8/6 From 1970: Hechy & Delayed Deals; Arqy, Aven Go; Roberto HoF; Swattin' Starg; Short Strike; Long Night; PNC Named; Gems & Game Tales

• 1972 - The Bucs swept a twin bill from the Montreal Expos by 8-0 and 7-2 tallies at Parc Jarry. Willie Stargell had two bombs and five RBI in the opener while Richie Hebner added three hits, easing the way for a complete game, seven-hit victory for Bob Moose. Pops and The Gravedigger were at it again in the nightcap as Willie homered and scored three times while Richie had three more hits, including a long ball, scored twice and chased home four runs. Bob Johnson was the recipient of their offensive outburst with Ramon Hernandez taking over in the seventh to claim a save. The wins put the Pirates up by eight games over the NY Mets; they won the NL East by 11 games over the Cubs when the regular season’s final out was recorded. 

Cap'n Willie - 1991 Donruss Diamond King Hall of Fame

• 1973 - Roberto Clemente was inducted into the Hall of Fame after the mandatory five-year waiting period was waived, with the ceremony shown live on Pittsburgh TV. His wife Vera delivered the acceptance speech. The Great One finished his career with 3,000 hits, a career average of .317 and won the NL batting title four times. He was presented with the Gold Glove Award 12 times and made the All-Star team 15 times. Arriba played in 14 World Series games and had at least one hit in each of those games. Roberto was the first Latin-born player to enter the Hall. 
• 1974 - The Pirates were losing to the Mets 4-0 going into the seventh, 7-3 going into the eighth, and 8-5 going into the ninth, but overcame each deficit to rally for a 9-8 victory in 11 innings at Three Rivers Stadium. Their three runs in the seventh were the result of Rennie Stennett’s homer; the two in the eighth were chased home via a Bob Robertson blast, and the three in the ninth came after two were out and the bases empty. The Pirates then ran off five straight hits, with Manny Sanguillen’s two-run single taking it into extra innings. There wasn’t much drama for the walk off in the 11th - Gene Clines reached via an error and scored on another made on Mario Mendoza’s misplayed bunt to first. Daryl Patterson got the win for Pittsburgh after a pair of shutout frames; the Bucs chased Jerry Koosman and then hung the loss on Tug McGraw. 
• 1985 - The players staged a two-day work stoppage over a couple of gnawing financial issues. The MLB quickly agreed to increase its pension contribution and the league’s minimum wage, making the players happy, and the games were made up later in the season. 
• 1989 - Jeff King smoked an 18th-inning leadoff HR on a 3-1 pitch off the Cubs' Scott Sanderson, who had tossed eight innings of shutout relief, to give Pittsburgh a walk off 5-4 win. The game took five hours and 49 minutes to play, tying it for the longest game played in Pittsburgh and TRS. Doug Drabek worked the last two frames to earn the win in his only relief outing of the season. The Buc scored three times in the first on an Andy Van Slyke homer and Mike LaValliere RBI knock, and then the Cubs came back. Chicago went ahead 4-3 in the ninth on a two-out knock; the Bucs answered to tie it on a Barry Bonds sac fly. Each team went through six pitchers before it was all over. 

PNC Park - photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates

• 1998 - The Pirates and PNC Bank announced a 20-year marketing deal under which the new home of the Pirates would be named PNC Park when it opened in 2001. Per the agreement, PNC would pay approximately $1.5M a year through the 2020 season. As a side deal, the Sixth Street Bridge would be renamed the Clemente Bridge as a sop to the many who believed the ballyard itself should have commemorated The Great One. PNC signed a 10-year extension in 2021. 
• 2000 - OF Bruce Aven was sent to the Dodgers for a PTBNL per the papers, although the Bucs never received anyone from LA. Baseball Reference categorized it as a conditional deal, so it’s more likely he was sold to the Dodgers (who stashed him in AAA until September) after all was said and done. The move was to clear a spot for Adrian Brown, who was returning from the DL to play between Brian Giles and Alex Ramirez, with John Vander Wal as the fourth OF/spare 1B. 
• 2003 - San Diego GM Kevin Towers said that trade efforts for C Jason Kendall and OF Brian Giles of the Bucs were dead, at least until the offseason. The last place Padres were thought to be looking to make a splash before moving into their new digs, Petco Park. The SD players involved weren’t named, but Post Gazette writer Robert Dvorchak said they were OF Xavier Nady, LHP Ollie Perez, RHP Kevin Jarvis, a probable minor-league add on and financial considerations to help ease Kendall’s contract load. Giles did go to the Friars in the offseason for Perez and Jason Bay, and though it took longer, the Bucs finally landed Nady from the Mets in 2006 for Perez and Roberto Hernandez. 
• 2005 - Zach Duke became the second rookie in Pirate history to win his first five decisions as a starter when the Pirates topped the LA Dodgers 9-4 at PNC Park. The 22-year-old was the first Bucco tyro since Whitey Glazner in 1921 to start 5-0, and none has gone 6-0. Duke’s 0.87 ERA in July was the lowest among all MLB pitchers, and he was named the NL Rookie of the Month. Freddy Sanchez and Chris Duffy combined for seven hits and five runs at the top of the order with Jason Bay knocking in three scores. 

Jeff Karstens - 2009 Topps

• 2008 - Jeff Karstens tossed a gem against the Diamondbacks, a two-hit, 2-0, complete game win at Chase Field. He got all the runs he needed on a Freddy Sanchez homer and an RBI double from Doug Mientkiewicz. In his second start for the Pirates, he retired the first 23 Arizona batters he faced before Chris Young doubled in the eighth, and ran his scoreless streak to 15 innings since being acquired from the Yankees. For the cherry on top, JK banged out his first two career hits, both off The Big Unit, Randy Johnson. 
• 2012 - Eric Bedard, Jason Grilli and Chad Qualls combined for a two-hit, 4-0, win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park. Andrew McCutchen had a pair of hits and scored twice for the Pirates. Freddy Sanchez added a pair of knocks. It was a tough win; the Bucs needed three eighth inning runs to put the game away, keyed by four consecutive ground ball singles and a sac fly. 
• 2013 - Josh Harrison led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off homer to right center off Mike Dunn to give the Pirates and Bryan Morris a 4-3 win over the Miami Marlins at PNC Park. Neil Walker had three hits and Andrew McCutchen added a pair, along with a late-inning diving catch, to carry the Buccos. 
• 2016 - The Pirates sent RHP Arquimedes Caminero to the Seattle Mariners for a PTBNL and a conditional PTBNL (the Bucs ended up with two low-level minor leaguers). Caminero could touch 100 and went 6-3-1/3.58 for the Pirates from 2015-16 but was inconsistent, averaging four walks per/9 IP. He’s pitching in Japan now. 

Jamo - 2017 Topps Heritage Refractor

• 2017 - Jameson Taillon (after a rocky first) and Juan Nicasio were cruising along with a 4-2 lead over the San Diego Padres after eight frames. But Felipe Rivero blew his first save of the campaign and gave up a pair of runs to send the game into bonus baseball time. The Friars had left the bases loaded in the ninth; the Pirates did the same in 10th. A pair of unlikely heroes saved the day for the Bucs. Dovydas Neverauskas, a AAA call up, pitched two scoreless frames and Sean Rodriguez, a former Bucco who was reunited via trade the day before, smacked a walk-off homer in the 12th to give Dovy his first MLB win and sent the PNC Park crowd of 34,175 home happy. 
• 2018 - The Pirates sent minor league RHP Matt Seelinger to Tampa Bay for good-glove rental SS Adeiny Hechavarria and cash to bolster the middle of the infield after Hechy had cleared August waivers. The move was a mild surprise, with 2015 first-rounder Kevin Newman and utility IF Max Moroff, who had seen time with the Bucs, both available for call up from AAA Indianapolis as middle infield reserves. They lost out as the Pirates were still in the running for a wildcard spot and opted for a veteran. It didn’t help; the Buccos fell short of the postseason.