8/5 From 1930 Through 1974: Pops Moonshot; Maz Sets Record; Game Stories; HBD Rich, Bernie & John

• 1934 - The Pirates swept a twin bill from the St. Louis Cardinals at Sportsman’s Park by 6-4, 7-2, tallies, led by the hot-hitting Waner brothers. From the top of the order, Big and Little Poison combined for 11 hits, eight runs scored and five more driven home to help send Daffy Dean and Bill Hallahan to defeat. They were helped by Earl Grace, who had three hits in the lidlifter, then by Freddie Lindstrom & Gus Suhr, each delivering a pair of knocks in the closing game. Larry French won the opener in relief of Bill Swift while Schoolboy Hoyt claimed the nightcap. 

Smoky Joe Williams - Matt Rucker/Getty

• 1934 - The Homestead Grays brought 49-year-old Smokey Joe Williams out of retirement for the season (he served as a combination player/coach) and held a day for him at Forbes Field. In front of 1,200 fans, Smokey struck out the leadoff batter and tossed the first two innings of a 5-1 victory over the Fort Wayne Berghoffs. The big blow of the game was Ray Brown’s triple that helped fuel a four-run sixth frame while Joe Strong finished up for the win. 
• 1943 - RHP Nellie Briles was born in Dorris, California. He only tossed three years for the Bucs, from 1971-73 with a line of 36-28/2.98, but will be remembered for the two-hit shutout he spun in Game Five of the 1971 series. What isn’t as well known is that he called his own pitches for the last three innings, according to the SABR Biography Project. After disagreeing on whether to go hard or soft (the original game plan), Manny Sanguillen refused to give him signs from that point on, and just played toss-and-catch with Briles for the remainder of the game. After he retired, he went into broadcasting briefly, then joined the Pirate executive team, and founded the Alumni Association. Nellie passed away in 2005. 
• 1946 - Rich Donnelly was born in Steubenville. Rich was a minor league catcher who made his name as a coach, working for several clubs including the Bucs. He was part of Jim Leyland’s posse, coaching in Pittsburgh from 1986–96, then following Leyland to Florida and Colorado. Donnelly also made stops at Texas, Milwaukee, LA Dodgers and Seattle, with another gig as a Pirate from 2008-10 when he was a player development staffer.  
• 1947 - OF Bernie Carbo was born in Detroit. He ended his 12-year career with the Bucs in 1980, going 2-for-6 at age 33 after signing on as a FA in September. He admitted to drug use during his playing days and said he threw his career away due to his addictions. He later sobered up, largely due to the efforts of Sam McDowell, and became a born-again Christian. In 1993, he founded the non-denominational evangelical organization Diamond Club Ministry and now spends his time ministering to families and their children through talks and baseball camps. 
• 1950 - Leadoff hitter Bob Dillinger singled off Jim Hearns to open the game, but that would be the Bucs’ only knock in a 5-0 loss to the NY Giants at the Polo Grounds. Hearns was effectively wild that day, issuing five walks and uncorking a wild pitch. Mel Queen, who gave up a four spot in 4-⅓ IP, took the loss. 

Bob Dillinger - 1951 Bowman

• 1960 - As posted by BR Bullpen: In a game described by Dick Groat as "the greatest I ever played in," the World Series-bound Bucs buttressed their first place margin over Milwaukee by pulling out a 1-0 win over the Giants. The game's only run came in the eighth inning, when Bill Virdon scored from first on an errant throw by pitcher Sam Jones on Groat’s bunt. But it's the fielding plays that were most spectacular: for the Giants, Willie Mays nipped a seventh inning Bucs uprising in the bud with a brilliant throw to cut down Don Hoak going first to third. But the Pirates' Vinegar Bend Mizell was the chief beneficiary of this game's defensive prowess: the "Say Hey Kid" was robbed of a sure extra-base hit by Roberto Clemente in a terrifying catch and crash that knocked the right fielder out of the lineup for a week as he smashed face first into the concrete base of the right-centerfield stands at the 395-foot mark, and collapsed on the dirt warning track. Five stitches were required to close the cut on his chin, and his left knee was banged up. An inning before that, Virdon made a tremendous running grab of Felipe Alou's bomb to the left center light tower, and, in the eighth, Virdon made what Pittsburgh Press writer Les Biederman described as "the play of the season," just missing a leaping grab of Andre Rodgers' drive to the 406’ mark in left center, then recovering almost instantly to make a strong, accurate throw to third. Out by a mile was Rodgers, who made an ill-advised, two-out try for a triple. The classic was witnessed by 33,301 fans. 
• 1964 - The Pirates scored once in the eighth and twice in the ninth to rally past Don Drysdale and the Dodgers 4-3 at Forbes Field. In the eighth, Bill Virdon scored after a Roberto Clemente double and a wild pitch by reliever Ron Perranoski to cut the lead to 3-2. Jim Pagliaroni led off the last frame with a homer, and with two out, Clemente lined a 2-2 pitch into center, his third hit of the game, to bring home Gene Alley with the game winner. Al McBean pitched the last two innings to get the win. 
• 1969 - Willie Stargell launched a bomb off LA’s Alan Foster that officially was measured at 507’, the longest - and first - home run ever hit out of Dodger Stadium (other estimates ranged from 480’-512’). The Bucs won 11-3, with Manny Sanguillen and Bill Mazeroski also going yard. Steve Blass cruised to the win over Don Drysdale. A
• 1970 - 2B Bill Mazeroski set a modern-era NL record for putouts at his position with the 4,781st of his career in the Pirates 4-0 win over the Phillies at TRS. Maz ended his career with 4,974 putouts, eventually surpassed on the leaderboard by Joe Morgan. Luke Walker spun a two-hitter and Al Oliver provided the muscle with a homer and three RBI. 

Bill Mazeroski - 2002 Fleer Greats of the Game

• 1971 - The Pirates rolled over Montreal 7-2 at Parc Jarry behind homers by Willie Stargell, Al Oliver and Jose Pagan plus a pair of Gene Alley triples. The Bucs lost Pagan when his arm was broken by a pitch, but he returned to shine in the Fall Classic. Bruce Kison, who would also shine in the WS, went the distance for the win. 
• 1972 - RHP John Wasdin was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. John closed out his 12-year career in Pittsburgh, going 1-1/5.95 in 2007 in a dozen appearances from the pen. Wasdin then bumped around for a bit, tossing in AAA and Japan before taking a high school coaching gig. He joined the A’s as a pitching coach in 2011 and in 2017 jumped to the Orioles system.