- 1961 - RHP Billy Taylor was born in Monticello, Florida. Billy had a seven-year career, mostly with Oakland, that ended with an appearance with the Bucs in 2001 that lasted two innings, giving up a run. Taylor was a late bloomer; he made his MLB debut in 1994 at age 32, 14 years after he was drafted, and went on to save 100 games for the A’s through 1999.
- 1967 - RHP Josias Manzanillo was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. He tossed for 11 years in the MLB, serving 2000-02 with the Bucco staff. His first two campaigns were good as he went 5-4-2, 3.39 in 114 appearances, but he lost it in the following campaign with his ERA shooting up to 7.62. He struggled along with the Reds in 2003 and the Fish in 2004, retiring when he didn’t make it out of camp with Boston in 2005. He’s famous for two things: one was when his family jewels were blown up thanks to a liner in the groin, requiring reconstructive surgery. The second was just as ugly as he was named as a player who shot up steroids in the 2007 Mitchell report. Josias and his people denied it, saying he admitted to buying PEDs but was afraid to actually use them.
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| Josias Manzanillo 2001 - photo Todd Warshaw/Getty |
- 1969 - LHP Matt Ruebel was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was drafted by the Pirates in the 3rd round of the 1991 draft out of Oklahoma and pitched parts of three seasons for Pittsburgh and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He made 70 appearances and went 4-3-1/5.49 for the Bucs in 1996-97 and a little worse for Tampa the following season, his last in MLB. He’s with the Bucs now as a special assistant to the GM with a scouting pedigree.
- 1971 - The Baltimore Orioles came back from a 2-0 hole to take a 3-2, 10-inning win from the Bucs at Memorial Stadium and forcing the World Series to a seventh game. The Pirates left the bases loaded in the 10th. Baltimore didn’t. Brooks Robinson’s short sac fly to center off Bob Miller barely brought in Frank Robinson; Al Oliver had been removed in a double switch just that inning, putting the weak-armed Vic Davalillo in center. Robinson paid a price; he injured his hamstring and reaggravated an Achilles injury, limiting him severely in the ensuing decisive game. Roberto Clemente had a homer for Pittsburgh and also had a highlight throw in the bottom of the ninth, a one hop strike home that froze Mark Belanger, who represented the winning run, at third after Don Buford’s two-out double. Bob Moose became the Bucs sixth different starter when he took the hill in the first, as the scheduled pitcher Dock Ellis was scratched with an injury.
- 1979 - With Baltimore papers filled with stories of the Orioles’ World Series victory parade, the Bucs rode John Candelaria and Kent Tekulve to a 4-0 win at Memorial Stadium to square the series at three games each. The top of the order (Omar Moreno & Tim Foli) and the bottom (Ed Ott & Phil Garner) combined for nine hits and scored all four runs.
- 1991 - For the second time in the series, the Bucs were 1-0 losers to the Atlanta Braves to send the NLCS to a seventh game. The Pirates were held to four hits by Steve Avery and Alejandro Pena at TRS. The game’s only tally came with two outs in the ninth when Greg Olsen doubled home Ron Gant to hand Doug Drabek the defeat.
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| Edgar Santana 2018 - image AT&T SportsNet |
- 1991 - RHP Edgar Santana was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. He was green as a youth and Pirates scout Juan Mercado signed him as a project just before his 22nd birthday. Santana picked up a slider to go with his four seamer in the DSL and took off. He zipped through the system and landed in Pittsburgh in 2017, getting into 19 games and posting a 3.50 ERA with 20 K in 18 IP. He made the roster the following year and became a solid middle inning bridge guy, going 3-4/3.26 in 69 outings. Unfortunately, in late September he encountered arm tightness requiring TJ surgery, and missed the entire 2019 campaign.
- 2009 - Andrew McCutchen was named the Baseball America Rookie of the Year for 2009, and finished fourth in the NL ROY balloting. He joined the team in June, replacing Nate McLouth, and finished his rookie season with a .286 BA, 12 HR, 54 RBI, and 22 stolen bases in 108 games. Cutch singled off the Mets’ Mike Pelfrey in his first MLB at-bat to get his career off to a flying start.
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