PITTSBURGH -- Dave Parker stood on the field at PNC Park, waving to acknowledge the sold-out crowd offering a raucous round of applause for him. As the cheers subsided, a familiar melody rang through the ballpark speakers: Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family.”

The Pirates celebrated the 40th anniversary of the “Fam-a-lee,” their 1979 World Series championship team, by honoring members of that club and their families during an on-field ceremony before the Bucs' 5-1 win over the Phillies Saturday night. Former players flocked to PNC Park to see old friends, share stories and memories and reflect on what made the Bucs’ last championship team so unique.

“We were very tight as a group. That’s why we had the trademark of ‘We Are Family,’ because we were family,” left fielder Lee Lacy said. “We were always pulling in the same direction. We had a great leader in Willie Stargell. We had the [Stargell] Stars.

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“What made this team special is the way we were able to pull together and everyone pulling in the same direction. That’s very difficult to do. That was the manager, Chuck Tanner, making all the right moves.”

Among those in attendance on Saturday were Matt Alexander, Dale Berra, John Candelaria, Mike Easler, Tim Foli, Phil Garner, Grant Jackson, Lacy, Omar Moreno, Steve Nicosia, Ed Ott, Parker, Jim Rooker, Manny Sanguillen, Rennie Stennett and Kent Tekulve. Broadcaster Lanny Frattare was also recognized; so were Margaret Stargell, Anna Marie Kison (wife of Bruce) and the children of general manager Harding “Pete” Peterson, the architect of the 1979 team.

The Pirates turned back the clock accordingly, donning all-black throwback uniforms with gold helmets while the Phillies sported their powder blues. They turned PNC Park’s high-definition video board into a dot matrix scoreboard.

It also didn’t take long for the players to start feeling like it was 1979 all over again, either.

“It’s the same every time we do this. I’m now 72 years old. When we get back in this room and we get together, we become who we were in 1979, which means I’m now 32 years old,” said Tekulve, who was on the mound to record the final out of World Series Game 7 against the Orioles. “As the day goes on, you will see signs of the same guys picking at the same guys. It all kinds of turns the clock back. Then the stories about everything we did, the ups and the downs.

“I played on a lot of clubs. On this one here, for some reason, all those pieces just kind of fit together to make it work and let us get where we wanted to go.”

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was playing in his third Major League season with the Royals in 1979, but he said he was drawn to the eventual World Series champs for a few reasons. First was their style and the wide variety of uniform combinations they wore. Second was what Hurdle called the “electricity” with which they played. Then there was their swagger, which made it feel like an event every time they took the field.

“It was a bad circus coming to town,” Hurdle said. “Your hands were full. You better put your game face on and get ready to play, because the Pirates are coming to town.”

It was a team with character, the players say, led by their leader Stargell. It was also a clubhouse full of characters. You could imagine it even now, as Sanguillen joked with Moreno and Stennett cracked jokes with Jackson inside the press conference room at PNC Park.

As Parker put it Saturday: “We had fun. Other teams come in and don’t know if we’re getting ready for a game or doing a barbeque.”

That swagger was still on display, too. Asked what it was like to have so many former teammates back together, Parker cracked a joke about the 3-1 deficit the Pirates overcame to beat the Orioles in the World Series.

“We’re looking to go out and take 3-1 from somebody,” Parker said. “These guys have got big hearts, and that was reflected 40 years ago. If we had to toe it up right now, it would be reflected right now.”

And how might those Pirates, with Stargell and Parker in the middle of the lineup, have fared in today’s homer-happy offensive environment?

“We would’ve capsized some boats,” Parker joked.

Lacy brought with him a limited edition Stargell Hall of Fame bat, which he carried around on Saturday to collect signatures from his friends and former teammates. Stargell passed away in 2001, Kison last year and Peterson in April. Those losses, Tekulve said, are a reminder to appreciate days like this -- and to cherish the “Fam-a-lee” every chance they get.

“There’s a whole lot of happiness, obviously. There’s a lot of sadness. We’ve lost some guys in the last five years who were with us the last time,” Tekulve said. “Because of the fact that we were as tight as we were, that will be one of the things that strikes you. On an evening when you’re remembering a whole lot of good stuff, there’s always the other side, too. Enjoy it while you can, because eventually it’s going to go away.”