5/17 From 1970: Cervy Contract; 12 For Lyles; Gunner's Last Game; Big Innings, Late Rallies; Game Tales; RIP Joe; HBD Ben & Jose

• 1971 - Roberto Clemente's two-out, two-run, walk-off triple off Mike Marshall carried the Bucs to a 6-5 win over the Expos at TRS. Clemente had three hits, including a homer, and three RBI. His home run and Bob Robertson’s in the eighth had pulled Pittsburgh within a run to set up Clemente’s ninth inning heroics. Montreal had jumped to a 5-0 lead in the third off Luke Walker, but the bullpen work of Jim Nelson, Nellie Briles and winner Mudcat Grant shut them down the remainder of the game. 

Roberto - 1971 Arco promo photo

• 1976 - OF Jose Guillen was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. Signed by the Bucs in 1992, he made the Opening Day roster in 1997 after tearing up the High A Carolina League with Lynchburg. The RF’er was traded after the 1999 season after hitting .267 in his three-year Bucco span. In 2003, he found his power stroke and was a solid MLB player for 14 seasons, finishing up with a .270 BA and 214 long balls. 
• 1979 - Willie Stargell homered twice, with his two-run shot off Jesse Orosco in the eighth being the game-winner, in a 6-5 victory over the Mets at TRS. Pittsburgh only had seven hits on the day but made them count as they went 5-for-10 with RISP. Ed Whitson got the start, Jim Bibby came on in the sixth and Teke Tekulve got the victory with two scoreless frames. The Pirates started the season slowly, being 12-18 at one point before a six-game winning streak got them back into it and jump-started them to an eventual world championship. 
• 1981 - Mt. Washington’s Joe Fabrizi passed away at the age of 82. You may never have heard of Joe, but he was a key member of the Pirates broadcast team: he was the last local Western Union telegrapher dedicated to sports. He was the man in the middle during the early days of radio when local broadcasters like Rosey Rowswell and Bob Prince didn’t go on road trips with the teams. Instead, they recreated the game from the blow-by-blow telegraph reports sent to Fabrizi from the out-of-town ballyard staffers, who would organize them and send them along to the announcers to pass on to the fans. 
• 1984 - The Bucs took a break from the schedule and played against their Class AA minor league club at Nashua (NH). Pittsburgh beat the farmhands, 3-2, in front of their biggest crowd of the week, 6,089. In their set with Houston at TRS before the exhibition, the Bucs drew 3,395, 2,978 & 4,523 faithful to the home yard. 

The Gunner - Iron City promo photo

• 1985 - After waiting out a 2-1/2 hour rain delay before a Pirates-Cincinnati Reds game at TRS (the Reds won 6-3), Pirate announcer Bob Prince was admitted to the hospital for dehydration and pneumonia and never left. On June 10th, with his wife Betty at his side, he passed away at Presbyterian University Hospital, ending an era in Pirates baseball. 
• 1992 - OF Ben Gamel was born in Jacksonville. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 10th round of the 2010 Draft straight out of HS, then broke into the majors with the NYY in 2016. Ben also played with the Mariners, Brewers and Indians before the Pirates claimed him following a spate of injuries to an already thin outfield in May, 2021, after he was DFA’ed by the Tribe. The lefty had mostly been a role player but has found a niche in Pittsburgh mainly as a starter in the pasture while becoming a fan favorite. 
• 1995 - Hideo Nomo tossed seven innings of two-hit shutout ball, fanning 14 batters, but the Bucs scored three times in the last two frames off four LA relievers to take home a 3-2 win at Dodger Stadium. Orlando Merced was intentionally walked in the ninth to get to Jacob Brumfield, who lined a single to center off Antonio Osuna to score Angel Encarnacion with the winning run. Four Pirate relievers tossed five innings of scoreless ball with Dan Plesac getting the win and Dan Miceli earning the save. 
• 2009 - The Pirates erupted for 10 runs in the seventh inning to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 11-4 laugher against the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park. The Bucs’ first 11 batters reached safely in the frame; the first out was recorded on the bases when Eric Hinske was thrown out trying to reach third after a single. Pittsburgh used nine hits (three were doubles), two walks and a couple of Colorado errors to cobble the frame together against four Rox twirlers. Zach Duke left the game trailing 4-1, but still got the win. The Pirates wouldn’t have an inning that big again until 2017 when they put up a first-inning 10 spot against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

El Toro - 2013 Topps Gold

• 2013 - The Bucs overcame a 4-1 deficit to defeat the Astros, 5-4, at PNC Park when two Astro fielders ran into each other with two down in ninth, allowing Russ Martin’s pop to drop and Andrew McCutchen to score the walk-off run. There were also some legit efforts by Pittsburgh. Tony Watson, Vin Mazzaro and Justin Wilson tossed 4-1/3 frames of scoreless ball and Pedro Alvarez cranked a 462’ shot into the Allegheny on the hop off the Riverwalk. The eighth-inning, game-tying two-run shot fell a foot short of Matt Lawton’s 2005 drive against Jamey Wright of Colorado from becoming the longest homer ever hit at PNC Park. 
• 2016 - The Bucs sent 11 batters to the plate during a seven-run first inning - five reached with two outs to chase home five of the runs, with a throwout at home ending the frame - and then held on to beat the Braves, 12-9, at PNC Park. Pittsburgh punched out 21 hits as seven Pirates recorded multiple hits, including Fran Cervelli, Gregory Polanco, John Jaso and Andrew McCutchen banging out three raps each. Juan Nicasio earned the win, but it took five relievers to close the book before Mark Melancon got the save. 
• 2016 - The Pirates extended C Fran Cervelli’s contract for three years (2017-2019) and $31M ($9M - ‘17, $10.5M - ‘18, $11.5M - ‘19). With the extension, the Pirates had their starting eight players under contract for the next season and seven of the eight (Cervelli, Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Josh Harrison, Jung Ho Kang and Jordy Mercer) under team control through 2018. Cervelli had been due to hit free agency at the end of the season. 

Jordan Lyles - 2013 Positively Pittsburgh image

• 2019 - Jordan Lyles became the first Bucco righty since Gerrit Cole in 2014 to fan a dozen batters as he went seven innings, giving up five hits with a walk and a run via a solo shot, on the way to a 5-3 Bucco win against San Diego at Petco Park. The key blow for the Pirates was a two-run blast by rookie Bryan Reynolds to give Pittsburgh a lead it would never relinquish. Lyles was an offseason free agent pickup who was off to a sizzling start; the victory gave him a slash of 4-1/1.97.