- 1975 - Montreal used a record 15 pinch hitters in their doubleheader split with the Pirates at Parc Jarry. The Expos claimed the opener, 4-3, in 10 innings when Kent Tekulve walked in the winning run (he had a tough inning with two walks, two more intentional passes, a wild pitch and passed ball). Pittsburgh won the nitecap, 5-2, behind Richie Hebner’s two RBI, Willie Randolph’s two runs scored and a Captain Willie homer. Les Expos used six pinch-hitters in the first game, though none in the decisive 10th frame, and nine in the second contest.
- 1975 - C Rod Barajas was born in Ontario, California. Rod played for a dozen seasons, closing out his career in 2012 in Pittsburgh. He hit .206 in 104 games and surrendered 93 stolen sacks in 99 tries after signing a $4M free agent contract at age 36. Hot Rod was released by the Arizona D-Backs in camp the following season, took a year off, coached/managed for the San Diego Padres and is now the field coordinator for the Miami Marlins.
- 1978 - Jerry Reuss extended his scoreless streak to 21-1/3 IP, the bottom four in the Bucco order generated the attack, and the Pirates won their 10th game in a row (and 22-of-25) by an 8-0 count over the Mets at TRS. Reuss tossed a complete-game four-hitter while the 5-8 hitters (Phil Garner, Manny Sanguillen, Dale Berra & Duffy Dyer) combined for seven hits, six RBI and three runs scored as the Bucs got within 1/2-game of the first place Phillies. Dan Donovan of the Pittsburgh Press called the Pirates current hot streak their “Resurrection stretch” though they still finished second to the Phils.
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| Zane Smith - 1991 Topps Stadium Club |
- 1990 - The Pirates beat the Mets, 1-0 and 3-1, at TRS before 49,713 fans to open a four-game lead over New York in the NL East. Zane Smith pitched a one-hitter in the twilight twin bill opener for the Bucs (he gave up a single to the game’s first batter, a walk in the third and fanned seven) while Neal Heaton won the nitecap. Barry Bonds drove in the first game’s only run in the ninth, singling home Gary Redus for the walk off win. Jeff King homered twice in the nightcap to account for all three Bucco runs. Pittsburgh swept all five of its doubleheaders that season.
- 1991 - While presenting her Six-Year Development Plan address, Mayor Sophie Masloff said that the City would like to build a 44,000 seat baseball stadium “...so we will finish the job of securing the Pirates’ future in this City.” She planned to locate it on the North Shore, to be ready by the turn of the century, and wanted to call it Clemente Field. She may not have got all the details right, but provided the impetus, often against stiff opposition, for the eventual building of PNC Park, which was pushed through by her successor, Mayor Tom Murphy.
- 1992 - The Pirates held a 20th Anniversary Night to honor Roberto Clemente at TRS, with Vera and her three sons, NL Commissioner Bill White and a dozen former teammates as part of the program. During the pregame ceremony, the team announced plans to erect a statue of Arriba at the Gate A entrance of the ballyard, to be dedicated before the 1994 All Star game (Susan Wagner’s “The Great One” bronze was dedicated to open All-Star week on July 8th, 1994). Pittsburgh Brewing started the financial ball rolling by donating $25,000 toward the estimated $400 K cost of the project. 38,143 fans attended the game, which the Pirates won over the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-1, behind Bob Walk’s complete-game six-hitter to cap a seven-game winning streak. Barry Bonds homered and drove in three runs while Jeff King banged out three hits.
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| Clemente Statue - 1994 Topps |
- 1993 - Utilityman Pablo Reyes was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. After batting .289 at Indianapolis in 2018, he was among the first wave of call-ups. He’s one of the Swiss Army knife-type players the Pirates value, having played both middle infield positions and the outfield for the Tribe. He got his first MLB start on September 4th, one day shy of his 25th birthday, and collected two hits, including his first MLB knock. He faded in 2019, spent the next year in the Dominican League and after a stint in Milwaukee is now with Boston.
- 1995 - OF Jason Martin was born in Corona, California. He was an eighth-round draft pick of Houston in 2013, straight out of high school, and joined the Pirates in 2018 as part of the Gerrit Cole trade. He was called up in 2019, probably before his time; Martin only had 60 AAA & 68 AA games under his belt as a 23-year-old, mainly due to injuries, before he was promoted. He hit .250 off the bench in 20 games, rejoined Indy, and then broke camp with the Bucs in 2020. Jason spent most of the year in the minors and is currently playing in Korea.
- 2000 - Manager Gene Lamont strongly denied an LA Times rumor that the Pirates and Dodgers were discussing a C Jason Kendall for C Angel Pena/RHP Mike Judd deal, saying the return was too low and that he felt that there was a good chance of Kendall working out a new contract with the Pirates. The Times was wrong and Gene was right: on November 18th, Kendall signed a six-year contract extension worth $60M and remained with the Pirates through 2004.
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| Reggie Sanders - 2003 Spectrum SPx |
- 2003 - Reggie Sanders became just the sixth right-handed hitting Pirate to homer 30 or more times in a season with his solo homer in the seventh inning in the first game of a doubleheader at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium. Sanders joined Ralph Kiner (six times), Frank Thomas (twice), and one-timers Dick Stuart, Jeff King and Aramis Ramirez to accomplish the feat. Later, Jason Bay (2005) and Andrew McCutchen (2012) joined the club. Reggie’s long fly tied the opener against the Bravos, which the Bucs eventually lost, 3-2, in 10 innings. The Pirates squared things up in the nightcap, 5-3, behind Craig Wilson’s three-run homer and Jeff Reboulet’s solo shot. Reliever Mark Corey split fifty-fifty on the day, losing the first game and winning the second.
- 2007 - A 1909 T206 American Tobacco baseball card of Honus Wagner was sold for an at-the-time record $2.8M to an anonymous buyer. The card is such a rarity because Wagner refused to license his image to the tobacco company, and only between 50-200 of the cards were ever printed. It was a pretty good investment vehicle; in 2021, a Hans T206 sold for $6.6M.
- 2009 - In the seventh inning of the Pirates' 2-1 loss to St. Louis at PNC Park, Ross Ohlendorf tossed the Bucs’ second-ever “immaculate inning,” striking out the side on nine pitches. He fanned Kevin Greene, Julio Logo and Jason LaRue, all who were thrown out at first after swinging at pitches in the dirt. Jeff Robinson was the first to complete the feat for the Bucs in 1987 against the Cubs while Juan Nicasio became the third Pirate to toss an immaculate inning in 2016. In 2023, both Colin Holderman (v Tampa Bay, 5/4) & Johan Oviedo (v Texas, 5/24) added their names to the membership list. Ohlie’s effort - he struck out 11 overall - went for naught when Albert Pujols bopped a 10th-inning pinch-hit homer off Matt Capps.
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| Maz Statue - photo/Pgh Murals |
- 2010 - Bill Mazeroski’s statue was dedicated at PNC Park outside the RF gate, located on Mazeroski Way (it was the former Avenue of the Pirates, renamed in Maz’s honor in 2001) and unveiled on his 74th birthday. Pittsburgh sculptor Susan Wagner shaped the likeness of Maz on his 1960 home run trot. Susan also created the Clemente and Stargell monuments for PNC Park. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the lineup that afternoon and the Bucs were whipped by the Nats.
- 2021 - Bryan Reynolds had four hits, including a grand slam, four RBI, three runs scored and a swiped base while Yoshi Tsutsugo homered for the seventh time in 42 at bats to set a Bucco record for long balls swatted to start a Pittsburgh career, but it wasn’t enough to save the Pirates, who were swept by the Cubs in a four-game set at Wrigley, 11-8. The Bucs burned through seven pitchers while dropping their sixth straight contest and losing for the eighth time in nine outings. Their record dropped to 48-89, after posting the MLB’s worst record (19-41) in 2020. The Cubs banged a pair of grannies, making it the fifth game in MLB history that featured three grand slam homers.
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