6/18 From 1965: Cox Signed; Avenger Charlie; TSN Roberto; Dock Debut; FLA Home; Gems & Game Tales; HBD John

• 1966 - Roberto Clemente was a cover story (“Some Swinger”) for The Sporting News, tucked between Sandy Koufax and Juan Marichal, who were also featured (pretty good company!). The blurb was a little misleading. The actual article was written by local TSN correspondent and Pittsburgh Press beat writer Les Biederman, titled "Clemente Uses Bat to Send ‘All Well’ Message to Family." Roberto’s stick authored quite a healthy tale - The Great One won the National League's MVP Award that season, hitting .317 with 29 home runs and 119 RBIs, to beat The Left Arm Of God by 10 votes. 
• 1968 - Dock Ellis got a win in his major league debut as the Pirates came from behind twice to beat the LA Dodgers, 3-2, in 10 innings at Forbes Field. Don Drysdale and Bob Moose started the affair that was decided when Matty Alou, batting cleanup, singled home Maury Wills, who had reached on an infield single and extended his hitting streak to 15 games. The Bucs tied the game in the eighth when Willie Stargell smacked a solo shot. Dock gave up a hit and notched a K in a scoreless 10th inning for the win. It was Pittsburgh’s seventh straight victory. 
• 1968 - Pittsburgh signed a 40-year lease with Bradenton to hold its spring training there beginning in 1969. The town promised the Pirates a stadium, motel, and field complex over 160 acres; in turn, the Bucs promised to hold spring training there, sponsor a GCL Rookie team and hold winter Instructional League competition there. The pairing worked out pretty well for both parties and continues. The ballpark and minor league complex underwent $20 million in renovations after a new 30-year lease with the city was signed in 2008, so Pirates City with its Bradenton Marauders, GCL team and instructional league will continue to soak up the Sunshine State rays for the foreseeable future. 

Dave Giusti - photo via Mainline Autographs

• 1971 - The Pirates stormed back in the late innings to force the Montreal game into extra time and eventually took home a 9-8 Friday night victory at Three Rivers Stadium. The Pirates scored twice in the eighth on Al Oliver’s two-out single and four more times in the ninth when Bill Mazeroski singled home a run followed by back-to-back homers from Dave Cash and Richie Hebner off Mike Marshall. Cash had the walk-off winner when he singled home Gene Clines, who had led off the 11th frame with a triple off Claude Raymond, making Dave Giusti the winner. 
• 1973 - Dock Ellis was in command as he led the Bucs to a 3-1 win over the Cubs at TRS. The Docktor gave up just three hits, fanned eight and mowed down the last 18 Windy City batters for the complete game decision. The win came on the heels of a 12-of-14 games losing streak that prompted manager Bill Virdon to add some extra juice to his usual pre-game meeting with the club. The Pirates outhit the Cubs 12-3 but couldn’t wring a lead from Fergie Jenkins until back-to-back homers by Richie Hebner and Bob Robertson in the sixth. 
• 1974 - Dave Giusti was tapped for his first start since 1970 after an injury to Larry Demery and spun seven shutout innings in a 2-0 win against the LA Dodgers at TRS. He had made 270 straight appearances from the pen prior to this game. Later, he also got to toss the second game of a twin bill against the Montreal Expos on July 4th, also at Three Rivers, and got no decision after seven innings of two-run, seven-hit ball in a game that Bruce Kison won in relief, 3-2. Dave returned to the pen for the rest of his career after that outing. But he wasn’t pulled out of a hat: the Pirates had converted him to a relief role after he had spent several years as a starter for the Astros and split time as a reliever/starter for the Cards. 
• 1987 - OF JB Shuck was born in Westerville, Ohio. He signed with the Bucs as a free agent in January, 2019, after six seasons as mainly a bench piece in the majors. He broke camp with the team and was used as a defense-first outfielder and even pitched once, but after batting .213, he was sent to AAA Indy to serve as insurance in May. 2019 was his last MLB campaign, and his latest minor league contract with the Nats ended up in a 2020 release. 

JB Shuck - 2019 photo/Pirates

• 1992 - The Pirates signed recently released 32-year-old RHP Danny Cox as a depth FA and stashed him in Buffalo. They called him up in mid-August and he pitched pretty well in 24 outings from the pen, posting a 3-1-3/3.33 line and then working two shutout appearances against the Braves in the NLCS. He signed with the Toronto Blue Jays during the off season and remained with them until he hung up the spikes following the 1995 campaign. 
• 2010 - The sad sack Pirates lost their 12th straight game by a 4-3 count to the almost equally inept Cleveland Indians at PNC Park. All the scoring was in the seventh inning, with the Bucs scoring on a bases-loaded double by Ryan Church to almost-but-not-quite-answer the Tribe uprising. The Pirates came back to take the next two games from the Indians, followed by a six-game losing streak. They totaled eight five-or-more-loss strings during the year. 
• 2013 - After a defeat at Cincy during which Andrew McCutchen was HBP and Neil Walker was knocked down, Charlie Morton manned up and plunked the first Red to step to plate, then led the Bucs to a 4-0 win at GABP. Morton and three relievers combined on a four-hitter. The Bucs scored three times in the first, keyed by a two-run, bases-loaded knock by Pedro Alvarez. 
• 2015 - Behind the pitching of Gerrit Cole, Arquimedes Caminero and Mark Melancon, the Bucs upended the Chicago White Sox, 3-2, at US Cellular Park. The Pirates scored three times in the first inning off an Andrew McCutchen RBI single and two-run homer by Jung-Ho Kang to win their eighth in row and post their third straight series sweep. The victory was Cole’s MLB-leading 11th dub. It was also the sixth straight win by the Bucs when scoring three or fewer runs. Finally, it was a red letter day for C Francisco Cervelli. He caught his 56th consecutive scoreless inning before Chicago crossed the dish, matching Ed Phelps' behind-the-plate shutout streak of 1903. 

Fran Cervelli - 2015 photo via MLB.com

• 2018 - Trevor Williams broke out of a weeks-long funk and spun a one-hit shutout with seven whiffs over seven frames as the Bucs squeaked by the Milwaukee Brewers, 1-0, at PNC Park before 10,672 rooters. Francisco Cervelli showed the way with two hits and a walk; Pittsburgh’s score came thanks to a Jordy Mercer double, which chased Cervy home, in the seventh frame. Kyle Crick then worked a clean inning and Felipe Rivero closed out the ninth with two K’s. 
• 2021 - The Pirates snapped a 10-game losing streak with an 11-10 win over the Tribe at PNC Park. The Bucs scored five times in the first inning and five more times in the sixth to build an 11-1 lead, then held on by a gnat’s eyelash as the bullpen turned into a raging dumpster fire - Cleveland kept coming until Richard Rodriguez’s strikeout with runners at second and third in the final frame ended the night’s assault on baseballs. Winner Chad Kuhl pitched one-run, four-hit ball for six innings, Gregory Polanco & Bryan Reynolds homered, and El Coffee, Jake Stallings & Ke’Bryan Hayes together chased home seven runs.