8/25 From 1980: Punk'd; Fireworks Fiasco; Cutch's 1st Walkoff HR; Busy Day in '81; Game Stories

• 1981 - The Pirates dropped a wild 9-7 game to the LA Dodgers at TRS. The Bucs rallied from 6-1 and 7-3 deficits (driven by a couple of key errors and a blown call at first), the latter lead erased on a three-run Dave Parker homer in the ninth. Sadly, Kent Tekulve was tapped for a pair in the 10th and the Pirates were out of comebacks. But the real excitement happened out of sight, in the runway between the dugouts when both teams milled about in a mid-game shoving/verbal get together. Pittsburgh’s Paschal Perez had bopped a couple of Trolley Dodgers and LA’s Reggie Smith called him out; Perez suggested they meet to discuss it, so both teams crammed into the runway in the sixth inning. Although the 145-pound Perez carried a bat to the rendezvous, no blows were exchanged as Bill Robinson had him in tow. As Willie Stargell explained to Russ Franke of the Pittsburgh Press “There wasn’t any fight. We just went in there to hold the daily lottery drawing.” In better news, the Pirates signed impending FA John Candelaria to a one-year contract for 1982; he was out for the current season with nerve damage to his arm. 

• 1982 - The Pirates gave up a 4-1 lead at TRS, allowing San Diego to edge ahead in the eighth. But they tied the game in their half when Tony Pena’s grounder scored Lee Lacy and walked it off with a ninth-inning victory over the Padres when Jim Morrison singled in Enrique Romo, running for Willie Stargell, with the game winner. Kent Tekulve claimed the W. It was a doubly dark day for the Padres; they not only lost the game but also Tony Gwynn, who broke his wrist diving for a fly ball. 
• 1983 - Behind the 11-strikeout performance of 22-year-old rookie Jose DeLeon and clutch hits by Jim Morrison and Tony Pena, the Pirates snapped a four-game losing streak to claw back into a virtual first-place tie with Philadelphia with a 5-3 win over the Astros at TRS. Morrison came off the bench to collect two hits & two RBI, Pena also had a pair of raps, including a solo home run, & chased home two more runs while Lee Lacy was a burr under Houston’s saddle with a hit, two walks, a stolen base and a run scored. Rod Scurry came on to get the last out. 
• 1984 - Lee Lacy had three hits and chased home three runs to help John Candelaria to his 11th win, 5-3, over the Reds at TRS. But the big news was after the game - a postgame pyrotechnics show went haywire when a box of fireworks exploded behind the home plate stands, injuring 18 and sending 11 of the injured to the hospital. 
• 1987 - Mike Dunne fired a two-hitter as the Bucs defeated the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 at TRS. Johnny Ray’s first-inning RBI single that scored Andy Van Slyke, who had also singled and stolen second just ahead of Ray, was the game-winner. He struck out seven, allowed just one runner to reach second, and retired the last 10 batters. Ted Power was Cincy’s hard-luck loser; he only gave up four hits, two of them to the first three batters he faced. 
• 1989 - OF Gary Redus hit for the cycle in a 12-3 win over the Reds at Riverfront Stadium, scoring three times and driving in four runs as the Pirates won their fifth game in a row. Barry Bonds homered and Andy Van Slyke banged a pair of doubles to pave the road for Jeff Robinson and Mike Smith. 1991 - Pittsburgh banged out four homers from Cecil Espy, Jay Bell, Andy Van Slyke and Bobby Bonilla to whip the SF Giants 8-3 at TRS. Bell scored three times with a pair of RBI while Espy added three RBI and a run to back John Smiley’s win. 
• 1992 - Andy Van Slyke had three hits, including a homer & double, drove home four runs and scored twice as the Bucs beat LA 10-3 at Dodger Stadium. Leadoff hitter Alex Cole had three hits and scored three times as Danny Cox got the win in relief of Danny Jackson. 

Andy Van Slyke - 1992 Score

• 1996 - Jeff King swatted five hits, including a homer and double, but it was in vain as the Bucs lost a 13-9 decision to Colorado at Coors Field. Jay Bell and Nelson Liriano also went deep, but four Bucco pitchers couldn’t hold off the Rockies with Marc Wilkins taking the loss. 
• 1997 - Joe Randa and Mark Smith homered in the ninth inning on back-to-back pitches for a 4-3 walk-off win over the Dodgers at TRS, giving the Bucs a DH split. Both blows came off Todd Worrell, who got the call when Eddie Williams walked the first hitter. Marc Wilkins, who worked the last two frames, claimed the win. Pittsburgh was clobbered 8-2 in the opener. 
• 2006 - In a Skyblast concert the Buc PR department would rather forget, San Francisco punk cover band Me First & the Gimme Gimmes were booed out of PNC Park and their three-day booking was canceled. And they were lucky; the 32,000 fans were in a good mood after a 5-3 Bucco win over the Astros. East End native and band singer Spike Slawson said “It was an obscene amount of money for the work we did, so I can’t complain. We’re a punk band. Getting booed by a sports crowd makes us viable.” 
• 2009 - Andrew McCutchen hit his first walk off homer in the ninth to beat Philadelphia and Brad Lidge 6-4 at PNC Park. Brandon Moss had tied the game moments earlier with a single and trotted home with the winning run ahead of Cutch. Matt Capps gave up a pair in the ninth for the rare daily double of a blown save and win.