The Pirates were managed by Danny Murtaugh and played their home games at Forbes Field during the first part of the year, before moving into the brand new Three Rivers Stadium on July 16. Coinciding with their move, the Pirates became the first major league team to adopt pullover jerseys and sans-a-belt pants for their uniforms, a style copied by a majority of MLB for the next two decades and which the Pirates themselves would wear through the 1990 season.[2]
Offseasonedit
Three Rivers Stadiumedit
In 1958, the Pirates had sold Forbes Field to the University of Pittsburgh, who wanted the land for expanded graduate facilities. Pitt then leased Forbes back to the Pirates until a new multipurpose stadium could be built. The Steelers opted to play at Pitt Stadium in the meantime. In June 1970, the Pirates played their final game at Forbes Field. It was a doubleheader sweep of the Chicago Cubs and Bill Mazeroski got the final hit at Forbes Field.[3]
A site on the North Side had been chosen earlier in the year, but it took until April 25, 1968, to finally break ground. Three Rivers Stadium opened on July 16, 1970, and became the home of the Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
June 12, 1970: Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres.[7] Allegedly, Ellis pitched the no-hitter on acid. According to Ellis, in Donald Hall's book, In the Country of Baseball, the Pirates were starting a west-coast road trip. After the Pirates landed in San Diego, Ellis visited his hometown of Los Angeles for a party. Ellis had forgotten he was slated to pitch the next day, so he took some acid the night before the game. At around 10 a.m., after catching maybe an hour of sleep, he realized he was in the wrong place.[8]
^"Pirates tickets, merchandise, news and more... The Official Site of The Pittsburgh Pirates: History: Pirates Uniforms and Logos". Archived from the original on August 10, 2007.
^The Best Game Ever, Preface, p.xiii, Jim Reisler, Carroll & Graf Publishers, New York, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7867-1943-3
^"Major League Baseball Regular Season Hitting Stats | pirates.com: Stats". Pittsburgh Pirates. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
^"Major League Baseball Postseason Hitting Stats | pirates.com: Stats". Pittsburgh Pirates. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
^"Major League Baseball Regular Season Pitching Stats | pirates.com: Stats". Pittsburgh Pirates. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
^"Major League Baseball Postseason Pitching Stats | pirates.com: Stats". Pittsburgh Pirates. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
Referencesedit
1970 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Reference
1970 Pittsburgh Pirates at Baseball Almanac
Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.