8/13 From 1955: LaPoint Deal; Jamo TJ; Walker Flip; Scoop Shot; 3 For Roberto; Gems; Game Tales; HBD Jonah, Tom & Jeff

• 1957 - Bob Friend was dealing as he tossed a two-hit shutout against the Phillies, winning, 6-0, at Connie Mack Stadium. He was hooked up in a 2-0 duel with Warren Hacker through six innings before Bill Mazeroski chased Hacker with a two-run two-bagger in the seventh. Pittsburgh iced it in the eighth on a run-scoring error and Hank Foiles two-out RBI knock. Maz had a big day, with his two-run, second-inning homer with two gone giving Friend some early breathing room. The pitcher said after the game that he had fallen in love with his curve “...but now I’ve learned that the fastball is my best pitch.” 
• 1958 - Though nicked by three-run pinch-hit homers off the bats of Rip Repulski and Bob Bowman, the Pirates nosed the Phils, 10-9, at Connie Mack Stadium for their seventh straight victory. Roberto Clemente had two homers (his first ever multi-homer game), Maz added one more dinger, and Ted Kluszewski doubled and tripled to lead the Bucco attack. 

Jeff Ballard - 1994 Pacific

• 1963 - LHP Jeff Ballard was born in Billings, Montana. After five years with the Orioles, he worked for Pittsburgh from 1993-94, getting into 43 games and going 5-2-2/5.42 to close out his career. Ballard didn’t exactly end up on the street afterward. He had earned a degree in geophysics from Stanford University and plied his trade in Montana, spending his spare time as an organizer for the Billings American Legion baseball program. 
• 1964 - C Tom Prince was born in Kankakee, Illinois. Prince started his career in Pittsburgh (1987-93) as a backup catcher behind Mike LaValliere and Don Slaught. In 177 games for the Pirates, he hit .177. Despite his bat, he played for five teams and parts of 17 seasons in the show before hanging up his spikes in 2003. He was a Buc minor league manager beginning in 2005 and in 2017 was promoted to the show as Clint Hurdle’s bench coach. When the new regime took over in 2019, Prince was hired by Detroit to manage their AAA club, Toledo. 
• 1969 - Roberto Clemente hit three homers for the second time in his career to lead the Bucs to a 10-5 win over the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park; the long balls were hit in consecutive at bats off Mike McCormick (2) and Bobby Bolin. He had four hits, four RBI and four runs to back Jim Bunning’s win, saved by Bob Moose. And to keep his run of fours going, he used four different bats during the game. Roberto made the Pirates' prior protest a moot point; manager Larry Shepherd had filed one early in the game after the umpires reversed a call. 
• 1973 - The Pirates hung on to take a 3-2 win from the rival Reds at TRS. Willie Stargell had three hits, including a homer, and started a two-out, two-run rally with a single in the fourth. He was busy; Pops was also thrown out at home repping an insurance run in the eighth when ump Bob Engel said he missed home with his slide, a charge Willie and manager Bill Virdon argued unsuccessfully. The three runs proved enough for Nellie Briles, Ramon Hernandez and Dave Giusti. There was some off-field action, too - Stargell was named the NL Player of the Week and extended his 13-game hitting streak (it ended the next day), while for the second straight trip to Pittsburgh, Johnny Bench received a death threat over the phone and was escorted around town by security guards. 

Willie Stargell - 1973 Kelloggs

• 1974 - Al Oliver had three hits, including a two-run homer, and drove home five runs as the Pirates pounded the Reds,14-3, at Riverfront Stadium. Larry Demery spun a complete-game victory as Pittsburgh edged over .500 and moved to 1-1/2 games of first-place St. Louis. Richie Zisk had four knocks, three runs plated & scored twice, Richie Hebner added four more raps with an RBI & three runs, Rennie Stennett touched home three times on three hits and Ed Kirkpatrick banged a homer as the Bucs swatted out 21 hits. For Zisk, it was his 10th straight game with an RBI, a streak that would end the next day. 
• 1980 - RHP Jonah Bayliss was born in North Adams, Massachusetts. Bayliss came over to Pittsburgh as the key figure in the Mark Redman trade, but never panned out. He spent 2006-07, the last two seasons of his three-year career, in Pittsburgh and went 5-4 with a 7.22 ERA in 16 outings from the pen, showing good stuff but poor control. He’s now a pitching coach/trainer and operates his own hometown baseball academy. 
• 1988 - The Pirates sent RHP Barry Jones to the White Sox for LHP Dave LaPoint. LaPoint tossed well as a rental for the Bucs, going 4-2/2.77 in eight starts before signing with the Yankees in the offseason. Jones lasted in the league until 1993, with a strong stretch with Chicago and the Montreal Expos as a late-inning arm from the trade through 1991. 
• 1998 - The Reds jumped on the Pirates for five first-inning runs at Cinergy Field, but the Bucs had the last laugh by roaring back to take a 9-6 win and sweep the three-game series. The Pittsburgh comeback started in the fourth with a Tony Womack solo shot, with two more tallies in the fifth keyed by back-to-back doubles by Al Martin & Freddy Garcia, a four-spot in the sixth behind a two-run Al Martin homer & Lou Collier’s triple that chased another pair home, and finally Jason Kendall & Martin RBI knocks in the seventh for insurance. The Pirates used six pitchers during the contest, with Jeff McCurry getting the win and Ricardo Rincon earning a save. 

Jeff McCurry - 1995 Signature Rookie

• 2003 - Pittsburgh scored twice in the eighth to take the lead, then the Cards came back to tie it, 5-5, in the ninth at PNC Park. But with two away and the bases empty in their half, Pittsburgh, thanks to some off-the-book strategy by Tony LaRussa, walked away with the win. After two routine outs, Jason Kendall doubled, and St. Louis intentionally walked both Brian Giles and Reggie Sanders to load the bases for Randall Simon. Simon fell behind Pedro Borbon 0-2, then shot a single through the left side to plate Kendall with the game winner as the free passes blew up in LaRussa’s face. Craig Wilson had a big day, too, with a pair of homers. 
• 2005 - Kip Wells dueled Roger Clemens at Minute Maid Park as the Bucs nosed the Astros, 1-0. The game eventually became a battle of the bullpens, and Jack Wilson’s ninth-inning, 0-2 count homer off Brad Lidge was the difference. Salomon Torres claimed the win, saved by Jose Mesa. The Bucs hurlers dodged some raindrops to frustrate the ‘Stros - although Houston put up six hits and drew four walks, they stranded 11 runners. 
• 2007 - Paul Maholm tossed a three-hit complete game to lead the Bucs past the Giants, 3-1, at PNC Park. The big blow was a two-out, two-run double by Jose Castillo off San Francisco’s Matt Cain in the first inning on an 0-2 pitch. The win was in the opener of a twilight doubleheader and pushed the Bucs winning streak to four (five straight was the longest victory string of the season), which ended with a 10-3 whipping in the second game. Also OTD, Tom Gorzelanny was named co-NL Player of the Week with Troy Tulowitzki after winning two games, including a shutout, and giving up two runs in 16 IP on nine hits. 
• 2015 - 2B Neil Walker became the first Pirates player to collect a hit from both sides of the plate during the same inning in the expansion era (1962 forward) as the Bucs erupted for seven runs in the opening frame. Pittsburgh never looked back in taking a 10-5 win from St. Louis at Busch Stadium, with Frankie Liriano twirling six innings for the victory. The Pittsburgh Kid finished the game 3-for-5, falling a home run shy of hitting for the cycle while Pedro Alvarez also added three hits, including a home run, to help cage the Redbirds. 

Jameson Taillon - 2019 Topps Fire Smoke & Mirrors

• 2019 - RHP Jameson Taillon went under the knife; it was hoped the operation would be just to repair an elbow flexor, but ended up his second career TJ surgery once the arm was opened and the damage determined. After a 14-10/3.21 2018 campaign, he was counted on to lead the staff in 2019, but instead the 27-year-old worked just seven starts and was placed on the IL on May 1st. It appeared that conservative rehab was turning the trick, but he felt pain while throwing in July and underwent the surgical procedure. He was back in action in 2021, but with the Yankees after NY swung a January prospects deal for him, and he’s been dependable for them. 
• 2021 - Young Hi-A Greensboro RHP Quinn Priester, 20, the 18th overall pick in 2019, had his development slowed thanks to a short 2019 season, then the minors were canceled in 2020, and he got off to a slow start in 2021. He was ranked among the game’s Top 60 Prospects going into the year, and showed why by kicking it into gear during the second half of the ‘21 campaign, appearing in the All Star Futures Game and capped by an immaculate sixth inning (nine pitches = three K) OTD against Winston-Salem. In that game, he spun seven scoreless frames, giving up six hits/two walks and fanning a career-high 10 batters to earn a 4-1 win. He missed the early part of 2022 with an oblique strain, but is now tossing for the Altoona Curve.