4/28: Early Fireworks; Playoff Road; Buckshot's 1st; Game Tales; Lotta Candles To Blow Out - HBD Kyle, Danny, Romulo, Freeser, Yoslan, Mark, Pedro, Snake, Red & Walt

• 1875 - RHP Walt Woods was born in Rye, New Hampshire. After playing for Chicago and Louisville (he tossed their final MLB game), he came to Pittsburgh in 1900, got into one game and was hammered. He was strictly pitch-to-contact (1.07/K per nine innings!), depending on guile, and was a back-end rotation guy who saw his MLB days end when the league contracted in 1901, putting a lot of hurlers out of work. While he was primarily a pitcher, he also appeared at second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions, although with a lifetime .206 BA, he never threatened anyone’s job in the field. He did enjoy a long career in minor league baseball, playing from 1895-1914. He retired to become a grocer and later a mailman. 
• 1902 - RHP Red Lucas, The Nashville Narcissus (his nickname was penned by Colonel Bob Newhall, a reporter for the old Cincinnati Tribune, when Red was a fast blooming player with the Redlegs, per SABR’s Al Quimby) was born in Tennessee. The righty spent the last five years of his career (1934-38) with Pittsburgh after coming over in a deal with the Reds. He put up a 47-32/3.73 line for the Bucs. Lucas was also a good stickman; he pinch hit in more games as a Pirate than he pitched, though his .238 BA was well below the .300 average he carried with Cincy. And he remembered well the team that traded him - he was 14-0 against the Reds during his Pirate stint. 

Red Lucas - 1934 Diamond Stars

• 1924 - Bucco rookie SS Glenn Wright hit his first homer off Vic Keen in a 7-4 victory over the Cubs. Wright was well known for his mitt and set a MLB record during the season with 601 assists, a mark that lasted until 1980, when Ozzie Smith had 621 Astroturf assists. “Buckshot” was the Pirate SS until 1928 when he was traded to Brooklyn Robins. He hit .298 during his Pirates tenure. 
• 1930 - RHP Tom Sturdivant was born in Gordon, Kansas. Nicknamed “Snake” because of his nasty curve, he was an outstanding pitcher for the Yankees until he suffered a rotator cuff injury in 1958 that threw up a speed bump on his promising career: after posting 16 wins in 1957, he never again reached double-figures in single-season victories. He persevered as a seven-team journeyman, working through the 1964 season. Snake hurled for the Bucs from 1961-63 with a 14-7-3/3.49 slash. 
• 1935 - RHP Pedro Ramos was born in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba. A 15-year vet, the Pirates signed him at the tail end of his career in 1969 as a 34-year-old. He made five appearances, put up a 6.00 ERA and was let go. He finished the year with the Reds, then after a couple of 1970 outings with the Senators was released in late April, ending his MLB days. Pete was an All-Star once and had a great stretch run as the closer for the Yankees in 1964; he also led the AL in losses four times. 
• 1960 - OF Mark Ryal was born in Henryetta, Oklahoma. He spent six years in the show with five club as a bench bat and closed out his career as a Pirate in 1990, going 1-for-12 in nine games as a late season call-up from AAA Buffalo. Ryal went on to spend two more seasons in Japan before hanging up the spikes. He’s spent the last 30 years coaching and managing softball at the college level. 

Mark Ryal - 1985 TCMA

• 1966 - The Pirates scored one run in each of the final five innings of regulation and added four more in the 10th to outlast the Cubs at Wrigley Field 9-6. The tying run scored with two out in the ninth. Roberto Clemente fell behind Ted Abernathy 0-2, worked the count full and drew a walk after fouling off eight straight pitches. He then came around on Willie Stargell’s double. The Bucco 10th was highlighted by a delayed double steal, with Clemente swiping second and Manny Mota home. 
• 1970 - The Bucs 6-1 victory at Forbes Field ended Chicago’s 11-game winning streak. Luke Walker, Bruce Dal Canton and Dave Giusti combined for a three-hitter while Manny Sanguillen hit a pair of homers and had three RBI. Gene Alley, known more for his leather than wood, went 3-for-4. 
• 1981 - RHP Yoslan Herrera was born in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba. Yoslan defected from Cuba in 2005 and the Bucs signed him in 2006. After a solid minor league resume, he was called up to Pittsburgh in 2008, where he went 1-1/5.81 in five starts as a 27-year-old. He had a good year in the minors in 2009, but was released and picked up by the Twins, who also cut him. He was out of pro ball for a couple of years, came back pitching for an indie team and had a last hurrah with the Angels, going 1-1/2.70 in 20 games. He asked for a release to pitch in Japan, tossed there for a year, and that marked the end of his pro career. 
• 1983 - 3B David Freese was born in Corpus Christi. He began his career in St Louis and had a dream postseason in 2011, winning the NLCS and World Series MVP honors along with the Babe Ruth Award. Freese was traded to the Angels in 2014 and signed a one-year FA contract with the Pirates worth $3M in March of 2016 to fill the dance card while Jung Ho Kang recuperated from leg injuries suffered the season before. Freeser held up his end, hitting .270 w/13 HR and the Pirates inked him to a two-year agreement during the season with a guaranteed $11M/team option year that put him under team control through 2019. That deal proved a godsend after Kang was picked up for DUI during the winter. He held a starter’s job in 2017 (.263/10 HR), was bumped to the bench in 2018 by Colin Moran, and went to the Dodgers. Freese retired after the 2019 campaign. 

Romulo Sanchez - 2007 Topps '52 Rookie

• 1984 - RHP Romulo Sanchez was born in Carora, Venezuela. He spent two years with the Pirates in 2007-08, going 1-0-1/4.60 in 26 outings. He finished with the Yankees in 2010, then tossed in Japan and China. He worked a year in Mexico and has been pitching in the Venezuelan League since 2013. 
• 1986 - LHP Danny Moskos was born in Greenville, South Carolina. He was the fourth overall pick of the 2007 draft by the Pirates out of Clemson. GM Dave Littlefield announced that they projected Moskos as a closer, raising a storm of criticism from the fans and media who were anticipating Josh Vitters (who was taken one pick ahead of Moskos and fizzled) Matt Wieters (who signed for $6M and thus fit into the “too-cheap Pirates” narrative, taken next after Moskos), or perhaps Jason Heyward (who was the 14th pick) to be the selection. Moskos was signed by scout Greg Schilz to a $2.475M deal, but ended up a bust. He tossed for part of the 2011 season for the Bucs in his only MLB campaign, going 1-1/2.96 but with serious control issues. He last pitched in the Mexican League in 2018 and then retired; he’s an instructor at a baseball school now. 
• 1993 - RHP Kyle Keller was born in Metairie, Louisiana. He went to Southeast Louisiana University, was drafted in the middle rounds by the Marlins in 2015, was traded to the Angels and then sold to Pittsburgh at the start of the 2021 campaign. He got off to a strong start at Indy and was called up to the Pirates in May. His minor league success didn’t carry over to the show, and he settled in as a long reliever. He was released at the end of the year and signed with the Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon League. 
• 2010 - The Pirates defeated the Brewers for the second consecutive game to take the series at Miller Field with a 6-5, 14-inning victory. The Bucs tied the game in the ninth on a Ryan Doumit homer off Trevor Hoffman (the second straight game that Hoffman, the all-time saves leader, had blown a save against the Bucs) and went ahead in the 10th on a Cutch long ball. The Brew Crew came back to tie it off Octavio Dotel, who left the bases full of Brewers before escaping the frame. Garrett Jones doubled home Akinori Iwamura with two down in the 14th while DJ Carrasco worked three innings of scoreless, one-hit relief for the win. 

Jeff Locke - 2013 Topps Heritage

• 2013 - The Bucs beat St. Louis, 9-0, behind rookie Jeff Locke’s seven-inning, three-hit performance at Busch Stadium to take the division lead. C Russ Martin had three hits - a pair of homers and a double - while RF Garrett Jones also had three knocks, including a HR and two-bagger. The victory was Clint Hurdle’s 700th win as a big league manager. The Bucs turned the corner during this campaign, finishing with their first winning season since 1992 and coming in second place in the NL Central with 94 wins. They advanced to the NLDS where they lost in five games to the Cards. 
• 2017 - Pittsburgh reeled in the Fish, 12-2, at Marlins Park, sparked by an eight-run second inning that saw eight straight Bucs reach base after two outs. Winning pitcher Jameson Taillon struck out with the bases loaded twice to bracket that run, saving Miami further embarrassment. The attack was led by two rookies who had started the campaign at Indy, OF Jose Osuna and 2B Gift Ngoepe. Jose went 4-for-5 with a free pass; Gift collected three knocks and walked twice as the duo reached base safely 10 times in 11 appearances. Ngoepe became the first Pirate since Eddie Moore in 1923 to reach base five times in his first MLB start. It was also the first time since August of 2013 that the Pirates hit three triples (Fran Cervelli, Ngoepe and Alen Hanson) in a game; Jordy Mercer added a long ball.