7/13 From 1975: Littlefield Era Starts; Hans Honored; Team Chat; Late Fireworks; ASG's; Gem & Game Tales; HBD Ryan & Casey

• 1976 - The NL put a hurtin’ on the AL by a 7-1 count in the All Star game at Veteran’s Stadium. OF Al Oliver was the only Bucco AS and went 0-for-1. President Gerald Ford threw out the first pitch. 

Ryan Ludwick - 2011 Topps Update

• 1978 - OF Ryan Ludwick was born in Satellite Beach, Florida. The 32-year-old vet was purchased from San Diego at the 2011 deadline to bolster a playoff run that fizzled badly; he hit .232 with two homers in his brief Bucco stay. He left after the season to join the Reds, where he ended his playing days after the 2014 campaign. Ludwick is now a roving hitting instructor for St. Louis’ minor league teams. 
• 1982 - The AL fell 4-1 to the NL in the All Star game at Stade Olympique (Olympic Stadium) in Montreal. C Tony Pena stole a base as a pinch runner and went 0-for-1 at the dish, as did 1B Jason Thompson. Former Bucco Al Oliver, now an Expo, went 2-for-2 with a run scored and double. It was the first All-Star Game ever played outside the United States.
• 1983 - The Bucs raced ahead of the Giants 5-0, but frittered away the lead by the ninth to fall behind 6-5 at Candlestick Park. With two down and Greg Minton on the hill, Johnny Ray bombed a tying homer to right, then the baseball gods smiled. Mike Easler hit a drive the opposite way that would have hit off the wall, but as LF Jeffrey Leonard tried for a leaping catch, the ball ticked off his glove and cleared the fence to give The Hit Man a game-winning four bagger. Kent Tekulve pitched a clean ninth to save the game for Manny Sarmiento. It gave the Pirates a three game sweep of San Francisco on their way to a 9-1 West Coast swing. 
• 1984 - The Pirates swept the Giants in a TRS twi-lite (it started at 5:05) double-dipper by 8-2 and 4-3 scores. The first game featured four RBI from Lee Lacy and three hits from Lee Mazzilli as John Candelaria got the win with help from Kent Tekulve. For Candyman, it was his 12th consecutive July win. The second one, well, that W was a little tougher to come by - it went 18 innings and five hours, 11 minutes before Jason Thompson’s knock chased Mazzilli home with the game winner. It was Thompson’s second RBI; Jim Morrison also had two RBI while Tony Pena collected three hits and scored twice. The two teams used nine pitchers; Teke gave up runs in the eighth and ninth to let the G-Men knot the score. The bullpens ruled; San Francisco’s pen tossed 10 shutout innings; the Bucco relief corp put up nine zippos, seven by Don Robinson. The game ended at 1:32 AM; the Zambelli fireworks promised were still shot off, much to the dismay of the good ‘Burgers who were trying to catch some shuteye, but per the Pittsburgh Press, most of the 22,176 at the yard happily stayed to the end to catch the whole shebang. 

Lee Mazzilli - 1985 Topps

• 1990 - RHP Casey Sadler was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Drafted in the 25th round of the 2010 draft, he worked seven games (one start) for the Pirates in 2014-15, slashing 1-1/6.46. Sadler missed the 2016 season due to TJ surgery and after some bouncing around is now with the Cubs organization. 
• 1993 - The AL banged the ball all around the Camden Yards lot in a 9-3 win over the NL. Bucco rep 2B Jay Bell went 0-for-1. Andy Van Slyke was slated to be the NL's starting center fielder but sat out the game with a broken collarbone suffered when he crashed into a wall at Busch Stadium. AL manager Cito Gaston didn’t make any friends in Baltimore. The fans got fired up when the Birds’ Mike Mussina warmed up in the bullpen in the ninth and roared "We Want Mike!", but Gaston held him out. The Camden Yard crowd littered the field after the final out until Moose quieted them down. He said afterward that he warmed up on his own because it was his day to throw (he did pitch on the 16th), but more conspiratorial types believe he was trying to catch Cito’s attention so he could make a hometown appearance. 
• 1998 - After losing a twin bill for their sixth loss in a row and 13th in 16 games, Kevin Young asked manager Gene Lamont for the OK to hold a players-only team meeting for the struggling Bucs. Permission was granted and he, Al Martin, Jason Kendall & Jose Guillen spoke, touching on the teams’ inexperienced but talented roster and the need to progress. Martin said it was “It was more of a family talk...We wanted to get everything out in the open.” It worked that night as the Bucs beat the Cubs 6-2 behind Jon Lieber and an inside-the-park homer by Tony Womack, the 500th in franchise history. It launched the club on an 8-of-11 victory run, but the Pirates still finished last in the division with 69 wins. 
• 1999 - Honus Wagner was named a member of the All-Century team selected by fan vote and introduced at the All-Star game. Wagner came in fourth in the vote, but was included as a legend. Local players included on the ballot of the Greatest 100 Players were area Negro League standouts Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell and Josh Gibson, along with Buccos Wagner, Hank Greenberg, Pie Traynor, Barry Bonds, Roberto Clemente, Ralph Kiner, Willie Stargell and Paul Waner. 

Ed Sprague - 1999 Post Gazette promo

• 1999 - The AL took a 4-1 win from the NL in the All Star game at Fenway Park. 3B Ed Sprague was the Pirate rep and grounded out softly to third in his only at bat. Pedro Martínez added to his legend when he punched out the first four batters he faced to become the first to begin the All-Star Game by striking out the side. He fanned out five of the six batters he faced and was named MVP. The game began 15 minutes late after Ted Williams came out in a golf cart for the pre-game ceremonies and was mobbed by the AS players who wanted to honor the all-timer. Two days earlier, Pirates pups Nashville 3B Aramis Ramirez and Lynchburg C Yamid Haad played for the World team in the Futures game while Buc coach Trent Jewell was a coach for the USA. 
• 2001 - Todd Ritchie lost a no hitter against the Royals when Luis Alicea bounced a one-out ninth-inning single through the infield. In the bottom half of the frame, Aramis Ramirez singled through a drawn-in infield to score Brian Giles for a 1-0 win at PNC Park for the Bucs second consecutive shutout win. Jimmy Anderson and Mike Williams had combined for a 2-0 sparkler over KC the day before, with Kevin Young’s two-run homer being the difference maker. 
• 2001 - Dave Littlefield began his term as GM, replacing Cam Bonifay. Hampered by ongoing financial restraints, he was noted for a stretch of losing seasons and the erosion of both the farm system and the Latino player market, although he did have some successes. He drafted Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker and hired Rene Gayo to scout Latin America. Littlefield was fired in 2007 and eventually replaced by Neal Huntington. 
• 2004 - The junior circuit pounded out a 9-4 win over the NL All-Stars at Minute Maid Park. SS Jack Wilson was the lone Bucco representative and went 0-for-2 at the plate. At age 73, Jack McKeon became the oldest All-Star manager after becoming the oldest World Series skipper in 2003 with the Florida Marlins. 

Jack Wilson - ASG photo/Pirates

• 2010 - The senior circuit finally solved the AL in the All Star game, taking a 3-1 win at Angels Stadium at Anaheim and snapping a 13-year losing streak. P Evan Meek was the Pirates rep and didn’t get in the game. Matt Capps, non-tendered in 2009 and then with Washington, got the win. It was the first game where the DH was made a permanent lineup fixture (before it only was used in AL parks), although it wouldn’t have any practical effect until the following year when the game was played at Chase Field.