7/25 From 1960: Fraze For Jack/Tup; Candy Faces 27; Danny 1-Hitter; Bream Fiver; ESPN Nite; ASG, Gems & Game Tales; HBD Cam, Alex, Ed & Doug

• 1960 - The Bucs regained first place when Bob Friend defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2, at Busch Stadium behind home runs from Bill Virdon, Bob Skinner and Roberto Clemente. Pittsburgh wouldn’t relinquish the top spot for the remainder of the season (the lead was never less than three games during September) and finished seven games ahead of the Milwaukee Braves. 
• 1962 - RHP Doug Drabek was born in Victoria, Texas. He tossed six seasons (1987-92) in Pittsburgh after coming over from the NYY, posting a line of 92-62/3.02. Drabek won the Cy Young in 1990 when he went 22-6, but oddly never made an All-Star team as a Pirate. Doug spent six more seasons in MLB after he left Pittsburgh after the 1992 season but never won more than a dozen games elsewhere. After he retired, he spent time at home and helped coach Little League ball. In 2010, he returned to pro ball as a pitching coach for Arizona.
• 1963 - Tommie Sisk pitched five innings of near perfect relief (he didn’t surrender any hits, but he walked a pair) and rode Roberto Clemente’s three-run homer to a 6-2 win over league leading Los Angeles and ace Sandy Koufax at Dodger Stadium. Smoky Burgess chipped in with a pair of RBI. Koufax had entered the game with just three losses and a 1.75 ERA. He evened up in the September rematch, giving up one earned run with 9 K in a complete game win. 
• 1965 - The Bucs took the opener of a twin bill at Forbes Field from the Cubs, 3-2, thanks to back-up catcher Del Crandall, 35, who was called into duty in the sixth inning. He banged a two-out, 3-1 pitch that dropped over the left center fence for the win. Bill Mazeroski also homered, and Vern Law won his second game in 24 hours as the seventh Pirate pitcher, working the final 1-1/3 IP. The Cubs took the nightcap easily, 5-0, in 1:37; the Pirates had just three hits and a Roberto Clemente line-out triple play to show for their efforts as Bill Faul shut them down. 

Del Crandall - 1965 photo/Jay Publishing

• 1967 - 1B/3B Ed Sprague was born in Castro Valley, California. Sprague spent one of his 11 major league campaigns in Pittsburgh, signing as a free agent in 1999 for $1.3M, and gave the club a solid season. He became the Bucco starter, hitting .267 with 22 homers and was named to the only All-Star game of his career. He left for the San Diego Padres in 2000, as 22-year-old Aramis Ramirez was on deck to man the hot corner for Pittsburgh. 2001 was Ed’s last big league year, and he later became the head coach for the U. of Pacific Tigers from 2004-15. In 2016, Sprague joined the Oakland Athletics as a special advisor and is currently their Coordinator of Instruction. 
• 1972 - The Nationals nosed out the American League, 4-3, at Atlanta Stadium in the All-Star game, kicking off an 11-game winning streak for the Senior Circuit. Manager Danny Murtaugh had a boatload of Bucs to maneuver on his roster: RHP Steve Blass, OFs Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Al Oliver plus C Manny Sanguillen. Blass went an inning and gave up a run. Sangy went 1-for-2, Pops 0-for-1 with a walk, and Scoops went 0-for-1. The Great One didn’t get into the last of his 12 All-Star games; he was voted a starter, but was injured (knee bruise). He did have a pretty capable replacement, though - Hank Aaron played in his stead. 
• 1977 - Bill Robinson made amends for a throwing error in the top of the eighth inning by banging a three-run homer in the bottom half of the frame as the Bucs beat Phil Niekro and the Atlanta Braves for the eighth time in nine tries, 6-3. Robinson had a couple of busy innings at Three Rivers Stadium - his leadoff double in the seventh tied the game when he scored, followed by his misfire that put the Bravos’ leadoff guy on third in a 3-3 game, although Jerry Reuss picked him up and stranded the runner. Reuss went the distance, firing a five-hitter. 
• 1982 - John Candelaria faced the minimum 27 batters in a four-hit, 86-pitch shutout win over the Atlanta Braves. Three twin killings and a caught stealing erased the four Bravo runners from the basepaths in an 8-0 whipping at Three Rivers Stadium. The middle of the Pirate lineup - Bill Madlock, Jason Thompson and Dave Parker - drove home six runs, with a pair apiece. 

Cecilio (no, not Matt) Guante - 1983 Donruss

• 1983 - The Bucs were hanging on to a slim 4-3 lead against the Padres at TRS when Rick Rhoden filled the bases with no outs in the sixth inning. Cecilio Guante, who had been out of action since July 14th with a sore shoulder, was waved in and quelled the fire when he struck out the side. It was the key moment of a 6-3 Bucco win, as Guante tossed four shutout frames and was given a safety net in the eighth when Dave Parker, who had three hits on the night, homered. 
• 1985 - OF Alex Presley was born in Monroe, Louisiana. Picked in the eighth round of the 2006 draft, he hit .261 as a back-and-forth member of the Pirate roster between 2010-13, before he was traded to the Minnesota Twins as part of the Justin Morneau deal. He also played for the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers and Detroit Tigers before taking his final MLB bow in 2017. 
• 1986 - 8,622 fans sat through a nondescript 7-3 loss to the Giants at TRS without realizing that they were actually witnessing a bit of Bucco history: for the first time, the Killer B’s, Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla, started together for the Pirates. Bonds was at leadoff while playing centerfield and had two hits; Bo patrolled left and batted sixth in his third game back since being reacquired from the White Sox and drew a pair of walks. They played together through 1991. 
• 1987 - The Pirates ended their west coast trip on a winning note by dropping the San Diego Padres, 9-3, at Jack Murphy Stadium. The journey had started perilously, with a pair of losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers but concluded with a 6-4 slate, their first winning left coast visit since 1983. The offensive heroes were Sid Bream with three hits & five RBI, Andy Van Slyke with two knocks & three runs scored and Barry Bonds with two raps, including a homer. Brian Fischer took home the win with help from Barry Jones and Don Robinson over the final two frames. 

Danny Jackson - 1993 Donruss

• 1992 - Danny Jackson gave up one hit at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, but it was unfortunately a home run to David Justice as the Braves, behind Charlie Leibrandt, beat the Bucs, 1-0, for their 13th straight win. The Pirates best chance to score was in the first inning, but both Andy Van Slyke and Lloyd McClendon were caught stealing to run themselves out of the frame and allow Liebrandt to catch his wind. Pittsburgh didn’t make any noise again until the seventh frame, with Otis Nixon sprinted to the fence and pulled back AVS’s blast from over the wall. The Buccos' last hurrah was in the ninth inning, when Barry Bonds bounced out with two down and two aboard. 
• 1992 - The Pirates made a wholesale change in pitching: Zane Smith (8-7/2.96) was placed on the DL with tendinitis, while vets Jerry Don Gleaton (1-0/4.26) and Jeff Robinson (3-1/4.46) were released, ending both of their MLB careers. The Bucs then brought up their pups - Paul Wagner, Steve Cook and Blas Minor. None of them set the world afire as rookies, but they did make 19 credible outings among themselves and the trio were major parts of the staff in ‘93. 
• 1995 - Losing to the Atlanta Braves at TRS by a 3-1 tally in 10 innings (the Bravo rally began with two outs and the bases empty with Jim Gott on the hill; the Pirates left the bases loaded in their half) was painful enough. Adding injury to insult in the fifth inning, a collision between Dave Clark and Jacob Brumfield in right center field cost the Bucs Clark’s services until mid-September when he broke his collarbone. Brumfield suffered dizziness and a deep thigh bruise; both were taken away by ambulance after the staff spent 20 minutes stabilizing the pair. The only good news was that Jake made the catch a step before he, Clark and the wall met.
• 1996 - LHP Cam Alldred was born in Batavia, Ohio. A 24th round draft pick in 2018 (#714 overall) by the Bucs out of the U of Cincinnati, the reliever broke out in 2021 at AA Altoona. After two solid if brief stints at Indy, he was called up to the big team in mid-May, 2022 and tossed a scoreless frame in his debut before he was returned to AAA. Cam is still working at Indy. 

Cam Alldred - 2022 photo Julio Aguilar/Getty

• 2011 - In their first ESPN-televised game in seven years, Pittsburgh defeated the Atlanta Braves, 3-1, behind James McDonald, who struck out nine in 5-2/3 frames, and four relievers who finished it off at Turner Field, keeping the Bucs tied for first place in the NL Central, although it was the last time for the lead in 2011. The Pirates only had five hits, but back-to-back walks turned into a pair of Bucco runs. Andrew McCutchen led the attack with a knock, walk, run and RBI. 
• 2021 - The Bucs pulled 2B Adam Frazier from the Giants’ game and announced afterward they had traded him to the San Diego Padres with cash ($1.4M) to cover his 2021 salary, the deal becoming official the next day when all the physicals were completed. Friar prospects AAA - IF/OF Tucupita Marcano, 21; AA - OF Jack Suwinski, 23, and Hi A - RH reliever Michell Miliano, 21, were the return package. Marcano was a Padres Top Ten minor-leaguer, a speedy, versatile defender with a spray-the-ball approach who the Bucs reportedly tried to land as part of the earlier Joe Musgrove deal. The other two were unranked lottery guys, with Suwinski having a big stick and Miliano being a high K, high BB project. Both Suwinski and Turcano have seen time with the big club, with Jack now a regular and perhaps the Bucs top power hitter while Marcano seems ticketed as a utility guy. Miliano is working in Hi A Greensboro as a multi-inning bullpen arm. All-Star Frazier, 29, was leading MLB in hits and under team control until after the 2022 season, and his versatility played into the deal as SD already had a top notch 2B in Jake Cronenworth. The Friars shipped him to Seattle in the off season and in 2023 he signed with Baltimore as a FA, his fourth club in three years. Trivia: Adam was the third player since 1900 to be traded at midseason while leading MLB in hits, joining Willie McGee (1990) and Red Schoendienst (1957) per ESPN Stats & Info.