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The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - An important team in baseball history
The 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates were "a product of an aggressive search for winning talent of any color and the willingness to play that talent at any position--even if it meant a lineup of blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos or any combination," according to author Bruce Markusen.
The 1971 Pirates, in fact, fielded the first all-black lineup on Sept. 1. The lineup was not a token lineup or an attempt to be the first team to do so. The Pirates were in the midst of a tight pennant race. The lineup that day consisted of: Rennie Stennett, 2B; Gene Clines, CF; Roberto Clemente, RF; Willie Stargell, LF; Manny Sanguillen, C; Dave Cash, 3B; Al Oliver, 1B; Jackie Hernandez, SS; and Dock Ellis, P.
Manager Danny Murtaugh said, "Once a Pirate puts on a uniform, I don't notice the color of his skin. When it comes to making out the lineup, I'm colorblind and my players know that."
Nearly 25 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, major league teams still had unwritten quotas about the number of black players they carried on their roster. The Pirates showed that being colorblind was not only the right philosophical approach, but also a winning one.
According to Markusen, there was no racism and little or no dissension on the 1971 Pirates. The teammates were very close and there was a healthy clubhouse atmosphere.
Markusen chronicles the 1971 season in a month-by-month approach, which grows tedious after a while. But, he manages to hit the highlights without a game-by-game description.
Even though I remember the 1971 World Series, I had forgotten all the surprising moves Murtaugh made as the Pirates upset the powerful Baltimore Orioles. Murtaugh's gut feelings concerning starting pitchers and lineup choices paid off as the Bucs came back from being down two games to none. The Orioles were hurt by nine errors in the first five games.
Markusen concludes with interesting thumbnail sketches of what happened to each of the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rating: - You'll Feel Like You're Reliving the 1971 Season!
The subtitle of Bruce Markusen's The Team that Changed Baseball is "Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates." I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and the '71 World Series is one I'll never forget. On top of all that, Roberto Clemente has always been a hero of mine, so I simply had to read this book.
One of the things that makes this title so special is the difference between media coverage of a World Series back then vs. one today. Every aspect of the game and players lives is covered today. It's hard to miss even the smallest detail. Back then you had the game itself and a couple of local sports columnists. No ESPN. No Internet. No DVR-ing all the pre-game hype on every single channel. Even though I read every article I could back in 1971, I learned a lot of new tidbits thanks to this great book.
Markusen does a fantastic job of taking you back to the entire 1971 season. His extensive interviews with many of the players and coaches make this book a treasure for any Pirates fan of the 1970's. Month-by-month regular season assessments of the team's performance, roster changes, etc., lead up to almost 40 pages of coverage dedicated to the '71 World Series...yet another one the Pirates were supposed to lose, this time, to the extremely talented Baltimore Orioles.
My favorite part of this book is the "Where Are They Now" chapter he closes with. It was fun to read what some of these guys are up to now, especially the ones I hadn't even thought about since the early '70's. Any baseball fan will enjoy this book, but if you're a Pirates fan and you followed the team in 1971, you definitely need to add The Team that Changed Baseball to your library.
Rating:  - Not exactly what I expected
Those that love baseball or the Pittsburgh Pirates will love this book. The author has written a very engaging and easy read concerning the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates.Therein lies my problem. This book is essentially a chronological history of one year of one baseball team. I was expecting far more regarding integration and racial and social conflicts than what was included. There are whole chapters devoid of any discussion of race, integration, and other aspects one would associate with these issues. When the author does discuss the issue of integration in baseball, the coverage remains very limited and leaves the reader asking far more questions. One would think there would be far more coverage and debate of this issue given the title of the book and the supposed focus of the effort. However, this work is essentially a view of one year in a professional baseball team. Those that love baseball will find it a very good work whereas those who were hoping for a deeper study of professional baseball's struggle with integration, may want to look elsewhere.
Rating:  - Integration in Major League Baseball
I lived in Pittsburgh in 1971 in an integrated neighborhood, watched the Pirates play but did not realize what was happening with the 1971 Pirates. This book taught me about Roberto Clemente's struggle throughout his career, particularly in spring training in the south. It also taught me about the Pirates' management and how they ignored the color line and created history in 1971.
Rating: - Seeing Roberto Clemente is even better
This book is about the Pittsburgh Pirates first and Roberto next however it was hard not to have Clemente on my mind throughout the story. As a boy in the fifties my father would give me $1.00 for the bus ride and right-field seats to the Pirates at Forbes Field. I will never forget the 'basket catches' and deadly throws to third base if any player dared to try and steal third. The Pirates played at Three Rivers in 1971, not a great stadium for baseball (or for football for that matter), seeing 10-12 games that season. Bruce Markusen captured my experience in surprisingly more detail than I would of remembered. This is great read for anybody who loves baseball, how teamwork can make a difference, seeing a manager at his best at the end of his career and performance from some of the best athletes in the game.
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