Fansided

Ranking every World Series winners in history

By Staff

UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 05: Brooklyn Dodgers president Walter O'Malley and his manager, Walter Alston, exchange hugs and grins after bringing Brooklyn its first World Series championship in history. Flock did it the hard way, winning the final game in Yankee Stadium. (Photo by NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 05: Brooklyn Dodgers president Walter O'Malley and his manager, Walter Alston, exchange hugs and grins after bringing Brooklyn its first World Series championship in history. Flock did it the hard way, winning the final game in Yankee Stadium. (Photo by NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK – OCTOBER 17, 1971: Outfielder Roberto Clemente 21 of the Pittsburgh Pirates fouls off a pitch during the ninth inning of game seven of the World Series on October 17, 1971 against the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. The Orioles’ catcher is Elrod Hendricks
NEW YORK – OCTOBER 17, 1971: Outfielder Roberto Clemente 21 of the Pittsburgh Pirates fouls off a pitch during the ninth inning of game seven of the World Series on October 17, 1971 against the Baltimore Orioles at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. The Orioles’ catcher is Elrod Hendricks /

55. 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates

97-65, NL East Champions, Won World Series 4-3 Over Baltimore

The 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates are less famous than the “We Are Family” team that won the World Series eight years later, but have a special place in Major League Baseball history as the first to field a lineup of only black players, which they did on September 1.

Two of the Hall of Fame regulars that took the field that day, Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente, were two of the most feared players in the National League’s toughest lineup. Stargell hit .295/.398/.628 with a Major League-best 48 home runs and drove in 125 runs, and finished as the runner-up for the NL MVP Award, while Clemente hit .341/.370/.502 with 13 long balls and 86 RBI and ranked fifth in MVP voting and was named World Series MVP after hitting .414/.452/759 with two home runs in the seven-game victory over the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates as a whole led the NL in runs (788), hits (1,555), home runs (154), slugging percentage (.416) and OPS (.746).

Dock Ellis, the pitcher in that historic September 1 game, posted a 19-9 record with a 3.06 ERA and finished fourth in the voting for the NL Cy Young Award.

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