This story was excerpted from Alex Stumpf’s Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
As Mike Easler sat in PNC Park’s conference room talking with Manny Sanguillen and Matt Alexander, he was transported back to the summer of 1979. Back when Easler was 28, and Sanguillen was teaching him how he held the bat differently with men on base. Back when the Pirates were on their way to a fifth championship.
“When you’ve been away from these guys for four or five years and haven’t seen a lot of ‘em, it brings back memory after memory,” said Easler.
The Pirates and the city of Pittsburgh share a wonderful memory of 1979, when the Bucs beat the Orioles to win the World Series. On Saturday, 13 players and the families of three other players were recognized at PNC Park before the Pirates played the Braves.
It was a chance to relive that championship from 45 years ago. The players’ memories may not quite be what they used to -- pitcher John Candelaria chuckled and said they were telling “lies” to each other -- but the tales of triumph and the Fam-A-Lee are some of the greatest in the franchise’s history.
“A lot of us are really the same,” said catcher Steve Nicosia. “We’re just a little bit older and a little bit fatter and a lot less hair. Besides that, the stories have gotten bigger and better over the years.”
Some embellishment is to be expected after 45 years of telling those stories. What is undeniable is how close that team was, living up to the Fam-A-Lee moniker. In the years prior, the Pirates had fallen just short of recapturing the glory of the early '70s, so they added a few more players who not only fit the team well, but also fit into the clubhouse.
“They had a good foundation, and they bring in some offbeat [guys] like myself and Bill Madlock,” said shortstop Tim Foli. “They just wanted us to fit in.”
They did fit in, and it was a major reason why that team got over the hump. But what was it about the players that made them Fam-A-Lee and more than just a team?
“We spent so much time together,” Foli said. “If we had a 4 o’clock game, guys would be there at 10 in the morning. If we had a night game, guys would get there at 1 o’clock. We’d have crabs, we’d have food sent over from the fish market. We had something every day. We were around each other so much that my wife would go, ‘What are you doing at the ballpark that early?’ Nothing, just talking, hanging out.”
“Whatever problem you had, it was everybody’s problem,” Easler said. “If you were going through something, on the field or off the field, Willie Stargell would show you to his room or take him out to dinner to talk about stuff.”
Stargell was the team’s “Pops,” being the veteran voice and father figure of the group. By his side was Chuck Tanner, the manager they loved playing for.
“He was the greatest motivator of men,” Easler said. “He kept everyone up, whether it was a losing streak or winning streak. He was always the same way.”
The Pirates are still working on getting back to the World Series, and the players from the 1979 squad are looking forward to meeting the next Bucs team to join them as champions. Because as close as that group was, what really ties them together forever is that ring.
“Yeah, we’re family,” said Dave Parker. “We’ll never lose that.”