Willie Stargell hits the longest homerun in the history of Veterans Stadium

On June 25, 1971Willie Stargell hits the longest home run in the history of Veterans Stadium in the second inning off starter Jim Bunning during a 14-4 Pirates rout of Philadelphia. The spot in Section 601 where the ball landed will be eventually commemorated with a black “S” inscribed within a yellow star inside a white circle, later to be painted black when the Hall of Famer dies in 2001. The star remained in place until the stadium’s 2004 demolition.

Remarkably, the longest home run ever hit at Veterans Stadium came just 3 months into its 33 year history. Others came close (Thome missed it by a few feet), but no-one ever went further at the Vet than Willie Stargell did on June 25th, 1971.

Said Bunning, who served up the meatball:

“The Stargell Star was a high slider that I used to get Stargell out on, only I didn’t throw it hard enough and didn’t get it in. It got over the fat part of the plate. He couldn’t hit it any further.”

Bunning probably would agree with Don Sutton, who once said of “Pops”, “He doesn’t just hit pitchers. He takes away their dignity.”

Said Larry Bowa:

“That ball was still going up. As an infielder, when a guy hits one that you know is a home run, you give it a casual look. When he swung, you didn’t take your eyes off it because you wanted to see where it was going. It was majestic.

“I couldn’t believe how far that ball went. It would take me three swings to get one up there — from second base.”

 

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Game Ticket 

Pittsburgh Pirates 14, Philadelphia Phillies 4

Game Played:Friday, June 25, 1971 (N) at Veterans Stadium
Time of Game: 2:27
Attendance:38,736

Line Score
PIT N 3 4 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 – 14 14 0
PHI N 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 – 4 4 1 

Umpires: HP – – Satch Davidson, 1B – Paul Pryor, 2B – Shag Crawford, 3B – John Kibler

Box Score

Starting Lineups

Pirates
1 Dave Cash 2B
2 Vic Davalillo RF
3 Richie Hebner 3B
4 Willie Stargell LF
5 Al Oliver CF
6 Bob Robertson 1B
7 Manny Sanguillen C
8 Jackie Hernandez SS
9 Steve Blass P

Phillies
1 Denny Doyle 2B
2 Larry Bowa SS
3 Tim McCarver C
4 Deron Johnson 1B
5 Willie Montanez CF
6 Oscar Gamble LF
7 Roger Freed RF
8 John Vukovich 3B
9 Jim Bunning P

Play by Play
PIRATES 1ST: Cash singled to right; Cash stole second; Davalillo
out on a sacrifice bunt (second to first) [Cash to third];
Hebner lined to shortstop; Stargell doubled to right [Cash
scored]; Oliver walked; Robertson doubled [Oliver scored,
Stargell scored]; Sanguillen grounded out (third to first); 3 R,
3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Pirates 3, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 1ST: Doyle singled to pitcher; Bowa forced Doyle
(second unassisted); McCarver lined to right; Johnson homered
[Bowa scored]; Montanez grounded out (shortstop to first); 2 R,
2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 3, Phillies 2.

PIRATES 2ND: J. Hernandez homered; On a bunt Blass grounded out
(pitcher to first); Cash grounded out (shortstop to first);
Davalillo reached on an error by Montanez [Davalillo to second];
Hebner homered (unearned) [Davalillo scored (unearned)];
Stargell homered (unearned); PALMER REPLACED BUNNING (PITCHING);
Oliver doubled to left; McCarver allowed a passed ball [Oliver
to third]; Robertson struck out; 4 R (1 ER), 4 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
Pirates 7, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 2ND: Gamble flied out to right; Freed grounded out
(second to first); Vukovich struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 7, Phillies 2.

PIRATES 3RD: Sanguillen singled to third; J. Hernandez homered
[Sanguillen scored]; Blass grounded out (shortstop to first);
Cash flied out to right; Davalillo was hit by a pitch; Hebner
walked [Davalillo to second]; Stargell doubled [Hebner scored,
Davalillo scored]; Oliver grounded out (first to pitcher); 4 R,
3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Pirates 11, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 3RD: Palmer struck out; Doyle walked; Bowa was called
out on strikes; McCarver flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB. Pirates 11, Phillies 2.

PIRATES 4TH: Robertson struck out; Sanguillen flied out to left;
J. Hernandez walked; Blass forced J. Hernandez (shortstop to
second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Pirates 11, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 4TH: Johnson was called out on strikes; Montanez struck
out; Gamble lined to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 11,
Phillies 2.

PIRATES 5TH: Cash flied out to right; Davalillo grounded out
(second to first); Hebner grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 11, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 5TH: Freed flied out to right; Vukovich grounded out
(third to first); Palmer struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 11, Phillies 2.

PIRATES 6TH: Stargell struck out; Oliver singled to second;
Palmer threw a wild pitch [Oliver to second]; Robertson popped
to third in foul territory; Sanguillen singled to left [Oliver
scored]; J. Hernandez popped to first in foul territory; 1 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Pirates 12, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 6TH: Doyle lined to center; Bowa lined to center;
McCarver grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 12, Phillies 2.

PIRATES 7TH: PFEIL REPLACED MCCARVER (PLAYING C ); Blass
grounded out (shortstop to first); Cash singled to left;
Davalillo forced Cash (shortstop to second); Hebner homered
[Davalillo scored]; Stargell walked; CLINES RAN FOR STARGELL;
Pfeil allowed a passed ball [Clines to second]; Palmer threw a
wild pitch [Clines to third]; Oliver grounded out (pitcher to
first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Pirates 14, Phillies 2.

PHILLIES 7TH: CLINES STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); MAZEROSKI
REPLACED HEBNER (PLAYING 3B); Johnson singled to third; Montanez
homered [Johnson scored]; Gamble grounded out (third to first);
Freed walked; Vukovich popped to first; STONE BATTED FOR PALMER;
Stone struck out; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Pirates 14, Phillies 4.

PIRATES 8TH: CHAMPION REPLACED STONE (PITCHING); Robertson flied
out to right; Sanguillen grounded out (first unassisted); J.
Hernandez struck out but advanced to first on a wild pitch;
Blass forced J. Hernandez (shortstop unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
1 LOB. Pirates 14, Phillies 4.

PHILLIES 8TH: Doyle popped to shortstop; Bowa flied out to
right; Pfeil grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB. Pirates 14, Phillies 4.

PIRATES 9TH: Cash grounded out (shortstop to first); Davalillo
grounded out (shortstop to first); Mazeroski flied out to left;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Pirates 14, Phillies 4.

PHILLIES 9TH: Johnson lined to second; Montanez struck out;
Gamble grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 14, Phillies 4.