5/1 From 1970: Bill Banged; Dock Knocks; TSN Manny; Scoops Clutch & Game Stories

• 1971 - Manny Sanguillen was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Pirate Treasure.” It was on the nose as The Roadrunner hit .319 and made his first All-Star appearance; he also was a Top Ten MVP finisher. 

• 1973 - Bob Moose was working on a five-hitter against the Giants with two outs in the ninth, a runner on first and a 7-1 lead at Candlestick Park. In one of the franchises biggest meltdowns, he walked the next two batters, and Ramon Hernandez was called in. He gave up a grand slam to Chris Arnold and left the bases loaded after a double and two more walks (Bill Virdon was ejected for beefing about plate ump Doug Harvey’s strike zone) for Dave Giusti. He gave up a gapper to Barry Bonds, and when Willie Stargell couldn’t field the shot cleanly, three runs scooted home to give the G-Men a stunning 8-7 win. When asked why he stuck with Hernandez so long, Virdon said he liked the matchups but admitted “I guess I was wrong.” For the Pirates, it was their sixth straight loss, but Giusti came back the next day to fan a pair of Giants in the ninth to preserve a 2-1 win. 
• 1974 - Dock Ellis hit the Reds’ Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Driessen in the top of the first inning; Tony Perez ducked several times and drew a walk as Ellis tied a MLB record for consecutive beaned batters before Danny Murtaugh yanked him in a 5-3 loss to Cincy. Ellis said he was trying to counter what he saw as the Reds intimidation of the Pirates. As Manny Sanguillen recalled later on a Twitter post: “The Reds challenged us & put comments in the newspapers. Remember Pedro Borbon bit Patterson, our teams fought. Dock had enough & said ‘Sangy, don’t give me any signs they are all going down.’ He laughed b/c he missed Tony Perez saying he was dancing the Cha-Cha!” 
• 1977 - Al Oliver was awfully clutch on this day - he knotted the game in the ninth and then walked it off in the 10th against the Houston Astros. Down 3-2 at TRS in front of 25,371 fans, Scoops homered to lead off the final frame and send the game into extras, then singled home Omar Moreno with the game-winner in the following frame. That feat would go unmatched for 40 years until John Jaso pulled it off against the Mets in 2017. Goose Gossage gets a big high five too, tossing three scoreless innings of one-hit ball in relief of the Candy Man, John Candelaria, along with Pops Stargell who bombed a pair of solo homers to keep the Bucs afloat. 
• 1980 - Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock was fined $5‚000 and suspended 15 games by NL president Chub Feeney for jabbing ump Jerry Crawford in the face with his mitt when he took the field after being called out on strikes with the bases loaded. Madlock appealed‚ but withdrew the protest and accepted his medicine after the NL umpires threatened their own brand of justice by promising to eject him from every game he tried to play while fighting the penalty. 

Paul Wagner - 1994 Topps

• 1994 - The Pirates completed a three game sweep of the Braves as Paul Wagner defeated Atlanta’s Tom Glavine 4-1 for his second career complete game in front of 30,614 fans at Three Rivers Stadium. Wagner allowed just three hits, losing his shutout bid in the ninth inning on a home run by David Justice. The Bucs scored all four runs in the sixth inning, with Wagner helping himself with a two-out, two-run double. 
• 1999 - Brian Giles went 3-for-4 with a home run/three RBI and Kevin Young 2-for-4 with a homer/three runs chased home to back Todd Ritchie in Pittsburgh’s 9-3 win over Colorado at Three Rivers Stadium. Al Martin added three knocks while Scott Sauerbeck and Jason Christenson mopped up the win in front of 18,599 in a game that took 2:38 from first pitch to last.