5/16 From 1956: Kramer 1-Hitter; Maz's 1st Pinch Hit; Leyland Returns; Game Stories; HBD Bob & Natural

• 1957 - The Pirates beat the Braves 2-1 at County Stadium behind Bob Friend’s pitching and a Roberto Clemente homer. The Braves got the tying run aboard via an error in the ninth, but future Bucco skipper and then Brave Chuck Tanner missed a bunt sign and bounced into a 4-6-3 DP. The next pair of Bravos singled, but Del Crandall flew out to close out the contest. 

Bob Patterson 1992 Score

• 1959 - RHP Bob Patterson was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He pitched from 1986-92 for the Bucs in many roles, putting up a record of 25-21-17/3.97 in Pittsburgh. The righty appeared in five NLCS games, with a save and 1.93 ERA. He tossed for 13 MLB seasons, and started up a cottage industry while hanging out in the bullpen; Patterson became the “Glove Doctor.” Players from his team and around the league would ask Patterson to repair their mangled mitts, and Bob would spend his time in the bullpen patching leather. 
• 1959 - OF Mitch “The Natural” Webster was born in Larned, Kansas. Webster spent 13 seasons in the show as a good glove guy; in 1991, he played for three teams, with the middle one being the Pirates, hitting just .175 after 97 at-bats. Mitch became a Bucco when Mike York was sent to Cleveland for his services, then he was later flipped to the Dodgers for Jose Gonzalez. He coached and scouted for the Dodgers for nearly two decades before joining the Royals as a regional supervisor in 2009. He got his nickname after homering in four straight games for the Expos in 1986. 
• 1970 - Bill Mazeroski's ninth inning single led to a 4-3 Pirate win over the Expos at Forbes Field. It was Maz's first ever pinch-hit knock in a big league career that began in 1956. Bob Robertson had a big day at the dish, falling a single short of hitting for the cycle. Luke Walker, the Pirates third pitcher, earned the win. 
• 1989 - Randy Kramer shut out the Reds 5-0 at Riverfront Stadium. The rookie righty tossed one of the gems of Bucco history; the only hit he surrendered was to Ron Oester, who doubled with two outs in the eighth. Rey Quinones led the attack, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. 

Randy Kramer 1989 Donruss

• 1995 - Denny Neagle, Jim Gott and Dan Maceli combined to shut out LA 2-0 at Dodger Stadium. Dave Clark drove in both runs with a homer and single. The game was one of four scoreless contests in the NL, the first time there had been that many goose eggs posted in a single day in the past five years. 
• 1997 - Jim Leyland returned to TRS for the first time wearing a uniform other than that of the Pirates. Leyland, who spent 11 seasons as skipper in Pittsburgh before leaving in 1996, and his Marlins beat the Pirates 3-1 on the way to a three game sweep, the Fish’s first ever at Pittsburgh. The Bucs weren’t the only team he beat on that year; Florida won the World Series, a feat Leyland couldn’t pull off in the Steel City. 
• 2013 - Led by Travis Snider, who went 3-for-5 with a homer, three RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base, the Pirates defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-1, at PNC Park. He had a lot of help as Starling Marte, Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones and Russ Martin each chipped in two hits. Frankie Liriano got the win, with late support from Justin Wilson, Bryan Morris and Jose Contreras. It was an early leg of a 11-of-14 winning romp by the Bucs, who would finally break out of the doldrums and snap a 20-year losing streak by earning a playoff spot with a 94-win campaign.