OT: Greatest Moment in Pirates' History?
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I remember almost fist fighting other kids in the neighborhood to shovel driveways for doe !
Can't seem to imagine that these days !
Ha! Good one, I am not advocating the return of the grammar school playground fistfight but oh the fun we had. You learned to keep your mouth shut or prepare to defend your ideas. No "guidance counselors", no behavior specialists, no school psychologists, just winners and losers on that particular day.
Actually that game could go down as at least a top 5 moment. The city was so starved for success that the Stadium seemed like it would collapse. Cueto dropping that ball was a classic.
I had just become a Pirates fan, playing little league, ("Sluggers" it was called) etc., about 7 years old. Vaguely recall the Bucs blowing the NLCS (interestingly I do NOT recall the Immaculate Reception that happened a couple months later, I don't believe it was broadcast due to a blackout). But honestly can't say Clemente stood out to me, I hadn't yet gotten into individual players.
I remember my dad being in shock on that subsequent New Year's Day, kind of but not quite getting it. I had really missed the whole Roberto experience.
But soon thereafter I started paying attention to players, and did find it interesting to follow the Pirates trying to find the new right fielder. I don't think Oliver played there? I remember him in Center, and 1B. Stargell still in Left. I recall they tried several guys in Right. Sangy as you said. Gene Clines. Maybe Rennie Stennett, till they got rid of Dave Cash. Richie Zisk, who was pretty good there. Ultimately Dave Parker (eventually became my favorite Pirate).
I used to know all the players, even guys in AAA and AA. Up through, you guessed it, early 90s. I couldn't really tell you all the Pirates starters now. I guess Polanco is still the right fielder? Sheesh.
What I always remember from that moment is the Pirates in the bullpen going crazy as they waved that ball towards them.
I was 21 years old and sleeping it off at home when my brother called me from his home in Canton, Ohio. I hadn't heard the news and he started talking about how terrible it was and I thought he was talking about the Steelers losing the AFC championship the day before. When he told me the news I was stunned. Clemente was my all time hero and that sure was a sad day.
Bill Virdon was the manager and had the stupid idea of taking the second best catcher in the game and trying to make him a right fielder. I guess he thought he could do it because he was Roberto's best friend. Well he couldn't play right an he ended up ruining Sangy as a catcher, too. Sangy never could throw as well after the RF experiment.
Later that year they called up a big kid from the minors who worked out pretty good, Dave Parker
Good call, I forgot about Richie Zisk. According to Baseball Reference by the end of the season he had won the right field job.
Stennett could really hit. He was a hell of a player till he destroyed his ankle sliding into a base. he was never the same after that.
I seem to remember Parker coming up in July and winning that job. Zisk ended up in left field.
I remember watching “Adventure Time” with Paul Shannon.
He had a Pitt student who supposedly got Maz’s Ball outside the stadium and they did a lame reinactment of the kid catching the ball - after one bounce.
Holy Nosmo King!
FWIW
I can't really remember but if you check Baseball Reference.com you will see that Zisk is listed as the starter in RF meaning he started more games there than Parker in '73 and '74. Parker appeared in 54 total games in '73 (19 in right field), and 73 total games in '74, 28 in rightfield. Zisk appeared in 131 games in rightfield for the Pirates in '74 and 64 in right field in '73
I saw Parker play for Salem Virginia in the minors ', he played center field and Ed Ott was in right. the year I saw them, like '72 the summer before I came to PA
Stennett didn’t slide, recall he jumped into the base....kept telling people this is something that is going to hurt him....didn’t see a career ending flight though; man he was good.
Polanco is gettin a Little better but he often takes that leap....
OK, I guess that's how it was. I just remember Parker coming up in that 73 season. That was a weird year. The Bucs were in a pennant race with the Mets even though both teams were barely .500 teams. Zisk was a really good hitter but couldn't run much. The Mets pulled it out then beat the Reds and gave the As all they could handle in the series, taking it the full 7 games.
I'd put Queeeeeto!, Queeeeeto! Queeeeeto! at about number 4.
Without a doubt the greatest moment in Pirates history...
The worst? The death of Roberto Clemente...
It was a strange 10 days (December 23, 1972 - January 1, 1973) in Pittsburgh sports history.
We went from the absolute elation of the Immaculate Reception and the controversy that came with it, to losing the AFC Championship game to the Miami Dolphins and later that evening finding out about the death of Clemente. New Year’s Day was a somber occasion in the city of Pittsburgh.
It sounds like a book that someone needs to write...
Yes. And his manager should have shut that down immediately. People forget how great a catcher Sanguillen was because he was overshadowed by Bench.
Best moment for me? As a kid, I somehow got to be an honorary "bat boy for the day" in 1979. So I got to go down on the field and meet all the players during batting practice and I even got to throw out the first pitch! For a 13 year old kid, pretty awesome stuff.
Remember the pitching matchup was John Candeleria vs John the Count Montefusco.
Cool, I got pictures taken with Moreno, Stargell, Parker and Ed Ott. I got an autographed baseball with Willie Stargell and Willie McCovey.
So...that is my best moment.
Remember the pitching matchup was John Candeleria vs John the Count Montefusco.
Cool, I got pictures taken with Moreno, Stargell, Parker and Ed Ott. I got an autographed baseball with Willie Stargell and Willie McCovey.
So...that is my best moment.
So basically the highlight is going 1-2 in wild card games and losing one playoff series over a 20 year period, hard as it is to imagine, Pitt football has been more successful than Pirates baseball since 1992. The reason people should bitch about Nutting is the "3 years in a row in the playoffs", because it ended only because he refused to $PEND to extend it.
It was all I could do as a kid to not play catch with this ball, which I did anyways....
Nice autograph very nice
McCovey just owned the Pirates.
Have a great momento as well
The Mick and Roger on a ball circa 62
It was a thing then. Teams thought they should take some physical burden off their superstar catchers but didn't want their bats out of the lineup. The reds also used Bench at 1st, 3rd and outfield at times. I think the red Sox did the same with Fisk.
Screw Fisk. His ads got me hooked on Copenhagen (man, how times have changed)...
Hah. My choice was Levi Garrett, thanks to Sparky Lyle. I also dug his book, The Bronx Zoo
Nice.
Knew the clubhouse boy when my kids were young.
He got them a Mike Schmidt signed ball. He signed it while he was taking a dump, can hardly read it. He was a bit of a jerk, wouldn't sign easy.
Got Pete Rose, who doesn't? Andre Dawson and Expo Team. Randy Johnson and a couple of other notables on that one.
They wanted Bonds, but he said he was too big of an A hole to even ask! LOL
If someone pestered you to sign a baseball while taking a dump, how do you think you might act
His autograph is pretty rare, because he didn't sign, no matter when or where.If someone pestered you to sign a baseball while taking a dump, how do you think you might act
I do agree that must have been awkward, but kids do silly things.
I'm still right, the Pirates have been garbage since 1992 and Nutting failed to $pend to keep the playoff window open.
Let me add two great moments. Both in 79. Both times during the pennant race. Pirates fell behind 8-0 in 2 separate games within like a week of each other vs the Phillies; came back to win both, I believe thanks to grand slams in both games, one by John Milner and the other by Ed Ott. Those are the kind of wins when you think you could be watching a "special" season unfolding.
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