How did the Pittsburgh Pirates get their name? Media attention was light partly because both of Pittsburghs daily newspapers, the Press and the Post-Gazette, were on strike. Pittsburgh-based cartoon inspires new program to encourage kids to explore nature. That happened when pitcher Bob Veale, who was Black, entered the game in relief. Rennie Stennett. It also allowed the iconic Clemente's career to come full circle. For instance, six of the eight starters on the Cincinnati Reds teams that won consecutive World Series, in 1975 and 76, were Black or Latino. "I know it was a special day to have all his brothers on that team that day," Clemente Jr. said. Roberto Clemente was among the leaders of the 1971 Pirates. Pirates games are a staple for many city residents. Fast forward to today, and you have to round up to get to 8 percent Black players in MLB. For the Pirates, Black players were the rule, not the exception, and when you combined them with Latin players, oftentimes the 1971 team would have seven of the nine positions on the field filled with people of color on any given night. Im quite sure when he made the lineup he wasnt looking at color, Oliver said. / CBS Pittsburgh. Even if it's a moment that may be difficult to replicate. Usually, Clemente would patrol right field, but on this day, Clines played right field. The Pirates were far enough ahead of the curve that they had very nearly registered the historic lineup four years earlier: In a game in June 1967, theyd fielded eight Black starters, everyone but the pitcher. (Photo by Brian Cook Sr.). We all pulled together starting in spring training to bring a worlds championship to Pittsburgh. The best nine players available ran onto the field at Three Rivers Stadium for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 1, 1971. Today in history, the Pittsburgh Pirates started the first all-Black/Latino lineup. These nine playersfive Black, four Latinhad no idea they were making history as they took the field before 11,278 fans at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh on that otherwise conventional, commonplace Wednesday evening. And in fact on Sept. 1, 1971, they actually fielded two distinct all-Black and Latino lineups. September 2, 2021 / 3:00 AM If you scouted and signed players in Latin America. It is a shame that MLB has not really embraced (the moment) because I believe that it is as big as Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, said Roberto Clemente Jr., at the Heinz History Center event, drawing stern affirmations from some in the crowd. Oliver said he doesnt know why Murtaugh chose him that night, only that it was simply about winning the game. "We used to get their bubblegum cards all the time. 
), First published on September 2, 2021 / 3:00 AM. But in terms of messages about Latinos still-growing prominence in baseball, it was one for the ages. And I just feel good that they are aware of that fact.". Yet in recent years, he's come to take it as a compliment of sorts, a nod to the color-blind approach Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh took to his job. As outer space as it sounds, its truemore people have walked on the moon than the number of times theres been a starting lineup in a Major League Baseball game made up entirely of people of color. While Oliver remembers the day being met with a shrug of sorts, over five decades it has taken on new meaning for the grandfather of four. "Afro-American kids have gravitated to basketball, they have gravitated to football," Oliver said. ow can anyone forget that night? said Oliver. Dave Cash. Willie Stargell. 
"I knew Clemente was playing, and (Willie) Mays and (Hank) Aaron," Oliver said. The General Manager of Content & Social Media is in his 25th year of covering sports and culture professionally. The Pirates defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. Oliver has always found it curious as to why it hasn't been celebrated the way Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in 1947 is. Jackie Hernandez. He remembers the celebration being intergenerational enough to include Whitey Turner, an older neighbor who decades earlier had played Negro League baseball. He lives in the neighborhood of Manchester, and he once milked a goat. "We didn't take the field, you know, to make history," Oliver said Wednesday night while honoring the 50th anniversary of a 10-7 win over Philadelphia. Although I lived in Cincinnati and I loved the Reds, that still drew me closer to the Pirates, said Black, whos now head of African-American programs at Pittsburghs Heinz History Center. Back in those days, Black players in the Major Leagues was nothing new Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier in 1947 and they showed they belonged, as Robinson, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Frank Robinson and Elston Howard were among African Americans who won a league (American or National) MVP in the following years. It was no big deal to us, minority or majority, he said. It was days before Oliver learned the line-up was unprecedented. PITTSBURGH (AP) In the moment, it wasn't a big deal. 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. His passion is baseball, the culturing of baseball and preserving and documenting the historically-impactful accomplishments and contributions of African-Americans in baseball. he Pirates players on the field did not realize they were making history until the game was underway. The prevailing theory is that a lack of racial awareness on the part of the majority white press as well as the fact that The Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the city two major newspapers, were on strike, led to the event sliding under the radar. Sanguilln remembers hearing about it in the second inning. As far as I know there has never been another all-Black lineup in baseball history, said Markusen. 
Something that was never an issue for the "Lumber Company" era in Pittsburgh. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. In 1971, playwright and theater director Mark Clayton Southers was a 9-year-old Little Leaguer in the Hill District, playing on a team his father coached. That 1971 game is typically noted in the context of Robinsons achievement. Ruck said that Black participation in youth baseball in the U.S. was undermined by the increasing cost of playing for traveling teams, the rise of personalized training for elite prospects, and the lure of full college scholarships in sports like football and basketball. The fact all nine Rennie Stennett, Gene Clines, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Manny Sanguillen, Dave Cash, Al Oliver, Jackie Hernandez, and Dock Ellis were Black or of Latin descent didn't even really occur to them until afterward. Half the 1971 Pirates were Black or Latino twice the Major League average that year. But, just like fine wine, the history made 50 years ago this month with MLBs first all-minority lineup seems to appreciate as the time travels. "I thought I was a pretty good hitter," Oliver, a .303 lifetime hitter, said with a laugh. Clementes son, Roberto Clemente Jr., was also part of the panel. For 2 hours and 44 minutes in front of 11,278 fans, the Pirates became the ideal of what civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King preached. And it drew African-Americans across the country, [who] became Pirates fans because of that.. In what his biographer David Maraniss called one of the most memorable acts of his life, Clemente chose to speak his first post-Series words to the media in Spanish: En el dia mas grande de mi vida, para los nenes la benedicin mia and ques mi padres, me echen la benedicin.. It was. With Black participation in MLB sitting at just under 8 percent (and rising) its important to acknowledge the African-American players who have paved the way for other Black and Latino ballers. But you really don't see a lot in baseball of baseball players doing commercials. Today, about 7 percent of Major Leaguers are Black, while the percentage of Latinos approaches 30 percent. On September 1, 1971, the Pirates became the first MLB franchise to field a starting lineup that consisted of all Black and Latino players. We didnt realize that we were making history at the time, said Cash, speaking at a forum with the other living members of that lineup, Sanguillen, Clines, and Oliver, at the Heinz History Center, Sept. 1, 2021. Cash, Clines, Oliver, Stargell and Ellis were the Black players in the lineup.
Stargell died in 2001. MANNY SANGUILLEN was behind the plate, as the catcher on Sept. 1, 1971, the date the Pirates fielded MLBs first all-minority starting lineup. And the thing that I feel great about it was that it proved the unity that we had on our team and proved that we had a manager that really (wasn't) concerned about race.". The only way that we were going to do that was pull together as one, pull for one another, help one another. But looking back at it, its something special, and its going to be something special for a long time. Southers and his friends talked about it, yeah, we definitely talked about it, he said. Roberto Clemente Jr., pictured at top right, is the son of Pirates legend Roberto Clemente, who was part of the 1971 lineup. Pittsburgh went on to beat San Francisco in four games in the NL Championship Series before rallying from a two-game deficit to edge heavily favored Baltimore in the World Series. Their contributions have helped make Major League Baseball a booming business. Every milestone by Black players should be recognized, especially when understanding the history of the Black player as it relates to a sport that helped integrate America and inspire massive civil rights changes. Clemente Jr. was six years old in 1971, watching his iconic father playing left field on Sept. 1. Clemente was greeting his sons and parents. And unlike the 1960 Pirates, which were largely all white, or even Steelers squads before that, the teams at Pitt, the Pirates, the Steelers, were thoroughly integrated ball clubs in the 70s, Ruck said. "Baltimore had beat everybody else, but they hadn't beat us.". Have a tip for the WESA newsroom? He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and in 30-plus years as a journalist has freelanced for publications including In Pittsburgh, The Nation, E: The Environmental Magazine, American Theatre, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They were an organization that was very aggressive scouting and signing players in the Caribbean, said Bruce Markusen, an author and baseball historian who works at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, N.Y. They signed a lot of African-American players in the 1960s, early 1970s.. I cant be more proud to be a part of this team, the brotherhood, the compassion, the drive, the dedication, the work ethic that these guys had. In addition to hosting the event at the Heinz History Center, the Pirates created a commemorative logo celebrating the 50th anniversary, the current team wore T-shirts with the logo prior to its Sept. 1 game in Chicago against the White Sox, and held a pregame ceremony with the living players from that lineup on Sept. 6 at PNC Park.
It was like Obama getting elected in our young minds, back then. It had to be in the newspaper or something like that, said Oliver. Back row: Dave Cash, left. Bill is a long-time Pittsburgh-based journalist specializing in the arts and the environment.
The nine players in the lineup were: Rennie Stennett (2B), Gene Clines (CF), Puerto Rican icon and Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente (RF), MLBBro Willie Stargell (LF), Manny Sanguillen (C), MLBbro Dave Cash (3B), MLBbro Al Oliver (1B), Jackie Hernandez (SS), and colorful Black Ace Dock Ellis (RHP). Not with Hall of Famers like Clemente in right field and Stargell in left and Oliver usually in between. Jet magazine called the line-up a first for the Pirates, but didnt acknowledge it as a Major League milestone. Its not easy to win a championship. In 1971 24 years later Black and Latino players still made up just 25 percent of all major-league players. Players like first-baseman Al Oliver agree even though the biggest anomaly in that nights lineup was that Oliver, a left-handed hitter, started against Phillies left-handed starter Woody Fryman, a role that usually would have gone to right-handed-hitting first-baseman Bob Robertson, who was white. Email: bodriscoll@wesa.fm, Stage and screen star Billy Porter talks about shooting his directorial debut, "Anything's Possible," in his hometown. Meanwhile, baseball clubs looked increasingly to the Caribbean, where young talent was cheaper to scout, sign and develop. The Pirates currently have two Black players on its 40-man roster (rosters get expanded from 25 to 40 in September) rookie KeBryan Hayes and outfielder Anthony Alford. In Ohio, a young Cincinnati Reds fan named Samuel Black experienced the Bucs groundbreaking lineup in the context of nascent Black pride and the ongoing civil-rights movement. "And I knew it was a special moment because that meant (minority players) had arrived. We were just a team, and we knew whoever was put on the field, we were going to do the job.. Oliver, known as Scoop, told that crowd that what stood out for him was that we lost Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. three years prior. I think thats one of the reasons why that team was so successful, because they really had the right guy in Murtaugh leading the way.. Murtaugh retired as manager after that season, and died in 1976. The victory over Philadelphia that night came during a torrid 18-5 stretch that allowed the Pirates to win the NL East. s far as minorities in sports, that has to be second., Similarly, in hindsight, Sanguilln says he now ranks the Sept. 1, 1971, game over his two World Series appearances. It was something that you never thought would happen, you know., We thought it was a big deal and we all wished we would have been there, added Southers, who went on to coach Little League himself. Copyright 2022. That era, as it turned out, proved a near-peak of Black participation in the Major Leagues. Years later that game against the Phillies is recognized as another step in the full emergence of Black and Latino players. To see that you were part of something that was very special, and it means more now, 50 years later, than it did when it happened, added Clines, who played right field. In (Al) Olivers opinion, as far as social baseball milestones go, the Pirates all-Black and Latino lineup ranks second only to Robinson debut.