[2] He attended Encinal High School, where his baseball teammates included future MLB players Tommy Harper and Curt Motton.

Stargell began and ended the season as the Pirates' everyday left-fielder, but spent extended periods playing first base as well.

He returned to the All-Star Game the next two seasons, recording over 100 runs batted in (RBI) in both years, and finishing respectively 14th and 15th in MVP voting.

Frequent offseason conditioning problems came to a head in 1967, when Stargell showed up to spring training at a weight of 235 pounds.

On August 1 of that year, Stargell collected five extra-base hits—three doubles and two home runs—in the Pirates' 20–10 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Fulton County Stadium.

[9] In seven of the next nine seasons, Stargell finished in the top 10 in MVP voting, as his career moved onto a Hall of Fame track.

The Pirates lost the first two games of that series, which Stargell said that media began referring to as "the St. Valentine's Day Massacre" before Pittsburgh's comeback.

[10] Stargell continued to post excellent numbers in 1972 (.293, 33, 112) finishing third in MVP voting behind Johnny Bench and Billy Williams.

Stargell won his second home-run title that year, edging out three Atlanta Braves: Davey Johnson's 43, Darrell Evans' 41 and Aaron's 40.

The practice began during the turbulent 1978 season, when the Pirates came from fourth place and 11.5 games behind in mid-August, to challenge the first-place Philadelphia Phillies for the division title.

The season was scheduled to end in a dramatic, four-game showdown against the Phillies in Pittsburgh, in which the Pirates had to win all four games to claim the title.

They excited fans with numerous come-from-behind victories along the way (many during their final at-bat) to claim the division pennant on the last day of the season.

Stargell capped off the year by hitting a dramatic home run in Baltimore during the late innings of a close Game 7 to seal a Pirates' championship.

He shared the Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsmen of the Year" award with NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who also played at Three Rivers Stadium, for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente estimated, perhaps generously, that Stargell hit 400 fly balls to the warning track in left and center fields during his eight seasons in the park.

On June 25, 1971, Stargell hit the longest home run in Veterans Stadium history during a 14–4 Pirates win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 1978, against Wayne Twitchell of the Montreal Expos, Stargell hit the only fair ball to reach the club deck of Olympic Stadium.

Bob Prince, the colorful longtime Pirate radio announcer, would greet a Stargell home run with the phrase "Chicken on the Hill".

He had an awkward interaction with the Pirates that season when the team wanted to schedule a Willie Stargell Night to honor his Hall of Fame election.

[8] In the 1985 trial of alleged cocaine dealer Curtis Strong, Stargell was accused by Dale Berra and John Milner (both former Pirates teammates) of distributing "greenies" (amphetamines) to players.

He also worked as a special baseball adviser to Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy, who called Stargell "the ultimate class act".

[21] After years of suffering from a kidney disorder, he died of complications related to a stroke in Wilmington, North Carolina, on April 9, 2001.

[4] On April 7, 2001, two days before Stargell died, a larger-than-life statue of him was unveiled at the Pirates' new stadium, PNC Park, as part of the opening-day ceremonies.

[16] As his death occurred on the same day as the official opening of the stadium against the Reds, the statue served as a de facto memorial for Stargell.

[22] In 1999, he ranked 81st on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players,[23] and was also nominated as a finalist for the MLB All-Century Team.

[24] Champion Enterprises sponsors a Willie Stargell Memorial Awards Banquet which raises money for disadvantaged children in Pittsburgh.

He formed the Black Athletes Foundation (BAF) shortly after President Richard M. Nixon identified the disease as a "national health problem" in the early 1970s.

For a decade, BAF, renamed the Willie Stargell Foundation, raised research money and public awareness about the disease.