Pittsburgh Pirates history

The 1977 Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to get back into the postseason. After winning the old NL East five times in the six seasons from 1970-75, the Pirates slipped to second place behind the Philadelphia Phillies in 1976. Pittsburgh also had a new manager. After the retirement and subsequent passing of franchise legend Danny Murtaugh, the Pirates got aggressive in going after the manager they wanted. The front office traded starting catcher Manny Sanguillen to the Oakland A’s to get skipper Chuck Tanner. A new era was ready to start in Pittsburgh.

But getting back to the playoffs meant something considerably different in 1977 than it does today. Back then, both leagues had just two divisions, an East and a West. Only the first-place teams qualified for the postseason. Pittsburgh had won 92 games in 1976 but came up short. They would be better in 1977—but still not good enough.

The Pirates had a balanced starting rotation led up by 23-year-old John Candelaria. The lefthander made 33 starts and posted a dazzling 20-5 record with a 2.34 ERA. It was only good for fifth in the NL Cy Young voting—which was probably too low, but if you look at the contenders, you can see there was a high bar among National League starters. Either way, “the Candy Man” gave Pittsburgh a legitimate ace.

Jerry Reuss, Jim Rooker and Bruce Kison filled out the rotation. They all had their ups and downs. But they consistently took their turns, combining to start 95 games. And there was help behind them. The bullpen had been strengthened by offseason trades.

Pittsburgh acquired Grant Jackson and Terry Forster for some depth. But the big piece was Rich “Goose Gossage.” Only 25-years-old, the Goose would one day become the most feared flamethrower of his day. He came at a price—the Pirates gave up a good outfielder in Richie Zisk to get Gossage from the Chicago White Sox. But the Goose saved 26 games, won 11 more, and finished with a 1.62 ERA. He got further support from submarine-style reliever Kent Tekulve, who picked up ten wins with a 3.06 ERA.

The depth, combined with Candelaria and Gossage’s excellence, gave Pittsburgh the third-best staff ERA in the National League.

The everyday lineup underwent a bit of a makeover. Zisk was gone. The Pirates also lost corner infielder Richie Hebner in free agency—to Philadelphia no less. Pittsburgh also had a strange relationship with veteran second baseman Tommy Helms. After a trade to get Helms in ’76 didn’t work out, the Pirates sold him to Oakland. Then they got him back as the signature piece in a deal that cost them five players—including future stars in starting pitcher Rick Langford and outfielder Tony Armas. After all of this, Helms didn’t play much and was well past his prime.

In addition to all the maneuvering, veteran first baseman Willie Stargell also struggled with injuries. Knee, elbow, and hamstring problems limited “Pops” to 63 games.

But there was still plenty of talent on hand, and it started with rightfielder Dave Parker. “The Cobra” won the batting title with a .338 average. He hit 21 homers, drove in 88 runs, and finished third in the MVP voting. After an off-year in ’76, second baseman Rennie Stennett exploded with a .336 batting average. Leftfielder Al Oliver finished with a .353 on-base percentage and slugged .481. Bill Robinson was 34-years-old, but he stepped in at first base for Stargell and batted .304 with 26 home runs and 104 RBIs.

Tanner also committed the Pirates to a running game. In an era where stolen bases were a bigger part of the game than they are today, Pittsburgh stole more bags than anyone. Shortstop Frank Taveras led the way with 70 steals. Speedy centerfielder Omar Moreno swiped 53. Stennett stole 28 bags. As running games go, the Pirates might not have rivaled the great duo of Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier with the Steelers as the best in Pittsburgh. But the baseball version of the ground game was pretty good.

The Tanner era got off to a less than auspicious start, when the Pirates lost three straight at home to the St. Louis Cardinals, giving up 28 runs in the process. But Pittsburgh bounced back pretty quickly. They took a couple games from Philadelphia at home in late April. They swept the Cincinnati Reds, the two-time defending World Series champs in early May, scoring 26 runs in the three-game set. Those series wins over the Phils and Reds were part of a red-hot 15-2 stretch that vaulted Pittsburgh to a 2 ½ game lead in the NL East.

But a visit to Wrigley Field in Chicago, where the  Cubs were a key contender in the East, resulted in a three straight losses over Memorial Day weekend. Pittsburgh dropped two of three in Philadelphia out of the holiday. On June 1, the Pirates were 27-17, 1 ½ games back of Chicago, with both St. Louis and Philly also in the mix.

The Pirates won two of three from the Cubs in a home series that nudged them back to within a half-game of the lead. But a sequence against teams from the West Coast went poorly. Pittsburgh went 6-11 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and San Diego Padres. The Pirates dropped three of four in St. Louis later in the month. They went on to Philadelphia got four straight defeats handed to them.

On July 8, Pittsburgh was in the danger zone, 8 ½ games off the pace. The Phillies were making a return visit to old Three Rivers Stadium. The four-game weekend series had considerable urgency.

Trailing 7-3 in the eighth inning of Friday night’s opener, the Pirates got rolling. A four-run rally was keyed by doubles from Oliver and Stennett. In the ninth inning, consecutive two-out singles from third baseman Phil Garner, catcher Ed Ott, and Parker set up Pittsburgh to win on a bases-loaded walk.

Saturday afternoon was even more dramatic. An anticipated pitcher’s duel between Candelaria and eventual NL Cy Young winner Steve Carlton turned into a back-and-forth slugfest. The game went 12 innings. Forster and Jackson had kept the Pirates afloat with 5 1/3 combined innings of solid relief. They were rewarded when backup infielder Mario Mendoza, legendary for his light-hitting, knocked a two-out RBI single to win 9-8.

Sunday would be an old-fashioned doubleheader, with just 20 minutes in between games. Pittsburgh churned out a 5-1 win in the opener behind a good outing from Reuss and a solo blast from Garner to get the early lead. The second game was another wild offensive affair. Trailing 10-7 in the bottom of the seventh, Garner ripped a bases-loaded/two-out double that tied the game. Robinson promptly knocked him in with the go-ahead run. The 12-10 win capped off a big four-game sweep. Pittsburgh was back in the race.

By the All-Star break a week later, the Pirates were 50-42. They trailed the Cubs by a 5 ½ games. The Phils were 2 ½ back in second place. The Cardinals were starting to fade, 8 ½ back and in fourth.

Cincinnati would fall from their championship perch this season (the Reds were in the Western Division under the geographically-challenged alignment of the era), and Pittsburgh swept Cincy three straight out of the break. It was the start of an 8-0 homestand that slashed the NL East lead to 2 ½ games. The Cubbies were starting to fade when they came to Pittsburgh on August 8 for a three-game set. Philadelphia was now dead even in the NL East, and the Pirates were hot on the heels of both teams.

On Monday night, Pittsburgh trailed Chicago 6-5 in the ninth inning. A double from Moreno and single from Stennett set up runners on the corners. After a sac fly tied the game, Ott ripped a triple to center to win it. Pirate bats went quiet on Tuesday night, mustering only six hits in a 4-1 loss. They handed the ball to Candelaria to try and secure the series win on Wednesday night.

Candelaria gave seven solid innings, but left in a 1-1 tie. A long night ensued. Gossage pitched four shutout innings. Jackson put five zeroes on the board. We got to the 18^th inning still tied 1-1. Finally, Ott came through again—a sac fly for the win.

Pittsburgh was moving past Chicago, but Philadelphia was sizzling in the late summer. The Pirates swept the New York Mets five straight but failed to move the needle in the division race. By Labor Day, Pittsburgh had a solid 77-59 record. But they were seven games behind the Phils.

Taking two of three from Philly in a series that started on Labor Day, chipped away at the lead a little bit. A week later, the Pirates and Phils split a pair. That just wasn’t going to be enough. Pittsburgh played well in September, including a 10-1 stretch. But Philadelphia never gave an inch. The Pirates trailed by as many as nine games, and never got closer than five, which is where it ended up.

The final record was 96-66. That’s excellent by any measure, third-best in the National League and seventh-best in baseball overall. In our own era, it would be an easy playoff season and with Pittsburgh playing well down the stretch, who knows what might have happened in October. But that wasn’t the way it worked in 1977. The Pirates went home.

Pittsburgh had one more year of this to deal with in 1978, when they again had a nice year, again finished strong, and again finished second to their rival across the state. But the big return wasn’t long in coming. In 1979, the Pirates not only returned to the top of the NL East, they went on to win it all.

The Pirates had won three straight division titles in the old NL East from 1970 through 1972, with a World Series title in 1971 included. In 1973, Pittsburgh contended to the final day of the season, but that was a sub-.500 team kept in contention by an entire division that played mediocre baseball. The 1974 Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to bounce back and reassert control of their own backyard. It took a long time, and a lot of stops and starts, but they won a sizzling pennant race and returned to postseason play.

Willie Stargell was 34-years-old, but the leftfielder continued to put up good numbers. Stargell finished 1974 with a stat line of a .407 on-base percentage/.537 slugging percentage and drove in 96 runs. He was one part of a productive outfield. Al Oliver played center and his stat line was .358/.475. Richie Zisk drove in 100 runs with a .386/.476 stat line in rightfield.

The outfield trio got help from third baseman Richie Hebner and his 18 homer runs. Rennie Stennett played second base and batted .291. A platoon at first base got some power from Bob Robertson, who slugged .479, and some on-base consistency from Ed Kilpartrick, with his .367 OBP. Collectively, it all gave the Pirates the third-best offense in the National League.

Pitching was more problematic. Individually, it was hard to fault any one particular member of the staff. Jerry Reuss, Ken Brett, and Dock Ellis all had ERAs in the 3s. So did Bruce Kison, who did spot-starting and relief work. Dave Giusti worked over 100 innings out of the bullpen and posted a 3.32 ERA.

The staff ace was Jim Rooker, who finished with an ERA of 2.78 and won 15 games. That’s a nice year. Perhaps the problem lie with the fact that, in an era with a lot of good pitching staffs, it was a year that was the best on the Pittsburgh staff. With no one who stood out, the Pirate staff ERA ranked seventh in the 12-team National League. Although the flip side is that with no obvious weak points, they were well-built for a 162-game haul. And it would take all of those games for Pittsburgh to reclaim their place atop the NL East.

With the leagues split into just two divisions, the Pirates shared the East with that division’s current occupants, the New York Mets (the defending division champs), Montreal Expos (today’s Washington Nationals) and Philadelphia Phillies (a non-contender in recent years but poised to break out with a young third baseman named Mike Schmidt). Pittsburgh, along with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals were also in the East. The Cincinnati Reds (along with the Atlanta Braves) went west.

Only the first-place teams went to the postseason prior to 1994, so there was usually no time to lose in getting rolling. But Pittsburgh spent the early part of the year in the funk that had marked their 1973 campaign.

The Pirates started 3-10, including losing five of six to St. Louis. Pittsburgh didn’t win a series until the end of April. In May, they lost five of six to Philadelphia. By Memorial Day, the Pirates were limping at 14-26, in last place, and staring at a nine-game deficit.

More losses came in early June. The Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers were the National League’s two best teams this year, and Pittsburgh went on the road to both places and lost five of six. The first signs of a spark came at the end of that road trip, when they split six games in San Diego and San Francisco, and then came home to sweep the Dodgers in a return series.

A roller-coaster ensued. Six losses in eight games against the Cubs and Cardinals were followed by a nice 6-1 stretch against the Phillies and Expos. Then a 4-9 sequence that included getting swept four straight at home by the Reds. But the first half ended with a seven-game winning streak. Pittsburgh was 45-49 and in fourth place at the All-Star Break. It wasn’t inspiring, but this was again a year where no one really wanted to grab the NL East. Thus, that mediocre record, had them within 3 ½ games of the lead.

August 6 was when things started to change for the better. Sitting on a record of 52-57, the Pirates tore off 18 wins in 24 games. That included taking five of six from the Dodgers, winning a series with the Reds, and sweeping the Mets, who had lost their magic from 1973.

By the time that stretch was over it was Labor Day. And in spite of their many stops and starts, Pittsburgh was 70-63 and in first place. St. Louis was just a game and a half back, while Philadelphia was four games out. Everyone else had fallen by the wayside.

The Pirates delivered a death blow to the Phillies when they first swept a Labor Day doubleheader, then capped off a series sweep the next day, scoring 26 runs in the process. The bats then thumped Expo pitching for 24 runs in another sweep.

With their lead pushed out to a 2 ½ games, Pittsburgh stumbled. A disastrous 1-6 week against the Cubs, Expos, and—most importantly—the Cardinals, let St. Louis completely reverse the race. On September 15, the Pirates trailed the Cards by a game and a half. And the first of two remaining series against St. Louis was set to begin in old Three Rivers Stadium on September 17.

Oliver homered in the first inning of Tuesday night’s opener. Reuss was brilliant. But it wasn’t enough. The Pirates only mustered four hits the rest of the way and didn’t score again. Reuss pushed the game to extra innings—in fact he pitched all 13 frames—but the Cardinals got the last word in a 2-1 win.

The Pirates got more good pitching on Wednesday night, this time from Rooker. They got another big hit from Oliver, a two-run double. In this game, that was enough for a 4-1 win.

Both offenses, quiet for the first two nights, opened up in Thursday night’s rubber match. Pittsburgh trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh. Stargell ripped a two-run double to get the lead. Hebner blasted a three-run homer to break it open. Pittsburgh won 8-6 and closed to within a half-game.  

A series loss to the Mets pushed the Pirates a game and a half back again when they made the return visit to St. Louis. There were just ten days left in the season.

Rooker took the ball on Monday night. He was brilliant and he needed to be. The game went to the 10^th inning still scoreless. Finally, Hebner’s RBI single got Pittsburgh on the board. Giusti came out of the bullpen to close the 1-0 win.

The bats got rolling on Tuesday night. Stennett had three hits at the top of the order. Stargell drove in three runs in the middle. The young backup outfielder, Dave Parker, drove in two runs with a key pinch-hit single. Pittsburgh won 7-3 and moved into first place.

When the Pirates dropped five runs in the first inning on Wednesday night, thanks to a three-run blast from Manny Sanguillen, they were poised to sweep and get control of the race. The pitching collapsed so thoroughly that Pittsburgh was down 9-6 after five. Then they rallied and tied it. Another extra-inning game, the third in the last week between these two teams, went down. Giusti pitched three shutout innings and the game went to the 11th, still tied 9-9.

Pittsburgh scored three runs. That should have been enough. But with Giusti now out, St. Louis got off the mat. The Cardinals scored four times and had a stunning 13-12 win. The Pirates were back to trailing by a half-game.

What Pittsburgh had was control of that half-game, and by this point, that was no small thing. They went to Shea Stadium for a four-game weekend set, won three times and pulled even. For the final three days, the Pirates would be hosting the Cubs, while the Cardinals were in Montreal.

Kison came up with a clutch start on Monday night, winning a 2-1 pitcher’s duel. St. Louis answered, and the race was still tied.

The eighth inning of Tuesday’s games would be a critical moment in this NL East race. Pittsburgh was trailing 5-4. St. Louis was ahead 2-0. The Pirates got a two-run blast from Robertson and won 6-5. The Cardinals coughed up the lead and lost 3-2. Pittsburgh had control going into the final day.

There was rain in Montreal, so St. Louis would watch and wait. If the Pirates lost, the Cardinals and Expos would make up their game on Thursday, with the possibility of a potential tiebreaker game on Friday. When the Pirates trailed 4-2 in the ninth inning, it looked like some more baseball would still be necessary.

Pittsburgh scraped out a run. Robertson came to the plate with two outs and a man in scoring position. He struck out. But the ball got away from Cub catcher Steve Swisher. Robertson not only reached base, but the tying run scored.

Oliver tripled in the 10^th inning, and the division-winning run was just 90 feet away. Sanguillen hit a ground ball on the infield. There was no play at the plate. The Pirates won the game 5-4 and had finally prevailed in an amazing NL East race.

Pittsburgh faced off with Los Angeles in the 1974 NLCS. The Pirate bats were quiet in the first two games, both close home losses. In a series that was then a best-of-five affair, they were virtually done. The offense exploded back in Dodger Stadium for a 7-0 win that extended the series. But that was the last hurrah. Pittsburgh was blown out in Game 4 and the season was over.

The season might have been over, and the return to the World Series might not have happened. But the Pirates had given their fans plenty of thrills and returned to the top of the NL East. In 1975, they did it again. And before the decade was out, in 1979, they won the Series again.

The 1973 Pittsburgh Pirates came into the season looking for a fourth straight division title and to win their second World Series title in that same time period. The Pirates did indeed contend in ’73. But it took a mediocre division to keep them in the race, and in the end, they still came up short.

The step-back was certainly no fault of Willie Stargell. Now 33-years-old, but still playing leftfield, Stargell put together the best year of his brilliant career. He finished with an on-base percentage of .392 and a slugging percentage of a stunning .646. He hit 44 home runs and posted 119 RBIs. He batted .292 and came in second in the National League MVP voting.

Stargell was joined in the Pirate outfield by Al Oliver, who popped 20 homers of his own, and Richie Zisk, who finished with a stat line of .364 OBP/.526 slugging. Another Richie, third baseman Hebner, hit 25 home runs. Even though Pittsburgh didn’t get good years from notables like Manny Sanguillen behind the plate, Bob Robertson at first base or second baseman Dave Cash, they still finished fourth in the National League for runs scored.

The pitching was more mediocre. There was a nice core three in the starting rotation, with Nelson Briles, Bob Moose and Dock Ellis. But in an unexpected development, Steve Blass, the team’s best pitcher in recent years, just completely lost it. Blass was only 31-years-old and there were no injury factors. But he made 18 starts, finished with a mammoth ERA of 9.85 and was out of baseball by the following season. It was a shocking fall from grace for a man who had been an October hero.  

Losing depth in the rotation accentuated the problem that none of Briles, Moose or Ellis was really a true #1 starter. Manager Bill Virdon pieced together starts from Bruce Kison, Jim Rocker, Luke Walker, and others. Dave Giusti was still a good closer. But it wasn’t enough to stop the Pirate staff from finishing seventh in what was then a 12-team National League for staff ERA.

Pittsburgh swept the St. Louis Cardinals to start the season, got out of the gate at 8-3 and it looked like all was well in the Steel City. But the Pirates dropped three straight at home to a good Los Angeles Dodgers team at the end of April. They were swept three straight at home by the New York Mets. By the time Memorial Day arrived, Pittsburgh was stumbling at 17-21, in fourth place in the NL East and facing a 7 ½ game deficit.

This situation was even more urgent in the baseball era that existed prior to 1994, when each league was split into just two divisions, an East and a West, and only the first-place team advanced to the postseason. The Chicago Cubs were in first place, with the Mets and Montreal Expos (today’s Washington Nationals) in second and third respectively.

The Pirates swept the Atlanta Braves out of the holiday weekend, then won a series over the eventual NL West champion Cincinnati Reds. But a corner had not been turned. Pittsburgh promptly went into a free-fall, lost 11 times in 13 games and were in a 10 ½ game hole by June 18.

An 11-6 stretch against divisional rivals stopped the bleeding, but the Pirate roller-coaster continued into the All-Star break. Fortunately, the roller coaster turned upward with a four-game sweep of the San Diego Padres to close the first half. Pittsburgh’s record was only 46-49, but that was good enough to be within 4 ½ games of the Cubs and Cardinals, who were tied for first. The entire NL East was within 7 ½ games. This race could go to anyone who wanted to step up and grab it.

The latter part of summer saw Pittsburgh mostly tread water, while the division as a whole—if this were possible—became even more defined by collective mediocrity. On August 31, Pittsburgh was 63-65. But St. Louis, setting the pace, was only a game over .500. Chicago was 64-67. The Pirates and Cubs were meeting at old Three Rivers Stadium over Labor Day weekend.

A Friday doubleheader got the series started. Stargell ripped a three-run blast that was the highlight of a six-run third inning. Rocker tossed a complete game in a 7-0 win. The nightcap was tied 2-2 in the fourth. Hebner’s solo blast started a three-run burst. Reliever Bob Johnson did good work in shutting things down, as Pittsburgh beat Chicago ace Fergie Jenkins 5-2.

On Saturday afternoon, Kison and Cub starter Burt Hooton dueled in a scoreless tie through eight innings. In the bottom of the ninth, Hebner singled to right with one out. An Oliver double set up a second and third situation for Zisk. He singled to center, and the Pirates had a 1-0 win. Even though they lost on Sunday, the Pirates were back to .500, only one game back and in second place. The entire division continued to be packed within seven games of each other.

With St. Louis coming to town next, opportunity was at hand. But tensions between Virdon and the team had been boiling all year. When Pittsburgh lost three of four games to the Cardinals, they boiled over. Virdon was fired. Danny Murtaugh, a lifer with the organization, who managed the 1970 division champs and the 1971 World Series champs, moved from Farm Director back into the dugout for the stretch drive.

The Pirates had also made a callup that would help them in the present and significantly impact their future. Dave Parker, at the age of 22, got 144 plate appearances down the stretch in this 1973 season. He slugged .453 and got a fantastic career started.

There was still time to turn this season around. Pittsburgh won two of three over Philadelphia. When the Pirates went to St. Louis for a weekend series on September 14, their record was up to 72-71 and that was good enough to hold a one-game lead.

Briles pitched Friday night’s opener and worked six good innings to lead a 3-1 win. On Saturday, a big seventh-inning was keyed by Parker’s three-run blast and the Pirates won 7-4. Pittsburgh lost on a Sunday, but the big series win had pushed St. Louis two games back with two weeks to play.

As those who watch horse racing know, when a race is packed, what often happens is the horses that have been lurking in the middle, or even all the way back, suddenly make a burst at the end. That’s what was starting to happen in the NL East. The Expos were only a half-game back. And the horse with the Mets logo on it, who lingered in last place in August, was starting to come steam down the stretch.

Pittsburgh and New York would play in a strange five-game stretch that would cover Monday through Friday, the first two at home and the latter three on the road. The Pirate bats pounded the great Tom Seaver for a 10-3 win in the opener and all looked well. But Pittsburgh’s pitching problems came home to roost. Over the next four games, they allowed 27 runs and lost all four. The Mets were now in first place. The Pirates were a game back. The Expos, Cardinals and Cubs were two back. There was a week and change to go.

Taking three of four from Montreal delivered the Expos a big blow, but Pittsburgh then lost a series to Philadelphia. Coming into the final weekend, the Mets were 80-78, the Pirates were 79-79 and the Cardinals were hanging on at 2 ½ out.

Pittsburgh would get the break they needed. The Mets lost once on the final weekend and opened the door. But the Pirates lost two quick games against the Expos and their bid was over. Pittsburgh finished the season 80-82. For all the excitement the division race brought, this was still only the eighth-best record in the National League and tied for 14^th among 26 major league teams overall. It was mediocrity for an organization that had become used to excellence.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that Pittsburgh immediately got back on top of the NL East in 1974, and then again in 1975.  The 1973 season was just a strange and disappointing aberration in a great era of Pirates baseball.

The Pirates were riding high, having won a dramatic World Series in 1971. Pittsburgh had won the NL East each of the last two years. Even with a managerial change—Bill Virdon took over for Danny Murtaugh, who retired upstairs to the front office–the 1972 Pittsburgh Pirates were more of the same. They ran away with the division title, and it took an exceptionally dramatic NLCS to keep them from returning to the Fall Classic.

Pittsburgh’s offense was quite different than what the modern game tends to offer. The Pirates weren’t into taking walks. Their home run power was mediocre. But they put the ball in play. Four regulars—Al Oliver, Vic Davalillo, Richie Hebner, and the great Roberto Clemente all batted over .300. Two more, Willie Stargell and Manny Sanguillen, were over .290. Dave Cash hit over .280. A key reserve, Gene Clines, hit .334. The Pirates led the National League in batting average and were second in doubles.

And while Pittsburgh only finished sixth in the 12-team National League for home runs, Stargell did provide some muscle—33 homers and 112 RBIs for the first baseman. With everyone else making contact and hitting the ball in the alleys, the Pirates finished third in the NL for runs scored.

The pitching staff was anchored by Steve Blass, who went 19-8 with a 2.49 ERA. Bob Moose made 30 starts, won 13 more games, and finished with a 2.91 ERA. Nelson Briles and Dock Ellis combined to start 52 games, got 29 wins between them, and ERAs in the high 2s/low 3s. Virdon got reliable spot-start work from 22-year-old Bruce Kison. And Dave Giusti’s 22 saves and 1.93 ERA led up a deep bullpen. Pittsburgh’s composite staff ERA was second in the National League.

Major League Baseball started an unfortunate trend of owner-player disputes in 1972, with the players being locked out of spring training. The start of the season was delayed until mid-April and those early games were not made up. The Pirates were slow out of the gate, going 5-8. It was early May, when they won two of three from the playoff-bound Cincinnati Reds, that Pittsburgh took off. That series win triggered a 19-5 run through Memorial Day.

The Pirates were sitting on a solid 24-14 record after the holiday, but the New York Mets were riding high at 28-11. The alignment of this era did not have a Central Division. Thus, Pittsburgh, the Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals, were in the NL East, along with the Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Montreal Expos (today’s Washington Nationals). The Reds, along with the Atlanta Braves, in a tortured display of geographic logic, were in the NL West.

Moreover, only the first-place team went to the postseason, so even with their strong start, Pittsburgh had some work to do as the calendar flipped to early summer.

That work began in earnest with a West Coast trip in early June. The Pirates won eight of ten, and pulled to within a half-game. By June 23, Pittsburgh was in a virtual tie for first with New York, and Chicago was just two games back. The Pirates were going on the road to play both rivals, and it would start with a weekend in Wrigley Field.

On Friday afternoon, Cash was the sparkplug, getting three hits at the top of the lineup. Clemente ripped a two-run triple. Blass worked into the ninth inning, and Giusti cleaned up the 4-2 win. On Saturday, trailing 1-0 in the seventh, Oliver tied the game with a home run. In the eighth, Sanguillen came up with a two-out/two-run single to put Pittsburgh ahead 3-1. Briles worked into the ninth and Giusti cleaned up.

Sunday’s finale was tight again through seven innings and Pittsburgh trailed 2-1. Sanguillen came to the plate in another big two-out spot, this time with the bases loaded. The catcher hit a grand slam. The Pirates unloaded for four more runs in the ninth and completed the sweep with a 9-2 win.

Over the same weekend, the Mets lost three straight to the Cardinals. So, even when Pittsburgh lost both games in New York to start the following week, the Pirates still led the division by a game.

The following weekend, the Cubs made the return trip to Three Rivers Stadium, then in its second year of existence. A four-game series opened on Friday night. The Pirates lost the opener 4-3 when the tying run was stranded on third base in the ninth inning. On Saturday, Pittsburgh again trailed in the ninth, 3-2. This time, Clemente delivered—a two-run walkoff blast to centerfield for the win.

Pittsburgh’s bats did what they did best on Sunday and that’s simply hammer out hits. Davalillo had a three-hit game, while Oliver, Sanguillen, and Bob Robertson added two apiece. The result was a 7-4 win.

In the Monday finale, the Pirates again trailed in the ninth inning, this time 2-1. This time it was Stargell’s turn to deliver the two-run walkoff bomb.

Pittsburgh had won six of seven games against Chicago, and in four of those wins, the Pirates trailed in the seventh inning or later. It was the most significant stretch in the portion of the season where the Bucs took control of the NL East. By the All-Star break, the Cubs had faded to 10 ½ back. The Mets were still very much in it, but Pittsburgh’s strong push to the break had extended their lead to 5 ½ games.

If the early summer was when the Pirates set the tone, the late summer was when they dropped the hammer. Pittsburgh took two of three from the Mets right out of the break, then racked up three wins in four games against the Phillies. Pittsburgh was plus-seven by the end of July. They stayed consistent through August, going 17-11, while the Mets just fell by the wayside. By Labor Day, Pittsburgh was 80-46 and their division lead had ballooned to twelve games.

The race would never get remotely close again. Pittsburgh rolled to a final record of 96-59, the best in the major leagues, a half-game ahead of Cincinnati, who had dominated the NL West. The Pirates cleared the field in the NL East by eleven games.

Pirates-Reds was the National League’s great postseason rivalry of this decade, this marking the second of four times they met in the NLCS in the 1970s. It was a rivalry that was not kind to Pittsburgh. They had already lost in 1970. This 1972 loss was particularly heartbreaking. In what was then a best-of-five series, the Pirates took Game 1, took Game 3, and then led 3-2 in the ninth inning of Game 5. That lead slipped away, and the series was ultimately lost on a wild pitch. The Reds went on to the World Series.

The NLCS loss was simply heartbreaking from a sports standpoint. The offseason was tragic from a human perspective. Clemente’s native Puerto Rico was devastated by an earthquake. The right fielder made a humanitarian flight to bring supplies. Clemente died in a plane crash at sea. Major League Baseball continues to honor his legacy with the Roberto Clemente Award, given out based on a player’s off-the-field work.