Pirates Great Rennie Stennett Dies At Age 72 After Battle With Cancer
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Two-time World Series champion Rennie Stennett has died at age 72.
The Pirates says Stennett died early Tuesday morning in Coconut Creek, Florida after a battle with cancer.
"We are saddened by the loss of such a beloved member of the Pirates family. Rennie was a great player on the field, and an even better person off of it," Pirates President Travis Williams said in a press release. "A member of our World Series Championships in both 1971 and 1979 who remained a very active and cherished member of our Alumni Association, Rennie symbolized what it meant to be a Pittsburgh Pirate."
We are saddened to relay the news that a beloved member of the Pirates family, Rennie Stennett, passed this morning at the age of 72.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 18, 2021
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Stennett family as we join in their grief. pic.twitter.com/K7ao9X0DEY
Williams says Stennett was a member of the first all-minority lineup in MLB history when he took the field in 1971.
Stennett also went 7-for-7 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sept. 16, 1975, becoming the first and only player in the modern era to do so in a nine-inning game.
"Rennie's legacy will live on here with the Pirates and through his family he loved dearly. Our sincere condolences to his daughter Renee (Lujo), her husband Rolando and their sons Rolando Jr. and Rylan, Rennie's son Rennie Jr., his daughter Nevaeh and son Camden, as well as Rennie's son Roberto. We join them and all his loved ones in their grief. Rennie will be missed," said Williams."