It may seem a bit odd, but two of the biggest moments in the career of Willie Stargell happened in Baltimore on the same date.
Playing all 21 seasons of his Hall of Fame career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Stargell appeared in only eight games at Memorial Stadium.
One of the slugger’s favorite days on the calendar might have been October 17.
In 1971, Stargell singled off Baltimore starter Mike Cuellar and scored from first on a double by Jose Pagan in the eighth inning of the seventh game of the World Series as the Pirates beat the Orioles 2-1.
Stargell’s race to the plate turned out to be the winning run as the Pirates won their first world championship since 1960.
The Pirates lost the first two contests of the series in Baltimore before answering the rally call.
Another Comeback
Eight years later on the same date, an older Stargell stepped into the batter’s box against Baltimore pitcher Scott McGregor as the Pirates were hoping to win the World Series after trailing three games to one.
This time, Stargell wouldn’t need to lumber around the bases trying to spint home. His two-run blast in the sixth inning allowed him to trot as he gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 advantage and the Pirates were on their way to another seventh game win with a 4-1 victory over the Orioles.
The Pittsburgh first baseman had 12 hits with three homers and seven RBI in the 1979 World Series to be named the Most Valuable Player.
Other MVP Awards
Stargell’s World Series MVP award was his second of 1979 post-season. He earned the same honor in the National League Championship Series as the Pirates swept the Cincinnati Reds in three contests.
Against the Reds, he had five hits with a pair of long balls to drive in six runs. In 10 post-season contests, Stargell had 17 hits with five homers and 13 RBI.
The final MVP award for Stargell came after the dust had settled on the season. Stargell was named the NL’s co-MVP along with Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The tie was somewhat controversial as Stargell picked up 10 first-place votes out of the 24 ballots from the Baseball Writers’ Association.
The problem for many was that Stargell wasn’t listed in any of the 10 spots on four of the ballots. According to the season wrap up in the 1980 Sporting News Baseball Guide, two of the writers were from Houston, while the others came from Los Angeles and Atlanta. Hernanadez was on all 24 lists with four in the top position.
For the season, Stargell had 32 homers with 82 RBI, while batting .281 in 126 games.
Hall of Fame
A winner of the Roberto Clemente Award in 1974, Stargell was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988 on the first ballot.
Stargell finished his career with 475 homers from 1962-1982. The Pirates retired No. 8 in his final season.
A seven-time all-star, Stargell led the NL in homers with 48 in 1971 and 44 in 1973. He also topped the league with 119 RBI in 1973.