TRANSCENDENT STARS
TRANSCENDENT STARS
Every few years baseball is graced with a couple of transcendent stars. Merriam-Webster would tell you that “transcendent” means “far better or greater than what is usual”. When we – as baseball fans – discuss transcendence, we talk about players whose names span the ages – players who can easily be dropped into the “best of a generation” conversation.
Now, I won’t bore you with a litany of players who have fit this description over the years – you all know who they are, and most have plaques in Cooperstown – but I do want to focus on two transcendent stars.
When I was a kid, when I first really became interested in baseball – as a fan, not as potential T-Ball player – there were a few transcendent stars – Brett, Ryan, Rose, Carlton, Schmidt, Guidry, arguably Winfield. But the guy who jumps to the top of any such list – for me – is Pops. Can anyone think back to late-70s baseball and not picture Pops Stargell leaping in the air after the last out of the ’79 World Series?
Who could forget Willie being the first to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium?
Is anything more 1970s than that bear of a man in stirrups, a bright yellow pullover jersey, wearing a skull cap, and playing on cheap Astroturf?
Willie Stargell was more than a once-in-a-generation player. He was a once-in-a-lifetime man. In 1988, Willie became only the 17th player inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. And yet, even after hitting 475 homeruns, being a seven-time All-Star, and winning the 1979 NL MVP, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s obituary for Willie stated that “his numbers were dwarfed by his humanity”. High praise, indeed.
Starting about midway through the 1978 season – Willie’s 17th in the big leagues – he began handing out “Stargell Stars”. A Stargell Star was bestowed upon teammates for their exceptional performance. And more than any perfunctory “Attaboy”, this was the equivalent of a hug from Dad or a smile from the Prom Queen. This was ultimate prize for players playing for the ultimate prize. Day after day and night after night, Willie’s teammates sought to be recognized by the big man so that they could add another “gold star” to their pillbox hats.
And even though the ’78 Pirates fell short on the final day of the season, Pops kept this tradition going the next year. And, while not exactly scientific, I believe it was the Stargell Stars that catapulted the Buckos to 1979 World Series title.
In recent years, with exclusive branding and licensing deals and corporate sponsorships and a more global sport, baseball has imposed strict limitations on what players can put on their hats, jerseys, and other equipment. In the theater of the absurd, MLB told the Yankees and the Mets that they could not wear NYPD or NYFD hats in games after 9/11. You want corporate concerns run amok: MLB physically took caps from the Mets’ dugout on the one-year anniversary of 9/11 to keep the players from wearing them. All the while, the New Era American Flag cap that the Mets were required to wear that day was being sold at the ballpark for $36.99. Nothing like a little free-market patriotism.
But I digress.
When word got out that the Pirates would dust off their pillbox hats for Sunday home games this season, Todd Radom (if you don’t know him, but you love sports and logos, look him up @ toddradom.com) suggested that the Pirates also bring back the Stargell Stars. And that is where transcendent players come back into the conversation.
As we enter the 2016 season, the Pirates are lucky enough to have one of the most transcendent stars in the game patrolling centerfield. Andrew McCutchen is on the short list of the best and brightest in the game – both on and off the field. Here is a five-tool guy who can also sing, draw, do impersonations, and make certain young kids remain fans for life:
While it is too soon to say that McCutchen is the next Pops Stargell in the Steel City, he is quickly approaching that exalted status. So who better to restart this tradition? What better way for this generation of players and fans to be tied to a prior generation of players and fans? Could MLB really stand in the way of joy, happiness, and the rewarding of a job well done? Will Rob Manfred become Roger Goodell and impose No Fun League-type rules, or will he allow the game to grow and prosper by taking just a small piece of its past and allow it to become a small piece of its present?
Riddle me this: If McCutchen and the Pirates are allowed to bestow Stargell Stars (McCutchen Medals?) starting on April 3rd, what Little League team in the Rust Belt won’t be donning these emblems on their hats for the rest of the Spring and Summer? What kid won’t be diving into the hole, or moving a runner to third with less than two outs, or going first-to-third on base hit to right, or working an 0-2 count for a walk, just for the pride of lousy piece of yarn?
All this will do is inspire a younger generation to play, and play better. All this will do is re-stoke the flame of what makes baseball great. Forget the huge contracts and the fancy spikes and the packed stadiums. Kids – both young and older – play for the love of the game, and for the adulation that comes from a playing it right and from playing it well.
So hang a star on that. Give the Big Kid at PNC Park the right and the ability to dole out this symbol of greatness (no matter how small), and watch those little gold stars light the night sky from Western Pennsylvania to Chavez Ravine, from the Pacific Northwest to South Beach. Andrew McCutchen is already on record as saying he wants to restart this tradition, he just needs the league to say it is okay.
To that I implore Rob Manfred to
PLAY BALL!
