Sunday, June 14, 2020

6/14 From 1960 Through the 1980’s: Morrison, Wynne Deals; Stu Comes Through; Maz Night; Game Stories; HBD Randy

  • 1961 - Dick Stuart had himself a day at Forbes Field, almost single handedly beating the Reds. Big Stu went 3-for-5 with a homer, triple and four runs driven home. His solo long ball put the Pirates ahead 2-0 in the first frame; his RBI single tied it 3-3 in the seventh and the three-bagger off Jim Brosnan was the walk-off winner in the ninth, chasing home Dick Groat and Roberto Clemente. ElRoy Face had a rare breakdown in relief of Bob Friend and let Cincinnati take a 4-3 lead in the eighth; Bobby Shantz tossed a clean ninth to get the win. 
Randy Tomlin - 1993 Triple Play
  • 1966 - LHP Randy Tomlin was born in Bainbridge, Maryland. An 18th round draft pick in 1988, he played for the Bucs from 1990-94. He won 22 games from ‘91-92, but an elbow injury that required surgery in 1993 short circuited his career. He made three appearances in the ‘91-92 NLCS, and put up a career line of 30-31/3.43. 
  • 1968 - Bob Moose went into the eight with a no-hitter against Houston, only to be denied by light hitting Julio Gotay, whose two-out blooper to right dropped despite the leaping efforts of Billy Mazeroski to run it down. The only previous challenge for a knock came in the second when Maury Wills made a diving grab of Jim Wynn’s shot up the third base line, got up and threw the Toy Cannon out. Moose gave up another hit in the ninth to go with a walk and five whiffs, but went the route to claim a 3-0 win. Roberto Clemente was a four-bagger shy of the cycle and Donn Clendenon homered to lead the modest attack. Moose picked family day to shine - his mom, dad, sis, wife and assorted aunts and uncles were at Forbes Field to catch the apple of their eye in action. 
  • 1969 - The Pirates had a Bill Mazeroski Night at Forbes Field. He reaped a bundle of goodies - a car from the team, a stereo from the players, and a TV and three portraits from other Maz-lovin’ organizations. It was also announced that Mazeroski had five local amateur ballfields renamed in his honor. Bob Prince MC’ed the event in front of 18,000 fans, including Mayor Joe Barr, and Billy told the crowd “I couldn’t have been treated better anywhere in the world than in Pittsburgh.” The Bucs won the game, 4-2, over Atlanta behind a Willie Stargell homer and the pitching of Dock Ellis & Bob Moose. Maz went 0-for-4, but as usual, played the field flawlessly and started two DP’s. 
  • 1982 - RHP Eddie Solomon was sent to the Chicago White Sox for 3B Jim Morrison. Solomon was released after the season, while Morrison found a home in Pittsburgh for six years with a .274 BA, 57 HR and 241 RBI in 552 games. 
Marvell Wynne - 1985 Fleer
  • 1983 - C Junior Ortiz and P Arthur Ray were sent to the New York Mets for P Steve Senteney and OF Marvell Wynne. Junior returned to the Pirates fold for the 1985 season via the Rule 5 Draft and hit .274 in seven Bucco campaigns. Marvell spent three years in Pittsburgh and batted .248 before moving on to San Diego. The two pitchers involved, Senteney and Ray, never made MLB appearances after the deal (Senteney had tossed 11 games for Toronto in ‘82).
  • 1985 - Jose DeLeon fanned 11 in seven innings at TRS to beat the Phillies‚ 3-2, backed by homers from Johnny Ray and Sixto Lezcano. DeLeon, who didn’t win his first game until June 2nd, then lost his next 11 outings to finish the campaign at 2-19. His 4.70 ERA was the worst of his career until his final season in 1995. The game was even more noteworthy thanks to the return of Willie Stargell, who was hired as first base coach by Chuck Tanner and debuted this night. The next season, Pops didn’t make the transition to Jim Leyland’s staff and joined Tanner as a coach at Atlanta.

No comments: