8/31 From the 1990’s Forward: A-Ram Inked; Dunston, Morneau, Diaz Deals; Nicasio Cut; Game Stories

• 1991 - The Pirates rode six innings of perfect relief by Roger Mason, Bill Landrum and game winner Bob Kipper to a 3-2, 12-inning victory over San Diego at Jack Murphy Stadium. The Buc tallies came in the second on Barry Bonds’ two-run shot and a leadoff homer to left by Don Slaught off Jose Melendez in the 12th. 

A-Ram 1998 Bowman

• 1994 - In one of their better international deals, the Pirates signed 16-year-old Aramis Ramirez as an amateur free agent. A-Ram was the Pirates' last significant signing from the Dominican until the Rene Gayo era began a decade later. Ramirez had a pair of stints with the Bucs to open and close his career. 
• 1997 - The Bucs became buyers instead of sellers when they obtained SS Shawon Dunston from the Cubs for future considerations to bolster the chances of the “Freak Show” team sneaking into the playoffs after Kevin Polcovich injured his ankle. Dunston hit .394 with five homers, but after an 18-game Bucco career was lost to the Indians in free agency after the season. He was a pretty good Plan B; the Pirates had first cast their eyes toward former Pittsburgh SS Jay Bell, but the Royals wanted more in return than the FO was willing to give. 
• 1999 - The Bucs provided lots of late-inning drama while topping the Rox at Coors Field in 10 innings by a 9-8 score. Kevin Young gave the Bucs an 8-4 lead with a two-out, first-pitch grand slam down the LF line in the ninth. In the bottom half, six straight runners reached off Mike Williams to make the score 8-8, but Angel Echevarria was thrown out at home by Brian Giles to keep the game knotted. The Bucs came up with four hits and a walk in the tenth, but could only tally a run to take a shaky lead. With two away for Colorado, Dante Bichette singled off Jose Silva and was waved around on Vin Castilla’s double to left center, but was cut down by Al Martin to Mike Benjamin to Keith Osik (7-6-2) to preserve the win. 

Kevin Young 1999 Pacific

• 2008 - Milwaukee thumped the Bucs, 7-0, for Pittsburgh's 10th loss in a row. Ricky Weeks led off with a homer at PNC Park and it went downhill from there. The big story was CC Sabathia’s one-hitter; the lone rap was a weakly-hit fifth-inning grounder by Andy LaRoche that Sabathia dropped; the scorer, much to the chagrin of manager Ned Yost, ruled it a hit (and not unreasonably). Yost felt that CC had fired a no-hitter and even filed an unsuccessful appeal over the ruling. CC blamed himself for the controversy, telling ESPN "The ball was still rolling and I probably should have picked it up with my glove...I think if I pick it up with my glove, I get him." 
• 2011 - Pittsburgh shipped OF Matt Diaz to the Braves for a PTBNL, P Eliecer Cardenas, who was quickly released. Diaz hit .259 in his brief spell as a Buc and spent two more bench years before hanging up his spikes after the 2013 season. 
• 2013 - The Pirates pulled off their second trade of the week, picking up 1B Justin Morneau from Minnesota for OF Alex Presley and a PTBNL (RHP Duke Welker). They celebrated by going out and whipping the Cardinals, 7-1, at PNC Park to retake the NL Central lead behind AJ Burnett. Russ Martin had the big bop, a three-run homer, while Neil Walker added three knocks. Morneau was ready to rep; although not needed for this battle, he arrived in mid-game after flying in from Texas. Justin hit .260 w/.370 OBP during the month, but his lack of power (0 HR, 4 2B, 92 PA) led the Bucs to let him walk the following year. 

Juan Nicasio 2016 (image from Positively Pittsburgh)

• 2017 - In an unusual move, RHP Juan Nicasio was placed on irrevocable waivers and claimed by the Phillies on his birthday. It was odd because Nicasio was a solid eighth-inning set-up guy (2-5-2, 22 holds, 2.86 ERA in 65 games w/60 K in 60 IP) who the Pirates let go for nothing. Nicasio was a FA after the season and unlikely to have been retained, but the Bucs, who were still hanging around in July when they could have traded him with no strings attached, kept Nicasio and then tried to slip him through trade waivers when the team faded. In some one-upmanship, Juan was claimed by the Chicago Cubs to block him from going to another contender. So the FO pulled him back and later put him on the waiver wire, saving some cash ($600K owed for September), opening up his spot to audition for 2018, and finally to reward Juan with a “better situation” (ie, joining a playoff contender) that was foiled by Philadelphia, the NL’s worst team, but rectified when they dealt him to St. Louis.