8/30 From 1970: Hayes, Buechele Deals; Martinez - Chamberlain; Booth Legacies; Latino HoF; New CBA; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Luis & Marlon

• 1972 - Bob Prince turned the mic over to ex-KDKA announcer Harold Arlin, the first man to ever broadcast a live baseball game. The Gunner graced him to call a few innings in Pittsburgh while Harold’s grandson, Steve Arlin, was on the mound for San Diego. Pap didn’t have much to brag about as the Bucs won 11-0, with Manny Sanguillen and Dave Cash combining to drive in seven runs on five hits. The game’s highlight was when Roberto Clemente tied the club record for hits with a pair of knocks, equaling Honus Wagner's franchise mark of 2,970 career hits. 
• 1972 - A Federal Court decision dismissed a $3M suit against the Pirates brought by Sportservice of Buffalo, Forbes Field’s concessionaires, claiming they had the concession rights to Three Rivers Stadium. The gist of the case was a 1946 side deal between Sportservice and Pirates president Frank McKinney. The judge ruled that since that agreement was never approved by the boards of either organization, the concession contract was terminated when Forbes Field closed. 
• 1977 - OF Marlon Byrd was born in Boynton Beach, Florida. The Pirates acquired the vet, along with John Buck, from the Mets for the 2013 stretch run in exchange for Dilson Herrera and Vic Black. He came through, hitting .318 with three homers during the regular season and .364 in the postseason with a big three-run homer in the Wild Card win against the Reds. He then signed with the Phils during the off season. Byrd also picked up a pair of PED suspensions, in 2012 and 2016, with the second one ending his 15-year, 11-team MLB career. 

Luis Rivas - 2008 photo John Grieshop/Getty

• 1979 - IF Luis Rivas was born in La Guaira, Venezuela. Luis played for eight years, primarily for the Twins, and finished his career in Pittsburgh in 2008, batting .218 (he had never hit under .256 in his prior stops) after signing a minor league FA deal for $525K. He did have one big week - he had his first two-homer game on May 25th and banged his first grand slam on the 31st. 
• 1990 - The Pirates picked up vet OF/1B Carmelo Martinez from the Phillies for OF’s Tony Longmire, Wes Chamberlain and Julio Peguero. The deal was made of necessity; GM Larry Doughty had placed them on waivers that he believed to be recallable; he was wrong, and so worked out a deal with the Phils. Martinez lasted less than a season with the Bucs, while the young outfield prospects ended up with bench roles during their brief careers, with Chamberlain the only one with legs, lasting six years for the Phils and Reds as a part-timer. 
• 1991 - The Rangers traded 3B Steve Buechele to the Pirates for young pitchers Kurt Miller and Hector Fajardo. Buechele, a FA, signed with the Pirates after the season, but was moved at the next deadline for Danny Jackson after hitting .248 in 453 BA and played four more seasons through 1995. Miller tossed off-and-on until 1999, appearing in 44 games for the Marlins and Cubs, while Fajardo was done in 1995 after pitching in 28 games for the Rangers. 
• 1996 - The Pirates sent 3B Charlie Hayes to the Yankees (the eighth player New York brought in during August) for a PTBNL, RHP Chris Corn. Charlie hit .286 for the Yankees and played through 2001; Corn never advanced past AA ball. Hayes’ son Ke’Bryan is carrying on the local legacy.

Charlie Hayes - 1996 Circa

• 2002 - After marathon sessions, Bud Selig & Donald Fehr announced a new four-year Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and the MLBPA. Revenue sharing increased, random drug tests were permitted, a luxury tax was introduced, the minimum salary rose to $300K and contraction, a major bone of contention, was ruled out until 2006 at the earliest. The 30th was the drop-dead date set by the Union to wrap up negotiations and the two sides just crossed the wire. 
• 2005 - The Milwaukee Brewers fell by a score of 6-0 to the Bucs behind Paul Maholm’s four-hitter at Miller Park, an impressive outing for the 23-year-old lefty’s first MLB start on a game day delayed due to rain. It was an oasis in an otherwise arid stretch of games that saw Pittsburgh lose 11-of-12 contests. The Bucs put up a five spot in the first inning, keyed by Jack Wilson’s base-clearing, bases-loaded double (he also later started a slick DP with a diving stop and open glove feed to Freddy Sanchez). The Bucs had the bases empty with two outs, but Doug Davis walked four of the next five batters, all on 3-2 pitches, before Wilson cashed in. 
• 2006 - Pittsburgh scored three times in the 11th inning against the Cubs to take a last-man-standing, 10-9, victory at PNC Park. The 12,730 fans who came out for the getaway game saw lots of action, as the two teams pounded out 40 hits (20 each) and not one cleared a fence. Chicago tallied twice off Marty McLeary (who got the win), but the Bucs scored on Jose Castillo’s single to cut the lead to one. A walk later, the bases were jammed for Freddy Sanchez, and he lined a two-run, two-out single to right for the win, giving him four RBI on the night. Castillo had four knocks while Jason Bay and Xavier Nady had three hits. The win gave Pittsburgh a three-game sweep and their second straight walkoff win against Chicago. 

Freddy Sanchez - 2008 Upper Deck

• 2011 - Andrew McCutchen was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise dismal outing as he hit a ninth-inning homer against the Houston Astros in an 8-2 loss at Minute Maid Park. With that swat, he became the eighth Pirates player to ring up 20 home runs/20 stolen bases in one season, and the first since Nate McLouth, who Cutch replaced, in 2008. Starling Marte last pulled off the honors for the Bucs in both 2018 (20 homers/33 steals) and 2019 (23 homers, 25 steals) 
• 2013 - The Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cards, 5-0, at PNC Park behind Francisco Liriano’s two-hitter and a 3-for-4 night by Garrett Jones, who had four RBI and was a triple short of the cycle. The HR was #100 of his career. Pittsburgh moved back into a Central Division tie for first with the Redbirds in front of a sellout crowd of 38,036, ultimately finishing second to earn a wild card. 
• 2013 - The Dominican-based Latino Baseball Hall of Fame announced its newest class at Marlins Park, and it was well-repped by ex-Pirates Matty Alou (1966-70), Vic Davalillo (1971-73), Rennie Stennett (1971-79), Tony Armas (1976) and Julian Javier, Bucs farmhand from 1956-59. 
• 2021 - Hitting coach Rick Eckstein was let go by the Pirates. He was hired by GM Neal Huntington in November of 2018 to replace Jeff Branson and retained by Ben Cherington, but never got a lot of talent to work with, and after a couple of dismal offensive seasons by the club, lost his spot. Any Haimes, formerly of the Brew Crew, was hired to replace him after the season. Rick's brother David was a special assistant to BC between 2019-21 before he too departed.