The Southern Illinoisan
June 8, 2013
Pete Peterson poses for a portrait with his new book 'Pops: The Willie Stargell Story' on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, in Carbondale, Ill. (Paul Newton / The Southern)
“Pops: The Willie Stargell Story” is more than an homage to the Hall of Fame slugger.
Written by lifelong Pittsburgh Pirates’ fan Richard “Pete” Peterson of Makanda, the book looks at the social and economic conditions that formed the personality and persona of the beloved Pirates’ slugger. The book was released in time to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Stargell’s induction to the Hall of Fame.
While the book doesn’t shy away from off-the-field issues, Stargell’s father abandoned the family before he was born and his own failed marriages, it does focus on the relationships Stargell formed in the clubhouse and on the field.
“I wanted to focus on his life as a ballplayer,” Peterson said. “That’s what meant the most to him. He went through two divorces. He wasn’t really around for his children most of the time. His family was really the Pirates. I did touch on his personal life. I wanted people to see why the Pirates family became so important to him.”
Stargell spent his entire 21-year career with the Pirates, playing with three generations of players. The book carries the reader through the personal journey of a player struggling to find his comfort zone to an elder statesman who took the younger players under his wing as the spiritual leader of the “We Are Family” Pirates of 1979.
Peterson interviewed a number of former teammates. They were universal in their praise for Stargell, the man.
“Al Oliver, for example, said the thing he most admired about Stargell is you could go to him with any problem and it would stay with Stargell,” Peterson said. “He wasn’t that articulate, it was just his physical presence in the clubhouse.
“Jim Rooker said he couldn’t remember anything Stargell said, but after he said it people would run through a wall with him.”
By the end of his career, Stargell evolved into the beloved figure knows as “Pops,” the player who led the Pirates to the 1979 World Championship at the age of 39. Stargell was the National League’s MVP in 1979, but his career had ended by the end of the 1982 season.
“He had a very difficult job,” Peterson said. “One of the great ironies of his career is that the player who became known as ‘Pops’, his father abandoned the family before he was born. He had a tough early life and baseball was pretty much the answer for him.”
Stargell grew up in the projects of Almeda, Calif. He was a tall, athletic, but also undernourished, youth. He played in the minor leagues when racism was still the rule, not the exception in the South. Even major league spring training accommodations were segregated during the early years of Stargell’s career.
Although Peterson grew up attending games at old Forbes Field, writing the book served as something of an introduction to Willie Stargell.
“By the time Stargell became a star for the Pirates I was here, teaching at SIU,” Peterson said. “I never really felt as close to him as I do to some of the Pirates’ heroes. The book gave me a chance to become more intimate with him. I always admired him as a ballplayer. I just became more and more impressed with him.”
Stargell’s chronic knee injuries are a recurring theme.
“Just his physical courage, to be able to go out there day after day and play on those knees …,” Peterson said. “There were several times people thought he would retire. When people thought he was finished in 1978 he won the Comeback Player of the Year Award, and in 1979 he led the Pirates to the World Series.”
And, while Peterson concedes “Pops: The Willie Stargell Story” is a “Pittsburgh book,” it is also an entertaining read for baseball fans who grew up in the Mays, Aaron, Gibson, Bench era.
“That’s the fun of writing a book like this,” he said. “It all comes to life again. One of the great thrills for me was to talk on the phone to players I idolized growing up. I played center field while I grew up and I idolized Bill Virdon. Here I am on the phone, talking to Bill Virdon.”
Peterson is appearing in Pittsburgh this summer for several book signings. He will also speak about Stargell at the Baseball Hall of Fame on Pirates’ Day, Aug. 27.
Published by Triumph Books, “Pops: The Willie Stargell Story” is available at Barnes and Noble and at www.amazon.com.
les.winkeler@thesouthern.com / 618-351-5088
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