8/7 From 1950: Sojo, Mo Moved; Willie Signed; #9 Retired; Mama Cutch; FF Fire; Game Tales; RIP Coop; HBD Michael, Ryan, Frenchy, Tyler, Jim & Steve

• 1951 - RHP Jim Sadowski was born in Lawrenceville. A nephew of the local MLB clan of Ed, Ted and Bob Sadowski, he played for Central Catholic HS. Ed signed with the Pirates in 1969 and while not as successful as his uncles, he did get into four games with Pittsburgh in 1974, going 0-1/6.00 in nine innings of work. He spent a decade on the farm, playing in the Pirates, Kansas City Royals and Cincinnati Reds systems. Jim’s now a financial consultant. 

Jim Sadowski - 1974 photo card

• 1954 - OF Steve Kemp was born in San Angelo, Texas. He played for the 1985-86 Pirates and hit .246 before being released in early ‘86. He joined the club as part of the deal that brought Tim Foli back to Pittsburgh during the 1984 off season. After a stint in the Senior Baseball League, Kemp has coached at the amateur level and is a regular at Tigers fantasy camps, but is otherwise merrily retired. 
• 1958 - The Pirates signed Willie Stargell as a free agent out of Encinal HS in Alameda, California. Pirate scout Bob Zuk got the 17-year old’s name on a contract for a very well spent $1,500 bonus, a bargain bin price tag for a Hall of Famer who belted 475 HR and chased home 1,540 runners, after three workouts. 
• 1962 - Forbes Field, which was plagued by a pair of fires after its closing in 1970, also had a blaze delay on this day, stopping the Pirates-Cardinals game for 26 minutes when some materials stored under the right field seats burst into flames during the seventh inning. Some 200 fans had to be moved, but the fire was contained to the storage area and didn’t cause any damage to the stands. A fire needed to be lit under the Buccos instead of the faithful as Pittsburgh went up in smoke, 5-0, to Saint Louis. 
• 1966 - Roberto Clemente put on a one man show at Forbes Field with four hits, two homers and five RBI, but it wasn’t enough in a 9-7 loss to the Reds. Clemente had a chance to win the game in the ninth with two on and two out, but no mo’ mojo: his flare to center was run down. 

Coop - 1986 TCMA All Time Pirate Greats

• 1973 - RHP Wilbur Cooper passed away at the age of 81. Wilbur tossed for 13 years (1912-24) for Pittsburgh, slashing 202-159/2.74 and winning twenty or more games four times. He’s the only pitcher to win 200+ games as a Pirate and is second in career IP with 3,199, behind only Bob Friend, & also in games pitched with 469, also trailing Friend. 
• 1977 - RHP Tyler Yates was born in Lihue, Hawaii. He pitched for the Bucs from 2008-09 after coming over in a deal with the Braves. The reliever went 6-5-1/5.06 in 87 appearances over that span, but 2009 was his swan song as he underwent a second TJ surgery and never made it back to the show. 
• 1984 - LHP Wade “Frenchy” LeBlanc was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Pirates picked up the 31-year-old, eight-year veteran long man/spot starter from Seattle in 2016 and he worked two campaigns as a long/middle man from the pen. The Bucs were his eighth team, and they took a chance on him after he rejuvenated his career in 2015 with a strong season in Japan. After impressing the FO, he signed as a FA in 2017 ($750K) with a $1.25M option for 2018. The option wasn’t picked up as the southpaw went 5-2 but with a 4.50 ERA in 2017. He signed with Seattle and had success as a member of their rotation, a return to his original roots, and is now an Cardinal. 
• 1987 - Billy Mazeroski’s number 9 was retired during a copacetic 9-3 victory over the Expos at TRS in front of 24,093 fans. C Spanky Lavalliere and SS Al Pedrique helped the party along by collecting three hits, two runs and a pair of RBI each. Bob Walk went six innings for the win. Bob Gideon, who worked the last three frames, got the save. The Pirates also swung a deal when they traded 3B Jim Morrison to the Detroit Tigers for OF Darnell Coles and a PTBNL (LHP Morris Madden). Coles played 108 games in 1987-88, batting .230, Madden pitched 14 times for the Pirates (2-2/5.91), and Morrison was about at the end of his MLB career. 

Ryan Lavarnway - 2018 photo MLB.com

• 1987 - C Ryan Lavarnway was born in Burbank, California. Ryan spent parts of seven seasons of MLB ball with four different teams before he signed with the Pirates in 2018 as a depth option. He didn’t make the team out of camp and went to Indianapolis, getting the call to Pittsburgh in September after the Indy season finished. Since, he’s been with three teams, the latest being Cleveland. Lavarnway got his start at Yale and also played for the 2017 Israeli team in the WBC and their 2021 Olympic club. 
• 1994 - SS Jay Bell went 5-for-6 with a pair of doubles to lead the Pirates to a 6-5 win over the Cardinals at TRS. His bases-loaded single up the middle in the bottom of the ninth plated Tim Foli with the winning run. Carlos Garcia homered in the Paul Wagner victory. 
• 1999 - C Michael Perez was born in Catano, Puerto Rico. He was a fifth-round pick of the D-Backs in the 2011 draft and traded to Tampa Bay, where he was a reserve for three years. They waived him after the 2020 campaign and the Bucs claimed the good glove, bad bat (.221 career BA) backstop. He won the caddy job behind Jake Stallings by beating out Tony Wolters in the spring in a battle that focused on their defensive chops as neither hit worth a lick in camp. 
• 2000 - The Pirates sent IF Luis Sojo to the Yankees for P Chris Spurling. It was a return home for Sojo and he lasted three more seasons as a utility guy for the Bronx Bombers. Spurling was lost to the Braves in the 2002 Rule 5 draft and went on to pitch four MLB seasons as a reliever for Detroit and Milwaukee (6-8-3/4.82). 

Luis Sojo - 2000 photo Ezra Shaw/Allsport

• 2010 - Colorado scored three runs in the ninth to tie the game and two more in the 10th to take the lead, but the Bucs prevailed at PNC Park to claim an 8-7 victory. With runners at first and second and two down in the extra frame, Pedro Alvarez took Huston Street deep for the walk off win, giving Sean Gallagher the W even though he was tagged for two runs in his inning of work. 
• 2013 - Petrina McCutchen, Andrew’s mom, sang the National Anthem before the Miami Marlins’ game at PNC Park. Her son responded with a 2-for-3 night including a walk and a homer. So did the team, as they won 4-2 behind Charlie Morton, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon.