September 1, 1971

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Ellis was not very sharp in the second inning either, walking leadoff batter John Vukovich and giving up a home run to Ron Stone for his second long-ball of the season. After walking Larry Bowa, Ellis was relieved by Bob Moose. Moose had started the game the previous night, but had gone only two and one-third innings. Two batters later, Moose gave up a two-run home run to Deron Johnson, allowing the Phillies to take the lead, 6-5 on the slugger’s 29th blast of the year. Once more, the Pirates came back. After a Gene Clines single, stolen base, and advance to third on an errant throw by McCarver, and a Roberto Clemente walk, Willie Stargell hit a sacrifice fly scoring Clines and Manny Sanguillen hit a home run scoring Clemente. The Pirates finished the inning leading 8-6.

Batting fifth and catching: Manuel D. "Manny" Sanguillen Magan. Catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1967-1976. 1,500 hits and 65 home runs in 13 MLB seasons. 3-time All-Star. 1971 and 1979 World Series champion. His best year was 1975 for the Pittsburgh Pirates as he posted a .391 OBP and 9 home runs in 537 plate appearances. In all, he had 9 seasons with at least 425 plate appearances, including 7 seasons with at least 500.

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In the third, after Moose gave up a two-out single to Phillies pitcher Brandon putting runners on first and second, Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh chose to replace him with hard-throwing reliever Bob Veale. With Veale’s entrance into the game, the Pirates once more fielded an all-Black lineup in the field. Veale struck out Phillies batter Ron Stone to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the third, the Pirates manufactured yet another run on a single by Al Oliver, fielder’s choice by Jackie Hernandez, sacrifice bunt by Veale, and single by Stennett. The Phillies brought in veteran reliever Dick Selma, who got them out of the inning. The Pirates now led the game by a score of 9-6.

Batting sixth and playing third base: David "Dave" Cash, Jr. Second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1969-1973. 1,571 hits and 21 home runs in 12 MLB seasons. 3-time All-Star. 1971 World Series champion. His best season came in 1975 for the Philadelphia Phillies as he posted a .356 OBP with 213 hits and 111 runs scored in a league-leading 766 plate appearances. He finished his career with the San Diego Padres in 1980.

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Luke Walker replaced Veale on the mound to start the fourth inning, and the seasoned southpaw promptly loaded the bases with a walk, single, and walk to the first three Phillie batters. Willie Montanez then hit a sacrifice fly allowing Larry Bowa to score. However, Tim McCarver was thrown out attempting to advance to third base on the sacrifice resulting in a double play. Walker got out of the inning, and the Pirates remained ahead of the Phillies by a score of 9-7. The Pirates were held in check in the bottom of the fourth, the first time in the game that they did not score in an inning. Neither team scored in the fifth inning, but the Pirates put together another rally in the sixth, with Gene Clines reaching base on a double, and scoring on a Clemente single, bringing the score to 10-7. Luke Walker then took control of the game, not allowing a Phillie batter to reach base in the seventh, eighth, or ninth innings.

Batting seventh and playing first base: Albert "Al" Olliver, Jr. Outfielder/first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1968-1977. 2,743 hits and 219 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. 7-time All-Star. 1971 World Series champion. 3-time Silver Slugger Award. 1982 NL batting champion. 1982 NL RBI leader. His best season was 1982 for the Montreal Expos as he posted a .392 OBP with 204 hits and 22 home runs in 687 plate appearances. He finished his career with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1985.

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Luke Walker got the win, his seventh of the season, after pitching the final six innings of the game. Bucky Brandon took the loss for the Phillies. Six Pirates batters had two hits apiece, but it was Manny Sanguillen’s two-run home run during the second frame, just his sixth of the season, that put the Pirates ahead for good in this rollicking game.

Batting eighth and playing shortstop: Jacinto "Jackie" Hernandez Zulueta. Shortstop with the Kansas City Royals in 1969-1970 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971-1973. 308 hits and 12 home runs in 9 MLB seasons. 1971 World Series champion. He debuted with the California Angels in 1965-1966. His most productive season was 1969 with the Royals as he posted a .278 OBP with 54 runs scored and 17 stolen bases in 550 plate appearances. In 1971 with the Pirates, was part of the first MLB starting line-up comprised entirely of players of color.

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Immediate recognition of the unprecedented event by the press was mixed. There was no newspaper coverage of the event in Pittsburgh as all of the papers were closed due to a strike. The Philadelphia papers did not really recognize the event either. It was not mentioned in the game account in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the only allusion to the unique Pirates lineup in the Philadelphia Daily News was reporter Bill Conlin’s reference to Danny Murtaugh’s “all-soul lineup,” with no further explanation.

However, a United Press International story that focused upon the all-Black lineup was published in several newspapers around the country. In that article, Danny Murtaugh was quoted as saying, “When it comes to making out the lineup, I’m colorblind, and my athletes know it. They don’t know it because I told them. They know it because they’re familiar with how I operate. The best men in our organization are the ones who are here. And the ones who are here all play, depending on when the circumstances present themselves.”

Batting ninth and pitching: Dock P. Ellis, Jr. Pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1968-1975 and 1979. 138 wins and a career ERA of 3.46 in 12 MLB seasons. 1971 All-Star. 1971 World Series champion. Pitched no-hitter in 1970. Claimed that he never pitched in MLB (317 career games started) without using drugs (particularly amphetamines), including pitching his no-hitter while high on LSD. His best season was probably 1971 for the Pittsburgh Pirates as he posted a 19-9 record with a 3.06 ERA in 226.2 innings pitched.

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Pirates pitcher Steve Blass commented on Murtaugh’s approach to the game, stating, “He treated it with the respect it deserved, but didn’t act like it was as big of a deal as they were making — he just put out the nine best Pirates and didn’t care if they were white, Black, Latino, whatever. It was a tremendous response to that whole thing, which was a big deal.”

With the win, the Pirates improved to a record of 82 and 56. They completed the season with a record of 97-65. They went on to defeat the San Francisco Giants in the National League Championship Series three games to one, and then defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series in seven games. Historically, the fielding of an all-Black team certainly ranks with that World Series victory.

Managing the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates: Daniel E. "Danny" Murtaugh. Second baseman with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1948-1951. 661 hits and 49 stolen bases in 9 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1941-1943 and 1946. 1960 and 1971 World Series champion. 1941 NL stolen base leader. Pittsburgh Pirates #40 retired. His best season as a player was 1948 with Pittsburgh as he posted a .365 OBP with 71 RBIs in 579 plate appearances. He managed the Pirates in 1957-1964, 1967, 1970-1971, and 1973-1976. In 1971 he was the first manager to field a starting lineup consisting of 9 black players.