1971 Pittsburgh Pirates Replay

After finishing up my Legends League season, I’m off and running with a new project. I have the 1971 Strat cards in Super Advanced and will be replaying the Pittsburgh Pirates season from that year.

That year was the first time I really followed a team in earnest, as I grew up a Pirates fan. I was 14 at the time and attended my first major league game at Three Rivers Stadium, that ’71 season. It turned out to be a Sunday double header, sadly a lost relic of days gone by. In that game, on June 20th, the Buccos won twice against the Montreal Expos. Steve Blass won the first game and Willie Stargell blasted one of the longest home runs ever hit at Three Rivers. It landed in the yellow seats of the upper deck and was marked with a plaque on the seat the ball landed in, until the stadium’s demolition in 2001, to make room for PNC Park. Stargell was also the hero in game two, blasting a grand slam, to bring the Pirates from behind for the sweep.

As for my replay, like always, fun is the main issue for me. I try to be as accurate as possible, but mistakes are always possible and I don’t sweat the small stuff. I am only using the players issued with the base set. I don’t have any extra players, nor do I have the computer version of the game, which some guys use to print cards off of, as it has every player. I’ll use the actual players that played that day, IF, I have their card, otherwise, I’ll substitute as close as I can.

I’m trying to get more familiar with Excel and as an old, tech challenged guy, it’s not always easy. I will only be keeping the Pirates stats in this replay. It will in effect, be a replay of the National League East Division for 1971. However, only the games the Pirates actually played, will be rolled as Strat games. For the other games, I’ll use that days actual scores. So if Chicago beats the N.Y. Mets, 4-3, the Cubs would gain a game in the standings, the Mets would drop a game.

I will be using Super Advanced rules, but as far as injuries, if a player rolls an injury, unless it states, “remains in game”, that player will only miss the rest of that game.

I’ll post a brief recap of each game after completion. I’ll post the N.L. East Standings every week or so.

Feel free to follow along and see if Pittsburgh can do as well for me as they did for real life manager, Danny Murtaugh. The season begins at home, April 6, 1971, against the Philadelphia Phillies. Dock Ellis is the Opening Day starting pitcher.