June 6 - Busy Day In Bucco Lore; Draft Lands Cole, Walker and...

Lotsa runs, Casey & his birdie, golden jubilee, helmets, Blackburn, Bonds, drafts...

• 1894 - The Pirates set a club record by scoring 27 runs when they routed the Boston Beaneaters, 27-11, at Exposition Park in the North Side. Boston actually led 2-0 in the second inning and was tied 3-3 going into the bottom of the third! Jake Stenzel homered twice in the third inning off Henry Lampe, a Bucco feat that wouldn’t be duplicated again until 1995 by Jeff King. The Bucs hit four homers and scored 12 times in the third frame, sending 15 players to the dish and setting a HR record that wouldn’t be matched until 1930.
• 1918 - Casey Stengel had been traded to Pittsburgh by the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the first time he returned to play in Ebbet’s Field as a Bucco, his old fans were giving him the razzberries. Bowing to the grandstand, he doffed his cap, and out flew a sparrow that he had somehow picked up in the outfield. The fans loved it, but that was the highlight of Stengel’s day. He went 0-for-4 in a 5-0 loss.
• 1925 - The Pirates held their Golden Jubilee celebration, bring back old stalwarts like Jack Chesbro, Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke, Kitty Bransfield, Deacon Phillippe, Ginger Beaumont, C.L Zimmer, Tom McCreedy, Jess Tannehill, George Yeager, Jimmie Burke, Tommy Leach and Claude Ritchey. Pittsburgh partied in style, beating the Phils 9-3 at Forbes Field behind Emil Yde.
• 1941 - The New York Giants became the first team to wear headgear in a game against the Pirates at the Polo Grounds as Pittsburgh swept the doubleheader, 5-4 and 4-3. In the nitecap, Rip Sewell set a NL record with 11 assists as a pitcher. They really didn’t need them; no one was beaned in either contest. The Pirates made batting helmets mandatory a decade later under Branch Rickey’s direction.
• 1944 - The Pirates join MLB by cancelling their game against the Reds at Forbes Field in tribute to D-Day.
• 1959 - Ron Blackburn had a good day even if his team didn’t. The reliever smacked the only hit of his MLB career‚ a homer off Moe Drabowsky, and tossed four innings of perfect ball in an 8-2 loss to the Cubs at Forbes Field.
• 1968 - The Bucs selected HS outfielder Dick Sharon first (#9) in the draft; he spent three years in MLB as a reserve. They did hit on their 11th rounder, C Milt May, who played six of his 16 big league seasons with the Pirates and 14th rounder RHP Bruce Kison, who spent half (1971-77) of his career with Pittsburgh and won a memorable World Series game in his 1971 rookie season. Pittsburgh also selected RHPs Wayne Garland and Paul Mitchell, who worked in MLB.
• 1972 - High school SS Dwayne Peltier was the Bucs first round (#23) pick; he never made it to the show, stalling out at AA ball. But the second round pick did - LHP John “The Candy Man” Candelaria, who pitched 12 years for the Bucs and won 124 games. 2B Willie Randolph, who played 18 years, mostly with the Yankees, was a seventh round selection. Shaler grad Ken Macha was picked in the sixth round.
• 1973 - Barry Bonds hit his second consecutive leadoff homer against the Giants, but it wasn’t enough at TRS; the Bucs lost both games even though Bonds went 3-for-6 with three walks, a stolen base, five runs scored and three RBI.
• 1978 - The Pirates picked HS first baseman Brad Garnett in the first round (#19) of the draft; he never advanced beyond Class A. In fact, none of their first 17 selections make to the majors. They did get a couple of keepers in the later rounds - Butler and Point Park RHP John Stuper (18th round), LHP Dave Dravecky (21st round) and SS Vance Law (39th round), Pirate Cy Young winner Vern Law’s kid who played for 11 seasons in the show.
• 1979 - Pitt’s Dan Marino was selected in the fourth round of the free-agent draft by the Kansas City Royals. For some reason, he stuck with football, as did another KC pick that same year, John Elway. The Pirates, without a first rounder, picked LHP Scott Fiepke in the second round. He never got past AA, but the team had better luck in the third round with RHP Jose DeLeon, who spent 13 years in the show.
• 1983 - The Pirates selected high school OF’er Ron DeLucchi first (#12) in the draft, but he never made it past Class A ball. There only notable selection was twelfth rounder LHP John Smiley, who lasted 11 years, won 126 games and was twice an All-Star.
• 2004 - Pine Richland HS C Neil Walker was drafted in the first round by the Pirates, 11th overall, and signed for a $1.95M bonus. IF Brian Bixler, the next selection, was the only other player to receive more than a cup of coffee at the MLB level.
•  2006 - The Pirates selected RHP Brad Lincoln from the U of Houston as their first round draft pick, the fourth overall player selected. He signed for a $2.75M bonus. RHP Jared Hughes (fourth round) and OF Alex Presley (eighth round) were also members of that draft class.
•  2011- The Pirates drafted RHP Gerrit Cole of UCLA first overall and signed him to a record $8M deal to set a record for a minor league deal. Then they signed high school phenom OF Josh Bell for $5M to lure him away from a commitment to Texas. Pittsburgh invested a MLB record $17M on its draft 2011 picks before a cap was put in place in 2012.