5/30 Through the 1960s: Al-Tom, Leach-Solly, 3 For Scoops, Roberto Rally Rockets, Rizzo' 9 RBIs, 8 Trips, Game Days; HBP Al, Fido & Turkey

• 1878 - OF Mike “Turkey” Donlin was born in Peoria, Illinois. Mike played one of his 12 big league campaigns in Pittsburgh, hitting .316 as a 34-year-old in 1912. Known as "Turkey Mike" because of his strut, Donlin’s baseball career was held back by his bid for stage stardom. While a player, he spent three off seasons touring in a play called “Stealing Home” and after his retirement moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in 50+ films as a bit player. 
• 1892 - Mark “Fido” Baldwin, a native Pittsburgher alleged to have the best fastball in the league, tossed both ends of a Pirates doubleheader sweep of the Baltimore Orioles at Exposition Park, winning 11-1 and 4-3. Baldwin was a workhorse; he went 26-27/3.47 with 45 complete games and 440 IP in ’92. A more fitting nickname for Baldwin would have been “Doc.” After he left baseball, he earned his medical degree and practiced at Passavant Hospital. 
• 1893 - From Baseball Chronology: "Jake Beckley successfully pulls the 'ancient’ hidden-ball trick on Baltimore Oriole Joe Kelley as Pittsburgh wins 9-1.” The Bucs swept a doubleheader from the Birds (they were managed by former Pittsburgh field general Ned Hanlon, who in a three-year span skippered the Alleghenys, Burghers and Pirates) at Exposition Park, also claiming a 10-3 victory. It was a pretty good Pirates club; the team finished 81-48, five games behind the National League champs, the Boston Beaneaters. 
• 1894 - RHP Al Mamaux was born in Dormont, a kissin’ cousin suburb of Pittsburgh. He went to Duquesne University and pitched for the Pirates from 1913-17. Mamaux was 49-36/2.61 during that time, and had strong seasons in 1915-16, going 42-23 with back-to-back 21 win campaigns. He spent the off-season as a crowd pleaser of another sort, touring for two decades as a vaudeville singer touted as "The Golden Voice Tenor.” 
• 1912 - In a not-so-big deal, the Pirates sent veteran 3B/OF Tommy Leach and LHP Lefty Leifield to Chicago for UT Solly Hofman and RHP King Cole. Leach, 34, started the next two years for the Cubs and came back to retire as a Pirate in 1918. Lefty pitched five more seasons, with a four year stint in the PCL (1914-17), going 57-25. Cole lasted one year in Pittsburgh, going 2-2/6.43 while Hoffman played two years for the Pirates, playing 45 games and hitting .246. 

Possum Whitted - 1921 Exhibits

• 1921 - There were four NL doubleheaders on this date, and all four resulted in a sweep. The Pirates did their part by taking two from the Chicago Cubs at Forbes Field, 13-0 and 6-3. Jimmy Zinn tossed a five-hitter in the opener, backed by four RBI from George Cutshaw and Possum Whitted, with Max Carey scoring four times. The nitecap was led by Whitted and Walter Schmidt who both went 3-for-4, with Possum scoring three times and Schmidt driving in a pair. Chief Yellow Horse, the third Pirate pitcher, went 7-2/3 shutout innings for the win and recorded the only strikeout of the day by Pittsburgh’s moundsmen. 
• 1925 - The Pirates traded 26-year-old rookie 1B Al Niehaus, who became expendable after the signing of Stuffy McGinnis (and by batting .219), to the Cincinnati Reds for RHP Tom Sheehan. Niehaus finished the year with the Reds, batting .299 before being assigned to the minors, where he played another four years before retiring. Sheehan pitched until early 1926, then was sent back to the farm in June with a Bucco slash of 1-3-2/4.08 in 32 outings. He played another nine seasons before retiring as a player, picking 259 minor league wins without getting a callback to the show. Tom went on to coach for the Reds (1935–37), Dodgers (1938) and Braves (1944), later becoming a long-time minor league manager and scout for the Giants. 
• 1925 - The Pirates set a MLB record by hitting eight triples against the St. Louis Cardinals in spacious Forbes Field during the nitecap of a twinbill. Max Carey and Clyde Barnhart each banged out a pair of three-baggers while Kiki Cuyler, Pie Traynor (who added two doubles), Glenn Wright and Eddie Moore each had one. Barnhart had four hits, four runs and five RBI in the game as the Bucs ran their win streak to seven with a 15-5 romp. The Bucs took the opener 4-1 behind Emil Yde and four DPs. Max Carey had a pair of RBI and George Grantham had three hits, including two doubles, in that match. Every Pirates starter reached base safely; the club stranded 12 runners and had two more tossed out on the base paths. The Pirates collected 32 hits during the day. 

Emil Yde - 1925 photo Bain/Library of Congress

• 1927 - The Bucs lost the opener of a Forbes Field Memorial Day doubleheader to the Cubs, 7-6, in 10 innings, ending the Pirates 11-game win streak. The big play was made by Cubs’ SS Jimmy Cooney, who snared Paul Waner's liner, stepped on second to double up Little Poison, and then tagged Clyde Barnhart coming from first for an unassisted triple play. Pittsburgh came back to win the nitecap‚ 6-5‚ also in 10 innings. Lloyd Waner collected seven hits during the twin bill and Glenn Wright added five more knocks. 
• 1932 - The Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays played a Memorial Day weekend tripleheader. Pittsburgh captured the first two games by 4-1 and 10-0 scores at Greenlee Field in the Hill (the Crawfords home yard, named after owner Gus Greenlee), but fell to Cum Posey's Grays 9-2 in the evening finale played at Forbes Field, which had already hosted a Pirates-Reds doubleheader earlier in the day. Homestead pitcher George Britt won the closing match; he had caught the first two contests at Greenlee. 
• 1939 - Johnny Rizzo set a club record that still hasn’t been matched by driving in nine runs against the St. Louis Browns in a 14-8 win at Sportsman's Park, gaining a doubleheader split for the Pirates. He banged out five hits, including a pair of homers and two doubles. 
• 1947 - The Pirates walked off their second straight victory over Chicago when Billy Cox homered with two gone in the 10th inning to give Preacher Roe, who went the distance, a 2-1 win at Forbes Field in the opening game of a twin bill before 37,451 fans before losing the nightcap, 5-2. They had dropped the Cubbies the night before by a 7-6 count when they scored three times in the ninth, stringing together four hits and a walk to steal the dub from the Cubs. Clyde Kluttz’s single brought home pinch-runner Gene Mauch for Art Herring’s first (and only) win as a Pirate. 

Joe's walkoff - 5/31/1952 David Evans/Sun Telegraph

• 1952 - The 19,546 fans on hand at Forbes Field for a Friday twin bill between the Bucs and Cards were not being very well amused by their team. Pittsburgh lost the opener, 3-2, and Ronnie Kline gave up three runs in the ninth of the scoreless nightcap to put the Pirates in line for a Redbird brooming. But pinch hitter Joe Garagiola got the rooters into a proper weekend mood by swatting a two-out, three-run walkoff homer in the bottom half to give the home town a 4-3 victory, Joe’s first long ball of the campaign. The drive was a rare bright spot in this season; the win left the Bucs with a 9-33 mark and they finished the year in eighth place at 42-114, 54-1/2 games back. 
• 1958 - The Milwaukee Braves beat the Bucs and ElRoy Face, 7-4, at Forbes Field, scoring four times in the ninth to rally for victory. The Baron of the Bullpen came back strong; he wouldn’t lose again until September of 1959, claiming 22 straight wins. The second game went the Bucs way, 12-6; Pittsburgh banged out 18 hits w/five doubles and two three-baggers to overcome four solo homers by Milwaukee. Dick Groat and Bill Mazeroski each had four Pirate knocks, together scoring seven times and chasing four runs home. Howie Goss got the win, following Curt Rayburn and Ron Blackburn on the bump. The holiday bill drew 32,428 fans. 
• 1966 - Roberto Clemente went deep in both games of Pittsburgh’s doubleheader sweep of the Cubs at Forbes Field. Roberto tied the score with a solo shot in the first game, leading to a 3-2 victory in game one. Arriba then led Pittsburgh’s comeback in the second game with a two-run blast in the seventh inning that put the Bucs ahead for good, 4-3, (they won 5-3) to complete the brooming. Relievers Pete Mikkelson and Al McBean were credited with the victories. 
• 1969 - Al Oliver started a triple play that saw him get two putouts and two assists during the action against Houston at Forbes Field. With Jesus Alou at first and Doug Rader at second, Johnny Edwards grounded to Scoops, who took the out and then relayed the ball to Gene Alley at second. Alley chased Alou back and flipped to Oliver for the tag. Meanwhile Rader, who had stayed on second thinking Edwards had hit a line drive, broke for third late when the light went on but Oliver gunned him down with Richie Hebner slapping the tag. The Bucs won the twinbill opener, 9-3. Al had two of the Bucs 17 hits as Jim Bunning cruised to victory. The nightcap didn’t go so well as Bob Moose and Chuck Hartenstine got roughed up in a 9-6 defeat. Matty Alou and Billy Maz each had three hits but the Pirates couldn’t keep up with the ‘Stros.

5/30 From 1970: El Coffe Slam, Tiger Duels, Hammering Jose, Lofton's 26-Gamer, AVS in CF, Top Tier, Game Days; RIP Max, HBD Luis & Tony

• 1971 - Willie Stargell launched a Ken Holtzman pitch into the upper deck in right field, the third of four that he’d ship to the top tier at TRS in his career, to cap a 10-0 win over the Cubs. Roberto Clemente and Bob Robertson also went long. Bob Moose didn’t need much help; he fired a three-hitter and fanned seven. 
• 1974 - Bob Moose had surgery to remove a blood clot from his arm after it had swollen to double its size. The clot wasn’t thought to be baseball related, but it cost Moose the rest of the season as one of his ribs also had to be removed. He was having an outlier year anyway, with a 1-5 record and 7.57 ERA, easily the worst numbers of his career and related to his arm woes. Moose never again reached the 100 IP mark after averaging 213 IP and 30 starts in 1972-73 before meeting a tragic end in a car wreck after the 1976 campaign. 
• 1976 - OF Max Carey passed away in Miami. In 17 Pirates seasons, he hit .287 (a strong average for the deadball era; his OPS+ was 111) with 688 stolen bases and a reputation as the best center fielder in the game who was nicknamed “Scoop” for his ability to catch balls hit in front of him. Max won a NL-record 10 stolen base titles and ranks among the top ten all-time in outfield chances per game (6,937 total), seventh in assists (339), and third in double plays (87). After he retired following the 1929 campaign, Carey went on to be a Pirates coach in 1930, then was the skipper of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1932-33. After baseball, he was involved in Florida real estate, wrote a book & several sporting articles, was a horse racing commissioner, and dabbled in politics. Carey was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1961 by the Veterans Committee. 
• 1977 - Dave Parker was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the story “Battle Royale In the East.” The Buccos finished second in the National League East race with 96 wins, five games behind the Phils. The Cobra was an All-Star, played in a team-high 159 games w/21 HR and led the NL with a .338 BA. 

• 1985 - LHP Tony Watson was born in Sioux City, Iowa. The ninth round pick of the 2007 draft was a converted starter that moved to the pen, and made his debut with the Bucs in 2010, evolving into a solid bridge man for the Pirates and then taking over the eighth inning role in spectacular fashion, posting a 1.63 ERA with a couple of saves, 34 holds and 9.4 K per nine innings to earn a spot on the 2014 All-Star team. The media coined the phrase "It's elementary, Watson" to describe his consistent excellence. Tony took over the closer’s role in the summer of 2016 and held it until he was traded to the Dodgers at the deadline in 2017 (he notched 30 saves as a Bucco) and was replaced by Felipe Rivero (Vazquez). He then spent three years with the Giants before returning to LA and closed out the year once again with San Francisco, retiring in 2022. 
• 1987 - The Pirates lost, 6-2, to the Cincinnati Reds at TRS, powered by red-hot Eric Davis’ third-inning grand slam off Dorn Taylor. But one notable move was made by Jimmy Leyland that would pay dividends over the upcoming years: it was the first time he played Andy Van Slyke in centerfield, bumping Barry Bonds to left. AVS had started the ‘87 season, his first as a Bucco, as the right fielder, but after today spent the remainder of his Pirates career as the outfield keystone (Baltimore played him in right for one game in 1995). 
• 1988 - Bucco bats banged at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium as the Pirates ran roughshod over the Braves and Pete Smith, 14-2. Pittsburgh drilled 18 hits - all 11 players that batted had at least a hit - and the top of the order (Barry Bonds, Jose Lind, Andy Van Slyke) scored seven times. Bobby Bonilla had three hits, including a homer, and Bonds also went deep to allow Doug Drabek (who tripled in two runs and scored) to coast to victory. But the Bravos paid the Bucs back in spades by winning the final pair of games by 11-1 and, holy deja vu, 14-2. 
• 1996 - RHP Luis Escobar was born in Cartagena, Columbia. He signed with the Pirates as an international free agent, and despite having played just 20 or so games combined at the AA & AAA levels, was briefly called to Pittsburgh in 2019. Luis, 23, threw goose eggs in his first three outings while dodging raindrops (he posted a 2.471 WHIP) before the Cards roughed him up, and after that he was returned to Indy. He’s now tossing in the Mexican League. 
• 1998 - Jason Kendall hit a walkoff, bases-loaded single to cap a three-run ninth and give the Pirates an 8-7 win over the Montreal Expos at TRS. It was Kendall’s third hit of the day and his second RBI. Manny Martinez homered and Kevin Young banged out four hits. Three Pirate relievers tossed four goose eggs, with Jason Christiansen earning the victory. 

Jason Kendall - Topps Tek 52

• 2003 - Kenny Lofton homered against the Cards in a 7-3 win by Jeff Suppan to keep his 26-game hitting streak alive, tying Danny O’Connell’s modern-day mark set in 1953. He would go 0-fer the next day against the Cards during a 4-3 Pirates victory, falling short of tying the club record set by Jimmy Williams in 1899. Brian Giles picked up the slack with a homer and three RBI to carry Kip Wells to victory. 
• 2004 - The Raul Mondesi saga officially ended when the outfielder signed a $1.75M deal with the Anaheim Angels. He left the Pirates on May 7th after signing as a free agent ($1.15M) to return home to deal with a lawsuit and family safety issues. He never came back; it was all a ploy to get out of the Pirates agreement and head for greener pastures. Pittsburgh could have opted to keep him on the restricted list until the cows came home (and in hindsight, should have; that way they might have gotten some compensation for his flip) but instead washed their hands of him when he failed to report on the team-mandated “drop dead” date of May 18th, terminating his contract the next day. 
• 2006 - The Bucs walloped the Milwaukee Brewers, 12-1, at PNC Park behind a pair of Jose Castillo homers. Jose added a single and double to chase home six runs while scoring three times. Freddy Sanchez also had four knocks and Jack Wilson added three more hits as the Pirates collected 17 raps, seven for extra bases, to help Victor Santos to victory. 
• 2013 - For the second time in three days, the Pirates defeated the Detroit Tigers, 1-0, in 11 innings. The Bucs used four pitchers - Mark Melancon got the win - and a Neil Walker homer to squeak by at Comerica Park on the 28th, then came home to PNC Park and won with Bryan Morris and five other pitchers, clinched by a Russell Martin walk-off single. This one was a stolen victory as the Tigers stranded 11 runners during the game. The victory was the club’s fourth 1-0 win in an 11-game span and their 16th win in the past 20 contests. 
• 2016 - The Pirates rolled over Miami at Marlins Park, 10-0. Gregory Polanco hit his first MLB grand slam, Sean Rodriguez added a two-run blast, and David Freese went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. The big story was lefty Jeff Locke, who pitched a complete game shutout, the first time he had gone the distance in 101 career starts. It was the Bucs first CG since 2014, when Vance Worley went wire-to-wire. Locke gave up three hits without a walk, and thanks to two DPs, faced the minimum number of batters until two were gone in the ninth when he was touched for a bloop single. It was a textbook example of pitching to contact; the Pirate southpaw had just one whiff.

5/29 Through 1964: Earl-Rollie, Stuffy Signs, Tip Top, 8-Straight, Trip Trips, Game Days, Big Bill Visits, MLB Sport Not Biz, HBD Hitch & Jim

• 1884 - The Alleghenys were no-hit by Columbus Buckeyes hurler Ed “Cannonball” Morris at Recreation Park during a 5-0 whitewash. Morris walked just one in a near perfect performance. The Allies had been no-hit just five days earlier by Al Atkinson of the Philadelphia Athletics, who hit the first batter and was perfect the rest of the way. Cannonball joined the Alleghenys the following year and won 129 games over the next five seasons. He played a final year with the Pittsburgh Burghers of the Players League in 1890 before retiring to run his Northside bar.
• 1895 - Jake Beckley blasted a three-run homer in the ninth to give the Pirates an 8-6 win over the Washington Senators at Boundary Park. The 1B ended the year with five homers, second on the team to Jake Stenzel’s seven, with a club-leading 111 RBI. The win left the Pirates in first with a 22-8 slate, but it wouldn’t last. They last held a piece of the top spot on July 18th, then finished the rest of the year at 30-34 and in seventh place, 17 games behind the Baltimore Orioles (the NL version of the O’s were contracted out in 1899 when the league cut teams and was then reorganized and resurrected in 1901 as an AL franchise). 
• 1901 - 3B Jim Stroner was born in Chicago. Jim hit .367 w/42 HR for Wichita in 1928 and the Pirates brought him to camp the following season to take Pie Traynor’s place at third; manager Donie Bush wanted to move Pie to shortstop to replace the traded Glenn Wright. Despite the bona fides and the tutelage of Traynor, Stroner only lasted six games (he was 3-for-8 hitting, but made three errors in seven chances at the hot corner) before he was sent to the minors. He had a convergence of tough luck - he wasn’t nearly at 100% physically, having undergone an appendectomy in the off season, and he wasn’t quite there mentally either, still recovering from the loss of his mother and wife, both who had passed away in the past year. Stroner never got another shot at the ring; he played in the minors through 1939 before retiring. As for Pie, the SS thing didn’t work out; he hurt his back and moved back to third while Dick Bartell took over at short. 
• 1905 - Dave Brain tied a modern-day MLB record with three triples in the same game when the Pirates lost a 6-3 decision to the St. Louis Cardinals at Exposition Park. Brain would repeat the feat in a game against Boston later during the season, becoming the first player to accomplish the triple-triple twice in one season. It was feast or famine in regards to three-baggers for the infielder; they were the only six triples he hit during his sole campaign with Pittsburgh. 

Dave Brain - 1909 American Tobacco

• 1909 - President William “Big Bill” Taft visited Exposition Park (Forbes Field would open a month later) to catch a Bucs-Cubs match, and made himself at home in the cheap seats, delighting the 14,091 fans. The Pirates weren’t so delighted, though, as they went down to Three Finger Brown in 11 innings, 8-3, with Lefty Leifield taking the loss. The Prez must have made the Buccos nervous as the loss was the only time the team was defeated in a 19 game stretch. 
• 1921 - At Redland Field, Clyde Barnhart hit a ninth inning inside-the-park homer to tie the game with the Reds, 2-2. He circled the sacks after his ball was swallowed up by the right field tarp, considered in-play by the ground rules. It didn’t help as Pittsburgh lost 4-3 in 13 frames. But the freaky dinger did spoil what would have been the longest no-homer streak of the modern era - it was the only four-bagger that Cincy twirler Eppa Rixey allowed in 301 innings of work. 
• 1922 - In a decision that was pretty big for the Pirates and all MLB, the US Supreme Court ruled that organized baseball was a sport, not a business, and exempted it from antitrust and interstate commerce laws. The suit was brought on by the Federal League’s Baltimore Terrapins, who sued both the American and National Leagues for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. 
• 1925 - 1B Jack “Stuffy” McInnis was signed as a free agent after being cut loose in late April by the Boston Braves. The vet was inked as Bucco depth, getting into 106 games over two seasons while starting 64 of his appearances. His bat still held up; in 1925-26, he hit .337 for Pittsburgh. McInnis hit .286 during the 1925 World Series championship against the Washington Senators. He replaced George Grantham at first midway through the set and provided a steady bat and been-there, done-that clubhouse leadership as it was his fifth October Classic. He played one more game after leaving Pittsburgh for his original club, Philadelphia, in 1927 before hanging ‘em up after 19 seasons with a lifetime .307 BA to become the Phils’ manager. In 1928, Stuffy moved on as player-manager of the Salem Witches in the New England League, then went on to coach baseball at Norwich University, Cornell and Harvard into the 1950s. 
• 1928 - 2B Norma “Hitch” Dearfield Whitney was born in McKeesport. She played fast-pitch softball as a youth and after tryouts at the hometown Renziehausen Park, Hitch got to play with the All American Girls Professional Baseball League’s Chicago Colleens in 1949 and the South Bend Blue Sox in 1950 (no stats available). An injury while with South Bend in 1950 forced her to retire. She returned home, coached girls softball and was a member of the board of directors of the McKeesport Softball League. 

Pie Traynor - 1961 Golden Press

• 1929 - The Pirates leapfrogged the Cubs into a first place tie with the Cards after a 7-2 win at Forbes Field, their eighth victory in a row. Paul Waner had a triple, two runs scored, and two RBI. Pie Traynor added a pair of knocks with a three-bagger and three runs chased home; Dick Bartell also had two hits. Rookie Steve Swetonic held the Cubs scoreless for seven frames before fading and notched the win with help from Carmen Hill. Though the Bucs would jockey for first throughout July, they finished the campaign with 88 wins, 10-1/2 games behind the Cubs, never recovering from a blah August (13-16) that dropped them out of contention. 
• 1931 - C Earl Grace, 24, was traded by the Cubs with cash to the Pirates for C Rollie Hemsley, also 24. Grace caught five years for the Bucs, starting from 1932-34, and hit .275 over that span, retiring after 1937 with the Phils. Hemsley ended up playing 15 more seasons for five different teams after leaving Pittsburgh, hitting .262 and playing on five All-Star teams. 
• 1955 - At the age of 20 years and 284 days, Roberto Clemente became the second youngest player to hit three doubles in a game in MLB history, behind the Braves’ Eddie Mathews (ironically against the Pirates in 1952). The Bucs beat the Phillies 11-5 at Forbes Field in the nightcap of a twin bill. The young Clemente was the leadoff hitter, and banged his two-baggers off three different pitchers while going 5-for-5. Every Pirate starter had a hit. Dick Groat had four knocks, Frank Thomas went long and Max Surkont got the win after relieving in the first match. The Buccos dropped the opener 5-2; Thomas had a homer in that contest, too. 
• 1960 - Vern Law and Robin Roberts had uncharacteristically meh days at Forbes Field as the Bucs jumped off to a 6-0 lead after two frames and held off the Phils, 8-5. The top of the Pirates order - Don Hoak, Dick Groat, Bob Skinner & Rocky Nelson - went 9-for-17 with five RBI/five runs to lead the attack, with Bill Mazeroski and reliever Fred Green (who also earned the save of The Deacon’s victory) adding solo blasts. The win moved the Bucs into a tie for first with the Giants, and they stayed in the top spot for the remainder of the campaign, taking the flag by seven games over the Milwaukee Braves.

5/29 From 1965: Almon-Pedrique Swap, Jack Splash, Twin Goose Eggs, Cutch Clutch Mark, Zane 1-Hitter, Chuck's Win #1000, Game Days; HBD Paul, Ka'ai & Charlie

• 1965 - Despite allowing three runs in the first inning, the Pirates rallied to defeat the New York Mets 7-4 at Shea Stadium. The Buccos were led by Roberto Clemente, who went 4-for-5, collected two RBI, scored three runs, and finished a home run shy of the cycle. The Pirates put the game away in the seventh when a two-out walk followed by four singles plated three runs. Don Schwall earned the win and Al McBean was credited with the save. 
• 1965 - 3B Charlie Hayes was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Charlie manned the hot corner and played a little first base for 14 big league seasons for seven teams (and three of them he played for twice), spending most of 1996 with the Pirates. He hit .248 as a Bucco starter before being sent to the NYY for a minor-league guy. The deadline deal worked out great for Charlie; he ended up a member of the Yankees ‘96 World Championship club after leaving the Buccos, a Central Division bottom feeder that campaign. Hayes now runs the Big League Baseball Academy in Texas. His son Ke'Bryan was selected 32nd overall by the Pirates in the 2015 draft and took over his pap’s old spot at 3B before being traded to the Reds. 
• 1979 - Don Robinson scattered five hits over eight innings to lead the Bucs to an 8-0 win over the Cubs at TRS. Dave Parker led the offense with three hits, a dinger+a pair of two-baggers, and three RBI. Phil Garner had two knocks, also going deep, while Omar Moreno, Tim Foli, Willie Stargell and even hurler Robby had two knocks each as part of a 15-hit attack. 
• 1983 - Chuck Tanner claimed his 1,000th win as a manager (his skipper career began in 1970 with the White Sox) after an 8-5 victory over the Reds at Riverfront Stadium. The game wouldn’t make any coaching textbooks - the Bucs committed three errors and ran the bases like ninnies - but behind a 15-hit attack, the Pirates left themselves a lot of wiggle room. Tony Pena went 4-for-4 and four other Corsairs - Lee Mazzilli, Bill Madlock, Jason Thompson & Dave Parker - had two knocks while Manny Sarmiento tossed three shutout innings in relief to earn the save of Larry McWilliams’ victory. 

Chuck Tanner - 1983 Donruss

• 1987 - IF Bill Almon was traded to the New York Mets for OF Scott Little and IF Al Pedrique. The well-traveled vet Almon was at the end of his trail and finished his career at Philly in 1988, the seventh club he played for over the years. Little never made it out of the minors and Pedrique stuck with the Pirates for two years, batting .259 (he went Jekyll and Hyde here, yo-yo’ing from .301 in ‘87 to .180 in ‘88) and ended his MLB days with Detroit in 1989. He went on to become a big league manager and coach as well as farm league skipper. 
• 1989 - Barry Bonds posted a home run and four RBI to lead the Pirates to a 12-3 victory over the Reds at TRS. Bobby Bonilla added three knocks, including a dinger, and Andy Van Slyke also went deep as the Pirates banged out 14 hits. It was a team effort; eight different Bucs plated and eight different Bucs chased home runs (even Bob Walk and reliever Bob Kipper each had a hit, scored once and collected an RBI). Walk picked up the win. 
• 1991 - The Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0 at Busch Stadium as Zane Smith threw the second one-hitter of his career, striking out five to earn his seventh win of the season. The hit was “a parachute,” per Press writer Bob Hertzel, that fell between RF’er Mitch Webster & 2B Chico Lind, snapping an 0-for-31 streak by Redbird batter Jose Oquendo. Orlando Merced led the attack with two hits and two RBI for the Bucs. There were no pace of play issues to distract Zane during his 89-pitch “Maddux” gem; the game took 2:12 to complete. 
• 1992 - Pittsburgh rocked the San Francisco Giants 13-3 at TRS to break out of a five-game tailspin. Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, Jose Lind chipped in with three runs driven in and Andy Van Slyke had three hits. Vicente Palacios got the win and Bob Patterson earned a save after he tossed the final three frames. The Pirates used a 13-hit, 10-walk attack and an eight-run seventh inning to pull away from the G-Men. 

Ka'ai Tom - 2021 Topps Gallery

• 1996 - OF Blaze Ka’ai Tom was born in Honolulu. A 2015 Cleveland draftee who Oakland claimed in the Rule 5 draft, he was DFA’ed after going 1-for-16 and claimed by the Pirates in 2021. He made his Bucco debut in late April as a pinch hitter and later as regular left fielder before a wrist injury landed him on the IL. He was released in September, signed with the Giants and was released in August ‘22, ending his pro days. Trivia tidbit: he got his first MLB hit off David Price. 
• 2000 - The Pirates put on a show for the 17,282 fans at Three Rivers Stadium in a 10-4 romp over the Florida Marlins. Every Bucco starter reached base safely, including winning pitcher Jason Schmidt, who walked. John Vander Wal, Kevin Young and Pat Meares combined for eight RBI and every starter but Meares scored. Pittsburgh banged out 13 hits and the Fish hurlers aided the Bucco cause by issuing seven walks in the first six innings. 
• 2002 - RHP Paul Skenes was born in Fullerton, California. Skenes enrolled in the Air Force Academy after HS (he went to El Toro High, the alma mater of Nolan Arenado and Matt Chapman), won the John Olerud Award as the best two-way player in college baseball, and then transferred to LSU as a junior. He was selected as the ‘23 national pitcher of the year and was part of the Tigers’ championship squad, also being selected as the CWS MVP. He was the #1 pick overall of the 2023 draft by the Bucs, zoomed through the system, and was called up in May, 2024, to join the staff. He did pretty well: Skenes slashed 11-3/1.96 with an 0.95 WHIP and 170 strikeouts in 23 starts. He started the All-Star game and after the season, he was named NL Rookie of the Year while finishing third in the race for the Cy Young Award. 2025 saw Paul slash 10-10/1.97 with 216 K in 187-2/3 IP, earn another All-Star bid (he started again) and was the unanimous winner of the NL Cy Young Award. 

Paul Skenes - 2026 photo/MLB

• 2017 - Leadoff hitter Andrew McCutchen banged a walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Pirates a 4-3 victory over Arizona at PNC Park. It was his sixth game-winning long fly as a Buc, tying Cutch with Willie Stargell and Ralph Kiner for the most walkoff homers in franchise history. Tony Watson squandered a two-run lead in the final frame, but Cutch in the clutch earned him the win against the D-Backs in front of 16,939 Monday afternoon rooters. 
• 2021 - For the first time since October 3rd, 1976, the Pirates swept a twinbill (each scheduled for seven innings, per MLB rules) behind a pair of shutouts, dropping the Colorado Rockies 7-0 and 4-0 at PNC Park. The story was the pitching of JT Brubaker in the opener and Mitch Keller in the nightcap. The attack was balanced, with Bryan Reynolds homering in the lidlifter while Adam Frazier & Ka’ai Tom (on his birthday) went yard in the closing match. The victories snapped a six-game losing streak and nine-losses-in-10-games spell for the Buccos. The 1976 sweep was much more dramatic - a pair of 1-0 wins over the Cards at TRS behind the arms of Jim Rooker and Jerry Reuss, both going the distance to close the season. 
• 2023 - The Pirates continued through a miserable month of play; they started the season with a shiny 20-8 mark, but their 14-4 demolition at the hands of the Giants at Oracle Park left them below .500 at 26-27. There was one bright spot: Jack Suwinski homered twice, and both blasts were splash hits, landing in McCovey Cove (actually, it’s properly called China Basin, who knew?) beyond the right field wall. The only other player to pop two balls into the drink in the same game was ex-Bucco and then-Giant Barry Bonds, who did it first in 2000 and again in 2002.

5/28 Through the 1970s: Dale Goes Long For 8th Straight, Crazy Hop, Protest Win, Game Days; HBD Alex, Kirk, Sarge, Steve, Reddy & King

• 1881 - RHP James “King” Brady was born in Elmer, New Jersey. King worked two of his five MLB seasons with the Bucs in 1906-07, and didn’t get much work, going 1-1/2.16 in four starts while giving up an average of 11.5 hits every nine innings before he was shipped to the minors early in 1907 after taking a liner off the bean. He spent eight years on the farm, winning 85 games. It’s thought that a Pittsburgh writer gave him his moniker after a good outing. 
• 1903 - OF Romer “Reddy” Grey, brother of author Zane Grey (they were both originally Grays; their dad allegedly changed the spelling to dodge some bills), made his MLB bow as a Buc. He went 1-for-3 in his only big league game as the Pirates beat Boston, 7-6. Grey scored a run, knocked in another, drew a walk, and caught the only ball hit his way in the OF. He played on loan from the nearby Worcester minor league club as the Pirates, due to some injuries and personal issues, found themselves short handed for the game against the Beaneaters at the South End Grounds. Grey was an early AAAA ballplayer; he never found a home in MLB but had a career .311 minor league batting average. His author brother was also a ballplayer in his younger days; he even played at Pitt briefly. They were teammates on both the Jaxons and Findlay Sluggers of the Interstate League in 1895, and Zane went on to pen several baseball themed stories. 
• 1919 - LHP Steve Nagy was born in Franklin, New Jersey. Steve was teammates with a couple of famous folk, TV star Chuck “The Rifleman” Connors (who played for the Dodgers and the Cubs before going on to Hollywood) at Seton Hall University and Jackie Robinson as a Montreal Royal. He pitched briefly in the majors for two years, spending 1947 as a Pirates reliever and going 1-3/5.79. Steve missed time during WW2 while in the navy, but still managed to play 14 minor-league campaigns before he retired from the game after the 1958 season. 

Steve Nagy - 1947 photo Baseball Hall of Fame

• 1921 - Pittsburgh protested their 10-inning 4-3 loss to the Reds and won. After Reds P Dolf Luque misfired the ball into the Cincinnati dugout, Clyde Barnhart was called out going to third when the ball was tossed back into the field. The Pirates said no way; it was a dead ball, and NL president Heydler agreed. The game was later replayed from that point (it was 3-3), and the Bucs took full advantage of their second chance, turning the tables to win 4-3 on June 30. 
• 1923 - LHP Bob “Sarge” Kuzava was born in Wyandotte, Michigan. Bob spent 10 years in MLB, stopping in Pittsburgh for four appearances lasting two innings in 1957. It was the last big league season for the 34-year-old; he was sold to the Cards and got three final outings. He began his career as a starter and finished it as a reliever/spot starter, with his highlights in 1952 when he went 2-2/3 no-hit innings for the Yankees to save the seventh game of the World Series against Brooklyn after closing out the clinching sixth game the year before with a perfect ninth inning to defeat the Giants, 4-3. Kuzava was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. He got his nickname of Sarge after spending three years during WW2 in Burma. 
• 1956 - 30-year-old first baseman Dale Long added to his major league mark by hitting a home run in his eighth consecutive game, a 3-2 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers at Forbes Field. The liner was hit off of Carl Erskine in front of 32,221 Forbes Field fans, the largest crowd for a night game in Pittsburgh in almost six years, who didn’t settle down after the record blast until the lefty slugger took a curtain call, said to be the first in Pirates history. Bob Friend also stood out, tossing a complete game two-hitter. Long was lauded in the US Senate by Carnegie Senator James Duff for his feat. The record was later tied by Don Mattingly (1987) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (1993). Brooklyn’s Don Newcombe closed out the book the next day as Long went 0-for-4. Dale finished the season with a career-high 27 long balls, the first of four 20+ HR seasons in five years, not a bad mark for a guy who didn’t get a chance to play every day until he was 29 years old. Long’s streak carried the Pirates, who won seven-of-eight during his run but still finished in seventh place (66-88 record). 

Kirk Gibson - 1992 Pinnacle

• 1957 - OF Kirk Gibson was born in Pontiac, Michigan. He spent 1992 as a Pirate toward the end of his 17-year MLB run, coming over from Kansas City in a swap for LHP Neal Heaton, and the 35-year-old was released in May after hitting .196. He closed out the final three years of his career with the Detroit Tigers after Sparky Anderson talked him out of retirement. The 1988 World Series hero has since worked as a coach, manager and announcer. 
• 1960 - Roberto Clemente was on third and Hal Smith on first with two outs in the eighth inning with Maz up at Forbes Field. He fanned, waving at a Rube Goldberg pitch that hit in the front of the plate, ricocheted off umpire Al Barlick and back to Phillies pitcher Jim Owens. Maz froze, Smith jogged to second and Clemente went halfway down the line. Owens chased Roberto as his bench called for him to throw to first, which he either didn’t hear or ignored. Caught in a run-down, Clemente knocked the ball out of C Jim Coker's glove to tie the score at 2-2, and the Pirates went on to win 4-2 in the 13th inning on Don Hoak's two-run dinger. 
• 1963 - Called out at first on a bang-bang play for the second time in the game, Roberto Clemente twice jostled umpire Bill Jackowski while arguing the decision. Clemente was ejected, and skipper Danny Murtaugh got his Irish up, challenging the man in blue to duke it out until the Irishman was pulled away. The Great One was fined $250 and suspended for five days by the league. To top the day off, the Pirates lost 5-1 to the Phils at Forbes Field. 
• 1977 - OF/1B Alex Hernandez was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Alex was taken by Pittsburgh in the fourth round of the 1995 draft and spent two campaigns with the Pirates from 2001-02, getting into 27 games and hitting .183. After time in the Reds and Rays systems, he spent his last couple of pro seasons playing indie ball and in the Puerto Rican Winter League before retiring in 2006.

5/28 From 1980: Key Crank, Duelin', Jay's 6-Gamer, Mack Daddy, Big Innings, On-Base Bonds, Game Days, Candy Shopped

• 1985 - Bob Hertzel of the Pittsburgh Press wrote that the Pirates recently deposed GM, Pete Peterson, was talking trade with the Detroit Tigers by dangling lefty John Candelaria, who was approaching his 5-and-10 year veteran trade status. While the return package was just speculation, it was thought that Pirates were interested in OF Larry Herndon, RHP Juan Berenguer and 3B/C Marty Castillo in some combination. The deal had some legs; scouts for both sides were visiting one another’s farms and the brass said they’d continue to talk even with Pete gone. Candy Man was being shopped hard and eventually ended up with the Angels as part of a six-man deal on August 2nd. 
• 1988 - The Pirates whipped the Reds 5-2 at Riverfront Stadium behind an unstoppable leadoff man Barry Bonds. BB went 2-for-2 and walked three times, scoring three runs with an RBI to rev the Bucco engine. Bobby Bonilla and Darnell Coles both added a single and double to help Bob Walk to earn the win following a Bob Kipper hold & Jeff Robinson save. 
• 1990 - Memorial Day seemed like it was going to be more memorable for Dodger pitcher Tim Belcher, who was working on a one-hitter through eight innings at TRS, than anything the Bucs would do. But in the end, the Pirates provided the holiday fireworks, scoring five times in the ninth off two Dodger relievers to take an improbable 6-5 win from LA. The Bucs trimmed the lead to 5-3 and loaded the bases with two down in the final frame. With the runners going, Chico Lind spanked a full count liner through the right side. Bobby Bo scored and RF’er Hubie Brooks tried to cut down the tying run, Gary Redus, at the plate. The throw was up the line and C Mike Scioscia tried to snatch the ball and swipe the runner while still blocking the dish. His ballet by the plate didn’t pan out; he whiffed on the throw entirely and it rolled to the back wall, allowing Don Slaught to lumber in from first to score the game winner for Bill Landrum, who had worked the ninth frame for Pittsburgh. The game did have a hot sidebar; a continuation of a beanball war, although denied by the several pitchers involved, led to a couple of loud confrontations and the ejection of the Pirates Randy Kramer. 

Chico Lind - 1990 Topps Sticker

• 2001 - The Pirates put up a seven-spot in the eighth to erase a 5-1 deficit against the Marlins at PNC Park and send the fans home happy with an 8-5 victory on Memorial Day. The big frame featured a little of everything, from two Fish errors to a three-run bomb by Pat Meares, before Mike Williams sealed the deal with a scoreless ninth to save Jose Mesa’s win. Pirates starter Omar Oliveras was long gone while the Miami loss was absorbed by former Bucco reliever Dan Miceli. 
• 2004 - In the lidlifter of a twin bill, utilityman Rob Mackowiak smacked a two-out, walk-off grand slam for a 9-5 Pirates victory barely nine hours after his wife, Jennifer, gave birth to their first child, Garrett Matthew. Chicago’s Matt Clement had a tough outing with a wild pitch and plunks of Bobby Hill, Jason Kendall and Craig Wilson in the fifth frame of the opener (the three HBP in an inning tied the modern era MLB record), opening the gates to a four-run frame. In the second game, Mack drilled a two-run shot in the ninth, the 500th homer at PNC Park, into the same right center field seats as the one he hit three hours earlier to send the nitecap into extra innings, later won by Craig Wilson’s 10th inning homer, for a 5-4 sweep of the Cubs. It was the first time since 1967 that a team won both ends of a doubleheader via walk-off homers. 
• 2006 - The Pirates lost to the Astros 5-4 at PNC Park. Houston scored four times in the ninth inning off three different Pirate pitchers to tie the game, then won it in the 10th on a Preston Wilson knock off Salomon Torres. The game did have a bright side. Jason Bay homered off Fernando Nieve in the fourth frame to run his consecutive game HR streak to six contests, the second longest in Pirate history after Dale Long’s 1956 eight-game streak, that started on the 22nd against Arizona’s Orlando Hernandez. Bay had a pair of bombs on the 20th, too, giving him nine home runs in nine games. 
• 2011 - Four Pirates (Andrew McCutchen, Lyle Overbay, Chris Snyder and Ronnie Cedeno) went long off three different Chicago pitchers as Pittsburgh whipped the Cubs, 10-1, at Wrigley Field. Paul Maholm dominated the Bruins, tossing a three-hitter for the complete game victory. 

Neil Walker - 2013 Topps

• 2013 - The Bucs rode strong pitching and an 11th-inning home run by Neil Walker off Jose Ortega to edge the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park 1-0 despite striking out 14 times. Jeanmar Gomez and Rick Porcello started the game while Jason Grilli finished it in style with swinging strikeouts of Motown’s Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. It was “Grilled Cheese” Grilli’s 21st save and preserved Mark “The Shark” Melancon’s first win as a Pirate. 
• 2022 - With a fireworks crowd of 38,000+ on hand at Petco Park, the Padres carried a 2-1 lead into the ninth against the Bucs with Taylor Rogers on the hill. Diego Castillo opened with a double and Tucupita Marcano walked. An out later, Ke’Bryan Hayes came up looking for his first homer of the season - he had gone 173 PAs/151 ABs without a long ball - and he ended both his streak and Rogers’, who hadn’t given up a dinger all year, when he sent a slider over the wall in straightaway center for an unlikely 4-2 comeback win. Hayes joined good company - the last player to go 150 or more at bats without a homer to begin a season and then hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth frame or later for his first was Tony Gwynn on June 5, 1996, per Stats by Stats. Key had three of the Pirates eight hits after sitting out the series opener with a sore back. JT Brubaker started, Anthony Banda was credited with the win, and Dave Bednar got the save; The Friars stranded 16 runners against bend-but-don’t-break Bucco pitching. Closer Bednar was part of the Joe Musgrove deal, and Big Joe was the night’s San Diego starter. 
• 2025 - For the fifth time in seven games, the bats continued to boom for the Bucs, again putting up five+ runs. Paul Skenes finally got some support (his mates had averaged fewer than two runs per outing for him: today was his first win in six May starts, despite a 1.91 ERA for the month), leaving in the seventh frame (four hits, seven Ks in 6-2/3 IP) with an 8-0 bulge at Arizona on the way to an eventual 10-1 dub. Oneil Cruz homered w/three RBI, Isiah Kiner-Falefa had three hits/three runs scored/two RBI and Henry Davis & Jared Triolo added a pair of knocks.

5/27: Mizell-Javier, 2-Out Lightning, Bay 5-Gamer, DD 1-Hitter, King Ken, Comeback Kids, Coop Run, Game Days, HYPO; HBD Nick, Tanner, Jacob, Ross, Terry & George

• 1921 - Wilbur Cooper won his eighth straight game 5-4 at Forbes Field when the Pirates pushed across a ninth inning run against Cincinnati; all eight of Coop’s victories during the streak were complete games. Rabbit Maranville’s sac fly brought in Walter Schmidt with the winning tally in the home half of the ninth. Maranville also tripled and scored twice for the Pirates. Between June and July, Cooper would catch fire again and went on an 8-of-10 win spree, and his two hot spells carried him to a 22-win season for the Pirates despite a late swoon. 
• 1927 - The Pirates overcame a 7-1 deficit by scoring six times in the sixth and seventh innings to defeat the St. Louis Cards by an 8-7 count in 10 innings at Forbes Field. They ran their victory streak to nine games; it reached 11 before being snapped. Kiki Cuyler had three hits to spark the Bucs. Guy Bush pitched three innings of one-hit ball for the win. 
• 1929 - RHP George O’Donnell was born in Winchester, Illinois. The epitome of a AAAA player, the knuckleballer was signed out of high school by St. Louis in 1948 but only got one MLB shot, pitching for the Pirates in 1954 when he slashed 3-9/4.53, amazingly good numbers considering he only struck out eight batters in 87-1/3 IP. O'Donnell tossed in the minors through 1961 as part of the Browns, Pirates, LA Dodgers and Senators systems. George appeared in 530 MiLB games w/1,948 IP and a career 127-93/3.44 line with two 20-win campaigns. He also played in Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. 
• 1949 - Terry Collins was born in Midland, Michigan. He started as an infielder in the Pirates system from 1971-74, and eventually the former manager of the Houston Astros, Anaheim Angels and New York Mets ended up the skipper of Pittsburgh’s AAA Buffalo squad from 1989-91 (he won 246 games with the Bisons and was inducted into the Buffalo Sports HoF). Collins then replaced Gene Lamont on Jim Leyland’s staff in 1992, serving for two seasons before landing the ‘Stros head job in 1994. He’s served as a broadcast analyst since 2019. 
• 1955 - LHP Ross Baumgarten was born in Highland Park, Illinois. Ross tossed the last of his five big league campaigns with Pittsburgh in 1982, coming to town as the key piece of the Vance Law deal that was struck during camp, and went 0-5/6.75. Ross, who finished fourth in the Rookie-of-the-Year voting in 1979, hurt his arm as a Pirate, though the source of the injury remains a mystery to even him. He told Ed Sherman of Spotlight Stories “I went to see seven of the top doctors in the country, and I got like seven different diagnoses. In those days it was totally different than now. You know, there was no MRIs.” But he landed on his feet, using his U of Florida training to land a job in finance in 1984 and has been building portfolios ever since along with coaching high school ball. 

Ross Baumgarten - 1983 Topps

• 1956 - On the way home from a Philadelphia rainout, 1B Dale Long took a detour and stopped in NYC as a guest of Ed Sullivan on his show “Toast of the Town” after hitting homers in seven straight games to set the record. Following that appearance, he hurried back to Pittsburgh and banged one more long ball in his eighth consecutive contest against Brooklyn the next night, capping his streak. 
• 1960 - Pittsburgh acquired 29-year-old LHP Wilmer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell from the Cardinals, along with UT Dick Gray, for minor leaguers IF Julian Javier and RHP Ed Bauta. Javier held down 2B for the Redbirds for a dozen seasons, batting .258, and made two All Star teams, but he was blocked in Pittsburgh by a guy named Bill Mazeroski. Vinegar Bend went 13-5 for the Bucs with a 3.15 ERA, solidifying their staff during their Championship run. 
• 1963 - The Pirates and Indians held an interleague exhibition game at Forbes Field to help the Pirates Youth Organization program HYPO - “Help Young Players Organize” - that began with a special pregame ceremony for the Tribes’ Sam McDowell and Tito Francona, both local guys. The Pirates returned the favor in August, playing in Cleveland to help support its youth baseball programs. The Bucs won the contest 10-9 in what the paper described as a “sandlot game,” which seems appropriate, considering that it featured six errors between the clubs. 
• 1965 - OF Jacob Brumfield was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana. Jacob spent the middle part of his seven year career as a Pirate from 1995-96, traded here for Danny Clyburn. He hit .268 in Pittsburgh before being dealt to Toronto for a minor league player. He’s best remembered for his head-on collision with fellow outfielder Dave Clark. The two met full speed ahead and Clark broke his collarbone while Brumfield had 15 stitches worth of cuts on his face. 1999 was his final MLB year, followed by a season in the minors and one more season playing indie ball. 
• 1974 - It was a big day for Ken Brett in a DH sweep against the San Diego Padres at TRS. In the opener, he carried a perfect game into the ninth, settling for a two-hit 6-0 win in a game that wasn’t decided until the Bucs put up a five spot in the eighth. With that, it took all of 1:38 to play. In the nitecap, his two-run pinch hit triple primed a five-run seventh that keyed the Bucs 8-7 victory (the match was eventually won in the ninth on a two-run, two-out homer by Richie Hebner). Brett ended the day going 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and three RBI to go along with his two-hitter in one of the Bucs’ top “do it all” performances. 

Kenny Brett - 1974 Topps

• 1991 - Doug Drabek beat the heat (it was 94 out) and the second-place Cards at Busch Stadium in front of 40,667 fans, throwing a 91-pitch, one-hit shutout as the Bucs won 8-0. Bernard Gilkey's two-out single was the only knock against Doug, who issued no walks but served up a lot of routine outs, striking out just a pair. He had plenty of offensive help as the Pirates banged out 15 hits, with Jay Bell going yard and doubling while Mitch Webster spanked a pair of triples. The top of the order - Orlando Merced, Bell & Andy Van Slyke - scored six runs and drove in four. 
• 1993 - RHP Tanner Anderson was born in Boynton Beach, Florida. The Bucs drafted him in the 20th round of the 2015 draft as a senior from Harvard. Tanner worked his way through the system as both a starter and reliever; from the pen, he was 1-1-1/2.86 for AAA Indianapolis and got a call to the big club in late June of 2018. He was rocked in his first outing against the LA Dodgers, and sent down. He won his first MLB game against the Brewers after being recalled in July. Tanner was sent to Oakland in an off-season minor-league deal (the Pirates got 19-year-old RHP Wilkin Ramos). He then became a baseball nomad, tossing ball in the indie, Chinese, Dominican Winter and Mexican leagues, last twirling for Monterrey in 2025 before hangin’ up the spikes. 
• 1999 - IF Nick Gonzales was born in Vail, Arizona. The Pirates first round pick in 2020 (#7 overall) from New Mexico State, Nick went from college walk-on to the Pirates top pick, signing for a slot value bonus of $5,432,400. He’s played 2B (his likeliest position), SS and 3B in the minors, but a season lost to Covid followed by a broken finger and an unseemly strikeout rate kept him on the back burner. In 2023, he started the year at Indy, put up a good month after an adjustment period (it was his first AAA exposure) and was called up to the big team in June. Gonzales again started the campaign at Indy in ‘24, raked there and returned to the majors in May, batting his way into a starting role. He hit .270 and entered the 2025 campaign as the starter at second base. Unfortunately, he suffered an ankle injury after homering on Opening Day ‘25 and missed two months. In 2026, the pick up of Brandow Lowe and an injury to Jared Triolo flipped Nick to the hot corner. 
• 2006 - The Pirates won an 18-inning match at PNC Park 8-7 against the Astros when Jason Bay flattened Houston catcher Eric Munson at the plate to score on Jose Bautista’s shallow sac fly. The game time of five hours, 49 minutes tied it as the longest contest ever played in Pittsburgh. Bay also hit a homer in his fifth consecutive game, the first Pirate player to do so since Dale Long in 1956, and with that blow he became the first player in club history to hit nine home runs in a nine-game span for the team. 

Jason Bay - 2006 Upper Deck First Pitch

• 2015 - The Pirates scored five times in the seventh against the Miami Marlins after the bases were empty with two outs to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 win at PNC Park for their sixth victory in a row. The Bucs stayed alive as Chris Stewart, Jose Tabata and Josh Harrison singled, scoring a run. Pedro Alvarez dribbled one through the SS hole against the shift to bring home the tying tally, then Andrew McCutchen walked to load the bases. Starling Marte took a 3-2 pitch down and away for a run-producing free pass and the lead. Jung-Ho Kang drilled a final two-run insurance single, and that was the ballgame. Gerrit Cole got his seventh win while Mark Melancon earned his 12th save. 
• 2016 - The Pirates banged out four homers, swatted by Starling Marte, Jung Ho Kang, Gregory Polanco and Andrew McCutchen, to defeat the Texas Rangers easily at Globe Life Park, 9-1. Jon Niese went six innings for the win, with help from Wilfredo Boscan and Rob Scahill. They defeated former National League nemesis Cole Hamels, who had a 19-start streak of Texas victories (he personally went 12-0 during that span) snapped by the Buccos. 
• 2017 - The Pirates saved the best for last, scoring in the ninth frame to send the game into overtime and winning it 5-4 in the 10th inning with a two-out, two-strike, walkoff knock. The victim in front of 31,658 fans at PNC Park was the New York Mets. The Metropolitans scored four runs in five innings off Gerrit Cole but missed golden opportunities galore, leaving runners on second and third four times in that span. Andrew McCutchen kept the Bucs hangin’ around with a two-run blast and doubled home another run in the sixth. Pinch hitter John Jaso tied the game with an RBI knock in the ninth and delivered the game-winner an inning later, fouling off four 3-2 pitches before dropping a bases-loaded single into right. The Pirates bullpen worked five innings of two-hit ball, retiring 12 straight batters at one point, to earn Tony Watson a true team win. 
• 2025 - The Pirates had just recently tied a MLB record in offensive futility (four or less runs scored in 26 straight games) that cost Derek Shelton his job, but were shaking off the doldrums under new skipper Donnie Kelly. Today they looked like the old Lumber Company, overcoming a 6-0 deficit to come back and defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, 9-6. Mike Burrows had a rough start, but Joey Wentz, Dennis Santana and David Bednar picked up the slack. It was rewarded when Henry Davis entered the game in the fifth after Joey Bart was dinged and smacked a two-run bomb to go with a double while Isiah Kiner-Falefa drilled a bases-clearing double with the sacks jammed in the eighth to plate three runs. The icing was added when Bryan Reyolds banged a three-run, game-winning homer to cap a four-hits with a walk night. Wentz went 3-1/3 IP for the win, with Santana getting a hold and Bednar the save. Per OptaSTATS, it was the first time an MLB team averaging less than three runs per game entering the contest (min. 50 games played) came back from a six+ run deficit to win since July 31, 1968, when the White Sox trailed 8-1 at Minnesota before rallying for a 12-8 victory.

5/26 Through the 1950s: Harvey Makes History, Dale Keeps On, Josh Jet, Brown Cycle, Max Larceny, Game Days, Fan Fracas; HBD Dann, Chuck & Jack

• 1874 - RHP Jack Cronin was born in West New Brighton, New York. He tossed four games for the Pirates as a 24-year-old, slashing 2-2/3.54 after being purchased from Fall River of the New England League in July of 1898. He was released and ended up with the Reds the following year. Jack had a long pro career lasting from 1895 until he tossed his last inning for Reading of the United States Baseball League in 1912, including seven years in MLB, although he was only part of a regular big-league rotation twice in that span and appeared a dozen or fewer times in the other five campaigns. 
• 1890 - Rumors regarding the sale of the Pirates (or in this case, the Alleghenys) are as old as the franchise. The Press published an article regarding the possible sale of the franchise, or at least William Nimick’s 25% share, to an unnamed New York interest. Nimick was noncommittal regarding the report, but hung on until the end of the 1891 season, when he sold his share to William Chase Temple, who remained an owner until 1894. The ownership didn’t stabilize until 1899 when Barney Dreyfuss maneuvered himself into a controlling interest of the club. 
• 1894 - The Pirates were thumping Cleveland 12-3 in the top of the ninth inning when the crowd of 6,200 at League Park began to run amok after being taunted by the 500 rooters who had made the trip from Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Press wrote “A more disgraceful affair never occurred upon a ball field...when the disappointed Forest City fans, unable to endure the disgrace of defeat, attacked the Pittsburg club, the rivalry at white heat...In a second, cushions and pop bottles were flying in all directions...the crowd swarmed out of the stands...” and the frustrated hometown fans rushed the field. The two teams had traded accusations of dirty play the day before and after today’s donnybrook, 50 ready-to-rumble ‘Burghers escorted the Pittsburgh club to its train as some added Steel City muscle. Red Ehret got the win, backed by an 18-hit Bucco attack. 
• 1908 - The Pirates beat the Boston Doves 8-1 at Forbes Field behind Vic Willis, who scattered seven hits, and a balanced 10-hit attack. But all was not well in Pittsburgh; the Bucs were sputtering at 15-12, and 34-year-old team rock Hans Wagner, who had held out and missed all of spring training, was hitting just .268. Fortunately, the Dutchman was about to turn it around and carried the club with him. Honus batted .369 over the remaining 127 games of the season with 10 homers, 89 runs, 83 RBI and 47 swiped sacks; the Pirates piled up an 83-44 mark with Wagner back in the swing. The Buccos finished a game out of first, but Honus ended up on top once again - after the smoke had cleared, he won his third straight batting crown with a .354 BA. 

Max Carey - 1925 photo Bain/Library of Congress

• 1925 - Max Carey walked and then swiped second, third, and home (he had 46 swipes for the campaign and led the league in steals 10 times; Max stole home 33 times in his career) during the Bucs 7-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. Kiki Cuyler added a two-run homer and Al Neihaus drove in two more scores as Ray Kremer coasted to the win at Forbes Field. 
• 1933 - The Homestead Grays right fielder Ray Brown hit for the cycle vs. House of David in a 19-4 win. Brown had five hits on the day while Homestead posted 24 knocks (eight of the nine Grays had multiple hits against HoD) in a barnstorming match played in Clarion. They met again two days later at Greenlee Field and that match was a barnburner, with Homestead squeaking by, 2-1, with the game-winner being Terrible Ted Page’s eighth-inning solo homer. 
• 1942 - RHP Chuck Hartenstein was born in Seguin, Texas. After three years with the Cubs, he came to Pittsburgh in a minor deal and worked from the pen in 1969, slashing 5-4-10/3.95. He got off to a rough start in 1970 and was released, playing for the Cards and later the Red Sox during the campaign. Chuck spent from 1971-76 in AAA before making a brief comeback in 1977 with the expansion Blue Jays. He coached and scouted afterward, finally leaving the game in 1995. The 5’ 11”, 150 lb. Hartenstein went by the nickname “Twiggy” for fairly obvious reasons, with the moniker bestowed on him by the Cubs’ Billy Williams. 
• 1946 - Josh Gibson launched another long blast, this one 440’ into the Yankee Stadium bleachers, as the Homestead Grays whipped the NY Black Yankees, 11-8. It was the Grays’ fourth straight win and propelled them into first place in the Negro National League. It was familiar territory as the Grays won the league title nine times, although this season the Newark Eagles took the crown. 

Josh Gibson - Helmars Big League Brew

• 1952 - The Pirates were a pretty poor excuse for a baseball team this season, but they were feisty. Bucco pitcher Ron Kline whizzed one over Cincy catcher Andy Seminick’s noodle in the second inning of the game at Forbes Field, which led to words between the backstop and Pirates coach Bill Posedel. They were close to blows and a crowd gathered, but peace was restored. Kline batted in the second and escaped without wearing a baseball, but Seminick and Posedel kept at it, started brawling, and both gangs joined the dance. George “Catfish” Metkovich was exchanging love taps with various Reds when he was wrestled to the ground by Cincinnati trainer Dr. Wayne Anderson (it ends up they were old buds and the doc was trying to keep his friend out of harm’s way, per Catfish). The doc, Metkovich, Seminick and Posedel were all shown to the door. The Bucs won 6-3 with the win going to Bob Friend in relief of Kline. Ralph Kiner paid a price, getting ticked by pitches twice after the melee, but he had the last laugh with a homer. 
• 1956 - Dale Long became the first player to go deep in seven straight games when he took the Phillies' Ben Flowers deep in the eighth inning during his final at-bat as the Bucs dropped Philadelphia 6-2 at Connie Mack Stadium. Frank Thomas and Hank Foiles also homered to give Vern Law the complete game win. Dale also doubled, and still wasn’t quite done with his historic home run streak. 
• 1959 - In baseball's ultimate pitching performance, Harvey Haddix threw 12 perfect innings against the Braves in Milwaukee’s County Stadium, only to lose the game 1-0 in the 13th on a Dick Hoak error, sacrifice bunt, intentional walk and double that was a homer. (NL prez Warren Giles ruled that the final score should be 1-0, as runners Henry Aaron and Joe Adcock were ruled out, Aaron for leaving the field‚ and Adcock for passing him on the basepath. Adcock was credited with a double and not a HR.) In 1993‚ Bob Buhl admitted that the Braves pitchers were stealing the signs from C Smoky Burgess‚ who could not crouch down all the way because of his achy knees, and signaled the coming pitch, making Haddix's effort even more remarkable. The only player who wasn’t impressed was Haddix, who told the Post Gazette afterward "My main aim all night long was to win. The perfect game would have meant something to me then. It's just another loss.” Lew Burdette went the distance for the win, giving up twelve singles. The Pirates hit into three double plays with only two runners advancing past first, both after two outs. 
• 1959 - C Dann Bilardello was born in Santa Cruz, California. He spent most of his Pirates time at AAA Buffalo, hitting just .171 for Pittsburgh in 52 games between 1989-90. Dann got some more MLB time at San Diego in 1991-92 and played out his time in pro ball at indie Winnipeg in 1994.

5/26 From 1970: 7 Bombs, Ward Cycle, 9-Run Frame, Francisco & Steve Gems, A-Ram Debut, Fireworks, Game Days, HBD Endy

• 1971 - Steve Blass carried the Pirates to 2-0 victory over Cincinnati at Three Rivers Stadium, recording a career-high 11 strikeouts while tossing a five-hitter for his second shutout of the season. Willie Stargell hit a two-run homer off Reds starter Tony Cloninger in the sixth inning that proved to be the game winner. Blass went on to post a 15-8/2.85 line for the year, matching his career high with 12 complete games and spinning five shutouts in 240 frames. 
• 1978 - Montreal’s Steve Rogers spun a four-hitter at TRS, but two of them were back-to-back in the seventh frame when Rennie Stennett’s single was followed by Manny Sanguillen’s homer off a hung curve, and that was enough to carry John Candelaria and the Buccos to a 2-1 victory. Candy Man dodged plenty of raindrops, stranding 11, with the only blemish being Larry Parrish’s solo shot. Sangy, who was playing off the bench, manned first base (he got into 40 games at the spot in ‘78), replacing Willie Stargell, who had a sore back. 
• 1980 - There were lots of baseball fireworks as the Phils rallied to beat the Bucs at Veterans Stadium, 7-6. Bert Blyleven brushed back a couple of Phillies early on; Philadelphia reliever Kevin Saucier later plunked Pops to even the score. Then he went one better, bopping Blyleven, who charged the mound, bat in hand. A donnybrook ensued, and as it was breaking up, Phil’s coach Mike Ryan reignited things to start round two. Philly had the last laugh, scoring twice in the ninth off Kent Tekulve, who gave up four straight hits, to claim the victory. 
• 1997 - For the first time in twenty years, two inside-the-park home runs were hit in the same inning when Sammy Sosa of the Cubs and Tony Womack both circled the bases five minutes apart in the sixth frame of Chicago’s 2-1 victory at Three Rivers Stadium. Womack’s homer was a legit gapper with a copacetic bounce; Sosa made his circuit after Jose Guillen crashed into Adrian Brown, who had briefly gloved the ball. After the collision, it rolled away into right field and by the time the horsehide was chased down, Sosa won a bang-bang call at the plate. Francisco Cordova took the loss. 

A-Ram - 1998 Bowman Scouts Choice

• 1998 - Aramis Ramirez made his MLB debut at the age of 19 – he was the last teen to play for the Pirates until Konnor Griffin in 2026 – and went hitless v Milwaukee during a 3-2 loss at County Stadium, but that line wasn’t indicative of A-Ram’s 18-year stay in the show. He started with the Bucs, went to the Chicago Cubs in a contract dump, and nine years later returned to end his career as a Bucco in 2015, with a seven-year Pittsburgh line of .261/82 HR. Aramis hit .283 with 386 HR/1,407 RBI during his major league run, earning three All-Star outings and a Silver Slugger award. 
• 2000 - C Endy Rodriguez was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic. He came to Pittsburgh in 2021 from the Mets as part of the three-way Joe Musgrove deal and zoomed through the system with a .296 minor league average and the versatility to also play 1B and OF. Endy has shuffled through the Top 50 MLB Prospects lists, and after a slow start at Indy, his stick caught fire and he was called up to the Pirates in July, 2023 as part of a long-time-coming youth movement. He hit .220 and was in the mix for serious PT next season, but he hurt his elbow in winter ball and required surgery, missing the entire year. Endy was back in ‘25, playing C and some 1B before a deep hand laceration knocked him out of action through mid-April and deep into May. He was back and then gone again in early June, lost to elbow surgery this time, rejoining the big club in mid-May, 2026. 
• 2000 - Behind Francisco Cordova’s four-hitter and a double steal gone awry, the Pirates bested the Colorado Rockies at Coors Stadium 2-1 in the second lowest scoring game played to date at the mile high field. In a 1-1 game, the Rox tried a double steal; the lead runner, Tom Goodwin, stopped between second and third, and the back runner, Mike Lansing, turned and retreated to first as catcher Jason Kendall ran the ball toward him. The nimble backstop tagged Lansing and then threw to third to catch the slow-reacting Goodwin. Cordova celebrated by singling home Mike Benjamin with the game winner in the seventh. He was supposed to bunt, but the third baseman crept in too close, and Francisco took advantage by swinging away. Luis Sojo made a nice pair of plays at third in the final two frames to seal the deal as the Pirates ended a five-game losing streak. 

Josh Fogg - 2003 Upper Deck Pirates MVP

• 2003 - The Bucs scored nine times in the eighth inning after Kerry Wood handed the ball off to the Cubbie bullpen, breaking open a 1-0 duel and romping to a 10-0 win at Wrigley Field. Kenny Lofton’s hitting streak reached 24 games while Jeff Reboulet and Brian Giles banged out two hits apiece. Josh Fogg, just activated from the DL, held the Cubs to three hits over seven innings without allowing a runner past first base before Julian Tavares mopped up. The nine-run frame was Pittsburgh’s biggest inning since June 12, 2001 v Detroit at Comerica Park. 
• 2004 - Daryle Ward hit for the cycle with a career single-game high of six RBI against St. Louis at Busch Stadium as the Bucs won, 11-8. Ward and his dad Gary (1980) became the first MLB father-son duo to hit for the cycle, with Craig (2002) and Cavan Biggio (2019) later joining the club. The Pirates burned six pitchers, with the win going to starter Kris Benson. 
• 2012 - The Cubs lost their 11th straight game to the Pirates 3-2, Chi-town’s longest losing streak since opening the 1997 season with 14 consecutive losses. The teams were tied in the bottom of the ninth at PNC Park when Jose Tabata led off with a single off Rafael Dolis. Two walks and two outs later, the aptly named “Hit Man” Matt Hague took a pitch in the ribs for a walkoff plunk. Joel Hanrahan earned the win in a game started by Kevin Correia.
• 2023 - Andrew McCutchen led off the game against Seattle at T-Mobile Park with a homer, and the Bucs followed his lead, tying the franchise mark with seven long taters (the other record swatfests were in 1894, 1947 and 2003) on the way to an 11-6 win. The team had hit a total of nine dingers during the first 25 days of the month, so go figure. The Pirates bombers were Jack Suwinski (2), Cutch, Carlos Santana, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Tucupita Marcano and Bryan Reynolds. Suwinski and Reynolds each had three hits and combined for seven RBI/four runs scored It was an unexpected outburst as Mariners’ hurler George Kirby and Corsair moundsman Mitch Keller were the early aces of their respective staffs, with 10 wins between them entering the game.