10/7: Bad Playoffs/World Series Date Except For '72, Hans Human, Game Days, Geno's '96 Staff, Tanner Let Go, HBD Nick, Chuck, Fred, Adam & Brickyard

1867 - P Bill “Brickyard” Kennedy was born in Bellaire, Ohio. He tossed his final MLB season for the Pirates in 1903, going 9-6/3.45 and worked one game in the WS, losing badly to the Boston nine, 11-2, although six runs were unearned. Brickyard was noted for a lively fastball that he had sporadic control over, walking over 1,200 batters in his 12-year career. He got his Brickyard nickname because he worked for a brick-making company. Kennedy was also known as “Roaring Bill” because of his loud voice, which he used to barber anyone within earshot.

1892 - IF Adam DeBus was born in Chicago. The son of German immigrants, he played minor league ball in the Midwest before the Cards signed him in 1917. He didn’t play for them but caught the eye of the Pirates, who inked him in July. Adam hit .229 in 131 ABs and that three month audition ended up being his sole run of MLB days and was the end of his pro career. After the 1917 season, DeBus joined the 86th Infantry Division, and played on the 86th’s baseball team. He spent his post-baseball days working as an electrician.

1895 - LHP Fred “Moonlight Ace” Fussell was born in Sheridan, Missouri. Fred tossed his first two years with the Cubs, spent the next three years in the minors and then finished his career as a Pirate in 1928-29, going 10-11/4.61. He was a baseball lifer, though, and toiled on the farm for the next 11 years before calling it a day at age 43. He was dubbed with his moniker in the minors after his MLB stint when he threw a no-hitter in a 1933 night game to become a "Moonlight Ace."

1901 - It wasn’t easy being The Flying Dutchman. Per the season-ending Pittsburgh Press Bucco recap, “Hans Wagner leads the Pirates in batting with a good percentage. His batting this year, however, has not come up to his own or expectations of friends.” Honus’ disappointing campaign consisted of hitting .353, the fourth best average in the National League (of course, he had hit .381 in 1900), and he also finished fourth in total bases with 271. Tough crowd...

Honus Wagner - 2017 Topps Museum Collection

1902 - Sam Leever and the NL champ Pirates beat a team of AL All-Stars in an exhibition at Exposition Park by a 4-3 score, with the AL pushing across three runs in the ninth to give the Bucs a scare. Ginger Beaumont led the Pirates with three hits. Cy Young took the loss, giving up eight hits and striking out seven. There was no formal post-season or World Series yet; the NL and AL were still merrily raiding one another’s rosters in a bid for baseball supremacy.

1903  - Game Five of the World Series at Exposition Park was a pitcher's duel for the first five innings between Boston's Cy Young and Pittsburgh's Brickyard Kennedy. But in the top of the sixth inning, the Americans scored six runs and added four more in the seventh frame on the way to an 11-2 romp over the Bucs. Young went the distance and struck out four for his first World Series win while the Pirates didn’t help their moundsmen much with either their bats or mitts, collecting six hits while committing four errors that led to six unearned runs.

1904 - OF Chuck Klein was born in Indianapolis. The HoF’er played one year (1939) in Pittsburgh, hitting .300 with 11 homers. He was signed by the Pirates after being released by the Phillies and fittingly returned to Philadelphia in 1940 to end his career, giving him 15 years in the City of Brotherly Love. Klein then put down roots in the City of Brotherly Love, operating a Philly bar after his playing days. The Phils retired his number, but as he wore eight of them during his years with the club (two of them twice), they just put a Philly “P” up where the number should be on the Veterans Stadium Wall of Fame.

1907 - The Bucs split a twin bill with the Reds to finish with 91 wins, 17 behind the front-running Cubs. But it was a championship season for Honus Wagner. Hans led the league with a .350 BA, .408 OBP, .513 slugging %, 38 doubles, 264 total bases and 61 stolen bases. He tied teammate Ed Abbaticchio for second in RBI with 82 and came in third in runs scored with 98.

Pie Traynor - 1925 photo George Bain/Library of Congress

1925 - Walter Johnson of the Senators struck out 10 Pirates during a 4-1 Washington victory in the opening game of the World Series at Forbes Field. Pie Traynor’s homer was the only dent against the Big Train, who surrendered just five hits. Lee Meadows took the loss. In a sidebar, Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis had the Pirates and the Sens wear black armbands in memory of New York Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson, who had died that morning. It was thought to be the first time that teams recognized the passing of a fellow MLB player with a memorial uniform patch.

1927 - Herb Pennock took a perfect game into the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium before Pie Traynor broke it up with a one-out single, followed by Clyde Barnhart double to bring him home. That was about all the local offense as the New York nine claimed an 8-1 victory over the Pirates to give the Murderers’ Row Yankees a 3-0 bulge in the World Series. It was actually a close game until NY scored six runs in the seventh, capped by Babe Ruth’s three-run bomb.

1972 - The Pirates scored three times in the first and never looked back as they beat Cincinnati 5-1 in the NLCS opener at TRS. Al Oliver had a homer, triple, two runs scored and three RBI to give Steve Blass all the offensive help he’d need. He gave up eight hits and walked four, but Steverino dodged the bullets by stranding 11 Reds before giving way to Ramon Hernandez with one out in the ninth. A postgame sidebar: Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht discovered that being a politico wasn’t a ticket to ride when he was arrested for disorderly conduct. It seems he didn’t like the way a City cop was directing stadium traffic, and after several warnings from the officer to refrain from his sharp-tongued criticism, Cy found himself hauled away in a paddy wagon.

1975 - John Candelaria fanned 14 Reds at TRS, but Pittsburgh lost the NLCS finale 5-3 as Cincy swept the series three games to none. The Bucs got a two-run homer from Al Oliver, but Ramon Hernandez was touched up for a pair of runs in the 10th inning to take the loss. The Reds went on to beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games to win the World Series.

John Candelaria - 1975 SSPC

1985 - Chuck Tanner was fired by the Pirates, but wasn’t out of work for long as he was hired to manage the Atlanta Braves three days later. Chuck’s teams had spent five years around .500 after the ‘79 championship and suffered a black eye during the Coke Trials. Jim Leyland would later be named as the new skipper while Tanner went on to spend three years with the Bravos. He then served as a baseball operations assistant for the Milwaukee Brewers (1992-2002) before scouting for five years for the Cleveland Indians. Chuck closed out his Bucco days as a senior advisor to Pirates GM Neal Huntington beginning in 2007, a position he held until he passed away in 2011.

1992 - The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the NLCS with a 13-5 pounding of the Pirates at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Bucs threw seven pitchers at Atlanta, which banged out 14 hits, including a Ron Gant grand slam. The Bravos had a pair of four-run innings and iced it in the seventh, when they scored five two-out tallies off Denny Neagle. Chico Lind had two RBI for the Buccos while Barry Bonds scored twice; Lloyd McClendon’s two hits led the Pirates pack.

1996 - Manager Gene LaMont put together his first Pirates staff when he added Pete Vukovich (pitching)/Lloyd McClendon (batting) as coaches, joining Spin Williams (bullpen & only holdover)/Jack Lind (first base) and the soon-to-be-hired Rich Renick (bench)/Joe Jones (first base). Lamont, who had been the White Sox skipper from 1992-95, had a tough act to follow when he took the reins from Jim Leyland after serving a season as his third base coach, and lasted through 2000 in Pittsburgh, when he was replaced by one of his coaches, McClendon.

1996 - RHP Nick Mears was born in Sacramento, California. Mears, an undrafted free agent, joined the Bucs in 2018 and was a fast riser, going through three MiLB levels before reaching Altoona at the end of 2019 and capping off the year with a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League. He was invited to camp and called up on August 8th, made one appearance, and was returned to the alternate minor league camp after the MLB staff got a chance to look him over. Nick rejoined the club later in the month, getting into four games total and fanning seven in five frames with a 5.40 ERA. Mears started at Indy in 2021, was recalled in late May, then joined the Pirates pen full time in late July, finishing with a line of 1-0/5.01 in 30 outings. He was out for most of 2022 after an elbow ‘scope procedure and got into just two games for the Pirates. In the off season, Nick was claimed by Texas Rangers after being DFA’ed to clear a roster spot for Connor Joe. He later went to the Colorado Rockies before joining the Milwaukee Brewers for the ‘25 campaign and spent ‘26 with the KC Royals.

Nick Mears - photo/2020 Pirates

2001 - Pirate prospect Chad Hermansen showed a brief flash when his three-run homer in the eighth inning off Carlos Zambrano scored the Wilson boys, Craig and Jack, to give Pittsburgh a season-closing 4-3 win over Chicago at Wrigley Field. Joe Beimel got the win with a save from Mike Fetters. The Bucs finished last in the Central with 62 wins and Chad was dealt to the Cubs the following year.

2013 - The Pirates were on the brink of eliminating the St. Louis Cardinals from the NLDC at PNC Park, but the Redbirds rode Michael Wacha’s arm to a 2-1 victory and into a winner-take-all game at Busch Stadium. The Cards drew first blood when Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Charlie Morton. Pittsburgh halved the gap in the eighth when they got their first and only hit, a 438’ bomb by Pedro Alvarez, to make it a one-run contest. But both bullpens were in shutdown mode, and the score stood. 40,493 fans showed up for the third consecutive postseason game to set a park attendance record. The Cardinals set a playoff record as all three of the day’s pitchers (Wacha, Carlos Martinez and Trevor Rosenthal, who got the save) were 23-years-old or younger.

2015 - The Bucs were one-and-done in the 2015 playoffs, losing the wild card game to the Chicago Cubs, 4-0. The Cubs scored early off Gerrit Cole as the top of the order, Dexter Fowler and Kyle Schwarber, went 5-for-6 against Cole Train, accounting for all four runs and each pounding a homer. The Pirates big opportunity came in the sixth when they loaded the bases with an out, but a bullet off Starling Marte’s bat, with an exit speed of 109 MPH, was an at ‘em ball to short, resulting in a rally-and-game-crushing DP. Jake Arrieta held the Bucs to four hits with 11 K in a complete game win. A PNC Park record 40,889 fans were at the game to watch the 98-win Pirates face off against the 97-win Cubs; the Cardinals won the division with 100 victories.

10/6: Smiley's 20, Chief Three-Bags, '03 Series Win Against Boston, '71 NLCS Champs Over SF, '13 NLDC Dub v Cards, Game Days, HBD Joey, Radhames, Hanny, Jeff, Gene, Tom, Pat & Eddie

1866 - OF Eddie Burke was born in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. Eddie played eight years in the show, spending 1890 as an outfielder for the Alleghenys where he hit .210 in 31 games. Burke last played in the majors in 1897 for the Reds and then soldiered on through the 1901 campaign in the minor leagues. He passed away at the age of 41 in 1907 in Utica, NY.

1893 - OF Pat Duncan was born in Coalton, Ohio. He started his seven-year big league career with the Pirates in 1915, going 1-for-5. By 1920, after time in the bushes and the Army, he had matured into a starting outfielder for the Reds, playing for them until 1924. A strong hitter, his main claim to fame was being the first MLB player to hit a homer to clear the 12’ fence at his home yard, Cincinnati’s Redland Field (later Crosley Field). After his playing days, Duncan worked for the Ohio Highway Department and was a regular at Reds old-timer affairs.

1903 - A crowd of 7,500 filled Exposition Park as the Pirates defeated the Boston Americans 5-4 in the first World Series game ever played in Pittsburgh, delayed a day by rainy weather. Boston even brought 200 fans, who sat in their own section and included a brass band that played between innings. Deacon Phillippe was the winner for the third time, pitching on two days' rest. It almost caught up to him as the Americans scored three times in the ninth until Phillippe finally got pinch hitter Jack O’Brien to pop out. Wee Tommy Leach knocked in three runs while Honus Wagner and Ginger Beaumont each collected three hits. Sadly, it would be the last game they’d win in this Series. The clubs socialized when they weren’t playing - both squads and the newspaper crowd went to the Grand Opera House that evening to see the Victor Hugo play “Notre Dame” and had a reception with the cast afterwards. The night before, both teams braved the rain to attend Frank Keenan’s 15-act vaudeville show at the Duquesne Theater.

Tommy Padden - 1936 Goudey Wide Pen

1908 - C Tom Padden was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. A part-time catcher for Pittsburgh, he appeared in 399 games from 1932-37 and compiled a .272 BA. He might be best known for coin rather than horsehide flinging. On February 26th, 1936, surrounded by a large crowd, he tossed a silver dollar about 475 feet over the Merrimack River and into a snow pile. He pulled the stunt to copy pitcher Walter “Big Train” Johnson, who did it a few days earlier across the Rappahannock to emulate the legendary feat of George Washington. Tom retired to Manchester, where he coached local baseball and basketball teams before passing away in 1973 at age 64.

1912 - Owen “Chief” Wilson hit his 36th triple of the season, establishing a MLB record. Wilson tried to stretch the triple into an inside-the-park home run, but was thrown out at the plate in a 16-6 Pirates win against Cincinnati at Redland Field. He wasn’t a gap guy but a banger. As noted in SABR’s Mark Armour bio of Wilson “Spacious Forbes Field may have been the best park ever for triples, and the Pirates led the NL in that category 30 of the 62 seasons they played there. Wilson did hit 24 of his 36 triples at home, but it is likely that many of these triples would have been home runs at other parks.” Sporting Life pointed out that "Few of the smashes have struck in front of fielders. They have all been over the heads or between the fields, all juicy jams."

1927 - The Yankees’ George Pipgras quieted the Buc bats at Forbes Field as New York took a 2-0 lead in the World Series. Vic Aldridge was hooked up in a 3-2 game in the eighth when three singles, two walks (to #8 hitter Benny Bengough and then to Pipgras), a HBP and wild pitch gifted the Bronx Bombers three runs and lots of late breathing room on their way to a 6-2 victory. Lloyd “Little Poison” Waner scored both Buc runs, plated by brother Paul and Clyde Barnhart.

1929 - In the season finale, second place Pittsburgh beat league-leaders Chicago by an 8-3 tally at Wrigley Field. The Bucs collected 12 hits, led by Lloyd Waner’s 3-for-3 day, while Larry French earned the victory. The Pirates, with 88 wins, still finished 10-1/2 games behind the Cubs, but set the MLB record by banging out double-digit hits in 102 games during the season.

Little Poison - 1929 Helmar Big League Brew

1946 - OF Gene Clines was born in San Pablo, California. A speedy center fielder with a good glove, he was a platoon outfielder for the Bucs from 1970-74, putting up a .287 BA as a contact hitter. He played for the 1971 World Series champs and the division winning teams of 1972 and 1974. Clines had a long career coaching for six teams for nearly three decades and was a front office advisor in the Dodger organization. He passed away in 2022 in Bradenton at the age of 75.

1960 - RHP Jeff Zaske was born in Seattle. Jeff was a 27th round pick of the Pirates in the 1978 draft out of high school, and made just three big league outings, pitching five shutout innings for the Bucs in 1984. He was noted for a 1980 incident when as a 19-year-old in camp, bored teammates egged him on to pitch Bill Madlock tight. He did, nicking him in the arm and earning a punch in the puss from a sore Mad Dog (who later apologized). Zaske spent most of his time as a AAA pitcher for four organizations, spending a decade on the farm, with six of those campaigns at the top level until leaving the game after the 1988 campaign.

1960 - The Yankees roared back from their opening defeat to win 16-3 and knot the World Series at a game apiece. Mickey Mantle put on a show with a pair of blasts, one measured at 478’ that was thought to be the first homer that a right-handed batter hit out of Forbes Field to the oppo side of dead center. The Mick had five RBI and three runs scored as the Bronx Bombers pounded out 19 hits. Mantle was the only player to have a multi-homer playoff game in Pittsburgh until 2013 when Russell Martin hit a pair at PNC during the Johnny Cueto game.

1971 - The Pirates rolled over the Giants 9-5 at TRS to take the NLCS three games to one. The Gravedigger, Richie Hebner, and Al Oliver both homered and had three RBI each while Roberto Clemente drove in the other three runs. Bruce Kison took the win and Dave Giusti earned the save as they twirled seven innings of scoreless relief after Steve Blass was rocked by the G-Men in the second frame. The game was tied 5-5 after the second inning as the Bucs banged Gaylord Perry early, too, before knocking him out of the box in the sixth frame.

Gravedigger & Scoops Topps Rookie Card 1969

1974 - The Pirates tied the Dodgers in the seventh inning on RBIs from Richie Hebner and Al Oliver, but LA rattled off four straight eighth-inning hits off Dave Giusti, who took the loss, and another off Larry Demery, scoring three times to take a 2-0 lead in the NLCS at TRS with a 5-2 victory.

1981 - RHP Joel Hanrahan was born in Des Moines, Iowa. A second round pick of the Dodgers, he was the Nat’s closer and hit a rocky patch, so in a mid-season change-of-scenery deal, he was traded to Pittsburgh in 2009. Pitching coach Joe Kerrigan pushed the right buttons and Hanny became the Pirates closer in 2011, earning two All-Star nods while collecting 76 saves from 2011-12 (his Pittsburgh line was 10-8-82/2.59, with 265 K in 229-1/3 IP). After the 2012 season, he was shipped to Boston (the FO was dumping his arb-year salary) for Mark Melancon. That worked out; Jason Grilli held the fort until The Shark was ready to claim the closer role. A string of injuries derailed Hanny after that and Joel returned to the Bucco flock in 2017 as a minor league pitching coach, leaving after the 2021 season and moving on to the Washington Nats organization, where he lasted through the 2024 campaign.

1983 - RHP Radhames Liz was born in El Seibo, Dominican Republic. Liz tossed for three years for the O’s, then worked out of Korea for three more years. The Bucs signed him as a free agent for $1M in the 2014 off season. He went 1-4/4.21 for the Pirates in 2015, striking out 27 batters in 23-1/3 IP, but walked 12 and bopped three during that span. He spent 2016 in Japan, 2017 pitching in the Dominican Winter League and then signed with the Brewers in ‘18 but was released in May. Liz spent a year in China, took off the 2020 campaign with a herniated disc and has worked in the Mexican and Dominican Leagues since 2021 to add to his international resume.

1991 - In the last game of the year, John Smiley tossed a five-hit shutout with help from the pen to beat the Expos 7-0 at TRS. It was Smiley’s 20th win of the year for the Pirates and capped a dog days run - he went 8-1/2.69 in 13 outings from August onward. He was backed by three RBI from Jose Lind and another pair from Barry Bonds, who also scored twice. In other news of the day, Jim Leyland announced his 25-man playoff roster; pitchers Neal Heaton and Vincentes Palacios were left off, along with catcher Tom Prince. The club also set an attendance record for the third time in four years with a total of 2,065,302 seats sold. The record was a little misleading, as they got three extra home dates because of an accident shutting down Olympic Stadium. That shifted the final Montreal series to Pittsburgh, and those bonus matches put them over the top. Finally, Jay Bell had himself a year - his 67 RBI and 90 runs scored were the most production by a Pirates shortstop since Arky Vaughan (95 RBI, 113 RS) in 1940.

Jay Bell - 1991 Fleer Ultra (reverse)

1992 - John Smoltz and the Braves won the opening game of the NLCS at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium by a 5-1 count over Doug Drabek and the Pirates. The Bucs bats were silenced by Smoltz, who held the Bucs to just five hits, dented only by Chico Lind’s eighth-inning homer.

1997 - LHP Joey Wentz was born in Lawrence, Kansas. He was the #40 overall pick of Atlanta in the 2016 draft out of Shawnee Mission East HS. Joey was traded to Motown in 2019 but spent the entire 2020 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and was converted to the pen in 2024. After posting a 5-17-1/5.81 slash with the Tigers in three seasons, he was DFA’ed and claimed by the Pirates. Wentz was out of options and carried on the Bucs MLB roster, keeping the spot in ‘25. He was workmanlike (2-1/4.15) but was DFA’ed in June. The Twins took him and then let him go a month later; he was claimed by Atlanta, where a hot start/cold finish kept him off the playoff roster, and Joey lost the ‘26 campaign to ACL surgery after a spring training collision at first.   

2013 - PNC Park had another record breaking crowd of 40,489 to watch the Pirates take a two-to-one lead in the best-of-five NLDC against the Cards, winning by a 5-3 score and celebrating the first postseason game held in the City since 1992. St. Louis rallied from behind twice against the Pirates, but the last comeback belonged to Pittsburgh. The Bucs went up 2-0 on a two-out, two-run Marlon Byrd single in the first, and the Redbirds tied it in the fifth on Carlos Beltran’s two-run single. The Pirates went ahead, 3-2, an inning later on Russell Martin’s sac fly. Beltran tied it again in the eighth with a homer to right center off Mark Melancon. Pittsburgh put up two in their half off Carlos Martinez, with RBI singles from Pedro Alvarez and Martin. Jason Grilli then closed out the see-saw game, with Melancon initially blowing the hold and then getting the win. Francisco Liriano and Joe Kelly started the game, but neither made it to the seventh inning.

Weekly Report: Jared & Mason Honored; FA's/Arbs; Cutch On TV; Playoffs

Another year older...

Pirates Stuff:

• The NL Pitcher of the Month is 25-year-old Jared Jones. In five starts, he went 3-0/0.93 with 40 K in 29 innings and took a no-hitter into the seventh against the White Sox on the 10th. Not too bad for a kid who missed all of the 2025 season due to elbow surgery.
• Shoulda happened last month, too...Mason Montgomery was named the NL Reliever of the Month with 11 saves in 13 outings. He gave up three runs during the month, all in one inning after a two-out, two-strike hit, and didn't cede an earned run at all in August. He was picked up in an offseason deal and got into 70 outings, moving into the closers role in late July and slashed 6-4-18/2.88/with nine holds & 105K in 68-2/3 IP.  

Brandon Lowe - 2026 image SportsNet.Pgh

• If you're looking ahead, the only Pirate FAs are 2B Brandon Lowe and lefty reliever Gregory Soto; our sense is that they try to compete for Lowe while Soto could go either way. Guys signed are Ryan O'Hearn ('27), Luke Weaver ('27), Mitch Keller ('28), Bryan Reynolds ('30) and Konnor Griffin ('34). The big class belongs to the arb guys; there are ten of them (eight first-year & all pretty big roster pieces including Skenes, Cruz, Jones et al), so their paydays could get pricey.
• The Bucs have five guys up for All-MLB honors: Braxton Ashcraft, Nick Gonzales, Brandow Lowe, Mason Montgomery and Paul Skenes. If you're the voting kind, toss them some love at MLB All-Stars.
• Yah, we knew it all along...MLBTR's Charlie Wright covers how the Pirates FO nailed the Brandon Lowe trade. 
• The Sporting News released another All-Star group, "The Stalwarts" who displayed consistent performance. Pittsburgh was repped by Homestead Grays RHP Smokey Joe Williams, who tossed for them from 1925-32.
• Curious about how the Bucs 2026 Minor League org did? The Pirates put together the MiLB clubs year in review. Also, here's the year-end Bucs Top 30 Prospects list as ranked by MLB.

The Dynamic Duo - Seth Hernandez & Edward Florentino

• MLB Pipeline held their annual MiLB Awards Show; the Pirates didn't show so well. Their only nod came when RHP Seth Hernandez was selected to the second All-Prospect Team. In their post-season Top 100 Prospects list, Hernandez was ranked as the #9 pup and OF Edward Florentino joined him on the roster at #32.

MLB Stuff: 

• Perry Hill, 74, who was the IF coach for the Pirates/Clint Hurdle in 2019 before moving on to Miami and Seattle, was let go by the Mariners the day after manager Dan Wilson got the ax.
• RHP Jose Urquidy declared for free agency.

Playoff Stuff:

• Cutch will be a guest analyst on MLB Network Monday and Tuesday for playoff coverage...career two?
• The Padres activated RHP Joe Musgrove from the 60-day IL to the playoff roster for bullpen depth; he hasn't tossed since August.
• DH Rowdy Tellez has been added to the Braves 40 man & playoff rosters; he's mostly summered in AAA Gwinnett.
• The Guardians took RHP Colin Holderman off the playoff roster; he's having wrist surgery after a rebound 2026 campaign (6-4-1/2.73).

Bracket via MLB.com

10/5 Through the 1950s: Grays Win NLWS, Jumpers, Pud's #300, Game Days, Klinger Picked, Exhibits & Revues, RIP Oscar, HBD Onix, Sarge, Felix & Claude

1873 - Middle infielder Claude Ritchey was born in Emlenton along the Allegheny River in Venango County. He played for the Pirates for seven years (1900-06), batting .273 with 709 runs scored/675 RBI, and was the starting 2B for the 1901 pennant winners and 1903’s World Series team. The combo of his size (5’6”) and ability to drive in clutch runs gained him the nickname of "Little All Right."

1887 - IF Felix Chouinard was born in Chicago. He played infield and outfield in 88 contests for four big league years. He was with the Pittsburgh Rebels of the Federal League for nine of those games in 1914, hitting .300. It was one of three clubs (Brooklyn and Baltimore were the others) he played for that year; he got into four games next season with the Tip Tops before joining the Navy. 

1888 - Pud Galvin won his 300th big league game against the Washington Nationals at Swampoodle Grounds, throwing a four-hitter in a 5-1 Allegheny win. He was the first player in MLB history to reach the 300 win total, finishing his career with 361 victories, with 138 of them earned with various Pittsburgh clubs. (Some credit the date of win 300 to September 4th against Indianapolis; the National Association, where Galvin won his first four victories as a member of his hometown St. Louis Brown Stockings, isn’t recognized as a true major league.)

1889 - RHP Jim Bagby Sr. was born in Marietta, Georgia. He joined the Pirates in 1923 at age 34 during his last MLB campaign, going 3-2/5.24 in 21 outings (six starts). He had a solid career at Cleveland (122-86/3.03 in seven seasons), was the first pitcher to hit a homer in a modern World Series, and was a 30-game winner (31-12) in 1920. Jim also left the Bucs with a legacy - his son, Jim Bagby Jr., who tossed for the Pirates during Big Jim’s final big league season in 1947. The pair were the first father - son tandem to pitch in the World Series as Sr. appeared for the Indians (1920) and Jr. for the Red Sox (1946). Jim Sr. was known as “Sarge,” inspired by "Sergeant Jimmy Bagby,” a character in the 1919 Broadway play “Boys Will Be Boys” that his teammates had seen.

Jim Bagby Sr (w/Indians) - 1920 Transcendental Graphics/Getty

1901 - UT Wid Conroy and C Harry Smith jumped from the American League to Pittsburgh (the date is approximate; this is when the unconfirmed signings were announced in the Pittsburgh Press). Wid, a utility player, played for a season and hit .244 before he hopped back to the junior circuit, joining the Yankees in 1903. Harry was part of the Pittsburgh catcher rotation for three years and hung around for three more seasons as a deep bench piece, hitting .202 as a Bucco.

1903 - Rain delayed the first Pirates home game of the World Series, with Pittsburgh holding a 2-1 lead after three contests at Boston’s Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds. So the teams took it easy after three straight games and headed to the Duquesne Theater, where the two clubs took in a vaudeville revue (“The Great Orpheum Show”) before rejoining combat at Exposition Park the next day. There was a SRO crowd in the house; we assume some of Beantown’s visiting “Royal Rooters” contingent of 200 fans took in the show, too.

1905 - The Pirates took their show on the road, playing an exhibition at Charleroi that drew 2,500 paying Mon Valley fans along with “...spectators in trees, houses and every available nook…” per the Pittsburgh Press. After a fairly sloppy first inning that saw each team score four runs, the Bucs took control and rolled to a 10-4 victory, helped by five errors and four walks by the hosts.

1912 - The Pirates arrived in Cincinnati, but their uniforms were lost somewhere on the rails between South Bend, where the Bucs had just played an exhibition game, and the Queen City. The railroad promised to pay for spikes and gloves, and the Reds were gracious enough to lend their Pennsylvania rivals their away unis, so the contest went on although to the fans at Redland Field, it looked more like an intrasquad game than a big league contest. The Pirates started out as if it were another exhibition, falling behind 5-0 after three innings and coming up short after a furious finish, dropping a 6-5 decision. Pittsburgh won the season finale the next day for a 93-win season, but they finished second in the pennant race as the New York Giants rolled to a 103-win campaign.

Big Poison - 1927 photo Paul Thompson

1927 - Pittsburgh’s Ray Kremer and the Yankees’ Waite Hoyt, who would later join the Bucs in 1933, opened the World Series at Forbes Field. The Bucco wheels came off in the third when a pair of walks coupled with two errors and a muffed double play gave the Bronx Bombers three runs on one hit and a 4-1 lead. The Pirates kept the contest interesting - they collected nine hits, led by Big Poison Paul Waner’s 3-for-4 day - but fell short of overcoming the Yanks, 5-4.

1937 - The Pirates selected RHP Bob Klinger, 29, from the St Louis Cardinals in the Rule 5 draft after the nine-year minor league vet had won 19 games in the Pacific Coast League. He burst on the scene in ‘38 with a 12-5-1/2.99 line, and while never again quite matching that performance, he was a workmanlike 62-58-9/3.74 over six years and 209 outings (129 starts) with the Bucs. He missed the 1944-45 seasons while serving in the Navy, then spent his last two years with Boston before toiling through 1950 on the farm before retiring at age 42.

1948 - The Washington/Homestead Grays won their third Negro League World Series four games to one when they defeated the Birmingham Black Barons and their 17-year-old rookie outfielder Willie Mays 10-6 in Birmingham by scoring four runs in the 10th inning. The Grays were led by player/manager Sammy Bankhead and had Luke Easter, Buck Leonard and Wilmer Fields as their stars. It was the last WS for the Negro Leagues as they moved into the integration era.

1954 - OF/manager Oscar Charleston died in Philadelphia (some sources cite the date as October 6th) after suffering a stroke. Oscar was one of the sport’s elite black ballplayers with a career that stretched from 1915-41. He spent seven years with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, his longest stint with one club, after owner Gus Greenlee lured him from the Homestead Grays. He played in three Negro league All-Star games and won a World Series during his time (1932-38) with the Crawfords. Called the “Black Ty Cobb,”  Oscar entered the Hall of Fame in 1976. 

1957 - IF Onix Concepcion was born in Dorado, Puerto Rico. After six years with KC, he closed out his career with one at bat, a pinch hit single, for the Bucs in 1987. He was Jose Lind’s cousin, and the Pirates signed him as a free agent in ‘87, but he spent most of his time either injured or at Class AA Harrisburg. He retired afterward and is now an instructor at JROD Sports Academy.

10/5 From 1960: Bucs Top Yanks In '60, Pgh Tops SF & Cincy in NLCS Contests, Staff Shuffles, Tracy Canned, RIP Woody

1960 - Roger Maris became the seventh player to homer in his first World Series at-bat. His round-tripper off Vern Law got the Yankees off to a quick 1-0 lead, but the Pirates persevered to win Game One of the Fall Classic at Forbes Field, 6-4. Pittsburgh replied by scoring three times in the first, and a two-run homer by Bill Mazeroski in the fourth was the early game winner. The score wasn’t quite as close as it looked; the Yankees’ Elston Howard hit a two-run, ninth-inning homer off ElRoy Face to narrow the gap. The game was highlighted by a great grab by Bill Virdon and even featured some pre-game action. An unauthorized parachutist tried to drop into the ballyard, but missed by a couple of blocks and landed on the roof of the Board of Education building across from Heinz Chapel, where he was rescued by police and then arrested. The Bucco victory ended a 15-game Yankee winning streak and was Pittsburgh’s first WS win since 1925.

1970 - Johnny Bench and Tony Perez homered off Bob Moose in the first inning and the Reds beat the Pirates 3-2 to sweep the NLCS at Riverfront Stadium. After the Pirates had tied the game in the eighth, Cincinnati scored the winner after two outs when a walk, single and Bobby Tolan’s knock off reliever Joe Gibbon plated the game winner. The Pirates collected 10 hits during the contest, but shot themselves in the foot by stranding a dozen runners. Willie Stargell went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI while Roberto Clemente, Al Oliver and Richie Hebner had two hits each. The Reds mojo wore off after thumping Pittsburgh, and they lost the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles in five games.

1971 - Richie Hebner's homer off Juan Marichal in the eighth inning gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 victory over the Giants at TRS and a 2-1 lead in the NLCS. Bob Johnson went eight innings of five-hit ball with seven strikeouts and Dave Giusti closed it for the save. The Bucs’ first tally came in the second frame on another solo blast, this one by Bob Robertson. For Hebner, the game winner was an act of redemption as his throwing error on a bunt led to SF’s only score in the sixth inning. Robertson’s homer was his fourth of the series, setting a record.

1973 - After taking over the coaching reins from Bill Virdon in September, Danny Murtaugh announced a shakeup of The Quail’s field staff for the following season, firing pitching coach Mel Wright and bullpen coach Dave Ricketts while adding Bob Skinner, fueling speculation that the Dog was being groomed as the Irishman’s eventual replacement. Danny also said that he planned to retain Don Leppert and Bill Mazeroski. Don Osborn took over the pitching chores, but Maz didn’t come back (he never took a liking to coaching but did remain as a spring instructor), with Jose Pagan instead coming aboard. Leppert ended up the sole survivor from Virdon’s '73 brain trust. 

Pirates Coaches - Topps 1974 Field Leaders

1974 - Don Sutton held Pittsburgh to four hits at TRS in the first game of the NLCS to claim a 3-0 win. It was a 1-0 duel between him and Jerry Reuss until the Dodgers added a pair of ninth inning tallies off of Dave Giusti. Willie Stargell had two of the Pirates four hits. The Dodgers reversed their usual Three Rivers trend as they had been 0-6 at the ballyard during the regular season.

1975 - Fred Norman limited the Bucs to five hits at Riverfront Stadium as Cincinnati easily took a two games to none lead in the NLCS by a 6-1 tally. Rennie Stennett and Richie Zisk had two knocks each; the only other Bucco hit was Willie Stargell’s RBI double. Jim Rooker took the loss.

1979 - The Pirates swept the NLCS, beating the Reds 7-1 at TRS behind Bert Blyleven, who went the distance (eight hits, nine whiffs) for the series clincher. Willie Stargell, who homered, doubled and had three RBI, was named Series MVP. Bill Madlock also went long for the Bucs. The blowout was an outlier; it had taken the Bucs extra innings to win the first two contests.

1984 - 3B coach Joe Lonnett, 1B coach Al Monchak and pitching coach Harvey Haddix were let go by GM Pete Peterson and manager Chuck Tanner. Lonnett, who had spent 14 years with Tanner, had raised hackles earlier in the year with criticism of some of the players, Monchak had health problems, and The Kitten was replaced by Grant Jackson. Haddix’s dismissal was a surprise, as the Pirates led the National League in ERA, but the front office felt that much of the credit belonged to Tanner, who was deeply involved in the pitching schematics. Steve Demeter and Milt Graff replaced the base coaches, with Bob Skinner and Rick Peterson remaining as holdovers.

1990 - The Reds tied the NLCS at a game apiece with a 2-1 win at Riverfront Stadium as Tom Browning bested Doug Drabek. Paul O’Neill drove in both runs for Cincinnati, with the two tallies set up by stolen bases, while Chico Lind’s solo homer was all the offense Pittsburgh could muster. Both pitchers were in command; the Reds managed five hits and the Pirates six.

Braxton Ashcraft - 2026 SportsNet.Pgh image

1999 - RHP Braxton Ashcraft was born in Waco, Texas and was drafted by the Pirates in the second round of the 2018 draft out of Robinson HS. Brax worked through the system and a series of injuries to join Pittsburgh’s Top Ten Prospect list before getting his call up in May, 2025. He got the ball as soon as he arrived, tossing three shutout frames in relief (a transition for him; he had started 69 of his 71 minor league outings) against the Arizona D-Backs and collected his first MLB strikeout. His transition to the show went pretty well as he put up a line of 4-4/2.71 while fanning a batter per frame in 26 games (69-2/3 IP), serving as a starter and bulk inning bullpen arm. He broke out in ‘26, slashing 14-6/3.65 in 28 starts and earning an All-Star spot.

2001 - Forrest “Woody” Jensen passed away in Wichita, Kansas. Woody spent his nine-year MLB career as a Pirate from 1931-39, batting .285 over that span. The left fielder was most productive in the mid-thirties, starting and hitting leadoff from 1935-37. Between being named Forrest and getting his start in the semi-pro Timber League, his nickname Woody was a natural. He was recognized in 2004 when he was selected to the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame.
 
2007 - The Pirates fired manager Jim Tracy after two years and a 135-189 (.417) record. He was replaced by John Russell, who had been Lloyd McClendon’s third base coach (2005-05) and had managed in both the Twins and Phillies systems. As part of the purge by new GM Neal Huntington, director of player development Brian Graham, scouting director Ed Creech, director of baseball operations Jon Mercurio and Tracy's entire coaching staff also lost their jobs.

10/4 Through the 1970’s: Maz's Finale, Dock Talk, Game Days, Bad Year-End/Postseason Day, RIP Jim, HBD Billy, Joe & Red

1874 - RHP Jim Gardner was born in Pittsburgh. He pitched for Pittsburgh in 1895, then again from 1897-99, with an occasional start in the field. The soft-tossing Gardner pitched for the local Pittsburgh Athletic Club and rejected offers to turn pro because he was attending law school and didn’t want to miss classes by traveling; in his first season, he struck a deal with the Bucs so that he didn’t have to go to any away games. Jim was solid from the hill with a line of 24-20/3.91 in 56 outings, but didn’t hit much, though he did play a couple of dozen games at 2B, 3B and the outfield. The Pirates released him after Jim was sapped following a bout of malaria in addition to recovering from a serious beaning during the ‘99 season. He worked his way back to the show in 1902 with the Cubs but suffered a concussion when he was thrown from a carriage by a spooked horse. He passed away young in 1905 after surgery for an abscess, blamed by some on the lingering effects of the beanball. Jim was buried in Homewood Cemetery.

1902 - The Pirates wanted to get in their last game of the year despite the rainy weather, as they were going for a record 103rd win; the Cincinnati Reds, according to the Pittsburgh Press “...wanted to go out and place a few bets on the races.” The game went on, and to show their chagrin the Reds pitched their first baseman, put a pitcher behind the plate, and player/manager Joe Kelley even stepped up to bat with a cigarette dangling from his mouth until threatened with ejection by ump Hank O’Day. Not surprisingly, Pittsburgh won easily, 11-2. Per the Press’ Ralph Davis, owner Barney Dreyfuss refunded the fans’ money after Cincy’s sad-sack showing, and when the Reds business manager came looking for his team’s share of the gate, Dreyfuss just pointed to the now empty cash drawer. The Pirates won the National League by a record 27-1/2 games and had several league-leading performances: Ginger Beaumont won the batting title with a .357 mark and had the most hits at 193, Tommy Leach led in home runs with six, Honus Wagner drove home 91 RBI/plated 105 times/stole 42 sacks, and Jack Chesbro claimed 28 wins with eight shutouts. The club scored 775 runs, which was 142 more than any other team, while the pitching staff allowed just four home runs during the season, the fewest long balls surrendered in MLB history.

1905 - Charlie Case and the Pirates lost 1-0 to the Boston Beaneaters and Chick Fraser in 13 innings at Exposition Park. Pittsburgh had six hits and baserunning blunders cost them dearly. Heinie Peitz tripled but was called out for missing first base, Steamer Flanagan slid past third and was tagged out in the ninth and later made the last out of the game in the 13th trying to steal second. It was a tough year for Case - he had his best season with a 2.57 ERA and 115 ERA+ in 24 starts/217 innings, but with only 11 wins as the Pirates scored just 66 runs when he was toeing the slab.

Charlie Case - 1905 Chicago Daily News

1908 - Old-timey fans remember the Cubs and Giants “Merkle” playoff game as a key moment for the 1908 pennant, but it was the Bucs that were ahead by 1/2 game on their final day when they lost to Chicago and Three Finger Mordecai before 30‚247 fans‚ the largest crowd ever at Chicago's West Side Grounds. Down 5-2 in the ninth, 2B Ed “Batty” Abbaticchio lined a ball down the line and over the fence with Honus Wagner aboard (the bases weren’t loaded, as sometimes reported for dramatic effect), but the drive was ruled foul. The Pirates argued that it was a HR, but ump Hank O'Day stood his ground and with that call went the Pirates last chance of taking the flag. There’s an urban legend that a lady in the stands was hit by the ball and later sued Batty. She claimed she was on the fair side of the seats when the blast conked her, but that tale has never been substantiated. It was a tough loss; the Bucs had won eight in a row (and 13-of-14 contests) to get a half game lead on the Cubs (who were no slugs and went 16-3 down the stretch) going into the final game. Chicago had to win the next day to clinch, and the Bruins beat the NY Giants 4-2 to finish 99-55 to Pittsburgh’s 98-56 in one of history’s hottest pennant races. The Bucs may have been a game short, but Honus Wagner had a championship season. The Dutchman led the league with a .354 batting average, 201 hits, .413 OBP, .542 slugging %, 109 RBI, 39 doubles, 19 triples, 308 total bases and 52 stolen bases. He was the NL’s runner-up with 100 runs scored and 10 homers.

1918 - RHP George “Red” Munger (he was a ginger) was born in Houston, Texas. After an eight-year run with three All-Star nods with St. Louis, Red joined the Bucs in 1952 via a deal for Bill Werle. He returned for a final bow in 1956 at age 37 after posting some strong numbers in the Pacific Coast League (1953-55) where Pittsburgh had stashed him with the Hollywood Stars (Red won 152 minor league games in 12 seasons). He went 3-7-1/4.66 for the Bucs in 40 games (17 starts) in ‘52 and ‘56. He retired in 1957 and became a Pinkerton.

1960 - RHP Joe Boever was born in Kirkwood, Missouri. He closed out a 12-year, seven-team career in 1996 in Pittsburgh where he appeared in 13 games, going 0-2-2/5.40 after being claimed off waivers from the Tigers. The palm baller retired after the campaign with 35 career wins, 49 saves and a 3.93 ERA. 

1960 - OF Billy Hatcher was born in Williams, Arizona. Billy spent the middle of his 12-year tenure with Pittsburgh in 1989 when they got him just after the deadline from Houston for Glenn Wilson. He hit .244 for the Bucs and in April of the following season was shipped to Cincinnati for Jeff Richardson. He spent a decade after his playing days coaching in the Tampa Bay organization, the Cincinnati Reds and was with the Miami Marlins as a base coach through 2021; Billy’s now retired and helps coach HS football.

Billy Hatcher - 1990 Topps

1970 - Pittsburgh fell behind in the NLCS two games to none after being held to five hits by three pitchers and losing 3-1 to the Reds at TRS. Roberto Clemente drove in Dave Cash, who had doubled, in the sixth inning for the Bucs only tally. Luke Walker took the loss. Cincy’s man of the hour, Bobby Tolan, had three hits including a homer, posting three runs and an RBI for Cincinnati.

1971 - Dock Ellis told the Post Gazette’s Charley Feeney that “I got something to say and I’m going to say it. The establishment around here, the brass as some call them, doesn’t deserve a winner,” a year after small TRS crowds led him to say the Pirates fans didn’t deserve a winner, either. He was triggered by a bed he thought was too small for him in his San Francisco hotel during the NLCS and that the charter plane carrying them to The Bay was also too small (it was near full passenger capacity, filled with the Pirates FO and the players’ wives and kids, including Dock’s). Ellis did add that manager Danny Murtaugh was “a good man” and that he wanted to remain on the team because “It is a young club. It is going to win some titles...I want to be part of it.” The Docktor won his one game during the NLCS, lasting into the sixth, but only made one short appearance in the ensuing World Series, suffering from a bum elbow that developed in September. He missed two weeks and it cost him a shot at 20 wins (he finished with 19). 

1972 - The Pirates closed out the regular season at TRS in front of 4,603 fans, scoring twice in the ninth but losing to the St Louis Cards, 4-3. The defeat was immaterial as the Pirates had already clinched the pennant, but it was notable as Hall-of-Famer Bill Mazeroski’s last regular season game. He got in as a pinch hitter and grounded out (no surprise; he finished the year batting .188) in just the 34th game he appeared in that season (Dave Cash had pushed him out of the lineup a year earlier). After the game, Mazeroski told Jeff Samuel of the Pittsburgh Press that “It happens to everyone sooner or later...I can’t do it any better than the guys we’ve got.” Maz would go 1-for-2 in the NLCS against Cincinnati before hanging up the spikes after 17 seasons as a Pirate.

1975 - Don Gullett hurled a complete game and added a homer, a single, and three RBI with the bat to lead Cincinnati to an 8-3 win over Pittsburgh in the opening game of the NLCS at Riverfront Stadium. The Pirates took an early 2-0 lead, when Dave Parker was plunked, Richie Hebner doubled him home and touched the plate after Frank Taveras’ single, all with two away. But the Reds chased Jerry Reuss and then ran up a four-run fifth inning off Larry Demery to leave the Bucs in the dust. Bob Robertson’s knock in the ninth frame chased home the Cobra with the final run.

10/4 From 1980: Bucs Top Reds & Cards, Big Finish, Game Days, JR & Syd Axed, Booth Flip, HBD Oneil, Shea & Lonnie

1987 - The Pirates finished the season by winning 27 of their final 38 games and Jim Leyland’s second edition ended the year with 80 wins after taking just 64 dubs in his first campaign at the helm. The club won the finale at TRS by scoring three times with two outs in the eighth with Mike Dunne picking up the dub after a Jeff Robinson save. Pittsburgh would win 85 games in ‘88, take some more lumps in ‘89 and then wear the Eastern Division crown from 1990-92. 

1988 - The Pirates fired GM Syd Thrift. He and his Buc bosses weren’t often on the same page during his 1985-88 stint, but he hired Jim Leyland and laid the foundation for the early nineties playoff teams, adding Andy Van Slyke, Mike LaValliere, Doug Drabek and Jeff King while reacquiring Bobby Bonilla after Bo was lost via Rule 5. Thrift was ambitious and said to have his eye on Carl Barger’s club presidency while banging heads with Board Chairman Douglas Danforth over finances; he lost both of those battles and was replaced by Larry Doughty.

1988 - RF/3B Lonnie Chisenhall was born in Morehead City, North Carolina. The Pirates signed him to a $2.75M deal in the 2018 off season with $3M more available in bonus money based on at bats. He had spent seven years with Cleveland and was having a breakout year in 2017 when a strained calf laid him low; it continued to haunt him in 2018, as he got into just 111 games over those two years but put up a strong .272 BA/127 OPS+ line when healthy. But par for the course, he was hit by a pitch the day before the 2019 camp ended and broke a finger, then aggravated his calf during rehab. Chisenhall never played an inning for the Pirates, retiring after the season.

1990 - The Reds wasted no time jumping on the Pirates, making their first playoff appearance since claiming the Fall Classic crown in 1979, by taking a 3-0 first inning lead at Riverfront Stadium in the opener of the NLCS. But the Bucs had the last laugh, rallying their way to a 4-3 victory. Starter and winner Bob Walk settled down to toss shutout ball, handing the game off to the bullpen in the seventh (Ted Power nailed down the save). The Pirates tied the game in the fourth inning thanks to Sid Bream’s two-run homer before Andy Van Slyke drove home the winner in the seventh with a two-out, ground rule double to score Gary Redus.

Bob Walk - 1990 Topps

1992 - Tim Wakefield and three other Pirate pitchers spun a three-hitter to win a pitching battle against Bret Saberhagen and the New York Mets by a 2-0 count at Shea Stadium, ending the season with the Bucs pennant winners in the NL East, taking the pennant by nine games. Barry Bonds’ solo homer and Alex Cole’s sac fly drove in the hard-to-come-by runs.

1993 - The Pirates let go of half their broadcasting team when Jim Rooker and Kent Derdivanis didn’t have their contracts renewed. Neither had really caught on with the fans, and the Bucs said they wanted guys who would be more involved with promotions and ticket sales. Rooker, the color analyst, had worked in the booth for 13 years and Derdivanis, the #2 play-by-play voice behind Lanny Frattare, had put in four seasons. Rook caught on with ESPN from 1994-97 before he left broadcasting while Kent returned to Arizona and landed a variety of on-air gigs. Greg Brown and Bob Walk replaced them (and are still in the booth), joining holdovers Frattare and Steve Blass. There was a positive note OTD, too - SS Jay Bell won the Gold Glove Award, ending the 13-year reign of Ozzie Smith.

1994 - RHP Shea Spitzbarth was born on Staten Island. He was undrafted out of Molloy College, but showed well in the summer leagues and was signed by the Dodgers. He was dominant in the lower levels, but his AAA numbers were not so good (4-2/5.01).The Pirates selected him from LA in the 2020 minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft the light went on at Indy (3-2/1.41) as he became more of a contact than strikeout pitcher. He was rewarded with an August 3rd call up to the big team and debuted the same night. Shea moved on to Motown in 2022 and then was released by the Reds in 2023. At last look, he was a private instructor in Florida for prep players.

HBD Oneil - 2026 Pirates

1998 - SS Oneil Cruz was born in Nizao, Dominican Republic. One of the Pirates touted minor league young guns and a Top 50 MLB Prospect, he was acquired in 2017 from the Dodgers as part of the Tony Watson deal. Oneil played in three levels in 2021, breaking out at AA Altoona, promoted for an eye-popping week at AAA Indy (six games/five HRs) and then called up to Pittsburgh to start the final two games of the year. He had three hits, homered and plated three RBI for a pretty good start. Cruz was called up in June of 2022 and put in his claim on the shortstop spot, where he was a lock to be the 2023 starter after banging out 17 homers until he was felled by a broken ankle sustained via an awkward April slide, costing him most of that campaign. OC came back strong in ‘24, with a long debated shift to CF made in September. He became the full-time CF and joined the 20/30 club in ‘25. Despite injuries limiting him to 97 games in 2026, he again put up 20/30 numbers.

2010 - John Russell was fired as manager of the Pirates. He equaled a franchise record for most losses by a manager in three seasons, compiling an 186-299 record to join Fred Haney, who posted a 163-299 record from 1953-55. JR was replaced by Clint Hurdle on November 14th. JR then coached for the Baltimore Orioles through 2018 and is now AAA Tacoma’s manager in the Seattle system.

2013 - After being trounced in the opener of the NLDS by the Cards, rookie Gerrit Cole fired two-hit ball for six innings in a 7-1 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium to square the series. Pedro Alvarez and Starling Marte cracked home runs while Russell Martin added a pair of RBIs. Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a homer and a double, scoring twice and driving in a pair of runs. El Toro became the first Pirate since Willie Stargell in 1974 to go yard in back-to-back playoff games.

2015 - It went to the last day of the season, but the Pirates claimed home field advantage for the wild card game with a 4-0 win against the Reds. JA Happ went six frames giving up three hits, three walks and collecting seven K’s. Josh Harrison went 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored while Pedro Alvarez crushed a homer 479’ to right center. The Pirates ended with a 98-64 record, but finished second in the NL Central behind the 100-win St Louis Cardinals and barely nosed out the 97-win Chicago Cubs in a heart-thumping pennant/postseason battle royale.