6/30 From 1970: Hanny & McWilliams Deals; Cobra Out; Streakin'; Tiger Reunion; Walkout; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Cole, Drew, Delwyn & Chan Ho

• 1973 - RHP Chan Ho Park was born in Kong Ju City, South Korea. He finished his 17-year MLB career in Pittsburgh in 2010 after being claimed off waivers from the Yankees, making 26 appearances and slashing 2-2/3.49. He tossed for two more years in Korea afterwards before retiring to focus on various children charities on behalf of his Chan Ho Park Dream Foundation. 
• 1978 - The Bucs lost both a ballgame and Dave Parker in the ninth inning at TRS. The Pirates were leading 3-2 when two errors helped the Mets to four runs. The Pirates came roaring back. Frank Taveras and Omar Moreno singled with one out, and Parker followed with a triple to cut the lead to 6-5. Bill Robinson lifted a fly to RF Joel Youngblood, and his throw home beat the tagging Cobra, who tried to run through NY catcher John Stearns, a former defensive back in college. Instead Stearns exploded into him to make the tag, ending the game and breaking Parker’s jaw & cheekbone all in one fell swoop, then spiking the ball after the play. David returned 16 days after his bones were set and his jaw wired shut, wearing a goalie's mask, then a football helmet and later a cage to protect his puss. He slumped on his return - he was on a liquid diet and lost 20 pounds - but rediscovered his stroke in time to repeat as league batting champ (.334) and was voted the NL-MVP. 

The Cobra - photo 7/16/1978 Pgh Press

• 1982 - The Atlanta Braves traded LHP Larry McWilliams to the Pirates for RHP Pascual Perez and minor leaguer Carlos Rios. Both pitchers were solid starters for a spell (each won 33 games during his next three years) in an even up deal. 
• 1982 - UT Delwyn Young Jr. was born in Los Angeles. A touted minor-league prospect, Delwyn was a AAA All-Star and played for Team USA, but the Dodgers outfield was loaded and Young was sent to Pittsburgh for Eric Krebs & Harvey Garcia. He became the starting 2B, replacing the traded Freddy Sanchez. Delwyn began on fire but faded during the dog days, relegating him to a utility role in 2010. His bat slipped - he hit .238 following a .266 season - and he left at the end of the year as a free agent. Young had a couple of bites, but never caught on in the majors again. 
• 1983 - UT Drew Sutton was born in El Dorado, Arkansas. Drew had a dizzy but brief Bucco stay. The Pirates purchased Sutton from the Braves on May 20th, 2012. Then Tampa Bay purchased Drew from the Bucs on the next day; the Pirates had let him go as a professional courtesy because the Rays were going to add him to their MLB roster. 18 games and a month later, Sutton was DFA’ed by Tampa and claimed by Pittsburgh. He became the stuff of local folklore when Drew hit his first career walk-off home run into PNC’s batter’s eye off the Astro’s Wesley Wright to give the Pirates a come-from-ahead win after a blown save by Joel Hanrahan. The victory gave the Pirates a share of first place. Drew left as a free agent after the year, spent one more season as a 30-year-old at AAA Pawtucket for Boston and then retired. 
• 1987 - IF Cole Figueroa was born in Tallahassee, Florida. He made three brief stops in the show between 2014-16 with his last hurrah in Pittsburgh. He got into 23 games in 2016, batting .154. He read the writing on the wall; he’s now with the Tampa Bay Rays, working in Baseball Research & Development and putting his Sports Management degree from Florida (he was selected to the All-SEC Academic Team) to good use. 
• 1992 - Pittsburgh eked out a 2-0 win v St. Louis at Busch Stadium. Doug Drabek was the man, tossing a three-hit, complete game whitewash with nine strikeouts. It was the third time that Drabek went the distance on the way to a career-high 10 CGs during the season. The Bucs scored both runs in the sixth off Rheal Cormier when Cecil Espy and Chico Lind’s back-to-back two-out singles plated Lloyd McClendon and Don Slaught. Espy’s was a game-winning gift; his in-between hopper got through SS Tim Jones for a single and error to score the first run and set up the second. 

Jon Lieber - 1997 Circa Rave

• 1997 - Jon Lieber tossed a five-hit/10-K, 3-1, complete game victory over the Chicago White Sox at TRS, backed by homers from Kevin Young and Dale Sveum. But the most memorable part of the afternoon was Lieber’s dominance of Albert Belle, whom he whiffed four times. The 28,070 fans loved it; Belle was in the first year of an $11M contract, while the “Freak Show” Pirates had a $9M payroll for the entire team. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette headline for Bob Smizik’s game story was “Pirates Clang Belle.” Lieber also held Frank Thomas, who was making a mere $7.15M, 0-for-2, though the Big Hurt did draw a walk and lifted a sac fly to account for Chi-town’s only run. 
• 1999 - The Bucs rode an eight-run fourth frame to a 9-1 win over the Phillies at TRS. Brian Giles had a three-run homer, Al Martin had a three-run bases-clearing double and Brant Brown doubled in another pair as the Bucs banged out six hits with three walks in their big frame. Jason Schmidt cruised to victory, with ninth inning help from Brad Clontz. 
• 2006 - The hottest team in baseball, the Detroit Tigers (at the time, 54-25, and eventually World Series bound) rolled into PNC Park with a boatload of old Bucco honchos: Manager Jim Leyland and his coaches Gene Lamont, Lloyd McLendon, Andy Van Slyke, Don Slaught and Rafe Belliard. They won the opener 7-6 and took 2-of-3 games of the series. Motown also rostered a bunch of future Buccos during the visit - Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe, Jason Grilli and Wil Ledzema all appeared. 
• 2007 - To protest the team’s small payroll and general ineptitude, a group called “Fans for Change” staged a walkout at PNC Park. Estimates ranged from a few hundred to a few thousand of the 26,959 on hand who strolled out of the park after the third inning. They picked a bad day for it, as the Bucs beat the Nats 7-2 behind Tom Gorzelanny, who was supported by a three-run homer by Adam LaRoche. Though the sentiment was widespread, the boycott had little effect. 
• 2008 - The Pirates penciled a pitcher in the eight-hole for the first time in over 50 years when John Russell had Paul Maholm (.161) bat ahead of Jack Wilson (.312); Bobby Bragan had been the last Pittsburgh skipper to use the ploy during the 1957 campaign. It didn’t exactly juice the attack as the Bucs went down 4-3 to the Reds at GABP after Matt Capps gave up a two-run homer in the ninth to Junior. Maholm went 0-for-3; Wilson 1-for-3. 

Joel Hanrahan - 2009 Topps Update

• 2009 - The Bucs traded LF Nyjer Morgan and LHP Sean Burnett to the Washington Nationals for RHP Joel Hanrahan and OF Lastings Milledge in a change-of-scenery swap. Hanrahan would become the major piece, eventually taking over as the Pirate closer. They also completed a minor deal the same day, shipping utilityman Eric Hinske to the Yankees for minor leaguers Eric Fryer and Casey Erickson. 
• 2013 - The Pirates won their ninth straight game, 2-1, in 14 innings over the Brewers at PNC Park. The yard was packed with 35,351 fans on a warm Sunday afternoon, but the game was delayed in the second inning by rain for nearly 2-1/2 hours, and the bullpens took over with Milwaukee ahead 1-0. Andrew McCutchen tied the game in the eighth when his two-out knock drove in Starling Marte. The Pirates left the bases loaded in the 13th to miss a golden chance, but Russell Martin, the last position player remaining, singled home Gaby Sanchez, who had an infield knock and stolen base to open the frame, with the game winner in the following go-around. Tony Watson got the win after three scoreless innings. He followed five other Pirate relievers, and the ensemble tossed 12 innings of two-hit, shutout ball without issuing a walk, led by Vin Mazzaro’s perfect five-inning stint (it was the first Bucco five IP+ bullpen perfecto since Elmer Ponder did it in 1919). It was the first time in franchise history that the bullpen put up that many consecutive zeros in one game. 
• 2017 - The Bucs were bombed by the Giants 13-5 at PNC Park to complete a SF sweep, but the G-Men couldn’t slow down Andrew McCutchen. He went 2-for-2 with a walk to close out a red-hot June. He slashed .411/.505/.689 with six homers, 23 RBI and 22 runs scored, taking the Player-of-the-Month Award for a franchise record fifth time.