7/3 From 1960: Long Balls; Roberto, Steve Cover Boys; HBD Moises, Eddie & Cole

• 1966 - OF Moises Alou was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Alou was the second overall pick of the 1986 draft by the Pirates and a good one, although his Pirate career consisted of just five at-bats in 1990. Moise was the PTBNL in the Zane Smith deal with Montreal later that season; Smith helped the Pirates win the pennant while Alou went on to a sterling MLB career. He played for 17 seasons with a BA of .303, 2,134 hits, 332 home runs, 1,287 RBI and six All-Star berths. Alou holds the record for stringing together a 30-game hitting streak for the Mets in 2007, the longest for a 40-year-old player in MLB history. Moises, a member of the storied Alou baseball family, also got to play under his dad, Felipe, who managed from 1992-96 with the Expos. 

Moises Alou - 1990 Score Rookie

• 1967 - Willie Stargell’s estimated 500’ home run (it landed in the little league field behind the LC wall, which is still there today) helped the Pirates to a 5-2 win over Don Drysdale and the LA Dodgers at Forbes Field. Pops had two round trippers and three hits, Bill Mazeroski added a pair of knocks and three RBI and Gene Alley doubled twice. Tommie Sisk went the distance for the win, spinning a five hitter. 
• 1967 - Roberto Clemente was featured as the cover story of Sports Illustrated in an article titled “The Big Hitters Are Back.” Pretty good choice - The Great One had 209 hits and a league-leading .357 BA, with 23 HR, 110 RBI, 103 RS and an OPS of .954. 
• 1970 - The Bucs bashed six homers to outlast the Cubs 16-14 at Wrigley Field. Roberto Clemente and Gene Alley each had a pair of bombs and four RBI each, while Al Oliver and Bill Mazeroski also went yard. The two clubs banged out 40 hits and went through a dozen pitchers before Dave Giusti struck out Ron Santo to end it with the tying runs aboard for Chicago. Needless to say, the wind was blowing out in Chicago at 15 MPH. The Cubs added a pair of long flies and five doubles during the souvenir hunters happy hour. 
• 1972 - Steve Blass was featured as the cover story of Sports Illustrated in an article titled “League Leader.” Steverino had a great season, making the All-Star team and going 19-8 with a 2.49 ERA, but would be struck down by the "Blass disease" the following year. 

Eddie Volquez - 2014 Topps First Edition

• 1983 - RHP Edinson Volquez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Eddie had a rebound season with the Buccos in 2014, going 13-7/3.04 after signing a one year/$5M contract. As a free agent after the season, he landed a two-year deal with the Royals worth $20M, then moved to the Marlins and later, the Rangers on a minor-league deal after TJ surgery. 
• 1987 - Bobby Bonilla became the first Pirate to homer from both sides of the plate in a 6-0 win against Los Angeles at TRS, collecting five RBI. Rick Reuschel tossed a five-hit shutout for the victory. 
• 1996 - SS Cole Tucker was born in Phoenix, Arizona. A first round pick in 2014 from Mountain Pointe HS ($1.8M bonus), he rose steadily through the ranks when he was beckoned to the big team in late April of 2019 after starting SS Eric Gonzalez broke his collarbone. He was rushed to the bigs; his glove was ready, but he only had 13 AAA games before reaching the majors, and it showed at the dish. However, he did homer in his first MLB game, banging a two-run homer that proved the game-winner. He was sent back to Indy after an extended look in Pittsburgh, batting .196 after 146 PA’s, to sharpen his eye. 
• 2012 - Journeyman Drew Sutton was the hero of the day. He hit a walk-off homer, his first long ball since 2010 and one of his three knocks on the day, off Wesley Wright’s hung slider to give the Bucs an 8-7 win over the Astros at PNC Park. Pittsburgh battled back from a sixth inning 6-2 deficit against their favorite whipping boys to take a late lead and earn the win for Joel Hanrahan, who had blown the save in the ninth when he gave up a two-out double to Jason Castro. The victory moved the Pirates into a tie for first in the NL Central. As for Drew, he went 3-for-4 and lifted his BA to .360. 

Drew Sutton 2012 - photo Justin Alter/Getty

• 2013 - Jeff Locke won his eighth straight decision by a 6-5 score over the Phils at PNC Park. Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-3 with two walks while Pedro Alvarez hit a three-run homer in support. Locke put together his streak over 16 starts (the Pirates were 1-7 in the games he started w/o a decision) and lowered his ERA from 4.09 to 2.12 during his streak before losing his next outing to Oakland 2-1.