- 1962 - Dick Stuart hit two homers with five RBI (he actually drove in all six runs; one scored on a DP ball) to lead the Bucs to a 6-1 victory at Wrigley Field against the Cubs and Don Cardwell. Big Stu knew it was his day from the start - his first homer was a 250’ flare that hopped into the Chicago bullpen (then on the field in foul territory) and lodged under a bench; Billy Williams couldn’t find it until Stuart, with Bill Virdon ahead of him, crossed the plate. Cardwell said afterwards that he was hoping one of the boys in the pen would have casually dropped a warm up ball for Williams to play, but alas, no Chi-town improvisers thought that quickly. It was Stuart’s first inside-the-park circuit; he would repeat the deed one more time in his career. Stu’s second dinger was a legit three-run bomb to left in the sixth. Joe Gibbon went seven frames for the win.
- 1964 - Pirates owner John Galbreath came out in support of unifying the leagues under one roof and run by the MLB commissioner while eliminating separate league control of umpire crews, PR, legal, and other administrative functions. It took awhile, but in 2000, the National League and American League merged into a single entity known as Major League Baseball. The most obvious result to the fans was the umpiring consolidation, but as we’ve seen over the intervening years, the business clout of a single entity has proven to be potent.
- 1969 - The ‘Stros were cruising with a 6-3 lead going into the sixth at the Astrodome when the Bucs erupted. They cut the lead to a run via some small ball and then came the blast; Roberto Clemente launched a grand slam. It was his only hit, but he scored three times with an intentional walk, HBP and stolen base while adding an outfield assist to his basket. The Bucs banged out 15 hits, with Freddie Patek and Matty Alou chipping in three each, in the 13-8 victory. Houston helped - they committed four errors, leading to three unearned runs. Steve Blass got the win with Bruce DalCanton and Chuck Hartenstein mopping up.
- 1977 - Dave Parker was featured as the cover story of The Sporting News in an article titled “Wham.” He was a National League whammy during the campaign, leading the league with a .338 BA, 215 hits and 44 doubles to go with 21 HR, 88 RBI and 107 runs scored to earn his first All-Star berth with six more appearances to follow, three with the Pirates.
- 1982 - Lee Lacy, playing in place of an injured Dave Parker, lined a Larry Christenson curveball over the wall in right center with one away in the ninth to give the Bucs a 1-0 victory over the Phils at Veterans Stadium. Teke Tekulve tossed three frames of one-hit ball for the win in support of John Candelaria’s strong six-inning start as the pair combined for the Pirates first shutout of the campaign. Christenson went the distance, striking out 11 Bucs.
- 1985 - The Pirates romped over the Cards, 13-2, at TRS. All 12 Bucs with an at-bat had hits (five had multi-hit days) and 11 scored and/or drove in a run. Joe Orsulek led the parade with three hits while Tony Pena and Bill Madlock homered. Rick Reuschel went seven innings for the win; he added two raps and three RBI to the cause, with Al Holland closing the book.
- 1988 - OF/IF Brock Holt was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Taken in the ninth round of the 2009 draft by the Bucs, he played some in 2012 for Pittsburgh, hitting .292, before being sent to Boston as part of the Mark Melancon trade. He soon became a valued plug-in guy for the BoSox, hitting .270 and playing every position but pitcher & catcher during his seven years in Beantown. Brock’s last couple of seasons were nomadic and he last played in 2021.
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| Brock Holt - 2013 Topps |
- 2000 - The Bucs scored three runs in the first, five in the 10th and not much in between, but it was a strong enough mix to down the Kansas City Royals, 10-6, at Kauffman Stadium. Warren Morris and Adrian Brown combined for eight hits, three RBI and six runs at the top of the lineup while Brian Giles was the big gun at crunch time, driving in three clutch runs with a game-tying double in the ninth and then banging a two-run homer in the 10th.
- 2001 - Kevin McClatchy fired GM Cam Bonifay after seven losing seasons featuring several costly and questionable free agent signings, replacing him with interim GM Roy Smith. Dave Littlefield was named the full-time replacement a month later. Littlefield couldn’t get the Bucs’ motor running either (he was generally forced to make moves for financial rather than baseball reasons) and was swapped out for Neal Huntington in September, 2007.
- 2003 - Aramis Ramirez extended his hitting streak to 22 games by going 3-for-5 against the Blue Jays at the SkyDome in an 8-5 loss and bringing his batting average up to .309; it had been sitting at a sickly .218 on May 14th the day before he began his run. Toronto’s Mark Hendrickson and Aquilino Perez teamed up to end A-Ram’s string the next day.
- 2005 - The Pirates exploded for 20 hits to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 18-2, pushing across the most runs scored by the club at PNC Park as the Bucs scored three times in the opening frame and never looked back. Jose Castillo homered and knocked in a team-high five runs. Daryle Ward had four RBI and Ryan Doumit had three hits and three RBI. Seven Buccos had two or more hits. Ollie Perez struck out 10 batters in seven innings for the win.
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| Jose Castillo - 2005 Topps Total |
- 2013 - First overall pick of the 2011 draft, RHP Gerrit Cole, made his MLB debut at PNC Park and earned an 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants in front of 30,614 fans; some 10,000 were walk-ups who rolled to the North Shore just to see Cole Train in action. Gerrit pitched to contact, giving up two runs on seven hits with two K in 6-1/3 innings, using up just 81 pitches and registering 99 on the radar gun a couple of times during the evening. Pedro Alvarez went 3-for-3 with a homer, two runs scored and three RBI to spark the Bucco attack.
- 2020 - On the first night of the five-round draft, the Pirates chose SS Nick Gonzalez with their first pick (7th overall - New Mexico State), a guy who sported a good stick but an unsettled position in the field, with 2B the early consensus. He signed for $5.4M, slot value. They next landed righty Carmen Mlodzinksi with their competitive balance pick (#31, South Carolina) and agreed to a $2M bonus, $300K under slot. The next day, the Bucs took RHP Jared Jones, a Texas commit, in the second round (#44: La Mirada HS CA) and inked him to a $2.2M deal, roughly $500K over slot. They closed the action by taking three more righties - Nick Garcia (#79, Chapman U; $1.2M, $400K over slot), Jack Hartman (#108, Appalachian State), and Logan Hofmann (#138, Northwestern State). They all signed by July 2nd. Gonzales and Jones are Top 10 Pirates prospects, while Mlodzinski is being converted to the pen. Garcia and Hartman were traded for Connor Joe and Ji-Man Choi while Hoffman is 23 and still in Class A.
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