7/25 From 1960: Switching Pitching; Smokin' Sid; Candy Sweet; Return to Prime Time; Danny & ASG; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Doug, Ed & Alex

• 1960 - The Bucs regained first place when Bob Friend defeated the Cardinals 4-2 at Busch Stadium behind home runs from Bill Virdon, Bob Skinner and Roberto Clemente. Pittsburgh wouldn’t relinquish the top spot for the remainder of the season. 
• 1962 - RHP Doug Drabek was born in Victoria, Texas. He tossed six seasons (1987-92) in Pittsburgh with a line of 92-62/3.02. Drabek won the Cy Young in 1990 when he went 22-6, but oddly never made an All-Star team as a Pirate. Doug spent six seasons in the show after he left Pittsburgh following the 1992 season but never won more than a dozen games elsewhere. After he retired, he spent time at home and helped coach Little League ball. In 2010, he returned to pro ball as a pitching coach for Arizona, a position he still holds. 
• 1963 - Tommie Sisk pitched five innings of near perfect relief (he walked two) and rode Roberto Clemente’s three-run homer to a 6-2 win over league leading Los Angeles and ace Sandy Koufax at Dodger Stadium. Smoky Burgess chipped in with a pair of RBI. Koufax had entered the game with just three losses and a 1.75 ERA. 

Tommy Sisk - 1964 Topps

• 1965 - The Bucs took the opener of a twin bill at Forbes Field from the Cubs 3-2 when back-up catcher Del Crandall, 35, was called into duty in the sixth. He banged a two-out, 3-1 pitch barely into the left center seats for the win. Bill Mazeroski also homered, and Vern Law won his second game in 24 hours as the seventh Pirate pitcher, working the final 1-⅓ IP. The Cubs took the nightcap easily 5-0 in 1:37; the Pirates had just three hits and a Roberto Clemente line-out triple play to show for their efforts. 
• 1967 - 1B/3B Ed Sprague was born in Castro Valley, California. Sprague spent one of his 11 major league campaigns in Pittsburgh, signing in 1999 for $1.3M, and it was a solid season. He became the Bucco starter, hitting .267 with 22 homers and made the only All-Star game of his career. He left for San Diego in 2000, with Aramis Ramirez slotted in at the hot corner for Pittsburgh. 2001 was his last big league year, and he became the head coach for the U. of Pacific Tigers from 2004-15. In 2016, Sprague joined Oakland as a special advisor and is their Coordinator of Instruction. 
• 1972 - The NL nosed out the AL 4-3 at Atlanta Stadium in the All-Star game, kicking off an 11-game winning streak for the senior circuit. Manager Danny Murtaugh had a boatload of Bucs on his roster: RHP Steve Blass, OFs Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Al Oliver plus C Manny Sanguillen. Blass went an inning and gave up a run. Sangy went 1-for-2, Pops 0-for-1 with a walk, and Scoops went 0-for-1. The Great One didn’t get in the last of his 12 All-Star games; he was voted a starter, but was injured. He did have a pretty capable replacement, though - Hank Aaron played in his stead. 
• 1977 - Bill Robinson made amends for a throwing error in the top of the eighth inning by banging a three-run homer in the bottom half as the Bucs beat Phil Niekro and the Braves for the eighth time in nine tries, 6-3. Robinson had a couple of busy innings at TRS - his leadoff double in the seventh tied the game when he scored after a pair of grounders and his error put the Bravos’ leadoff guy on third in a 3-3 game, although Jerry Reuss picked him up and stranded the runner. Reuss went the distance, firing a five-hitter, for the win. 

Bill Robinson - 1977 Topps

• 1982 - John Candelaria faced the minimum 27 batters in a four-hit, 86-pitch shutout win over the Atlanta Braves. Three DPs and a caught stealing took the Brave runners off the basepaths in an 8-0 whipping at TRS. The middle of the Pirate lineup - Bill Madlock, Jason Thompson and Dave Parker - drove home a pair of runs each. 
• 1983 - The Bucs were hanging on to a slim 4-3 lead against the Padres at TRS when Rick Rhoden filled the bases with no outs in the sixth inning. Cecilio Guante, who had been out of action since July 14th with a sore shoulder, was waved in and struck out the side. It was the key moment of a 6-3 Bucco win, as Guante tossed four shutout frames and was finally given a safety net in the bottom of the eighth when Dave Parker, who had three hits on the night, homered off Sid Monge. 
• 1985 - OF Alex Presley was born in Monroe, Louisiana. Picked in the eighth round of the 2006 draft, he hit .261 as a yo-yo part of the Pirate roster between 2010-13, when he was traded to Minnesota as part of the Justin Morneau deal. He also played for Houston, Milwaukee and Detroit before taking his final MLB bow in 2017. 
• 1987 - The Pirates ended their west coast trip on a winning note by dropping the San Diego Padres 9-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium. The journey had started perilously, with a pair of losses to the LA Dodgers but concluded at 6-4, their first winning left coast visit since 1983. The offensive heroes were Sid Bream with three hits/five RBI, Andy Van Slyke with two knocks/three runs scored and Barry Bonds with two raps including a homer. Brian Fischer took the win with help from Barry Jones and Don Robinson. 
• 1992 - Danny Jackson gave up one hit at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, but it was unfortunately a home run to David Justice as the Braves, behind Charlie Leibrandt, beat the Bucs 1-0 for their 13th straight win. The Pirates best chance to score was in the first, but both Andy Van Slyke and Lloyd McClendon were caught stealing to run themselves out of the frame and the game. Pittsburgh didn’t make any noise again until the seventh, with Otis Nixon sprinted to the fence and pulled back AVS’s blast from over the wall. The last hurrah was in the ninth, when Barry Bonds bounced out with two down and two aboard. 

Danny Jackson - 1993 Select

• 1992 - The Pirates made a wholesale change in pitching: Zane Smith (8-7/2.96) was placed on the DL with tendinitis, while vets Jerry Don Gleaton (1-0/4.26) and Jeff Robinson (3-1/4.46) were released, ending both of their MLB careers. The Bucs then brought up their prospects - Paul Wagner, Steve Cook and Blas Minor. None of them set the world afire as rookies, but they did make 19 credible outings among themselves and the trio became major contributors to the staff in ‘93. 
• 2011 - In their first ESPN-televised game in seven years, Pittsburgh defeated the Atlanta Braves 3-1 behind James McDonald, who struck out nine in 5-2/3 frames, and four relievers at Turner Field, keeping the Bucs tied for first place in the NL Central for the last time in 2011. The Pirates only had five hits, but back-to-back walks by Tim Hudson turned into a pair of Bucco runs. Andrew McCutchen led the little offense the Corsairs mustered with a knock, walk, run and RBI.