Willie Stargell
Stargell launched home runs like few players in baseball history, and 296 of his 475 career bombs came at Forbes Field and Three Rivers Stadium — a staggering 62% at home. The "Pittsburgh kid" from Alameda, California, knew how to work those dimensions, turning routine fly balls into tape-measure shots that cleared not just walls but city blocks.
His 1971 season stands as peak Stargell: a .295 average with 48 homers and that monster 1.026 OPS anchored a Pirates team that would win the World Series. That OPS+ of 150 means he was 50% better than the average hitter that year, remarkable power in the pitcher-friendly early 1970s.
"Pops" became the emotional leader of those "We Are Family" Pirates, collecting seven All-Star selections and MVP hardware while maintaining a career .282 average across 21 seasons. His 126 career OPS+ proves he wasn't just a slugger — he was a complete hitter who happened to demolish baseballs.
Career · Batting
21 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | PIT | 10 | 31 | 0 | 4 | .290 | .805 | — |
| 1963 | PIT | 108 | 304 | 11 | 47 | .243 | .717 | — |
| 1964 | PIT | 117 | 421 | 21 | 78 | .273 | .805 | — |
| 1965 | PIT | 144 | 533 | 27 | 107 | .272 | .829 | — |
| 1966 | PIT | 140 | 485 | 33 | 102 | .315 | .962 | — |
| 1967 | PIT | 134 | 462 | 20 | 73 | .271 | .831 | — |
| 1968 | PIT | 128 | 435 | 24 | 67 | .237 | .757 | — |
| 1969 | PIT | 145 | 522 | 29 | 92 | .307 | .938 | — |
| 1970 | PIT | 136 | 474 | 31 | 85 | .264 | .839 | 118 |
| 1971 | PIT | 141 | 511 | 48 | 125 | .295 | 1.026 | 150 |
| 1972 | PIT | 138 | 495 | 33 | 112 | .293 | .930 | 140 |
| 1973 | PIT | 148 | 522 | 44 | 119 | .299 | 1.038 | 147 |
| 1974 | PIT | 140 | 508 | 25 | 96 | .301 | .944 | 136 |
| 1975 | PIT | 124 | 461 | 22 | 90 | .295 | .891 | 127 |
| 1976 | PIT | 117 | 428 | 20 | 65 | .257 | .797 | 117 |
| 1977 | PIT | 63 | 186 | 13 | 35 | .274 | .931 | 127 |
| 1978 | PIT | 122 | 390 | 28 | 97 | .295 | .949 | 135 |
| 1979 | PIT | 126 | 424 | 32 | 82 | .281 | .904 | 124 |
| 1980 | PIT | 67 | 202 | 11 | 38 | .262 | .836 | 117 |
| 1981 | PIT | 38 | 60 | 0 | 9 | .283 | .683 | 99 |
| 1982 | PIT | 74 | 73 | 3 | 17 | .233 | .729 | 102 |
| Career | 2360 | 7927 | 475 | 1540 | .282 | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.