Willie Stargell*

Willie Stargell was born in Earlsboro, Oklahoma, in 1940. After his parents divorced, he stayed with and aunt in Florida. When he was six, Stargell went to live with his mother in Alameda, California.

Stargell signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1959, and played for various farm teams. He was faced with racial discrimination while on the road with some of those teams, and was often not allowed to stay in the same accommodations as the white players.

In 1962, Stargell made his Major League Baseball debut and became an outfielder and first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he had a 21-year career. He batted .282, with 2,232 hits, 423 doubles, 475 home runs, and 1,540 runs batted in. In 1969, he became the first player to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium, a feat unmatched for the next 30 years. He helped his team capture six National League East division titles, two National League pennants, and two World Series, in 1971 and again in 1979.

After he retired in 1982, Stargell spent several years as a coach for the Atlanta Braves.

Stargell became the only player ever to earn the NLCS, World Series, and National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) in a single year, 1979. Sports Illustrated named him Sportsman of the Year. Stargell was also the oldest player, at 39, to win the title of MVP. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1999, he ranked No. 81 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.