[71buc]

I am a child of the 70’s and a product of a biracial marriage. At an early age I was very much aware that what was occurring in my house was different from the homes of my friends. My home sounded and smelled different. Spanish was my mother’s preferred way of speaking to me. It embarrassed me when she did so in front of my friends. I always answered in English.
Then I found baseball and the 1971 Pirates. They too were distinctly different. Many of their best players spoke Spanish and they carried themselves with a cocky swagger. In short to the eight year old version of me they were F**king cool. They were Carlos Santana, Celia Cruz, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rolling Stones all rolled into one bad ass band. Suddenly being different from my peers was also cool. Because of this the 1971 Pirates have always been my favorite team I loved them all, Clemente’s intensity, Stargell’s bat twirl, Blass’ enthusiasm, Sanguillen’s gap tooth grin, Dave Cash’s fro, and the militant attitude of Doc Ellis. I still do. Although my baseball collecting interests venture into other avenues I always return to the team that brought me to the dance.