Pirates unveil marker commemorating MLB’s 1st all-minority lineup at Three Rivers Stadium site

Dave Cash twirled the custom cane he was using, showing the inscribed names of the Pittsburgh Pirates players who started their game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 1, 1971.

The significance of manager Danny Murtaugh’s lineup was not lost on the Pirates when they fielded what is recognized as the first all-­minority starting lineup in MLB history.

Cash, who started that game at third base, took more pride in the marker that stood above him on the sidewalk along General Robinson Street at the site of Three Rivers Stadium to commemorate the historical moment when the Pirates’ lineup consisted of all Black and Latino players.

“The plaque here is etched in stone,” Cash said, with a smile. “We will be remembered forever.”

The Pirates, joined by Heinz History Center, state and local officials, celebrated the unveiling of the permanent marker with a ceremony Tuesday morning on the North Shore.

The unveiling of the marker commemorating the Pirates fielding the first all-minority in MLB history at the site of Three Rivers Stadium on the North Shore. pic.twitter.com/vfArZ04Z8A

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) September 2, 2025

The marker that commemorates the Pirates fielding the first all-minority lineup in MLB history. pic.twitter.com/F3LUW27g1z

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) September 2, 2025

The batting order featured Rennie Stennett at second base, Gene Clines in center field, Roberto Clemente in right field, Willie Stargell in left field, Manny Sanguillen at catcher, Cash at third base, Al Oliver at first base, Jackie Hernandez at shortstop and right-hander Dock Ellis as the starting pitcher. Clemente and Stargell are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Oliver and Sanguillen are in the Pirates Hall of Fame.

Only Cash, Oliver and Sanguillen are still living.

“It means a lot,” Cash said. “There’s a lot of people who didn’t get to witness it, the other six who passed away. Without them, we couldn’t have accomplished this. It’s a great honor that the Pirates decided to do something like this. A lot of times, you play the game for a long time and you never really get the recognition that you should have. The Pirates have rolled out the red carpet. They have recognized the importance of it.”

The list of guest speakers for the ceremony included Pirates play-by-play announcer Greg Brown, who served as master of ceremonies; team president Travis Williams; Andy Masich of the Heinz History Center and Anne Madarasz of its Western PA Sports Museum; state Sen. Wayne Fontana; state Reps. Aerion Abney and Parke Wentling; Mayor Ed Gainey; Murtaugh’s granddaughter Colleen Hroncich; and Roberto Clemente Jr.

Where Madarasz noted that change happened slower after Jackie Robinson integrated the game in 1947, as 15.5% of players were Black and 10-11% Latino in 1971, more than half of the Pirates’ 25-man roster (13) were either Black or Latino.

“This lineup represented so much more than just numbers,” Madarasz said. “It represented a commitment to elevate the best talent in baseball. The Pirates’ lineup demonstrated in a visual and meaningful way that an organization could be largely minority in its makeup, leadership and culture and be successful.”

Fontana noted that those players dealt with racism and bigotry, especially in the minor leagues, and that the Pirates played a pivotal part in reshaping America’s views on race. The Pirates not only beat the Phillies, 10-7, but went on to beat the favored Baltimore Orioles in seven games to win the 1971 World Series.

“This lineup was a message, not just to baseball, not just to Pittsburgh, but to the entire country that race should not play a role in determining who should and could play baseball,” Fontana said, “or do anything else, for that matter.”

Gainey took pride in having a chance to commemorate an important historical moment with a permanent marker on the North Shore, one that will inform those who were too young to remember or know about it.

“The story of how the Pittsburgh Pirates was the first team to have an all-Black and Latino lineup and to be able to have it on a marker here today speaks volumes of how far we’ve come when we’re talking about building organizations, building industries where we’re all celebrated, where we all have an opportunity to flourish,” Gainey said. “Without having this marker and having kids ask why, it would have been part of a lost history and not a history that really tells why it’s so important for diversity to exist, why when we come together in a diversified meaning that we make everything better. … We make society better because it takes us from not knowing to knowing one another. It removes the ignorance and brings understanding, tolerance and love.”

While Oliver joked that Murtaugh’s only mistake was batting a lifetime .303 hitter seventh — he and Stargell were the only left-handed hitters in the lineup against Phillies lefty Woodie Fryman — he said he believes very strongly that Sept. 1 should be recognized by MLB for its significance to the sport and celebrated just like Jackie Robinson Day.

“This is history,” Oliver said. “When you bring back all of these minority players and look at each player, each player took something to that field. Each player gave something different. None of us was the same, but we had one of the greatest teams that had ever been assembled.

“Our clubhouse was unbelievable. There was no such thing as racism as we see it today. I wish that the world could have seen that team in 1971 on Sept. 1. They would understand that when we sit down at the table and talk things out, things can happen. … Remember this day. To me, you couldn’t have gone nowhere in this country — or the world — and found a better-rounded baseball team.”