5/21 From the 60s Forward: TRS Strike, HBD Steve, Brian's Inside-The-Park Run, Travis Granny, Game Stories

• 1962 - The Bucs beat the Cubs 8-4 at Forbes Field behind the top two guys in the order, Bill Virdon and Dick Groat. The duo went 8-for-9 with a walk, two doubles, scored twice and drove in six runs. Tom Sturdivant earned the win with 6-⅓ shutout frames in relief of Earl Francis.

Dick Groat & The Quail were money in the bank for the Bucs - 1962 Topps Bucks

• 1968 - OF Steve Pegues was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi. Steve joined the Bucs in 1994 after starting the year with Cincinnati and and stayed through 1995, getting into 89 games and hitting .264. Steve was a toolsy guy but it never translated. He was drafted by the Tigers in the first round of the 1987 draft (21st overall) and spent 11 years in the minors with another campaign in an indie league, but his 94-95 campaigns were his only MLB years.
• 1976 - The Pirates tried to come back from a 5-0 hole but fell 5-4 to the Cubs at Three Rivers Stadium. The bigger issue was the umps. The regular crew in blue passed on the game, supporting the striking TRS vendors, so the Bucs lined up some sandlot guys. By all reports, they did an adequate job. Also out were the ground crew and other union workers - “everyone but the players,” per one newspaper - but the club got through it as things returned to normal after a two day work stoppage.
• 2002 - Brian Giles hit a three-run, opposite-field inside-the-park homer to highlight a 12-1 Bucco win at Wrigley Field in the lidlifter of a twin bill. It was his first inside-the-park blast and the first by a Pirate in three years. Kevin Young had a homer and two doubles while Chad Hermansen went long and added a two bagger to back Jimmy Anderson and Sean Lowe’s three-hitter to ice Chi-town. The Cubs rallied to take the nightcap 4-3. Pittsburgh jumped off to a 3-0 first-inning lead but Sammy Sosa’s three-run shot in the sixth off Josh Fogg earned a split for Chicago.

Brian Giles 2002 Donruss Production Line

• 2005 - Before a sellout crowd of 37,504 at PNC Park, Ollie Perez surrendered a pair of hits and two runs while striking out eight batters in five innings on the bump as the Pirates beat the Rockies 8-3. C Humberto Cota did the heavy work at the dish with a pair of hits, including a double, and four RBI. The victory was Lloyd McClendon’s 300th as the Pirates’ skipper.
• 2013 - The Cubs scored first and last, but the Bucs scored enough in the middle, keyed by a sixth inning Travis Snider grand slam, to eke out a 5-4 win. Snider’s grannie was his first ever and the first Buc pinch hit slam at PNC Park since Craig Wilson’s in 2003, rallying the Pirates from a 3-0 hole to a 5-3 victory. Wandy Rodriguez got the win over Matt Garza.
• 2014 - Neither Pirates starter Wandy Rodriguez nor the Orioles Chris Tillman made it through the first two innings of the game. It was the first time in either club’s history that both starters were removed so early in a game; the quick hooks were also a first in interleague play. (Rodriguez was designated for assignment the following day after giving up six runs in 1-⅔ innings.) The score was 8-6 Pittsburgh after two frames; the O’s tied the game late, then the Pirates rallied to take a 9-8 decision at PNC Park. The middle of the Buccos order - Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Starling Marte and Ike Davis - went 11-for-17 with six runs scored and chased home six more.