PITTSBURGH — Hall of Famer Willie Stargell –“Pops” to teammates and baseball fans of all ages – will be honored in a special pregame ceremony at PNC Park with the dedication of the commemorative stamp that bears his image in his legendary batting stance. The pregame, on-field ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 21 just prior to the first pitch of the Pirates’ game with the Miami Marlins at PNC Park.

Stargell (1940-2001) powered the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates to a World Series title. Hitting 475 home runs during his career, the seven-time National League All-Star is famous for smashing baseballs out of stadiums. He played 21 seasons with the Pirates and was a seven-time National League All-Star. He instigated the adoption of the Sister Sledge hit “We Are Family” as the team’s unofficial anthem during the 1979 World Series run. During that special season, he was named National League regular season, National League Championship Series, and World Series Most Valuable Player.

Stargell joins Major League All-Stars Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees, Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians, and Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox immortalized on a sheet of 45-cent First-Class stamps, in addition to single sheets for each athlete. The commemorative stamps which will be made available nationwide during a First-Day-of-Issue dedication ceremony at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Friday, July 20 in Cooperstown, NY.

Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Megan Brennan, Western PA Acting District Manager Robert Cintron, Pittsburgh Postmaster Joe Meimann, Pirates Chairman and Owner Bob Nutting, Pirates President Frank Coonelly, and Margaret Stargell will be on hand to help unveil the stamp artwork to fans attending the game.

*Editor’s Note: There will be a “media only” unveiling and interview session prior to the on-field dedication at 6 p.m. in the Pirates press room. Media wishing to attend the private, “media only” unveiling/interview session should contact the Pirates press office for credentials for the press room. (Please be in place approximately 10 minutes prior to start of press event.)

Also: single sheets of the Willie Stargell Forever stamp, as well as, a specially designed Willie Stargell collector’s cachet and other limited collectibles will be available during the game Saturday, July 21, on the 2nd level of the Majestic Clubhouse Store, located in the left-field area of PNC Park. They will also be available at select Pittsburgh-area Post Offices: McKnight, Monroeville, Pleasant Hills, Montour, Allegheny, Main Post Office (California Ave.), and Grant Street.

Customers may view the Major League Baseball Forever stamps as well as many of this year’s other stamps on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, through Twitter@USPSstamps or on the website Beyond the Perf at beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview. Beyond the Perf is the Postal Service’s online site for background on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.

# # #

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service was ranked number one in overall service performance, out of the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world, by Oxford Strategic Consulting. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.