City pride helps bind latest class

The emotion in Kent Tekulve’s voice was plenty evident by the time he was finishing a Pirates 2023 Hall of Fame induction speech on Saturday afternoon.

Wearing a gold jacket and standing on a makeshift stage near the center-field gate at PNC Park, Tekulve closed his part by referencing Jack Lambert and “that football team down the hall” at Three Rivers Stadium.

At the end of Lambert’s Pro Football Hall of Fame speech, after essentially saying he’d do it all over again in a heartbeat, he closed with the infamous line, “You damn well better believe I would be a Pittsburgh Steeler.”

Representing three members from the Pirates’ 1960 World Series team — Dick Groat, ElRoy Face and Bob Friend — Tekulve hit a variety of notes during his speech, from familial sacrifice to success achieved and how much the four were embraced by Pirates fans.

“It’s been an unbelievable life,” Tekulve said. “And you can be daggone sure that if we got a chance to live this life again and be professional baseball players, we would be Pittsburgh Pirates.”

The speech featured some terrific work from Tekulve, who ranks first all-time in saves by a Pirates pitcher since the statistic became official in 1969 with 158. The rubber-armed Tekulve also led MLB appearances three times as a Pirate and shares the team record for most games pitched in one season (94 in 1979).

He’s equally as good of a talker, as evidenced by his broadcasting career. Tekulve thanked the wives and children in attendance, groups that quietly and unfortunately get short shrift when it comes to a baseball life.

There was also the part of about how the city embraced a bunch of unknowns throughout his career and that of his fellow inductees.

“You didn’t know if we would be here for 15 games or 15 years or if we were gonna be good or bad,” Tekulve said. “But you supported us because we were on your team. That was very special to all of us.”

Pirates play-by-play man Greg Brown served as master of ceremonies and opened by welcoming inaugural Pirates Hall of Fame inductees Steve Blass and Dave Parker, as well as two members of the 1979 World Series championship team,John Candelaria and Ed Ott.

General manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton sat in the front row, as they joined a bunch of team staffers and coaches who watched the ceremony. Owner Bob Nutting was not able to attend for undisclosed reasons, and team president Travis Williams delivered opening remarks in his absence.

“This is a special day for all of us at the Pirates — for our fans, and most importantly for our Hall of Famers and their families,” Williams said. “I personally appreciate all of you sharing in this important celebration.”

Now 95 but certainly not lacking for confidence, the most entertaining part of the afternoon might’ve been a post-ceremony conversation with Face, who’s the club’s all-time leader in appearances (802).

Had saves been a stat when Face pitched, he would’ve been the Pirates all-time leader with 188. He does hold the National League record for games won in relief, including 18 in 1959.

Face spoke plenty of truth when talking about teammates such as Bill Virdon and Vernon Law, emphasizing the need for them to be part of this thing soon.

Face also railed against current save rules versus how things used to be, when a reliever had to face the tying or winning run.

“I’d probably have a save every time I went out there with the way it is today,” Face said.

There was also Face’s time in the minor leagues in 1955, when he was directed to work on offspeed pitches and returned from New Orleans with his infamous forkball. Asked about hitters’ reaction to the devastating pitch back in the day, Face deadpanned, “I was cussed at a lot.”

As how his forkball might work against today’s hitters, Face had another gem: “They still wouldn’t hit it.”

When it came to Groat, the two-sport sensation from Swissvale, there was remnants of an agreement with “Stevie” — Dick’s name for him — Blass and Groat’s family.

When Blass visited Groat at Champion Lakes, the golf course he owned in Bolivar, to deliver the Hall of Fame news, they agreed on a Budweiser to celebrate.

Nine days later, Groat passed away due to complications from a stroke, so plans were shifted to have the Budweisers with Groat’s daughters instead.

“This was really special,” Allison DeStefano, one Groat’s daughters, said. “I wish my dad could have been here to see it all.

“It’s kind of bittersweet. We’re so proud and so happy about everything. He would have just been so honored to be here today, with his teammates.”

As happy as Groat might’ve been, he probably would’ve deflected the attention to the other inductees, which is a ploy Bob Friend Jr. suspected his dad would’ve employed as well.

“Knowing my dad, he probably would have been a little bit embarrassed by all of the attention,” the younger Friend said. “He was a very humble guy.”

There’s no question Friend, the Pirates all-time leader in starts (477), innings pitched (3,481) and strikeouts (1,682), deserves to have a plaque featuring his face on the Hall of Fame wall.

Despite pitching on some bad Pirates teams, Friend led MLB in ERA in 1955 (2.83), was a three-time All-Star and never spent a day on the injured list. Similar to his fellow inductees and Law, Friend seemed to win the genetic lottery.

He also didn’t throw “garbage,” as his son put it. Friend threw a heavy ball with plenty of natural sink to it while also adhering to a training regimen that would make modern baseball people cringe: He insisted on throwing every single day from the first day of spring training to the final day of the regular season.

“He was so proud to be a Pittsburgh Pirate,” the younger Friend said. “He loved this bal club. He loved his teammates. He was a Pittsburgh guy. Loved the fans, loved the town. He would be extraordinarily proud to have this opportunity.”

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.