[ifspuds]

One of the stalwarts of the 1960s Pirates teams that turned this downtrodden franchise's fortunes around retired in the offseason, so I thought I'd give a retrospective. Expect to see some more of these in the near future as some of the longtime Pirates begin retiring.

-----

Alberto Val
Infielder, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1959-1973

Career numbers: .287/.376/.392, 2033 H, 342 2B, 44 3B, 104 HR, 743 RBI, 1093 R, 1007 BB, 805 K.

All-Star Selections: 1962, 1964

With Alberto Val, you always knew what you were going to get: a good average, truckloads of walks and a fiery, no holds barred, spikes flying game. Traded three times before he ever saw major league action, Val was originally in the Cleveland Indians organization, a 2nd round draft pick in 1957. He was traded later that season to the Chicago Cubs and early in 1958 to the Baltimore Orioles. In 1959, the rebuilding Pirates shipped pitcher Gene Houk and outfielders Anthony Carver and Ronnie Kwok, none of whom amounted to too much for the Orioles, for Val and pitchers Alex Jones and Bud Ulrich. With the Pirates, Val finally found an organization that would tolerate his mercurial personality and his below-average defense -- because there was no question the kid from California could hit.

He hit the majors with a vengeance in 1959, winning Player of the Week in his first week of action, and hitting a robust .379/.411/.552 in 48 games. Such an auspicious debut might have raised unfair expectations, as he struggled to a .290/.337/.394 line in 1960. That .337 OBP would be his lowest in a full season throughout his career though, and his 1961 and 1962 seasons were excellent. Val always got on base very well, though the low offense years in the late '60s made his numbers look worse on the surface than they really were. While Val was never the stereotypical base stealing leadoff man, he was a smart baserunner -- swiping 64 bags at a solid rate -- and had a way of getting in opponents' heads by taking the extra base whenever he could and going in as hard as he could, daring fielders to get in his way.

Val's best season, 1966, coincided with the Pirates' first World Series win in over 50 years. Settled in at second base, Val hit .289/.388/.466 with a career high 34 doubles and the second most homers of his career, 14. In the 1966 World Series against the Boston Red Sox, he was a constant irritant, hitting .409 and slugging .682 in the series. In his career, he hit .277/.321/.399 in 173 postseason at-bats.

Alberto Val's last full-time season was 1970, his best season since that 1966 campaign. He hit .304/.423/.395, a career high in OBP, but the writing was on the wall. The Pirates had a star second base prospect in Terrell Phillips coming up through the organization, and management approached Val in the offseason about a platoon role to ease Phillips into the majors. Val accepted the role surprisingly graciously, though some of that grace might have been because he still got the lion's share of playing time, and played well: .301/.392/.389. He handed the full-time role to Phillips in 1972, getting 234 AB at several infield positions, and faded quietly into the background in 1973, picking up just 88 at-bats and hitting a paltry .170. It was a calm end to a career that was anything but calm.