- 1959 - Ah, the days before replay: Dick Schofield dropped a ball into the first row of the right field stands for a ninth-inning, walk-off homer to carry the Bucs to a 4-3 win at Forbes Field against the Reds...or did he? The ball dropped back into the field and Ducky stopped at second before he was waved around by umpire Ed Sudol. The angry Reds claimed a fan tried to grab the ball short of the wall and it clanged off his hands. The call stood, and Press writer Les Biederman noted that “The Pirate bullpen snickered in the clubhouse...(and) intimated that a fan reached below the level of the front railing...” Oooops. The Pirates were not sympathetic; they had lost a game the week before to the Cubs on a similar missed call. Nor was a peep heard from Vern Law, who went the distance for the victory.
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| Ducky Schofield - 1959 Topps |
- 1965 - The Pirates sent IF Dick Schofield to the Giants for IF Jose Pagan. Pagan spent seven years with Pittsburgh, hitting .263 and driving in the winning run in the seventh game of the 1971 World Series, then later coaching for the Bucs. Ducky played until 1971, but the light-hitting utilityman only batted above .221 twice during that span, most notably in 1960 when he swatted .333 replacing injured SS Dick Groat late in the season.
- 1966 - RHP Jose Mesa was born in Pueblo Viejo, Dominican Republic. The two-time All-Star and 1995 Reliever of the Year (he had 46 saves for Cleveland and a 1.13 ERA) signed with the Pirates late in his 19-year major league career, looking for a place where he could again compete as a closer. He won the job in Pittsburgh and in 2004-05 picked up 70 saves, although with a 3.93 ERA and 12 blown saves. He went on to play two more seasons as a set-up man for Colorado, Detroit, and Philadelphia before retiring in 2007.
- 1968 - With the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field, the Pirates came from four runs down to defeat the Cubs, 13-6. Willie Stargell hit three home runs and just missed a fourth, drilling a double that bounced off the left field top railing. Pops also smacked a single for 15 total bases and seven RBI on the day. Bill Mazeroski had three hits and scored twice; Jerry May had two knocks and a walk, scoring three times. Tommie Sisk got the win in relief of Jim Bunning, but Dave Wickersham did the heavy lifting, going five innings of three-hit ball and giving up one unearned run to earn the save the hard way.
- 1971 - Willie Stargell was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Streaking Slugger.” The Captain wasn’t all that streaky: he hit .295 w/48 HR and 125 RBI, and finished second in the NL-MVP race to the Cards’ Joe Torre.
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| Willie Stargell - TSN 5/22/71 |
- 1973 - RHP Julian Tavarez was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Tavárez had been a starter, but suffered a shoulder injury in 2002 as a Marlin that he tried but couldn’t pitch through. The 30-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Pirates the following season. They converted him to the bullpen (where he had started his career) and he put up a career-high 11 saves, going 3-3-11/3.63. The Bucs lost him to free agency the next year when he signed with the Cards. Julian had a 17-year MLB run, playing for 11 teams before his final campaign in 2009.
- 1985 - The Post Gazette reported that there was a “rift” between GM Pete Peterson and manager Chuck Tanner. Both claimed it was just give-and-take, denying that it was a big deal (Chuck said “Pete’s the boss...no two people always agree” and Pete saying “...there will be disagreements...it happens.”) Still, the bickering had a cost - Pete was dismissed and replaced by Joe Brown and then Syd Thrift in 1986, while Tanner was ushered out after the season, replaced by Jim Leyland. Helps to sing from the same hymnal...
- 1985 · RHP Henricus "Rick" van den Hurk was born in Eindhoven, Netherlands. He was signed as a 17-year-old international FA by the Marlins and spent parts of four seasons with the Fish. Rick moved on to Baltimore for two more campaigns, ending his MLB chapter in 2012 with the Bucs, where in four outings he lasted 2-2/3 innings, giving up four runs. But it was just an interlude to the Dutchman’s second chapter. He joined the Japanese League in 2015, where pitched through 2021 for three teams.
- 1989 - OF McKenzie Corey Dickerson was born in McComb, Mississippi. Dickerson, who had played five seasons for the Rockies and Rays, came to Pittsburgh in a 2018 deal for RHP Daniel Hudson, minor league 2B Tristan Gray and cash. He was an All-Star in 2017, batting .280 with 27 HR, but had a Jekyll and Hyde campaign, hitting .312 at the halfway post and then slumping to .241 through the dog days. He was penciled into LF, filling in the hole left by the Andrew McCutchen trade, and started from Opening Day until a shoulder injury sidelined him at the start of the 2019 campaign. He was moved to the Phils at the deadline and then signed with the Marlins in 2020. Corey played for Toronto in ‘21 and is with the Cards now.
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| Corey Dickerson - 2019 Pirates image |
- 2013 - Francisco Liriano outdueled the Cubs Jeff Samardzija, 1-0, at PNC Park. The only run scored in the first, when with two outs Andrew McCutchen doubled and Garrett Jones singled him home. Liriano gave up two hits, a walk, and K’ed nine in seven innings. It was only the second time in Pirates history that a pitcher began his Pittsburgh career by allowing a run or less in his first three outings, the other being Dave LaPoint in 1988.
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