4/17 From 1955: Barbato Deal; Clemente Debut & News; Gibby's Bow; Shea Opener; Wills Cover Boy; Big Bats & Arms

• 1955 - Roberto Clemente, a 20-year-old rookie from Carolina, Puerto Rico, made his MLB debut in right field at Forbes Field during a double header. In his first at bat, Clemente singled off the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Johnny Podres, the first step on his journey to 3,000 career hits. Roberto collected two more knocks in the nightcap, but the Bucs lost both ends of the twinbill, 10-3 and 3-2. It was phase one of the Bucco rebuild, with guys like Roberto, Dick Groat, Bob Friend, Vern Law and ElRoy Face on the roster, to be joined the following season by Bill Mazeroski, Bill Virdon and Bob Skinner as the 1960 core began to form. 

Roberto Clemente - 1957 Jay Publishing photo

• 1958 - Les Biederman, the Pirates beat guy for the Pittsburgh Press, wrote that the Braves were renewing their push to pry Roberto Clemente away from the Bucs. They made an offer in the spring that GM Joe L. Brown thought was lowball, and the new lure of RHP Bob Buhl (an 18-game winner in 1957 who had several good seasons left), a reliever and a bench piece didn’t change Brown’s mind. As Biederman prophetically noted, “He’s (Clemente) on the doorstep of greatness now and there’s no telling how high he can go.” The Pirates did try the old switch-and-bait by dangling Roman Mejias instead of Roberto, but the Bravos didn't bite. 
• 1960 - LHP Joe Gibbon made his MLB debut in the second game of a twinbill against the Reds at Forbes Field, coming in to mop up with the Pirates down 5-0 in the eighth. He tossed a pair of scoreless innings and the Bucs scored six times in the ninth to give him the 6-5 win. Bill Mazeroski had an RBI knock, Hal Smith banged a three-run pinch hit homer and Bob Skinner walked it off with a, two-run, two-out blast off Ted Wieand after Dick Groat kept it alive with a single through the box. The Hound was mobbed at the plate after his blast by the fans while Reds skipper Fred Hutchinson broke several chairs after he stomped into the visitors locker room. The Bucs won the opener 5-0 behind Bob Friend's four-hitter; he K’ed six. Skinner, Groat, Roberto Clemente (homer & three-bagger) and Dick Hoak had two hits apiece while Dick Stuart tripled and chased three runs home. 
• 1964 - Before 48‚736 fans, the Pirates defeated the Mets 4-3 in the first game played at Shea Stadium, with Bob Friend the winner over Cuban righty Ed Bauta. In the second, Willie Stargell smote the first home run (it was, in fact, the first hit ever at the new ballyard) at Shea off starter Jack Fisher as Pops collected four knocks on the day. Roberto Clemente and Donn Clendenon added three raps apiece as the Bucs banged out 16 hits but managed to strand 13 runners. 
• 1967 - Maury Wills was the cover boy for Sports Illustrated’s “Baseball 1967” issue. In his first year as a Buc, he hit .302 with 92 runs and 29 swiped sacks after coming to town from LA in exchange for Bob Bailey and Gene Michael. 

• 1968 - The Pirates ran wild on the Houston Astros, taking a 13-4 win at Forbes Field in front of 30,799 fans. Not only did the Bucs bang out 17 hits (Maury Wills and Milt May had three, while Gene Alley, Donn Clendenon, Billy Maz and Pops had a pair; everyone in the lineup had at least one rap and either scored or drove home a run, with six doing both) but stole five bases, with Clendenon swiping home and Wills taking second and third in one trip. Manny Mota even got into the act, scoring from first on a single that dropped 30’ behind third base, running through coach Alex Grammas’ “whoa” and catching ‘Stro OF’er Jim Wynn napping. Al McBean was the recipient of the runfest, going the distance despite giving up 10 hits. 
• 1999 - The Pirates jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first at Cinergy Field, but it took them 10 frames to finally secure a 7-6 win over the Reds. The Pirates opening frame outburst was primed by a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double by Brant Brown. Cincy chipped away at four Bucco pitchers to tie it in the seventh only to see the Bucs reclaim the game when Warren Morris’ ground ball single to right scored Abraham Nunez. Brown led Pittsburgh with three hits; the Pirates had 11 knocks and were helped by 10 Redleg walks (Pirates pitchers issued seven free passes). Jason Christiansen tossed the last two innings for the win. 
• 2002 - Lloyd McClendon gave five regulars the day off and a later bit of snit cost him Aramis Ramirez, but he still had enough firepower to eke past the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2, at Miller Park. Pitcher Dave Williams blooped a two-run, two-out flare in the second to provide the bulk of the Bucco attack, then bopped Geoff Jenkins in the Brew Crew half. Ben Sheets paid it back by drilling Ramirez in the butt in the following frame, triggering A-Ram to charge the mound while flinging his helmet at Sheets, who responded by zipping his mitt at the Pirates infielder. The teams met at the mound quickly for a little jaw session before the two protagonists were ejected. The Brewers tied it up in the fourth frame thanks to a walk and error before Brant Brown’s fifth-inning homer provided the final margin. Williams went five innings for the win, with help from Mike Lincoln, Brian Boehringer, Joe Beimel, and a save by Mike Williams. The victory gave the Buccos their first road sweep since 2000. 
• 2011 - Andrew McCutchen (3-for-3 w/two walks) and Jose Tabata led off the game with back-to-back home runs off Edinson Volquez, the third time that had been done in club history. The Pirates scored four times in the opening inning and outlasted the Cincinnati Reds, 7-6, at Great American Ball Park. Garrett Jones also homered and had two knocks. The Bucs went through six pitchers in a game that Jeff Karstens started, with Chris Resop getting the win and Joel Hanrahan closing out for the save. 

AJ Burnett - 2013 Bowman

• 2013 - AJ Burnett had a no-hitter going against the Cards at PNC Park, carrying the no-no into the seventh before Carlos Beltran banged a double. It was a big day for AJ; he also went over the 2,000 mark in career strikeouts with eight whiffs and no walks. The last two innings were closed out by Mark Melancon, Tony Watson and Jason Grilli as the Bucs won 5-0 behind a balanced attack - nine different Buccos had hits, with Cutch and Neil Walker collecting a pair of knocks each. 
• 2014 - The Pirates broke open an early pitching duel with the Brew Crew when they scored nine runs in the seventh and eighth innings to blow past Milwaukee at PNC Park 11-2. The offense was primed by four long balls off the bats of Andrew McCutchen, Josh Harrison, Gaby Sanchez and Pedro Alvarez. Edinson Volquez went seven innings to claim his first victory as a Bucco. 
• 2017 - RHP Johnny Barbato, 24, was traded by the New York Yankees to the Pirates for a PTBNL (RHP Matt Frawley). He broke camp with the Bucs, was sent to Indy in June and came back in August, pitching to a 0-1/4.08 line in 24 MLB outings. He was waived in the off season and claimed by the Tigers; he later tossed in Japan and then spun in the indie leagues.