5/31 From 1960: 5-For-Jose; Early Review; BB's 1st; Upper Deck Willie; Clemente Hits Tower; Game Tales; HBD Kenny & Joe

• 1961 - Pittsburgh bashed out nine doubles (two by Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski, with one each from Joe Gibbon, Dick Groat, Hal Smith, Gino Cimoli and Dick Stuart) in a 9-1 laugher at Forbes Field against the Milwaukee Braves. Joe Gibbon tossed a six-hitter with 10 strikeouts to earn the win. 
• 1962 - Joe Orsulak was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. A sixth round pick of the Pirates in the 1980 draft, he was seen as the Bucs future lead-off man and CF’er. In his four years in Pittsburgh (1983-86), he never managed to secure the job, though he did hit .272. He lasted 14 years in the show, hitting .273 lifetime mainly as a bench/platoon outfielder while playing with the Pirates, Orioles, Mets, Marlins, and Expos. 

Joe Orsulak - 1986 Donruss

• 1964 - Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers beat the Pirates, 6-4, at Forbes Field, but had to survive a towering blast by Roberto Clemente to do it. The Great One hit a ball halfway up the light tower 450’ away in center field. Post Gazette writer Jack Hernon estimated the drive would have traveled 500’ if the lights hadn’t been in its way; the Dodgers beat man Frank Finch of the LA Times agreed with Hernon. 
• 1967 - OF Kenny Lofton was born in East Chicago, Indiana. The Bucs signed him as a free agent for $1.025M and he had a nice year in 2003, hitting .277 with 18 swiped sacks while posting a 26-game hitting streak. He was lost in an epic Bucco salary dump when he was traded to the Cubs at the deadline with Aramis Ramirez for Bobby Hill, Jose Hernandez and Matt Bruback; Lofton and A-Ram helped Chicago to the 2003 NL Central title. Kenny played until he was 40, retiring after the 2007 campaign with 17 seasons, 11 playoff years and six All-Star berths on his resume. After Lofton left baseball, he went into film and television, his major at the U of Arizona, as both a producer and actor. 
• 1973 - The Bucs topped the Atlanta Braves, 3-1, backing up Nellie Briles three-hitter with Willie Stargell’s three-run blast in the eighth at TRS. Stargell’s ball went 468’ and landed in the upper deck. Of the 12 shots that carried into the cheap seats in TRS history, Pops launched the most; this was his fourth and final second-tier homer. It broke up a gem by Gary Gentry; he had a shutout going into the eighth when a one-out infield single and 3-2 walk that raised the hackles of Bravo manager Eddie Matthews was followed by Willie’s blast. Briles went the distance for the win, sending Atlanta to their seventh straight loss. 
• 1985 - A Federal grand jury indicted seven for cocaine distribution and sales in baseball, none of which were Pirates (the players that testified were granted immunity). GM Joe Brown hoped the indictments would “...remove the shadow that has existed over the Pirates…” but his hope was in vain. The coke trials tainted the team’s freewheeling clubhouse culture and several Bucs, notably Dave Parker and Rod Scurry, in the eyes of the fans. 

Barry Bonds - 1986 Fleer

• 1986 - Barry Bonds collected his first MLB hit, a first-inning double off Rick Honeycutt, as the Bucs beat the LA Dodgers, 4-0, at PNC Park. Bonds must have been excited; he was picked off second base a batter later. BB had debuted a day earlier, but went 0-fer. Bill Almon’s two-run homer and Bob Kipper’s eight shutout innings keyed the win. Kipper got the victory and Pat Clements earned the save. 
• 1988 - Not only did the Braves turn off the lights on the Pirates in an 11-1 thumping at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, but the Bucs were further left in the dark in the bottom of the eighth when the ballyard lights went out for 15 minutes. The game was already decided well before that when the Bravos jumped ahead, 8-0, after two frames, and as Barry Bonds noted “It just prolonged the agony.” It also once again proved that baseball is a funny game; Pittsburgh had won the night before by a 14-2 count. 
• 1992 - The Pirates and Giants had a true throwback game - the Bucs wore their 1939 uniforms with red lettering and blue piping while the Giants wore their 1939 pinstripes with “New York” emblazoned across their chests. The old-timey G-Men beat the Bucs, 5-3, scoring three unearned runs off Zane Smith. It marked the first month since April of 1990 that the Pirates hadn’t led the division. Jimmy Leyland made no excuses: “We’re not in first place because we haven’t played like a first place team...” the skipper said of his 11-17 charges. That changed in a hurry - a sizzling finish put the Pirates comfortably atop the division by the time the smoke cleared, with 96 victories and a nine-game pad over the Nats. 
• 1994 - It wasn’t a good day to be a Pirate pitcher. San Diego scored 13 runs in the second inning on the way to a 15-5 whipping of the Bucs at Jack Murphy Stadium. Steve Cooke and John Hope were the hapless hurlers in that unlucky frame. Jay Bell spanked a grand slam and Brian Hunter added a solo shot to no avail.

Jay Bell - 1994 Fleer Extra Bases

• 1999 - Umpire Frank Pulli anticipated video review by a decade when he looked at a TV replay of a disputed home run in the Marlins-Cards game at Pro Player Park. The dispute was whether a ball Cliff Floyd drilled cleared the scoreboard or not. The blue crew met, reversed themselves, and apparently still uncertain, peeked at a monitor in the St. Louis dugout to get the call right, ruling it a double. The league tut-tutted the procedure, but allowed it to stand. Pulli told the Washington Post that "I sure don't want to make a habit of it, but at that moment, I thought it was the proper thing to do... I hope I don't have to go to the replay again.” He didn’t; home run video reviews didn’t become MLB law until 2009, well after he retired. 
• 2006 - Jose Castillo homered in his fifth straight game as the Pirates defeated Milwaukee, 6-1, at PNC Park. Castillo hit a two-run shot off Chris Capuano in the second inning to continue a streak that began on the 26th against Houston’s Taylor Bucholtz, the third longest in franchise history behind Dale Long’s eight game streak and Jason Bay’s six-gamer (which had ended the day before). Ian Snell and three relievers combined on a three-hitter against the Brew Crew. 
• 2008 - SS Luis Rivas had four RBI, two runs scored, a homer and double as the Bucs pounded St. Louis, 14-4, at Busch Stadium to ruin Tony LaRussa’s 2,000th game as St. Louis skipper. Ronny Paulino added three RBI with three hits and a homer of his own while Jose Bautista chipped in with four raps. Xavier Nady and Freddie Sanchez chipped in three hits each as the Pirates.

Luis Rivas - 2008 photo John Greishop/Getty

• 2016 - Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that this date would be Roberto Clemente Day throughout Major League Baseball. The highlight of the celebration was to be a game between the Pirates and Miami Marlins at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Unfortunately for Roberto’s homeland, the game was moved to Miami after a Zika outbreak on the island, and his special day was pushed back. The day of remembrance began in 2002, and beginning in 2009 was marked by pre-game ceremonies around MLB with the teams presenting their Roberto Clemente Award to its nominee, with the overall winner announced after the World Series. In 2020, MLB made the date September 15th permanently to align with Hispanic Heritage Month.