9/20 from the 1980’s Forward: High on Cocaine; Triple Nyjer; Bonus Wins; HBP Steve; Game Stories

• 1984 - With a crowd of 33,651 Cub fans at Wrigley Field, Chicago passed the 2M mark in attendance for the first time in its history. But Pittsburgh ruined the big day as the Pirates overcame a 6-2 deficit to rally past the Bruins by a 7-6 score. Jim Morrison was the offensive spark plug, hitting a homer, driving in a pair and scoring a pair to lead a balanced Bucco attack. Lee Smith lost to Kent Tekulve with John Candelaria chipping in with the save. 

Jim Morrison 1984 Donruss

• 1985 - A federal jury in Pittsburgh convicted Curtis Strong of 11 counts of cocaine distribution after hearing evidence in the “Pittsburgh Coke Trial.” Prominent players who were granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony included Dave Parker‚ Lonnie Smith‚ Keith Hernandez and Tim Raines. Peter Ueberroth, the commissioner, pushed through the beginnings of MLB drug testing because of the trial and its stain on MLB. 
• 1988 - IF Steve Lombardozzi Jr. was born in Fulton, Maryland. Now a six year vet, with a couple of seasons of regular time with the Nats, Lombardozzi was purchased by the Pirates in 2015. The jack-of-all-trades played mostly at AAA Indianapolis, but did see some big league time with the Bucs, going 0-for-10. He got a sip of coffee at Miami in 2017 and spent this season in the Oakland system. Junior is the son of former MLB second baseman Steve Lombardozzi. 
• 1992 - It was a struggle, but the Bucs finally dispatched Philadelphia by a 3-2 tally after 13 innings at TRS. The Phils scored twice on solo homers while the Bucs cashed in on a pair of sac flies. Jeff King brought home the winner when his single off Keith Shepherd plated Cecil Espy to give Roger Mason, the Pirates sixth pitcher, the win. The Phillies blew a couple of opportunities, going 0-for-8 w/RISP. The Bucs trumped them despite 2B Mickey Morandini's unassisted triple play, the first NL player to pull one off in 65 years. He snagged a line drive off of the bat of King, touched second to force Andy Van Slyke, and tagged out Barry Bonds, who was on the move from first base. 

Roger Mason 1992 Fleer Ultra

• 2000 - The Pirates scored three times in the 10th inning thanks to long balls by Emil Brown and Adam Hyzdu, then hung on for dear life in a 7-6 win at Veterans Stadium. With two runs in for the Phils, runners on the corners and one away in the the tenth, Mike Williams got 2B Marlon Anderson to bang into a game saving 4-6-3 DP. 
• 2007 - For the second straight night, Nyjer Morgan led off the game against San Diego with a triple, the first time in five years that feat had been pulled off in the NL. Though he scored both times, the Pirates couldn’t hold either lead and lost 5-3 and 6-3 decisions to the Padres at Petco Park. 
• 2013 - The Bucs started off on fire when Jose Tabata and Neil Walker led off the game with homers for the fourth time in club history, and the Pirates were cruising along when Francisco Liriano K'ed Chris Heisey in the eighth for his 1,000th strikeout, also setting the team record for K's at 1,193, breaking last year's mark. But the 5-2 lead wasn’t enough to hold off the Cincinnati Reds, who scored three unearned runs in the ninth thanks to a two-out error by Jordy Mercer. Cincy won in the 10th on a wrong-way home run by Joey Votto that just dropped over the fence and a few feet inside the LF pole to stun the Bucs at PNC Park 6-5, tying the teams for second place in the NL Central and the home wildcard spot with eight games left.