6/18 From 1960: Big Debuts; Giusti Starts; Florida Foothold; Roberto Cover; Game Stories; HBD JB

• 1961 - C Don Leppert made his MLB debut a memorable one with a HR off the first pitch he faced as a big league ballplayer against Curt Simmons in a 5-3 win over Cards at Forbes Field in the opener of a DH. The feat wouldn’t be duplicated by another Bucco until 2012 when Starling Marte lifted one off Houston’s Dallas Keuchel at Minute Maid Park. The Bucs dropped the nightcap of the bargain bill by a 7-3 count. 
• 1966 - Roberto Clemente was a cover story (“Some Swinger”) for The Sporting News, tucked between Sandy Koufax and Juan Marichal. The blurb was a little misleading. The actual article was written by local TSN correspondent and Pittsburgh Press beat writer Les Biederman, titled "Clemente Uses Bat to Send ‘All Well’ Message to Family." And Roberto’s stick authored quite a compelling tale - Clemente won the league's MVP Award that season, hitting .317 with 29 home runs and 119 RBIs. 

• 1968 - Dock Ellis got a win in his major league debut as the Pirates came from behind twice to beat the LA Dodgers 3-2 in 10 innings at Forbes Field. Don Drysdale and Bob Moose started the affair that was finally decided when Matty Alou, batting cleanup, singled home Maury Wills, who had reached on an infield single and extended his hitting streak to 15 games. The Bucs tied the game in the eighth when Willie Stargell smacked a solo shot off reliever Jim Brewer. Dock gave up a hit and notched a K in a scoreless 10th inning for the win; Hank Aguirre took the loss. It was Pittsburgh’s seventh straight victory. 
• 1968 - Pittsburgh signed a 40-year lease with Bradenton to hold all its spring major & minor league training there beginning in 1969. The town promised the Pirates a stadium, motel, and field complex over 160 acres; the Bucs promised to hold spring training there, sponsor a GCL Rookie team and hold winter Instructional League competition there. The pairing worked out pretty well: The ballpark and minor league complex underwent $20 million in renovations after a new 30-year lease with the city was signed in 2008, so Pirates City with its Bradenton Marauders, GCL team and instructional league will continue to soak up the Sunshine State rays for the foreseeable future. 
• 1971 - The Pirates stormed back in the late innings to force the Montreal game into extra time and eventually took a 9-8 Friday night victory at TRS. The Pirates scored twice in the eighth on Al Oliver’s two-out single and four more times in the ninth when Bill Mazeroski singled home a run followed by back-to-back homers from Dave Cash and Richie Hebner off Mike Marshall. Cash had the walk-off winner when he singled home Gene Clines, who had led off the 11th frame with a triple off Claude Raymond, making Dave Giusti a winner. 
• 1973 - Dock Ellis was in command as he led the Bucs to a 3-1 win over the Cubs at TRS. The Docktor gave up just three hits, fanned eight and mowed down the last 18 Windy City batters for the complete game decision. The win came on the heels of 12-of-14 games losing streak that had prompted manager Bill Virdon to add a few exhortations and adages to his usual pre-game meeting with the club. The Pirates outhit the Cubs 12-3 but couldn’t wring a lead from Fergie Jenkins until back-to-back homers by Richie Hebner and Bob Robertson in the sixth.

The Docktor - 1973 Topps

• 1974 - Dave Giusti was tapped for his first start since 1970 after an injury to Larry Demery and spun seven shutout innings in a 2-0 win against the Dodgers at TRS, his first start since 1970. He had made 270 straight appearances from the pen prior to this game. He also got to toss the second game of a twin bill against the Expos on July 4th, also at TRS, and got no decision after seven innings of two-run, seven-hit ball in a game Bruce Kison won in relief, 3-2. Dave returned to the pen for the rest of his career after that outing. But he wasn’t pulled out of a hat: the Pirates had converted him to a relief role after he had spent several years as a starter for the Astros and split time as a reliever/starter for the Cards.
• 1987 - OF JB Shuck was born in Westerville, Ohio. He signed with the Bucs as a FA in January, 2019, after six seasons as mainly a bench piece in the majors. He broke camp with the team and was used as a defense-first OF’er and even pitched once, but after batting .213, he was sent to AAA Indy to serve as insurance in May. And talk about versatility - while with the Tribe, he was even groomed to pitch in a pinch.  
• 2005 - The Pirates whipped the Red Sox at Fenway Park by a 2-0 count, scoring single runs in the eighth and ninth on Humberto Cota and Ryan Doumit knocks. Three Bucco pitchers - Dave Williams, Rick White and Jose Mesa - combined on a six-hitter to stop Boston. 
• 2010 - The sad sack Pirates lost their 12th straight game by a 4-3 count to the almost equally inept Cleveland Indians at PNC Park. All the scoring was in the seventh inning, with the Bucs scoring on a bases loaded double by Ryan Church and the Tribe answering. The Pirates came back to take the next two games from the Indians, followed by a six-game losing streak. 
• 2013 - After a defeat at Cincy during which Andrew McCutchen was HBP and Neil Walker was knocked down, Charlie Morton plunked the first Red to step to plate and then led the Bucs to a 4-0 win at GABP. Morton and three relievers combined on a four-hitter. The Bucs never looked back, scoring three times in the first, keyed by a two-run, bases-loaded knock by Pedro Alvarez. 

Cervy - 2015 Topps Opening Day

• 2015 - Behind the pitching of Gerrit Cole, Arquimedes Caminero and Mark Melancon, the Bucs upended the Chicago White Sox 3-2 at US Cellular park. The Pirates scored three times in the first off an Andrew McCutchen RBI single and two-run homer by Jung-Ho Kang to win their eighth in row and their third straight series sweep. The victory was Cole’s MLB-leading 11th. It was also the sixth straight win by the Bucs when scoring three or fewer runs. Finally, it was a red letter day for C Francisco Cervelli. He caught his 56th consecutive scoreless inning, matching Ed Phelps' behind-the-plate shutout streak of 1903. 
• 2018 - Trevor Williams broke out of a weeks-long funk and spun a one-hit shutout with seven K over seven frames as the Bucs squeaked by the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 at PNC Park. Francisco Cervelli was the only guy to visit the sacks regularly in the contest with two hits and a walk; Pittsburgh’s score came on a Jordy Mercer double, which chased Cervy home, in the seventh frame. Kyle Crick worked a clean inning and Felipe Rivero closed it out.