[ifspuds]

Thanks to spring break and other things that kept me away from consistent computer access for a time, I wasn't able to update this thread for the 1967 season, but it was a momentous season to be sure:

* The Pirates are BACK-TO-BACK World Series champions! After weathering injuries to both George Adkison and Jack Hassery in the second half of the season, the Pirates were able to hang tough with the rival Reds through the dog days of summer and took advantage of a more favorable schedule in the final weeks to edge out Cincinnati by just one game for their second straight National League pennant. They faced the resurgent Cleveland Indians (1965 World Champs) in the World Series and quickly jumped out to a two games-to-none lead in the Series, taking both games in Cleveland. Expecting to come home and win the title in front of the home fans, the Indians instead kicked the Pirates all over Forbes Field in taking three straight against Hipolito Castillo, George Adkison and Levi Sellers.

The series went back to Cleveland with Castillo on the mound for game 6. The Hippo had struggled in his two previous postseason starts (1966 and 1967), so the Pirates were understandably concerned going into a must-win contest. Castillo came through in the clutch, however, pitching a masterful game: he took a 5-hit shutout into the 9th before getting touched up for 2 solo homers and a pair of singles before he got Andrew Vamos to fly out for the final out.

With all the marbles on the line in game 7, aces George Adkison and Roger Rembro faced off for the third time in the series. The two had split their earlier decisions, and the rubber game started off as an absolute classic, a dual shutout into the 6th, when Asa Booker led off with a single and later scored on Fletcher Jones' RBI double. The Tribe knotted the score in the bottom of the 7th when pinch hitter Billy Bogard dumped a single over Ben Trome's head to bring in Lucien Arbour, who had singled and stolen second earlier. But the tied would be short-lived, as Alberto Val led off the 8th with a double and scored on Asa Booker's 2nd hit of the game. Booker would later score on Tim Crusher's sac fly to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead, a lead they would never relinquish. The Bucs tacked on two more in the top of the 9th on a pinch-hit RBI triple from Beanpole Eshleman and another RBI single from Asa Booker, and took home their second straight world title after decades of frustration.

Al Mahoney won MVP honors, hitting .423/.464/.577 in the series with 8 RBI. In two World Series, the 26-year old left fielder, "Bash" as he's known to fans is hitting .388/.444/.633 with 14 RBI. He's rapidly gaining a reputation as a big game clutch player.

* Asa Booker, in another controversial vote, was named NL Batter of the Year, hitting .342/.387/.512 with 27 2B, 19 3B and 15 HR, 72 RBI and 113 runs scored to go with 53 steals. Some have stated that Booker, the NL batting champ, was an inferior choice to San Francisco's Jed Williams, but some writers have stated that Booker's performance in the heat of a pennant race sealed their votes.

* Manager Vic Gorin, brought in after the untimely death of Pirates legend Bud Breckenridge, won his second straight manager of the year award for his steady and calm hand on the rudder after suffering injuries to his pitching staff that threatened to sink the ship.

The Pirates enter 1968 again as one of the favorites for the NL crown, but they'll have to fend off the Reds and other surging rivals in order to win their third straight pennant, a feat never accomplished by a Pirates team in the franchise's history.