This book brings to life one of baseball’s greatest sluggers, Willie Stargell. It examines the factors that shaped him as a man growing up in the tumultuous racial times of the 1950s and ’60s, and then recreates the major moments in his Hall of Fame baseball career. His various endeavors during the post-playing days are fully explored as well.
Interviews with more than 80 people—family members, childhood friends, teammates, opponents, front office workers and others—combined with dozens of newspaper and magazine articles shed light on the iconic patriarch of one of baseball’s last great “families,” the 1970s-era Pittsburgh Pirates.

Frank Garland, a native of Pittsburgh, worked for more than 25 years as a reporter at several northern California newspapers and is now the journalism communications program director at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Frank Garland
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 272
Bibliographic Info: 26 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2013
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6534-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0222-6
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Preface 1

Introduction 7

 1—In the Beginning 11

 2—Life in the Bushes 26

 3—The Show 44

 4—Becoming a Force 67

 5—Changing of the Guard 95

 6—We Are Family 115

 7—Twilight Time 139

 8—The Bombs and the Victims 153

 9—A Whole New Ballgame 168

10—The Hall Calls—and So Does Home 190

11—“We Kiss You Goodbye” 211

12—The Real Family 219

Epilogue 235

Chapter Notes 239

Bibliography 249

Index 257

“Garland provides rich detail and weaves quotes from fellow players and opponents, baseball officials, friends, and family (including an ex-wife) with anecdotes, to create an in-depth profile of Stargell’s life on the diamond…research is thorough and the book is well sourced”—Nine.