Published: September 19, 2008 02:39 am      

Charleston, Pirates have to hope their baseball relationship mirrors past success

Charleston and Pittsburgh, some 240 miles apart along Interstate 79, have a star-studded past as baseball partners.

Now West Virginia’s capital city and the Pittsburgh Pirates are together again, and both sides can only hope the deal is close to as productive as the one they forged in the 1970s.

The West Virginia Power of the low Class A South Atlantic League agreed this week to a two-year player-development contract with the Pirates. The Power has been an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers for the past four years.

The Power compiled a 297-264 record from 2005 through 2008, winning South Atlantic League Northern Division titles the past two years. The West Virginia team replaces Hickory (N.C.) as Pittsburgh’s South Atlantic League franchise. The Crawdads were 52-87 and last in the Northern Division in 2008.

Pittsburgh was the parent club of the Charleston Charlies of the Class AAA International League from 1971 through 1976.

“From the time I arrived here in January 2004, hardly a day went by that I didn’t hear about the glory days of the 1970s with the Pirates and the Charlies,” Power executive vice president Andy Milovich told the Charleston Daily Mail. “The community has an affinity for that era of baseball as well as the Pirates, which makes them a good fit for us.”

Charleston posted a 441-409 record in its six-year stretch as the Pirates’ Class AAA affiliate. The Charlies’ best season was 1973, when they were the South Division champions and International League runners-up with an 85-60 mark.

Key members of Pittsburgh’s 1971 and 1979 World Series championship teams previously starred with the Charlies.

Infielder Rennie Stennett, a man who once had seven hits in a single game against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field, helped pull the Pirates out of a summer slump in 1971 with some sizzling hitting and spectacular fielding. His career was essentially ended several years later by a severe ankle injury.

Pitcher Bruce “The Whip” Kison, a lanky, sidearm-thowing right-hander, was the winning pitcher as a 21-year-old in relief against Baltimore in the fourth game of the 1971 World Series, the first game of the Fall Classic ever played at night. Kison may have been skinny, but he didn’t lack for guts; he hit three Baltimore hitters that evening at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium.

Center fielder Omar Moreno was the speed atop the Pirates’ order in their last World Series championship season of 1979.

Among the power in the middle of that lineup was outfielder Dave “The Cobra” Parker, a huge man who was also among the fastest runners in baseball and the owner of a tremendous throwing arm.

Reliever Kent Tekulve, the man on the mound for the final out of the 1979 World Series championship at Baltimore, succeeded Dave Giusti and “Goose” Gossage as the ace of a Pirates’ bullpen that was excellent throughout the 1970s.

These are just a sampling the Charleston Charlies who later starred in Pittsburgh.

The Pirates, who have not had a winning season since 1992, operate in one of baseball’s smallest markets and must draw from a large area — including West Virginia — to build their fan base at PNC Park.

Winning is a necessity for the Pirates to develop and keep fans, so Charleston is sure to receive attention from Pittsburgh management, from Wheeling native Robert Nutting, the chairman of the board and majority owner, on down.

Milovich and Pittsburgh general manager Neal Huntington, who has been on the job less than a year, have a relationship that dates to 1999 with the Cleveland Indians’ organization.

“He understands the challenges of building a championship team and the emphasis that must be placed on player development to succeed,” Milovich said. “Neal is a great fit for the Pirates, and the baseball fans throughout West Virginia will benefit from that focus and his leadership.”

The Pirates’ only hope for on-field success is player development. They simply don’t have the financial means to attract big-name free agents. That means a concerted effort to develop a relationship with Charleston that worked so well before ending 32 years ago.