4/14 Through the 1970s: Jim Joins, '60 Ready, '52 Pups, Bunning Marks, McBean Beauty, Game Days, Feds Open; HBD Kyle, Wild Bill & George

• 1880 - OF George Merritt was born in Paterson, NJ. He spent from 1901-03 with the Pirates as an outfielder and part-time hurler (he played 15 games in three years, with four off the hill), slashing 3-0/4.50 from the hill and hitting .213 as a bench stick. That was the extent of his MLB days. During his 1903 campaign, he left Pittsburgh and joined the hometown Jersey City Skeeters, playing with them until 1910 before finally hanging up the glove in 1915.
• 1884 - RHP Wild Bill Luhrsen was born in Buckley, Illinois. His MLB career consisted of five games (three starts) for the 1913 Pirates when the 29-year-old rookie went 3-1/2.48, with his only loss to Christy Mathewson. The Pirates bought his rights from Albany of the Sally League during the season after a rash of injuries chewed up the staff and then was sent to Columbus after the pitching returned. Wild Bill retired in 1916 and worked the semi-pro and indie circuits. 
• 1914 - The Pittsburgh Feds and the Brooklyn Tip-Tops played the first game of the short-lived Federal League. The contest was front page news in the papers, a band led a parade from town to Exposition Park, and Mayor William Magee tossed out the first pitch. Tom Seaton of the Tip Tops outdid Carrick native Elmer Knetzer of the Feds 1-0 in 10 innings. The game was played in front of an estimated 10,000 fans. The team became the Pittsburgh Rebels after Rebel Oakes took over the hot seat from Doc Gessler early in the year, and like their National League counterparts, they came in seventh with a 64-86 finish. Alpha/Omega: Knetzer tossed out not only the opening pitch of the club, but also of the Federal League itself. He also delivered the last ball of the Rebel franchise/FL on October 2nd, 1915, in a 3-0 loss to the Chicago Whales, a game that gave Chi-town first place over the Rebels. The Fed folded after the season. 

Rebel Oakes - Helmar Oasis

• 1920 - The Pirates opened the season on a winning note with help from the Cards, who committed four errors leading to three unearned runs and a 5-4 Pittsburgh win in 10 innings at Robison Field. For all the miscues, the Redbirds made a thriller out of it, scoring with two outs in the ninth and putting runners at second and third before Babe Adams could coax the final out. The Bucs bounced back with a two-out run in the 10th frame when pinch hitter Fred Nicholson singled home George Cutshaw; the tally was again unearned, set up when St. Louis hurler Marv Goodwin threw away a bunt. Pittsburgh managed just seven hits, with Carson Bigbee (single, double) and Charlie Grimm (single, triple) each with a pair. Earl Hamilton saved the victory for Adams. 
• 1925 - Chicago’s WGN Radio broadcast its first ever regular season Cubs’ baseball game (Quin Ryan announced the contest from the grandstand roof) as Chicago’s Grover Alexander defeated the Pirates and Emil Yde on Opening Day 8-2. Six of the runs against Yde were unearned thanks to three Bucco boots. Old Pete not only won, but helped himself with a single, double, and home run. 
• 1937 - The Bucs bought RHP Jim “Abba Dabba” Tobin from the Yankees, who had him stashed on the Pacific Coast League Oakland Oaks roster. Tobin tossed three seasons for Pittsburgh, going 29-24-1/3.71 before being sent to Boston. He pitched in MLB through 1945 and tossed a no-hitter for Beantown in 1944. He was also a good stick; he hit .230 during his career, .275 during his Pirates stay, and was called on regularly as a pinch hitter. Abba Dabba is the only modern-era pitcher to hit three homers in one game, as he did for the Braves in 1942 (Guy Hecker, who would later manage the Alleghenys, was the only other pitcher to equal him, back in 1886). Tobin called it a day as an MLB player after the 1950 campaign. As for his nickname, the Detroit Athletic Company explained “Tobin liked to do imitations of a vaudeville magician. As part of the act, Tobin would pause in the middle of a magic trick and declare, ‘Abba Dabba, are you ready?’” 
• 1952 - In a sure sign that the Pirates expected a long year, the team brought seven rookies north with them: IF Dick Hall, OF Bobby Del Greco, P Ronnie Kline, P Jim Waugh, OF Brandy Davis, P Ed Wolfe and OF Lee Walls. IF Tony Bartirome was called up a couple of days later, and the youthfulness of the club became apparent as the year went on - the Bucs finished last with 42 wins. 

Billy Maz - 1960 Topps

• 1960 - The Pirates showed that they would be a NL force to reckon with during their Home Opener by pounding the Reds 13-0 in front of 34,064 fans. Vern Law pitched the complete game, seven-hit shutout while Roberto Clemente and Billy Maz combined to chase home nine runs. One of the Great One’s RBI was a 445’ sac fly that Vada Pinson corralled just short of the batting cage parked in center field. Fun fact from This Date In Baseball: Bill Mazeroski hit the first homer of the season at Forbes Field to open the floodgates today. He also hit the last long ball of the ballyard’s year when he went deep to beat the Yankees in Game Seven of the World Series on October 13th. 
• 1963 - Al McBean tossed Pittsburgh to a 1-0 victory over the Reds at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field on Easter for their fourth straight victory. The Bucs pushed their only run across in the fourth when Bill Virdon beat out a two-out bleeder to second that scored Bob Skinner, set up thanks to a walk and pair of infield singles off Joey Jay, with only one other runner reaching third. Cincy had 10 hits, with a walk and error thrown in by the Pirates, but stranded 12 runners, twice leaving the bases loaded and three times leaving runners at second and third. But Alvin buckled down at the end, retiring the final seven batters without a ball leaving the infield to ice the win. 
• 1968 - Jim Bunning earned his first win with Pittsburgh 3-0 at Los Angeles. It was his 40th career shutout and included his 1‚000th NL strikeout‚ making him the first pitcher since Cy Young with 1‚000 punch outs in each league. His whitewash was saved when Roberto Clemente brought back an almost two-run homer by Ron Fairly, leaping above the RF wall to snag the shot. 
• 1976 - RHP Kyle Farnsworth was born in Wichita, Kansas. Kyle spent 16 years and tossed 893 games in the MLB; a few weeks and nine outings were on the Pirates dime in 2013. The veteran was picked up off waivers from Tampa Bay and the 38-year-old did his job, giving up one run in 8-1/3 IP during their playoff run. Kyle’s last year in the show was 2014; he tossed in Mexico for a couple of years afterward while multitasking by playing semi-pro football in Florida.

4/14 From 1980: B-Rey Signs, Cutch #300, B-2-B Twice, Fort-ified, Nate Great, Game Days, Indy No-No, CBS Debut; HBD Chris & JVB

• 1980 - The Pirates got their World Series rings at the Home Opener at TRS. The rainy day (the game was delayed three times) drew 44,088 to the yard. The Bucs were cruising in the ninth when Teke, the eventual game winner, was touched up for a couple of runs to tie the match; it was untied an inning later when Bill Robinson took Bruce Sutter yard for a walkoff 5-4 Bucco win. 
• 1980 - RHP John Van Benschoten was born in San Diego. As a top draft pick in 2001 (eighth overall), the internal debate whether was to have JVB pitch (he was Kent State’s closer) or hit (he led the NCAA in HRs). The Pirates thought he had a better shot physically at pitching, and that proved to be a bad decision. In three stops at Pittsburgh (2004, 2007-08) he went 2-13/9.20 while beleaguered by an assortment of arm problems. He never tossed in the majors again. 
• 1984 - RHP Chris Leroux was born in Montreal. The reliever pitched for the Bucs from 2010-13, getting fairly regular work between 2010-11. He was injured much of 2012 and released early in the 2013 campaign, which he finished out in Japan. His Pirate line was 1-2/5.56, with his last MLB posting with the Yankees in 2014. He retired in 2017 after playing on the Canadian WBC team. 
• 1990 - The Pirates and Cubs became the first MLB teams to be aired nationally by CBS Sports, which had outbid ABC and NBC for exclusive game rights with an offer of $1.8B over four years. Their Three Rivers match was the network’s first “Saturday Game of the Week” and marked the debut of the announcing team of Brent Musberger and Tim McCarver. The Pirates didn’t provide much bang for the buck as Mike Harkey tossed a five-hitter and topped Doug Drabek 4-1. 

Bob Walk - 1991 Leaf

• 1991 - Bob Walk hit the only home run of his career, a two-out solo shot off Chicago’s Danny Jackson, in the second inning at Wrigley Field. Walk started the game but wasn’t around for the decision in Pittsburgh’s 6-4 loss to the Cubs as Stan Belinda gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the defeat. Jeff King went 3-for-4 while Bobby Bo also added a solo shot.
• 2006 - It was bad enough that the Pirates wasted three home runs (Nate McLouth, Craig Wilson and Jay Bay) and fell 11-6 to the Cubs at PNC Park in front of 34,264 fans on a Saturday night. To add injury to insult, newly acquired (it was his ninth outing as a Bucco) Sean Casey fractured his back in two places after a first base collision and didn’t return to action until May 29th. Starter Victor Santos took the loss as the bullpen behind him also floundered. 
• 2008 - The Bucs took a down-to-the-wire 6-4 win at Dodger Stadium when Nate McLouth hammered a three-run, two-out homer in the ninth off Dodger All-Star closer Takashi Saito. Matt Capps saved the win for Tyler Yates in a game started by Zach Duke. Jose Bautista banged a two-run homer to open the scoring; both Bucco long balls were swatted with two outs. 
• 2013 - The Pirates fell behind the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 before scoring 10 runs in the seventh and eighth innings to rally for a 10-6 win behind Mike McKenry’s two long balls, the first multi-homer day of his career. The PNC fans wouldn’t sit down until The Fort tipped his cap during a curtain call. Appropriately, the Pirates were dressed in throwback seventies “Lumber Company” uniforms. 

Mike McKenry - 2013 photo Mark Ribelus/USA Today

• 2014 - The Bucs and Reds combined for a GABP record 10 homers in just six innings before the game was suspended by weather with the score 7-7 as the Pirates became the third MLB team to hit three back-to-back sets of HR. Neil Walker and Gaby Sanchez hit that cycle twice in the second and sixth frames to tie a team mark from 1954 set by Toby Atwell and Jerry Lynch. Starling Marte and Travis Snider banged the other pair of consecutive dingers. The Reds were no slouches themselves, hitting four homers, three of them two-run shots and all of them with two outs. Pittsburgh won the game the next day 8-7 on Russ Martin’s two-out knock that scored Andrew McCutchen. 
• 2018 - It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but Pittsburgh slipped past Miami 1-0 at Marlin Park. Jameson Taillon and Trevor Richards started in a game that saw just 11 combined hits, and it hinged on two plays. In the fourth inning, Miami’s Justin Bour was on third when Lewis Brinson hit a gentle roller to shortstop, with Jordy Mercer playing at DP depth looking for a twin-killing. But instead of steaming home with the conceded run, Bour froze at third and died there. In the ninth, Starling Marte singled with an out and went to third on a hit-and-run. Corey Dickerson surprised everyone by bunting, and it could have been a disaster, as he popped the ball up. But good fortune carried it far enough to drop between the pitcher and second baseman, allowing Marte to score the game’s only run. It wasn’t a safety squeeze but Dickerson’s own brainstorm, even though he hadn’t laid down a bunt in a game since 2014. George Kontos got the win with Felipe Vazquez picking up the save. 
• 2022 - The Bucs avoided an arb hearing with Super-Two All-Star CF Bryan Reynolds, 27, by agreeing to a contract that covered 2022-23 with a value of $13.5M ($6.75M per season). He would still be under two more years of team control after that via arb, with the two sides reportedly exploring a longer term deal now that the settlement allowed for some breathing room (They did reach that long-term deal a year later for eight seasons/$106.75M). Reynolds joined the club in 2018 as part of the package that sent Andrew McCutchen to the SF Giants. B-Rey homered later on this day in the game against the Nats to help Roansy Contreras, in relief, to his first MLB win, 9-4. 

B-Rey - 2022 Topps Archives

• 2022 - RHPs Chase De Jong, Austin Brice and Yerry De Los Santos with C Jason Delay behind the dish combined to hurl a no-hitter against St. Paul at CHS Field, as the Class AAA Indianapolis Indians rode the no-no to a 5-0 win. It was a pretty strong crew of arms - DeJong had six years in the show with four teams, Brice also had six MLB seasons under his belt with three clubs, and all four were called up to Pittsburgh during the season. Austin & Chase are now free agents, Yerry is in the Yankees organization and Jason is now with the big league Pirates. 
• 2024 - Andrew McCutchen drilled a ball into the left field stands of Philly’s Citizens Bank Park, adding a feather to his cap with his 300th long ball. Cutch had been stuck at 299 dingers since August 22 when an injury put a stop to his year, and it was weight off his shoulders to get off the schneid (it was HR #1 of the year) as he was off to his typically slow April start. Though he would have rather cranked it out of PNC Park, he was comfortable doing it in Philadelphia, where he had spent 2019-21 as a player, becoming the 19th player in MLB history with 300 home runs, 200 steals, and 2000 hits. As for the game itself, Andrew’s ninth-inning bomb was a cherry on top as the Pirates won 9-2 behind a strong outing by Mitch Keller and a Jack Suwinski grand slam. 
• 2025 - The Pirates were coming home after being swept by the Reds, and to try to reverse the mojo, Andrew McCutchen handed out rally necklaces intertwined in black and gold. It didn’t sprinkle fairy dust at the start: Endy Rodriguez had to leave the game when Paul Skene's pitch took a hop and caught his finger; Henry Davis replaced him (Skenes & Davis became the first MLB battery consisting of Number One overall draft picks while mound foes Paul and Nats pitcher Dylan Crews were teammates at LSU, College World Series winners and the 1-2 picks in the '23 draft.) Endy got some stitches and an IL posting (Yo-yo reliever Chase Shugart was recalled). But Lady Luck at last smiled on the Bucs as the Pirates finally broke out with a 10-3 win. The 14-hit attack was a team affair: All nine starters had raps (five had multi-hit nights) and all but one drove in and/or scored runs. Surprise clean-up hitter Enmanuel Valdez and Ke'Bryan Hayes led the attack with three RBIs apiece from the 4-5 holes.

Weekly Report: Konnor Deal Finalized, 50-50 Week, Cruz Hot, City Connect Unis On Deck

Are they for real...?

Pirates Stuff:

• As leaked by the sporting media, 19-year-old SS Kevin Griffin agreed to a nine-year/$140M contract with the Pirates on Wednesday that included a $12M signing bonus less than a week after his MLB debut. The deal was the largest in club history and includes incentives that could raise the total value to $150M. Griffin was selected ninth overall in 2024 as the first high school player taken. 
• IF Enmanuel Valdez, who was DFA'ed when Konnor Griffin was called up, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Indy.
  

Oneil sporting his City Connect outfit.

• Oneil Cruz has an 11-game hitting streak going on, tying the longest such streak of his career and is the longest current active streak in MLB.
• The Pirates showed off their '26 black-and-gold City Connect unis. They'll debut the new duds on April 17 at PNC v the Rays.
• For our trivia fans, the Pirates starters' streak of homer-less frames ended Tuesday at 53-1/3 IP when Paul Skenes was touched up for a solo shot. It additionally ended a two-year losing streak along the Allegheny to the San Diego squad, and also marked the first time Skenes and Konnor Griffin played together. Whew!

Game Stuff:

• The Bucs were as sloppy as the weather on Monday and dropped the opener of a three-gamer to San Diego, 5-0. TOOTBLAN's, fielding comedy, 10 runners stranded...it wasn't a pretty show by the home nine. 
• After losing seven straight to the Friars at PNC, Paul Skenes said enough. He went 6-1/3 IP, giving up a run on two hits & two walks with six K after 87 pitches and left with a 2-1 lead. The Bucs bats went oppo field crazy, and when the smoke cleared, it was a 7-1 Tuesday dub for the boys. Ryan O'Hearn, Konnor Griffin and Henry Davis had two raps; Oneil Cruz, Nick Gonzales and Griffin chased home a pair.
• Mitch was strong again on Wednesday with six scoreless frames, but Justin Lawrence and Jose Urquidy were toasted as SD took the series 8-2. The Bucs booted three balls and went 1-for-9 w/RISP while the Padres OF made a couple of glovely plays to keep the Bucs at bay when they were trying to make it a game.
• After a day of rest, it was off to Wrigley Field for a weekend trio. On Friday, Carmen Mlodzinski dodged some bullets but got into the sixth with a shutout while Shota Imanaga was brilliant over six. In the seventh, Bryan Reynolds bopped a two-run shot off Caleb Thielbar and the Bucs took the opener, 2-0.

Yohan Ramirez - 2025 photo Tim Vizer/Imagn Images

• Braxton Ashcraft was spectacular with nine fans in five frames while Oneil Cruz was 4-for-4 with three swiped sacks and Nick Yorke was 3-for-4, but singletons scored off Justin Lawrence and Dennis Santana out of an overworked pen left it tied 3-3 after regulation. It was Yohan Ramirez to the resue, tossing two shutout innings despite being a bit wild, and aided by a thrown-away two-out dribbler by the Cubbies Caleb Thielbar (tough coupla days for him), the Corsairs claimed a 4-3, 11-inning dub at Wrigley.
• Despite Brandon Lowe banging two homers - one a granny - and being up 5-0 and 6-1, the Bucs were walked off in the Chicago finale 7-6. Seven walks, leaky OF defense and trying to protect a lead with Justin Lawrence and Jose Urquidy proved too much to overcome; no sweep today *sigh*.
• The Pirates return to PNC for a seven-game stand - four v the Washington Nats and three against the Tampa Bay Rays.

MLB Stuff: 

• The Blues Jays called up LHP Josh Fleming, who last pitched in the bigs for Pittsburgh in 2024 (1-1-1/4.02, 25 games), used him once, DFA'ed him and then resigned him to a minor league deal.
• The Atlanta Braves have DFA'ed LHP Martin Perez, 35, who got 16 starts for the 2024 Pirates (2-5/5.20).
• The NY Mets, who recently signed OF Tommy Pham to a minor league deal, are reported to be calling him up on Monday for the LA series.

4/13 Through 1974: Stuffy Signs, Al, Vern, Babe & Game Days, Roberts Debuts, Balk-A-Mania; HBD Ricardo, Doug, Claude, Mike & Abel

• 1870 - 1B Abel Lizotte was born in Lewiston, Maine. His major league career consisted of seven games played as a Bucco in 1896 with Abel proving to be not very threatening with the stick, going 3-for-29. Lizotte was a 17-year man in the bushes, wielding the lumber a lot better on the farm with a .292 lifetime BA while playing for 10 different clubs. He also managed in the minors. 
• 1883 - C Mike Simon was born in Hayden, Indiana. He was with the Bucs from 1909-13, mainly as a reserve, and hit .244. He jumped to the outlaw Federal League in 1914 and finished his big league career there, playing two more seasons. Mike then spent his final two years in the minors. 
• 1889 - RHP Claude Hendrix was born in Olathe, Kansas. He pitched for the Bucs from 1911-13, posting a 42-30/2.71 slash. He jumped to the Federal League in 1914 where he won 45 games in two years for the Chicago Whales. When the Fed folded, he stayed in the Windy City with the Cubs and won 57 more games with them over five seasons. He got caught up in the backwash of a gambling investigation and his career ended in 1920. He passed away at age 54.
• 1914 - The Bucs dropped the Season Opener 2-1 at St. Louis’ Robinson Park as Babe Adams lost his duel to Dan Griner of the Browns, whose pitching, according to the Pittsburgh Press, was “of the airtight variety.” Redbird manager Miller Huggins, despite the win, liked the Pittsburgh lineup, saying that “Fred Clarke has a sweet baseball club this year.” Huggins was a better skipper than prognosticator as the Pirates finished in seventh with a 69-85 record. 
• 1916 - Babe Adams tossed a one-hit 4-0 gem against the Cards. The only hit was a generously ruled knock that clanged off 2B Joe Schultz's mitt. Adams won only one more game that season and was sent to the minors in August. The Pirates brought him back again in 1918 after he sat out a season, and he stuck through 1926, winning 48 games between 1919-21. Babe’s last game was on August 11th, 1926 when he was released after leading a player revolt, asking that former manager and current FO suit Fred Clarke, who had been openly critical of manager Bill McKechnie, be banned from the bench in what became known as the “ABC (Adams, Skeeter Bigbee & Max Carey were the ringleaders) Affair.” He would never play another major league game, though at age 44 his better days were in the rearview mirror. Babe worked 19 years for the Bucs, winning 194 games with a 2.76 ERA and he won three World Series games in 1909. 

Babe Adams - 1916 The Sporting News

• 1925 - 1B Stuffy McInnis was released by the Boston Braves and signed by the Bucs. He hit .368 in 59 games and played in Pittsburgh’s World Series win over Washington. He was a bench guy the following year, hitting .299 before retiring after 1927. McInnis gained his nickname as a youngster in Boston, where his spectacular fielding brought shouts of "that's the stuff, kid.” 
• 1926 - The defending world champion Pirates opened at Sportsman Park against the St. Louis Cards, which would replace them as king of the hill in ‘26, and dropped a 7-6 thriller. Vic Aldridge, winner of a pair of Series games, fell behind eventual 20-game winner Flint Rhem 6-0 after five innings. The Bucs gnawed away at the lead, cutting the deficit to a run with one out in the ninth with runners on second and third, but a pop up was followed by an at-em ball liner to end it.. 
• 1954 - Seven years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, second baseman Curt Roberts made his major league debut during the season Opener at Forbes Field and became the first African American to play for the Pirates (although Carlos Bernier, who came up in 1953 and was considered Latino rather than black, was the first black Buc). The former Kansas City Monarch tripled off Robin Roberts in the first inning as the Bucs beat the Phillies 4-2 by scoring four times in the eighth frame. Vernon Law retired all six batters he faced in relief of starter Bob Friend and picked up the win. It was the first time the Pirates had ever opened the season at Forbes Field, drawing 32,294 fans. It was their 11th straight home opener win, a streak that would end the following year. There was a little pre-game merriment as three-year-old Leslie Blair, Honus Wagner’s granddaughter, was slated to throw out the first pitch, but was struck by stage fright and never let loose the horsehide, so the umps began the game without its traditional opening. 
• 1962 - The Mets played their first Home Opener against the Bucs with only 12,447 fans at the Polo Grounds on a cold, drizzly day. It was Friday the 13th to boot, and the date cursed the home team. The Pirates scored the winning run on two eighth-inning wild pitches thrown by Ray Diavault, scoring Dick Groat, who had opened with a walk, to defeat New York 4-3. The Pirates had eight hits, with five coming from the 6-7-8 hitters (Smoky Burgess, Don Hoak & Bill Mazeroski), who accounted for two runs and three RBI from the bottom of the order. Tom Sturdivant went seven innings for the win with ElRoy Face nailing down the save. 

Bob Friend - 1963 Topps

• 1963 - The Pirates clobbered the Reds 12-4 at Crosley Field, but the big story was on the bump. The league decided to clamp down on balks and a record seven were called in the game, including a MLB record of four on Bob Friend (the mark lasted a month until the Braves’ Bob Shaw was caught five times), who was nonplussed by the calls. He admitted that he never adhered to the full stop rule because it had never been called before. An MLB record 924 balks were rung up during the season after umpires were instructed to enforce the rule as written. As for the game, Ducky Schofield, Bob Skinner and Billy Maz each had three hits; Roberto Clemente and Friend had two knocks each. Pete Rose collected his first MLB hit during the game, a triple, after an 0-for-11 start. 
• 1964 - IF Doug Strange was born in Greenville, South Carolina. He ended his nine-year MLB run off the bench in Pittsburgh, batting .173 in 90 games. He spent a couple of seasons as minor-league depth, then joined the Marlins as a scout for a couple of more years before coming over to Pittsburgh’s Baseball Operations section in 2002. He’s now a Special Assistant to the GM.
• 1966 - Vern Law won his 10th straight game by a 6-0 count over the Braves at Atlanta Stadium. The Deacon gave up four hits, no walks and fanned four, never allowing a runner to advance beyond first base. Willie Stargell had a homer and three RBI while Donn Clendenon added a two-run blow to key the attack. Law then missed a month with a pulled rib muscle, lost his next outing in May (ironically against the same club, Atlanta) and finished 12-8/4.05 on the campaign. He only had fumes left in his tank, and a groin injury led to his retirement in August of ‘67. 
• 1968 - Al McBean went the distance to claim a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants and Gaylord Perry at Candlestick Park. McBean did it all; he tossed a three-hitter and even singled in the winning run with two outs in the seventh inning. The key play was The Great One gunning down Willie Mays at third with no outs in the seventh to keep the lid on a potential rally by the G-Men. Per BR Bullpen, Mays could recall being caught going from corner-to-corner just once in his career, and it was on this day. "Roberto Clemente threw me out on a bang-bang play at third. I should have remembered what a tremendous arm he had..." later explained the sadder-but-wiser Say Hey Kid. 
• 1970 - LHP Ricardo Rincon was born in Cuitlahuac, Mexico. Rincon, who signed as a veteran of the Mexican leagues, pitched for the Pirates from 1997-98. He went 4-10-50/3.17 with 135 K in 125 IP. Rincon was part of a combined no-hitter on July 12th, 1997 when Francisco Cordova threw nine innings of hitless ball and RR pitched a clean 10th. He was traded for Brian Giles in 1998.

4/13 From 1975: Zach, Hammer, Cobra & Game Days, #8000, TSN Barry, Jody Woes, TV; RIP Don, HBD Cam & Steve

• 1976 - The Bucs promised the fans another Lumber Company and came through in the home opener for the 40,937 faithful at TRS with a 14-4 win over St. Louis, hammering out 13 hits to go with 12 walks. Dave “The Cobra” Parker homered and collected five RBI, Al “Scoops” Oliver posted three hits and three RBI while Manny Sanguillen had the only three-walk game of his career and plated three times. Victor Jerry Reuss had a no-hitter going into the sixth and went the distance. 
• 1979 - John Milner homered twice for the fifth time in his career, including a game-winning, two-run shot in the seventh inning that broke a 5-5 draw, to carry the Pirates to a 7-6 victory over the Cards at Three Rivers Stadium. The Hammer had four RBI on the night to spark the attack; Redbird SS Garry Templeton helped the cause with a two-out, third-inning error that led to four unearned Buc runs, a pair scoring thanks to the boot and two more on Milner’s first long ball. Jim Bibby won in relief of starter Bruce Kison, while Grant Jackson picked up the save. 
• 1983 - 1B/OF Steve Pearce was born in Lakeland, Florida. An eighth-round pick in the 2005 draft, he spent bits and pieces of five seasons (2007-11) in Pittsburgh, hitting .232, and was a magnet for nagging injuries. He carved out an MLB role in the American League, playing for Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Toronto and Boston before announcing a soft retirement after the 2019 season. Steve hung ’em up for good the following year after 13 campaigns/.254 BA (108 OPS+). 
• 1986 - AT&T SportsNet first hit the air as the Pirates Cable Network, operated by TCI. Its first telecast was on that date, airing a game between the Pirates and Cubs from TRS, an 8-0 Bucco win announced by Mike Lange. The PCN rebranded on April 24th as the KBL Entertainment Network to reflect that other sports besides baseball (mainly the Penguins) were to be included by the network. KBL’s first regular broadcast was against the Mets in early June. In 1994, it became Prime Sports KBL, then two years later Fox Sports Pittsburgh, followed by Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh and once more as FSN Pittsburgh. That whole Fox thing lasted until 2011, when it became Root Sports. In 2017, it flipped to its current network, AT&T SportsNet. With cable stations dropping like flies, this could be the last hurrah for them; hello, MLB Baseball broadcasts. 

• 1987 - Barry Bonds shared the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Blossoming Buc.” Although he was still a couple of seasons away from breaking out into elite status, he went on to hit .261 with 25 homers, 99 runs, 59 RBI and 32 stolen sacks during the 1987 campaign. 
• 1988 - The Pirates took over first place for the first time since 1983 with a convincing 7-0 win over the Phils at TRS. Brian Fisher took a five-hitter into the eighth, with Jim Gott coming on to coax the final four outs while Chico Lind and Spanky LaValliere had five hits between and scored five of the Bucco runs. Sadly, it was a long season, and the Bucs finished in second with 85 wins but far off the pace of the Mets 100-win campaign. Al Pedrique will remember the day as the one when an unidentified lady fan leap over the railing in the eighth and told Al “You’re a good looking guy and I’d like to shake you hand” and that’s what they did, leading to some joshing post-game by his teammates that he didn’t end up with a smooch. Fisher said “Al’s not married and in that situation...you’ve got to get a little peck at least.” Another unwritten baseball rule... 
• 1996 - Carlos Garcia took Montreal lefty Jeff Fassero deep for the 8,000th home run in Pirates history during a 9-3 Buc win at TRS. His fourth-inning blast opened the floodgates - Jeff King, Jay Bell, and Mark Johnson all went yard after him to start the chase for 9,000 dingers. Garcia had three hits and Paul Wagner worked seven innings of five-hit shutout ball for the win. 
• 1997 - IF Cam Devanney was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. He was a 15th round draft pick by the Brew Crew in 2019 out of Elon. He went from Milwaukee to KC’s farm system in 2024 and became a Pirate in ‘25 when he was flipped for Adam Frazier in July. The Bucs called him up in late August to make his MLB debut (he was on KC’s roster for a few days earlier in ‘25, but never got off the pine.) Cam got into 14 MLB games with 11 starts at third as part of the traded KeBryan Hayes replacement auditions, hit .139, and was released in November so he could sign with the Hanshin Tigers. 

Jody Gerut - 2005 Topps

• 2006 - OF Jody Gerut informed the team that he was going to have knee surgery two weeks after he had been sent to the minors. The Pirates got him in August of 2005 from the Cubs for Matt Lawton, and he took just 18 at bats during that campaign because of his cranky knee. Both sides agreed he had tendinitis, but the Pirates didn’t believe surgery was necessary. It was a potentially costly decision for Jody - since the Bucs didn’t approve the procedure, he went on the restricted list, making him ineligible to collect his $875K salary or payments towards the surgical fees while also putting a stop to his service accrual time (they did reach an agreement of sorts after the MLBPA filed a grievance). It was the end of his Pirates days, too. He did eventually have surgery, missed all of 2006 and then was released in camp in 2007. He played for the Brewers and Padres from 2008-10, averaging 225 at bats per season and hitting .259 before retiring. 
• 2009 - Zach Duke pitched a four-hit, complete game shutout at PNC Park as the Pirates defeated Houston 7–0 in the Home Opener. Both the Bucs and the Astros wore Pittsburgh Police hats in honor of three officers who were shot and killed on April 4th. The pre-game ceremonies honored the trio, including a flyover by four Apache helicopters, as well as recognizing former pitcher and current broadcaster Steve Blass for his 50th season with the team. Adam LaRoche had three hits, including a homer, and Freddy Sanchez banged out three doubles. 
• 2010 - The Pirates flashed some leather to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-5 at AT&T Park. Paul Maholm hit the ground to snag Aubrey Huff’s ball and in one motion shoveled it and his glove to 1B Jeff Clement while doing a backflip. The save of the game came in the bottom of the ninth when Garrett Jones, at 1B after a double switch, made a diving grab of Pablo Sandoval's liner to end the game after Octavio Dotel had already surrendered two ninth-inning runs. Jones had Kung Fu Panda’s number; he also threw him out at the plate from RF earlier in the game. Every win was hard fought; the Bucs only had 57 of them that campaign, and it cost skipper John Russell his job. 
• 2015 - Josh Harrison became the third Pirate (RJ Reynolds & Billy Cox were the others) to hit a leadoff homer to kick off the Home Opener and it set the tone in the Bucs 5-4 win over Detroit at PNC Park. Pedro Alvarez and Corey Hart also went long in the victory. Gerrit Cole got the victory and Mark Melancon finished up, although the Shark staged a drama when he was touched for three ninth-inning tallies with the tying run aboard and nobody out before finally nailing it down. 

Colin Moran - 2019 Gypsy Queen

• 2019 - Pat Corbin was doing it all for Washington at National Stadium. He struck out 11 and his only major mistake over seven innings was a solo shot given up to Josh Bell. The lefty also stroked a two-run, two-out knock off Trevor Williams and he left the DC nine with a 2-1 lead after seven innings. Starling Marte stroked a two-run single in the eighth against the beleaguered Nats pen, but the short-lived lead was erased when Anthony Rendon homered off Kela Keone, his second long fly of the night. The game went into the 10th when Colin Moran came off the pine and banged a three-run blast (the Bucs first game-winning, extra-inning, pinch hit dinger since 1998) to put the Pirates up 6-3. Felipe Vazquez nailed it down to give Nick Burdi his first MLB victory. 
• 2021 - It took four hours and was as ugly as a game gets, but the Bucs defeated the Padres at PNC Park by an 8-4 count. Pirate pitchers walked 13 batters and bopped three more (it was the first time since 1948 that a team had 16 BB+HBP in a nine-inning game and won) but three GIDPs and 15 stranded Friars kept the damage to a minimum. The Bucco batsmen banged out 12 hits, had eight more reach by walks/plunks and went 7-for-15 w/RISP against an unlikely team: the Padres had allowed just 25 runs in its first 11 games. Jake Stallings collected three hits, a walk and three RBI while Chris Stratton was credited with the win. 
• 2023 - Don Leppert passed away at the age of 91. Don only caught for the Bucs for two seasons (1961-62; 67 games/.266 BA), but returned in 1966 with AAA Columbus and then coached in the organization from 1967-76, first as a Class A manager and then with the big league club. He served as the first base coach on the Pirates’ 1971 World Series champs and was there when Roberto Clemente collected hit #3,000, tucking the ball in his back pocket for safekeeping. 
• 2023 - The Pirates defeated the Cardinals 5-0 at Busch Stadium with several notable performances. First, Vince Velasquez went six scoreless frames for first time since 2021 to give the Bucs their first shutout in St. Louis since 2013. It was a good night for duets - Connor Joe & Rodolfo Castro hit back-to-back homers, Carlos Santana banged two doubles/two RBIs and Ji Hwan Bae made two grand larceny grabs in center, one coming on a dive for a flare and the other a run-saving, wall-kissing fence crasher. One painful pairing was losing Oneil Cruz and then JT Brubaker to surgery during a three-day period earlier in the week. Still, it was the seventh win in the last 10 games for Pittsburgh, leaving them just 1/2 game behind the Brewers in the division.

4/12 Through the 1950s: Joe Page Signs, Opening Salvo, Little Poison Debut, Ike No Scout; RIP Cannonball, HBD Tommie, Woodie, Bob, Moose, Joe, Bill & Vic

• 1876 - Vic "Delaware Peach" Willis was born in Cecil County, Maryland. The Hall of Fame righty spent four seasons in Pittsburgh (1906-09), posting an 89-46/2.08 line and was part of the 1909 team that won the World Series against the Tigers, the first championship team from Pittsburgh. He won 249 games over a 13-year career. After retiring in 1910, Willis ran the Washington House, a hotel in his hometown of Newark, Delaware. The “Delaware Peach” was raised in Newark and went to Delaware College, hence his nickname recognizing his heritage. 
• 1879 - 1B Bill Clancy was born in Redfield, New York. His MLB career consisted of one season (1905) with the Pirates, hitting .229. He was a highly touted minor-league player, and the Pirates grabbed him to replace the traded Kitty Bransfield at first. Clancy started off hot, but a broken finger in June cooled his stick and a couple of ill-advised drinking sessions earned him his release. But he did have a legacy - it’s thought that long-time Bucco catcher George Gibson was signed after a recommendation from Clancy. He was sometimes known as “William the Chicken-Hearted” because he turned down some MLB offers and chose to stay in the minors, a sign to the sporting press that he was afraid of the better competition. But fairly equal pay, a guarantee to play every day and his popularity among the farm fans motivated him to sign where he was comfortable rather than a case of stage fright keeping him from the brighter MLB lights. 
• 1908 - RHP Antonio “Joe” (his middle name) Vitelli was born in McKees Rocks. Joe got into five games as a Bucco during the 1944-45 war years and did OK for a guy who didn’t sniff the majors until he was 36, posting a 2.57 ERA (he did give up six runs in seven IP, but four were unearned). Joe earned his spot - he came back from the service and was originally used as a Buc BP pitcher; from there, he got his shot on the roster. Vitelli was a semi-pro gridder for the powerhouse Rox Rangers, and after his playing days coached local football/baseball squads, while working for Allegheny County as a rec leader in charge of youth sports clinics. 

Bobby Byrne - 1911 Gold Border

• 1911 - The Bucs thumped the Reds 14-0 at the Palace of the Fans on Opening Day; it remained the most one-sided OD shutout in MLB history until eclipsed by the Dodgers in 2016, when the Blue took the Padres behind the woodshed for a 15-0 victory. In the Pittsburgh romp over Cincy, Babe Adams tossed a four-hitter with six whiffs while Bobby Byrne went 5-for-5 and finished a homer shy of the cycle. Dots Miller added four knocks and Honus Wagner chipped in with three raps. The Pirates banged out five triples during the day. Despite the start, it was a fairly spirited series during the year - even though Pittsburgh finished 16 games above .500, they were just 12-10 against Cincinnati. 
• 1926 - OF Walt “Moose” Moryn was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moose - he was 6’2”, 205 pounds - spent eight years in the majors as a slugging outfielder, although oddly enough remembered the most for snaring a two-out, ninth-inning sinking liner to save Don Cardwell’s 1960 no-hitter while a Cub. The one-time All-Star was sold to Pittsburgh for cash and a minor leaguer in June of 1961 and closed out his career that season, hitting .200 in 40 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter. He went on to manage a sporting goods department and later ran a saloon/liquor store in Cicero, Illinois, before retiring. 
• 1927 - Scout Bob Zuk was born in Detroit, Michigan. Zuk, who was the Parks baseball director for the City of Oakland, started as a part-time sleuth for the White Sox. The Bucs hired him full-time in 1957 and he turned up a gem, signing Willie Stargell (for $1,500!) after George Powles, a HS coach, recommended he take a look. He also brought Freddie Patek into the fold before leaving the Pirates and beginning the nomadic life of a bird dog, sniffing around for nine other clubs during his 46-year career. Among the players he signed during his career were Reggie Jackson, Gary Carter, Ellis Valentine, Darrell Evans and George Hendrick. 
• 1927 - Hall-of-Famer Lloyd Waner made his Pirate debut in left field for the Pittsburgh Pirates with his brother Paul, who was in right field, during the Bucs' 2–1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Redland Field. Little Poison collected his first hit and scored the winning run, driven in by his big bro, to back Ray Kremer’s six-hitter. Lloyd would go on to play 1,993 games in 17 years as a Bucco. 

Cannonball Morris - 1888 Goodwin/Old Judge

• 1937 - Ed “Cannonball” Morris passed away in Pittsburgh. The lefty only worked five years for the Alleghenys but won 122 games over a four-year span (1885-88) while working in 220 outings and nearly 2,000 innings. Cannonball had two more seasons left in him but his workhorse days were done as his arm was shot at age 26. A Brooklyn native, he stayed in Pittsburgh after his baseball days as a North Side bar owner and a deputy warden. Ed was buried in Union Dale Cemetery. 
• 1940 - LHP Woodie (short for Woodrow) Fryman was born in Ewing, Kentucky. He started his career in Pittsburgh in 1966-67, going 15-17-2/3.91. He was part of the Jim Bunning deal in 1968 and went on to have a breakout All-Star campaign with the Phils. Woodie pitched for 18 years and for six teams (primarily Montreal and Philadelphia) with a pair of All Star selections before hangin’ the spikes up at age 43 and retiring to his Kentucky tobacco farm. Fryman entered the Montreal Expos' Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. 
• 1954 - The Pirates signed LHP Joe Page, 35, who was on the comeback trail after injuries cut short his Yankees tenure in 1950. He spent the spring mainly as a BP pitcher, and convinced the Bucco brass that his sore wing was healthy enough to fly right again (a hip injury suffered in 1950 with the Bromx Bombers contributed to his arm injury the next season in the minors). Page had taken a three-year MLB break and a two-year pitching hiatus, developing a sinker in an effort to get back to the hill. But his feel-good tale didn’t have a fairytale ending - in 11 Bucco appearances, the Fireman, now a mop-up man, tossed to an 11.17 ERA/2.379 WHIP and was released on June 1. 
• 1942 - RHP Tommie Sisk was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma. The righty tossed seven seasons for Pittsburgh (1962-68) as a swingman after spending just two years in the minors and went 37-35 with a 3.69 ERA. His best effort was against the Mets on September 20, 1965 when he tossed a two-hitter. He threw for two more years in the league before retiring in 1970. 
• 1958 - On a recommendation from former GM Branch Rickey’s bud President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Pirates signed RHP Preston Bruce, the son of the White House doorkeeper, and assigned him to Salem in the short-season Class D Appalachian League. DDE was a better general than scout; Bruce put up a 15.60 ERA and his pro career ended the following season.

4/12 From 1960: Duels, TRS Nite Opener, Atlanta Christening, Game Days, Special Plays, #1 For Jim & Chuck; HBD Dennis, DJ, Jeff & Jerry

• 1964 - C Jerry Goff was born in San Rafael, California. The journeyman spent the middle of his six-year MLB career (1993-94) as a Pirate, batting .210 in 22 games, doing most of his Bucco backstopping at AAA Buffalo. Jerry’s now a fireman in California. Sports chops run deep in the Goff genes - his son, Jared, was drafted first overall in the 2016 NFL draft and is a QB for the Detroit Lions. 
• 1965 - Bob Bailey hit a lead-off, walkoff homer to give Bob Veale a 1-0 win in 10 innings over the Giants’ Juan Marichal at Forbes Field in the Bucco Opener. The two twirlers were spectacular, going the distance while combining to surrender just eight hits and a walk while whiffing 19 batters; Big Bob gave up three singles and fanned 10. The 28,189 fans witnessed the first time in club history that the Pirates won a walk-off Home Opener by a score of 1-0. 
• 1966 - The Pirates helped christen Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium by beating the Braves 3-2 in 13 innings before a crowd of 50,671 on Opening Day. The game-winning blow was a two-run dinger by Willie Stargell off Tony Cloninger to give Don Schwall the win behind starter Bob Veale and fireman ElRoy Face. The Baron in the ninth and Schwall in the 11th had to work their way out of bases-loaded jams to secure the victory. All five runs were driven in by homers; Jim Pagliaroni went long for the Pirates and Joe Torre hit a pair of solo shots for Atlanta. 
• 1976 - LHP Jeff Wallace was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. He tossed for the Bucs in 1997 and 1999-2000 after sitting out a year due to injury. His slash with the Bucs was 3-0/4.67, and control was his stumbling block - as a Pirate, he walked 80 batters in 86-2/3 IP. Wallace worked 90 games with the Pirates without picking up a loss, the most outings without a defeat in team history. He spent 2001 with the Tampa Bay Rays in his last MLB gig and retired the following year after a stint in Boston’s minor league system, returning home to Wheeling. 

Jeff Wallace - 1998 Fleer Tradition

• 1977 - It took four tries, but new Bucco skipper Chuck Tanner finally claimed his first win at the Pittsburgh helm when the Pirates took a 2-1 win from the Expos at TRS. Duffy Dyer’s fifth-inning single scored Phil Garner to give Jerry Reuss a 1-0 lead, but two old Buccos, Dave Cash and Tim Foli, singled to chase home the tying run in the seventh. Kent Tekulve and Goose Gossage took over after that to keep Montreal off the board, and Rennie Stennett’s one-out double in the bottom of the ninth plated Dave Parker with the walk-off game winner. It was a sadly typical April crowd for the Buccos; the afternoon contest drew just 4,042 fans although game-time temperatures were in the 80’s. 
• 1977 - RHP DJ Carrasco was born in Safford, Arizona. He worked part of the 2010 campaign for Pittsburgh after signing on as a free agent and was solid, going 2-2/3.88 in 45 outings before being flipped to Arizona. The Bucco stint was a homecoming of sorts as DJ had spent four seasons in the Pirates system before being lost to the KC Royals in the 2002 Rule 5 Draft. He tossed his last MLB game in 2012 for the Mets, closing out a nine-year career. 
• 1983 - In the eighth inning of the Home Opener, Bill Madlock took a long lead off first with 1B Keith Hernandez playing well behind him. Bruce Sutter checked the runner and spun off the mound to chase him back - and beat him to the bag for an unassisted pickoff! The Bucs lost to the Cards 4-3 in 10 innings. Pittsburgh had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the 10th, but Madlock hit a comebacker 1-2-3 double play and Gene Tenace flew out to turn out the lights. They blew another shot in the sixth with the bases juiced and one out when Tony Pena banged into a 4-6-3 DP. 
• 1985 - In their first night Home Opener, the Bucs prevailed over the Cards 6-4 at TRS. A crowd of 47,335, the largest baseball gathering since 1980, watched Maz (in a tux!) throw out the first pitch and Jason Thompson mash a two-run homer. Converted starter John Candelaria saved Don Robinson’s win of a game started by Larry McWilliams. Doug Frobel and Tony Pena had a pair of hits each. 

Rick Rhoden - 1986 Donruss

• 1986 - The Pirates beat the Cubs at TRS 3-1 behind Rick Rhoden, whose effort gave Jim Leyland his first MLB win as skipper. Matt Keough was also sharp; the game wasn’t decided until the eighth when Johnny Ray banged a two-out, three-run shot off Lee Smith. The milestone was witnessed by just 5,623 fans thanks to both chilly weather and a chilly reception to the drug trials. 
• 1993 - Dave Otto won his first start as a Buc (he was a minor league draft pick claimed from the Indians) by a 4-2 count over San Diego at Jack Murphy Stadium. He gave up two runs and four hits over six innings after being staked to an early 3-0 lead, keyed by a Kevin Young triple. Dave also got his first MLB hit and RBI to help himself. He started off strongly while place-holding the injured Zane Smith’s rotation spot, but ended the year 3-4/5.03 in his only Pirates campaign. 
• 1996 - RHP Dennis Santana was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. He started with the LA Dodgers in 2018, then moved on to the Texas Rangers, where he had his best year in 2021 with a line of 2-4/3.63. Santana had a nice FIP of 3.15 the next year, but in the real world, his ERA was 5.22 and he went to the New York Mets. He was mostly a depth guy there and moved on to the Yankees in 2024 where he slashed 2-0-2/6.26 and was DFA’ed. Pittsburgh’s bullpen was in flux and they snapped him up. He made a 180 here, going 1-1-1/2.44 in 39 outings w/10K per nine innings and pitched his way into the late-inning bullpen rotation in 2025. He became the Pirates' closer when David Bednar was sent to the New York Yankees at the deadline. 
• 2002 - Cubbie Sammy Sosa set the PNC Park long-distance record with a three-run, 484’ home run in the sixth inning off Dave Williams to break a tie and key a 7-3 Chicago victory. The box score told the game’s tale; the Pirates managed just five hits while the Cubs cranked out three homers. 
• 2009 - With runners on the move from first and second base, the Reds' Edwin Encarnacion's liner to Pirates' SS Jack Wilson was turned into a triple play (Wilson-Freddy Sanchez-Adam LaRoche), the Bucs' first since 1993. Pittsburgh still lost at Great American Ball Park by a 2-0 score on Aaron Harang’s three-hitter w/nine whiffs, the first MLB shutout of the year. The game’s only runs came in early on a first-inning, two-out homer by Brandon Phillips off Ian Snell.

4/11 Through the 1970s: Rally Cap Wins, Pirates Logo, Doc On Call, Willie Wins Clemente Award, HBD Turner, Hank, Red & Pop

• 1858 - OF John “Pop” Corkhill was born in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania. For the last two seasons of his 10-year MLB career (1891-92), Pop played the pasture for the Bucs, hitting .200. His ball playing days effectively ended after an 1891 beaning. He tried to come back but the Bucs released him in July of 1892; he retired and became a businessman. Pop, a converted infielder, was a golden glove guy before it was a thing, winning five fielding titles for outfielders in his decade of ball. He was also a roster handyman, returning to the infield when needed and pitching several times during his career. Corkhill went bald as a young man; hence his nickname. 
• 1892 - C Williard “Red” Smith was born in Logansport, Indiana. Red’s MLB career consisted of two seasons (1917-18) with the Pirates as a reserve catcher; his .156 BA may help explain his brief stay. Red did have a decade-long minor league career, hanging up the spikes at age 36 after catching 36 games for Class B Quincy of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League. 
• 1912 - Pittsburgh finally gave in to the inevitable and used “Pirates” on their uniforms, displayed in capital letters down the jersey’s button lapel, replacing the old PBC (Pittsburgh Baseball Club) logo. They had picked up the moniker in 1891 for “pirating” Lou Bierbauer from the Athletics, but more officially (and often) were called the Pittsburgh Nationals. It didn’t appreciably improve the club as they were drubbed 7-0 on opening day by St. Louis at Robison Field. They finished the year strong, though, ending up with a 93-58 record and a second place finish. 

Mike Donlin sporting his Pirates logo - 1912 photo/Conlon Collection/TSN

• 1919 - IF Hank Schenz was born in New Richmond, Ohio. He was with the Bucs in 1950 & ‘51 after four years with the Cubs. He hit .222 before being sold to the Giants during the 1951 campaign, and according to Dave Finoli’s Pirates By the Numbers, became the guy that stole and relayed opposing catcher’s signs from behind the Polo Grounds scoreboard by using a telescope. 
• 1961 - Bill Virdon smacked a two-out, three-run HR to right off reliever Mike McCormick to give the Pirates a ninth-inning, 8-7, win over the Giants in San Francisco’s Home Opener. Roy Face was credited with the win and Clem Labine claimed the save. Dick Groat and Bob Skinner added four hits and scored four runs while Roberto Clemente drove in a pair to rev the attack. 
• 1965 - OF Turner Ward was born in Orlando, Florida. The journeyman played in Pittsburgh from 1997-99, hitting .281 in a fourth outfielder role and becoming an early meme when he crashed through the TRS outfield fence in 1998. After his career, he returned to the Bucco system for a year, managing Low-A State College in 2007. Turner moved on to the D-Backs organization, eventually becoming their hitting coach, a position he also later held with the Dodgers and Reds. 
• 1967 - The Pirates scored three runs in the ninth inning to break open a tie game and take the Season Opener, 6-3, over the Mets at Shea Stadium. Pittsburgh had a balanced attack with all eight position starters reaching base, but were helped mightily by NY as the Metropolitans made five errors that gifted the Buccos three runs. Bob Veale tossed eight innings for the win (he was 16-8 over the year) and Pete Mikkelsen closed it out, retiring the side 1-2-3 in the final frame. 

Bob Veale - 1967 Topps

• 1974 - Willie Stargell won the Roberto Clemente Award and was presented his trophy by Bowie Kuhn. Willie said “Of all the awards, this ranks number one with me.” Pops was involved in many causes, from the Willie Stargell Foundation that funded Sickle Cell research to community projects. He was the first Buc to earn the honor; Andrew McCutchen in 2015 is the only other Pirate to take the trophy home.
• 1975 - There were 43,880 fans on hand at TRS to watch the Bucs on Opening Day, and they were three outs away from disappointment as Jerry Koosman and the Mets were cruising, 3-0, heading into the ninth. But the Pirates refused to mail it in; Richie Zisk, Dave Parker and Manny Sanguillen started it off with singles to send home a run and chase Koosman. Rick Baldwin came in and walked Paul Popovich, then an out later Rennie Stennett bounced a game-tying rap up the middle. Lefty Mac Scarce was waved in to face Richie Hebner, who fought him off to drop a flare single the opposite way to score Popovich with the winner. Larry Demery got the win in relief of Jerry Reuss. 
• 1976 - At Philadelphia‚ Doc Medich, walking in from the bullpen, spotted a man having a heart attack in the stands. He jumped over the railing and applied CPR to revive him. Sadly, the fan later passed away in the hospital. Doc didn’t get into the game, an 8-3 win for the Pirates at Veterans Stadium, though he did come that close to making the save of the day.

4/11 From 1980: Ramon Signs, K-Pop, Last AB Wins, TRS Sold Out, Game Days, Spanky Goes

• 1980 - The Bucs defeated the St. Louis Cards at Busch Stadium, 4-3, as Pittsburgh scored twice in the ninth. Ed Ott singled home the tying run with two down and the winner scored on the same play when SS Gary Templeton mishandled the relay, allowing the Bucs to overcome a sixth-inning, 3-0, deficit. Grant Jackson got the win, although he was almost in his birthday suit by the final frame. He worked a quiet frame and thought his night was done. Assuming he would be pinch-hit for, he was in the locker room and headed for the hot water when Chuck Tanner decided to have him bat after Ott’s big blow as the Redbirds had two switch-hitters and a lefty due up. Grant quickly slipped back into his uni, flew out to center, and then put the Redbirds away in order. 
• 1988 - A record crowd of 54,089 Pittsburgh faithful, the first baseball sellout in TRS history, watched the Bucs defeat the Phils, 5-1, thanks to an eighth-inning, bases-loaded (and clearing) double by Spanky LaValliere. Barry Bonds added two hits, including a homer. The match was the Bucs Home Opener, with Mr. Rogers tossing out the first ball. Doug Drabek gave up nine hits as he struggled through his five innings of work, but only one run crossed the plate and he got the win as Vicente Palacios and Jeff Robinson took care of business after him. 
• 1989 - In the Home Opener at TRS, the Bucs had to work overtime to take a 4-3 win from the Mets. Down by one with Jose Lind on first and one gone in the ninth, Bobby Bonilla singled to center off Mets reliever Randy Myers. Lind moved to third and scored on Glenn Wilson's sac fly. With the tally still knotted in the 11th with one away, Lind singled to right field against Myers and stole second base. With two gone, Bo came through again, singling on a slow infield bleeder up the third base side to chase Chico home for the win, credited to Jeff Robinson, the third hurler after Doug Drabek. The game sold out in early March - 55,000 tickets were bought and 42,910 hardy fans showed up despite the 44-degree weather - and KDKA aired it; the game was the first Home Opener to ever be telecast. The anthem was sung by The Letterman, and NL Prez Bill White threw out the first ball. 

Spanky - 1993 Fleer (reverse)

• 1993 - The Pirates released C Spanky Lavalliere as he was entering his seventh season as a Bucco, causing some teeth-gnashing in the locker room as he and Don Slaught had formed a strong tandem from 1990-92. The team carried three catchers after breaking camp, but needed to clear an active roster spot for a pitcher. The club had to decide between Tom Prince and Lavalliere to free up that slot and the 32-year-old Spanky, who still had two years/$4.45M left on his contract but was in questionable physical shape, lost the decision. He signed on with the White Sox and Gene Lamont, playing through 1995, but never caught more than 44 games in a season after he left Pittsburgh. 
• 1998 - Jose Guillen delivered a pinch-hit, walkoff home run in the 10th inning to give the Pirates a 7-6 win over the Florida Marlins at TRS. Kevin Young went 3-for-5 with four RBI and also connected for his first home run of the season; he added a double. Turner Ward contributed a triple and double, chasing home a pair of runs. Rich Loiselle picked up his first win of the year as the third pitcher following Francisco Cordova, also earning a blown save for yielding a run in the ninth. 
• 1999 - Brant Brown avenged himself against the team that had traded him when he went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and three RBI in Pittsburgh’s 9-6 win over the Cubs at TRS. Brian Giles smacked a homer and Freddy Garcia added a pair of hits and two RBI each. Jason Schmidt got the victory as the Bucs completed a three-game sweep of Chi-Town to improve their record to 4-2. 
• 2001 - RHP Ramon Martinez signed a one-year deal with a team option for $200K plus bonuses, bumping LHP Joe Beimel from the rotation to the bullpen while RHP Bill Taylor was DFA’ed to clear a spot. Ramon was effective earlier in his career, but 1998 surgery cost him, and he was looked upon as more of a veteran inning-eating back end guy than rotation anchor. He never even reached that status; he got four starts, lasting 15-2/3IP and slashed 0-2/8.62. Ramon retired in May after Lloyd McClendon talked to him about going to the bullpen, ending his MLB career. 

Solomon Torres - 2006 photo Sean Brady/Getty

• 2006 - The Pirates were off to a 1-7 start and didn’t look like they were going to earn that elusive second win after the Dodgers opened the game with a three-spot against Ian Snell. But the Bucco batters flexed their muscles to bang out three homers (Jeremy Burnitz, Ryan Doumit, Jack Wilson) in the first five innings, and the starters, Snell and Jae Weong Seo, left a 6-5 game in favor of Los Angeles to the bullpens in the sixth. Solomon Torres put up a zero, then Craig Wilson took Lance Carter’s first pitch over the wall to knot the score. The Pirates added a small-ball run (Joe Randa doubled, moved up ninety feet on a grounder and scored via a sac fly) later in the frame to take the lead, and it was goose eggs the rest of the way out at PNC Park by Torres, Ramon Hernandez and Mike Gonzalez. Solly took home the 7-6 win after Gonzo notched the save.
• 2023 - If back-and-forth ball games with ninth inning rallies is your cuppa tea, PNC Park was nirvana. Mitch Keller gave up a couple of early solo shots to the Astros; Jack Suwinski’s two-run blast quickly knotted the score. The the Bucs went ahead in the sixth on Ji-Man Choi’s long ball and added on when Ke'Bryan Hayes doubled, stole third and became an insurance run after Canaan Njigba-Smith’s sac fly. The lead lasted until the ninth when a misthrow opened the gates and Houston came back to tie it up. But the Pirates still had a little muscle left to flex. A Rodolfo Castro single (sweet redemption since he made the error), an Andrew McCutchen pinch-hit knock and Ji Hwan Bae’s blast into the right field stands, his first big league walkoff hit, sent the defending World Champs down the drain, 7-4, with David Bednar earning a blown save/win parley. It was also a big night for the Pittsburgh-Korea connection: Ji-Man Choi and Ji Hwan Bae became the first Korean-born teammates in MLB history to homer in the same game.

4/10 Through 1974: Casey Signs, Willie Pops 3, Roberto Romps, Hola Mexico City, No Dome, RIP Ginger, HBD Alberto, Lee, Joe, Roger & Howdy

• 1906 - 2B Howdy (short for Howard) Groskloss, who played for the Bucs from 1930-32 and hit .261, was born in Pittsburgh, the son of an opera singer. He became the oldest living major league baseball player in 2005 at the age of 99 and survived past the century mark before shuffling off to the stadium in the sky in 2006. The Pirates signed him for $10K, but he lost the starting 2B job to Tony Piet and switched gears by entering Yale Medical School, earning his MD degree in 1937. He served during World War II as a Chief Medical Officer and Flight Surgeon on a carrier in the Pacific theater, and later in life he moonlighted as a pro golfer and swung the clubs well enough to win several tournaments. 
• 1911 - RHP Roger Wolff was born in Evansville, Indiana. He spent seven years in the majors, closing out his career in 1947 with the Pirates, slashing 1-4/8.07 in six starts. The knuckleballer won 20 games for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1945, but when the Bucs got him two years later at age 36, he was tossing on memory. His Bucco days not only ended his MLB career but his run in the pros which had begun in 1930 as a 19-year-old. After he retired, he eventually became the AD at Southern Illinois Penitentiary after a series of jobs, including night club manager. 
• 1919 - Casey Stengel ended his holdout by accepting the Pirates original offer, which wasn’t disclosed. He had requested a trade but the Bucs couldn’t swing one to their liking, and with the season about to begin, Casey decided to swallow his pride and take the money. He did eventually get his wish to move along, being shipped to the Phils in August for Possum Whited. Casey was no happier across the state; he refused to report unless he got a sweeter deal, which was not forthcoming. So he went to Kansas City to join a barnstorming team to earn his daily bread, finally reaching a deal with Philly during the off season. 
• 1935 - LHP Joe Gibbon, who began his 13-year MLB career as a starter and finished it as a reliever, was born in Hickory, Mississippi. The lefty spent eight seasons as a Pirate, going 44-46-16 with a 3.61 ERA. An all-around athlete, he was blessed with good wheels to go with his strong arm, with the Bucs using him occasionally as a pinch runner. As a rookie, he pitched for the 1960 World Series club and returned to Pittsburgh to toss in the 1970 NLCS after spending four seasons with the Giants. Joe climbed the hill until 1972 when he was 37, posting a final slash of 61-65-32/3.52. He coached the Clarke College nine for eight seasons and was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1979, the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 and honored as a member of the Ole Miss Men’s All-Century Basketball Team (he was an excellent collegiate hoopster and was drafted by the Boston Celtics after he graduated). He also remained an active Pirates alum and he joined up with his old mateys in a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1960 World Series at PNC Park during a 2010 reunion weekend. He passed away in Mississippi in 2019. 

Joe Gibbon - 1960 Topps

• 1948 - OF Lee Lacy, who spent six years in Pittsburgh (1979-84), mainly as a fourth outfielder, was born in Longview, Texas. Lacy hit .304 as a Bucco and was a member of the 1979 title team. In his 16-year career, he was part of three Los Angeles Dodger World Series teams, all of which lost. His ‘79 Series appearance was the third straight year he got to play in the Fall Classic. It also was his last, and the only one he won. After he retired, Lee became active in various community programs sponsored by the LA Dodgers Foundation. Sports run strong in his family genes; his daughter Jennifer Lacy played in the WNBA for 10 years. 
• 1956 - OF Clarence “Ginger” Beaumont passed away in Burlington, Wisconsin at age 79. Starting his career in Pittsburgh, he played here from 1899-1906, batting .321 with 200 stolen bases. From 1900–1904, Beaumont led the National League in hits three times, scored 100 runs four times, and took the 1902 batting title with a .357 mark. The speedster was the Pirates' leadoff man, and as such became the first player to bat in a World Series game in 1903 at Boston. Nicknamed "Ginger" for his red mop (Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss gave him the moniker, replacing “Clarry”), he’s the only man to collect six hits in six at bats and score six times in a game - and all his knocks were infield hits! 
• 1958 - The Pirates took the third game of a Mexican preseason swing by a 10-2 score over the Mexico City Reds behind Bob Friend’s pitching and homers by Roberto Clemente, Frank Thomas, and Johnny O’Brien. The crowd wasn’t pleased with the Bucs manhandling their hometown club and the umps threatened to call the game when many of the 5,000 standing-room fans found their way onto the field during play. After the contest, the spectators on the second level of Social Security Stadium began throwing cans and lit newspapers at the Pirates as they made their way off the field. Despite the passionate and rowdy response of the home loyalists, the Buccaneers made plans to return next season as their three-game visit drew over 65,000 fanaticos. 
• 1962 - Roberto Clemente spanked a third-inning grand slam and Bob Friend twirled a complete game, five-hit shutout as the Bucs blanked the Phils in their Home Opener at Forbes Field, 6-0. Clemente’s blast was the first and only Pirates Opening Day grand slam until Neil Walker banged one in 2011. Don Hoak also went deep as the Pirates made the most of their seven hits. 

Roberto - 2022 Topps Now Turn Back The Clock

• 1963 - A group of developers tried to cash in on the sixties dome fad (Civic Arena, Astrodome, etc) and proposed a $40M enclosed stadium to replace Forbes Field as a new home for the Pirates and Steelers. The project was to be built off the Parkway West by Campbell’s Run Road, halfway between the airport and downtown. Its permanent seating capacity would be 40,000, expandable to 60-65,000, with a parking lot for 15,000 vehicles. But by the time the back room smoke had cleared and a deal was cut, the North Shore proponents won out, and Three Rivers Stadium opened in 1970. 
• 1968 - Roberto Clemente hit a homer and made an unbelievable grab of Hal King’s drive down the right field line in the season Opener, but his heroics went for naught. The Bucs scored a pair of runs in the top of the ninth at the Astrodome to take a 4-2 lead, but Jim Bunning, Juan Pizarro, and Ronnie Kline couldn’t hold off the surging ‘Stros, losing, 5-4, to Houston when Bob Aspromonte tripled home two runs with two outs for a dramatic walk-off win. Maury Wills was an energizer bunny at leadoff with two hits, a run scored, two RBI and a stolen sack. 
• 1970 - RHP Alberto Reyes was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. The Pirates signed the 32-year-old vet as a minor league FA for the 2002 season after stints with Milwaukee, Baltimore and the LA Dodgers. He was called up late in the year, pitched creditably in 15 outings (0-0/2.65), then was released during the following camp. He signed with the Yankees and tossed for them, St. Louis and Tampa Bay through 2008, ending a 13-year MLB career at age 38. 
• 1971 - Willie Stargell hit three homers, including career #200, and drove in all four runs in a 5-4 loss in 12 innings to the Braves at Atlanta Stadium. Al Oliver added three hits. Steve Blass pitched nine innings, but with two down in the ninth walked Ralph Garr and then gave up a two-run homer to Hank Aaron to send the game to extra innings, with Nellie Briles taking the loss.