- 1908 - In much ado over nothing, Vic Willis and the NY Giants Hooks Wiltsie battled to a 2-2 tie at the Polo Grounds after 16 frames as the game called because of darkness. The Pittsburgh Press called it “A fitting finish to a great baseball series. Willis and Wiltse pitched high class baseball and their comrades supported them in grand style. The twirlers were cheered to the echo on leaving the slab after innings of excitement where they had baffled their foes.” The Pirates had taken 2-of-3 against their rivals while drawing 70,000 fans during the four-game series, a huge gate for old-timey baseball.
- 1932 - Pittsburgh swept a twin bill from the NY Giants‚ winning 10-7 and 9-1. Earl Grace had three hits and three RBI during the lidlifter to pace the Pirate attack. Paul Waner and Adam Comorosky also had three raps as the Bucs banged out 16 hits, 14 of which were singles. Erv Brame got the win in relief of Steve Swetonic while Larry French picked up the save. In the nitecap, Tony Piet smacked a grand slam and three-run homer to go along with two more hits for a seven RBI, three-run day to plow the road for Heinie Meine.
- 1940 - The Pirates won their eighth of nine games and fifth in a row after sweeping Boston at Braves Field by 5-2 and 7-3 scores. Maurice Van Robays was the hero of the opening match, homering and driving in three runs to give Dick Lanahan all the support he needed. The Bucs used a balanced attack to support Max Butcher’s four-hitter in the nitecap.
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| Al McBean 1968 Topps |
- 1968 - Al McBean had one of those can-do-no-wrong Sundays. He gave up 13 hits to the Cards at Forbes Field, but still went the distance for a 7-1 win. The big blow? McBean’s grand slam in the fifth off Larry Jaster, coming with two down after Milt May was walked to get to Alvin. He also had fun on the hill, tossing several blooper pitches to the Giants. Donn Clendenon added a two run blast to the cause. McBean became one of five Pirates pitchers in franchise history to bang out a grand slam.
- 1971 - Luke Walker spun a four-hit, complete game whitewash at Los Angeles in a 4-0 win at Dodger Stadium. Bob Robertson homered and had a sac fly to bring home two runs. The Bucs nickled and dimed the Dodgers; every position player had a hit, four different guys scored and three had RBI as the club put up their runs one at a time in four different frames.
- 1977 - Twelve Bucco batters reached against Dan Larsen of the Astros in the first two innings (Pittsburgh rattled off six straight hits in the first frame alone) to open up a 5-1 lead and added on thanks to a Bill Robinson grand slam to claim a 9-4 decision over Houston at TRS. Robinson had three hits while Phil Garner, Dave Parker, Al Oliver and Ed Ott added a pair of knocks to back a sometimes shaky Jim Rooker (he gave up nine hits, including a pair of long balls), who went tape-to-tape for the win. Pittsburgh was en fuego at home; the victory gave them a 38-14 record at Three Rivers for the year.
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| Barry Bonds 1987 Toys R Us |
- 1987 - Barry Bonds hit 176 homers while wearing the Bucco colors, but only one was an inside-the-park job. In an otherwise blah 5-2 loss to the Phillies at TRS, rookie Bonds drilled a two out liner to right off Shane Rawley that kicked around, allowing him and Junior Ortiz to score the only Pirate tallies of the day. "Glenn Wilson tried to cut the ball off and missed it," Rawley recalled for the AP. "It rolled around the corner and ricocheted all the way around. By the time he got the ball, there was no way to get Barry." The hit was payback for Bonds, who Rawley had plunked twice. It was the first of three Bonds’ homers that didn’t clear the fence among his 762 long flies. The other two were hit in 1997 with the Giants.
- 1996 - Orlando Merced hit two home runs and tallied four RBI while Al Martin & Mark Johnson had four hits each as the Bucs beat the Phillies 12-8 at TRS. Reliever John Ericks took home the win of the nationally televised ESPN Sunday Night Baseball match. It would be the last SNB appearance for the Bucs until 2014.
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