- 1917 - Hans Wagner, at the age of 43, played his final game in a 15-inning, 4-1 loss to the Boston Braves at Forbes Field going 0-for-2. Ralph Davis of the Pittsburg Press wrote “Wagner did not practice but he played second base for the last five innings. Honus has a very sore right hand which prevents him from properly grasping either ball or bat and he was not anxious to play…” and also was suffering from a badly spiked foot injured in July. The Flying Dutchman sat out the final 12 dates (16 games in all, w/four doubleheaders), finishing his last campaign hitting .265 and retiring as the NL's all-time hit leader with 3,418 knocks.
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| Ray Kremer 1925 (photo Conlon Collection/TSN) |
- 1927 - The Pirates won their 10th and 11th games in a row, sweeping the Brooklyn Robins 2-1 and 6-0. Vic Aldridge won the opener and drove in a run to help himself. Ray Kremer tossed his third shutout in four outings while Lloyd Waner banged out his 200th hit of the season, becoming the first MLB rookie to reach that mark in the 20th century.
- 1939 - In a 7-3 loss to Philly, the Bucs set a club record with eight errors - 3B Frankie Gustine alone had three misplays - and every Philadelphia run was unearned. The game was the opener of a doubleheader at Forbes Field. The Pirates played flawlessly in the field during the nitecap to earn a split with a 10-1 victory. Bob Klinger not only tossed a four-hitter, but went 3-for-4 at the plate and scored twice. Paul Waner and Arky Vaughan homered.
- 1973 - Willie Stargell went 4-for-4 with a homer, triple, and two doubles good for four RBI as the Bucs beat the Mets 10-3 at TRS. Richie Zisk and Milt May both went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI each. Bruce Kison got the win and Chris Zachary earned a three-inning save. It put the Bucs up by 1-½ games, but they would lose the flag in the race no one wanted, winning just 80 games and finishing 2-½ games behind the Metropolitans.
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| Doc Medich 1976 Topps |
- 1976 - Behind Doc Medich and Dave Giusti’s combined six-hitter, the Bucs defeated the Mets 4-1 at Shea Stadium for their 18th win in 22 games. Frank Taveras’ two run single in the fifth was the telling blow. The win made the NL East race interesting. The Pirates cut Philadelphia’s lead down to three games, but it would be the closest they came as they finished with 92 wins, nine games behind the Phils.
- 1979 - The Pirates moved back into first with a 2-1 victory against their chief competitors, the Montreal Expos, in a game played in front of 54,609 fans at Olympic Stadium. Pittsburgh took the lead in the fifth when Dave Parker collected his second RBI of the day by scoring pitcher Don Robinson, who just beat the tag of Gary Carter. Robinson was strong on the hill, too, tossing a six-hitter and getting stronger as the game went on. In the final four frames, he surrendered just an infield single, and that runner was caught stealing. Still, it remained a see-saw race in the NL East; Pittsburgh didn’t take control of the standings for good until September 25th, and didn’t clinch the pennant until the final day of the campaign.
- 1991 - The Pirates pounded the Cubs 9-2 at TRS. Barry Bonds hit his 25th homer off former Buc Mike Bielecki and drove in a pair to become the eighth Bucco to have consecutive 100+ RBI campaigns. Steve Buechele drove in three runs with a 2B, 3B & sac fly, four different Pirates scored twice and Doug Drabek cruised to his 14th win with a ninth inning mop-up from Bob Patterson.
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| Jay Bell 1992 Topps |
- 1992 - It took thirteen innings, but the Pirates finally defeated the Montreal Expos 3-2 at TRS. Danny Cox, the Bucs’ sixth pitcher, got the win after Cecil Espy led off the 13th with a triple and scored on Jay Bell’s infield single to the SS hole. The game took four hours and 35 minutes to play, but was worth the time for Bell, who had two hits and ran his hitting streak, which had began on 8/24, to 22 games before the Phils’ Terry Mulholland stopped him the next night.
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