4/29 From 1970: Nova Maddux; The King's Debut, Rude Ejections & Game Stories; Justin No-No; HBD Steven, Tony & Rookie

• 1978 - RHP Tony Armas Jr. was born in Puerto Piritu, Venezuela. Tony worked 10 big league campaigns as a journeyman starter and spent 2007 as a Pirate (4-5, 6.03) after inking a $3.5M deal. It proved to be his final full MLB season as the Bucs didn't pick up his 2008 option and the Mets released him the following year after one outing. Junior was the son of All-Star OF Tony Armas who had been a hot Bucco prospect but was traded to the A’s after a cup of coffee in Pittsburgh as part of the Phil Garner deal. 

Tony Armas Jr - photo 2007 Nick Laham/Getty

• 1987 - The Pirates were clocked by the Dodgers 10-2 at Three Rivers Stadium, but with a couple of interesting sidebars. Ump Fred Brocklander blew a pair of calls on the same play, and while sorting them out, the Pirate Parrot launched a feather-brained dance of indignation, ending with a nerf ball aimed at Fred. When the other umps came to Brocklander’s rescue, the Parrot jumped in his cart and exited stage right. He quickly learned that umpires are not part of the show, at least not for mascots, and was suspended for a day (he did apologize - he was a rookie Parrot and just learning the ropes the hard way). And later, coach Rick Donnelly got into a bullpen fight with a couple of fans who had sneaked into the area through an unwatched employee entrance. He tried to get them to leave peacefully, but to no avail, leading to a brief battle that ended poorly for the interlopers. They were taken away by police and charged with public intoxication. The Pirates didn’t file any additional charges, apparently feeling being thumped by Rick was punishment enough. 
• 1990 - The Bucs swept San Diego 10-1 behind a four homer barrage at Jack Murphy Stadium. Barry Bonds and Jay Bell hit three-run bombs, Bobby Bonilla banged a two-run blast, and Don Slaught added a solo shot to grease an easy outing for Doug Drabek. It was the Pirates sixth consecutive win. 
• 1992 - LHP Steven Brault was born in La Mesa, California. Drafted by the Orioles in 2013, he was sent to the Pirates as part of the Travis Snider deal. The lefty moved through the system quickly and in July of 2016 made his MLB debut. He slashed 0-3/4.86 but was in the running for a back-end rotation spot in 2017 camp, where he pitched well but lost out to Tyler Glasnow and was returned to Indy. He returned later in the year (1-0/4.67) and broke camp with the Bucs in 2018 as a long man and spot starter, then becoming a regular back-end starter in 2019. 
• 1993 - RHP William “Rookie” Davis was born in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina. Drafted by the Yankees and given a seven-game taste by the Reds in 2017 after being part of the Aroldis Chapman deal, Rookie was signed as a FA by the Bucs in 2019. He got the call from Indy on May 25th and made his first Bucco start on June 7th against the Brewers. His dad gave him his handle; his given name is William Theron Davis III and to differentiate, his pops said “Let’s just call him ‘Rookie’.” 
• 2000 - For the purists and the believers in productive outs, this was a game for you - the Pirates and Reds tied the MLB record in Cincinnati's 6-5 victory at TRS by hitting five sacrifice flies (the Redlegs also dropped a pair of successful bunts). Neither club was very clutch other than cranking out flies - the two teams combined to go 1-for-19 w/RISP during the game. Pat Meares and Warren Morris both homered in the losing effort, triggered when Cincy overcame an early Bucco lead by scoring five times in the seventh and eighth innings (with two of the runs plating on sac flies). 

Justin Wilson - 2013 Topps

• 2012 - Pitching for the AAA Indianapolis Indians against the Durham Bulls, Justin Wilson tossed the first 7-1/3 innings of a combined no-hitter (two walks, nine K, 107 pitches), completed by Jose “Jumbo” Diaz and Doug Slaten. He worked his first Bucco game on August 20th and also tossed for the Yankees, Tigers and now the Cubs after being converted to the pen. 
• 2017 - Ivan Nova tossed a 95-pitch, complete-game shutout against Miami at Marlins Park, winning 4-0. His "Maddux" (a complete game shutout using fewer than 100 pitches) was the first for a Bucco since Jeff Karstens tossed one on July 15th, 2011 against the Astros. Other factoids on the strike-throwing righty: In his 16 starts to date with the Pirates, Nova had more complete games (five) than walks (four), and he had yet to hit the 100-pitch mark as a Pirate. John Jaso homered, but the big frame was the sixth when Fish hurlers walked four straight batters (two of them battling back from 0-2 counts) to force in a pair of runs. 
• 2018 - Nick Kingham had a debut to remember - he retired the first 20 batters he faced in a 5-0 win over the Cardinals at PNC Park. He gave up a two-out single to Paul DeJong in the seventh, finishing with a one-hit, nine-K outing in his first MLB game. The contest was a scoreless duel between Nick and Luke Weaver before the Bucs broke it open with four runs in the sixth, keyed by a two-run single by Elias Diaz, who had three hits on the day. It was the Pirates fifth straight victory and gave them their earliest 17th win in franchise history. Nick didn’t live up to his early promise; he was sold to Toronto in 2019 and now tosses in Korea.