- 1901 - Pittsburgh railroaders held a parade complete with a band and marched from town to Exposition Park in the North Side to celebrate the final home game of the season for the pennant-winning Buccos. A horse-drawn carriage delivered a $500 loving cup that was presented to manager Fred Clarke, owner Barney Dreyfuss and club president Harry Pulliam for leading the team to its championship season, and each player was given a decorated badge with his likeness on it. After some speechifying, the Bucs went on to take an 8-4 win over Boston behind Sam Leever. The next evening, the Alvin Theater invited the team to enjoy its show as the Pirates were the toast of the town. Pittsburgh finished at 90-49, 7-½ games ahead of Philadelphia.
- 1932 - IF Maury Wills was born in Washington, DC. His glory years were with the Dodgers, though he played for Pittsburgh for two seasons, from 1967-68, as a third baseman who hit .290 with 81 steals. The Pirates sent him to Montreal and in 1969 he returned to LA, where he had spent the first eight years of his career and would spend his final four campaigns. Wills was one of the great base stealers of his era, amassing 564 swiped sacks in his 14 years.
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| Maury Wills 1967 Topps |
- 1946 - Bob Robertson was born in Mt. Savage, Maryland. A member of the 1971 WS champs, Big Red hit four home runs in the 1971 NLCS against the Giants, three in one game, and added two more in the Fall Classic against the Orioles. In the years 1970-71, he bombed 53 HR, but never realized his potential as a Pirate. In nine Pittsburgh seasons, he hit .245 with 106 long balls.
- 1966 - Matty Alou finished the season with a .342 BA to win the NL batting title. He went 4-for-6 against the Giants at Forbes Field in a 7-3 Bucco loss. The Pirates finished the season with 92 wins and the Giants with 93, but LA took the pennant with 95 victories.
- 1969 - The batting title went down to the final swing; Pete Rose bunted for a single at Atlanta in his last at-bat while Roberto Clemente went 3-for-4 in a 8-2 win against the Expos, giving Rose a final .348 to .345 edge. If Clemente, who grounded out in his last dibs, had singled, his BA would have been .347; if Rose’s bunt failed, his would have been .346.
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| Roberto Clemente 1970 Kelloggs |
- 1985 - The Galbreath family and Warner Communications agreed in principle to sell the Pirates to the Pittsburgh Associates, a group of 10 primarily corporate and institutional investors that kept the team afloat and in Pittsburgh, for $21.8M. The deal was finalized in March, 1986.
- 2000 - Gene Lamont was fired as manager. He replaced Jim Leyland in 1997 and led the Bucs to a second place finish, but overall his Pittsburgh record was 295-352 (.456). His hitting coach, Lloyd McClendon, was hired to take his spot three weeks later. Lamont returned to coaching with the Red Sox and the Astros, and has been with the Tigers (he’s now their bench coach) since the 2006 season.
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