretch. This card was created from a fantastic '73 yearbook photo.
The Bucs didn't lose the pennant because of "Pops", that's for sure. With a .299-44-119 in '73 Stargell locked down 2/3 of the Triple Crown and a 2nd place finish in the MVP voting. A 7 time All-Star and two time MVP runner up, Pops didn't win an MVP until he hit the tender age of 39 in 1979, when he shared the award with Keith Hernandez. In 21 seasons, all in Pittsburgh, Stargell hit 475 career homers and after the untimely passing of Clemente became the team's unchallenged leader.
This unique photo pose came from a picture in the '73 yearbook.
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