10/14 From 1970: '71, '79 WS Wins; Sid's Slide, Smith's Shutout; Cutch Best of Pgh; Strike Moves; HBD Miguel, Kris, Duane, Midre & Ryan

• 1971 - Nellie Briles tossed a two-hit, two-walk shutout at the Baltimore Orioles, and the 4-0 win put the Pirates up three games to two in the World Series. The Birds never got a runner to second as two Orioles reached with two outs and the Bucs turned a pair of DP on the other set as Nellie faced just 29 hitters. Every Pirate batter reached base during the game, with Bob Robertson hitting a solo shot at TRS in front of 51,377 Pittsburgh fans. 
• 1971 - OF Midre Cummings was born in Christiansted, St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands. A first round pick of the Twins in the 1990 draft, he came to Pittsburgh as part of the John Smiley deal. Between 1993-97, he barely got over 500 AB for the Bucs, hitting .217. After the Pirates let him go, he played until 2005 and never hit under .263, although he remained a bench guy, never playing in 100 games or more in any one season. 

Midre Cummings - 1995 Score Select Showtime

• 1978 - OF Ryan Church was born in Santa Barbara, California. Church was signed to a one-year/$1.5M FA contract by the Bucs in 2010 in the hope that he would provide at least a platoon, if not starting, bat for the outfield. But Church had suffered a second concussion while playing in 2009 and never recovered his old mojo as a hitter, batting .182 and being sent to Arizona at the deadline. He played out the year there, hitting better (.265), but it was his final bow in the show after seven MLB seasons. 
• 1979 - Staring at elimination, Jim Rooker and Bert Blyleven tossed a combo six-hitter against the Orioles at TRS as the Bucs stayed alive with a 7-1 victory. Tim Foli tripled and had three RBI while Bill Madlock went 4-for-4, leaving Baltimore ahead in the WS win column three games to two. 
• 1979 - RHP Duaner Sanchez was born in Cotuí, Dominican Republic. The Pirates got him from the D-Backs in July, 2002, for Mike Fetter, and Sanchez was tagged for 15 runs in 8-1/3 IP during his nine outings as a Bucco. He was released in 2003 and the Dodgers claimed him, with Duaner putting together a solid three-year run with LA and the Mets as a set-up man after that. His career took a hard hit in 2006, when a cab he was riding in was sideswiped by a drunk driver, separating his shoulder and pretty much ending his major league days. He put in a full year with the Mets in 2008, albeit with a 4.32 ERA (it was 2.60 before his injury) and after a quick stop at San Diego, he spent 2009-11 in the Dominican, Mexican and indie leagues before retiring. 
• 1984 - LHP Kris Johnson was born in West Covina, California. Johnson was a #1 pick (40th overall) of the Bosox out of Wichita State in 2006. They released him in 2011 and the Bucs signed him. He got into four Pirates games (one start) in 2013, slashing 0-2/6.10, and was traded to the Twins after the season to get Duke Welker back. He carved out a solid six-year run beginning in 2015 (60-43/2.81) with Hiroshima in the Japanese League before retiring in 2021. 

Zane Smith - 1991 Topps Stadium Club

• 1991 - The Pirates Zane Smith was the victor as the Bucs took a 1-0 win over the Braves at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and a 3-2 lead in the NLCS. Tom Glavine was the loser, touched up only in the fifth when Chico Lind singled home Steve Buechele. The Braves lost a run when David Justice missed 3B while heading home after a two-out, fourth-inning single in a call that was controversial with its replay inconclusive. 
• 1992 - Pittsburgh lost the seventh game of the NLCS to the Braves at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium 3-2 when Sid Bream scored in the ninth, barely beating Barry Bond's off-line throw and Spanky LaValliere’s lunging tag to begin a two-decade long Bucco Dark Age. Pittsburgh carried a two-run lead into the last frame when a Chico Lind error and two walks proved fatal. Francisco Cabrera, whose two-out pinch-hit single tallied Bream, was a backup catcher who had only 11 plate appearances during the regular season. Karma quickly caught up; the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Bravos four games to two in the World Series, taking all four of their victories by one run with three of those wins claimed during their last at bat. 
• 1992 - LHP Miguel Del Pozo was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He bounced around and had TJ surgery in 2016, landing with Pirates in 2020 as a minor league FA. Del Pozo had been beaten up some in his rookie year with the Angels, and it continued during his season in Pittsburgh. He was called up in 2020 and still had big problems finding the strike zone. Miguel walked eight in 3-2/3 IP and posted an ERA of 17.18; he declared for FA after the season and signed with the Tigers.
• 1994 - The players may have been on strike, But GM Cam Bonifay was still trying to beef up the edges of the club. LHP Randy Tomlin was DFA’ed (he declared free agency) to make room for IF Nelson Liriano, who was claimed from the Rox. Earlier in the week, he picked up C Mark Parent on waivers from the Cubs and added a pair of outfielders, Jacob Brumfield and Micah Franklin, in deals with the Reds.

• 2015 - Andrew McCutchen was selected as Pittsburgh’s Male Athlete of the Year in a voter's poll for the City Paper’s “Best Of” issue. Charlie Deitch wrote a feature on Cutch, saying “...the reason (for the award) seems like a simple one: He's really good at playing baseball. But it's more than that...this guy really loves the game; he says it with his words and his actions.”