Sunday, September 16, 2018

9/16 From the 60’s Forward: Rennie 7-for-7; Boot Hill; Veale 2-Hitter; Moose Fans 14; HBD Scott, Brandon, Mark & Michael; More

  • 1961 - RHP Scott Medvin was born in North Olmstead, Ohio. The Pirates picked up Scott (along w/Jeff Robinson) as part of the 1987 Rick Reuschel deal with the Giants. He worked from 1988-89 with the Bucs going 3-1/5.03 in 23 appearances from the pen. The Pirates sent him to Seattle for Lee Hancock, and he worked his final season for the M’s. 
Scott Medvin 1989 Topps
  • 1961 - C Mark Parent was born in Ashland, Oregon. Mark spent 13 years in the show as a back-up catcher with his busiest season in 1995 as a Bucco. He got into 69 games and amassed over 200 AB for the only time in his career that year, hitting .232 but with 15 HR. Mark was sent to the Cubs in late August, and he stayed in the show through the 1998 campaign. He’s spent most of his time since retiring as a minor league coach/manager, bouncing from system to system. 
  • 1962 - The San Francisco Giants scored three times off Al McBean and Roy Face in the eighth inning on a Willie Mays homer to tie the Bucs 4-4 at Forbes Field. The Pirates then stranded five runners in the eighth and ninth, but finally claimed the win in the 10th frame when pinch hitter Smoky Burgess launched a two-run shot off Stu Miller to give Joe Gibbon and Pittsburgh a 6-4 walk-off victory. Willie Stargell made his first MLB appearance in this game. It wasn’t very auspicious - he K’ed pinch hitting in the 10th, just before Smoky went long. 
  • 1963 - Bob Veale fired a two-hit shutout and needed to be every bit that good as he and the Bucs topped the Cubs and Larry Jackson 1-0 at Forbes Field. Big Bob also gave up two walks and whiffed nine; he didn’t allow a Cub runner until a fifth-inning free pass and didn’t give up a hit until the seventh. The Pirates collected eight hits off Jackson but couldn’t cash until the ninth. Ken Hubbs booted Roberto Clemente’s grounder, Donn Clendenon bunted him up and he flew home on Bill Mazeroski’s liner to left with the game’s only tally. 
Bob Moose 1970 Topps
  • 1969 - In front of a Connie Mack Stadium crowd that barely edged into four figures (1,169), Bob Moose set the record for whiffs by a Bucco righty when he sat down 14 Phillies in a 9-5 victory. The Export product struck out the side once and got a K in every frame. Jose Pagan and Matty Alou had three hits each while Pagan and Al Oliver homered. 
  • 1975 - Rennie Stennett matched a major league record by going 7-for-7 in a nine-inning game in Chicago at Wrigley Field (he tied Wilbert Robinson’s 1892 record). Rennie started off with two more hits the next game for nine knocks in a row. Dave Parker had five RBI while Richie Heber & Frank Taveras added three more; to add insult to injury, John Candelaria, Ken Brett and Ramon Harris spun a three-hitter. The 22-0 romp over the Cubs was the Pirates franchise’s biggest margin of victory and the most one-sided shutout in MLB history. 
  • 1982 - Utilityman Michael Martinez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The good glove, bad bat bench guy stopped in Pittsburgh in 2014 and hit just .128 in 26 games. Through the 2018 season, he’s played seven years for five teams, usually serving as a minor league insurance policy for the big club. 
Brandon Moss 2009 Topps Heritage
  • 1983 - 1B/OF Brandon Moss was born in Monroe, Georgia. Moss joined the Pirates from Boston as part of the Jason Bay package and from 2008-10 hit .228 in 195 games. He went on to have three solid years with the Oakland A’s, including an All-Star campaign in 2014 and has settled into a low batting average, 20+ HR bat since his Pittsburgh days during his 11-year, seven-team journey through the show. He was DFA’ed by the A’s this spring and is collecting on his contract which runs through the season; he’s considering retirement when it’s done. 
  • 1985 - The Pirates were charged with seven errors during an 8-4 loss to the Cards in front of just 3,601 at TRS. It was a bad day all around; the Bucs also lost the second game of the doubleheader 3-1 to be swept by St. Louis. The defeats dropped Pittsburgh to a 47-94 mark on their way to a last place finish and 104 losses. 
  • 2013 - San Diego's Andrew Cashner faced the minimum 27 Bucco batters as he one-hit the Pirates 2-0 at PNC Park. Jose Tabata broke up the perfect game with a seventh inning leadoff single; he was erased an out later on a 6-4-3 DP off the bat of Andrew McCutchen. The game was a scoreless duel into the seventh when three ground ball singles off AJ Burnett led to the Padres pair of runs.

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