6/8 From 1980: Rook's Walk; Cutch's 1st 4-Hitter; Walk Offs; Game Stories

• 1981 - The Pirates made Jim Winn, a RHP from Arkansas’ John Brown U, their #1 pick (#14 overall). He pitched from 1983-86 for Pittsburgh, mainly from the pen, with a 7-11-4/4.47 line. RHP Lee Tunnell was the second pick (#40 overall) and worked for the Bucs from 1982-85, going 17-24-1/4.06 primarily as a starter. Bip Roberts was drafted fifth; he didn’t sign and the Pirates redrafted him the following year. He was lost in the Rule 5 draft and went on to play 12 big league seasons, best known as a Padre. Three guys they drafted but couldn’t sign went on to productive MLB careers - OF Lance Johnson and RHPs Chris Boscio & Lance Bankhead. 

Jim Winn - 1986 Fleer

• 1989 - The Pirates sent up 16 batters and scored 10 runs in the top of the first inning against the Phils at Veterans Stadium, and TV announcer Jim Rooker said over the air “If we lose this game, I’ll walk home.” Well, Philly won 15-11, and Rook made good on his promise after the season, taking a 320 mile charity hike from the Vet in Philadelphia to Pittsburgh’s TRS. It was called “Jim Rooker’s Unintentional Walk” and raised an estimated $100K for Bob Prince Charities and Children’s Hospital. 
• 2002 - The Pirates walked off the Brewers, 9-8 in 11 innings, in front of 38,244 fans at PNC Park. Trailing 8-4 after six innings, the Bucs scored three runs in the seventh on a Brian Giles bomb and tied it in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Aramis Ramirez that scored Rob Mackowiak. Jack Wilson, who went 4-for-6 in the game, doubled to lead off the 11th inning and scored the game-winning run on a one-out single by Craig Wilson. Brian Boehringer, the Bucs fifth hurler, got the victory. 
• 2009 - Andrew McCutchen had his first MLB four-hit day at Turner Field against the Atlanta Braves in a 7-6 loss. He tripled twice, the first Pirate to bang a pair of three baggers in a game since Tike Redman in 2003. 
• 2010 - The Pirates were the first victims of the Nationals Stephen Strasburg, as he struck out 14, a Nat record, in winning his first MLB outing 5-2 at Nationals Park. He struck out every batter in the Pirates' lineup at least once and fanned the last seven batters he faced (another team record). Washington sent the cap he wore that night to the Hall of Fame. 

Cutch - 2011 Bowman

• 2011 - The Pirates rallied twice in extra innings to defeat the Arizona D-Backs 3-2 at PNC Park. Ex-Bucco Zach Duke started for the Snakes, and though he was touched up for nine hits, he only surrendered a run. Arizona pulled ahead 2-1 in the 10th, but Neil Walker singled home Cutch in the Pirate half to tie it. Daniel McCutchen tossed the 11th and 12th innings, and worked out of first-and-third situations in both frames; the jam in the 11th was with no outs, but he got a K and DP. In the bottom of the 12th, Cutch worked the count full before tucking a drive just inside the LF foul pole off Zach Kroenke to walk off with the win. Cutch was clutch all day, going 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. Tony Watson made his debut as a Pirate, striking out both batters he faced. He was traded in 2017 after 450 appearances, seventh most in franchise history. 
• 2018 - Roberto Clemente is still remembered in Pittsburgh; the latest memorial was finished on this day when artist Jeremy Raymer completed a two-story high mural of the Great One on the side of Verdetto’s bar & restaurant on North Side; the artwork on the Deutschtown establishment is visible from northbound Route 279.