(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pitcher Dave Giusti, a member of the 1971 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates, takes part in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the championship season before of a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets in Pittsburgh, Saturday, July 17, 2021. (AP)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Dave Giusti, the star closing pitcher on the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates World Series winning team, died yesterday at the age of 86. The right-handed pitcher had a sinking palmball as his signature pitch, and in the all-time rankings for Pirates pitchers, he ranks third in saves with 133, seventh in ERA with 2.92 and eighth in games with 410. From 1970-1975, Giusti led all major league pitchers in saves with 127, when he earned one All-Star appearance in 1973 and finished in the top 10 of National League Cy Young Award voting three times (1970, 1973 and 1974). He led the National League with 30 saves in 1971, when he pitched 10 2/3 scoreless innings in the postseason and earned the save in the Game 4 World Series win over the Baltimore Orioles. Giusti starting 130 games with the Houston Colt 45s from 1962-68 and 12 for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1969, and had a career record of 100-93 and a 3.60 ERA in 15 seasons. The Pirates traded Giusti to the Oakland Athletics as part of a 10-player deal which brought back second baseman Phil Garner, who was a key player for their 1979 World Series champions. He retired after splitting the 1977 season between the Athletics and the Chicago Cubs, and made Mt. Lebanon his home after his playing career. Giusti then worked as a corporate sales manager for American Express and also served as an officer with the Pirates Alumni Association since its inception.