- 1953 - The Bucs plucked LHP pitcher Roger Bowman off waivers from the New York Giants. It was a case of getting what ya pay for; he spent ‘53 and part of ‘55 with the Pirates, with all of ‘54 and most of ‘55 farmed out to Hollywood. He went 0-7/5.60 in the 37 Bucco games that he got the ball, with 1955 being his last big league campaign. Bowman then worked in the Pacific Coast League and tossed some in Cuba, with his last pro outing in 1961 with the Hawaii Islanders of the PCL.
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| Roger Bowman - 1955 (what else?) Bowman |
- 1955 - Rookie RHP Sam "Toothpick" Jones of the Cubs no-hit the Pirates 4-0‚ fanning Dick Groat, Roberto Clemente and Frank Thomas in the ninth after walking the bases loaded (he walked seven - two DPs and a caught stealing canceled that out pretty well - and struck out six). It was the first no-hitter in Wrigley Field since 1917 and the first MLB no-hitter tossed by an African-American pitcher. Sadly for Jones and posterity, only 2,918 fans showed up.
- 1968 - Al McBean left his house for Forbes Field after promising his wife a victory for Mothers Day and kept his word with a complete game, 2-1 win over the Phils, scattering seven hits and fanning five. The Bucs scored both runs in the first when Maury Wills and Roberto Clemente touched home against rookie Jeff James. Three straight Philadelphia singles in the seventh cut the Bucco lead to one, but Matty Alou’s throw-out of Johnny Briggs at third capped the damage. And everyone got to celebrate dinner with mom - no pace of play issues on this day as the game took just one hour and 55 minutes.
- 1978 - 1B Josh Phelps was born in Anchorage, Alaska. Phelps spent eight years in the show, mostly as a Blue Jay, and split 2007 between the Yankees and Pirates, joining Pittsburgh in June after the NYY waived him, as a replacement for demoted Brad Eldred. He swung it pretty good for the Bucs, hitting .351 with five homers in 77 at-bats, and he signed with the Cards as a free agent after the year. He got into 19 games late in the season for the Redbirds and that was his last MLB stop. Josh’s 64 career homers are the most banged by an Alaskan-born player.
- 1983 - RHP Evan Meek was born in Bellevue, Washington. The Rule 5 pick spent five years (2008-12) as a Pirate and at one point looked like the closer of the future after an All-Star season in 2010, tossing to a 2.14 ERA in 70 appearances. But various arm injuries took their toll on his promising career. He only made one more MLB stop after his Bucco days, in 2014 with Baltimore. He finished his career pitching indy league after splitting 2015 between the minors and a stint in Korea.
- 1988 - Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla gave a glimpse into the future when they mashed previously undefeated Dodger ace Orel Hershiser for three homers, four runs scored and six runs plated in a 7-4 Bucco win at Three Rivers Stadium. The B&B boys were in their third MLB campaign and would power the early-nineties Bucco powerhouses to three divisional titles. John Smiley rode their big bats to a complete game win; Chico Lind banged out three hits to aid the cause.
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| Barry Bonds & Bobby Bo - 1988 Topps Pirates Leaders |
- 1990 - Neal Heaton improved his record to 6-0 after allowing one unearned run on four hits in seven innings of work during a 3-1 win over the Astros at TRS with Ted Power coming in for the save. The lefty won 10 games before the All-Star break and earned his first and only NL All-Star nod, finishing the season 12-9. The Bucs only got four hits off Mark Portugal, but Barry Bonds, Mark LaValliere and RJ Reynolds RBI’s were enough to carry the day.
- 1994 - The Pirates and Zane Smith lost to the Phillies, 6-4, and were their own worst enemies by stranding 17 runners at Veterans Stadium‚ one shy of the NL record for a nine inning game. The Bucs wasted 14 hits (every Pirate position starter had a rap; five of them had two knocks), nine walks and a Philly error by going 1-for-15 with RISP against four Philadelphia pitchers.
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