- 1963 - Utilityman Denny Gonzalez was born in Sabana Grande de Boya, Dominican Republic. He played parts of four seasons as a Buc (1984-88) but never spent a full campaign on the active roster, hitting .206. After his playing days, Gonzalez scouted for the Chicago White Sox and was in charge of the Sox' Dominican Academy. He also has taken the Dominican National team reins in international play.
- 1964 - Pittsburgh scored four runs in the first and never looked back as they whipped the St. Louis Cardinals 13-2 at Busch Stadium. Bill Mazeroski knocked in five runs with a double and homer while Willie Stargell hit for the cycle with four runs scored and three more driven in. Jerry Lynch also went yard (he had hit a grand slam against the Redbirds in the game before) and added three ribbies as Bob Veale cruised to victory.
- 1973 - Pittsburgh swept San Diego 3-1 and 13-7 at TRS. Willie Stargell hit two home runs and chased home five runs during the twin bill; rookie Dave Parker smacked his first MLB homer in the opener. Nellie Briles went seven innings, giving up six hits, to win the lidlifter with help from Ramon Hernandez and Dave Giusti. Willie’s two-run double was the key blow. Stargell’s two homers primed the attack in the nightcap; Bob Robertson also went long. The Cobra had three raps, with Willy, Robby, Al Oliver and Manny Sanguillen adding two knocks each while Richie Zisk iced the game with a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double. Luke Walker got the win with Bob Moose and John Lamb holding down the fort.
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| Pops - 1973 Kelloggs |
- 1977 - RHP Ryan Vogelsong was born in Charlotte, NC. He worked five years for the Pirates (2001, 2003-06), going 10-19 with a 6.00 ERA. He took a hiatus to Japan, but came back in 2011 to his original team, the SF Giants, and pitched strong ball for the G-Men, earning an All-Star spot in 2011. He rejoined Pittsburgh in 2016 as a long man/spot starter, missing a large chunk of the campaign after a brutal beaning in the eye area. Vogey went 3-7/4.81 for the Bucs in that campaign. He signed with the Twins in 2017 but was released in camp. A fan fave in the Bay, he retired as a Giant later in the year.
- 1979 - Kent Tekulve saved both ends of a doubleheader as the Pirates swept the Braves 5-4 and 3-2 at TRS. Teke scattered four hits over three scoreless innings in the first game of a twin bill, closing out Don Robinson’s win (which Robby helped along with two RBI and a run scored), then tossed the final inning in relief of Jim Bibby (who was also a hitting hero with a two-run homer) in the second game for his 16th save of the year. With the sweep, the Pirates pulled within 1/2 game of front-running Montreal. It was a long day; rain delays added four hours to the twin bill, which stretched out over 10 hours. And to boot, the Bucs and Bravos had a twi-light doubleheader on tap for the next evening. They split that night, with the Bravos taking the second match to end a Bucco winning spell of 13-of-14 games.
- 1982 - Lloyd “Little Poison” Waner passed away at age 76. The 18-year veteran (all but one in a Bucco uniform, at least in part) batted .316 and teamed with his brother, Paul - known as ''Big Poison'' - to lead the Pirates' attack in the late 1920's and throughout the 1930's. Lloyd, elected to the Hall of Fame in 1967, had 2,459 career hits. The speedy Waner was Pittsburgh’s long-time center fielder and leadoff hitter with an eagle eye at the dish. In 8,333 plate appearances, he struck out just 173 times. After retiring as a player after the 1945 campaign, Waner worked as a Pirates scout from 1946-49 before getting a day job as an inspector for Oklahoma City.
- 1987 - The Pirates turned some strong pitching from Rick Reuschel and some shoddy Giant play into a 4-0 win over San Francisco at Candlestick Park. Both teams traded five hits, and the Bucs were nursing a slim 1-0 lead into the ninth when a single, an error, three walks (two intentional) and a wild pitch netted them three runs. Big Daddy went the distance and burned just 91 pitches to dispatch the G-Men.
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| Glenn Wilson - 1989 Topps wide |
- 1988 - In a swap of outfielders, Pittsburgh sent Darnell Coles to Seattle for Glenn Wilson. Wilson spent 1988-89 as a Buc, returning again for his 1993 swan song. He got into 147 games and was solid, hitting .274 with 11 HR. Coles spent 1987-88 as a Pirate, also smacking 11 homers but hitting just .230 in 108 games. GM Syd Thrift had been after Wilson for over a year when he was with the Phils, but couldn’t strike a deal with Philadelphia, which wanted a front-line pitcher in return.
- 1989 - The Pirates released starting SS Rey Quinones just 71 games after trading for him by sending P Mike Dunne and prospect Mark Merchant to Seattle for his services. He had held out with the Mariners and was off to a slow start before the Pirates, aware that he was considered a reclamation project owing to performance and attitude (GM Larry Doughty said the club knew that Quinones “marched to his own drummer.”) They thought that Jimmy Leyland, known as a player’s manager, could unlock Quinones’ potential, but the 25-year-old hit just .209 and made 19 errors in Pittsburgh. He had no takers on the trade market and was released; he never played MLB again.
- 1993 - The Bucs scored four times in the ninth to rally past the Braves 8-7 at TRS. Jay Bell drove in the first run in the final frame, and with two outs, Dave Clark’s single got the Bucs within a run. The next hitter, Kevin Young, dropped a soft liner into right center, plating Lloyd McClendon and Clark, who scored all the way from first, to give Blas Minor the victory.
- 2000 - The Pirates beat the Phillies 2-1 at TRS in front of 28,485 Saturday night fans. Bronson Arroyo allowed two hits over seven shutout innings for his first major league win, with Jason Christiansen and Mike Williams (who gave up a solo shot but nailed down the save) following on. Mike Benjamin had a double & triple while Emil Brown added a pair of hits, scoring once & driving in a run.
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| Bronson Arroyo - 2000 Upper Deck |
- 2009 - The Pirates traded Adam LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox for two minor leaguers, SS Argenis Diaz and RHP Hunter Strickland. LaRoche remained in the show until 2016 when he retired, while Diaz played for Pittsburgh briefly in 2010 and is now a coach at Florida’s TNXL Academy. Strickland has tossed for seven teams in eight years as a back-end reliever.
- 2009 - The Bucs used a season-high five home runs to hold off the Brewers 8-7 at PNC Park. Brandon Moss went long in the ninth off Mitch Stettler for his first walk-off homer; Ryan Doumit added a pair of blasts while Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones each had one. Delwyn Young and Jones had three hits apiece. Paul Maholm started and was chased in the fifth after giving up all seven runs; Joel Hanrahan, John Grabow and eventual winner Matt Capps shut the gate afterward.
- 2013 - Jason Grilli was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the poster boy for Ben Reiter’s story “The Strangest But Truest Story of the Summer: The Playoff Bound Pirates and Their Sharknado Bullpen.” It was purely coincidental that Grilled Cheese was injured pitching the same day, put on the DL, and out of action until September 3rd. It was also the first time in 21 years, since Barry Bond’s 1992 appearance, that a Pirate graced the cover of SI.
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