4/29 From 1980: Super Nova; 1,000 For Cutch; The King Debuts; Justin No-No; Game Tales; HBD Steven & Rookie

• 1987 - The Pirates were clocked by the Dodgers, 10-2, at Three Rivers Stadium, but with a couple of interesting sidebars. Ump Fred Brocklander blew a pair of calls on the same play, and while sorting them out, the Pirate Parrot launched a feather-brained dance of indignation, ending with a nerf ball aimed at Fred. When the other umps came to Brocklander’s rescue, the Parrot jumped in his cart and exited stage right. He quickly learned that umpires are not part of the show, at least not for mascots, and was suspended for a day (he did apologize - he was a rookie Parrot and just learning the ropes the hard way). And later, coach Rick Donnelly got into a bullpen fight with a couple of fans who had sneaked into the area through an unwatched employee entrance. He tried to get them to leave peacefully, but to no avail, leading to a brief battle that ended poorly for the interlopers. They were taken away by police and charged with public intoxication. The Pirates didn’t file any additional charges; being thumped by Rick was punishment enough. 

Bob Hertzel, Press - 4/30/1897

• 1990 - The Bucs swept San Diego, 10-1, behind a four homer barrage at Jack Murphy Stadium. Barry Bonds and Jay Bell hit three-run bombs, Bobby Bonilla banged a two-run blast, and Don Slaught added a solo shot to grease an easy outing for Doug Drabek. It was the Pirates sixth consecutive win. 
• 1992 - LHP Steven Brault was born in La Mesa, California. Drafted by the Orioles in 2013, he was sent to the Pirates as part of the Travis Snider deal. The lefty moved through the system quickly and in July of 2016 made his MLB debut. He slashed 0-3/4.86 but was in the running for a back-end rotation spot in 2017 camp, where he pitched well but lost out to Tyler Glasnow and was returned to Indy. He returned later in the year (1-0/4.67) and broke camp with the Bucs in 2018 as a long man and spot starter, becoming a regular back-end starter in 2019. Brault posted a 3.38 ERA in 10 starts in 2020, but began the 2021 campaign on ice with a lat strain. He came back in August, and the Bucs DFA’ed him after the campaign. He signed with the Cubs as a NRI - he suffered a triceps injury before camp - and is still in the Chicago organization, carried on the minor league IL. 
• 1993 - RHP William “Rookie” Davis was born in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina. Drafted by the Yankees and given a seven-game taste by the Reds in 2017 after being part of the Aroldis Chapman deal, Rookie was signed as a FA by the Bucs in 2019. He got the call from Indy on May 25th and made his first Bucco start on June 7th against the Brewers. His dad gave him his handle; his given name is William Theron Davis III and to differentiate, his pops said “Let’s just call him ‘Rookie’.” He retired after the ‘19 campaign and opened The Davis Academy, a baseball training facility, in North Carolina. 
• 2000 - For the purists and the believers in productive outs, this was a game for you - the Pirates and Reds tied the MLB record in Cincinnati's 6-5 victory at TRS by hitting five sacrifice flies (the Redlegs also dropped a pair of successful bunts). Neither club was very clutch other than cranking out flies - the two teams combined to go 1-for-19 w/RISP during the game. Pat Meares and Warren Morris both homered in the losing effort, triggered when Cincy overcame an early Bucco lead by scoring five times in the seventh and eighth innings (with two of the runs plating on sac flies). 

Justin Wilson - 2014 Icon Sports Wire/Getty

• 2012 - Pitching for the AAA Indianapolis Indians against the Durham Bulls, lefty Justin Wilson tossed the first 7-1/3 innings of a combined no-hitter (two walks, nine K, 107 pitches), completed by Jose “Jumbo” Diaz and Doug Slaten. He was converted to the pen when he made it to the show, and worked his first Bucco game on August 20th. Wilson later tossed for the NY Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, NY Mets, back to the Bronx Bombers and is now with the Cincinnati Reds. 
• 2015 - Andrew McCutchen entered the game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field in an early funk with an anemic .179 BA, but left it as the newest member of the 1,000 hit club. Cutch tripled and then legged out an eighth inning infield rap to reach 1,000 knocks in the Pirates 8-1 win over Chi-town. He became the 33rd Buccaneer to collect at least 1,000 hits and the first since Jack Wilson in 2007 to bang them all while with Pittsburgh. Gerrit Cole tossed a three-hitter over six innings, and with three relievers fanned 14 Cubbies. 
• 2017 - Ivan Nova tossed a 95-pitch, complete-game shutout against Miami at Marlins Park, winning 4-0. His "Maddux" (a complete game shutout using fewer than 100 pitches) was the first for a Bucco since Jeff Karstens tossed one on July 15th, 2011 against the Astros. John Jaso homered, but the big frame was the sixth when Fish hurlers walked four straight batters (two of them battling back from 0-2 counts) to force in a pair of runs. Other tidbits on the strike-throwing righty as of this date: In his 16 starts with the Pirates, Nova had more complete games (five) than walks (four), and he had yet to hit the 100-pitch mark as a Pirate. 

Nick Kingham - Topps Chrome Update

• 2018 - Nick Kingham had a debut to remember as he retired the first 20 batters he faced in a 5-0 win over the Cardinals at PNC Park. He gave up a two-out single to Paul DeJong in the seventh, finishing with a one-hit, nine-K outing in his first MLB game. The Elias Sports Bureau said no pitcher in the Expansion Era (since 1961) had taken a perfect game bid so far in his debut. Wayne Simpson of the Reds in 1970 and Ken Cloude of the Mariners in 1997 each set down their first 16 batters. Kingham joined Johnny Cueto as the only pitchers in the last 100 years with one hit allowed, at least nine strikeouts and zero walks in a debut. The contest itself was a scoreless duel between Nick and Luke Weaver before the Bucs broke it open with four runs in the sixth, keyed by a two-run single by Elias Diaz, who had three hits on the day. It was the Pirates fifth straight victory and gave them their earliest 17th win in franchise history. Nick, after that dazzling intro, didn’t live up to his early promise; he was sold to Toronto in 2019 and now tosses in Korea. 
• 2020 - The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced that it canceled the 2020 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend events due to health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic; the Museum itself had been closed since March. The ceremonies have been eliminated several times before for various reasons, but this was the first year without an induction ceremony since 1961, when there were no new members elected. The 2020 class received their proper dues in 2021 during a combined September ceremony with the following group of HoF’ers.