9/5 Expo Park-Forbes Field Era: HBD Maz & Lefty, Diomedes Debuts, Cover Boys, The Quail Ends A Duel & More...

• 1883 - LHP Paul “Lefty” Leifield was born in Trenton, Illinois. From 1906 to 1911, Leifield was part of the Pirate starting rotation, winning 15 or more games each season. In 1909, he went 19-8 as Pittsburgh won the NL pennant. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 1912. Lefty was a Bucco for eight years from 1905-12, and his Pirate line was 109-84/2.38.
• 1929 - Pittsburgh banged out a homer, two doubles and four triples in a 10-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Redland Field. Lloyd Waner went 3-for-4 with two triples, two runs, and two RBI. His partner in crime was winning pitcher Erv Brame, who not only went the distance but also batted 3-for-4 with a homer, double, two runs and two RBI.

Erv Brame 1928 (Conlon Collection/Getty)

• 1936 - Bill Mazeroski was born in Wheeling, WV. The Hall-of-Fame second baseman was one of the defensive wizards of his time and will be remembered forever in Pittsburgh baseball lore for his walk-off homer in the 1960 World Series.
• 1945 - The Bucs held a Honus Wagner night at Forbes Field. They could have used him in the lineup, losing to the Brooklyn Dodgers 5-3 in 10 innings in front of 19,504 faithful.
• 1950 - The Bronx Bombers bought 1B Johnny Hopp‚ who was second in the NL in hitting with a .340 mark‚ from the Pirates for an undisclosed amount of cash. Hopp was at the end of his career, and played through 1952 as a bench piece.
• 1958 - Bill Virdon hit a leadoff tenth inning walk-off homer to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 win over Milwaukee in a classic pitching duel between the Braves Carlton Willey and George “Red” Witt, who tossed a five hitter, at Forbes Field.

Bill Virdon 1957 Topps

• 1960 - At the age of 41, LHP Diomedes Olivo made his MLB debut, pitching in relief of Harvey Haddix for the Pirates. The oldest rookie in NL history other than Satchel Paige tossed two goose eggs against Milwaukee at Forbes Field, giving up a hit to Eddie Matthews and a pair of walks. The Bucs lost 7-1, splitting a doubleheader with the Braves.
• 1964 - Roberto Clemente was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Confidant Corsair.” Though the Pirates were a disappointing 80-82, Roberto led the NL with 211 hits and a .339 BA.
• 1966 - Harry “The Hat” Walker was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the story “Pittsburgh Pirates: Very Good to Excellent.” It ended up they were very good; they finished 92-70, three games behind the LA Dodgers.

• 1969 - Steve Blass beat the Cubs 9-2. Blass helped his own cause with his only MLB homer‚ a three run blast off Ken Holtzman‚ and three singles. The win was Pittsburgh's first at Wrigley since July 5th‚ 1968‚ ending a string of 13 straight losses.