Replacing a Hall of Fame player isn’t an easy task, but that is exactly what Richie Zisk did in his first major league game for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates had just scored six times in the bottom of the seventh to lead Chicago by 10 runs in a contest on their way to a 10-1 win over the Cubs at Three Rivers Stadium on Sept. 8, 1971.
Zisk entered the game in right field as a defensive replacement for Roberto Clemente in the top of the next inning.
In the bottom of the frame, Zisk singled off Joe Decker in his first time at the plate. In the ninth, he caught the final out as Steve Blass picked up a complete game win.
A two-time all-star, Zisk went on to play 13 years in the majors with the Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners as he hit 2-7 homers with 792 RBI and a batting average of .287.
It took Zisk only three games to hit his first big league homer off New York Mets lefty Ray Sadecki in a 4-0 Pirates win at home as Blass tossed a two-hitter. With the homer, Zisk drove in Clemente.
Although he played for the Pirates in 1971 and 1972, Zisk was in enough games in 1973 to officially be a rookie. That season he batted a career-high .324 with 10 homers and 54 RBI.
The following season, he had 17 homers and knocked in 100 runs for the first time.
Zisk also hit for the cycle that summer on June 9, 1974. He had four hits and had five RBI as Pittsburgh won 14-1 at San Francisco. He hit a three-run homer to in the first inning off Ron Bryant. Willie Stargell had a pair of homers and knocked in six runs in the contest at Candlestick Park.
Also in 1974 and then again in 1975, the Pirates won the National League East. Unfortunately for the Pirates they lost in the playoff to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds. In his only post-season appearances, Zisk had eight hits and batted .400 in six games.
After hitting 21 homers with 89 RBI, Zisk was traded to the White Sox in a four-player deal that included Rich Gossage.
Zisk would have his best season in 1977 with Chicago as he had career-high numbers of 30 homers and 101 RBI. It was also his first time as an all-star.
Prior to the 1978 season, Zisk signed as a free agent with the Rangers.
In his first game with the Rangers on April 8, Zisk his the 100th long ball of his career. It turned out to be an opening day walk-off blast off Gossage, who had joined the New York Yankees as a free agent. He made the mid-summer classic for the second time and hit 22 homers with 85 RBI.
After two more seasons with Texas, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners before the 1981 strike season.
That year he would hit .311 with 16 homers and 43 RBI to earn the American League Comeback player of the Year award. He would retire two years later.