Stargell, Willie

Willie Stargell, byname of Wilver Dornel Stargell, also called Pops, (born March 6, 1940, Earlsboro, Okla., U.S.—died April 9, 2001, Wilmington, N.C.), American professional baseball player who led the Pittsburgh Pirates to World Series championships in 1971 and 1979.

Stargell attended high school in California, where he attracted the attention of Pirates scouts and was signed to a minor league contract. He made his major league debut with the Pirates—the team he would spend his entire 21-season career with—in 1962 and was selected to his first All-Star team in 1964. The Pirates struggled early in Stargell’s career, but the team turned the corner in the 1970s, winning the National League (NL) Eastern Division title six times in the decade. Stargell finished atop the NL with 48 home runs in 1971 as he led the Pirates to the World Series title. In 1979 he won the regular season, NL championship series, and World Series Most Valuable Player awards en route to a second World Series championship. Stargell’s play declined in the following seasons, and he retired from baseball in 1982.

A powerful hitter, Stargell finished his career with 475 home runs, a feat made more impressive by the fact that he played parts of eight seasons in Pittsburgh’s cavernous Forbes Field. He also posted a career batting average of .282, with 2,232 hits and 1,540 runs batted in. Stargell was named to the NL All-Star team seven times and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1988. Stargell died of a stroke two days after a 12-foot (4-metre) bronze statue of him was unveiled at the opening of the Pirates’ new stadium, PNC Park.