7/13 TRS-PNC Park Era: Hans All-Century; Littlefield Era; Ritchie 1-Hitter; Game Stories; HBD Ryan, Rich, Clint & Casey

• 1971 - 1B/OF Rich Aude was born in Van Nuys, California. Aude began as a second round pick of the Pirates out of HS in 1989, signing for $80K. A big kid at 6’5”, Rich flashed some power in the minors, but during his stints with the Bucs (1993, 1995-96) he hit two homers in 151 AB, with a .225 BA. He hung around in the minors until 1999 and then became a scout for Tampa Day with Delmon Young among his discoveries. 

Rich Aude 1995 Bowman

• 1972 - RHP Clint Sodowsky was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma. He tossed for the Bucs in the middle of a five-year career, going 2-2, 3.63 in 45 appearances in 1997. It was his best big league season and after struggling at Arizona and St. Louis, he toiled in the minors and indie ball through 2006. 
• 1978 - OF Ryan Ludwick was born in Satellite Beach, Florida. The 32-year-old vet was purchased from San Diego at the 2011 deadline to bolster a playoff run that fizzled badly; he hit .232 with two homers in his brief Bucco stay. He left after the season to join the Reds, where he ended his playing days after the 2014 campaign. Ludwick is now a roving hitting coach for St. Louis’ minor league teams. 
• 1983 - The Bucs raced ahead of the Giants 5-0, but frittered away the lead by the ninth to fall behind 6-5 at Candlestick Park. With two down and Greg Minton on the hill, Johnny Ray bombed a tying homer to right, then the baseball gods smiled. Mike Easler hit a drive the opposite way that would have hit off the wall, but as LF Jeffrey Leonard tried for a leaping catch, the ball ticked off his glove and cleared the fence to give The Hit Man a game-winning four bagger. Kent Tekulve pitched a clean ninth to save the game for Manny Sarmiento. It gave the Pirates a three game sweep of San Francisco on their way to a 9-1 West Coast swing. 

Don Robinson 1984 Topps

• 1984 - The Pirates swept the Giants in a TRS twi-lite (it started at 5:05) double-dipper by 8-2 and 4-3 scores. The first game featured four RBI from Lee Lacy and three hits from Lee Mazzilli as John Candelaria got the win with help from Kent Tekulve. For Candyman, it was his 12th consecutive July win. The second one, well, that W was little tougher to come by - it went 18 innings and five hours, 11 minutes before Jason Thompson’s knock chased Mazzilli home with the game winner. It was Thompson’s second RBI; Jim Morrison also had two RBI while Tony Pena collected three hits and scored twice. The two teams used nine pitchers; Teke gave up runs in the eighth and ninth to let the G-Men knot the score. The bullpens ruled; San Francisco’s pen tossed 10 shutout innings; the Bucco relief corp put up nine zippos, seven by Don Robinson. The game ended at 1:32 AM; the Zambelli fireworks promised were still shot off, much to the dismay of the good ‘Burgers who were try to catch some shuteye - and per the Pittsburgh Press, most of the 22,176 stayed to the end to catch the whole shebang. 
• 1990 - RHP Casey Sadler was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Drafted in the 25th round of the 2010 draft, he worked seven games (one start) for the Pirates in 2014-15, slashing 1-1/6.46. Sadler missed the 2016 season due to TJ surgery and is hurling again at Indy this year after moving through Bradenton & Altoona in 2017 after he recovered. 
• 1999 - Honus Wagner was named a member of the All-Century team selected by fan vote and introduced at the All-Star game. Wagner came in fourth in the vote, but was included as a legend. Local players included on the ballot of the Greatest 100 Players were area Negro League standouts Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell and Josh Gibson, along with Buccos Wagner, Hank Greenberg, Pie Traynor, Barry Bonds, Roberto Clemente, Ralph Kiner, Willie Stargell and Paul Waner. 

Honus Wagner 2009 Topps Legends of the Game

• 2001 - Todd Ritchie lost a no hitter against the Royals when Luis Alicea bounced a one-out ninth-inning single through the infield. In the bottom half of the frame, Aramis Ramirez singled through a drawn-in infield to score Brian Giles for a 1-0 win at PNC Park. It was the Bucs second consecutive shutout win. Jimmy Anderson and Mike Williams had combined for a 2-0 sparkler over KC the day before, with Kevin Young’s two-run homer being the difference maker. 
• 2001 - Dave Littlefield began his term as GM, replacing Cam Bonifay. Hampered by ongoing financial restraints, he was noted for a stretch of losing seasons and the erosion of both the farm system and the Latino player market, although he did have some successes. He drafted Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker and hired Rene Gayo to scout Latin America. Littlefield was fired in 2007 and eventually replaced by Neal Huntington.