8/17 From 1970: Baseball's Last Hero; GI's Lucky 13; Bo Bombs; Arriba Stamp; Maz's 2,000; Game Tales; HBD Chad

• 1971 - Bill Mazeroski recorded his 2‚000th career hit against Wade Blasingame in a 6-5 loss to Houston at TRS. Maz finished his career with 2,016 knocks, eighth on the all-time Pittsburgh hit list, tucked between pretty good company in Willie Stargell and Arky Vaughan. 
• 1978 - RHP Chad Qualls was born in Lomita, California. The Pirates got him at the deadline from the Yankees in 2012 for Casey McGahee as they sniffed a playoff run that never materialized (in fact, they faded badly and ended up with just 78 wins). Chad didn’t help turn the corner, tossing to a 6.59 ERA in 17 appearances and getting released after the year. Qualls kept working, though - he lasted in the majors until 2017, when he was released by the Rox.

• 1984 - A 20-cent commemorative stamp recognizing the 50th birthday of Roberto Clemente (it was the next day, a Sunday) was issued by the Post Office in Carolina, Puerto Rico, his birthplace. The release ceremony was held at the Roberto Clemente Sport City facility. His stamp was designed by Juan Lopez-Bonilla and shows Arriba with the Puerto Rican flag in the background. 
• 1988 - Newly acquired Dave LaPoint went seven innings in his first Pirates start, giving up a run on three hits, to lead the Pirates to a 2-1 win over the Braves in front of 33,164 Buck Night fans at TRS. Pittsburgh got RBIs from Jose Lind and Tom Prince in the second and third innings, and it was just enough to squeeze by Tom Glavine. Jim Gott earned the save in a game that took the quick-working LaPoint and company just 2:05 to complete. LaPointe, a stretch run rental, slashed 4-2/2.77 for the Bucs before moving on to the Yankees during the off season. 
• 1990 - In a battle of division leaders, the Bucs swept the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium by 7-1 and 4-3 tallies. In the opener, Wally Backman doubled twice and drove in two runs;
  Spanky LaValliere also doubled and had two RBI. Bobby Bonilla cranked a homer and scored three times as Mike York got the win in his MLB debut with help from Bob Patterson. In the nitecap, the Bucs rode three solo shots by Jay Bell, Bobby Bo and Jeff King and a two-out single by Bell in the eighth that plated John Cangelosi to victory. John Smiley was credited with the victory and Stan Belinda worked the last two frames for the save. Unfortunately, it didn’t carry over to the postseason; the Reds won the NLCS over the Pirates in six games. 
• 1993 - A trio of Bucs - Carlos Garcia, Jeff King & Al Martin - each homered and drove in a trio of runs to ruin Beaver HS grad John Burkett’s return home as the Pirates romped over the Western Division’s front-running Giants, 10-3, at TRS. The triad vibe carried on as Garcia and Don Slaught banged out a trio of hits to plow the road for winner Steve Cooke, who went eight innings. 

• 2003 - The Pirates drew 24,092 to PNC Park for Charlie Brown bobblehead night, and the fans were treated to a 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Tike Redmond, Jack Wilson and Reggie Sanders homered for the Bucs as Josh Fogg claimed the win. Fogg helped himself by breaking the Pirates staff's 10-game streak of giving up homers. The club was playing a man short after trading 1B Randall Simon to the Cubs earlier in the day for SS Ray Sadler. 
• 2004 - The Bucs dispatched Arizona, 7-1, at Bank One Ballpark to win for the eighth time in their last nine decisions. Ty Wigginton and Craig Wilson homered as Jose Castillo banged out a pair of doubles. Ryan Vogelsong tossed seven innings of one run, six-hit ball for the win. 
• 2009 - Garrett Jones homered in Pittsburgh's 9–5 victory over Milwaukee at PNC Park for his 13th home run in the 40 games since his June 30th call up. He was the first rookie in eight years to hit 13+ home runs in that span, joining Albert Pujols and Adam Dunn, who did it 2001. Adam LaRoche and Ronny Cedeno also went long as the Bucs won for only the second time in 14 games. He had signed with the Pirates in the off season as a minor league free agent. 
• 2012 - James McDonald and four relievers held St. Louis to four hits at Busch Stadium to claim a 2-1 victory over the Redbirds. The two Buc runs scored in the fourth and both were unearned - one scored on a wild pitch, the other on a passed ball with an error in between. 
• 2013 - The film “Baseball’s Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories” premiered at the Strand Theater in Zelienople. The movie was written by West View native Richard Rossi. It had its initial showing in Hollywood, but Rossi edited the film into its final version for this viewing. 

• 2018 - The Pirates lost a second consecutive 1-0 game to the Cubs at PNC Park, both decided by Chicago solo homers, to run their scoreless streak to 23 innings. This match was especially frustrating - the Pirates tied the MLB record held by the 1969 San Francisco Giants & 1942 Philadelphia Athletics by hitting into seven double plays in regulation, including the game-ender with runners on first and second with an out in the ninth; David Freese and Josh Bell each banged into a pair of DPs. The Cubbies and Buccos set a new nine-inning NL record by smacking into nine total twin killings. The poor fans sat through all the misery until the wee hours; the game start was delayed by 1:47 after waiting out a storm that rolled over the city, providing the only local thunder and lightning they would see. Trevor Williams and Ivan Nova were the hard-luck losers after dancing with Cole Hamels and Jon Lester.