8/11 From 1960 Through the 1980’s: TSN Stargell; Walk Offs; Game Stories; HBD Melky, Al & Andrew

• 1960 - IF Al Pedrique was born in Valencia, Venezuela. He was a utilityman for the Pirates from 1987-88 while batting .259. Al’s managed in the minors since his retirement, and he had short stints as Arizona’s third base coach and interim skipper. 

Jerry Lynch - 1964 Kahn's Wieners

• 1963 - The Houston Colt .45s were a batter away from victory at Forbes Field, but Roberto Clemente and Jerry Lynch turned the tables to give the Bucs a 2-1 walk off win. Knuckleballer Skinny Brown, who had scattered six hits through the first eight innings, retired the first two Pirates in the ninth, but The Great One kept Pittsburgh alive with a ground ball single to right. Pinch hitter Lynch took the next flutterer from Brown and planted it in the right field stands to give ElRoy Face the win in relief of Joe Gibbons. The Bucs had the number of the second-year Colts; the win was the 11th in 14 meetings with Space City. 
• 1966 - The Pirates scored three times in the ninth to defeat the NY Mets at Forbes Field by a 7-5 tally. Down 5-4 going into their last at-bats, Matty Alou opened with a single and was bunted to second. Roberto Clemente singled him home to tie the game, and Willie Stargell launched a bomb to win it. ElRoy Face picked up the win as the last of four relievers who tossed six scoreless innings against the Mets. 
• 1977 - Pittsburgh rolled over the NY Mets 9-1 at TRS as Odell Jones tossed a five-hitter. Bill Robinson homered, doubled and drove in four runs. Rennie Stennett went 4-for-4 and Phil Garner 3-for-4. The Cobra, Dave Parker, added a pair of hits to record his second 22 game hitting streak of the season. He had lesser streaks just before and after this one; he banged out hits in 41-of-44 games between July 4th and August 23rd. 
• 1979 - The Pirates overcame an 8-0 deficit in the fifth to rally past the Phillies 14-11 at Veterans Stadium. All but one of the Pirates 14 runs came home with two outs, as did 17 of their 23 hits. Ed Ott had four hits to lead Pittsburgh, including an eighth-inning grand slam off Tug McGraw, to go with three knocks from Omar Moreno, Tim Foli, Willie Stargell, John Milner and Bill Madlock. Moreno and Dave Parker homered for the Bucs. 
• 1979 - Willie Stargell was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Sonic Boomer.” He was a boomer in the ‘79 season, going long 32 times for his highest HR production since 1973 and adding five more homers (and two MVP’s) during the NLCS and World Series. 

• 1984 - OF Melky Cabrera was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. As a 34-year-old veteran of 14 seasons and seven teams, he signed a minor league deal ($1.15M MLB salary) with the Bucs in 2019 and broke camp as an extra outfielder. His defense was a bit suspect, but with a lifetime .286 BA and 103 OPS+, the switch hitter’s bat was as steady as ever. 
• 1986 - The Cubs used a record 10 pitchers in a 17-inning, 10-8, loss to the Pirates, which used seven hurlers of their own. The game at Wrigley Field was a continuation of an April 20th game that was postponed due to darkness. Winner Barry Jones‚ who struck out the side to end the game‚ and Barry Bonds‚ who had the game winning RBI‚ were both still in the minors when the original game started. 
• 1988 - OF Andrew Lambo was born in Newbury Park, California. He joined the Bucs at the 2010 deadline in a deal with the LA Dodgers that also netted P James McDonald. Lambo got three cups of coffee with the Pirates from 2013-15 and hit .191; though a solid performer in the minors, he could never stay healthy long enough to win a MLB spot.