4/25 From 1970: Danny On TV; Pedro Power; Pitching 1st's; Hoppin' Hat; Rooftop Willie; Game Tales; HBD Cody, WCW, Willy & Brad

• 1970 - Willie Stargell homered over the RF roof at Forbes Field off Hoyt Wilhelm, the second time he'd done it in a week, as the Pirates edged the Braves, 8-7. Eighteen balls carried over the Oakland yard’s roof, with seven launched by Stargell. No one else hit more than a pair. Roberto Clemente had three hits (two were doubles) and four RBI as he shared some of the offensive thunder with Cap’n Willie. Dave Giusti got the win in relief of Dock Ellis and Joe Gibbon, with Al McBean closing it out. For McBean, who had been claimed off waivers from the LA Dodgers, it was his last Pirates clincher as he was released in May. He finished his Bucco career with 59 saves. 
• 1971 - RHP John “Brad” (Bradley was his middle name) Clontz was born in Stuart, Virginia. Brad worked six MLB seasons, with the last two (1999-2000) in Pittsburgh, where the submarine-style sidearm reliever appeared in 61 games, going 1-3-2/3.04. It would be his last stop in the show, although he hung in through the 2006 season at the AAA level until retiring. His claim to fame: Clontz led the NL in games pitched in 1996 with 81 while with the Braves. 

Brad Clontz - photo via All Star Cards

• 1917 - The half-hour WIIC-TV special “The Whistling Irishman,” a bio of Danny Murtaugh, was aired. The star of the show was Murtaugh, with a big cast of Pirate connections/cameos by Katie Murtaugh, Joe Brown, Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Bill Virdon, Frank Oceak, Casey Stengel, Bob Prince, Nellie King, Al Abrams and Charley Feeney, narrated by Channel 11 sportscaster Sam Nover. If you’d like a showing, it’s still available on YouTube. 
• 1978 - Buc righty Don Robinson picked up his first MLB victory by tossing a complete game five-hitter with seven whiffs against the Mets to book a 2-1 win. He survived a couple of Bucco misplays and worked out of a third inning jam as the Pirates did just enough damage with four hits off Mike Bruhert and a pair of relievers to squeak by. 
• 1991 - Vicente Palacios posted his first career complete game and shutout (he would toss the same combo once more in 1994 as a Card) as the Bucs finished a three-game sweep of the Expos in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium with an 8-0 whitewashing. Barry Bonds went deep in back-to-back at-bats during the sixth inning, going 3-for-4 with three RBI to help the Pirates stretch their winning streak to six games. The club went 12-6 v the Expos in ‘91 on the way to a 98-win season that ended with a seven-game loss to the Braves in the NLCS. 
• 1992 - In the Pirates 1-0 win over the host Cubs‚ the Bucs were helped by a wayward hat. With Kirk Gibson on first, Jay Bell hit a potential DP grounder that struck Gibson's bouncing helmet, which had flown off as he headed to second, and the Cubs had to settle for a force. Andy Van Slyke noted “the play goes 7-1/2 to 4 to 5 to 6" on your scorecard. Bell then scored when Van Slyke followed with a double for the game’s only run. Randy Tomlin was the winner over Greg Maddux. 

Trevor Williams - 2018 image/Pirates.

• 1992 - RHP Trevor Williams was born in San Diego. He was a second round draft pick of the Marlins in 2013 and came to Pittsburgh for a career minor-league player, Richard Mitchell. Many thought the seemingly one-sided deal was de facto compensation for the Fish signing the Pirates pitching assistant Jim Benedict earlier. His brief initial cruise in 2016 wasn’t all that smooth; after mowing down hitters in AAA, he went 1-1/7.83 for the Pirates in a handful of outings. In 2017, he broke camp with the team after a strong spring and slashed 7-9/4.07 in 25 outings as a solid back-end starter. Willy broke out the next year, going 14-10/3.11 with a career high in innings (170-1/3) and starts (31), then faded in the next couple of campaigns (9-17/5.60). He went 31-37/4.43 in five Pittsburgh seasons before signing with the Cubs as a FA in 2021; he’s with the Mets now. 
• 1992 - LHP Wei-Chung Wang was born in Taitung, Taiwan. The Pirates signed him in 2011, found out he needed TJ surgery, then voided the original contract and signed him to a new one to reflect the injury. That cost them; Milwaukee claimed him as a Rule 5 pick in 2013 as he was considered to be on his second contract. He tossed for the Brew Crew and then went to Korea in 2018 for a year. In 2019, the A’s signed him. The reliever was 1-0/3.33 in 20 games for them, but Oakland cut him loose at the end of August (four walks/five K per nine, .231 BABIP and 5.29 FIP painted a different picture than his ERA alone did) and the Pirates, whose mid-to-long bullpen was in shambles, claimed him. He got into five games, giving up three runs in four frames and returned to Taiwan to pitch. 
• 1994 - RHP Cody Ponce was born in Pompano, California. A second round pick for Milwaukee in 2015 from Cal Poly, he joined the Bucs in a deal for Jordan Lyles. A starter all his career, he was called up in 2020 and debuted from the bullpen. His first outing was a loss, but that can be forgiven - it was in the 10th inning, and the tally that beat him was the free runner on second, placed there thanks to a pace-of-play rules shuffle. Cody made another outing and was returned to the Altoona alternate site. He started 2021 on the IL, went to Indy and was released by the Bucs in November so that he could sign a deal with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of the Japanese League. 

Cody Ponce - 2020 image/Pirates

• 2003 - Kip Wells became the second player and first pitcher to homer into the batter’s eye at PNC Park with a third inning, 457’ blast off the Dodgers Odalis Perez. LA had the last laugh when they rallied for five ninth inning-runs off Wells and Mike Williams to take a 5-2 victory. 
• 2012 - Pedro Alvarez homered in both games of Pittsburgh’s doubleheader split against Colorado, becoming the second Pittsburgh player to hit home runs for the Pirates in each end of a twinbill at PNC Park. El Toro joined Rob Mackowiak, who also went long twice in a DH on 5/28/04 against the Cubs on the memorable day his wife gave birth to their first child. Pittsburgh set an MLB record by playing its 18th straight game starting the season in which neither team scored more than five runs, passing the mark set by the 1943 Detroit Tigers with a 2-1 opening game loss, with Chris Resop taking the loss in relief of James McDonald. They finally showed some spunk by claiming the nightcap, 5-1, with Petey’s homer sparking a five-run fifth frame to back Charlie Morton on the hill. The Pirates and the Rockies also became the first teams in MLB history to add an extra player to the roster for their twin bill at PNC Park. The new CBA permitted teams to carry 26 on the active roster for doubleheaders to save the paper shuffling that calling up an extra pitcher entailed. The Bucs brought up Jared Hughes as an extra arm and he got in, tossing a scoreless frame. 
• 2013 - The Bucs beat the Phillies by a 6-4 score for their third straight win at Citizens Bank Park. It was the first time in the eighteen outings that Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee threw back-to-back-to-back games that the Phils lost all three matches. The Pirates lost the first contest of the four game set when they were beaten, 3-2, by an unheralded Jonathan Pettibone, who was making his first MLB start; his career was later derailed by shoulder surgery.