On Sunday home games this year at PNC Park, my favorite MLB team is sporting the uniforms they wore in the early 70’s when they broke in Three Rivers Stadium. The look is a classic one – I almost dare say it is “timeless”. Modern, yet understated. Who the hell knew polyester could ooze such class?
The Bucs wore these uniforms until the Lumber and Lightning year of 1977, when new manager Chuck Tanner, in conjunction with the speed game he brought along with him from Oakland, introduced the infamous “Nine Permutations”. These were the various mix-and-match combinations that were created from jerseys and pants, each available in three different looks: white pinstripe, gold, and black. Some of those worked nicely together – I was partial to black with white pinstripes. Others didn’t mesh so well – the all gold look was particularly gaudy.
During the summer of 1971, the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) ran a promotion featuring pictures of various Pirate players in these classic uniforms. These were fine collectables – 8 1/2 x 11 inch glossy pictures on quality paper with statistics and player information on the back. As I recall, when you got a fill-up at a participating ARCO gas station, you could request the picture. Every week or so, a new player was featured. I was really getting into the Bucs that summer – and what a glorious summer that was for the World Champions-to-be. I so looked forward to collecting each and every one of those pictures every week. We would pick ours up at the ARCO station at the corner of 13th Avenue and 18th Street in Altoona (right down the hill from Booker T.) I really wish I would have hung onto those keepsakes. (Oh, well , there is always eBay.)
Some other observations:
- I think there were 12 pictures in total – Maz is missing from the collage above. Blass, Hebner, Alley, Pops, Oliver, Giusti, Walker, Sangy, Moose, Roberto, Robertson.
- Can’t really argue with the selections, but there are some curious omissions of key contributors to that team. What about Dave Cash and Gene Clines? Jose Pagan and Jackie Hernandez? And where the hell is Dock Ellis (“We gonna do the do!”) or Nellie Briles?
- The inclusion of Luke Walker is a bit puzzling.
- Puck looks too pretty to play baseball in that picture. Now I realize why my sister Joan had such a crush on him. This guy played hockey in Boston and dug graves in the offseason? What a great low-ball fastball hitter.
- Major melancholy when thinking back to Bob Moose – had the poor misfortune to throw the wild pitch to Hal McRae in the ‘72 NLCS and then died in a car accident in 1976.
- Pops is just….Pops – The Man!
- How loaded was this organization back then? Down on the farm that year were Rennie Stennett, Dave Parker, and Richie Zisk.
It is amazing, looking back, how I was able to derive so much pleasure from the simplest things in life back in those days.
