Moving right along on MLB Monday, it’s time for the birth year of our prime staff! This was an interesting season for many reasons: Pittsburgh Pirates legend Roberto Clemente, the Baltimore Orioles, the Oakland Athletics … the list could go on. Either way, baseball’s past is much more interesting than its present-day successor, that’s for sure. Good to know we have at least one more year of continuing this miniseries …

1971 World Series MVP: Roberto Clemente, RF, Pittsburgh (original); Steve Blass, SP, Pittsburgh (revised)

The Pirates defeated the Orioles in seven games for the first time in this decade, as there would be a repeat of this circumstance in 1979. Weird, huh? Either way, the home team won the first six games of this matchup, until Game 7 when Pittsburgh topped Baltimore by a 2-1 score on the road. Pirates right fielder Clemente (2 HRs, 4 RBI, .414 BA, 1.210 OPS) was named the Series MVP. Is there anyone else to consider?

He was the best hitter for Pittsburgh, for sure, but a close series means either team could supply the winner here. Yet Pirates starting pitcher Steve Blass (2-0, 18 IP, 1.00 ERA, 0.611 WHIP) did his fair share in ensuring his team’s Fall Classic victory. He won Game 3 at home, after Pittsburgh lost the first two games of the Series on the road, and then he won the decisive Game 7 on the road—both were complete-game efforts.

We actually are more impressed with the pressure of those two starts than we are with the mere 4 RBI from Clemente. Yes, he hit a solo homer in Game 7 to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead, but it was still Blass on the mound for the full game in two key starts that defined this Series, overall. We know it may be sacrilegious, but we’re giving this trophy to Blass for being tough as nails mentally and physically to save his team.

1971 AL Championship Series MVP: Boog Powell, 1B, Baltimore

This series represented an eventual changing of the guard in the AL as the Orioles won their third straight pennant by sweeping the A’s in three games—Oakland would go on to win the next three pennants from 1972-1974. With three different SPs winning the games for Baltimore, we’re going with first baseman Boog Powell here: he was the best offensive contributor in the series (2 HRs, 3 RBI, 3 BBs, .300 BA, 1.362 OPS).

1971 NL Championship Series MVP: Bob Robertson, 1B, Pittsburgh

The Pirates dropped the NLCS opener in San Francisco to the Giants, but then they won the next three games to claim the pennant. 1B Bob Robertson was the superstar here: 4 HRs, 6 RBI, .438 BA, 1.688 OPS. That’s pretty nuts for a four-game series. SP Bob Johnson tossed eight shutout innings in Game 2 to get Pittsburgh back in the matchup, and we like that clutch effort on the road, too, but the offense … wowsers!

1971 AL MOTY: Dick Williams, Oakland

The A’s won the AL West by a whopping 16 games, while the O’s won the AL East by 12 games. Baltimore Manager Earl Weaver posted a minus-2 PPP, however, while Oakland Manager Dick Williams (plus-6 PPP) had the best impact of any manager in the league on any team. That’s our clincher, as always, pulling off the double double of a pennant and the prime PPP. This is Williams’ third nod from us in four seasons.

1971 NL MOTY: Charlie Fox, San Francisco

Despite a minus-4 PPP finish for Manager Danny Murtaugh, the Pirates still won the NL East by 7 games. Meanwhile, the Giants won the NL West by 1 game over the Los Angeles Dodgers, in large part due to S.F. Manager Charlie Fox (plus-2 PPP). Considering L.A. Manager Walter Alston (minus-1 PPP) may have fumbled away his team’s chances, it’s easy to go with Fox here for the piece of hardware. He was instrumental.