Whenever the Pittsburgh Pirates commemorate their World Series champion teams, fans cheer the return of their conquering heroes. Rightfully so. Many members of the Pirates’ champion teams of 1960, 1971, and 1979 remained in the Pittsburgh area. They probably never have to pay for their dinner in any restaurant in town. How soon some fans forget, however, the ones who don’t deserve welcomes with open arms. Three come to mind.
Not Every Pirates World Series Champion Deserves Welcome with Open Arms
“I Want My Innings”
Pitcher Bert Blyleven joined the Pirates for the 1978 season after being acquired in a complicated four-team, 10-player trade. As a Pirate in 1979, the right-handed curveball specialist was 12-5 with a 3.60 ERA and 1.390 WHIP. He tossed a complete game in the clinching Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Cincinnati Reds. In the World Series, with the Pirates down three games to one, he won the crucial Game 5 against the Baltimore Orioles with four strong innings of relief. As you know, the Pirates roared back to win that Series.
Apparently, the 1979 postseason was the only time Blyleven was happy in Pittsburgh. On April 30, 1980, when the season was 15 games old, he walked out on the Pirates, telling Charley Feeney of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the reason was “non-support and lack of confidence from the manager,” stemming from manager Chuck Tanner’s penchant for turning the game over to the bullpen in the late innings, a common practice today.
“Baseball is supposed to be fun,” Blyleven continued. “The last year-and-a-half hasn’t been fun, except for winning the World Series.” Blyleven demanded a trade and said he’d never pitch for Tanner again. As a result, the Pirates placed him on the disqualified list. Blyleven returned to the team on May 10. He couldn’t be put on waivers while on the disqualified list, so he had to return so he could be traded. “But I think I made my point – I want my innings,” he told Dan Donovan of The Pittsburgh Press. “Personal goals are something everybody wants or it wouldn’t be baseball.”
“Did I Say Cryleven?”
Blyleven got his wish, but only after the 1980 season. Meanwhile, things weren’t the same in 1980. He had his worst season as a Pirate, going 8-13 with a 3.82 ERA. Although Tanner said he wouldn’t manage Blyleven any differently, he did give him more rope during Blyleven 2.0. Doing things Tanner’s way, Blyleven had a 3.13 ERA and held opponents to a .182/.256/.355 slash line. After he returned, he had a 3.94 ERA and an opponents’ slash line of .274/.318/.398.
Tanner remained silent throughout the controversy. However, in 1981, when Blyleven falsely claimed to a Cleveland reporter that the Pirates pitched him every six or seven days, Tanner wouldn’t let that stand. At a spring training press gathering, Tanner began by mentioning Blyleven, then asked “Did I say Cryleven?”
“I don’t think Bert fits the team concept,” Tanner said. “He told me last season he’s interested in . . . starts, complete games, shutouts, strikeouts, earned run average . . . I don’t like what he did to my ballclub.” Neither should Pirates fans.
“Stand Up and Call Me That”
Richie Hebner was the No. 1 draft choice of the Pirates in the 1966 June Amateur Draft, back in the days when the draft wasn’t a big deal, unlike today, and it was actually held in June, also unlike today. As a 23-year-old on the 1971 World Series champion Pirates, the left-handed batter hit .271/.326/.487, 17 HR, and 67 RBI. His home run in the eighth inning of the pivotal Game 3 of the 1971 NLCS made a winner of the Pirates and Bob Johnson, 2-1, over the San Francisco Giants.
Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh retired after the 1971 World Series. His replacement was Bill Virdon, the center fielder of the 1960 World Series champion Pirates and a loyal organization man long believed to be the manager in waiting. Where Murtaugh was an avuncular figure, the easy-going Virdon could be stern when warranted. Perhaps Hebner had trouble adjusting to a new managerial style. In any event, after the Pirates defeated the Giants, 14-5, on May 3, 1973, Virdon could be heard through a closed door hollering at third baseman Hebner over a perceived lack of effort on a ground ball.
“You Don’t Have a Gut in Your Body”
It got worse on Sunday, August 12, 1973. With the Pirates leading the Atlanta Braves, 5-2, going into the top of the ninth inning, Virdon replaced Hebner at third base with Gene Alley, a former All-Star shortstop finishing out his final season. Later, in Virdon’s office, Hebner asked why he was replaced. Virdon replied that he wanted a better third baseman in the game. (In 16 years as a third baseman, Hebner was charged with -58 Fielding Runs Above Average and 182 errors.) With media present in the clubhouse, Hebner called Virdon a “two-word obscenity” and stormed off to his rocking chair. (The two-word obscenity has never been revealed. The guess here is that it was “poopy-head.”)
“Stand up and call me that!” screamed Virdon. Hebner sat silently as his 42-year-old manager challenged him twice more. Walking back to his office, Virdon hollered, “I’ve taken all I’m going to take from you. You don’t have a gut in your body. That’s what’s wrong with you.”
The incident was then followed the next day by a bizarre press conference where general manager Joe L. Brown announced that he had nothing to announce. Speculation was that Hebner would be suspended but Virdon had talked Brown out of it. Virdon’s challenge was an adequate response, he thought. Later, Virdon was fired on September 6. Fans blamed Hebner, although Brown gave no reason other than, “I reached a point where I thought we could not win in 1973 if things continued as they were.”
“I’m Disappointed in Hebner”
Soon Hebner’s game was slipping. Over 1975-76, he hit just .247/.322/.380, 23 HR, and 108 RBI. The Pittsburgh media thought his play was affected by hecklers in the stands. Then in December 1976, he signed a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, who planned on moving him to first base. The Phillies were the Pirates’ biggest rival. They won the National League East Division in 1976, ending the Pirates’ dominance over the division. To make matters worse, he told Feeney he thought the Phillies would win the East again in 1977. In 1976, this was considered treason.
“I’m disappointed in Hebner,” Pirates GM Hardy Peterson told Feeney. Peterson had been promised a chance to match any offer Hebner received but never got a chance. “Hebner grew up in our organization,” said Peterson. “I didn’t expect he would treat us this way.” Hebner said, “I just felt I needed a change” and that the Phillies’ offer wasn’t much different from what the Pirates and other teams offered. He’s telling a different story today.
“Chief Goldbrick”
Bill Madlock was unhappy in San Francisco. The two-time batting champion hit .305 across 1977-78 for the Giants. But in 1979 he hit .261 there, called a team meeting held by manager Joe Altobelli “a waste of his time and ours,” and famously tore up a lineup card and threw the pieces at Altobelli. Finally, he forced a trade to the eventual World Series champion Pirates in June. The right-handed hitting third baseman hit .328/.390/.469 and stole 21 bases for the 1979 Pirates. Later, Madlock went on to win batting titles in 1981 and 1983 as a Pirate. He’s the only four-time batting champion who’s not in baseball’s Hall of Fame. The following narrative might explain why.
Bill Madlock’s 1979 World Series ring. @Pirates #WeAreFamily pic.twitter.com/AyNg6w88cH
— Bill Madlock & Kent Tekulve (@MadlockTekulve) December 20, 2024
Nicknamed “Mad Dog,” Madlock was given a big contract by the Pirates, but by 1984 was unhappy again. He hit .253 for the Pirates in 1984 and .251 in 1985. He made unkind remarks about the team and resigned his team captaincy, explaining, “You can’t lead someone who doesn’t want to be led.” Post-Gazette columnist Bruce Keidan wrote, “When the Pirates stopped winning, Madlock stopped trying.” He called Madlock “indolent and out of shape” and “their chief goldbrick.” Pirate Bill Almon told Keidan, “I wouldn’t call him a positive influence in the clubhouse.”
“He Kicked Them in the Stomach”
Madlock complained to Bob Hertzel of the Press that he became unhappy in Pittsburgh because he was expected to carry the team. Willie Stargell had retired, and Dave Parker had departed as a free agent. Madlock was the highest-paid player on the team. That’s the way it goes, Bill. In any organization, the most pressure is on the higher-paid employees. They don’t blame failures on the janitor or the receptionist.
Finally, Brown, who returned to become the Pirates GM again, traded Madlock to the Los Angeles Dodgers in August 1985. Brown told Hertzel that Madlock had become a negative influence. “It’s necessary to have people who believe in what we’re doing,” said Brown. (Soon enough the Dodgers would learn Madlock’s M.O.: a honeymoon for a while, and once things don’t go his way, Mad Dog goes into his “dog act.”)
Jim Rooker was a pitcher turned broadcaster who started the crucial Game 5 of the 1979 World Series for the Pirates. He was a hard-nosed player who gave his all on the mound and pulled no punches in the booth either. Said Rooker to Hertzel, “The Pirates gave [Madlock] more of everything than any team did . . . more money, more freedom and it made me sick the way he kicked them in the stomach for it.” It made Pirates fans sick, too.
Photo Credit: © Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
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