a member of the fam-a-lee dies

Considering the abysmal state of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the past decade and a half, younger fans might not be terribly familiar with members of the Pirates back when they were winning on a consistent basis. The 1979 team was the last to win a World Series title. This was the “We Are Family” team (the Sister Sledge hit song was the adopted theme of this team, despite the song’s queer quotient). An important cog in that World Series team died over the weekend. Bill Robinson played in 156 games of that magical season, mostly as left fielder with spot duty in right field and first base. He spent 8 seasons with the Pirates before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1982. He also went on to serve as hitting coach for the Mets, including their World Series championship year of 1986. Most recently, Robinson was a minor league hitting coordinator for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Robinson died Sunday at the age of 64.