8/17 From the 60s Forward: GI Might; HBD Alex & Chad, Maz #2000, Baseballs Last Hero, Game Stories

• 1960 - Clem Labine‚ picked up the day before after being released by Detroit‚ tossed 3-2/3 innings of hitless ball with six K to save a 5-3 win for Harvey Haddix over the Phils at Forbes Field. Don Hoak’s three RBI paced the Bucco batters. Clem stuck with Pirates for another season and his last campaign was as a Met in 1962. 
• 1965 - OF Alex Cole was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Cole put in seven years in the show, spending most of 1992 with Pittsburgh and batting .278, reaching base five times in 13 PAs in the NLCS v Atlanta. He came to the Pirates in a July trade for Tony Mitchell and the speedster was lost the following season when he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies. 

Alex Cole 1993 Donruss

• 1969 - The Pirates opened with five runs in the first inning, capped by a three-run Gene Alley blast. The Reds answered with four tallies of their own as Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan, the first two Cincy batters, homered off Steve Blass with Johnny Bench adding another long ball an out later. The game at Crosley Field settled down after that, with the Pirates taking an 8-5 decision behind Al Oliver and Willie Stargell dingers. Steverino gave up another home run (to Tony Perez) in the third, but lasted until the eighth to claim the win with a Chuck Hartenstein save. 
• 1971 - Bill Mazeroski recorded his 2‚000th career hit against Wade Blasingame in a 6-5 loss to Houston at TRS. Maz finished his career with 2,016 knocks, eighth on the all-time Pittsburgh hit list. 
• 1978 - RHP Chad Qualls was born in Lomita, California. The Pirates got him at the deadline from the Yankees in 2012 for Casey McGahee as they sniffed a playoff run that never materialized (in fact, they faded badly and ended up with 78 wins). Chad didn’t help turn the corner, tossing up a 6.59 ERA in 17 appearances and getting released after the year. Qualls kept working, though - he was in the majors until July of this year before being chopped by the Rockies. 

Bobby Bonilla 1990 SCD

• 1990 - In a battle of division leaders, the Bucs swept the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium by 7-1 and 4-3 tallies. In the opener, Wally Backman doubled twice and drove in two runs; Spanky LaValliere also doubled and had two RBI. Bobby Bonilla cranked a homer and scored three times as Mike York got the win in his MLB debut with help from Bob Patterson. In the nitecap, the Bucs rode three solo shots by Jay Bell, Bobby Bo and Jeff King and a two out single by Bell in the eighth that plated John Cangelosi to victory. John Smiley was credited with the victory and Stan Belinda worked the last two frames for the save. 
• 2003 - The Pirates drew 24,092 to PNC Park for Charlie Brown bobblehead night, and the fans were treated to a 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Tike Redmond, Jack Wilson and Reggie Sanders homered for the Bucs as Josh Fogg claimed the win. 
• 2004 - The Bucs dispatched Arizona 7-1 at Bank One Ballpark to win for the eighth time in their last nine decisions. Ty Wiggington and Craig Wilson homered as Jose Castillo banged out a pair of doubles. Ryan Vogelsong tossed seven innings of one run, six hit ball for the win. 

Garrett Jones 2009 Topps Update

• 2009 - Garrett Jones homered in Pittsburgh's 9–5 victory over Milwaukee at PNC Park for his 13th home run in the 40 games since his June 30th call up. He was the first rookie in eight years to hit 13+ home runs in that span, joining Albert Pujols and Adam Dunn, who did it 2001. Adam LaRoche and Ronny Cedeno also went long as the Bucs won for only the second time in 14 games. He signed with the Pirates in the off season as a minor league free agent. 
• 2012 - James McDonald and four relievers held St. Louis to four hits at Busch Stadium to claim a 2-1 victory over the Redbirds. The two Buc runs scored in the fourth and both were unearned - one scored on a wild pitch, the other on a passed ball with an error in between. 
• 2013 - The film “Baseball’s Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories” premiered at the Strand Theater in Zelienople. The movie was written by West View native Richard Rossi. It had its initial showing in Hollywood, but Rossi edited the film into its final version for this viewing.