The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates | "The Lumber Company" | A Year in Review

45 Years ago, there was a baseball team that captivated America and the baseball world, as the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates- not heralded as one of the best teams in baseball history, but one of the darlings of the sport that captured a World Series championship.

There also was a rallying cry that was implemented that would be nationally known by adopting the Sister Sledge record called We Are Family as a theme song to represent the team’s togetherness and cohesiveness.

The Pittsburgh Pirates of 1979 got off to a disappointing start by losing 10 of their first 14 and still play sub .500 baseball on Memorial Day in terms of being 6 in a half games out. Pitching-wise, the Pirates of 1979 finished 3rd in the National League in ERA featuring pitchers like Bert Blyleven, John Candelaria and Bruce Kison finishing between 12-14 wins with ERAs between 3.19 including 3.60 and lead the league in runs scored.

Dave Parker was one of the key players that hit 25 home runs and driving in 94 RBIs. Meanwhile Bill Robinson hit 24 home runs including Manager Chuck Tanner was the skipper of the team. Willie Stargell even though 35 years old as the first baseman hit 32 home runs actually shared the National League MVP Award with St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez.

The Pirates won the National League division with a 98-64 record and beat the Cincinnati Reds in the best of 5 series in a sweep as Willie Stargell won NLCS MVP. Now the Pirates had to face the Baltimore Orioles who they faced back in 1971 and beat Baltimore for the World Series title.

Now it was deja vu again as the Pirates overcame a 3-1 deficit and win the series in 7 games including beating American League Cy Young Award Winner Mike Flanagan including winning 2 games on the road in consecutive games. In Game 7 the Pirates trailed 1-0 in the 6th inning then Stargell hit a 2 run homer which led and resulted in winning World Series MVP as the Pirates of 1979 became the last team to win the final 2 games of a World Series on the road.

Overall the Pirates haven’t won a World Series since 1979 as the drought continues but 45 years ago the Pirates were the talk of the baseball world as indeed they were family united.