April 9th - Buc Dates In History

PNC Opens, Holdouts Come and Go, Notable Games:

• 1930 - After a contract clash, spitballer Burleigh Grimes was sold to the Boston Braves. They in turn flipped him to the Cards later in the season. St. Louis made to the Series in ‘30, losing to the Philadelphia Athletics and Lefty Grove, but took it all the following year as Grimes won 17 games for them plus a pair in the Series as the Cards dethroned the Athletics in the rematch. Grimes had an oddball relationship with the Pirates; he started, spent the middle, and ended his career with Pittsburgh, spending five of his 19 MLB seasons with the Bucs.
• 1937 - The 1936 batting champ‚ Paul Waner‚ ended his holdout and signed his 1937 contract. No official announcement was made of the amount, believed to be in the ballpark of $16,000.
• 1953 - In an exhibition game at Forbes Field‚ Mickey Mantle crushed a Bill MacDonald curve and launched it over the RF roof‚ joining the Babe and Ted Beard as the only hitters to accomplish that since the upper deck was added in 1925. In all, 18 balls would fly over the roof, seven put in orbit by Willie Stargell.
• 1963 - The Bucs and Braves traded ninth inning runs during the season opener, with the Bucs rallying for a 3-2 win in front of 29,615 faithful. With two down in the ninth, Pittsburgh banged back-to-back-to-back hits from Bill Virdon, Bob Bailey and pinch-hitter Ted Savage to win the game for ElRoy Face, who had worked out a bases-loaded, no out pickle in the Milwaukee ninth.
• 1990 - The Bucs turned Doc Gooden every which way but loose as they won 12-3 at Shea Stadium behind Doug Drabek’s arm and homers by Andy Van Slyke and Bobby Bo. At 0-1, Gooden had a losing record for the first time in nine seasons. It’s also the first time in 21 years that the Mets lost a home opener.
• 1999 - Rookie RHP Kris Benson beat the Cubs 2-1 in his first MLB start. He became the second #1 draft pick to win his debut, following Texas’ David Clyde who was the first in 1973. Benson went six innings, giving up a run on two hits with three walks and three K.
• 2001 - PNC Park, the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates since 1887, opened along the North Shore of the Allegheny River hours after Pirate icon Willie Stargell passed away from a stroke in Wilmington, NC. Local boy Sean Casey had four hits and five RBI to lead the Reds to an 8-2 win in the park’s debut match against Todd Ritchie. The game was played in lovely 77 degree weather and 36,954 came out to catch the action, started when Kevin McClatchy tossed out the first ceremonial pitch.