5/13: Necciai's 27 Ks; Groat 6-for-6; Reuss 12 K Day; 3,000 for Stan the Man; HBD Max, Jack, Bill, Leroy, Bullet & Jimmy

• 1883 - C Jimmy Archer was born in Dublin, Ireland. He played for five different clubs during his career, starting out and then playing his last year in Pittsburgh, first in 1904 as a rookie and then again in 1918. Archer was a strong armed catcher (his throwing strength was a trademark of Archer’s play; one bio credited it to shortened arms muscles caused by a teenage work accident) who often threw out would be base stealers from a squat. In his two stints with the Pirates, he only got into 31 games and hit .154 but posted a career .249 BA. He retired and became a purchaser for Armour meats. Jimmy made the news as a hero in 1931 when he revived a pair of drivers who had been overcome by carbon dioxide while idling their rigs in the Union Stockyards. 
• 1886 - RHP Frank “Bullet” Miller was born in Salem, Michigan. Miller tossed for the Pirates from 1916-19 and put up a 41-49-2/2.75 slash. Miller sat out two full seasons (1920-21) when the Pirates wouldn’t meet his salary demands, working his farm instead. He did eventually return to baseball when the Boston Braves paid the 36 year-old $7,500 in 1922, but hung up the spikes and returned to farming after two more seasons. His nickname was a nod to his fastball.

Howie Camnitz 1915 Cracker Jacks

• 1908 - The Pirates topped the Giants and Christy Mathewson 5-1 behind Howie Camnitz, handing Matty his first loss of the year. Tommy Leach led the attack with a pair of triples. The game at Exposition Park took just 85 minutes to play. 
• 1909 - SS Leroy Morney was born in Oak Forest, Illinois. Morney had brief local stops in 1933 with the Homestead Grays (one of three teams he played for that season) and with the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1934. Leroy had happy feet, playing for 15 teams in a 14-year career as a heavy-hitting shortstop who was named to three Negro League All-Star games. 
• 1910 - Umpire Bill McKinley was born in Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County. He was an AL umpire from 1946-65, making the calls in 2,977 regular season games, four World Series and three All-Star Games. After his retirement (mandatory when he hit age 55), he later served as umpire-in-chief of the short-lived 1969 Global League. 
• 1931 - C Jack Shepherd was born in Clovis, California. Signed out of Stanford in 1953, his first full season was the following year when he hit .304 and was a member of The Sporting News All-Rookie team. He played for Pittsburgh through 1956, compiling a lifetime .260 BA; he retired in 1957 to devote his efforts to a career in business. 

Ron Necciai 1994 Upper Deck

• 1952 - RHP Ron Necciai of Gallatin struck out 27 batters while throwing a 7-0 no-hitter for the Bristol Twins, the Pirates' Class D Appalachian League team, against the Welch Miners. Four hitters reached base against him, via a walk, an error, a hit batsman and a passed ball on a swinging third strike that resulted in a four-strikeout ninth inning. Only two batters put the ball in play: a grounder to first base in the second inning and an error in the ninth. Necciai pitched for the Bucs later in the year, but a torn rotator cuff and recurring ulcers limited him to that one MLB season. 
• 1958 - A quick shout-out to the original kid from Donora: the Card’s Stan Musial got his 3,000th hit with a pinch hit double off the Cub's Moe Drabowsky at Wrigley Field. 
• 1960 - Dick Groat became the first NL player since Connie Ryan in 1953 to go 6-for-6 as Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee 8-2 at County Stadium. He collected three doubles and three singles. Four other Bucs had two-hit days as Bob Friend cruised to the win. 
• 1975 - Jerry Reuss fanned a career-high 12 batters while tossing a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres at Three Rivers Stadium. Frank Tavares tripled home Paul Popovich for the first run, and the Bucco insurance came in when Manny Sanguillen’s sac fly brought home Reuss, who had singled to start the frame. 

Jerry Reuss 1975 SSPC

• 1988 - Barry Bonds hit a leadoff homer for the second day in a row, a feat accomplished by his dad Bobby in 1973. It came in handy as the Bucs held off the Reds 6-5 at TRS. Bonds scored the winner in the ninth. He led off with a single and came all the way around when 1B Dave Collins threw away Jose Lind’s sac bunt trying for the force at second. 
• 1992 - The Pirates coughed up an eight run cushion after leading 10-2 in the fourth inning when the game was tied after a four run Brave eighth. The club saved face in the ninth thanks to a Jay Bell homer off Alejandro Pena to escape with an 11-10 verdict at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. Bell had four RBI, Steve Buechele added three more and Stan Belinda, who gave up a three-run shot to Terry Pendleton the inning prior, worked the ninth for the win. 
• 1993 - IF Max Moroff was born in Winter Haven, Florida. He was a 16th round draft pick in 2012 out of high school, and got on the radar in 2015 when he was named an Eastern League & Baseball America AA All-Star while honored as the Pirates Minor League Player of the Year. The switch hitter made his cup-of-coffee Bucco debut in 2016, played on the big club the following season starting in May, and answered the call in 2018 in mid-April when Josh Harrison went down with a broken hand. 

Adam LaRoche 2009 Topps Heritage

• 2009 - The Pirates beat the Cardinals 5-2 at PNC Park. Adam LaRoche made history when he had a first-inning home run call reversed by instant replay. It was the first time in 14 reviews that a homer had been overruled since instant replay started in 2008. He was instead awarded a double. The Bucs didn’t clear the fences that night, but did bang out five two-baggers. Jack Wilson led the hit parade with three knocks while Ross Ohlendorf got the win and Matt Capps picked up the save.9 batter with a 49% throw-out rate against base swipers.