1969 Topps Willie Stargell Card - Forbes Field Painting

This 1969 Topps Willie Stargell card has a surprise on the back - an original painting of Forbes Field. Artist Michael Koser always leaves a little bit of the original card visible through the painting, so you will notice "Willie Stargell" and the Topps # above the iconic left field scoreboard. This item is 1 of 1.

Willie "Pops" Stargell played all 21 years of his Hall of Fame career with the Pittsburgh Pirates (including the first 8 at Forbes Field). He was the heart and soul of a team that would win 2 World Series Championships. He finished his career a 7x All-Star, World Series MVP and NL MVP collecting 2,232 hits and 475 home runs.

Long time Pirates manager Chuck Tanner said , "Nobody could hit a ball as far as Willie. In 1979 in Montreal, he hit a ball so far there they painted the seat gold. I went up there the next day and sat in that seat, and everybody on field looked like puppets, that's how far it traveled." 

The Pirates played at Forbes Field from 1909 to midway through the 1970 season. There was so much history at that beautiful ballpark including the final 3 home runs of Babe Ruth's career and of course Bill Mazeroski's dramatic HR over the left field wall to win the 1960 World Series!

“Leaving Forbes Field, they took the players away from the fans. It was unique. So what if girders needed replacing? You could do it, add bleacher seats. They had a way – just not a will.” - Longtime Pirates broadcaster, Bob Prince.

Card is ungraded.