9/24 From 1975: Pedro Signs; Omar's 50th; Shark's 50; Craig Connects; 10,000 NL Wins; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Mike, Travis & Jeff

• 1977 - OF Omar Moreno swiped his 50th base of the season to surpass Sonny Jackson's rookie record set with the Astros in 1966. The Antelope swiped a pair of sacks and was caught once by Cubs C George Mitterwald during a 7-3 Pirates win at Wrigley. The Padres’ first-year speedster Gene Richards matched him with 50 later on the same day and ended the campaign with 56 thefts, three more than the Bucs' outfielder, to overtake Moreno for the rookie record. 
• 1982 - RHP Jeff Karstens was born in San Diego. He was sent to Pittsburgh by the Yankees in 2008, and the oft-injured righty worked as a multi-role pitcher for the Pirates until 2012, with most of his outings as a starter. He retired in 2015 after failing to recover from 2013 shoulder surgery. In his five Pirates years, Jeff’s slash was 23-25/4.31 in 123 appearances. 
• 1983 - John Candelaria’s elbow was bothering him, but he hoped to give the Bucs five good innings against the Expos, and did he ever. He shut out Montreal on three hits, all surrendered in the first two frames, before turning the ball over to Cecilio Guante, who finished up by allowing two hits over the final four innings to nail down a 1-0 win over the Expos at Olympic Stadium. Candy did more than toss; he drove in the Bucs only run when he yanked a Bryn Smith curve into right for a single to chase home Dale Berra, who had doubled ahead of him; both hits came after two were away in the fifth. Candy and Cecilio kept the Pirates on a roll, helping the club to its 10th win in 13 games. The press couldn’t get Candelaria to comment on his big day, though; he reminded them postgame that “I stopped talking to the media two months ago...” 

Candy Man - 1983 Topps

• 1983 - 1B/OF Travis Ishikawa was born in Seattle, Washington. He started the 2014 campaign with the Pirates, lost his job to Ike Davis and was DFA’ed. He was claimed by the Giants and paid them off by hitting a three-run homer to propel them into the World Series. The Pirates got him back in mid-2015 as a bench player. He bounced to-and-fro between the MLB and AAA before retiring after the 2016 campaign; he’s now a hitting coach in the San Francisco organization. 
• 1984 - RHP Mike Crotta was born in Fort Lauderdale. He was drafted in the 17th round of the 2006 draft by the Bucs out of Florida Atlantic. He got his only MLB taste in 2011, going 0-1 for the Pirates and giving up 11 runs in 10-2/3 IP, appearing in 15 outings. He pitched in Japan from 2014-15 and tossed his last pro campaign in 2016 for the Tigers organization. 
• 1991 - Bob Walk and the Mets’ Frank Viola both were both chased after four frames on a rainy night during the Pirates 10-8 win over New York at Shea Stadium. Andy Van Slyke and Lloyd McClendon each had three knocks to lead the Pirates 17-hit attack. Lloyd had a pair of RBIs and scored twice; Don Slaught drove home three runs and touched the plate once. The game featured three of the top five MVP finishers - Barry Bonds (2nd), teammate Bobby Bonilla (3rd) and the Mets’ Howard Johnson (5th). The Pirates were counting down; they were 13-1/2 games up on the division with a 92-59 record and had already clinched the title. 
• 2001 - Rookie utilityman Craig Wilson tied the MLB record for pinch hit homers in a season by pounding his seventh in the Pirates' 7-6 win over the Cubs. He remained in the game and banged out two more hits. Gary Matthews Jr. also went long as reliever Mike Lincoln, the Pirates fifth pitcher, was credited with the win and Rich Loiselle earned the save against Chicago. 

Craig Wilson - 2002 Topps Series 2

• 2006 - A little bit of MLB history involving the Bucs on this day: Trevor Hoffman retired the Pirate side in order to close out a 2-1 San Diego victory at Petco Park. It was his 479th career save, surpassing Lee Smith and making the 38-year-old reliever the all-time leader in saves. 
• 2008 - The Pirates came to a verbal agreement with Pedro Alvarez, their first round draft pick and second selection overall, for $6M after an MLB negotiating extension. Not everyone thought that was kosher - Alvarez’s agent Scott Boras claimed the deadline deal between the club and third baseman was finalized too late, the MLBPA filed a grievance that was headed for arbitration, and El Toro was placed on the restricted list by MLB until the smoke cleared. Petey finally put his John Hancock on a $6.355M MLB deal in late September. 
• 2015 - The Pirates won their 10,000th NL game by defeating the Colorado Rockies, 5-4, at Coors Field on the strength of a two-out, three-run homer by Pedro Alvarez in the eighth inning. Joe Blanton got the win while Mark Melancon became the first Pirate reliever to notch 50 saves. The club won its sixth straight game and completed its first four-game road sweep since 1997. Starling Marte was red hot; he tied Pie Traynor’s 1928 club record for most hits (13) in four-game series. History debate: The Bucco franchise started its major league days in 1882 (they didn’t join the NL until 1887) as the Alleghenys of the American Association and based on that time frame, this was major league win #10,236 by the club. So take your pick; both are sweet numbers. 
• 2018 - The Pirates thumped the Cubs, 6-1, behind two-run homers from Fran Cervelli and Adam Frazier sandwiched around a two-run two-bagger by Jose Osuna. Jameson Taillon got the victory, tossing his 21st straight “quality start” game. In their last five games played against Chicago, the Bucs surrendered just one run in each game, with all the tallies coming by way of a solo shot. Quirky factoid: according to the Elias Sports Bureau, that marked the first time in MLB history that a team has held an opponent to one run in five straight games with all the runs being scored via the long ball.