There was a water fountain display behind the outfield fencebeating Kansas Citys Royals/Kauffman Stadium to the punch by a couple of years. That same year, fellow Pirate Willie Stargell was the target of a bomb threat. Philadelphia finished last in the six-team NL Eastern Division with a 67-95 record, while Bunning won only two of eight decisions at the Vet after Opening Day with a rough 7.54 earned run average. This particular box was reserved for the mayor. Pittsburgh Pirates. (Temple University Libraries, George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographs). One disc jockey failed the ostrich jockey test as she was thrown off the animal, which ran amok around the fieldwhile another was spooked and took its rider (retired Phillie and future Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn) for the ride of his life. Stargells bomb soared halfway up the upper deck in right-center field, through an exit tunnel; the ball, given a traveling estimate of well over 500 feet, was never found. Cramped quarters in a rustic setting yielded to spacious vogue; Phillies pitcher Rick Wise joked to The Sporting News upon entering the Vets expansive clubhouse, Its a toll call if you want to talk to somebody on the other end.. Willie Stargell; Power-Hitting Patriarch of Baseball's Pirates Major League Baseball consists of 30 teams split between the American and National Leagues. #TBT to 1971 when #Pirates slugger Willie Stargell crushed the longest HR @ Veteran's Stadium: http://t.co/8mrvSJeaGo pic.twitter.com/xZxs7wsphZ. (Starting catcher Tim McCarver wanted no part of the stunt and deferred to Ryan.) To their pleasant surprise, what they saw contained far more character than the noble yet gray faade outside. Willie Stargell, who led the Pittsburgh Pirates to two World Series championships with his tape-measure home runs and patriarchal leadership, died on this date in 2001 of a . Worst field in the Western Hemisphere, said The Sporting News Michael Kinsley in 1994. For as big of a star and then villain as Barry Bonds was during his career, it's surprisingly difficult to find details regarding the longest home run he ever hit at AT&T Park. 6 - Willie Stargell hit four home runs into the upper deck of right field at Three Rivers Stadium including the longest home run in the history of the Stadium. By 1986, even visiting players and fans were getting into the roguish Vet spirit; Cincinnati Reds pitcher John Denny beat up a Cincinnati Enquirer reporter, while later in the year fans of the visiting New York Mets went wild, doing damage to concessions stands and seats. Besides the Phillies and Eagles, the Vet hosted over 100 concerts including many big names (Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Bon Jovi, etc. willie stargell home run veterans stadium - josannebroersen.com MLB.com also offers extensive historical information and footage, online ticket sales, official baseball merchandise, authenticated memorabilia and collectibles and fantasy games. He capped that decade off in 1979 with a magical season at the ripe age old of 39. The first home run was a 507-foot rocket off Alan Foster on August 5, 1969, that landed initially in the middle of the tin roof covering the pavilion in right-field, then bounced over and out of the ballpark it is the longest home run hit at Dodger Stadium. Two of the cadets suffered serious injuries, including one with a broken neck. A resurgent, 39-year-old Willie Stargell provides leadership and a little more, stepping it up for the Pittsburgh Pirates and guiding a World Series comeback against the Baltimore Orioles. This is the sixth home run to be hit out of Dodger Stadium, . Toward the end, the Vet grew increasingly popular with the cats and rats that dominated the stadiums substructure and ducts. Willie Stargell didn't just hit 475 career home runs, he crushed home runs. . A peculiar person to say the least, Carlton was one of those people you best approached with caution; reporters need not approach at all, as Lefty refused to speak to them. Willie Stargell was born on Wednesday, March 6, 1940, in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. There are eight points of radius on a circle. Willie Stargell was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1988. (Temple University Libraries, George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographs), From the front office to the clubhouse, the Phillies praised the Vet after years stuck at decaying Connie Mack Stadium. Stargell was the first player to hit a home run out of Dodger Stadium, and he did it twice. At the Phillies request, the city included 28 luxury suites below the Vets upper deck. How many seasons did Willie Stargell play? On the other end, there were those looking for a more lighthearted and provincial tone; the top choice among local residents and columnists was the Philadium, while others with a deeper, National Lampoon-ish sense of humor suggested titles such as Losers Paradise, the Topless Terrace (because it had no dome) and Swamp Hollow, because the Vet was built on a former swamp. . Remarkably, the longest home run ever hit at Veterans Stadium came just 3 months into its 33 year history. Willie Stargell was a feared power hitter and a leader on the field and in the clubhouse during his 21 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Over 15 years after the Vets demolition, Philadelphia residents were still paying off the debts to build it. Maybe at firstbut once the new stadium smell wore off, the fans returned to their nasty habits. Forbes Field couldn't contain Willie Stargell - Baseball Hall of Fame With virtually all site options exhausted by bureaucrats and naysayers, the city focused on one plot of land that seemed to make the most sense all along: A spacious site at the citys south end alongside the massive 100,000-seat Municipal (later JFK) Stadium, the neutral host of the prestigious Army-Navy college football game. Was willie stargell married? - sempoa.jodymaroni.com . Emerging cities to the west looked appealing to major league teams, themselves looking to escape from the archaic environment. The Phillies requested, and got, 28 modern suites tucked in below the upper deck, and a lavish stadium club was situated alongside them, with a 200-foot-long bar and seating for 500 patronsall looking straight out onto the field. History Of Players To Hit Home Run Out Of Dodger Stadium Willie Stargell, May 20, 1978, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, 535 feet Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson said Stargell had "power enough to hit home runs in any park, including Yellowstone." Teammate Deron Johnson remarked, Its a good thing it wasnt the real Liberty Bellotherwise it would have a dent to go along with the crack. Before the Vets first decade was completed, Luzinski registered three seasons with at least 30 home runs with 100 runs batted in. For all of their raucous, biting charm, Phillies fans had nothing on those of the Eaglesparticularly as the Vet grew older. Have a comment, question or request? Additionally, the Expos gifted the slugger a life preserver for his massive homers at their old stadium Jarry Park. Though it wore out its welcome as fast as its many carpets, the Vet helped catapult the Philly sports scene into modern times and proved that no facility, however stately, could tame the citys famed bullies and boobirds. The Vet failed to domesticate Philadelphia's notorious boobirds, known for verbally abusing everyone from Richie Allen to Santa Claus. Willie Stargell - Baseball-Reference.com Willie Stargell hit a home run an estimated 535 feet at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, the longest blast in the stadium's history. Say what you want about the multi-purpose, cookie-cutter stadiums that Richie Hebner famously couldnt distinguish from one another; it allowed the Phillies to catapult from ancient times to a brave new world of mass fandom that has been smoothly leveraged to Citizens Bank Park, complete with the ghosts of the 700 Level. The 10 most powerful home runs in baseball history - Sports Illustrated Dodger Stadium. Schmidt lamented about the verbal abuse during an off-year in 1978: It got so bad, I didnt want to go to the on-deck circle. During another bad slide late in his career in 1985, Schmidt made headlines about how Phillies fans were a mob scenebeyond help, knowing full well that hed get an angry earful when he appeared in his next game back at the Vet. Back at Connie Mack Stadium, Phillies players dealt with a hostile fan experience, but African-Americans had it far worse. The stray cats did not suffer under the weight of the collapsing structure; they were gathered up beforehand and put up for adoption. (Temple University Libraries, George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographs), For the Vet to be configured from baseball to football, a portion of the lower deck along the third-base line was swiveled over left field, while extra seats hidden for baseball games were pulled out. , Where to live in New York if you've just come into $324 million, used to deposit blasts into the public pool. Knabb, who came up with the design, lovingly referred to it as octorad. Fans of both the Phillies and footballs Eagles, the Vets two prime tenants, were as vicious as ever; the higher the level, the more savage they got. 2022-23 Upper Deck Series 2 For Calder Lot of 5 Cards - eBay Veterans Stadium - Famous Baseball Players Philadelphia Phillies, 1971-2003Philadelphia Eagles (NFL), 1971-2003Philadelphia Atoms (NASL), 1973-75Philadelphia Fury (NASL), 1978-80Temple University (college football), 1978-2002Philadelphia Stars (USFL), 1983-84, 3501 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ronald A. Knabb Jr., Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaHugh Stubbins & Associates, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Left field line: 330 feetLeft-center field: 371 feetCenter field: 408 feetRight-center field: 371 feetRight field line: 330 feet, April 10, 1971Philadelphia Phillies 4, Montreal Expos 1, September 28, 2003Atlanta Braves, 5, Philadelphia Phillies 2, August 15, 1990Terry MulhollandApril 27, 2003Kevin Millwood, 550 feet (estimated)Willie Stargell, June 25, 1971, 1976National League 7, American League 11996National League 6, American League 0. Only two other players would hit a home run into the 600 level, the upper deck, at the Vet (before it closed), Butch Huskey (Section 638) & Ruben Rivera (Section 638). Dave Kingman ; Distance: 530 Feet Team . Beginning with his difficult childhood and revealing his encounters with fierce racial hostility while playing minor league ball in the south, this book goes on to show . . The franchise leader in home runs (475) and RBI (1,540) as well as extra-base. He also received his second NL Player of the Month award. Willie Stargell was 6-2 (188 cm) tall. Following the Braves lead, the Philadelphia Athletics bolted town after 1954 to Kansas City, leaving the Phillies as the citys only baseball entertainment value. Demolished: February 11, 2001 Josh Bell joins Willie Stargell on list of longest Pirates home runs The mark was tied several times after Pops set the record, until Albert Pujols broke it when he went deep 14 times in 2006. Pops: The Willie Stargell Story - Richard F. Peterson - Google Books The Ballparks: Baker Bowl It was a ballpark ahead of its time when built and well behind the times when abandoned 40 years later, by then a ridiculed dump given a slough of unpleasant names. This was in 98 or 99. The Phillies also used the Vet as an opportunity to engender racial harmony in a city that bragged brotherly love. That it stood for generations while two tenants largely stank up the joint was a testament to its perseverance. 4 - Willie Stargell hit three home runs in a game four times in his career. "Sometimes I hit him (Steve Carlton) like I used to hit (Sandy) Koufax, and that's like drinking coffee with a fork. April 4, 1988: Darryl Strawberry blasts 525-foot homer off Olympic Every time he hit a home run, Willie's restaurant in Pittsburgh's Hill District threw out a free chicken to everyone present. willie stargell home run veterans stadium - perfectfc.com Willie's career details. Though they ultimately did not, they still voluntarily pitched in for some needed fixing up. Two years later, Drew made his Vet debutin the uniform of the Cardinals, one bearing someone elses name as he was so petrified by the reaction hed get. October 10, 1979 | 00:00:29. This late 1980s view of the Vet reveals many of the stadiums more notable features: The display of National League team logos above the outfield wall, twin scoreboards in the upper deck, and a replica of Philadelphias famed Liberty Bell at the very top. Eventually, a black-and-gold star with an S in the middle was painted atop the tunnel entrance to denote what many believe was the longest home run ever hit at the Veta surprising tribute given to a rival opponent. All Rights Reserved by Baseball Almanac, Inc.Hosted by Hosting 4 Less. During Greg Luzinskis reign with the Phillies in the 1970s, he bought out a section of seats in the lower part of the upper deck behind left field, called it the Bull Ring and gave away the tickets to youth organizations. Then the doctors found them in my thighs. Worried that his players could risk suffering the same fate, Eagles owner Norman Braman lobbied hard for either a safer brand of fake turf, or build a football-only stadium nearby with real grass. Worried about too big a seating capacity, the Phillies originally wanted to tarp 10,000 upper-deck seats in center field. They were all universally hated. Cardinals broadcaster Mike Shannon has said the longest home run he has witnessed was hit by McCovey on Sept. 4, 1966, at St. Louis. Perhaps the most visible changes at the Vet were the installation of the football skyboxes atop the upper level in 1986 and, nine years later, the complete replacement of seats from the original Fall-like rainbow hues to a global deep blue. The stadium was known for rowdy fans, iconic sporting events, and several other events between its opening day on April 10th, 1971, and the final game on September 28th, 2003. No home runs were hit, meaning that the last official deep fly, hit the day before, was registered by Hall of Famer Jim Thomeplaying his first of three seasons with the Phillies and giving him a stadium-record 28 for the season. Montreal Expos pitcher Wayne Twitchell gets half-credit for the record and the Expos commemorated the blast by painting the seat where the ball landed gold. As articulate and approachable as Carlton was quiet and reclusive, Schmidt would play all 18 of his seasons with the Phillies, racking up 548 homers, 10 Gold Gloves at third and three NL MVP awards. Unlike Phil and Phyllis, the Phanatic had an attitude and, like the San Diego Chicken before it, playfully needled with opposing players and managers. The spot where the ball landed was later marked with a yellow star, with a black "S" inside a white circle. Two months later, the Steelers played their first game at Three Rivers, a 19-7 loss to the Houston Oilers. Skip to . willie stargell home run veterans stadiumgriffin park demolishedgriffin park demolished According to BR. When baseball's biggest stars need a haircut, they come to Jos 'Jordan' Lpez, By That's when the Pittsburgh. The homer, though the second longest of Tatis' career, fell far short of the stadium record. What followed over the next 10 years would be a dizzying game of whack-a-site, with ideas for new stadium locations popping up here and thereonly to be knocked down by someone in charge. Stargell was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 16, 1962, with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Willie Stargell Quotes | Baseball Almanac Willie Stargell Rookie Card | 1963 Topps Baseball Card (#553 | Checklist)Baseball Almanac Research Library. Wilver Dornell Willie Stargell (March 6, 1940 April 9, 2001), nicknamed Pops in the later years of his career, was an American professional baseball player. The centerpiece of the City of Brotherly Loves sports hub, Veterans Stadium was a civilized structure filled with uncivilized spectators, where Phillies prevailed, Eagles soared and cats and rats ruled the underbelly. Getting the worst, most sustained treatment from Phillies fans at the Vet was outfielder J.D. 10 Longest Home Runs in MLB History - Largest.org update=copyright.getFullYear(); Remembering the Cookie-Cutter, Part 3: Three Rivers Stadium . (FlickrPaul Altobelli). The city listened and went back to the drawing board. The Ballparks: Veterans StadiumThis Great Game Stargell, who would've celebrated his 77th birthday today, clubbed eight homers, six doubles and 21 RBIs off the right-hander during his career. Special offer. Willie Stargell - Wikipedia With the opening of the modern, civic-built Vet, a more inclusive atmosphere emerged, reflected by the late 1970s with the presence of Dave Cash, Garry Maddox and Bake McBride; even Dick (nee Richie) Allen, who swore never to play in Philadelphia again, returned for a couple of years. Did you every try that?" Two camps of thought emerged. SDCCU Stadium. Future Hall-of-Fame pitcher Jim Bunning, back with the Phillies after four years, took the ball and pitched 7.1 sharp innings in a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Expos. Stargell hit an estimated 470 foot home run off Andy Messersmith that cleared the right-field pavilion. Sixty concession stands were also coded via a bright color palette; the usual ballpark perishableshotdogs, soda, beer, peanuts, popcornwere sold at booths bathed in orange, more relative high-end items such as hamburgers, pizza, roast beef sandwiches and fried chicken were sold at yellow booths, and the blue booths were where youd find the ice cream. Today's Paper. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Willie Stargell baseball stats page. Two local architectural firms, George M. Ewing Co. and Stonorov and Haws, were hired by the city to come up with a stadium design that could work for both the Phillies and Eagles. Monday, July 18, 2022. Stargell, who would've celebrated his 77th birthday today, clubbed eight homers, six doubles and 21 RBIs off the right-hander during his career. The excessive show of force was, fortunately, more show and less force as Phillies fans abided and rejoiced peacefully. (FlickrAndrew Evans). In 1982, the Pirates retired his uniform number 8. For more than three decades Veterans Stadium was home to Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies and the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles. But there was a sense of can do after all the years of cant do back at the old park, as pride of place and a corporate refresh undergone brought an adapted attitude that unchained the Phillies from the defeatist mindset of previous eras. One threw a liquor bottle at Pittsburghs Al Oliver in 1976 and received a 60-day jail sentence for it. The final baseball game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh on Sunday drew 55,351 fans, the largest regular-season crowd in the history of the stadium. 10/2/79: Willie Stargell's three-run home run in the top of the 11th gives the Pirates a 5-2 lead over the Reds in Game 1 of the NLCSCheck out http://m.mlb.c. (McGraw lost his battle less than four months later.). Hehit the longest ballin Veterans Stadium history -- a majestic, 450-foot bomb that the Phillies marked with a gold star and newspapers compared to a Jack Nicklaus tee shot. "They give you a round bat and they throw you a round ball and they tell you to hit it square." - Willie Stargell in Good Wood: The Story of the Baseball Bat (Stuart Miller, ACTA Publications . Richie Hebner, who played for the Phillies from 1977-78, provided the definitive statement on the Vet and its structural clones of the time when he admitted, I stand at the plate in Philadelphia and I honestly dont know whether Im in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis or Philly.. To further offset the Vets sterility, the Phillies jazzed up the proceedings thanks to Bill Giles, the son of former NL President Warren Giles hired on by the team in 1969. This was excruciatingly exemplified in 1993 when Chicago Bears wide receiver Wendell Davis blew out both knees running a simple fly pattern, ending his football career at age 27. Not just. The most runs scored by one team at the Vet came on June 11, 1985 when the Phillies smashed the New York Mets, 26-7. Too many people already think of Philadelphia as a cemetery with lights, he said. Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton in The Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia (David Finoli, Sports Publishing, LLC, 05/01/2003, Page 256) once said, "He doesn't just hit pitchers. All of this necessitated the use of artificial turf at the Vet; throughout its 33-year history, six different carpets were used, each costing between $1-2 million. On March 12, 1970, the City Council officially named the facility as Veterans Stadiumdedicated, as the plaque would later state, to those brave men and women of Philadelphia who served in defense of their country., Inside the Vets faade lay a menagerie of concrete beams, ramps and concourses. Community. The Vet failed to domesticate Philadelphias notorious boobirds, known for verbally abusing everyone from Richie Allen to Santa Claus. fourth place on the career home run list with 587 and led the San. Giants vs. Padres - MLB Game Recap - June 5, 2002 | ESPN April 9, 2001 / 8:32 AM / AP. Looking like the future Joe Robbie/Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, the rectangular structure diagonally beveled at each corner was so disliked by the Phillies that they refused to sign any new lease and, with its current lease at Connie Mack Stadium soon expiringand the ballparks new owners whom the team sold it to anxious to tear it downRobert Carpenter began to publicly muse New Jersey all over again. As a parting gift, the As sold Connie Mack Stadium to the Phillies, who wanted it like a hot potatobut they had no choice, given that any other buyer would possibly tear down and redevelop the property, leaving the National League team of 70 years homeless. The "Vet" opened on April 10, 1971 at the corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue in Philadelphia. "She Is Gone!" - Think Blue LA There would have to be some buying out of private property to make the space availableleading to the inevitable haggling between buyer and seller over the value of the landwhile the city had to twist the arms of the Eagles, hardly desperate to leave its current home at the 70,000-seat, football-friendly Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania campus. 11 - Willie Stargell went deep eleven times in April 1971, tying him with six other players for the National League record of home runs in the month of April. He struck the seven of the 18 balls that went over the Forbes Field's stands. This was made loud and visually clear during the 1998 Army-Navy football game when a group of Naval cadets, standing over a field-level railing and mugging for the CBS camera, fell 12 feet to the turf as the railing gave way. 296 - Willie Stargell hit two-hundred ninety-six home runs hit during the 1970s, the most by any player in the big leagues across that entire decade. Facebook Willie Stargell Obituary (2001) - Legacy Remembers Only two other players would hit a home run into the 600 level, the upper deck, at the Vet (before it closed), Butch Huskey (Section 638) & Ruben Rivera (Section 638). To the latter point, the city neared bankruptcy in 1990 and it was rumored that the Phillies would buy out the Vet. There were five statues outside of Veterans Stadium: One of eternal Philadelphia As manager Connie Mack (brought over from Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium), two generic sculptures of ballplayersone sliding, the other admiring a long driveand two football sculptures also showing nameless players in action. The spot where Stargell's ball landed was marked with a yellow star with a black "S" inside a white circle until Pops passed away, the white circle was then painted black. willie stargell home run veterans stadium. Hall of Famer Willie Stargell, who led the Pittsburgh Pirates to two World Series victories with his tape-measure home runs and patriarchal leadership, died Monday . Even before the first shovel was plunged into the ground, costs on the Vet began to spiral out of control, as the city was criticized for overpaying the (multiple) architects and engineers. Veterans Stadium - Wikipedia Apps. The Eagles got their fans' hopes up here on many, many occasions, only to let them down each time. Did you know that Willie, his nickname, won the 1979 Most Valuable Player Award, the 1979 League Championship Most Valuable Player Award, and the 1979 World Series Most Valuable Player Award the only player in Major League history to have won all three MVPs during the same season? I was kind of in shock. An ode to Willie Stargell, the man who 'didn't just hit pitchers, he Bob Forsch had the most wins, with 15. On Opening Day 1972, a hang glider who went by the handle of Kiteman was to roll down a 100-foot wooden ramp on the upper deck and soar above the field to deliver the ball for the first pitch; but he lost his balance halfway down the ramp and crashed into the seats. Let's take a dignified look at some of Pop's numbers of interest: 1 - Willie Stargell crushed one home run on June 25, 1971, it hit a seat in Section 601, and it was the longest home run ever hit at Veterans Stadium (half credit to Jim Bunning). Yes, out of of the Stadium, and he was the first player to ever do so. Pirates unveil baseball's freshest look with 1979 throwback uniforms, Andrew McCutchen knows playing right field for the Pirates comes with an impressive legacy. LADF. 5:05 PM, June 5, 2002. The first player to ever hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium is Pittsburgh Pirates legend Willie Stargell. Hugh Stubbins, by now the lead designer, eliminated some of the bells and whistles initially associated with the Vet to reduce the projected budget. Some in the crowd of 45,000 became irate at the news, smashing windows at the will call booth. But Willie Stargell, the Pittsburgh Pirate slugger who died earlier this month, left no doubt about his "called shot" home run at Portland's Multnomah Stadium in 1979. 15 - Willie Stargell hit at least 20 home runs in fifteen different seasons, including 13 consecutively, 1964 through 1976. Sign in Subscribe. Willie Stargell played 21 seasons. He is one of only fourteen players who played at least . Rad is short for radius. Those not content with ordinary seats had their own options. Though the Phillies struggled in the first few years at the Vet, there was a strong sense that it was a matter of time before fortunes turned. The original seats have been replaced by new blue ones, and the upper deck penthouse suites, added in 1986 to keep the football Eagles in town, rim the top. The only other two players who have hit a home run out of Dodger Stadium since 1973, Mark McGwire and Mike Piazza.