4/13: Babe Adams, Stuffy, Curt Roberts, Ricardo Rincon, Lumber Company, Carlos Garcia, Zach Duke, More...

Babe Adams, Stuffy, Curt Roberts, Ricardo Rincon, Lumber Company, Carlos Garcia, Zach Duke, More... 

• 1883 - C Mike Simon was born in Hayden, Indiana. He was with the Bucs from 1909-13, mainly as a reserve, and hit .244. He jumped to the outlaw Federal League in 1914 and finished his career there, playing two more seasons. 
• 1889 - RHP Claude Hendrix was born in Olathe, Kansas. He pitched for the Bucs from 1911-13, with a 42-30/2.71 slash. In 1914, he jumped to the Federal League, where he won 45 games in two years for the Chicago club. When the FL folded, he stayed in the Windy City with the Cubs, and won 57 more games with them over five seasons. 
• 1916 - Babe Adams tossed a one-hit, 4-0 gem against the Cards. The only hit was a knock that clanged off 2B Joe Schultz's mitt. Adams won only one more game that season and was released in August. The Pirates inked him again in 1918 after he sat out a season, and he stuck through 1926, winning 48 games between 1919-21. He worked 19 years for the Bucs and won 194 games with a 2.76 ERA. His golden moment was in 1909 when he won three World Series games.

Image from the SABR Baseball Biography Project

• 1925 - 1B Stuffy McInnis was released by the Boston Braves and signed by the Bucs. He hit .368 in 59 games, and played in Pittsburgh’s World Series win over Washington. He was a bench guy the following year, hitting .299 before retiring after 1927. McInnis gained his nickname as a youngster in Boston, where his spectacular fielding brought shouts of "that's the stuff, kid.” 
• 1954 - Seven years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier, second baseman Curt Roberts made his major league debut during the season opener at Forbes Field and became the first African American to play for the Pirates. The former Kansas City Monarch tripled off Robin Roberts in the first inning as the Bucs beat the Phillies, 4-2. It was the first time the Pirates had opened the season at home in 61 years. It was also their eleventh straight home opener win, a streak that would end the following year. 
• 1963 - The Pirates were clobbered 12-4 by the Reds at Crosley Field. The league decided to clamp down on balks, and a record seven were called in the game, including four on Bob Friend. Pete Rose collected his first MLB hit during the game. 
• 1970 - LHP Ricardo Rincon was born in Cuitlahuac, Mexico. Rincon, who signed as a veteran of the Mexican leagues, pitched for the Pirates from 1997-98. He went 4-10-50/3.17 with 135 K in 125 IP. Rincon was part of a combined no-hitter on July 12th, 1997 when Francisco Cordova threw nine innings of hitless ball and Rincon pitched a scoreless 10th. He was traded for Brian Giles in 1998. 
• 1976 - The Bucs promised a Lumber Company for the fans, and came through in the home opener at TRS with a 14-4 win over St. Louis, hammering out thirteen hits to go with twelve walks. Dave “The Cobra” Parker homered and collected five RBI, Al “Scoops” Oliver had three hits and three RBI, while Manny “The Roadrunner” Sanguillen had the only three-walk game of his career and touched home three times. 
• 1983 - 1B Steve Pearce was born in Lakeland, Florida. An eighth round pick in the 2005 draft, he spent bits and pieces of five seasons (2007-11) in Pittsburgh, hitting .232, and was a magnet for nagging injuries.
• 1996: Carlos Garcia took Montreal lefty Jeff Fassero deep for the 8,000th home run in Pirate history during a 9-3 Buc win at TRS. His fourth inning blast opened the floodgates - Jeff King, Jay Bell and Mark Johnson all went yard after him. 
• 2009 - Zach Duke pitched a four hit, complete game shutout at PNC Park as the Pirates defeated the Houston Astros 7–0 in the home opener. Both the Bucs and the Astros wore Pittsburgh Police hats in honor of three officers who were shot and killed on April 4th. The pre-game ceremonies honored the officers, as well as former pitcher and current broadcaster Steve Blass for this 50th season with the team, including a flyover by four Apache helicopters. Adam LaRoche had three hits, including a homer, and Freddy Sanchez banged out three doubles. 
• 2010 - The Pirates flashed some leather to beat the Giants 6-5 at AT&T Park. Paul Maholm hit the ground to snag Aubrey Huff’s ball and in one motion shoveled it with his glove to 1B Jeff Clement to while doing a backflip. The game icer in the bottom of the ninth came when Garrett Jones, at 1B after a double switch, made a diving grab of Pablo Sandoval's liner to end the game after Octavio Dotel had already surrendered two ninth inning runs. Jones had Kung Fu Panda’s number; he also threw him out at the plate from RF earlier in the game. Every win was precious; the Bucs only had 57 of them that campaign, costing John Russell his job at the end of the year. 
• 2012 - James McDonald spoiled Matt Cain’s perfect game bid with a sixth inning, two out solid single to left. He was the only Bucco to reach base in a 5-0 loss as Cain fanned 11 at AT&T Park in San Francisco’s home opener.