6/16 From 1970: Kendall Signs; Hit Man POTW; Firsts; Strike-Out; Game Tales; DP Deluge; HBD Arquimedes & Chris

• 1971 - Dock Ellis went from the penthouse to the outhouse as he carried a no-hitter and 4-0 lead into the sixth inning against Houston in the Astrodome when the ‘Stros erupted for five hits to tie the game. But the Bucs answered when Roberto Clemente homered with Gene Clines aboard in the next frame, and the Docktor recovered his form, giving up just two singles over the next three innings to claim the complete game, 6-4 victory and justifying manager Danny Murtaugh’s faith by leaving him on the hill. Clines had four hits and Clemente a pair with three runs plated; Al Oliver banged a big triple driving in a run and later scoring. 
• 1971 - IF Chris Gomez was born in Los Angeles. Chris closed out his 16-year big league career in Pittsburgh, hitting .273 for the Buccos while playing all four infield positions. He was released after the campaign and then was cut by the Orioles out of camp in 2009. He retired a season later after playing nearly 1,500 MLB games and batting .262 during his tenure. 
• 1980 - Mike Easler was named the National League Player of the Week. He hit for the cycle against the Reds on the 12th and overall went 13-for-23 (.619) with two homers in six games. It was a strong campaign for The Hit Man, who finished batting .338 w/21 HR and 74 RBI. 

Mike Easler - 1980 Topps

• 1986 - The Pirates were behind at Three Rivers Stadium, 4-1, in the sixth inning when it rained; ump John Kibler shooed the clubs in with a pair of short delays before calling the game, giving it to the Cards. The Bucs protested as the NL had guidelines for the time required before a contest can be banged, and Kibler missed the mandated wait time badly (to his credit, he even called the league offices that night to report he had screwed up). And hey, the Pirates won the protest, a rare occurrence, with the game being picked up at that spot the next night (the 18th). It proved to be a moral victory only; the Redbirds hung on to win 4-2. 
• 1987 - RHP Arquimedes Euclides Caminero (named after Archimedes and Euclid) was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The speed demon - he’s hit 100 on the radar gun - had his contract sold to the Pirates by the Miami Marlins in 2015. In 112 appearances with the Pirates from 2015-16, he went 6-3-1/3.73 before being dealt to the Seattle Mariners. He later went to Japan and at last check, he was tossing in the Mexican and Dominican leagues. 
• 1992 - For seven innings, it was a barnburner at TRS between Philadelphia and the Pirates. The Reds took a 5-4 lead that frame on a three-run blast by Mario Duncan; the Bucs tied it up when Jay Bell put one in the seats in the Pittsburgh half. Then it settled into a drought as the pens put up zeroes. The Buccos came close in the 11th when Bell doubled with two outs with Cecil Espy aboard, but the Phils cut him down at home. In the 12th, the home nine wouldn’t be denied. A single, walk, sac bunt and intentional walk loaded the sacks for the Pirates, and Spanky Valliere’s grounder got through the right side to plate Andy Van Slyke with the game winner. Bob Patterson, the sixth Buc hurler, got the win while the Phillies burned through seven pitchers. 

Bob Patterson - 1992 Fleer

• 1992 - After two weeks at the table, the Bucs signed first-round (#23 overall) draft pick Jason Kendall to a then-club record $336K bonus and assigned him to their GCL team to start his career. The teen was plucked from San Diego’s Torrance HS and debuted with Pittsburgh in 1996. JK played nine years for the Bucs, batting .306 and earning spots on three All Star teams. 
• 1994 - The Pirates beat the Cardinals, 7-5, in 10 innings. They made it hard on themselves by banging into a NL record-tying seven double plays at Busch Stadium, but put up a three spot in the 10th frame for the win. The Pirates even scored their last run on a DP; Carlos Garcia’s sac fly brought home Orlando Merced while Gary Varsho, who had started on first base, was thrown out trying to get to third behind the play at the plate. 
• 1997 - It was a day for Pirates firsts: It was the Pirates first interleague road game, Mark Smith homered in the first at-bat by a Pirates Designated Hitter in franchise history, and Kevin Polcovich swatted his first career long fly (both dingers were off Scott Aldred). The result was a quick 8-0 Pirates lead, and the Bucs managed to outlast the keep-on-coming Minnesota Twins, 8-6, at the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome. Kevin Young, who also homered, and Adrian Brown had three hits while Jason Kendall added a pair of doubles. Winning pitcher Jason Schmidt was the beneficiary of the eight-run, 15-hit attack while Rick Loiselle got the save. 

Kevin Polcovich - 1998 Upper Deck Collectors Choice

• 1998 - The start and finish at Veterans Stadium was a disaster for the Pirates. Starter Jose Silva was given a 4-0 lead, but only lasted an inning as he was hit just above the wrist by Phils’ pitcher Tyler Green as he squared up to bunt in the second frame. Jose suffered a break and wouldn’t take the hill again until mid-September. Still, Esteban Loaiza (who would replace Silva in the rotation as reliever Mike Williams was called up from Indy to join the staff) and Elmer Dessens kept the Philly bats quiet and a three-run bomb by Aramis Ramirez gave the Bucs a 7-1 lead going into the ninth. But as good as Loaiza and Dessens were, well, that’s how bad Ricardo Rincon and Rick Loiselle were. Rincon allowed all four batters he faced to reach, bringing in Loiselle. He took the final inning to two-outs with two on and a 2-2 count on Mike Lieberthal, who drove the next pitch into the left field stands to give Philadelphia an 8-7 walkoff win. To add salt to the wound, the last four runs were unearned thanks to shortstop Lou Collier’s muff.
• 2004 - The Pirates snapped a nine-game losing streak by scoring five times in the fifth inning, capped by Daryle Ward’s two-out, three-run bomb, to drop Anaheim, 5-3, at PNC Park, also snapping a 14-game losing streak against AL West clubs. Josh Fogg got the win; he was also the last starter to earn a dub before that streak started. Jose Mesa notched his 15th straight save, although he left runners at second and third before turning out the lights. 
• 2005 - Randy Johnson and New York shut down the Bucs pretty easily by a 6-1 score at Yankee Stadium, but Michael Restovich’s fourth inning solo shot left Pittsburgh as the only team with an extra-base hit in every game for the season, with the streak at 64 contests. The skein was stopped after 71 games on June 24th by the Cards' Jeff Suppan and Ray King. 

Michael Restovich - 2005  Topps Update

• 2009 - The Bucs visited Minnesota and were clobbered by the Twins, 8-2, in the final season of the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome. That was just one of 99 defeats for the Pirates that season but was marked by a career-ending bit of jakery by Craig Monroe. The FA was hitting .215 and struck out swinging in the eighth with Pittsburgh behind by a boatload. The ball got away and Monroe took a quite leisurely stroll to first; the fact that he was safe on a bad throw didn’t ameliorate the lack of hustle in the eyes of the FO. The 32-year-old took a seat on the pine for the next two weeks and was released July 1st; he never played again in the majors. Then as today, the MLB’s MO is to send the team a message via a bubble player. 
• 2012 - Pedro Alvarez homered twice and Casey McGehee/Alex Presley also went long to lead the Pirates to a 9-2 win over the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. McGehee had four RBI and El Toro added three. AJ Burnett picked up the win with Jared Hughes and Doug Slaten mopping up. 
• 2020 - Perhaps the Pirates fans’ most anticipated regular-season series of 2020 was lost when the New York Yankees set was canceled thanks to the coronavirus pandemic and MLB’s schedule fudging. The contest at PNC Park was slated to be Bill Mazeroski’s Gold Glove Bobblehead Night and a celebration to honor the 60th anniversary of the Pirates’ 1960 World Series championship. As an added bummer, the capricious Pittsburgh weather cooperated beautifully as it was sunny and in the low 80’s. The City’s 1960 World Series shindig was pushed back to the annual fallback date of October 13th, when the Game 7 Gang partied hardy once again to toast the Greatest Home Run in baseball history at Schenley Plaza by the old red brick Forbes Field wall.