Roberto Clemente won two championships with the Pittsburgh Pirates, one when he was young and the other near the end of his brief life. For the first, in 1960, everyone else on the World Series roster was white, except for two teammates at the end of the bench. The second roster, in 1971, was much different.
Fifty years ago on Wednesday about a month before the start of a postseason he would make his own Clemente found himself batting third in a lineup unlike any that had come before. For the first time in the history of the National or the American League, a team fielded a lineup that was entirely composed of people of color.
Roberto said to me, Sangy, I never thought Id see that in my life, said Manny Sanguillen, 77, the catcher that night. He was proud to see nine guys playing, and he said, Im glad Im participating in that for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates will honor the legacy of that game on Wednesday by hosting a panel discussion at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh with Sanguillen and the three other living members of the lineup: third baseman Dave Cash, center fielder Gene Clines and first baseman Al Oliver. The team will wear commemorative T-shirts before its road game that day and will hold a pregame ceremony before its next home game on Sept. 6.
It means a lot more to me now than it did then, because at that time, we didnt give it much thought, said Oliver, 74, who played first base. The reason we didnt is because the Pirates were always loaded with Black and Latin players, and so it wasnt something that was really noticeable to us as players. I dont know how it was to other people, but to us, it was almost routine.
While Black participation in Major League Baseball has declined in recent years, the 1971 Pirates stand as an early example of the international game M.L.B. would become. In the lineup that Sept. 1 were two players from Panama (Sanguillen and second baseman Rennie Stennett), one from Cuba (shortstop Jackie Hernandez) and Clemente, from Puerto Rico.
Five others were Black Americans: Cash, Clines, Oliver, left fielder Willie Stargell and pitcher Dock Ellis. They were different in birthplace but connected in spirit.
Some people said, Latino, its not the same but its not true; were Black, Sanguillen said, laughing. Like Willie said to me, Your colors even darker than mine!
Such brotherly ribbing was a hallmark of the Pirates in the 1970s, even as they transitioned to other stars of color like Dave Parker, Bill Madlock, Jim Bibby and Omar Moreno. The visual on Sept. 1, 1971, was unremarkable, like the game itself: a Wednesday night affair at Three Rivers Stadium against the overmatched Philadelphia Phillies before 11,278 fans.
Standing in the on-deck circle at first pitch, Phillies shortstop Larry Bowa had the same reaction as Oliver: same old Pirates, the class of the league. Baseball had been integrated since 1947, so a diverse lineup, in general, was nothing new. Twelve different players of color had won the leagues Most Valuable Player Award, including Clemente in 1966.
You look at every one of those guys that night, and they were great players, Bowa said. It didnt even enter my mind that, Oh, wow, thats different. I just looked at the talent out there and went, Wow pretty good baseball team.
Two white Pirates infielders were out of the lineup first baseman Bob Robertson had sprained a knee, and third baseman Richie Hebner was recovering from a viral infection. But the Pirates were so deep that their manager, Danny Murtaugh, had plenty of strong options to replace them.
The first six hitters in Murtaughs lineup were all batting over .300 Stennett, Clines, Clemente, Stargell, Sanguillen and Cash. Oliver, who had a .303 career average, batted seventh. Hernandez, the light-hitting shortstop, was next, followed by Ellis, who had started the All-Star Game that summer.
Im not saying we were intimidated, but you knew youd better play your A game or it would be a long series in Pittsburgh, Bowa said. They were that much better than us. Every one of those hitters used the whole field. They hit balls hard, they could run, they could throw. And all those guys used big bats. Even the ground balls they hit to you, they came at you with authority.
Bowa worked two walks off Ellis, helping force the Pirates bullpen into the game in the second inning. The Pirates would win, 10-7, and the pitching star, as The Sporting News noted, was white.
Ironically, the paper reported, it took six innings of strong relief by Luke Walker, a Caucasian from Texas, to quiet the Phillies.
The Pirates unique lineup was treated more as an amusing footnote than a watershed moment. The Sporting News story was a brief item tucked in the corner of a box score page. The Pittsburgh newspapers were not publishing because of a strike, and The Philadelphia Daily News made only a passing reference the next day to the Pirates all-soul lineup. A United Press International reporter took more of an interest.
When it comes to making the lineup, Im colorblind, Murtaugh said in that report. And my athletes know it. They dont know it because I told them, but they know it because theyre familiar with the way I operate.
Murtaugh, who died in 1976, insisted he did not even notice the racial makeup of the lineup. In that way, he was like Red Auerbach, the impresario of the Boston Celtics, who always maintained that he did not realize he had used the first all-Black lineup in N.B.A. history when he did so on Dec. 26, 1964.
Murtaugh was a man that wanted to win, and it didnt matter what formula he had to come up with, he was just looking at who was the best fit for that particular game, said Roberto Clemente Jr., who was 6 years old at the time. Obviously, it was a historic moment, but I dont think he really even thought about it. He just wanted to have the best lineup to win that game.
Oliver said the distinction had only dawned on him in the third or fourth inning. But Stargell who would effectively replace Clemente as the Pirates leader after Clementes fatal plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972 was keenly aware. In the clubhouse later, Clines said he was sure the Pirates had started nine brothers before. Stargell corrected him.
This is the first time, he said in the U.P.I. story. Back in 1967, in Philadelphia, Harry Walker started eight of us, but the pitcher, Denny Ribant, was white.
Stargell died in 2001, on the very day the Pirates opened PNC Park, which replaced Three Rivers Stadium. Ellis died in 2008, and Oliver eulogized him at his funeral in California. Most fans remember Ellis for claiming to have thrown a no-hitter while on LSD, or for wearing rollers in his hair. Oliver said his friend had a more meaningful legacy.
I dont think too many people knew that what Dock was really doing out in Los Angeles was saving lives, he said. Because I recall at his funeral, when I was looking out over the congregation, most of the people there were the people that he had brought out of addictions and saved their lives.
Though he pitched only briefly that night 50 years ago, Elliss presence helped the Pirates do something for the very first time. Before long, Clemente would lead them to a place he had been once before: the World Series.
He was on a mission, the younger Clemente said. He knew he was here for a short period of time. As he told my mother, he was going to die young, and I believe thats how he lived his life, in a flash. So understanding that he wanted to win that World Series, that is something that needed to happen.
The Pirates started September by symbolically flipping a league that had once been all white. They ended October as champions.
Excerpt from:
50 Years Later, the Pirates' Lineup of Color Still Resonates - The New York Times
- THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY: 8/20 - Region Sports Network - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- This week in Loveland history for Aug. 20-26, 2023 - Loveland Reporter-Herald - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- August 20: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - Brooklyn Daily Eagle - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- How to Keep Track of Changes in Google Keep With Version History - MUO - MakeUseOf - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- This Week in History: Vienna Homecoming welcomes native sons ... - Warren Tribune Chronicle - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: The History of the Water Tribe - GameRant - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Edy Tavares and Cape Verde poised to make history at 2023 FIBA ... - Olympics - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- 10 all-time worst trades in Baltimore Orioles history - Birds Watcher - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Artists Komar and Melamid Give Lessons in History - The Moscow Times - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Butler welcomes the most diverse freshman class in university ... - WRTV Indianapolis - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Crow Fair 2023 packed with history and culture, and all are invited - Q2 News - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- The sunset of Sonic Youth: An oral history of the band's final U.S. show - NPR - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Russia, Ukraine and Versailles: Bogus lessons from history won't ... - Salon - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Opinion | The Georgia Indictment Speaks to History - The New York Times - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- UNC Football: A look at the 2023 schedule through the lens of history - Tar Heel Blog - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Types of public transports: Brief dive into history - Daily Sabah - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Red Sox infielder Luis Uras makes history with back-to-back grand ... - Yahoo Sports - August 20th, 2023 [August 20th, 2023]
- Ranking the top 10 running backs in Georgia football history - Red and Black - June 16th, 2023 [June 16th, 2023]
- The history of cyclical bull markets suggests the S&P 500 could rise ... - CNBC - June 16th, 2023 [June 16th, 2023]
- A history of healing | Hub - The Hub at Johns Hopkins - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell on Making Tony History - TIME - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Pee Dee archaeologists hope to unearth Native American history - Charleston Post Courier - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Studying slavery and the history of Juneteenth | Rowan Today ... - Rowan Today - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- In a City of Monuments, History Lives Onstage and in the Streets - The New York Times - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Dua Lipa's Dating History: From Anwar Hadid to Romain Gavras - PEOPLE - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Kentucky Baseball's Homefield History In The NCAA Tournament - KSR - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Association of international scholars turns focus to history of women ... - Global Sisters Report - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Pat Mann Phillips makes Houston rodeo history as first woman elected to lead board of directors - Houston Public Media - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Tom Dwan Wins Largest Pot in Live-Stream Poker History ($3.1 ... - PokerNews.com - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- The history of spy animals; 'Blue Ribbon Kitchen' offers award ... - NPR - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- LOOKING BACK: A Vicksburg home with Stamps on history - The ... - Vicksburg Post - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- The Oldest Olympic Champions In Swimming History - SwimSwam - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- 'Tenacious' Guyer softball team aims for more history at second-ever ... - Denton Record Chronicle - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- HISTORY: Tennessee Towns That Failed to Launch - Main Street Media of Tennessee - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- A look at the history and influence of downtown San Diego's ... - ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV - May 31st, 2023 [May 31st, 2023]
- Learning the History and Customs of Martinsville Speedway - WSET - April 12th, 2023 [April 12th, 2023]
- World History Portal | Britannica - March 31st, 2023 [March 31st, 2023]
- Abstract paintings by Cleveland native John Moore reflect erasure of personal history as part of being Black - cleveland.com - February 5th, 2023 [February 5th, 2023]
- My first day was a sex scene: the disturbing history of teen actors and nudity - The Guardian - January 10th, 2023 [January 10th, 2023]
- Local historian brings Oakland Countys history back to life with online lectures - C&G Newspapers - January 10th, 2023 [January 10th, 2023]
- VCUs medical college history found to be intimately connected with slavery, report finds - WRIC ABC 8News - January 10th, 2023 [January 10th, 2023]
- Dolphins Super Bowl history: When is the last time Miami made it to, won the Super Bowl? - NBC Sports - Misc. - January 10th, 2023 [January 10th, 2023]
- At the San Diego History Center, a historic donation - The San Diego Union-Tribune - January 6th, 2023 [January 6th, 2023]
- Arrest of squeegee kid reveals history of run-ins with drivers and police, records show - Fox Baltimore - January 6th, 2023 [January 6th, 2023]
- Tesla is now worth less than Exxon as stock plunges toward worst month, quarter and year in history - MarketWatch - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- On this day in history, Dec. 21, 1945, Gen. Patton dies in Germany after he was paralyzed in auto crash - Fox News - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Vikings stun Colts: Matt Ryan has now been on the losing end of these four biggest blown leads in NFL history - CBS Sports - December 18th, 2022 [December 18th, 2022]
- What time will National Treasure: Edge of History air on Disney+? Release date, plot, and more details about the action-adventure series - Sportskeeda - December 12th, 2022 [December 12th, 2022]
- Mendocino County history: Willits Grade lumber spill, and other news from November 1948 - Ukiah Daily Journal - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- The Renaissance Run: Bruce Boudreau Named 14th Head Coach in Franchise History On This Day 15 Years Ago - NoVa Caps - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Qatar Make World Cup History As First Host Nation To Lose In Opening Game - Sports Illustrated - November 21st, 2022 [November 21st, 2022]
- History is best told through relatable human stories. - Monterey County Weekly - October 23rd, 2022 [October 23rd, 2022]
- History made in China as Xi Jinping to serve third term - breaking decades-long precedent - Sky News - October 23rd, 2022 [October 23rd, 2022]
- No matter who wins, the next Governor of Arkansas will make history - KNWA - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Ole Miss vs. LSU history: Last time they played, who has won the most games, best moments - DraftKings Nation - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- What is witchcraft? The definition, the types and the history. - USA TODAY - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Women Reflected in Their Own History - Notes - E-Flux - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- History in the making: Wells is new museum director - Sent-trib - Sentinel-Tribune - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- And the West is History: Train Crossing 12th Street - 1966 - The Durango Herald - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- The Intimate and Interconnected History of the Internet - The Nation - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- The Haunted History of New England Presentation ~ October 23 - thebedfordcitizen.org - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- An Oil Company Planned to Bulldoze Black History. This Community Fought Back. - Earthjustice - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- New Tourist Attraction to Educate Tourists, Community on Manistee History - 9 & 10 News - 9&10 News - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- WATCH: Phillies' J.T. Realmuto hits inside-the-park home run, first catcher in postseason history - CBS Sports - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Mother-daughter race duo make history in Las Vegas: 'I hope we do it again' - Fox News - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- This week in history Oct. 14, 1922: Winter arrives and slows seasonal mining business - Summit Daily - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- LeBron James record watch: Where the Lakers star stands in history books before the season - CBS Sports - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- The history of Quinsippi Island | History | whig.com - Herald-Whig - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Miles grad makes largest alum donation in school history, hopes to be catalyst for giving to HBCUs - AL.com - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Investor Optimism Drops to One of 60 Lowest Readings in History - The Epoch Times - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Will short week hurt Chiefs vs. the Bills? Heres what history tells us - syracuse.com - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- The untold history of UC San Diego's terrible, weird and glorious single season of football - The San Diego Union-Tribune - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- The History Channel - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- What we risk by narrowly restricting our kids view of history and culture - Idaho Capital Sun - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- The history of Jewish admissions and experience at Stanford - Stanford Report - Stanford University News - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Snapshots of history coming to Glens Falls - NEWS10 ABC - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- How one Santa Cruz teacher teaches U.S. history and how she sees her role as a history teacher today - Lookout Santa Cruz - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- SDMHA Announce Cherokee History Event Oct. 15 And Other Upcoming Programs - The Chattanoogan - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- History book contest winners announced | The American Legion - The American Legion - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Christian Bale and Margo Robbie's 'Amsterdam' is on pace to lose $100 millionthese are the 10 biggest box office bombs in history - CNBC - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]