8/14 From 1950 Through the 1990s: 1960 Distancing; Ralph Raps; Game Stories; RIP Cap; HBD J-Bell

• 1952 - Ralph Kiner homered twice, the second being the game winner, and drove in four runs as the Bucs beat the St. Louis Cards 5-3 in 11 innings at Sportsman Park. Tony Bartirome collected three hits, Dick Groat scored twice and Murry Dickson went the distance for the win. 
• 1960 - The second-place Cards entered the day four games behind the Bucs; they went to bed six back as the Pirates swept a twinbill 9-4 and 3-2 at Forbes Field to continue a 10-wins-in-12-games roll. Pittsburgh banged out six doubles in the opener and Rocky Nelson’s three RBI backed Vern Law’s complete game victory. It was his league-leading 17th victory. The nitecap went 11 frames; Don Hoak’s single off Lindy McDaniel brought in Bob Skinner with the game winner. Dick Stuart and Dick Groat drove in the other runs as the Buc bullpen pitched five scoreless frames, with Fred Green getting the win. 

Cap Clarke - 1911 Pittsburgh Press

• 1960 - Fred “Cap” Clarke passed away at the age of 87 in Winfield, Kansas at his farm called the “Little Pirates Ranch.” Clarke was the player-manager for four Pittsburgh pennants and two World Series appearances (1903, 1909) with a record of 1,422-969 (.595) and batted .299 as an outfielder in his 15 Pirates years. In his career, Cap hit over .300 11 times, stole over 30 bases seven times and led NL left fielders in fielding percentage nine times. He was selected to the Hall of Fame in 1945. 
• 1964 - The Pirates were down 2-1 to the Cubs with two down in the ninth at Wrigley Field. The Bucs had just had Orlando McFarlane cut down at home to end the eighth and a leadoff single in the final frame was erased on a DP, Pittsburgh’s third of the day. Starter Bob Buhl walked Roberto Clemente to keep a Pirates pulse beating as Jerry Lynch stepped to the plate. Bob Kennedy waved in lefty Bobby Shantz to deal with Lynch and Jerry won the mano-a-mano battle, going long to give the Pirates a rally-cap 3-2 win. Neither starter was involved in the decision as Schantz took the loss and Al McBean, who worked the last two rounds, got the win. It was quite a contrast in pitching - Veale gave up two runs on three hits while Buhl gave up one score despite 12 hits as the Pirates stranded 11 runners. The Cubbies avenged themselves in the second game with a 4-2 win as Lew Burdette got the better of Vern Law. 
• 1971 - The Card's Hall of Famer Bob Gibson no-hit the Pirates, 11-0, at TRS in front of 30,678 frustrated fans. Gibson walked three, struck out 10, and added three RBI. For Gibby, it was the only no-no of his illustrious career. It was the last no hitter thrown against the Bucs until Homer Bailey no-no’ed them in 2012; they've been held hitless eight times in total. And it was the first thrown in Pittsburgh in 64 years, since Nick Maddox tossed one in 1907; the Candy Man would toss the next in 1976. 
• 1983 - An Old-Timers Game Day crowd of 50,062 at Olympic Stadium went home disappointed thanks to Dave Parker’s two-run, two-out single in the seventh after Montreal had just tied the score in the sixth, to give the Pirates a 5-3 victory. Rick Rhoden got the win with a Kent Tekulve save. The rap gave the Pirates a three-game sweep of the Expos and was payback for the Bucs, who had been swept by Montreal at TRS the weekend prior. 

Andy Van Slyke - 1988 Topps

• 1988 - The Pirates made it tough on themselves by blowing a seventh-inning, 8-2 lead to the Phils at the Vet, but Andy Van Slyke’s ninth-inning homer off Steve Bedrosian nudged them past the finish line by a 9-8 count. The Phillies scored five times in the seventh off Brian Fisher & John Smiley and tied it in the eighth off Jim Gott before AVS’ game-winning bomb. The early Buc barrage was led by Barry Bonds with three knocks, with two more hits apiece by Spanky LaValliere (w/three RBI), Bobby Bonilla (who homered) and Sid Bream. Gott earned the blown save/win daily double by closing it out in the ninth. 
• 1992 - 1B Josh Bell was born in Irving, Texas. A high school star who said he was committed to attending college, he was nevertheless taken in the second round of the 2011 draft out of Dallas Jesuit College Prep by the Bucs and received a record non-first-round bonus of $5M to change his mind. Many felt that offer was the straw that broke the back of unlimited draft spending and ushered in the era of pool money. Switched from the outfield to first base because of the Pirates young talent in the pasture, Josh played in two Futures games. He got his call up in July of 2016 and in his second big-league at-bat smacked a grand-slam, and by 2017 the first base job was his, although now, with short-season rules in effect, he’s seeing considerable time as a DH.