7/17 From 1950 Through the 1980’s: Forbes on Fire; Dock's Lucky 13; 1,000 for Ralph; West Coast Winners; Game & All Star Stories; HBD Brian

• 1952 - Ralph Kiner hit a two-run shot in the ninth to walk off the Phils at Forbes Field by a 4-2 count in the nightcap of a twin bill. He also joined the 1,000 hit club; he would end his career with 1,451 knocks. The blast off Karl Drews made a winner out of Ted Wilks, who tossed a scoreless ninth in relief of Woody Main. Clem Koshorek and Pete Castiglione joined Ralph with a pair of hits. The Pirates also took the opener 2-1 behind a Cal Hogue four-hitter. Catfish Metkovich singled home rookie Dick Groat in the third frame, chasing home the first run to knot the score, and Groat drove in Clyde McCullough two innings later with the game winner. 

Ted Wilks - 1952 Topps

• 1966 - The Pirates swept a twinbill from San Francisco at Forbes Field 7-4 and 7-1 to vault over the Giants into first place behind the pitching of Steve Blass and Tommie Sisk. Matty Alou and Donn Clendenon collected four hits during the DH, with Clendenon homering. It was a wild race that year. The Bucs would finish third with a 92-70 slate, three games behind the Dodgers. 
• 1970 - Roberto Clemente led the Bucs to a 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Forbes Field with three hits, falling a double short of the cycle. He tripled and scored the tying run in the sixth, homered for the eventual game winner in the eighth, and threw out Tommy Helms at the plate in the ninth to preserve the victory. 
• 1971 - A deserted Forbes Field suffered its second fire in a matter of weeks, and the structural damage was so bad that its demolition, already scheduled by Pitt, began almost immediately. Now the former ballyard’s footprint is the site of Posvar Hall, with home plate still showcased in the building and a bit of the brick & ivy wall left standing. 
• 1971 - Dock Ellis won his 13th straight game without a defeat by a 9-2 count over the Padres at TRS, with Bob Robertson’s three-run homer providing all the scoring the Docktor would need. Manny Sanguillen had four knocks and Roberto Clemente added three more raps to aid the cause. Dock’s next outing would be a no decision before the Dodgers ended his streak. 

Dock was on a roll - 1971 Pirates Picture Pak

• 1978 - The Pirates bullpen imploded in the ninth at TRS, allowing San Diego to score three runs to tie the game at six, rallying from a fourth-inning 6-1 deficit. The Padres tacked another run on in the 10th to take the lead, but the Bucs weren’t quite done. Rollie Fingers was on the hill and had his hands full. Bill Robinson reached on an error and Willie Stargell singled through a shift; Rennie Stennett’s following rap tied the game. Ken Macha, who ran for Willie, and Stennett tagged and moved up a base after Ed Ott’s line out to left. San Diego decided to not walk Manny Sanguillen with lefty John Milner on deck, and The Roadrunner made it a bad choice by banging a ball off the left field wall for a long single and walk off win, credited to Kent Tekulve.  
• 1979 - The NL won its eighth straight All-Star Game, 7-6, at the Kingdome in Seattle. Pittsburgh’s only representative, Dave Parker, threw out runners at home & third and was named the game's MVP. The Cobra went 1-for-3 with an RBI and was intentionally walked once. Future Bucco Lee Mazzilli tied the game in the eighth inning with a pinch hit home run and then put the NL ahead in the ninth by drawing a bases-loaded walk to become the MVP runner-up to Parker. The ASG was the only one played in the Kingdom. By the time the Midsummer Classic returned to Seattle in 2001, the Mariners were playing in Safeco Park. 
• 1982 - RHP Brian Rogers was born in Dallas, Texas. He joined the Pirates in 2006 after a trade with Detroit for Sean Casey and was called up at the end of August. He didn’t fare very well, and was sent to the minors the following campaign, getting three more not-so-successful outings with the big club and finishing his career with a slash of 0-0/9.28 in 13 games. Rogers was released in mid-June of 2008 and got short minor-league stints with the Tigers and Mets to end his pro career at age 25. He then went to work for a resort in Hawaii, got his degree and is now an account manager. 
• 1983 - The Pirates whipped the San Diego Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium by a 5-4 score, concluding their best-ever west coast trip by taking 9-of-10 games. The Buccaneers ran their winning streak to eight games to reach .500. The Pirate attack was generated by Jason Thompson, who had three hits, including a homer, and three RBI. Dave Parker and Dale Berra also had three knocks to key a 13-hit outing. Lee Tunnell got the win and Kent Tekulve picked up the save. Pittsburgh kept on against the left coasters; right after the trip, LA, SF and SD came calling to TRS and the Bucs took 8-of-11 on home turf. 

Gott to be good - 1988 Fleer

• 1988 - The Pirates ran their winning streak to nine games when they held off the Giants 5-4 at TRS. Pittsburgh jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second on a Mike Dunne RBI grounder and a two-out, two-run knock by Darnell Coles. San Francisco used a pair of homers to tie it up before the Bucs regained the lead in the eighth on Barry Bonds’ long ball, stroked with two outs and two strikes, to take a 5-3 edge. Jim Gott finished it up, though with some drama - a pair of walks (one intentional) sandwiched around a double cut the gap to one, then he survived Harry Spilman’s long drive to center that Andy Van Slyke had just enough room to corral to save the win for Jeff Robinson. The streaky club lost the next day, took three in a row, then dropped 15-of-23 on the way to an 85-75 campaign.