9/7 From 1960: 17 & Counting; Littlefield Goes; Robby Immaculate; 30 For JT; Wood Says No; Maz Mashes; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Gorkys

• 1962 - Bill Mazeroski hit a grand slam and drove home six runs to prime a 10-1 Bucco win against LA’s Stan Williams at Dodger Stadium. Earl Francis tossed a four-hit, complete game victory against the league-leading Dodgers. LA wasn’t totally left in the dust - with four steals, Maury Wills broke the modern NL record for stolen bases in a season with his 82nd swipe. 
• 1969 - The Cubs were an out away from dropping the Pirates at Wrigley Field before Willie Stargell broke their hearts. With two outs and two strikes, Pops banged a homer off Phil Regan to knot the score and two innings later claimed victory, 7-5, when a two-out Cubbie boot led to a pair of Bucco runs. It was a close, back-and-forth game until the eighth when Jim Hickman put Chicago up with a two-run homer served up by Chuck Hartenstein. In bonus time, an error allowed a Buc run to plate and Richie Hebner’s knock added an insurance run. Manny Sanguillen chipped in a two-run dinger while Bruce Dal Canton earned the win with 1-1/3 scoreless but shaky innings, stranding three Cubs. 
• 1973 - With a runner on first and two outs in the ninth, Al Oliver banged a single, beginning a Bucco run of six straight hits that would produce six runs, turning a one-run deficit into a 10-5 lead. The Pirates weren’t the only team with some rally left in them; the Phils answered with three runs of their own and had the tying run at the plate before Ramon Hernandez could shut the door at the Vet and secure a 10-8 win, with Bob Johnson earning the victory. Willie Stargell had four hits during the contest, including a game-tying, two-strike single against the shift. It was a wild beginning to Danny Murtaugh’s fourth and final stint as Bucco skipper. He had just replaced Bill Virdon, who was fired after the previous game. It was the first time he had won the opening game while managing, and the papers didn’t know whether “...to call it magic or call it luck.” 

Scoops - 1973 Topps

• 1974 - Pittsburgh overcame a 4-0 deficit with a five-run seventh against Montreal at TRS, with seven straight Bucs reaching base. The Expos came back to take the contest into extra innings against Dave Guisti, but Dave Parker’s 12th-inning two-out, walk-off single plated Richie Hebner for a 6-5 Bucco win. Ramon Hernandez worked the last two frames for the win. 
• 1978 - The Pirates tried to set up a homecoming with LHP Wilbur Wood, claiming him off waivers from the White Sox, but the vet, citing his 5 & 10 year rights, vetoed the move. He had been with the Bucs in 1964-65 before being traded to the ChiSox for Juan Pizarro, and spent 12 campaigns with Chicago. Wood had a couple of rough years at the end following arm surgery, with ERA’s in the 5.00 range, and he retired rather than hook up with another club. 
• 1982 - Jason Thompson hit his 30th home run of the season off Mike Scott in a 9-5 win over the Mets, becoming just the eighth player in history to hit 30 home runs during a season in each league. (He hit 31 home runs for the Detroit Tigers in 1977.) Richie Hebner and Mike Easler also went long at TRS. The day was a double blessing for JT; his baby son arrived the night before. 
• 1987 - Closer Jeff Robinson tossed an immaculate inning, the first in Bucco history (Ross Ohlendorf, Juan Nicasio, Colin Hoplderman and Johan Oviedo would later join him), when he K’ed Cubs Leon Durham, Andre Dawson and Rafael Palmeiro on nine pitches in the eighth. It was the first time since Bruce Sutter in 1977 that an immaculate inning was posted. Of Robinson’s nine strikes, six were swinging, two called, and one fouled. He worked a scoreless ninth to earn a save for Brian Fisher in a 3-2 win at Wrigley Field. It was his first save as a Pirate after joining the team on August 21st as part of the Rick Reuschel trade with the Giants. The Bucco runs came in on a Terry Harper homer, his first as a Pirate, and Bobby Bonilla’s eighth inning, two-out, two-run double. 

Gorkys - 2015 photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates

• 1987 - OF Gorkys Hernandez was born in Guiria, Venezuela. He was blessed with good wheels and a great glove, but his bat limited him to a couple of cups of coffee in Pittsburgh in 2012 and 2015 (he went 2-for-29), playing for three other organizations in between. He was with Boston in 2019 and was released in 2020 by the White Sox. He’s now playing in the Venezuelan League. 
• 1989 - It took a little luck, but rookie Jeff King, who was batting .181 at the time, had the key blow in a 7-4 Pirates victory over the Expos at Parc Jarry. Facing ex-Bucco John Candelaria with Pittsburgh up, 4-3, in the eighth frame and Barry Bonds on third, King tried to lay off a Candy curve but was too late. His check swing made contact, sending the ball bounding softly inside first base and into the corner, where the right fielder, after a long run, couldn’t quite find the handle on the horsehide (the play was scored a triple and error) to allow Jeff to touch ‘em all. Bill Landrum then toed the slab to earn his 32nd save, closing out the victory for starter Bob Walk. Andy Van Slyke had three hits while Bonds and Jay Bell added two raps to keep the offense moving. 
• 2006 - Chris Duffy had himself a day against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He went 4-for-4 (and all against LHP) with a homer, three runs scored and three RBI in Pittsburgh’s 7-5 win. He and Xavier Nady hit solo shots in the ninth to break a 5-5 tie to give Jonah Bayless the win. He didn’t break a sweat to earn it, facing just one batter in the eighth to get the final out. Salomon Torres, the sixth Pirates hurler, collected the save; the Cubs burned through seven twirlers. 
• 2007 - GM Dave Littlefield was fired. Brian Graham, the director of player development for the Pirates, served as interim general manager until Neal Huntington took over three weeks later, hired away from Cleveland by new President Frank Coonelly. Coonelly had replaced Kevin McClatchy as Bob Nutting put his own front office in place after becoming principal owner in January. 

• 2009 - The Pittsburgh Pirates set a new North American standard for consecutive losing seasons by a major sports franchise with their 4-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs (Daniel McCutchen took the L), extending their string of sub-.500 years to 17 in a row. The Pirates had shared the record of 16 consecutive losing seasons with the 1933-48 Philadelphia Phillies. The Bucs would extend the record by three more seasons until finally finishing with more wins than losses (94-68) in 2013.
• 2011 - Brian Burres made the final start of his MLB career, and it wasn’t going well at PNC Park as he gave up three homers to Houston and was down 4-1 in the fourth. But the Bucs had a couple of aces left up their sleeve. Andrew McCutchen provided the muscle, driving in four runs with a pair of homers, and the Pittsburgh bullpen (featuring the debut of Jared Hughes) hung zeroes on the Astros for the final 5-1/3 frames. The winning run was plated in the eighth when Jason Jaramillo smacked an RBI single/DP. His one-out knock plated Chase d’Arnaud with the lead run before two catchers running the bases at the same time provided a predictable ending - JJ was thrown out at second trying to stretch his hit, and Ryan Doumit, who had gone from first-to-third on the rap, try to sneak home on the play, and he was gunned down, too. But the Pirates’ fifth hurler, Joel Hanrahan, kept his focus and tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to save Tony Watson’s win. 
• 2012 - The Buccos committed seven errors, one less than the franchise mark set in 1939, in front of 32,699 dismayed fans at PNC Park and lost to the Cubs 12-2. Six of the Chicago runs were unearned with Starling Marte in the pasture and Brock Holt at second both misfiring on a pair of plays. 

Gerrit Cole - 2014 Topps Tribute

• 2014 - Pirate bats ran wild over the Cubs at Wrigley Field as the Bucs ran away with a 10-4 decision. Their 19 hits were the most in a game since 2012. Every starter, including the pitcher, had a hit; seven players had multiple hits. Jordy Mercer & Andrew McCutchen banged back-to-back homers while Neil Walker and Gerrit Cole also went long. Cole lasted six innings, plenty long enough to pick up the win. It gave the Pirates a three-game sweep of Chi-Town, the first time Pittsburgh had swept a series at Wrigley Field since 2000. 
• 2016 - Pittsburgh snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 4-3 win against St. Louis at PNC Park. It was a gritty performance coming off the heels of a two-out, two-strike loss the night before. The score see-sawed back and forth until the eighth inning when Jung Ho Kang hit his third home run in two nights to put the Bucs ahead. After being chased in the last loss, Tony Watson got back on the bike to earn the save for Trevor Williams, who made his first MLB appearance a winning one. JHK had three hits, with Josh Harrison and Gregory Polanco each collecting a pair of knocks to drive the attack.