Stargell's 'called shot' the real deal | The Seattle Times Fans walked up one of eight semi-circular walkways that rose to a main walkway rimming the base of the stadium, above a moat of parking for players, staff and service vehicles. He also received his second NL Player of the Month award. That it stood for generations while two tenants largely stank up the joint was a testament to its perseverance. Baseball, Coffee, Trying. A conservative wing embraced military options such as Eisenhower Stadium (named after the former President and World War II general) and War Veterans Memorial Stadium, which led city councilman John Kelly Jr.the father of actress/princess Grace Kellyto cringe. Robert Gordon, who penned a book on the 1993 pennant-winning Phillies, wrote that it was the greatest high-wire act seen at the Vet until the arrival of closer Mitch Wild Thing Williams. Trick-or-Treating at Willie Stargell's House in 1979 Giants vs. Padres - MLB Game Recap - June 5, 2002 | ESPN The city denied the motion because it would cost upwards of $300,000. 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. To their pleasant surprise, what they saw contained far more character than the noble yet gray faade outside. 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. Veterans Stadium - Famous Baseball Players Teams. Too easy? 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. Markers in the Citizens Bank Park parking lot show where home plate and the three bases from the Vet were located. Philadelphia Phillies Team History A decade-by-decade history of the Phillies, the ballparks theyve played in, and the four people who are on the franchises Mount Rushmore. Richie Hebner scored the first run and Willie Stargell hit the first Pirates home run in the stadium's history. He hit two balls out of Dodger Stadium and did his share of damage at both Forbes Field and Three Rivers . The Phillies clinched their first championship in a star-crossed history here. 1979: One for Pops and His Family. Among the 10 players who knocked in seven runs in a game for the Phillies at the Vet was pitcher Robert Person, who belted a grand slam as part of a 10-run first inningthen added a three-run shot in the fifth in an 18-3 win over Montreal on June 2, 2002. Skip to . Willie Stargell Bio: Career, Net Worth, MLB & Legacy His 507-foot home shot in 1969 was the longest at Dodger Stadium. 15 - Willie Stargell hit at least 20 home runs in fifteen different seasons, including 13 consecutively, 1964 through 1976. William Henry Keeler (March 3, 1872 - January 1, 1923), nicknamed "Wee Willie" because of his small stature, was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1892 to 1910, primarily for the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn Superbas in the National League, and the New York Highlanders in the American League.Keeler, one of the best hitters of his time, was elected to the . It's located in Pennsylvania, United States. Willie Stargell - Gossipy Bio There's nothing I value more than the closeness of friends and family, a smile as I pass someone on the street. Carltons superstar equal at the plate would also evolve in the Vets early years. (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. MLB.com also provides an array of mobile apps for fans to choose from, including At Bat, the highest-grossing iOS sports app of all-time. Getting the worst, most sustained treatment from Phillies fans at the Vet was outfielder J.D. He is one of only fourteen players who played at least . Played for rockies. 40th anniversary: Stargell hits one out of Dodger Stadium 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. Local officials loved the idea, while those back in Philadelphia grew so worried that they lobbied the state to overturn the ban on selling alcohol at Connie Mack Stadium as a carrot stick for Carpenter to remain. Second place went to another pretty solid slugger, Reggie Jackson, he had 292. Stargell, who would've celebrated his 77th birthday today, clubbed eight homers, six doubles and 21 RBIs off the right-hander during his career. 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. The spot where the ball landed was marked with a yellow star with a black "S" inside a . Fueled by a career comeback and a sunny disposition that he had never lost, Willie Stargell became a critical guiding . It's a Micro size geocache, with difficulty of 1.5, terrain of 1.5. Cardinals broadcaster Mike Shannon has said the longest home run he has witnessed was hit by McCovey on Sept. 4, 1966, at St. Louis. Though they ultimately did not, they still voluntarily pitched in for some needed fixing up. Stargell's incomparable shot, hit off Alan Foster, measured 506 feet.. Veterans Stadium rang up quite a bit of mileage over its one-third-century reign in Philadelphia. After Stargell's death, the white circle was painted black and remained visible until the stadium's 2004 demolition. April 9, 2001 / 8:32 AM / AP. STARGELL, WILVER DORNELL (1940-2001). I was kind of in shock. (Don Wingfield/National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum) Related Hall of Famers To the top Willie Stargell Inducted: 1988 Position: Left Fielder Hoyt Wilhelm Inducted: 1985 Pitcher copyright=new Date(); That it stood for generations while two tenants largely stank up the joint was a testament to its perseverance. In 1971, Willie Stargell hit the longest home run in stadium history. PITTSBURGH (AP) - Hall of Famer Willie Stargell, the thunderous home run hitter who carried the Pittsburgh Pirates into two World Series with his power and helped win them with his. 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. The Vet failed to domesticate Philadelphias notorious boobirds, known for verbally abusing everyone from Richie Allen to Santa Claus. "You could hear it when it when it hit [the upper deck]. Played on a cold, snowy day, the Cowboys were mercilessly pelted by snowballs and a few other hardened objects to the point that the team banned liquor sales for the next two games; access to the 90 penthouse suites, recently added above the 700 Level to keep the Eagles from bolting to Phoenix, were all but boarded up to keep rowdy fans from breaking through and stealing alcohol available to suite patrons. willie stargell home run veterans stadium - josannebroersen.com Babe Ruth did it once -- on his 714th and final long ball in 1935. Reels Stargell's solo home run . In 1982, the Pirates retired his uniform number 8. Willie Stargell was a former Major League Baseball player from the United States. Additionally, the Expos gifted the slugger a life preserver for his massive homers at their old stadium Jarry Park. 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). The Phillies also used the Vet as an opportunity to engender racial harmony in a city that bragged brotherly love. 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. Mike Schmidt rounds the bases after one of his 265 home runs hit at the Vet. He gained access to the area while working the stadiums parking lots through a company owned by his uncle. 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. The most recent home run to be hit out of Dodger Stadium was this 478-footer by (then) Miami Marlins slugger and Southern California native Giancarlo Stanton on May 12 . 8 - Willie Stargell wore number #8 his entire career and it was retired by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1982. (Temple University Libraries, George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographs). MLB.com also offers extensive historical information and footage, online ticket sales, official baseball merchandise, authenticated memorabilia and collectibles and fantasy games. He won 17 of those games alone in 1977, on the way to his second of four Cy Young awards. Pirates announce 19-member inaugural Hall of Fame class During his 21-season career, he amassed a.283 average with 2,232 hits, 1,194 runs, 423 doubles, 475 home runs, and 1,540 runs scored. Willie Stargell was born on Wednesday, March 6, 1940, in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. (Temple University Libraries, George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographs). . There was a water fountain display behind the outfield fencebeating Kansas Citys Royals/Kauffman Stadium to the punch by a couple of years. That's been held by the late Hall of Famer Willie Stargell since 1969. Veterans Stadium - Wikipedia Following the Braves lead, the Philadelphia Athletics bolted town after 1954 to Kansas City, leaving the Phillies as the citys only baseball entertainment value. Worst field in the Western Hemisphere, said The Sporting News Michael Kinsley in 1994. Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex.The seating capacities were 65,358 for football, and 56,371 for baseball. Longest home run: August 9, 1970; Willie Stargell hit a 469-foot home run. 17 - Willie Stargell went 17-for-54 in his World Series Stats, a .315 career batting average. 599 - Willie Stargell was loved by all five-hundred ninety-nine big league players when he played, our source is Joe Morgan who said at Stargell's funeral service, "When I played, there were 600 baseball players, and 599 of them loved Willie Stargell. The turf was especially hazardous for football players. MLB.com features a stable of club beat reporters and award-winning national columnists, the largest contingent of baseball reporters under one roof, who deliver over 100 original articles every day. 13 Copy quote. Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) was formed and charged with developing, building and managing the most comprehensive baseball experience available on the internet. 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.. Community. When court adjourned for the first time, one fan was dragged in and accused of throwing a cup of ice on the field; he defended himself by placing the blame on his 10-year-old son. Willie Stargell - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia Jarry Park / Montreal Expos / 1969-1976 - Ballpark Digest 18 - Willie Stargell hit seven home runs that cleared the roof in Forbes Field. Willie Stargell hit a mammoth home run at the Vet. Temple University Libraries, George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographs. He particularly paid immediate dividends in Philadelphia during his first season as, somehow, he won 27 games for a Phillies team that finished 58-97. He struck the seven of the 18 balls that went over the Forbes Field's stands. Willie Stargell was the seventeenth player elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Those not content with ordinary seats had their own options. An ode to Willie Stargell, the man who 'didn't just hit pitchers, he On June 18, 1979, Stargell and the Pirates were in Portland for an exhibition game against their Class AAA affiliate, the Beavers. Willie's restaurant in the Hill District of Pittsburgh gave away a free chicken to all present in the restaurant every time he hit a home run. In fact, the three longest home runs hit at Three Rivers Stadium were clubbed by Stargell - a pretty impressive feat given that Barry Bonds played all of his home games there from 1986-1992. Before it, the Phillies rarely drew over a million fans. The team was angered and threatened to leave Philadelphia when the city considered welcoming an American Football League franchise into the new stadium before it was completed.