Buc History 5/14

Stenzel and Hopp go 6-for-6, Nixon honors Arriba, a couple of grannies, a LH catcher and five hit tag teams...

• 1896 - CF Jake Stenzel collected six singles and added a stolen base in a 20-4 pounding of the Boston Beaneaters at Expo Park.
• 1950 - All-Star 1B Johnny “Hippity” Hopp went 6-for-6 with a pair of homers, three runs and three RBI in a 16-9 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in the second game of a DH. The Pirates scored two in the ninth of the opener to win 6-5 and earned Bob Chesnes a victory for his four inning, two hit shutout relief stint.
• 1973 - President Richard Nixon presented the Presidential Citizen’s Medal to Vera Clemente for her husband Roberto in the Oval Office. The bill was sponsored by House member William Moorhead and co-sponsored by a rep from North Carolina, Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell, a teammate of Clemente’s on the 1960 World Series squad and through 1962.
• 1982 - Lee Lacy banged a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the eighth but got carried away with happy feet when he passed Omar Moreno between 1B and 2B. Lacy was called out and credited just a single and three RBI‚ leaving the Bucs just enough runs to top the Reds 8-7 at TRS.
• 1989 - OF Benny Distefano became the first left-handed catcher in a major league game since White Sox 1B Mike Squires in 1980 when he caught the 9th inning of a 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves at TRS. He came in after Jimmy Leyland had removed starter Tom Prince and sub Junior Ortiz for pinch hitters. Distefano missed the first pitch Bill Landrum tossed on a cross-up over signs and then did a bang-up job for the rest of the frame. Dale Long, then with the Cubs, is thought to be the only other LH catcher in the modern era; he caught two games in 1958.
• 1997 - Kevin Young's two-run pinch double gave Pittsburgh the lead and Al Martin finished off a nine-run eighth inning with a grand slam as the “Freak Show” Pirates beat Colorado‚ 15-10 at TRS. Every Pirate starter except the pitcher had a knock. Rox pitchers surrendered 13 hits, a dozen walks and blew leads of 6-3‚ 7-5 and 9-6.
• 2010 - Cutch went 5-for-5 with two RBI and five runs scored in a 10-6 Pirates win against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Garrett Jones also banged out five hits, making McCutchen and Jones the first Pirate pair since Willie Stargell and Bob Robertson in 1970 to have five hits in a game. The dynamic duo also added a homer each.