7/3 From 1970: Webster-Gonzalez; Cole Deal; Bo Blast; SI Blass; Locke-d In; GM Hunt; Game Tales; HBD Tuck & Eddie

• 1970 - The Bucs bashed six homers to outlast the Cubs, 16-14, at Wrigley Field (and yes, the wind was blowing out at 15 MPH). Roberto Clemente and Gene Alley each had a pair of bombs and four RBI each (Alley went 4-for-4 and also scored three times), while Al Oliver and Bill Mazeroski also went yard. Seven Pirates had multiple hits to tie a club record, five scored more than once and another five Bucs chased home multiple runs. The two clubs banged out 40 hits and went through a dozen pitchers before Dave Giusti struck out Ron Santo to end the drama with the tying runs aboard for Chicago. 
• 1972 - Steve Blass was featured as the cover story of Sports Illustrated in an article titled “League Leader.” Steverino had a great season, making the All-Star team and going 19-8 with a 2.49 ERA, but his career would be struck down by the "Blass disease" the following year. 
• 1983 - RHP Edinson Volquez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Eddie had a rebound season with the Buccos in 2014, going 13-7/3.04 after signing a one year/$5M contract. As a free agent after the season, he landed a two-year deal with the Kansas City Royals worth $20M, then moved to the Miami Marlins and last tossed for the Texas Rangers in 2020. 
• 1987 - Bobby Bonilla became the first Pirate to homer from both sides of the plate in a 6-0 win against Los Angeles at Three Rivers Stadium, collecting five RBI. He took Fernando Valenzuela deep while batting right-handed and Ken Howell while batting left-handed. Bonilla did the deed twice, with Dale Sveum (1999) and Bryan Reynolds (2019) to later join him. Rick Reuschel tossed a five-hit shutout for the victory. 24-year-old Bobby Bo, in his second big league season, was a year away from making the first of four straight All-Star outings for the Pirates. 

Mitch Webster - 1991 Topps Stadium Club

• 1991 - The Pirates traded bench outfielders, sending Mitch Webster to the LA Dodgers for Jose Gonzalez. The Dodgers won the swap: Gonzalez was waived in August after going 2-for-20 while Webster lasted five years in the City of Angels with a .256 BA over that span. In another news, Pittsburghers were in a huff as reigning MVP Barry Bonds and defending Cy Young winner Doug Drabek (pitchers were announced on the 4th) were left off the All-Star team, neither winning the fan vote nor getting the nod from manager Lou Pinella of the Reds. Bobby Bonilla and John Smiley were the only Bucs to make the cut. Oddly, Drabek was only named to one ASG in his 13-year career despite three top-5 Cy Young finishes. 
• 1992 - The Pirates sent minor leaguers OF Tony Mitchell, who led the Buc farm system in HRs, and 19-year-old RHP John Carter to Cleveland for OF Alex Cole. The time was ripe as the speedster had been on Pittsburgh’s radar for a while, Jim Leyland needed help at leadoff, and the price was affordable as he had dropped to the Tribes’ fifth OF spot, so GM Ted Simmons pulled the trigger. In a bit of a surprise, slumping 27-year-old Jeff King (.231) was sent to Buffalo to clear a roster spot for Cole, but played just seven games for the Bisons before being called back to Pittsburgh for good. Cole did fill the bill in his 64 games as a Pirate, batting .278 with an OBP of .335 and seven steals. The Pirates lost him in the 1992 expansion draft during the off season, and Cole never quite broke through as a MLB starter though he slashed .277 BA/.357 OBP over the final four years of his career (1993-96). Mitchell made it to Mexico and Japan, but not the show while Carter spent seven years in the bushes, reaching AAA for just 15 games. 
• 1996 - SS Cole Tucker was born in Phoenix, Arizona. A first round pick in 2014 from Mountain Pointe HS ($1.8M bonus), he rose steadily through the ranks when he was beckoned to the big team in late April of 2019 after starting SS Eric Gonzalez broke his collarbone. He was rushed to the bigs; his glove was ready, but he only had 13 AAA games before reaching the majors, and it showed at the dish. However, he did homer in his first MLB game, banging a two-run homer that proved the game-winner. He was sent back to Indy after an extended look in Pittsburgh, batting .211 after 159 PA’s, to sharpen his eye. His bat kept him yo-yo’ing between Indy and Pittsburgh; he was DFA’ed in 2022 and now is in his home-town system at Arizona. 

Cole Tucker - 2019 Topps Archives

• 2001 - The Atlanta Braves Assistant GM Frank Wren, considered a front runner to replace Cam Bonifay for the Pirates vacant GM job, told Kevin McClatchy that he was sticking with the Bravos; he was thought to be the heir apparent to current Atlanta GM John Schuerholz, and did eventually take over for him. Dave Littlefield, the Miami Marlins assistant GM, ended up with the Pittsburgh job, replacing interim GM Roy Smith, who was Bonifay’s assistant. 
• 2012 - Journeyman Drew Sutton was the hero of the day. He hit a walkoff homer, his first long ball since 2010 and one of his three knocks on the day, off Wesley Wright’s hung slider to give the Bucs an 8-7 win over the Houston Astros at PNC Park. Pittsburgh battled back from a sixth inning, 6-2, deficit against the ‘Stros to take a late lead for Joel Hanrahan, who had blown the save in the ninth when he gave up a two-out double to Jason Castro but thanks to Sutton took home the dub. The victory moved the Pirates into a tie for first in the NL Central, but they were still a year away from respectability.  
• 2013 - Jeff Locke won his eighth straight decision by a 6-5 score over the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park. Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-3 with two walks while Pedro Alvarez hit a three-run homer in support of the lefty. Locke put together his winning streak over 16 starts (the Pirates were 1-7 in the games he started w/o a decision to balance out) and lowered his ERA from 4.09 to 2.12 during that time before losing his next outing to the Oakland A’s, 2-1.