1971 NL Stargell Award

National League 1971

			AVG	OBA	SLU	AB	HIT	DB	TP	HR	RUN	RBI	BB	SB	OPS
3B	J TORRE	STL	363	424	555	634	230	34	8	24	97	137	63	4	976
1B/RF	H AARON	ATL	327	414	669	495	162	22	3	47	95	118	71	1	1079
LF	W STARGELL	PIT	295	401	628	511	151	26	0	48	104	125	83	0	1026
LF	L BROCK	STL	313	386	425	640	200	37	7	7	126	71	76	64	810
1B	L MAY	CIN	278	334	532	553	154	17	3	39	85	98	42	3	864
3/O/1	D ALLEN	LA	295	398	468	549	162	24	1	23	82	90	93	8	863
LF	R STAUB	MON	311	394	482	599	186	34	6	19	94	97	74	9	874
LF	B WILLIAMS	CHI	301	383	505	594	179	27	5	28	86	93	77	7	874

LF	R GARR	ATL	343	372	441	639	219	24	6	9	101	44	30	30	813
RF	R CLEMENTE	PIT	341	372	502	522	178	29	8	13	82	86	26	1	871
RF	B BONDS	SF	288	357	512	619	178	32	4	33	110	102	62	26	867
RF	P ROSE	CIN	304	373	421	632	192	27	4	13	86	44	68	13	793
CF/1B	W MAYS	SF	271	425	482	417	113	24	5	18	82	61	112	23	907
2B	R HUNT	MON	279	402	358	520	145	20	3	5	89	38	58	5	759

CF	W DAVIS	LA	309	330	438	641	198	33	10	10	84	74	23	20	769
2B	G BECKERT	CHI	342	370	406	530	181	18	5	2	80	42	24	3	773
2B	J MORGAN	HOU	256	354	407	583	149	27	11	13	87	56	88	40	757
CA	M SANGUILLEN	PIT	319	346	426	533	170	26	5	7	60	81	19	6	771
CA	T SIMMONS	STL	304	353	424	510	155	32	4	7	64	77	36	1	771

        Torre was 31 years old this year, and it was his last big season; he hung on a few more years before calling it quits, and the final numbers are impressive. Over 2300 hits, and 252 career homers; this, despite hitting his prime in the late 1960's, a terrible era for hitters. And remember that Torre was a catcher for most of his career. After his playing days, Torre became a manager, and has had, obviously, a great deal of success.
        After Torre, the top vote getters were Willie Stargell, Hank Aaron and Bobby Bonds. Aaron had a truly remarkable season; at age 37, he hit a career-high 47 homers, to go along with a .327 batting average. He was clearly the best hitter in the league when he was in the lineup, though he missed some games with the nagging injuries of middle age. He put his chase of Ruth's record into overdrive, and finished the year with 639 lifetime homers
        Stargell was the biggest bat for the champion Pirates. Willie played for 21 years, all of them with Pittsburgh; the Pirates were consistently an outstanding team during his tenure, and won two World Series. Stargell was a lifetime .282 hitter who muscled out 475 home runs in his career. Stargell was consistently among the best hitters in the league, won an MVP Award in 1979 (Pittsburgh's second championship season), and was one of the most admired and respected players of his generation. He is in the Hall Of Fame.
        Stargell had two outstanding mates in the outfield, Al Oliver and Roberto Clemente. Clemente was still a great player, though injuries (a bad back in particular) had cut into his playing time the past few seasons. He missed 30 games this year; next year he would miss 60. In the World Series he hit .414 and smacked 2 homers, including one in Game Seven, which the Pirates won by a 2-1 score.
         Clemente played two more seasons. His last hit of 1973 was number 3000 of his career. In the off-season, an earthquake struck Nicauragua, and Clemente personally supervised the transportation of emergency food and supplies. He died when the cargo plane he was aboard crashed.
         The Pirates won the pennant this season, and also surprised everyone by defeating a great Orioles team in the World Series. They had some terrific defensive infielders, including Gene Alley and Dave Cash, and Bill Mazeroski was still around, too. Manny Sanguillen was a catcher, born in Panama, and he could hit. Sanguillen had one of his best seasons this year, and also hit .379 in the World Series. He didn't have much power, but was a career .296 hitter; Sanguillen recorded exactly 1500 lifetime hits, and was still in Pittsburgh when they won their next World Series in 1979.