6/6: Candy Man, The Kid, Cole Train Drafted; Big Sticks; Golden Jubilee...

• 1894 - The Pirates set a club record by scoring 27 runs, a franchise record, 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, until Pittsburgh scored 21 runs in the third and fourth innings. 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 of seven bombs in a single game that wouldn’t be matched until 1947.
• 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, CL Zimmer, Tom McCreedy, Jess Tannehill, George Yeager, Jimmie Burke, Tommy Leach and Claude Ritchey. The 1901 team played the 1925 in a special, pre-game exhibition that lasted three innings, with the current club beating the old timers by a 5-3 score. Pittsburgh went to work afterwards, beating the Phils 9-3 at Forbes Field behind Emil Yde in the game that counted. Eddie Moore homered, Pie Traynor had a double and triple and Glenn Wright contributed a pair of knocks, including a two-bagger, to lead the Pirate attack.
• 1940 - The Bucs fell behind Boston 5-0 in the second, then put up a six-spot of their own in the third and hung on for a 7-6 win at Forbes Field. It was a steady-as-she-goes performance, with six of the eight Pirate position players having hits with runs and/or RBI on the score sheet. Rip Sewell tossed eight innings for the win in relief; he gave up 10 hits but just two runs.

Father of the Eephus Rip Sewell (photo: Walter Stein/Associated Press)

• 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. They really didn’t need the protection; no one was beaned in either contest. The Pirates made batting helmets mandatory a decade later under Branch Rickey’s direction. In the nitecap of the twin bill, Rip Sewell set a NL record with 11 assists as a pitcher.
• 1944 - The Pirates joined MLB by cancelling their game against the Reds at Forbes Field in tribute to D-Day.
• 1956: Three Bucco batters (Dale Long, Frank Thomas and Roberto Clemente) went deep in the Pirates 8-2 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Clemente and Thomas each had three hits and three RBI on the day while Ron Kline went the distance for the win.
• 1959 - Ron Blackburn had a good day even if his team didn’t. The reliever smacked the only longball of his MLB career off Moe Drabowsky and tossed four innings of perfect ball in an 8-2 loss to the Cubs at Forbes Field.
• 1959 - OF Doug Frobel was born in Ottawa, Ontario. He played for Pittsburgh from 1982-85. Frobel looked ready to break out after hitting .286 in limited at-bats in 1983, but couldn’t match that pace in following campaigns, ending his Bucco career with a .213 BA.

Doug Frobel 1984 Topps series

• 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 nights (3-2, 9-7) 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.

Vance Law 1982 Donruss series

• 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 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.

Brad Lincoln (photo: Jared Wickersham/Getty Images)

• 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.
• 2013 - The Pirates picked high school players OF Austin Meadows (#9) and C Reese McGuire (#14) in the first round of the draft. Meadows received slot value to sign, $3,029,600, while McGuire inked a $2,369,000 deal that was $200K under slot.
• 2014 - The Pirates scored eight times in the sixth inning to hand the Milwaukee Brewers a 15-5 thumping at PNC Park, the biggest Bucco frame since 2012 when they accomplished the feat against San Diego. The 15 runs were the most scored since 2010, also against Milwaukee. The Bucs parlayed six hits and four walks into their big inning. Seven Pirates had multi hit outings, led by Russ Martin, who had three hits, four RBI and three runs scored to prime the 16 hit attack.