Nine months after Campanis’s bombshell statement, the topic of race in professional sport again seized the spotlight. This time, a television personality named Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, a veteran oddsmaker who had worked for 12 years as a pro football analyst for CBS, said during a TV interview that blacks “got everything. If they take over coaching jobs like everybody wants them to, there’s not going to be anything left for white people.” CBS Sports fired Snyder the following day. Snyder’s comments again raised the question as to whether professional sports was doing enough to further the cause of minorities. Stargell and his former teammate Bill Robinson told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that they didn’t believe enough progress had been made since the Campanis incident and they doubted whether Snyder’s comments would speed up the process of getting minorities involved in a more meaningful way in professional sports. “We’re not the people doing the hiring and firing,” Stargell said. “All you and I are doing is guessing. Every time a remark is made, they come to a minority and ask them what they think about it. I’d like to hear what some non-minorities have to say.” Stargell likened Snyder’s remarks to the ones Campanis made the previous April. “It’s very difficult to understand people in the kind of position they’re in saying what they’re saying.”49
Chapter 10
The Hall Calls—and So Does Home
WITH THE SUBJECT OF RACE in baseball still simmering during the winter of 1987-88, Willie Stargell received a call that would change his life. Shortly before 9 P.M. on the night of January 12, Jack Lang—the secretary/treasurer of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America—called Stargell at his home in Stone Mountain, Georgia, to tell him he had been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and would be enshrined in the magical village of Cooperstown on July 31. “I’ll be forever in your debt,” Stargell told Lang, and then wept. He hugged his son, Willie Jr., and said, “I just wanted to play. I didn’t go out there to be considered great. I just wanted to be consistent.” Stargell became just the 17th player to be elected on the first ballot and the 200th player overall selected for enshrinement. He was named on 352 of the 427 ballots cast by 10-year members of the writers group, or 82.4 percent. Players needed to appear on 321 ballots—or 75 percent—to gain entry to the shrine. “The Hall of Fame was made for players like Willie Stargell,” said Chuck Tanner, Stargell’s boss with the Atlanta Braves and his former manager in Pittsburgh. “It couldn’t be a Hall of Fame without Willie Stargell.”1
Although Stargell was known perhaps most for his prodigious home runs—the shots that left Dodger Stadium, for example, or the monumental drives in Olympic and Veterans stadiums, that’s not what he was most proud of. “Winning, knowing the formula for winning. That’s what I’m proud of,” he said. “The thing is you have to be daring, you have to take a chance. I can remember Roberto Clemente pulling me aside when I was young and telling me that I could do this or try to do it first. There is a formula for winning, but you have to be sincere about your commitment. Ability will get you there, but your mentality will sustain for any period of time.”2
Stargell was asked the day before the Hall of Fame voting was announced if he’d thought about what it would be like to get the call. “There would be nothing to describe being in the presence of those immortal players,” he said. “It’s tough to imagine being with those people, people I’ve been in awe of, people like Ruth, Williams, Cobb, Wagner, Mays, Aaron.” Still, he knew the very real possibility existed that he would not gain election, particularly given it was his first crack. He flashed back to his MVP voting snubs in 1971 and 1973. “I’ve learned not to get too excited about something that’s out of my hands,” Stargell said of the Hall of Fame voting. “If it doesn’t happen, I’m just as proud to have been considered with all of those players.”3
The day after his election, Stargell appeared in New York for a press conference, where he apologized to the media for his eyes looking “like two cherries in a glass of buttermilk. You think you’re well equipped to handle the moment, but Mother Nature humbles you at the damndest times.”4 The next day, he appeared at a luncheon in Pittsburgh to celebrate his election to the Hall and received an unsolicited endorsement for his managerial aspirations from a somewhat unlikely source—Pirates manager Jim Leyland, who spent 11 seasons managing in the minor leagues before getting his big-league opportunity in Pittsburgh. Leyland said that while most men would need to spend time managing in the minor leagues before getting a big-league job, Stargell was the exception because of his knowledge of the game and his ability to relate to people. “Strategy is overrated,” Leyland said. “The key to managing is that it’s a people business. And I expect Willie Stargell will be a successful major-league manager in the near future.” Leyland said he didn’t know Stargell well but that he saw the way people in the game respected him. “There are a lot of players who are heroes to the fans,” he said. “But I’m not sure there are many players who are heroes to other players. I think Willie Stargell is a hero to the players because of what he accomplished and what he stands for.” Stargell talked a bit about managing, saying, “I don’t see where the game is going to be a total stranger to me. I don’t see where it will be all that different [than as a player or coach]. You surround yourself with good people. That makes it easier.”5
Stargell’s Hall of Fame election wasn’t the only major development in his life during the winter of 1987-88. The Braves also announced that Stargell, who had served as a first-base coach his first two seasons in Atlanta, would be moving over to coach third base for 1988. Terence Moore, an Atlanta columnist, claimed that was even a more startling development than Stargell’s Hall of Fame election because there had never been an American-born black to hold down that position in major league baseball history. Moore wrote that the Braves’ decision “figures to change baseball’s racist foundation. Finally. The reason Stargell has no black predecessors as third-base coaches is the same reason there are no black managers, no black pitching coaches, no black head coaches in the NFL, few black quarterbacks, centers, middle linebackers and middle infielders. Those are considered jobs for thinking men, and the prevailing powers throughout amateur and professional sports prefer the status quo.” Stargell said when Tanner told him about the switch, his first reaction was that it was an honor—and a “unique challenge.” He acknowledged that the move to third base was another step closer to him attaining his ultimate goal: serving as the manager of a big league club. But he said he was focusing only on putting all his strength and energy into his new coaching job. “When I’ve served my time at third base, hopefully I will have done well enough to have somebody offer me a managerial job. I don’t have ants in my pants.”6
He again alluded to his managerial aspirations when the club convened in West Palm Beach, Florida, for spring training in February. He said he viewed the third-base coaching job as a challenge he was eager to take on. “I know what the flip side of coaching third can be, but I look forward to it. I know I’m going to make mistakes, but I’m not afraid to make mistakes. I see this as a step on the ladder. The more I can learn, the more hands-on experience I can get, I will be more prepared to manage when I do go on to that.” Tanner said he was seeking someone aggressive and smart to coach third base. “I want a third-base coach to think ahead, make the decisions early instead of standing there and hoping everything falls into place. It’s a very responsible job. But Willie was a very responsible captain for me. He was a very responsible hitter in the clutch. The big thing is he has to be alert and in the game all the time. There are so many things you have to learn. Willie adjusted his whole career. He can adapt to this.”7
But Tanner’s grand plan—which ultimately called for Stargell to succeed him as manager if the former slugger hadn’t already landed a job elsewhere—never materialized the way he’d drawn it up. First, there was an awkward return to Pittsburgh on May 20—a return punctuated by a robust round of booing by Pirates fans when Stargell headed out to coach third base for the first time.
The boos were in response to reports by the Pittsburgh media that Stargell had put the kibosh on the Bucs’ bid to hold yet another night in his honor—which would have been the third such event since 1980. The Pirates had flown Stargell back to Pittsburgh in January to announce the ceremony, but the two sides could not agree on appropriate compensation and the event never happened. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Stargell had told the Pirates that an expensive luxury car would be an appropriate gift. Douglas Danforth, the Pirates board chairman, did not address the car request but said, “It’s very simple. We were unable to get together on terms. It was a misunderstanding. There are no hard feelings at all.”8
Stargell related a slightly different version to Press columnist Gene Collier, saying he had no contact with the club from his firing in 1985 until early in 1988 when the Pirates proposed a third night honoring him. Stargell said he was convinced that if the Galbreath family had still owned the club, the two sides could have agreed on a suitable way to acknowledge his Hall of Fame election. He also said he found it “intriguing” the way the media made him out to be greedy. “It’s as if they were waiting for an opportunity to unload on Willie,” he said. “Maybe with feelings they’ve been harboring for some time.” Collier, though, characterized Stargell and his agent’s attempts to negotiate the terms and conditions of the failed “Willie Stargell Night” as “another sickening example of arrogance” and said that Stargell or his agent “actually listed the model of luxury car that should be involved.” In retrospect, Stargell told Collier he would have been happy if the Pirates had merely acknowledged his pending trip to Cooperstown. “Just say one of our own is going into the Hall of Fame,” Stargell said. “And then I’d tip my cap and that would be it.”9
In addition to booing Stargell when he took the field that night, some of the crowd of 18,880 booed him again when a Stargell video clip was shown on the stadium scoreboard. Tanner was incensed at the crowd’s reaction. He grabbed Stargell after the game and said plainly within earshot of the assembled media, “I want to apologize Willie, for the people who booed you. You never should have been a Pirate.”10 On Saturday, which would have been “Willie Stargell Night,” the Pirates would not even flash the former slugger’s image on the Three Rivers scoreboard—ostensibly because they wanted to spare the greatest slugger and one of the most beloved players in franchise history further booing.
Things quickly got worse for Stargell, Tanner and the Braves, who finished their weekend series with the Pirates at 12–27. After flying from Pittsburgh to Chicago following the final game of the three-game set on Sunday, Braves general manager Bobby Cox asked to see Tanner, Stargell and the two other coaches he brought from Pittsburgh—Skinner and Tony Bartirome, the old Bucco trainer and minor-league spring training camp mate of Stargell’s—in the team hotel. After a three-hour meeting, all four were dismissed. Tanner was stunned at Cox’s decision to replace him with Russ Nixon—the former third-base coach who was reassigned to an organizational post to allow Stargell to coach third base—in part because he believed the club was improving, despite its 12–27 record. “We were on a program to rebuild,” said Tanner, who had never been forced out of a job during a season in his 18 years as a big league manager. “I wasn’t the one to get it done because they didn’t want me.” Cox explained that it was simply time for a change. “It was the most difficult thing I’ve had to do in my life,” he said. “Chuck was great about it, but we had to do something different.”11 Stargell, meanwhile, expressed surprise at the move because—like Tanner—he believed the Braves had been making progress although the club was just 153–208 under Tanner. “I can’t sit here and tell you it’s unfair,” said Stargell, who noted he remained committed to becoming a manager. “When a team decides to make a change, then those are the consequences. I try not to dwell on bitterness. There’s a reason for everything.”12 Two weeks later, team president Stan Kasten said that Stargell was offered a chance to remain with the Braves organization. When asked if Tanner had convinced Stargell to turn down the job offer, Kasten replied, “No comment.”13
Stargell’s next turn in the baseball spotlight came a little more than two months later, when his titanic presence energized the quaint New York Finger Lakes village of Cooperstown while there for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 31. He eschewed a speech he had prepared for the crowd of 10,000 or so—many sporting Pirate gear—and instead chose to improvise. “I can only stand up here and say that you are looking at one proud individual,” said Stargell, who went on talk about growing up in Alameda, California, and finding Pittsburgh to be a very special area. “It wasn’t a fancy place,” he said. “The people were real. If you did what was expected of you and worked hard, you could earn the respect of that town. To the young people, I want to say that I am living proof that hard work earns rewards. There are no shortcuts.” Later, after the applause died down, Stargell talked about getting back into the game—his abrupt departure from the Braves some two months earlier notwithstanding. “I’d like to give a lot back to baseball and I feel like I have a lot to give. I think I can contribute as a farm director, a director of player personnel, an assistant to a general manager or to a field manager, or as one of the game’s ambassadors. Traveling abroad; I’d look forward to that.”14
On Hall of Fame induction day, July 31, 1988, Willie stands proudly with the plaque that guarantees him baseball immortality (courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, New York).
At least one member of the Pittsburgh media on hand for the induction ceremony referred to the bungled Willie Stargell Night earlier that summer. Tom McMillan, a columnist for the Post-Gazette, questioned how Pittsburgh fans should remember Stargell. “Should we remember him as sweet-sounding father figure who promotes ‘humanistic endeavors,’ preaches hard work, and, in a recent interview with a national newspaper, lashed out against materialism? Or should we remember him as a greedy former Pirate who heard about Willie Stargell Hall of Fame Night and wanted payment—specifically, a $70,000 car—in exchange for his participation? Should we remember him as the captain and spiritual leader of the 1979 World Series champions, leader of an astonishing Series comeback, co–MVP of the National League? Or should we remember him as the captain and spiritual leader of a team that would eventually find itself gutted in the most publicized drug scandal in the game’s history?”15
While McMillan questioned Stargell’s behavior and character at his Hall of Fame induction, one of his media counterparts in Atlanta, Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Roy S. Johnson, used the opportunity to urge the Braves to bring Stargell back to the organization. “The Braves could use Willie Stargell,” Johnson wrote. “As much as Russ Nixon has been able to accomplish in his frustrating effort to steady the sinking Braves, they could use him, badly.... They could use his knowledge, his experience, his love of the game.” Johnson referred to Stargell’s induction speech, where he noted that he wanted to “give something back to baseball because you’ve given so much to me.” The Braves, Johnson wrote, “could use it all.”16
Four months later, long after the balls and bats of another season had been put away, the Baseball Network reconvened, this time in Atlanta during baseball’s annual winter meetings, to renew the call for greater minority representation. They listened while Commissioner Ueberroth said minority employment in Major League Baseball had risen from 2 percent to 10 percent in two years—and then listened when home run king Henry Aaron—the Braves’ director of player development—described Ueberroth’s speech as “the same old bull, just dressed up a bit.” But Stargell said he was pleased that Ueberroth had reaffirmed a commitment to minorities. “We have some real areas that we need to expound on, decision-making areas,” Stargell said. “I’m excited there’s a commitment because with a commitment in due time something will happen. As far as results, we have a long way to go.” After Ueberroth spoke, members of the Baseball Network huddled for more than an hour with representatives from the commissioner’s
office. Stargell called the meeting “very good, really impressive. We all sort of joined hands and reaffirmed our commitment to work together on this thing.”17
While Stargell remained on the outside looking in, his exile period wouldn’t last much longer. In February, 1989, he agreed in principle to return to the Braves as a roving instructor. The arrangement called for Stargell to split his time at spring training between the Braves’ major and minor league camps, where his duties would include motivation and outfield instruction. Cox listed hitting instruction among Stargell’s responsibilities and indicated a willingness to let Stargell free-lance a bit when it came to his assignments, in part to allow Stargell to take advantage of the additional visibility that his recent Hall of Fame induction provided. “He doesn’t work for anybody else,” Cox said of Stargell. “Willie fits in well with our people and is a great asset.”18 Stargell would go on to spend another eight productive seasons with the Atlanta organization, working his motivational magic and providing hitting tips for many of the players who would go on to great success with the Braves—players like Ron Gant, Ryan Klesko, David Justice and a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer-in-waiting, Chipper Jones. He served in several capacities, including roving minor-league hitting instructor and special assistant to scouting director Chuck La Mar. Later he was named special assistant for player personnel.
Cox said Stargell was a huge asset to the Braves organization, even if much of his work took place behind the scenes. “Just for our players to be around a guy like that, the motivation he gave the players and the hitting tips—Willie was tremendous. He was great with the younger guys—he put his heart and soul into it. He was a good guy to listen to. It didn’t have to be about hitting all the time—he’d talk about other stuff. But I liked Willie as a hitting instructor. He would talk mechanics and the mental parts and spreading the ball around the field a little bit. I loved Willie.”19
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