9/15 From 1940 Through the 1960’s: Super Steverino; Merson Riot; Alous United; Game Stories; RIP Tiny; HBD Dave, Dennis & Rich

• 1949 - RHP Dave Pagan was born in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. The reliever finished his career with one Pirates outing in 1977, tossing three scoreless frames in 1977 to close out a five-year MLB stand. He spent the next two years at AAA and retired. He found his new calling in lumber and woodworking in his native town, and keeps his hand in Nipawin sports, curling, umpiring and still pitches when the local sandlot teams get together. He was elected to the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. 

Dave Pagan - 1977 Topps

• 1949 - RHP Ernest “Tiny” Bonham died 18 days after pitching his final game as a Buc, an 8-2 win over the Phils. Tiny - who was 6’2”, 215 lb. - passed on at the age of 36, following an appendectomy and stomach surgery; the docs discovered he had cancer. Chet Smith of the Pittsburgh Press wrote, "No more lovable guy than Ernie Bonham ever pitched a baseball and you can put that in the official score." He tossed three years for the Pirates (1947-49), going 24-22, after spending his first seven years with the Yankees and was twice named an All-Star. 
• 1951 - The seventh-place Bucs defeated the league-leading Brooklyn Dodgers, an oddly regular occurrence in an otherwise down year for Pittsburgh. As Les Beiderman of the Pittsburgh Press wrote “Johnny Merson, playing in just his second major league game, staged a one-man riot at Forbes Field as the Pirates made the league-leading Dodgers dance to an 11-4 tune to the accompaniment of cheers of the 11,098 faithful. The 27 year old Merson...fired two singles, a double and a triple and drove in six big runs as the Pirates became the only team in the league to wind up with a seasons edge on the Dodgers, 12-10.” Frank Thomas added three hits including a homer to back up Mel Queen, who got the win with some strong relief work by Ted Wilks. The Bucs finished the year 64-90 and their showing against da Bums (the Dodgers were one of just two teams the Bucs had a winning campaign against) probably cost Brooklyn the pennant as they finished one game behind the NY Giants after losing the Bobby Thompson “shot heard ‘round the world” playoff game. As for Merson, he hit .360 in 13 games as a September call up, but batted just .246 the following season and after one game in 1953 was out of major league baseball. 
• 1962 - The Pirates beat the Giants’ Jack Sanford, 5-1, at Forbes Field to hand the righty his first loss after 16 straight wins. Sanford and Bob Friend were locked in a 1-1 duel until the Bucs broke it open with a four-run eighth inning, with the key blows being a Roberto Clemente double and Bob Bailey triple; the rookie had a three-RBI day. Friend tossed a five-hitter with nine K; Sanford served up a six-hitter, but eight walks eventually sunk him. 
• 1963 - The three Alou brothers, Felipe, Jesus, and Matty, played in the San Francisco Giants’ outfield at the same time. Manager Alvin Dark played the Alou boys together for an inning during the Giants’ 13-5 win over the Pirates at Forbes Field, putting Willie Mays on the bench. Matty would later join the Bucs in 1966 for a five year run. 

Dennis Moeller - 1993 Pinnacle

• 1967 - LHP Dennis Moeller was born in Tarzana, California. Moeller was part of the Jose Lind deal with KC in 1992. Pittsburgh used the starter as a reliever in the show, and that didn’t work out so well - in 10 outings, he put up a 1-0, 9.92 line. He mostly was rostered at AAA Buffalo, where he made 24 appearances (11 starts) with a slash of 3-4/4.34. Dennis was non-tendered after the season and signed with the Royals again, but never made it back to the show. 
• 1968 - Steve Blass did it all in a 3-0 win against the Mets at Shea Stadium. He won his 16th game, and seventh in a row, by spinning a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts and more than helped himself at the dish, singling home runs twice. He was supported at the plate by Roberto Clemente, who had three hits, including two doubles, to open both the Bucs run-scoring frames. Manager Larry Shepard said of Blass “He’s come from nowhere to where he’s now out number one pitcher.” Steverino aw-shucked the praise, but did admit “Baseball sure has been a lot of fun for me this summer.” 
• 1968 - LHP Rich Robertson was born in Nacogdoches, Texas. A 1990 draft pick of the Bucs, he was a seldom used mop-up guy for Pittsburgh in 1993-94, getting in 17 games and putting up an 0-1/6.57 slash. The Twins picked him up off the waiver wire, and he had his best season for them in 1995 and started from 1996-97, winning 17 games. He lasted one more campaign and after spending time in the minors, he hung ‘em up in 2000.