- 1907 - Nick Maddox made his MLB debut, and according to the Pittsburg Press’ headline, the “Pirates New Twirler Was An Enigma To The Cardinals” as he tossed a five hit, 4-0 shutout at Exposition Park. Maddox struck out 11 and walked a pair. He was backed by another rookie making his big league launch, 1B Harry “Swasy” Swacina, who drove in a pair of runs.
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| Nick Maddox 1908 (photo Bain News Service/Library of Congress) |
- 1949 - For the second time in his career, Ralph Kiner hit four consecutive homers. He hit two off Dewey Adkins in a 7-3 win against the Cubs. After an off day, he added another pair against the Phils’ Hank Borowy and Curt Simmons on this date in an 11-6 victory. Both games were played at Forbes Field.
- 1950 - Giants' RHP Sal “The Barber” Maglie's consecutive scoreless inning streak ended at 45 innings after Gus Bell popped a 257’ fly that barely cleared the RF wall at the Polo Grounds for a cheap homer. The G-Men beat the Bucs 3-1.
- 1956 - ElRoy Face set an MLB record (later tied) when he appeared in his ninth consecutive game, giving up a run in a 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Forbes Field. He had gone 3-0-1 in the prior eight matches covering 15-⅓ innings. Danny Murtaugh finally relented after that and gave him the next game off.
- 1968 - Denny Neagle was born in Gambrills, Maryland. The lefty spent four plus seasons (1992-96) with Pittsburgh, going 43-35 with a 4.02 ERA. An All-Star in 1995 with a 13-8 record, he was traded to Atlanta the following season as a cost-cutting measure and won 60 games between 1997-2000, mostly with the Braves.
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| Denny Neagle 1997 Fleer Ultra |
- 1970 - The famous “can of corn” call was made by The Gunner Bob Prince after Willie Smith hit a routine fly to Matty Alou with the Bucs up 2-1, two outs and the bases empty in the ninth. He dropped it as the Wrigley wind was blowing in, and the Cubs rallied for the win. Despite cutting the Buc lead in the NL East to ½ game, the Pirates took the title running away, finishing with a five game pad over the runner up Cubbies.
- 1972 - Roberto Clemente hit his last homer, a two run, two out blast to center off Fergie Jenkins at Wrigley Field in the seventh to lead the Bucs to a 6-4 win at Wrigley Field. It’s his 10th of the season and 240th career homer. Clemente also tripled and scored three times to give Nellie Briles the win.
- 1983 - 3B Andy LaRoche was born in Fort Scott, Kansas. Part of the Jason Bay deal, the much ballyhooed LaRoche came to Pittsburgh from LA at the 2008 trade deadline, joining brother Adam. He was a Pirate until 2010, but hit only .226 during that time.
- 1987 - The Pirates won their seventh in a row and 15-of-18 as they dropped the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 at Veterans Stadium. Bobby Bonilla and Sid Bream had three knocks each to lead a balanced 15 hit attack that eventually wore the Phils down. Brian Fisher tossed a complete game five hitter with 10 K for the win.
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| Sid Bream 1987 Donruss |
- 2007 - The Pirates officially announced that Frank Coonelly was the team’s new CEO (a post usually held by the owner), replacing Kevin McClatchy. Coonelly, an attorney, previously served as a Senior Vice President in the Commissioner's Office, where he was in charge of various matters including arbitration hearings and draft bonuses.
- 2010 - The Pirates lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Mets at Citi Field in ten innings, wasting three leadoff doubles. James McDonald went eight frames of five hit ball, but the Mets got to reliever Chan Ho Park, who took the loss.
- 2013 - Pedro Alvarez, Russ Martin and Garrett Jones hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the fourth inning off the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta, but a pair of two-run Chicago blasts carried the day as the Pirates fell 5-4. It was the first time that the Bucs had hit three consecutive homers at PNC Park and had an improbable degree of difficulty as Pedro’s was a stand-up inside-the-park shot. (He later told Root Sports that it was the first he could remember since “...little league.”)
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