5/8: Rizzo-DiMaggio Deal; Willie's 1st + Roof Shot; Drabek Gem; A-Ram PoW; Mad Capper; Filipinos Open; Bucs No-No'ed; Dead Cat Bounce; Game Tales; HBD Big O, Eddie & Phil

• 1874 - C Eddie Boyle was born in Cincinnati. After getting into three games in 1896 for the Louisville Colonels, the 22-year-old was traded to Pittsburgh and got into two more, going 0-for-5, and that stay ended his MLB days. He finished the season in the minors, played one more season on the farm and got on with his life’s work at age 23. His brother, “Honest” Jack Boyle, was also a catcher and had a considerably more productive career in the show, playing 13 seasons for six teams. 
• 1885 - RHP Bill Powell was born in Taylor County, West Virginia. He tossed for the Bucs in 1909-10, compiling a 4-8/2.87 slash. The rest of his MLB career consisted of one appearance for the Cubs in 1912 and another for the Reds in 1913. Bill did work seven minor-league campaigns, retiring in 1916. 
• 1912 - The Pittsburgh Filipinos of the newly formed United States League opened their home schedule at Exposition Park with a 3-2 loss to Cincinnati. The league folded in June but the team affiliated with the Federal League, an outlaw major league that operated from 1913-15 and formed from the ashes of the USL. That squad was first called the Pittsburgh Filipinos after their manager, Deacon Phillippe. They later became the Stogies (Pittsburgh was at one time a big-league cigar-making center) and then the Rebels, a nod to manager Rebel Oakes.

Filipino Opener - 5/8/1912 Pgh Press

• 1929 - 26-year-old hurler Carl Hubbell, in his second MLB season, became the first LHP in 13 seasons to throw a no-hitter when he beat the Pirates, 11-0, at the Polo Grounds. Sparky Adams drew a walk for the Bucs and NY committed three errors behind Hubbell to deny him a perfecto. 
• 1930 - New York’s Freddie Lindstrom had his second five-hit game of the season and went for the cycle as the Giants defeated the Pirates, 13-10, at Forbes Field. He took the spotlight from Adam Comorosky, who went 4-for-5 with four RBI, and George Grantham, who had three hits and plated four times in the losing cause. The Buc bosses took notice; they traded for Lindstrom in the 1932 off season. 
• 1940 - The Pirates traded OF Johnny Rizzo to the Reds in exchange for OF Vince DiMaggio, Joe & Dom’s bro. Vince held down center for the Bucs for five seasons and hit .255 with 79 homers and 367 RBI’s in 670 games with All-Star years in 1943-44. It also marked the end of the Waner era in Pittsburgh; Paul was traded to Boston in 1941 and Lloyd followed the next year, bumped by DiMaggio and Maurice Van Robays. Rizzo joined the Navy in 1942 and had one strong season after returning. 
• 1962 - 1B Orestes “Big O” Destrade was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. Orestes played for the Bucs in 1988 as a bench bat, hitting .149. He was part of the first Florida Marlins club in 1990 (he hit 20 HR for them and also became the first strikeout victim of The Big Unit, Randy Johnson). The Big O went on to a stellar career in Japan where he was a home run leader, worked for ESPN and is now an announcer for the Tampa Bay Rays. 
• 1963 - Willie Stargell hit his first MLB homer, a three-run shot off Lindy McDaniel at Wrigley Field, during a 9-5 loss to the Cubbies. He had a lot more home runs to come; he ended his career with a franchise-best 475 long flies with several record-setting blasts in stadiums around the league, and all as a Pirate. 

Starg made a name for himself early on - Topps 1963 Rookie Stars

• 1968 - Roberto Clemente’s sac fly in the 14th inning plated Maury Wills and gave the Bucs a 4-3 win against the Braves at Fulton County Stadium. The Great One was originally scheduled to go to Pittsburgh to get a sore shoulder evaluated, but decided to hang with the team in case he was needed. He came in as a defensive sub in the eighth, and sore wing and all, became the hero. Steve Blass started and allowed three unearned runs in the first inning thx to a two-out throwaway by Wills, who made amends by scoring twice and swiping a sack. The Bucs tied it in the eighth on a Willie Stargell RBI single and game-knotting wild pitch, scoring Al McBean who ran for Pops. Ron Kline earned the win after twirling five scoreless innings of relief, with ElRoy Face nailing down the save. Along with Dave Wickersham, the Bucco hurlers held the Bravos to five hits over the last 13 frames. 
• 1973 - For the second time in his career‚ Willie Stargell drove a ball out of Dodger Stadium. His blast off Andy Messersmith carried over the 50-foot high right field roof, 470’ away, and was one of two four-baggers for Pops, who was the only player to ever launch a ball out of that park. It wasn’t enough as LA took a 7-4 decision. 
• 1988 - Doug Drabek took a no-hitter into the ninth before allowing a pinch-hit, infield single to Randy Ready and a home run to ex-Pirate Marvell Wynne‚ winning a 6-2 decision over the Padres at TRS. Bobby Bonilla had three hits to lead the Pirate offense. Whether by coincidence or not, SS Al Pedrique, the player who couldn’t convert Ready’s infield hit, was demoted to AAA Buffalo and replaced by hot shot SS prospect Felix Fermin. 
• 1994 - Andy Van Slyke went 8-for-9 (one hit shy of the MLB twin-bill hit record) during the Pirates' 9-2 and 9-3 Mothers Day doubleheader sweep of the Cubs at TRS with a homer, double, five runs scored and four RBI. The Bucs took the first game behind Paul Wagner as Lance Parrish added three RBI. The nightcap was won by Zane Smith with a four RBI outing by Brian Hunter. 

Andy had a day - 1994 O-Pee-Chee

• 1997 - Jason Kendall's bases-loaded double was the big blow in a Bucco eight-run fourth frame as Pittsburgh outlasted Colorado 10-8. Mark Johnson had three hits and Al Martin and Kevin Elster added homers for the Bucs, which scored 24 runs on 31 hits in their two games at Coors Field. Love that mountain air! 
• 2001 - 22-year-old 3B Aramis Ramirez was named the NL Player of the Week, batting .361 with three homers, three doubles (.952 slugging %) and eight RBIs. He told the Post Gazette “That’s what I work for. Everything’s about working hard.” Then A-Ram took his leave to call his mom back home in the Dominican Republic with the good news. 
• 2007 - Matt Capps was suspended for four days by the league for beaning Prince Fielder three days earlier. Fielder had the misfortune of being the batter who followed JJ Hardy and his three-run homer in a loss to Milwaukee. Capps’ 0-1 pitch was up and in; Fielder’s noggin dodged danger when he managed to turn and take the pitch off his upper arm. Capps was immediately ejected and later suspended. He requested a hearing and his defense was that if he meant to hit him, it would have been with the first pitch, an argument that didn’t move MLB safety guy Bob Watson an inch. As far as Fielder getting a message, well, not so much...he homered in his next at bat, which came in the following game. 
• 2012 - In a see-saw game at PNC Park, Washington’s Adam LaRoche erased a 3-2 ninth inning Pirate lead by blasting a two-run homer off Joel Hanrahan. But the Bucs had an answer. With two down in their half, Rod Barajas took a 2-0 Henry Rodriguez heater deep to left, scoring Alex Presley ahead of him, to pull out a 5-4 walk-off Pittsburgh win over the Nats. Tony Watson faced two batters to get the victory. 

Hot Rod hits home after his walk off - photo Gene Puskar/AP

• 2013 - “The Comeback Kid” ran out rebounds: After being DFA'ed on April 30th, LHP Jonathan Sanchez, who broke camp with the Pirates as a fifth starter after a rash of injuries felled the other back-end contenders, was released. He went 0-3 with a 11.85 ERA and gave up 25 hits, including seven home runs, in 13-2/3 IP during what would be his final MLB posting. 
• 2018 - The Chicago White Sox took a quick 4-0, first-inning lead over Ivan Nova and the Bucs, but don’t blink...Pittsburgh came back with four in the second frame, and roared back to take a 10-6 victory. The Bucs had 16 hits on the night, with Corey Dickerson collecting four of them. Starling Marte had three knocks while Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell and Colin Moran added a pair each. Every Pittsburgh starting position player reached base safely and either plated or chased home a run. Both teams used six pitchers (Tyler Glasnow was credited with the win) in a game that lasted almost four hours.