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MLB's First All-Black Lineup

On September 1, 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates became the first MLB team to field an all-black starting lineup. Twenty-four years after Branch Rickey signed African-American Jackie Robinson, with the support of Commissioner Happy Chandler, Pirates Manager Danny Murtaugh penned the first all-black lineup. And man, it was a good one!


I'm never quite sure if I should collect and display cards of players from the year of the significant achievement/occurrence/event, or if I should collect cards from the year after, which may or may not recognize the achievement (i.e., all-black lineup, triple crown season, perfect game, etc.). In this case, I chose the former.

Top row: All 1971 Topps. Left fielder HoFer Willie Stargell; center fielder Gene Clines; and right fielder HoFer Roberto Clemente.

Middle row: 1971 O-Pee-Chee short stop Jackie Hernandez in a Royals uniform; 1971 O-Pee-Chee card of pitcher Dock Ellis; and a 1972 Topps Rennie Stennett at second base. I don't think Topps made a Stennett card in 1971. I wonder if some other manufacturer produced a set from 71 that included each of these players?

Bottom row: All 1971 Topps. Third baseman Dave Cash (local Utica, New Yorker); catcher Manny Sanguillen; and first baseman Al Oliver.



Above is the box score from the game I got from Baseball Almanac, which is a terrific source of info. In this game, the Pirates prevailed 10-7, while on their way to their World Series Championship!

Be well!

CinciCuse Bill
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Comments

  1. JonFebruary 1, 2020 at 12:28 PM

    Your Clemente appears to be in amazing condition! I'm guessing that you've had that one for a while.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CinciCuse BillFebruary 1, 2020 at 4:12 PM

      Hey Jon, actually the one in the photo is an art card that I used to use as a place holder. I keep the original in my Hall of Fame album, which you'll see in a post in the next couple of months. I used to keep my original in a fire box but have since stopped doing that. Why bother to keep it locked up. I rarely saw it, and its value pales in comparison with the rest of the cards in the entire album. The art card is now in my extras box.

      Delete
  2. Brett AlanFebruary 1, 2020 at 8:07 PM

    Trading Card Database doesn't list any Stennett cards prior to his 1972 Topps release, unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FujiFebruary 2, 2020 at 8:19 AM

    That's awesome! I wonder how many other times since 9/1/71 (outside of the same Pirates team) that actually occurred. With baseball being such a melting pot of cultures, I can't imagine there were too many other instances where an all-black starting lineup was used.

    ReplyDelete
  4. CinciCuse BillFebruary 2, 2020 at 8:54 AM

    Thanks for checking. I'd forgotten about that resource!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jim from DowningtownFebruary 2, 2020 at 5:02 PM

    Hmm.. odd that you didn't arrange them in positional order.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CinciCuse BillFebruary 3, 2020 at 5:20 PM

      Hey Jim, Not sure what you mean. They're arranged by fielding position. Clemente in RF (top right), Stargell in LF (top left), Manny S. at catcher (bottom center), etc. Or do you mean P-1, C-2, 1B-3, etc?

      Delete
  6. KirkFebruary 6, 2020 at 12:02 PM

    Neat post. That sanguillen is a cool card

    ReplyDelete

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