To Absent Friends - Departed Pirates

Regular readers know that I always post whenever a member of Pittsburgh's most iconic sports team, the 1960 World Series Champion Pirates, passes away.  It is because THOSE GUYS deserve to be remembered.  Always.  For the record the five remaining members of that team still with us are Roy Face, Vernon Law, Bill Mazeroski, Bob Oldis, and Bob Skinner.  Maz is the youngest among them, and he will turn 88 in September.

While eulogizing the '60 Buccos, we sometimes tend to forget the two other World Series champs that we have seen in our lifetimes, the 1971 and 1979 Pirates teams.  The death of 1979 Pirates catcher Ed Ott earlier in the month brought this close to home, and it prompted me to do some research.  Before showing the results of that research, how about some photos to jog your memories?

Manny Sanguillen and Steve Blass 

celebrate in 1971

1979 - "We Are Family"

The MVP's of the '71 and '79 Series

I don't really need to identify them, do I?

Okay.   The Internet makes it really easy to pull off such a project, but let me make one stipulation.  The names that you see below are the guys who were on the 25 man World Series roster.  Nobody who got traded in mid-season or was on the team for a September call-up qualifies.  Whenever I make a post about the 1960 team, somebody always chimes in and tells me that "Hey, Bennie Daniels is still alive."  Daniels spent time at Forbes Field in 1960, but he watched the World Series on television that year.

So, here are the World Series roster of the 1971 and 1979 Champions.  I have also included Managers Murtaugh and Tanner on the lists. Those who are no longer with us have a black box beside their name.

	1971			1979
Pitchers	Steve Blass		Pitchers	Jim Bibby
	Nelson Briles			Bert Blyleven
	Dock Ellis			John Candelaria
	Dave Guisti			Grant Jackson
	Bob Johnson			Bruce Kison
	Bruce Kison			Dave Roberts
	Bob Miller			Don Robinson
	Bob Moose			Enrique Romo
	Bob Veale			Jim Rooker
	Luke Walker			Kent Tekulve
Catchers	Manny Sanguillen		Catchers	Steve Nicosia
	Milt May			Ed Ott
	Charlie Sands			Manny Sanguillen
Infielders	Gene Alley		Infielders	Tim Foli
	Dave Cash			Phil Garner
	Jackie Hernandez			Bill Madlock
	Bill Mazeroski			Willie Stargell
	Jose Pagan			Rennie Stennett
	Richie Hebner		Outfielders	Matt Alexander
	Bob Robertson			Omar Moreno
Outfielders	Roberto Clemente			Mike Easler
	Gene Clines			Lee Lacy
	Vic Davalillo			John Milner
	Al Oliver			Dave Parker
	Willie Stargell			Bill Robinson
Manager	Danny Murtaugh		Manager	Chuck Tanner
	Deceased	13		Deceased	11

A lot of names that stir up a lot of great memories.

Twenty-four of those 52 names are no longer with us.  These teams played 53 and 45 years ago, and as we have witnessed the Pirates performances over the years on the 21st century, one wonders if we will ever see a Pirates team in the World Series again.

All the more reason to remember these guys.