Willie Stargell signed by Pirates

On August 7, 1958, the Pittsburgh Pirates sign Willie Stargell as an amateur free agent for a reported $1,500 signing bonus. Stargell, 18 years old at the time had just graduated Encinal HS in Alameda, California, where his baseball teammates included future MLB players Tommy Harper and Curt Motton.

Stargell played for farm teams in New Mexico, North Dakota, Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, and Ohio. While on the road with some of those teams, Stargell was not allowed to stay in the same accommodations as the white players. Lodging for black players was located in the poor black areas of those towns. While in Plainview, Texas, he was accosted at gunpoint by a man who threatened his life if he played in that night’s game. Stargell played and nothing came of the incident. He might have quit baseball over the racial difficulties that he experienced, but he was encouraged by letters he received from friends and baseball scout Bob Zuk.

Stargell went on to have a 21-year Major League career which ended with him gaining election into the Hall of Fame and one of the most popular players in history.
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