7/9 Games: Sultan of (Sausage) Swat, Triple Play, Mendoza Walk-Off, Cutch Late AS & More...

• 1912 - In a duel of young guns, the Pirates Marty O’Toole bested the Phils Eppa Rixey 2-0 at Forbes Field. Max Carey provided the big blow, a sixth inning triple that was sandwiched around a pair of singles for all the offense. O’Toole was in the midst of his best season, winning 15 games with a 2.71 ERA and a league-leading six shutouts.
• 1959 - Starting his first game since injuring his shoulder on May 19th, Roberto Clemente's 10th inning leadoff single helped Elroy Face to his 18th consecutive win after he blew a save chance with two outs in the ninth. A bunt by Roman Mejias moved Clemente to second and a single up the middle by pinch-hitter Harry Bright completed the Bucs 4-3 win over the Cubs at Forbes Field.
• 1967 - Willie Stargell hit a walk off homer against the Reds’ Jim Maloney that carried over the RF roof at Forbes Field in a 2-1 win. Dennis Ribant tossed a complete game six hitter to earn the W.

Willie went way long... 1967 Topps

• 1971 - The Pirates turned the first triple play of the 1971 season when Atlanta’s Leo Foster hit a grounder to 3B Richie Hebner, who stepped on third and threw to Dave Cash at second for the second out. Cash’s relay to Bob Robertson at first nipped Foster to complete the play as the Pirates rolled past Atlanta 11-2 at TRS. Willie Stargell went 3-for-4 with a homer, three runs and four RBI while Manny Sanguillen went 3-for-5 with a triple and four RBI. Richie Hebner also homered as Nellie Briles went the distance for the win.
• 1977 - SS Mario Mendoza smacked the only walk-off hit of his career, a two out single to right in the twelfth off Gene Garber at TRS for a 9-8 Pirate win over the Phillies. Phil Garner had a good day, going 3-for-6 with a homer, double, two runs and two RBI, and Dave Parker also homered against Philadelphia. Mendoza, btw, was batting under the his own line, hitting just .182 at game time.
• 2003 - Inexplicably during a 2-1 Pirate loss, 1B Randall Simon swatted a racing sausage with his bat from the dugout at Miller Park in Milwaukee as it waltzed around the stadium, causing a collision that left the mascots looking like a heaping plate of schnitzel. Simon was questioned by police and later fined $432.10 for disorderly conduct. MLB suspended him for three games and fined him $2,000; the Bucs traded him away a few weeks later. He issued an apology and an autographed bat to Mandy Block, the college student stuffed into the sausage costume. She ended up with a scraped knee, but it concluded well for her. Mandy received a free trip to Curaçao, (Simon's home island) for two from the Curaçao Tourism Board. When Simon returned to Miller Park later that year as a member of the Chicago Cubs, he purchased Italian Sausages for an entire section, and during the race, his teammates playfully held him back until all the sausages raced past the dugout.

Caught in the sausage-swatting act (image MLB Advanced Media)

• 2004 - Jason Bay went 4-for-5 with two homers, a double, four RBI and four runs scored as the Pirates blanked the Expos 11-0 in San Juan’s Estadio Hiram Bithorn, the Expos’ part-time home until their move to Washington. Sean Burnett scattered 10 hits for a complete game shutout.
• 2005 - Sparked by Jack Wilson’s grand slam, the Bucs broke open a tight game against the NY Mets with a seven run seventh inning, banging around Heath Bell and Danny Graves, to take an 11-4 win at PNC Park in front of a Saturday night crowd of 36,708. Dave Williams got the win.
• 2011 - Andrew McCutchen, passed over in the voting, was named as a late choice as a first-time NL All-Star, replacing an injured Ryan Braun. The Pirates announced on the PNC Park jumbotron that Cutch was named to the team during the fourth inning, drawing an ovation and a curtain call from the crowd. Unfortunately, he suffered through an 0-fer that night as the Bucs fell to the Chicago Cubs 6-3.