FanPost

1984 Pittsburgh Pirates: What a year to become a die-hard fan

As a little kid in the late 70's and early 80's, I was well-aware of the Pittsburgh Pirates. I remember my mom watching the '79 World Series and saying something about Will and chicken on the Hill. Obviously, I knew of Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Phil Garner, Kent Tekulve and most of the key players from the Fam-A-Lee. I was a fan of the Pirate Parrot and went to see him on one of his many local appearances at places like Giant Eagle and Thrift Drug. I even went to my first game at old Three Rivers Stadium shortly after my 10th birthday in 1982.

However, I wasn't what you'd call a die-hard fan of the team, and I didn't follow the Buccos on a regular basis. Football was my first love and I was simply captivated by it.

But I did like baseball enough to know which teams were in the playoffs and World Series every year. I had my favorites; I collected Topps baseball cards, as well as those sticker albums. (I actually have this one right here from 1982, featuring Gary Carter as a member of the Montreal Expos on the front cover.)

However, something changed in 1984, and I became a die-hard fan of the Pirates and haven't changed my stripes in the 31-years since.

For those of you who remember the '84 season, you know that it wasn't actually the best year to become a die-hard fan of the team--probably could have waited another four seasons--but one can't choose when he or she becomes emotionally invested in a sports team, and that's half the fun.

All these years, I just assumed the '84 Pirates were every bit as bad as the following year's edition and many of the teams that played during the first decade of PNC Park. But doing some research thanks to baseball-reference.com, I realize Pittsburgh actually had a suburb pitching staff--at least it seems that way by looking at the numbers. The staff finished first in the National League in ERA, second in complete games and third in strikeouts. Three starters won 12 games, and Rick Rhoden, the ace, he won 14.

Actually, I do recall reading the sports section on a daily basis and commenting to my sports-minded friends that Pittsburgh's starting pitching was actually pretty good despite the team bringing up the rear in the National League Eastern Division. (Yes, the Pirates finished dead-last with a 75-87 record in spite of all that great pitching.)

Maybe it was the pathetic offensive lineup thrown out there everyday that had something to do with the Pirates poor finish. Only two players with a substantial amount of at-bats finished with a batting average of over .300--Johnny Ray and Lee Lacy. Tony Pena led the team with 78 RBI, while Jason Thompson was the leader in home runs with a whopping 17. (That's right, the Pirates couldn't even produce a 20-home run guy in 1984.)

My family was pretty poor growing up, and '84 was one of those years in-which we didn't have cable. However, I remember watching the Pirates every time they were on (Bucco games were on KDKA TV-2 back in those days), and little snippets of the season are still alive in my mind. I remember a game at Riverfront Stadium on May 30, when Pittsburgh blew two leads to the Reds and lost, 6-4, in 14-innings to drop to 18-26. The Pirates were leading in the ninth, 3-2, but someone named Wayne Krenchicki hit a solo home run off closer Don Robinson to tie the game. Five innings later, with Pittsburgh ahead by a run in the bottom of the 14th, someone named Brad Gulden launched a three-run blast to win the game for the Reds.

For some reason, that's the most vivid memory I have of that season, and I can still recall Robinson walking off the mound with a defeated and disgusted look on his face. Maybe that's appropriate, because the Pirates were 9-17 in extra-inning games and 20-33 in one-run contests.

I do remember other things like watching the highlights of Thompson, the original replacement for Stargell, blasting four home runs in a doubleheader against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on June 26. I knew it was a big deal, but I also remember thinking that it was still over a two-game span.

Milt May was a reserve catcher on the '84 team--appearing in 50 games--and I found some baseball card of his from the early 70's, during his initial stint in Pittsburgh. When I first saw this card, I remember thinking that it was a long, long time ago, and I couldn't believe he was still playing. (When you're 11 or 12, a decade seems like a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, as opposed to when you're 43 and it seems like the blink of an eye.)

For some reason, Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock seemed like the star of the team, this despite his .253 batting average. (Madlock won the National League batting title two of the previous three years--naturally.)

While Madlock was a big name player, my buddies and I on my midget football team would stand around at practice and talk about our favorite players like Tony Pena and Johnny Ray, and I'm sure we may have had a fondness for Lee Mazzilli. I personally liked Marvell Wynne (don't ask me why), and I can distinctly recall his batting average falling from over .300 to the .270's and eventually settling at .266. I recall one of the Pirate announcers (maybe Jim Rooker) noting that Wynne was a youngster and probably not used to playing in the 154 games he appeared in that year.

Obviously, the lineup was nothing to write home about, finishing no better than the middle of the pack in the NL in any key offensive stat. With such great pitching, one has to wonder why the GM--Harding Peterson--didn't make a deal for a bat to try and get the team into the thick of the pennant race. But, number one, Pittsburgh was 31-51 by July 6, and certainly not in a position to "win now." Secondly, as Bob Smizik has said many times, the Pirates spent so much of the 70's and early 80's selling the farm away for veteran players, there was probably nobody around worth dealing--a sentiment further cemented by the fact that Bob Walk and Rafael Belliard were the only two young players that appeared on the big league roster that year who made it to the 1990 division championship club.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Pirates finished dead-last in attendance that year, with 773,500 fans paying to see the Bucs at home. Pittsburgh did finish with a winning home record, at 41-40. In-addition, the Pirates were 17-8 in blow-out victories. Maybe that explains a run-differential of plus-48.

Speaking of Three Rivers Stadium. On September 24, 1984, before a sparse crowd on the North Side (ours, not theirs) the Cubs clinched the NL East (and first postseason berth in nearly four decades) with a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh.

Chuck Tanner was still the manager in '84, and the team was still running out those multi-colored uniforms on a regular basis--looking back on it, that seems kind of out-of-place, even for '84.

Unfortunately, the '84 campaign would be the first of many bad seasons for the Pirates. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long for a winner, as the '88 club finished in second place. And by 1990, Pittsburgh was one of the best teams in all of baseball.

But, someone has to start somewhere, and for me, it was those 1984 Pittsburgh Pirates, with the great pitching and Jason Thompson's 17 home runs. .

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