There is a World Series champion every year, but only a select few have staying power in our memories. Maybe it’s your favorite team, or a particularly dominant run. Or maybe it’s a team that had a very vivid identity, like the 1979 “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates, who celebrated their 40th anniversary on Saturday at PNC Park.
We are Family 40 year reunion pics #Pirates @TheRealSangy35 #LetsGoBucs @MadlockBill pic.twitter.com/vk4WDKC6oU
— pittsburghpirateguru (@harvardplayer) July 21, 2019
A cast of characters
Dave Parker. Willie Stargell. Bert Blyleven. John Candelaria. Kent Tekulve. And the list goes on and on.
There were enough personalities on that Pirates team to last five seasons, but they meshed together perfectly and became a juggernaut. Along the way, the steel city of Pittsburgh melted and fell in love.
Fam-a-lee reunion. #FamaleeForever | #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/FFQj5bvaXI
— Pirates (@Pirates) July 21, 2019
A song, and a postseason comeback
Those Pirates adopted the Sister Sledge song “We Are Family” midway through the season and rode that feeling to a 98-64 regular season and a division championships.
In the playoffs, Pittsburgh swept through their longtime nemesis in the Cincinnati Reds in a best-of-five National League Championship Series.
Next came the World Series. The Pirates fell behind the Baltimore Orioles three games to one, but then relied on the team’s family vibe to band together. Bill Madlock went 4 for 4 and Blyleven pitched well in relief in a 7-1 Game 5 victory. Candelaria and Tekulve combined for a shutout in a 4-0 win in Game 6 to even the series.
Then, in Game 7, there were more heroes. The Orioles, who had won 102 games, took a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning when Stargell hit a two-run home run, one of the most famous shots in Pirates history. Pittsburgh added two insurance runs in the ninth inning and Grant Jackson and Tekulve slammed the door in relief.
Pittsburgh hasn’t been to a World Series since. But they certainly remember their family.
“If there was anything on anyone’s mind, right then and there in that room, that’s where it stayed. And we were good about that.”
40 years later, “Family” ties still bind for 1979 #Pirates #LetsGoBucs https://t.co/OMfe8oJ8oN— Will Graves (@WillGravesAP) July 21, 2019
h/t Associated Press
