Fifty years later, Pirates celebrate first all-minority lineup

CHICAGO -- Al Oliver’s hitting resume speaks for itself. A career .303 hitter with 2,743 hits and 219 home runs over his 18 year major league career, he was feared in the batter’s box for nearly two decades.

On Sept. 1, 1971, he batted seventh. 

“I thought I was a pretty good hitter,” Oliver said over a Zoom call Wednesday with a chuckle. “But when I looked at the card, I’m hitting seventh, and I said, ‘Hey, this has to be a great team.’ ”

That Pirates team that night would field Major League Baseball’s first all-minority lineup, a game where they would beat the Phillies, 10-7, at Three Rivers Stadium.

It didn’t draw much attention at the time, most likely because that Pirates team consisted largely of Black and Hispanic players.

It didn’t register the historic significance with the team at the time, either. Just 24 years prior, the game integrated. On that night, these nine players went out to play:

1. Rennie Stennett, 2B
2. Gene Clines, CF
3. Roberto Clemente, RF
4. Willie Stargell, LF
5. Manny Sanguillen, C
6. Dave Cash, 3B
7. Al Oliver, 1B
8. Jackie Hernandez, SS
9. Dock Ellis, RHP

"We didn’t take the field to make history,” Oliver said. “But as it turned out, it was history. And the thing that I feel great about it was that it proved the unity that we had on our team and proved that we had a manager that really [wasn’t] concerned about race.”

The Pirates had integrated in 1954 by signing second baseman Curt Roberts. The next year, Roberto Clemente would make his debut. 

“I know it was a special day to have all his brothers on that team that day,” Roberto Clemente Jr., his eldest son, said. “And I knew it was a special moment because that meant [minority players] had arrived.”

On Wednesday here in Chicago, the Pirates paid tribute to that team by wearing t-shirts with the lineup on the back:

“I'm very proud to be a Pirate every day, but I'm really proud of today and the fact we're honoring not only that the '71 team had the first all-minority lineup, but it was also a team that won the World Series,” Derek Shelton said.

After a late-season surge to win the National League East, the Pirates went on to beat the Giants in the National League Championship Series. After falling behind two games to none against the Orioles, many considered the series to be over. 

The Pirates’ clubhouse begged to differ, riding Clemente's and Steve Blass’ contributions to win in seven.

“You could never underestimate what we thought we could do as a team, because we could beat anybody,” Dave Cash said. “Baltimore had beat everybody else, but they hadn’t beat us.”

The timing of that all-minority lineup and their subsequent World Series championship, Oliver thought, was extremely timely, coming just three years after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

“He [King] was trying to explain to our society, that when we come together as one, good things can happen,” Oliver said. “And as a result of that, in September of 1971 on the 1st, he proved that point. That when we come together, good things can happen.”