The Pirates needed runs, badly. Though it was just the start of the 1976 season, and the team had jumped out to win its first five games, the bats were growing cold just as quick: They had just been swept in a two-game series with the Phillies, scoring only one run along the way. In their last four, the Bucs scored more than three runs only once. The team’s record slipped to 6-3, just a half-game up in the NL East.
This was a team loaded with offensive firepower, with Richie Zisk, Al Oliver, and the colorful, endlessly quotable, don’t-turn-away-or-you’ll-miss-something-magical Dave Parker in the outfield. Willie Stargell was the team’s quiet and universally beloved leader. So, to have trouble scoring runs was not an acceptable outcome. Usually, that meant Stargell would be the one to tell a player that he needed to pick up his game with a quiet word or even a simple cock of his head as he walked by in the clubhouse… read more>
If You Hear Any Noise, It's Just Me and the Boys Boppin' 1976 Vintage Men's T-Shirt
