For 10 years Willie Stargell played in Roberto Clemente’s shadow. While one of the show’s greatest heroes became a legend in right field, his counter part was in left field; who had equally as good an arm. Stargell threw out 4.1% of runners from left, and Clemente threw out 4.2%. Stargell may not have been a 5-tool player. or a god in the locker room, but he quietly got into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, a decade after Clemente’s passing. When one talks about raw power, Stargell is always a good name to be brought up. Sure Stargell was a quiet leader besides the Great One, but he was enough of one to be nicknamed “Pops.”
Willie almost always batted either right behind Clemente in the lineup or a couple spots below. From 1970-1972, Stargell was the right hand man along side Clemente, as the Pirates advanced to the Series and won it in 71, despite losing 2 NLCS’s in 70, 72. After Clemente’s tragic death in 71, Pops went on to lead Pitt to the NLCS in 1974 and 75, then won the NLCS MVP along with the WS MVP in 79. All in all, throughout 36 playoff games, Pops batted .278 with a slugging percentage of .511; while he belted 7 homers and 10 doubles, driving in 20 runs. He was not only clutch during the post-season, but the regular season as well.
During Pops’ 21-year tender with the Buckos, he collected 1540 RBI’s; 9 seasons with 90+. Every time he came to bat, he was either going to strike out, line one into the gap, or belt the ball over the fence. He may have only lead the league in homers twice, and slugging percentage once, but he was a true threat at the plate, as he could launch a 450+ foot homer at anytime.
Despite Stargell collecting over 4000 total bases, he was a little below average in range and speed. In left field, he usually produced a low range factor, however, his arm, had a rocket attached to it. During his 10378.1 innings played in left field, he threw out 49 runners and held 60.4% of them (league average was 59.1). Towards the end of his career, he played a lot of games at 1B, to preserve his power bat, but overall he is remembered as Clemente’s better half, hitting 475 career homers and launching balls a far ways from the left field corner to help the Buckos to 2 championships. “Pops” was the ultimate father of power in yellow and black.
