Remembering Willie Stargell

Pittsburgh loses an icon 23 years ago today as longtime Pirates power hitter and face of their franchise Willie Stargell passes away of a stroke after years of battling kidney ailments. He is only 61.

His Hall of Fame career includes 475 homers, 1,194 runs batted in, two World Series titles and seven All-Star appearances over 21 seasons with a first-ballot election to Cooperstown in 1988.

He averages 33 homers and 106 RBIs over any given 162-game season.

“Having Willie Stargell on your ballclub,” former Pirates manager Chuck Tanner once says, “is like having a diamond ring on your finger.”

Stargell’s death comes just two days after the Pirates dedicate a 12-foot, one-ton bronze statue in his honor at their newly opened PNC Park.

“If Willie asked us to jump off the Fort Pitt Bridge, we would ask him what kind of dive he wanted,” says longtime Pirate and Stargell teammate Al Oliver. “That’s how much respect we have for the man.”