3/30 From 1950: Wild Opener; Omar, Ross, Ricardo & Meadows Join; RIP Deacon; HBD Mike & Dan

• 1952 - Deacon Phillippe passed away. The righty tossed 12 seasons (1900-11) for the Bucs with a 168-92-11/2.50 line, winning 20 games six times and never suffering through a losing season. He won three World Series games against Boston in 1903, beating Cy Young in the opener and tossing five complete games. Toward the end of his career, he worked six shutout innings in the 1909 Series against Detroit. In 1969, Pirates fans voted him as Pittsburgh's top all-time right-handed pitcher. 
• 1969 - Panamanian OF Omar Moreno was signed by the Pirates’ Howie Haak as a 16-year-old amateur free agent. Moreno, who was with the Pirates from 1975-82, led the 1979 World Series club in runs and hits. The speedster, known as The Antelope, set the single-season Pirates record for stolen bases with 96 in 1980, and his 412 steals with the team ranks third overall behind Max Carey and Honus Wagner. 

The Antelope 1981 Topps

• 1979 - LHP Mike Johnston was born in Philadelphia. A 20th round pick in the 1998 draft, he made his big league debut on April 7th, 2004, along with fellow farmhand Jose Castillo against the Phils; Mike got his first whiff and Jose his first hit. Johnston made it until June with the big club, being sent down after going 0-3/4.37. He made one more appearance in 2005 and that was his last MLB outing. He tore his labrum in 2006 at Indianapolis, missed 2007-08 and was released by the White Sox in 2009. Mike gave indie ball a final shot at age 33 in 2012 to close his career. 
• 1985 - LHP Dan Runzler was born in Santa Monica, California. He signed with the Bucs for the 2017 season and was a September call up, getting in eight games with no decisions and a 4.50 ERA after spending the summer at Indy. That was his last MLB duty; he’s been with Tampa, Boston and in the indie leagues since. 
• 1997 - The Pirates purchased LHP Ricardo Rincon from the Mexico City Reds. In 1997-98, he went 4-10-18/3.17 for the Bucs and was then traded to Cleveland for Brian Giles in one of Pittsburgh’s better baseball deals. He’ll be remembered here for combining with Francisco Cordoba on a 10-inning 1997 no-hitter. Ricardo played on the Mexican WBC teams in 2006 & 2009, retiring from the Mexican League in 2012. 
• 2002 - RHP Brian Meadows signed as a minor league free agent with the Pirates. He was called up mid-season and lasted four years with the club, converting from a starter to a reliever who made 133 appearances in his last two seasons with Pittsburgh. Meadows went 8-12-2 with a 4.20 ERA from 2002-05. He lasted one more year with Tampa Bay before retiring. 

Brian Meadows 2005 Fleer Tradition

• 2005 - The Bucs bought C David Ross from the Dodgers. Ross got into 40 games (35 behind the dish) and hit .222. It was fairly early in his 15-year career and he was just 28, but that made him the graybeard, behind 26-year-old Humberto Cota & a pair of 24-year-old up-and-comers, Ryan Doumit and Ronny Paulino. Ross was sent to San Diego at the deadline for SS JJ Furmaniak to help break the logjam. 
• 2018 - In their earliest-ever season opener (and it started even sooner the next year), the Pirates see-sawed to a 13-10 win over the Tigers at Comerica Park. Ivan Nova twice worked out of bases-loaded, no-out jams, but relievers Michael Feliz and Felipe Rivero were bashed for four runs each, Feliz in 2/3 IP and Rivero failing to get an out in the ninth, blowing a 10-6 lead and sending the game into extra innings. Josh Smoker and game-winner Steven Brault held off Motown until Gregory Polanco bashed a three-run homer in the 13th, set up by two-out singles by Adam Frazier and Josh Harrison. Frazier, Polanco and Josh Bell each had three hits; Harrison, Starling Marte and Fran Cervelli collected a pair of raps. El Coffee had four RBI while Bell and Cervy each knocked home three. Harrison and Polanco scored three times apiece. It was, unsurprisingly, the longest Opener in Bucco history, lasting five hours and 27 minutes.