9/16 From 1965: Spinning Wheel; TRS Strike; Craig POTW; 7 For Rennie, 14 For Moose; Game Tales; HBD Brandon, Michael & John

• 1967 - RHP John Ericks was born in Tinley Park, Illinois. He was a first round pick (#22) of the Cards from Illinois-Urbana in 1988. Ericks was released in 1992 by Saint Louis after a couple of so-so Class AA years and signed with the Bucs during the offseason. The reliever (he was converted from the rotation after 1995) spent his Pirates time flipping between AAA Calgary and the big team, going 8-14-14/4.78 from 1995-97 for the Buccos. John had a hot start in ‘97, but instead of having a breakout campaign, he only got into 10 games as a pair of shoulder surgeries derailed his career. Those were the last outings of his MLB career. 

John Ericks - 1996 Fleer Ultra (reverse)

• 1969 - In front of a Connie Mack Stadium crowd that barely edged into four figures (1,169), Bob Moose set the record for whiffs by a Bucco righty when he sat down 14 Phillies during a 9-5 victory. The Export product struck out the side once and fanned at least one Phil in every frame. Jose Pagan and Matty Alou had three hits each while Pagan and Al Oliver homered. 
• 1975 - Rennie Stennett matched a major league record by going 7-for-7 in a nine-inning game in Chicago at Wrigley Field (he tied Wilbert Robinson’s 1892 record). Rennie started off with two more hits the next game for nine knocks in a row. Dave Parker had five RBI while Richie Heber & Frank Taveras added three more; to add insult to injury, John Candelaria, Ken Brett and Ramon Harris spun a three-hitter. The 22-0 romp over the Cubs was the Pirates franchise’s biggest margin of victory and the most one-sided shutout in post-1900 MLB history. 
• 1978 - The Pirates had the lumber limber in a 12-5 win over the Expos at TRS, banging out a season-high 19 hits. Frank Taveras set the table at lead off with four hits and three runs; Dave Parker had three doubles and four RBI while Willie Stargell & Dale Berra also collected three raps. Don Robinson got the win, although he faded late and Ed Whitson came on to get the final two outs. 
• 1982 - Utilityman Michael Martinez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The good glove, bad bat bench guy stopped in Pittsburgh in 2014 and hit just .128 in 26 games. Through the 2018 season, he played seven years for five teams, usually serving as a minor league insurance policy for the big club and has been in the indie leagues since then. 

Brandon Moss - 2009 Topps Heritage

• 1983 - 1B/OF Brandon Moss was born in Monroe, Georgia. Moss joined the Pirates from Boston as part of the Jason Bay package and from 2008-10 hit .228 in 195 games. He went on to have three solid years with the Oakland A’s, including an All-Star campaign in 2014, and settled into a low average, 20+ HR bat after his Pittsburgh days during his 11-year, seven-team journey through the show. He was DFA’ed by the A’s in 2018 and retired at the end of the year. 
• 1985 - The Pirates were charged with seven errors during an 8-4 loss to the Cards in front of just 3,601 at TRS. It was a bad day all around; the Bucs also lost the second game of the doubleheader, 3-1, to be swept by St. Louis. The defeats dropped Pittsburgh to a 47-94 mark on their way to a last place finish with 104 losses, and was the last Bucco season for Chuck Tanner. 
• 1993 - Pirate rookie John Hope made his fourth MLB start and was looking forward to his first big league win after being up 4-0 after four no-hit frames against Florida at Joe Robbie Stadium. But even though the Bucs banged out 19 hits and won in a 10-0 laugher, it wasn’t to be for Hope; he cramped up in the fourth after legging out an infield knock (it was his first major league hit, so it wasn’t a complete washout) and couldn’t come out to work the fifth to qualify for the win. It took John until 1996 to finally win his first game, the only victory he ever earned in the show. 
• 1997 - SEIU #508 walked off the job and struck at TRS. Members included ushers, ticket sellers/takers and custodial workers, who weren’t picketing for better wages, but over seniority. Management wanted to assign job locations regardless of time served, and the union supported the traditional choice by seniority. The workers returned to their spots on the 20th to cover the final home series by agreeing to settle their differences during offseason negotiating.

Craig Wilson - 2003 Donruss

• 2003 - Jack of all trades (1B-C-corner OF) Craig Wilson was named the NL Player of the Week after hitting .370 and banging five long balls while scoring seven times and driving in 10 runs. Two of his mateys who were also nominated for weekly honors: OF Reggie Sanders, who hit .407 with eight runs chased home and RHP Josh Fogg, who slashed 2-0/2.25. 
• 2005 - It was a revolving door for young guys during the September call-ups. Pitchers Bryan Bullington, Tom Gorzelanny and Matt Capps, along with 3B Jose Bautista and C Ronny Paulino, got their tickets to the big club. The team needed to clear some 40-man roster space, so OF Chris Duffy was put on the 60-day DL, P Corey Stewart was outrighted and OF Ray Sadler was DFA’ed. Duffy, at age 25, was the oldest of the eight players shuffled around. 
• 2013 - San Diego’s Andrew Cashner faced the minimum 27 Bucco batters as he one-hit the Pirates, 2-0, at PNC Park. Jose Tabata broke up the perfect game with a seventh inning leadoff single; he was erased an out later on a 6-4-3 DP. The game was a scoreless duel into the seventh when three ground ball singles off AJ Burnett led to a pair of runs for the Friars. 
• 2016 - Jordy Mercer delivered the go-ahead knock to start a three-run 10th inning, capped by David Freese’s two-out, two-run single, that lifted the Bucs to a 9-7 win against the Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Bucs took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, highlighted by Gregory Polanco’s two-run blast to right field. Jung Ho Kang also connected for his 19th homer with a two-run blast in the seventh that helped send the game into extra innings (he also got plunked twice and walked twice). Pittsburgh used seven pitchers (the Reds burned eight arms; welcome to September baseball), with Antonio Bastardo getting the win and Tony Watson earning a save. For the Bucs, it was part of a brief 6-for-7 September run that got them above .500, but the club staggered to the finish line to end up with just 78 wins to end a three-year postseason streak.