9/23 From 1970: Three Playoff Clinchers; Pud Day; Leyland Deal; Cover Boy Cobra; Game Stories

• 1974 - Jim Rooker threw nine shutout frames as the Bucs beat the St. Louis Cards 1-0 in 10 innings at Busch Stadium, with Dave Giusti working the last frame for the save. The Bucs scored when pinch hitter Paul Popovich singled and was replaced by Miguel Dilone on the basepaths. He was bunted to second and came around on Richie Hebner’s single. The win moved the club to ½ game behind the Cards in a see-saw pennant race that Pittsburgh eventually eked out. 
• 1978 - Dave Parker was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Peerless Pirate.” He would win the MVP and his second batting crown (.334) despite playing with a football-like mask on his helmet after breaking his jaw in a plate collision in late June. 

• 1986 - Barry Bonds hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off Philadelphia’s Steve Bedrosian to give Pirates a walkoff 6-5 win. The slumping Bonds (he hit .223 in his rookie ‘86 campaign) had tried to lay one down to set up Bobby Bonilla (Jim Leyland told Bob Hertzel of the Pittsburgh Press that “I almost passed out when he tried to bunt.”) before he decided to swing away. The Bucs scored five times in the last two frames for the comeback; Mike Diaz was the hero, with three RBI at TRS. Four Pirate relievers tossed 6-⅔ innings of shutout ball, with Barry Jones getting the win. 
• 1988 - Manager Jim Leyland asked for a two-year contract (he had been working season-to-season from ‘86-88) with two requirements. He wanted $250 K/year (a bit under the average manager’s salary) and that all his coaches to be rehired (Rich Donnelly, Gene Lamont, Milt May, Ray Miller & Tommy Sandt), and GM Syd Thrift agreed to the terms. The Pirates would hit a bump in the first year of the new deal with just 74 wins, but followed with three straight division titles and Manager of the Year honors in 1990 & ‘92 for Leyland. 
• 2011 - The Bucs let the Reds tie the game in the ninth when Joel Hanrahan plunked Todd Frazier with a bases-loaded, two-out, 3-2 pitch, but came back to claim a 4-3 walk off win after Jason Jaramillo doubled and came in on Ryan Ludwick’s knock. Garrett Jones’ two-run homer had staked the Pirates to an early lead. 
• 2013 - For the first time in 21 years, the Pirates clinched a playoff spot with a 2-1 win at Wrigley Field. Charlie Morton tossed seven innings of three-hit ball through seven and was up 1-0 on Neil Walker’s first inning homer. The Cubs tied it in the eighth on a ball that scooted through a drawn up infield, but the Bucs retook the lead in the ninth on Starling Marte’s two-out, two-strike homer deep into the bleachers. The drama wasn’t quite over; with two outs and Nate Schierholtz on first, Ryan Sweeney blooped a ball into right that glanced off Marlon Byrd’s mitt. Schierholtz was waved around, but an Andrew McCutchen-to-Justin Morneau-to-Russ Martin relay and tag were just enough to give Mark Melancon the win and Jason Grilli the save. 
• 2014 - The Pirates guaranteed themselves a playoff berth with a 3-2 win over Atlanta at Turner Field, but it wasn’t easy. Down 2-0 after two innings, and saved from a bigger hole thanks only to bad Brave baserunning and a bases loaded, no-out DP, Gerrit Cole found his rhythm and retired 17 straight Bravos. Andrew McCutchen scored on a delayed steal of home when the catcher’s throw to second was high in the fourth, then Travis Snider tied it with a leadoff homer in the fifth. Doubles by Cutch and Starling Marte gave the Pirates their first lead in the sixth. Cole worked seven innings and struck out eight for the win, with Jared Hughes picking up a hold and Tony Watson taking the save. To earn their playoff spot, the Pirates won 15-of-18 games after being written off following a sweep by the Cardinals in early September. 

S-Rod - 2015 Topps Heritage

• 2015 - The Bucs defeated the Colorado Rockies 13-7 at Coors Field to clinch a postseason spot not only for the third straight year, but on the same 9/23 date, too. The Pirates jumped out to a 7-1 lead after a first inning bloop and third inning blast by Neil Walker, who ended up going 4-for-5 with a homer and career best six RBI. But Charlie Morton couldn’t stand prosperity and was yanked in the fifth after a homer cut the lead to 7-6. The Buc bullpen took over, putting up zeros until the bats put up a six spot in the ninth, keyed by Sean Rodriguez’s bases loaded, bases clearing double on an 0-2 pitch. Joe Blanton got the win for Pittsburgh. 
• 2016 - Pittsburgh rallied to defeat the Washington Nationals 6-5 in 11 innings at PNC Park on a pair of do-or-die knocks. With two gone in the ninth and down by a run, Sean Rodriguez doubled home Pedro Florimon to send the game into extras. The hit was off former Bucco closer Mark Melancon, making his first appearance versus Pittsburgh since a deadline trade only to earn his first blown save as a Nat. With the bases loaded and two away in the 11th, the Pirates sent up their last bench player, September call-up Jacob Stallings. He fell behind 0-2, worked the count full and then singled home the winning run for his first MLB walk-off hit, just the second knock of his career. The game lasted 4:36 and featured 44 players, 17 of which pitched, leading Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle to quip "That's your snapshot of a September, expanded-roster game." 
• 2017 - SABR held a celebration of the life of Hall of Famer Pud Galvin. The event was at Calvary Cemetery in Hazelwood, where Pud’s flat stone marker was replaced by a headstone. Galvin’s resting spot was the third grave topped with a new tombstone by the SABR 19th Century Grave Baseball Marker Project. The dedication ceremony featured the life story of Galvin, prepared by his biographer Chip Martin, as well as a gathering of other baseball notables and members of the Galvin family.