4/30: Tyler-Vinnie; Pat Signed; BB-POTW; Hans Statue; B-Rey, Allies, Pud Firsts; Juan-Day; Jeff Jacks; X-Celling; Rapid Rabbit; Bootin' Bill; Streakin'; Bert Bye-Bye; HBD To Me; TSN Mad Dog; Rallies; HBD CNS, Jeff, Scrap Iron, Ray & Tony

• 1877 - Jim “Pud” Galvin of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys tossed the International Association’s first shutout, defeating Columbus, 2-0, at Union (Recreation) Park. He pitched for 15 years, was MLB's first 300-game winner (he won 365 games) and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1965. The IA disbanded after the season and the Allies folded, getting back together in 1882. 
• 1887 - The Pittsburgh Alleghenys played their first NL game, defeating the defending champion Chicago White Stockings, 6-2, behind Pud Galvin in front of over 9,000 fans at Recreation Park. Galvin’s mound foe was John Clarkson; both became 300 game winners. Alex McKinnon collected four hits. In pre-game ceremonies, Fred Carroll’s beloved pet monkey (the chimp was also the team mascot), which had passed on to simian heaven, was buried beneath home plate, according to local baseball lore. The team wouldn't become the Pirates until 1891, after they "pirated" the services of 2B Lou Bierbauer from the Philly A's. 
• 1891 - C Tony Brottem was born in Halstad, Minnesota. He made a couple of pit stops in MLB, appearing in 62 games in three seasons, mostly as a Bucco in 1921, hitting .242 in 30 games. He had a long minor league career covering a dozen campaigns. His career had a sad ending; he tried a comeback in 1929 and was cut after 60 Class B games. Depressed, the 37-year-old committed suicide. 
• 1924 - At Cubs Park, Rabbit Maranville lined a triple in the 14th inning and then stole home to beat Chicago, 2-1. Johnny Morrison was the winner over Elmer Jacobs as both pitchers went the distance. The Pirates had 12 hits, led by Max Carey’s three, and drew five walks but shot themselves in the foot by banging into four DPs during the day as they stranded 10 runners. 

Rabbit - 1924 photo Conlon Collection/Detroit Public Library

• 1938 - 3B Bill Brubaker set a modern MLB record by committing four errors (he also was picked off second) in a 2-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field. Bill’s boots didn’t contribute to the loss as both Red runs (one off Russ Bauer and the other off Mace Brown) were earned. The outing was played in front of 10,000 fans, of which 6,300 were knotholers who got into the yard gratis to help celebrate the long overdue victory for the Redlegs; the win snapped a 20-game Bucco unbeaten streak against Cincy that dated back to May of 1937. 
• 1945 - Ray Miller was born in Takoma Park, Maryland. He spent ten years as the Pirates pitching coach (1987–96) under Jim Leyland, replacing Ron Schueler, and worked with Cy Young winner Doug Drabek. Miller also managed for Minnesota & Baltimore and tutored Mike Flanagan & Steve Stone while with the O’s. He retired from coaching in 2005 and passed away in 2021. 
• 1949 - Phil “Scrap Iron” Garner was born in Jefferson City, Tennessee. He spent five years (1977-81) with the Pirates, playing second base for the 1979 World Series club. Scrap Iron hit .267 and stole 112 bases while a Bucco. After his playing career, Garner managed the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros and spent time as a special advisor for the Oakland A’s. 
• 1955 - A statue of Honus Wagner, created by Frank Vittor and paid for from donations, was unveiled outside the left field gates at Forbes Field. Among the crowd of 1,000 were Ford Frick, Warren Giles and John Galbreath. Hans was present but weak; he would pass away in December. It’s been moved twice since: first to TRS, then to PNC Park where his likeness greets fans at the main gate. 
• 1960 - Pittsburgh scored 10 times in the second inning against the Reds at Crosley Field on the way to a 12-7 win, their eighth victory in a row. Roberto Clemente, Billy Maz (who was 4-for-5) and Dick Stuart each drove home three RBI. They knocked off Cincy one more time 13-2 the following day (Clemente & Maz stayed hot; each homered and drove in four runs) before the good times ended with a 4-3, ninth-inning loss to the Cards at Busch Stadium. 

Jeff Reboulet - 2003 Pirates promo

• 1964 - Utility man Jeff Reboulet was born in Dayton, Ohio. Jeff had a 12-year MLB career as a jack-of-all-trades, playing every position on the diamond except pitcher. He closed out his big league run with Pittsburgh in 2003, batting .241, just about his lifetime average (.240). After living on a bench-warmers pay, Jeff turned that experience into his second career - when he retired, Reboulet co-founded Horizon Wealth Management and became a financial advisor. 
• 1967 - Juan Pizarro struck out eight batters and tossed a four-hit shutout in Pittsburgh’s 2-0 win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. It would be his only shutout and complete game as a Bucco; the Pirates used him primarily from the pen and he only made nine starts here. Jerry May knocked in both of the tallies with a run-scoring single in the second and a solo shot in the fifth. 
• 1968 - The Bucs couldn’t solve the Cubs’ Bill Hands, who left the game in the eighth with a 1-0 lead, but some two-out magic after he left saved the day. Matty Alou’s double with two away off Phil Regan knotted the score heading into the last frame. Chicago came right back to score a pair in the ninth off Bob Moose and Juan Pizarro, and Chuck Hartenstein, who would become a Bucco next season, climbed the hill, looking for the save. But he couldn’t put the Pirates away as a pair of walks and a pair of singles made it 3-2, jamming the sacks with one gone. Bill Stoneman took over and got a big K, but Manny Mota walked it off with a soft liner to right center that a diving Adolfo Phillips couldn’t corral. The game was played in front of just 3,710 fans at Forbes Field; it drizzled through much of the evening and the temperature was just 44 degrees. 
• 1980 - Phil Garner had his first two-homer game, good for three RBI, and Bill Robinson added another tater as the division-leading Pirates took a 5-0 victory over the Montreal Expos at TRS. Jim Bibby went the distance, tossing a six-hitter for the win. The Garner long balls were a birthday gift to himself; Scrap Iron was celebrating his 31st spin around the sun. 

Bert Blyleven - 1980 Topps

• 1980 - Pitcher Bert Blyleven left the team and announced that he would retire if he wasn’t traded, citing “the non-support and lack of confidence from his manager,” unhappy that Chuck Tanner wouldn’t let him pitch deeper into games. He did finish out the year, going 8-13/3.88 with 216 IP and was granted his wish when he was sent to the Indians during the off season. 
• 1984 - Bill Madlock was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Have Bats - Will Hit.” Not quite...Mad Dog tried playing through a sore elbow and eventually had surgery in August to remove bone spurs, batting just .253 for the campaign, his worst full season average in Pittsburgh. 
• 1990 - Barry Bonds was selected as the NL Player of the Week. Bonds started slowly but began heating up with the weather - he batted .588 with three homers, six RBI and eight runs scored. It was his first All-Star year with a slash of .301/33/114 with 104 runs and 52 swipes. 
• 1996 - For the second time in his career, Jeff King hit a pair of bombs in the same inning - one a grand slam - as the Bucs took a 10-7 win over the Reds. The first baseman joined Andre Dawson and Willie McCovey as the only MLB’ers to have accomplished the feat twice. The Bucs tallied nine times in the fourth frame to spark the victory at Cinergy Field, sending Cincinnati to its eighth straight loss. 
• 1999 - Pat Meares, 30, was signed to a one year, $1.5M contract by Cam Bonifay. He broke his wrist in spring training (the Pirates misdiagnosed it as a sprain), and a week after he came off the DL was given a four-year, $15M extension. He played 240 games for the Pirates and 2001 was his last season, reaching a settlement that paid him for 2002-03 without him playing. 

Canaan Smith-Njigba - 2023 Topps Chrome

• 1999 - LF Canaan Smith-Njigba was born in Dallas, Texas. A fourth-round prep pick of the Yankees in 2017, he joined the Bucs in 2021 as part of the Jameson Taillon deal. He debuted in 2022 after starting out at Indy, but only got into three games before a June wrist injury landed him on the 60-day IL after he had missed much of 2021 with a thigh injury, so the jury is still out on CSN. He came north with the team as a spare outfielder in 2023 but was sent to Indy in late April. 
• 2008 - Pirate RF’er Xavier Nady went 3-for-3 with a pair of walks while driving in three runs during a 13-1 rout of the Mets in New York. Nady’s three RBI increased his total to 26 for the month of April. That was tops in the National League that season and the most runs chased home by a Pirate in the campaign’s first month since Willie Stargell plated 27 Buccos in 1971. 
• 2019 - The Pirates carried an eight-game losing streak into Texas and were an out away from making it nine when Josh Bell’s ninth-inning two-bagger plated a pair to tie the game at 3-3. The 10th went quietly before the Buc bats boomed again, with Bryan Reynolds hitting his first big league homer and Starling Marte adding a two-run shot in the 11th to snap the streak with a 6-4 victory against the Rangers at Globe Life Stadium. Kyle Crick won, with a Felipe Vazquez save finishing a long day. Despite that icy stretch, the Pirates finished the month at 13-14, but then faded badly, costing Clint Hurdle his job. 
• 2023 - In a deal to bolster depth for both clubs, The Pirates sent C Tyler Heineman, 31, to the Toronto Blue Jays for IF Vinny Capra, 25. Though both players had previous MLB stops (six seasons/.210 BA for Tyler, Capra played in 2022/.200 BA), they were assigned to the teams’ AAA affiliates. Ex-Pirate OF Jordan Luplow lost out in the deal as he was outrighted to the minors.

4/29: 1,000 For Cutch; Ivan's Maddux; The King Debuts; Lotta Firsts; Small Ballin'; Rallies; Boomin' Bats; Indy No-No; Sunday Start; Greenlee Opener; HBD Rookie, Steven, Tony, JVW, Phil, Lefty & Frank

• 1860 - RHP Frank (Hengstebeck) Beck was born in Poughkeepsie, New York. Frank had five MLB outings in 1884, three with the Alleghenys. All three starts were complete-game losses as he put up a 6.12 ERA, although he did have better luck as a part-time outfielder, going 4-for-12. He finished up with two more losses with the Union Association’s Baltimore Monumentals to end his big league stay. He returned to baseball’s independent leagues, where he started from, and his trail died off after his 1887 campaign with Ionia of the Northern Michigan League. 
• 1896 - LHP Ralph “Lefty” Mellix was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Mellix’s family moved to Pittsburgh when he was a child and the Peabody HS grad became a semi-pro legend (he kept a day job at Westinghouse and later with the City), tossing briefly for the Homestead Grays in 1935 and part of a Gus Greenlee touring team in the 40’s. Lefty played for local and regional clubs too numerous to mention, often as a rental headliner, but his regular home was in Pittsburgh’s Hilltop, as he pitched and managed for the Beltzhoover Black Sox (later the 18th Warders), based out of McKinley Park. His playing days covered 1917-57, earning him the title of “The Granddaddy of the Sandlots.” Though records are scarce, it’s said that he was on the bump for 1500+ games and claimed nine no-hitters. After Mellix retired, the Pirates recognized him by giving him a lifetime pass and he became a historian of sorts as a dispenser of local black baseball lore. 
• 1930 - Rollie Hemsley, George Grantham, and Charlie Engle combined for 11 hits and 12 RBI while all eight starters scored to lead the Pirates to a 13-9 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Bucs rallied from an early 7-1 deficit with a seven-run sixth inning and never looked back. Ralph Erickson got the win (his only MLB victory) in relief of Ray Kremer with a save going to Steve Swetonic. Pittsburgh and Chicago joined in a day of MLB fireworks - in the seven games played on this date, an average of 17+ runs a game were scored. 
• 1932 - Greenlee Field in the Hill, home of the Pittsburgh Crawfords, opened in front of 4,000 fans. Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson were the battery as the Pittsburgh Crawfords lost the opener to the New York Black Yankees, 1-0, in a pitching duel with Jesse "Mountain" Hubbard. Paige struck out 10 and allowed six hits, but Hubbard was better, surrendering just three knocks. The Allegheny County commissioners, Pittsburgh's mayor, and the city councilmen caught the opener from the field boxes. Robert Vann, attorney and Pittsburgh Courier owner, threw out the first pitch. It was the first ballfield built specifically for a black team, erected by team owner Gus Greenlee. When completely finished, the grounds sat 7,500 (there were 5,000 seats on Opening Day), with lights added in 1933. It was demolished in 1938-39 to create space for the Bedford Dwellings. 

Greenlee Field Historic Marker

• 1934 - Red Lucas won Pittsburgh’s first Sunday home game as the Pirates beat Cincinnati, 9-5, at Forbes Field, backed by Gus Suhr’s three hits and four RBI. Both Suhr and Paul Waner, who also had three knocks, homered. 20,000 turned out for the game, including Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and former NL President/PA Governor John Tener. Because of Pennsylvania’s Blue Laws, Pittsburgh was the last major league city to play a home game on a Sunday after local referendums in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia finally approved Sunday ballgames in the 1933 November elections. 
• 1938 - Sports writer Phil Musick was born; he was raised in the Garfield section of Pittsburgh. He began locally at the Greensburg Tribune-Review as sports editor. He joined the Pittsburgh Press in 1969 and moved across the street to the Post Gazette, covering the Pirates and Steelers in his columns (“Stop the Musick,” usually filled with musings under “Things I think I think...”). He later was the first sports columnist at USA Today before returning to the Press. He left there in 1987 and hosted a talk show on WTAE-Radio while teaching journalism at LaRoche College. He also had a handful of books and national freelance articles on his resume before passing away in 2010. 
• 1959 - The Giants jumped ahead of the Pirates and Ronnie Kline, 2-0, at Forbes Field early on and the lead held up until the Bucs counter-punched in the seventh. Roberto Clemente opened with a triple, Smokey Burgess followed with a double, and Dick Stuart’s single tied the score. A double play dampened the festivities a bit, but Bill Mazeroski put the cherry on top by homering off Johnny Antonelli to give Pittsburgh the lead. Kline, who fanned nine Golden Gaters, cruised to the finish line, retiring the last eight G-Men as Pittsburgh went on to take a 3-2 win. 
• 1966 - OF/1B John Vander Wal was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He played for the Bucs in 2000-01, and in 232 games hit .290 w/35 HR and 144 RBI. The Pirates traded him at the 2001 deadline with Jason Schmidt to the Giants for Ryan Vogelsong and Armando Rios in one of GM Dave Littlefield’s early deals after replacing Cam Bonifay in mid-July. In his career, Vander Wal banged 129 pinch hits and holds the single-season record for pinch hits with 28 with the Rox in 1995. 

Tony Armas Jr - 2007 Topps Update

• 1978 - RHP Tony Armas Jr. was born in Puerto Piritu, Venezuela. Tony worked 10 big league campaigns as a journeyman starter and spent 2007 as a Pirate (4-5/6.03) after inking a $3.5M deal. It proved to be his final full MLB season as the Bucs didn't pick up his 2008 option and the Mets released him the following year after one outing. Junior was the son of All-Star OF Tony Armas, who had been a hot Bucco prospect but was traded to the Oakland A’s as part of the Phil Garner deal after a cup of coffee in Pittsburgh, launching a solid 14-year MLB career. 
• 1987 - The Pirates were clocked by the Dodgers, 10-2, at Three Rivers Stadium, but with a couple of interesting sidebars. Ump Fred Brocklander blew a pair of calls on the same play, and while sorting them out, the Pirate Parrot launched a feather-brained dance of indignation, ending with a nerf ball aimed at Fred. When the other umps came to Brocklander’s rescue, the Parrot jumped in his cart and exited stage right. He quickly learned that umpires are not part of the show, at least not for mascots, and was suspended for a day (he did apologize - he was a rookie Parrot and just learning the ropes the hard way). And later, coach Rick Donnelly got into a bullpen fight with a couple of fans who had sneaked into the area through an unwatched employee entrance. He tried to get them to leave peacefully, but to no avail, leading to a brief battle that ended poorly for the interlopers. They were taken away by police and charged with public intoxication. The Pirates didn’t file any additional charges; being thumped by Rick was punishment enough. 
• 1990 - The Bucs swept San Diego, 10-1, behind a four homer barrage at Jack Murphy Stadium. Barry Bonds homered, scoring four times with three RBI, Jay Bell hit a three-run bomb, Bobby Bonilla banged a two-run blast, and Don Slaught added a solo shot to grease the wheels for Doug Drabek. It was the on-fire Pirates sixth consecutive win and their 10th in 11 games. 
• 1992 - LHP Steven Brault was born in La Mesa, California. Drafted by the Orioles in 2013, he was sent to the Pirates as part of the Travis Snider deal. The lefty moved through the system quickly and in July of 2016 made his MLB debut. He slashed 0-3/4.86 but was in the running for a back-end rotation spot in 2017 camp, where he pitched well but lost out to Tyler Glasnow and was returned to Indy. He returned later in the year (1-0/4.67) and broke camp with the Bucs in 2018 as a long man and spot starter, becoming a regular back-end starter in 2019. Brault posted a 3.38 ERA in 10 starts in 2020, but began the 2021 campaign on ice with a lat strain. He came back in August, and the Bucs DFA’ed him after the campaign. He signed with the Cubs as a NRI - he suffered a triceps injury before camp - and never bounced back, retiring in 2023. 

Rookie Davis - 2019 photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates

• 1993 - RHP William “Rookie” Davis was born in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina. Drafted by the Yankees and given a seven-game taste by the Reds in 2017 after being part of the Aroldis Chapman deal, Rookie was signed as a FA by the Bucs in 2019. He got the call from Indy on May 25th and made his first Bucco start on June 7th against the Brewers. His dad, William Theron Davis III, gave him his handle; to differentiate the two, his pops said “Let’s just call him ‘Rookie’.” He retired after the ‘19 campaign and opened The Davis Academy, a baseball training facility.
• 2000 - For the true believers in productive outs, this was a game for you - the Pirates and Reds tied the MLB record in Cincinnati's 6-5 victory at TRS by hitting five sacrifice flies (the Redlegs also dropped a pair of successful bunts). Neither club was very clutch other than cranking out flies - the two teams combined to go 1-for-19 w/RISP during the game. Pat Meares and Warren Morris both homered in the losing effort, triggered when Cincy overcame an early Bucco lead by scoring five times in the seventh and eighth innings (with two runs plating on sac flies). 
• 2012 - Pitching for the AAA Indianapolis Indians against the Durham Bulls, lefty Justin Wilson tossed the first 7-1/3 innings of a combined no-hitter (two walks, nine K, 107 pitches), completed by Jose “Jumbo” Diaz and Doug Slaten. He was converted to the pen when he made it to the show, and worked his first Bucco game on August 20th. Wilson later tossed for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, NY Mets, went back to the Bronx Bombers, and is now a member of the Cincinnati Reds bullpen. 
• 2015 - Andrew McCutchen entered the game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field in an early funk with an anemic .179 BA, but left it as the newest member of the 1,000 hit club. Cutch tripled and then legged out an eighth inning infield rap to reach 1,000 knocks in the Pirates 8-1 win over Chi-town. He became the 33rd Buccaneer to collect at least 1,000 hits and the first since Jack Wilson in 2007 to bang them all while with Pittsburgh. Gerrit Cole tossed a three-hitter over six innings for the victory, and combined with three relievers to whiff 14 Cubbies. 

Ivan Nova - 2017 "Maddux" Topps Now

• 2017 - Ivan Nova tossed a 95-pitch, complete-game shutout against Miami at Marlins Park, winning 4-0. His "Maddux" (a complete game shutout under 100 pitches) was the first for a Bucco since Jeff Karstens posted one on July 15th, 2011 against the Astros. John Jaso homered, but the clinching frame was the sixth when Fish hurlers walked four straight batters (two of them battling back from 0-2 counts) to force in a pair of runs. In Ivan’s 16 Pirates starts, he had more complete games (five) than walks (four), and had yet to hit the 100-pitch mark. 
• 2018 - Nick Kingham had a debut to remember as he retired the first 20 batters he faced in a 5-0 win over the Cardinals at PNC Park. He gave up a two-out single to Paul DeJong in the seventh, finishing with a one-hit, nine-K outing in his first MLB game. The Elias Sports Bureau said no pitcher in the Expansion Era (since 1961) had taken a perfect game bid so far in his debut. Wayne Simpson of the Reds in 1970 and Ken Cloude of the Mariners in 1997 each set down their first 16 batters. Kingham joined Johnny Cueto as the only pitchers in the last 100 years with one hit allowed, at least nine strikeouts and zero walks in a debut. The contest itself was a scoreless duel between Nick and Luke Weaver before the Bucs broke it open with four runs in the sixth, keyed by a two-run single by Elias Diaz, who had three hits on the day. It was the Pirates fifth straight victory and gave them their earliest 17th win in franchise history. Nick, after that dazzling intro, didn’t live up to his early promise; the Pirates sold his contract to Toronto in 2019, then htossed in Korea, Mexico and China before retiring in 2023. 
• 2020 - The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced that it canceled the 2020 Hall of Fame Induction Weekend events due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the Museum itself had been closed since March. The ceremonies have been eliminated several times before for various reasons, but this was the first year without an induction ceremony since 1961, when there were no new members elected. The 2020 class received their proper dues in 2021 during a combined September ceremony with the following group of HoF’ers. 
• 2023 - Holy moly, whatta day! They swept a split twin bill from Washington at Nationals Park by 6-3 and 16-1 counts, with warm and fuzzy vibes rockin’ the house that Pirates fans took over on this day. Drew Maggi, after 13 years on the farm, banged his first MLB hit, an RBI single, and followed by scoring after a double while knowing he was going back to Altoona the next day. Cody Bolton got his first big league whiff during his two-inning debut while posting a zero. Miguel Andujar, just called up from Indy, homered in both matches. Jack Suwinski swatted his first grand salami. Vince Velasquez tossed his 18th consecutive scoreless frame, a personal best. The Pirates were rollin’, winning their fourth straight game and 11th of their last 12 to go 20-8.

Notes: Not So Hot Week, Nicholas Up, Jared's Streak Ends

Jekyll & Hyde...

At PNC: The Bucs put one inning together, and with Jared Jones on the hill, it was enough to snap their six-game losing streak as they beat Milwaukee, 4-2, on Monday. Cutch kinda liked being returned to the top of the order - he hit a leadoff homer Monday and led off today with another one. It was a key blast as Bailey Falter, as the young 'uns say, shoved, Colin Holderman and David Bednar did their things and the Pirates made it two-in-a-row by a 2-1 count. Shelty went with a bullpen game for game three; the pitching was willing but the hitting was still AWOL; they dropped a 3-2 decision. They allowed the Brew Crew to escape with a split by losing on Thursday, 7-5, after taking a lead into the 8th, built on Joey Bart's three-run bomb. Aroldis Chapman couldn't hold it.

Bailey Falter - 2023 photo Archie Campbell/UPI

On The Road: And so it was off to San Fran and Oracle Park. The beat went on as the Bucs wasted a strong Quinn Priester effort, 3-0, when David Bednar gave up a three-run dinger in the ninth. Pirates hitters stranded 11 runners and were 0-for-7 w/RISP. The next day was played mostly without bats by both clubs until the 10th, when Bryan Reynolds banged a two-run homer and Ke'Bryan Hayes followed with a solo shot, giving the Bucs enough pad to survive after Bednar allowed a two-run blast and hold on for a 4-3 victory. Martin Perez was stellar, going six frames and giving up just four hits and an unearned run. Jones was human in the rubber match, giving up three runs in 5-1/3 frames with three K, and the offense continued its snooze fest as the Bucs dropped a 3-2 decision. Now on to Oakland...

Moves:

• The Pirates optioned RHP Ryder Ryan (1-0/4.35) to Indy and brought RHP Kyle Nicholas up. 
• IF Sergio Alcantara went from the Pirates to the D-Backs in a cash deal. Alcantara signed a minor league depth deal with Pittsburgh and was at Indy; he was assigned to AAA-Reno by Arizona.
• Oneil Cruz tweaked his ankle Friday; Shelty sat him Saturday, but he was back in action on Sunday.

Notes:

• GM Ben said on his radio show that both Ryan Borucki and Marco Gonzales are on the west coast trip with the club and will get second opinions from Cali docs re: their arm injuries. Dunno if that's good or bad news...
• Jared Jones became the fifth MLB pitcher since 1893 to open his career with five games of seven+ K after fanning seven Brewers in six innings on Monday. He's tied for the Buc record with Jose DeLeon (1983). His strikeout streak came to an end on Sunday.
• Cutch is second in leadoff homers swatted by a Bucco; he has 12, behind Barry Bond's 20. He has 100 long balls at PNC Park, the most hit by any player in the Pittsburgh ballyard.
• Paul Skenes got into the fifth frame this week before being pulled after 71 pitches. He gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits with a walk and fanned seven. Gettin' closer...
• July 20 is a Wiz Khalifa (no, not Sammy) Bobblehead giveaway at PNC v the Phils, the kickoff event to Yinzerpalooza Weekend on the North Shore.

4/28: Frock-White; Gift & Joey Go Fishin'; #700 For Clint; Smile-y; Locke Down; Quick Start; Streak Snappin'; Glenn's 1st; Chip Away; HBD Kyle, Danny, Romulo, David, Yoslan, Mark, Tom, Pedro, Red & Walt

• 1875 - RHP Walt Woods was born in Rye, New Hampshire. After playing for Chicago and Louisville (he tossed their final MLB game), he came to Pittsburgh in 1900, got into one game and was hammered. He was strictly pitch-to-contact (1.07/K per nine innings!) guy, depending on guile, and was a back-end rotation arm who saw his MLB days end when the league contracted in 1901, a move that sent a lot of hurlers to the unemployment line. While he was primarily a pitcher, he also played second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions, although with a lifetime .206 BA, he never threatened anyone’s job in the field. He did enjoy a long career in minor league baseball, playing from 1895-1914. He retired to become a grocer and later a mailman. 
• 1902 - RHP Red Lucas, The Nashville Narcissus (his nickname was penned by Colonel Bob Newhall, a reporter for the old Cincinnati Tribune, when Red was a fast blooming player with the Redlegs, per SABR’s Al Quimby) was born in Tennessee. The righty spent the last five years of his career (1934-38) with Pittsburgh after coming over in a deal with the Reds. He put up a 47-32/3.73 line for the Bucs. Lucas was also a good stickman; he pinch hit in more games as a Pirate than he pitched, though his .238 BA was well below the .300 average he carried with Cincy. And he remembered well the team that traded him - he was 14-0 against the Reds during his Pirate stint. 
• 1910 - The Pirates sent RHP Sam Frock and 1B Bud Sharpe to the Boston Doves for RHP Kirby White. It ended up a wash: White won 10 games (10-9-2/3.46) for Pittsburgh, Frock won 12 contests (12-19-2/3.21) for Boston, and Sharpe took over first base for the Doves, batting .239. By May of 1911, all three were toiling in the minors, and they never made it back to the show. 
• 1924 - Bucco rookie SS Glenn Wright hit his first homer off Vic Keen in a 7-4 victory over the Cubs. Wright was also noted for his mitt and set a MLB record during the season with 601 assists, a mark that lasted until 1980, when Ozzie Smith had 621 Astroturf assists. “Buckshot” was the Pirate SS until 1928 when he was traded to Brooklyn Robins after batting .298 during his Buc tenure. 

Tom Sturdivant - 1963 Topps

• 1930 - RHP Tom Sturdivant was born in Gordon, Kansas. Nicknamed “Snake” because of his nasty curve, he was an outstanding pitcher for the Yankees until he suffered a rotator cuff injury in 1958 that threw up a speed bump on his promising career: after posting 16 wins in 1957, he never again reached double-figures in single-season victories. The righty persevered as a seven-team journeyman over 10 seasons, working through the 1964 season. Snake hurled for the Bucs from 1961-63 with a 14-7-3/3.49 slash, appearing in 65 outings and making 23 starts. 
• 1935 - RHP Pedro Ramos was born in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba. A 15-year vet, the Pirates signed him at the tail end of his career in 1969 as a 34-year-old. He made five appearances, put up a 6.00 ERA and was let go. He finished the year with the Reds, then after a couple of 1970 outings with the Senators, was released in late April, ending his MLB days. Pete was an All-Star once and had a great stretch run as the closer for the Yankees in 1964; he also led the AL in losses four times. 
• 1960 - OF Mark Ryal was born in Henryetta, Oklahoma. He spent six years in the show with five clubs as a bench bat and closed out his career as a Pirate in 1990, going 1-for-12 in nine games as a late season call-up from AAA Buffalo. Ryal went on to spend two more seasons in Japan before hanging up the spikes. He’s spent the last 30 years coaching and managing softball at the college level. 
• 1966 - The Pirates scored one run in each of the final five innings of regulation and added four more in the 10th to outlast the Cubs at Wrigley Field 9-6. The tying run scored with two out in the ninth. Roberto Clemente fell behind Ted Abernathy 0-2, worked the count full and drew a walk after fouling off eight straight pitches. He then came around on Willie Stargell’s double. The Bucco 10th was highlighted by a delayed double steal, with Clemente swiping second and Manny Mota home. 
• 1970 - The Bucs 6-1 victory at Forbes Field ended Chicago’s 11-game winning streak. Luke Walker, Bruce Dal Canton and Dave Giusti combined for a three-hitter while Manny Sanguillen hit a pair of homers and had three RBI. Gene Alley, known more for his leather than wood, went 3-for-4. 

Manny Sanguillen - 1970 Teeny Harris/CMOA

• 1981 - RHP Yoslan Herrera was born in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba. Yoslan defected from Cuba in 2005 and the Bucs signed him in 2006. After a solid minor league resume, he was called up to Pittsburgh in 2008, where he went 1-1/5.81 in five starts as a 27-year-old. He had a good year in the minors in 2009, but was released by the Bucs and picked up by the Twins, who also cut him. He was out of pro ball for a couple of years, came back pitching for an indie team and had a last hurrah with the Angels, going 1-1/2.70 in 20 games. The 33-year-old asked for his release to pitch in Japan and tossed there for a year to end his pro career. 
• 1983 - 3B David Freese was born in Corpus Christi. He began his career in St Louis and had a dream postseason in 2011, winning the NLCS and World Series MVP honors along with the Babe Ruth Award. Freese was traded to the Angels in 2014 and signed a one-year FA contract with the Pirates worth $3M in March of 2016 to fill the dance card while Jung Ho Kang recuperated from leg injuries suffered the season before. Freeser held up his end, hitting .270 w/13 HR and the Pirates inked him to a two-year agreement during the season with a guaranteed $11M/team option year that put him under team control through 2019. That deal proved a godsend after Kang was picked up for DUI during the winter. He held a starter’s job in 2017 (.263/10 HR), was bumped to the bench in 2018 by Colin Moran, and went to the Dodgers. Freese retired after the 2019 campaign. 
• 1984 - RHP Romulo Sanchez was born in Carora, Venezuela. He spent two years with the Pirates in 2007-08, going 1-0-1/4.60 in 26 outings. He finished with the Yankees in 2010, then tossed in Japan and China. He worked a year in Mexico and has been pitching in the Venezuelan League since 2013. 
• 1986 - LHP Danny Moskos was born in Greenville, South Carolina. He was the fourth overall pick of the 2007 draft by the Pirates out of Clemson. GM Dave Littlefield announced that they projected Moskos as a closer, raising a storm of criticism from the fans and media who were anticipating Josh Vitters (who was taken one pick ahead of Moskos and fizzled) Matt Wieters (who signed for $6M and thus fit into the “too-cheap Pirates” narrative, taken next after Moskos), or perhaps Jason Heyward (who was the 14th pick) to be the selection. Moskos was signed by scout Greg Schilz to a $2.475M deal, but ended up a bust. He tossed for part of the 2011 season for the Bucs in his only MLB campaign, going 1-1/2.96 but with serious control issues. He last pitched in the Mexican League in 2018 and then retired; he’s an instructor at a baseball school now. 

Danny Moskos - 2011 Bowman Prospect

• 1988 - The Pirates continued to sizzle through April, running their record to 15-5 with a 2-1, 10-inning victory over the Giants at Candlestick Park. It was also a sweet night for relievers Jeff Robinson and Jim Gott, who got the win and save respectively against their old teammates in their first series against the G-Men as Buccos. Runs were hard to come by; the Pirates tied it in the eighth when Darnell Coles led off with a double, then came home after a bouncer and sac fly. The Bucs won in the 10th when Bobby Bonilla opened with a single, was bunted to second and plated on Coles soft flare into right, with the game winner coming off ex-Pittsburgh hurler Don Robinson. 
• 1989 - The Pirates had dropped their last three contests, scoring only twice, and gave John Smiley just one tally to work with. But this time it was enough; he outgunned ex-Bucco Rick Reuschel, 1-0, spinning a four-hitter with five K at TRS. The Bucs stranded a leadoff triple and later, a leadoff double before finally plating in the sixth - on a bases loaded walk! Glenn Wilson, who had fanned his last at-bat by fishing for outside stuff, was up with two outs and the sacks jammed when Big Daddy again worked him away, but once bitten, twice shy - Wilson laid off the wide ones this time to draw a five-pitch walk that forced Jose Lind home from third to earn the game-winning RBI the easy way. 
• 1993 - RHP Kyle Keller was born in Metairie, Louisiana. He went to Southeast Louisiana University, was drafted in the middle rounds by the Marlins in 2015, was traded to the Angels and then sold to Pittsburgh at the start of the 2021 campaign. He got off to a strong start at Indy and was called up to the Pirates in May. His minor league success didn’t carry over, and he settled in as a long reliever. He was released at the end of the year and signed with the Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon League. He’s still pitching there and averaging 13 K/per 9 IP as a short man. 
• 2010 - The Pirates defeated the Brewers for the second consecutive game after 22 straight losses in Milwaukee to turn the page and take the series at Miller Field with a 6-5, 14-inning victory. The Bucs tied the game in the ninth on a Ryan Doumit homer off Trevor Hoffman (the second straight game that Hoffman, the all-time saves leader, had blown a save against the Bucs) and went ahead in the 10th on a Cutch long ball, his second big fly of the game mixed in among his four hits. The Brew Crew came back to tie it off Octavio Dotel, who left the bases full of Brewers before escaping the frame. The good guys won when Garrett Jones doubled home Akinori Iwamura with two down in the 14th frame while DJ Carrasco worked three innings of scoreless, one-hit relief for the victory. 

DJ Carrasco - 2010 photo George Gojkovich/Getty

• 2013 - The Bucs beat St. Louis, 9-0, behind rookie Jeff Locke’s seven-inning, three-hit performance at Busch Stadium, to take the division lead. C Russ Martin had three hits - a pair of homers and a double - while RF Garrett Jones also had three knocks, including a long ball and two-bagger. The victory was Clint Hurdle’s 700th win as a big league manager. The Bucs turned the corner during this campaign with their first winning season since 1992 and a second place finish in the NL Central with 94 wins. They beat the Reds in the Wild Card and advanced to the NLDS where they lost in five games to the Cards. 
• 2017 - Pittsburgh reeled in the Fish, 12-2, at Marlins Park, sparked by an eight-run second inning that saw eight straight Bucs reach base after two outs. Winning pitcher Jameson Taillon struck out with the bases loaded twice, saving Miami further embarrassment. The attack was led by two rookies who had started the year at Indy, OF Jose Osuna and 2B Gift Ngoepe. Jose went 4-for-5 with a free pass; Gift collected three knocks and walked twice as the duo reached base safely 10 times in 11 appearances. Ngoepe became the first Pirate since Eddie Moore in 1923 to reach base five times in his first MLB start. It was also the first time since August of 2013 that the Pirates hit three triples (Fran Cervelli, Ngoepe and Alen Hanson) in a game and Jordy Mercer went long.

4/27 Through the 1970s: April Power; Steve, Deacon Gems; Bat-Fest; Streakin'; Double B-2-B; Rare Home Opener; HBD Paul, John & Phil

• 1893 - The Pirates opened the season against the Cleveland Spiders and were spanked by Cy Young, losing, 7-2, in front of 7,600 fans at Exposition Park. The team had a strong season despite that sluggish start, finishing second in the National League with a 81-48 mark, behind the Boston Beaneaters. Lou Bierbauer had two hits, as did Jake Beckley and Denny Lyons. Frank “Lefty” Killen took the loss (The Pittsburgh Press, somewhat unkindly, noted that “Killen was an easy mark for the visitors”) after surrendering four first inning runs. But it was a noteworthy game - it was the last time a season-opening game was played in Pittsburgh until 1954, a 61-year streak of road kickoff trips. 
• 1902 - Pittsburgh whipped Chicago, 2-0, at Exposition Park, as Deacon Phillippe bested rookie Jim St. Vrain. St. Vrain only gave up a single to Ginger Beaumont, but it came after the Pirates had loaded the bases on an error between a pair of plunked batters in the eighth inning. Phillippe fanned seven while the other outs were all recorded by the infield, with 1B Kitty Bransfield recording 16 putouts. St. Vrain wasn’t quite as sure of himself in the box as he was on the mound. He grounded a ball to Honus Wagner in the seventh and lost his bearings; the confused 19-year old ran toward third base as the bemused Hans threw him out rather easily, per Gene Alston’s Journal column. 
• 1912 - The Pirates walloped Cincinnati, 23-4, at Forbes Field, and without a home run (although they had five doubles and three triples among their 27 hits). Reds reliever Hanson “Hans” Horsey surrendered 14 hits and 12 runs in four innings in what would be his only MLB appearance. Dots Miller went 5-for-6 w/five RBIs, Hans Wagner went 4-for-5 w/five RBIs & three tallies, and Bobby Bryne went 5-for-6 with four runs scored & three stolen sacks. Every position player had at least two hits (winning pitcher Howie Camnitz was the only hitless Pirate). To add some salt to the wound, the Bucs also swiped eight bases. Vice President James “Sunny Jim” Sherman, a big baseball fan, attended the game along with PA Congressman Jim Burke, Lieutenant Governor JM Reynolds and an assortment of politicos, generals and coat-tailers. In a sidebar, manager Fred Clarke put up with some grief from Barney Dreyfuss when a new order of bats arrived before the game, imported from Cuba and costing the princely sum of $2/stick. We assume after the hit parade that Barney had no problems OK’ing the invoice.

Phil Coyne - 2018 Topps Allen & Ginter

• 1918 - Usher Phil Coyne was born in Oakland. He started out by dusting seats at Forbes Field in 1936 at the age of 18 and continued to serve the fans through the TRS era and at PNC Park until 2017. He retired after 81 years as a Pirates employee and goodwill ambassador at age 99 for health reasons, but came back to the old ballyard as the Buccos’ guest to be honored pre-game during his 100th birthday. Phil passed on in 2021 and now handles the seating for St. Peter. 
• 1918 - Umpire John Rice was born in Homestead. After serving in the Marines during WW2 (Rice fought in Guadalcanal and Peleliu), he began his umpiring apprenticeship in 1948. Rice graduated to the American League in 1955, working through 1973, and arbitrated four World Series, including the 1971 Pirates-Orioles clash, and three All-Star Games. He made his home in Chicago after the war and was inducted into the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. 
• 1930 - The Pirates won their seventh straight game, 9-5, over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. OF Adam Comorosky went 4-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI. Gus Suhr drove home three more and Ira Flagstead homered. Larry French got the win with Steve Swetonic notching the save. The Bucs were off to an 8-1 start on the campaign before Chi-town derailed them the next day. Pittsburgh didn’t live up to its streak, winning 80 games and finishing fifth. 
• 1954 - Toby Atwell and Jerry Lynch hit homers in back-to-back at-bats in the sixth and eighth innings, the first Pirates to accomplish the feat in the 20th century (Neil Walker & Gaby Sanchez matched the B-2-B x2 deed on April 14th, 2014). It wasn’t quite enough as Pittsburgh lost to the Reds, 8-7, at Crosley Field (the game was suspended after six innings due to rain with the score tied, 7-7, and finished the next day) as Ted Kluszewski hammered a pair of long balls for Cincy. 

Paul Miller - 1992 Ultra (reverse)

• 1965 - RHP Paul Miller was born in Burlington, Wisconsin. Miller’s MLB career lasted 10 games (two starts), tossed between 1991-93 for the Bucs, with a line of 1-0/4.10. Paul Miller spent his entire pro career in the Pirates organization, selected in the 53rd round of the 1987 draft and remaining a Bucco until retiring in 1994 after a final campaign with AAA Buffalo. 
• 1970 - Steve Blass lost a pitching duel to Joe Decker and the Chicago Cubs, 1-0, at Forbes Field. Blass surrendered just four hits over eight innings. One was a two-out triple by Glenn Beckert; he tried to stretch it into an inside the park HR and was dead at home, but Manny Sanguillen whiffed on the Roberto Clemente-to-Bill Mazeroski relay to allow the unearned, and only, run of the game to score. Roberto was thrown out at the plate twice during the game, once trying to score on a Willie Stargell double and again in the ninth when he tripled but was caught in a rundown a batter later, trapped following a comebacker. The Cubbies ran their winning streak to 11 games with the victory, a string the Pirates snapped the next day. 
• 971 - Willie Stargell set a then-MLB record with his 11th homer in the month of April, a shot over the TRS center field wall against LA’s Pete Mikkelsen, in a 7-5 loss. The record stood for 36 years until it was broken by Albert Pujols, who hit 14 opening-month bombs in 2006. Pops made quite a few baseballs homeless that season as he hit a career-high 48 long balls.

4/27 From 1980: Diaz Deal; Backman's 6; 300 For Jose; Grilli ROTM; Boppin' Bill; Bo-nanza; Tossin' Tim; Mo Goes; Romps & Rallies; Arriba Road; RIP Dick

• 1985 - Pittsburgh traded minor league C Steve Herz to the Phils for utilityman Mike Diaz. After an All-Star year at AAA Hawaii, Diaz fit in nicely as a Pirates bench player from 1986-88 (he was dealt for Gary Redus in August, 1988), slashing .250/28/89 in 606 PA, while Herz never made it out of AAA. 
• 1986 - The Pirates used offense from unexpected sources to pound the Phils, 13-5, at TRS. Bill Almon went 3-for-5 with two runs, four RBI, two doubles and a homer while pitcher Bob Walk went 2-for-2 with a pair of two-baggers. Tony Pena added three hits while Mike Brown chipped in two more as the Buccos bopped eight doubles. The Pirates jumped out to a 7-1 second inning lead, saw the Phils cut it to 7-5, and then iced it with a five-spot in the eighth. Mike Bielecki got the win and Walk the save, tossing 3-1/3 frames of scoreless, one-hit ball. 
• 1990 - Wally Backman became the first National League player in 15 years to get six hits in one game when the third baseman went 6-for-6 against the Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium during a 9-4 Pirate win. The Bucs banged out 19 hits, with Barry Bonds collecting four, including two homers and a double. Neal Heaton claimed the win, the Pirates eighth victory in nine games. 
• 1991 - The Bucs had their way with the Mets at Shea Stadium, winning 10-1. Randy Tomlin and Bob Patterson combined on a four-hitter while a trio of Pirates had three hits - Bobby Bonilla, who had four RBI and a run scored, Spanky LaValliere, with two runs driven in and one scored, and Curtis Wilkerson, who plated three times. Pittsburgh took over sole possession of first place and never gave it back as they ran away with the division, winning it by 14 games. 

Bobby Bo - 1991 Upper Deck All Star

• 1993 - Tim Wakefield threw 172 pitches in defeating Atlanta, 6-2, in 11 innings at Fulton County Stadium, and he didn’t even go the distance. He was relieved by Paul Wagner in the 11th after issuing a leadoff walk. It was the most pitches tossed by one pitcher in a single game during the nineties and the most ever by a Pirate. Fernando Valenzuela was the last to throw more pitches in a game back in 1987. The Pirates took command when Mike Stanton threw away a bunt by Wakefield in the 11th, leading to a pair of two-out knocks and four unearned runs. 
• 2005 - Jose Mesa sat Houston down 1-2-3 in the ninth to save Kip Wells’ 2-0 victory. Wells went seven four-hit frames before Rick White and Mesa closed it out. It was Jose’s 300th career save, making Mesa the 19th pitcher in MLB history to reach that mark. Jason Bay and Jack Wilson chased home the runs at PNC Park, and Bay made the play of the game when he kissed the wall hauling in Morgan Enberg’s two-out drive to record the final out of Mesa’s historic save. 
• 2008 - RHP Matt Morris, GM Dave Littlefield’s final swing-and-miss, was released by the Pirates after going 1-2/3 innings against the Phillies, giving up six runs on six hits. The 33-year-old compiled an 0-4/9.67 line in his five outings with Pittsburgh in 2008 and 3-8/7.04 line in his brief, 16-start Buc stint. He retired, but Pittsburgh ate $11,037,283 in salary, including a $1M buyout for 2009 as his going-away present. The Buccos replaced him by calling up RHP John Van Benschoten. 
• 2010 - A five-run ninth inning, sparked by Ryan Doumit's grand slam and Ronny Cedeno's solo shot off Trevor Hoffman, ended the Pirates 22-game losing streak in Milwaukee as the Bucs took a 7-3 victory at Miller Park. The Brew Crew's hometown hex over the Bucs was the longest held since the Browns/Orioles lost 27 consecutive contests to the Indians in Cleveland from 1952-54. 

Dewey - 2010 Topps 206 Bronze

• 2013 - The Bucs overcame a 2-0 deficit against the Cards at Busch Stadium thanks to a four-run seventh, driven by Russ Martin’s two-run homer with a couple more runs set up by two walks and a bopped batter, to claim a 5-3 win. AJ Burnett started and won while Jason Grilli earned his 10th save of the month. It was Grilled Cheese’s 12th and final outing of a strong month - he was named April’s NL Reliever-of-the-Month, posting an 0.80 ERA, with 17 K in 11 IP while holding opponents to a .132 BA. He was the first Bucco to win that honor since Joel Hanrahan claimed the award in June, 2011. 
• 2018 - The Pirates spotted the Cardinals a five run lead at PNC Park, then woke up late to rally for a 6-5 win. In the sixth, Gregory Polanco’s homer and Corey Dickerson’s sac fly made it 5-2, but the Pirates were stymied in the seventh and eighth. In the ninth, the first four Pirates reached and the game was knotted at five after Jordy Mercer’s two-bagger. He reached third with no one out, but a pop up and two whiffs left him stranded. The 10th went quietly and the Cards put up a zero in the 11th. But with two outs and David Freese at second via a walk and wild pitch, Starling Marte flicked a two-strike slider into center to walk off the win. The Bucco bullpen - Kyle Crick, Tyler Glasnow, Richard Rodriguez, Felipe Vazquez and George Kontos (who got the win) tossed 6-2/3 scoreless frames after Steven Brault had been banged around early. Fran Cervelli had three hits; Marte, Polanco and Corey Dickerson each had a pair to help fuel the comeback. 
• 2018 - The state of New Jersey joined the Arriba fan club when it named the part of Route #21 running through Newark as the Roberto Clemente Memorial Highway. "As one would drive up and down the highway - you can see the number 21. It was almost screaming for it to be changed, (to) Roberto Clemente,” Luis Angel Maisonave of Newark's Roberto Clemente Little League said. 
• 2023 - Dick Groat passed away at the age of 92. The Swissvale HS star and WPIAL Hall-of-Famer was a two-time All America basketball player at Duke (he later played a pro season with the Pistons) who was named the Helms Player of the Year and had his #10 jersey number retired. He was also an AA for Blue Devil baseball, and was the first player enshrined in both the College Basketball and Baseball Halls of Fame. Branch Rickey got Groat to focus on baseball, and the shortstop spent 14 years with four clubs in MLB (1952-62 as a Buc, with a two-year military break). During his big league stay, he was an MVP, batting titleist, two-time World Series champ, eight-time All Star, record-setter with Bill Maz with five seasons of leading the league in double plays turned by two players, and a Pirates Hall of Famer. Dick was active locally outside the lines, too. He and Pirates teammate Jerry Lynch designed and built Champion Lakes Golf Course in Ligonier while Groat served a four decade gig as a color commentator for Pitt basketball.

4/26: Xavier Joins; Spanky POTW; Drew, Jack & Gift Debuts; '23 Glee; Goin' Long; Maz Muscle; Rallies & Bummers; Expo Game Tales; Mr. Swat Statue; Almost Sold; Hack's Night; HBD S-Rod, Francisco, Curtis, Amos, Ron & Fire Truck

• 1900 - The Bucs drew 11,000 to the newly expanded Exposition Park, the biggest Pittsburgh baseball turnout to date, with a couple of thousand more fans trying to get in. The Pirates were fortified by the recent influx of Louisville players like Honus Wagner, but dropped a 12-11 slugfest to Cincinnati as the Reds lit up Rube Waddell and Jack Chesbro. The Bucs made a game of it by rallying for seven ninth-inning tallies and left the tying run at second base. The rooters caused a delay when the 11th run scored by showering the field with cushions to celebrate, but were a tad premature in their revelry. 
• 1905 - The Chicago Cubs beat Pittsburgh at Exposition Park, 2-1, as Cubbie center fielder Jack McCarthy became the only major league outfielder to throw out three runners trying to score in one game; all three assists were on tag-up tries on flies following triples (they whacked four three-baggers during the day; the other was stranded; so much for clutch hitting). The game story in the Pittsburgh Press stated simply in the headline that “McCarthy Made the Throws.” 
• 1917 - Coach Virgil “Fire” Trucks was born in Birmingham, Alabama. After a long pro career, he became the bullpen coach/batting practice pitcher for Pittsburgh in 1960 and stayed with the Pirates until 1963, later operating baseball camps for the Bucs. Jack House of the Birmingham News gave him the apt moniker “Fire,” not because he enjoyed chasing hook and ladder trucks but because of his blazing heater; Trucks tossed two no-hitters for Detroit in 1952. 
• 1920 - Coach Ron Northey was born in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, near Hazelton. An outfielder with some pop and a good eye (he walked more than he whiffed), Northey played 12 MLB seasons, missing some time for WW2. After his playing days, he spent three years as a coach on Danny Murtaugh’s staff from 1961-1963 before becoming a White Sox scout. 

Joe Bowman - 1940 Play Ball

• 1940 - After rallying for four runs in the eighth inning the day before but falling just short, the Bucs crossed home seven times in the eighth frame on this day to roll over the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-4, at Forbes Field. Debs Garms and Joe Bowman both had homers with three RBI to spark the comeback outburst and earn Mace Brown his second relief win in four days. 
• 1947 - OF Amos Otis was born in Mobile, Alabama. He played the final year of his 17-season career with the Pirates in 1984, coming over after 14 campaigns with the KC Royals. (He actually had been dealt to the Bucs during the 1976 off season, but as a 5 & 10 year player vetoed the trade of him and Cookie Rojas for Al Oliver.) His TRS season wasn’t much of a swan song for the 37-year-old: in 97 at-bats, he hit .165 and he was released in August. Amos then worked briefly for the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies as a hitting instructor before retiring. 
• 1958 - With Pittsburgh and Cincinnati knotted, 4-4, at Crosley Field heading into the eighth, Bill Mazeroski took the game into his hands. First, he drilled an eighth-inning solo shot to put the Pirates on top, then his three-run bomb in the top of the ninth sealed the deal, 8-4. It was the first of eight multi-homer games in his career, with his next coming less than a month later on May 10th. 1958 was also the year Maz earned his first of seven All-Star spots. Billy’s heroics gave the Bucs third pitcher, Don Gross, the win after he spun four innings of one-hit relief, with Roberto Clemente, Bob Skinner and Ted Kluszewski adding three hits apiece. 
• 1961 - IF Curtis Wilkerson was born in Petersburg, Virginia. Wilkerson spent 11 years in the show as mainly a bench guy, getting into 85 games for the Pirates in 1991 and hitting .188. After he retired, he managed for three years in the Rangers system and then three more years (1999-2001) for the Buccaneers squads in Williamsport and Lynchburg. He then skippered in the indy leagues and at last look was managing in a collegiate summer league in Texas. 

Curtis Wilkerson - 1992 Score

• 1972 - RHP Francisco Cordova was born in Cerro Azul, Mexico. He spent his five-year MLB career (1996-2000) as a Pirate, first as a reliever who notched 12 saves in his rookie year, then joining the rotation. His slash was 42-47-12/3.96. Arm injuries derailed his career, but he did continue to toss in Mexico through the 2011 campaign. He was the main man in one of the great Pirate red letter moments on July 12th, 1997 at a sold out Three Rivers Stadium when he pitched nine innings of a combined 10-inning no-hitter, with Ricardo Rincón closing out the no-no, winning the game on Mark smith’s pinch-hit home run in the extra frame. 
• 1978 - Ed Ott hit an 11th-inning home run at Shea Stadium to give the Bucs and Bert Blyleven, who pitched a complete game six-hitter, a 1-0 win. It took 35 years for another Pirate, Neil Walker, to homer for the only run in a Bucco extra inning victory in a 2014 win over the Cubs. 
• 1985 - Utilityman Sean Rodriguez was born in Miami. In his career, S-Rod played every position but pitcher and catcher. The Bucs traded for him during the 2014 off season and he played around the field for Pittsburgh. He was signed up again for 2016 after hitting .246 and playing six different spots in 2015. The super-sub had a super year, batting .270 w/18 HR and turned that into a nice FA deal with Atlanta. He missed much of the 2017 campaign due to a shoulder injury suffered in an off-season car accident and returned to the Bucs via the trade route in August. He last played with Miami in 2020. He’s now a player development instructor for the Phils. 
• 1988 - C Mike LaValliere was named the NL Player of the Week. Spanky went 12-for-17 in five games, lifting his average to .404, tops in the Senior Circuit. The honor followed Barry Bonds’ PoW award the week before, and was the Buccos first back-to-back Player of the Week recognition since 1982 when 1B Jason Thompson was given the award on consecutive weeks in May. 

Spanky - 1988 Topps

• 1995 - 34,841 fans at TRS disrupted a delayed Opening Day by throwing whatever was handy (mainly giveaway Bucco pennants) on the field to show their displeasure with the player’s strike and some shoddy play by the Bucs. The game was delayed for 17 minutes until the announcer told the unruly crowd that the contest was about to be forfeited. It might as well have been; Montreal won the game, 6-2, chasing Jon Leiber in the fifth. The team was lucky they weren’t wrapped in Jolly Rogers and tossed overboard after one of the worse innings in their history. Going into that fateful frame, it was a 1-1 game between Pittsburgh and Montreal before the floodgates opened. There were two outs, Expos on the corners (the runner on first reached when his right side, shoulda-been inning-ending nubber was fielded but nobody covered the sack) and one run already in when Roberto Kelly bled another soft roller, this one up the left side. 3B Jeff King flipped the ball into the outfield; RF Orlando Merced missed the mark on the throw home, and all three Montreal runners scored. Montreal added another run on a hit batter, single and wild pitch. Jason Christiansen added a throwing error to the pot before the Bucs got back into the dugout (and the ground crew picked up a field littered with pennants). So instead of being out of the inning, it ended up game, set and match for Montreal. C Mark Parent told the Post Gazette’s Paul Meyer “That whole fifth inning was a fiasco. It was like Murphy’s Law.” 
• 1995 - As the Pirates were bungling away at the North Shore, Mayor Tom Murphy and Vince Sarni, chairman of the Pittsburgh Associates, left the Duquesne Club and announced that they had reached a framework to sell the Pirates and keep the team in Pittsburgh with Chambers Development Company chairman John Rangos, saying that an agreement could be reached within a week. They were premature; a contract was never finalized due to long-term financial questions re: Rangos and the PA held on to the team until selling it to the McClatchy group in 1996. 
• 2008 - Alhambra, California, dedicated a bronze statue to honor one of its native sons, Ralph Kiner, for his "accomplishments and contributions to the game of professional baseball and sports broadcasting.” The former Pirates slugger, a member of the Hall of Fame, grew up in Alhambra and graduated from its high school in 1940 before moving on to Southern Cal and the Buccos. 2010 - The Brewers romped over the Bucs, 17-3, for their 22nd straight win over Pittsburgh at Miller Park after they had already swept the season’s opening series. The curse, dating back to 2007, was snapped the next day, 7-3, by the Pirates, who also took the third game of the set for good measure. 

Xavier Paul - 2011 photo Doug Pensinger/Getty

• 2011 - The Pirates selected OF Xavier Paul off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Xavier proved useful off the bench, getting into 121 games, but the corner outfielder hit just .254 with little power (two homers) or patience (.293 OBP) at the plate. He was released after the campaign and played as a sub for three more MLB seasons with the Reds and D-Backs, followed by some bouncing around in the minors with side stops in Mexico and the indie leagues. 
• 2016 - Pittsburgh pounded five home runs in the thin air of Coors Field to claim a 9-4 win over the Colorado Rockies. Andrew McCutchen hit three long balls and chased home five runs. With his second career three-dinger match, Cutch joined Ralph Kiner (four), Willie Stargell (four) and Roberto Clemente (two) on the list of Pirates with multiple three-homer games. Starling Marte and David Freese (his first as a Pirate) added to the fence busting party, propelling Gerrit Cole to victory. 
• 2017 - IF Gift Ngoepe made his first MLB appearance, going 1-for-2 (he singled in his first big league at-bat) with a walk and turning the game-ending twin killing as the Pirates hung on to beat the Cubs, 6-5, at PNC Park. Ngoepe was the first African native (he’s from South Africa) to ever play in the majors, and it took the 27-year-old eight-plus minor league seasons to get the call. Pittsburgh jumped off to a 5-1 lead, started off by Josh Harrison’s lead-off homer in the first. Josh Bell later went long (both Joshes collected a pair of hits), but the Cubs kept chipping away. After an error on a potential inning-ending DP ball in the ninth left two Cubbies aboard, Tony Watson served up another grounder that did the trick to save Wade LeBlanc’s win. Ngoepe became a coach with the Newport Rams of Australian Baseball and is now a D-Back minor league coach. 
• 2017 - Ellwood City’s Hack Wilson, who banged 56 home runs and drove in a major league record 191 runs in 1930, was recognized before the Cubs’ game at PNC Park. It was the 117th anniversary of Wilson’s birth, who put up those big 1930 numbers as a Cubbie (he spent half his 12-year career in Chicago from 1926-31), the night’s opponents. It was a nice touch by the Ellwood City Area Historical Society to recognize a local boy that made good, even if the Cubs oddly didn’t opt to participate in the celebration. Proving once again that karma is a beach, Chicago lost, 6-5. 

Jack Suwinski - 2022 Bowmans Best

• 2022 - It wasn't a good day for the Bucs, as they lost the opening game of a homestand, 12-8, to the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park. But for those who wanted a peek at what was bubbling below the surface, it was a good match to catch. OF Jack Suwinski made his first MLB outing, starting in right, and banged out his first big league hit, a ninth-inning single and infielder Tucupita Marcano pinch-hit and posted his first Pirates hit, a double (he had 25 MLB games & eight hits under his belt with San Diego). He and Suwinski were brought up from AA Altoona. The duet were injury replacements after a viral surge hit the clubhouse and Suwinski broke camp with the Bucs in 2023 after a power burst (he hit 19 HR in ‘22) and late cut Marcano was called up in April. Jack is still here and an outfield fixture, while Diego was eventually sent to Arizona and is now a Twin. 
• 2023 - The PNC Park crowd 12,152 had lots of reasons to cheer on the Buccos tonight, and they sure did. The Pirates dismantled the LA Dodgers by an 8-1 count behind Roansy Contreras, but there were a couple of sidebars that the faithful also celebrated. Bryan Reynolds, in his first outing since signing his record-contract (he had been on Bereavement leave), was greeted by a “Bry-an Rey-nolds” chant by the OF faithful, stilled only after he gave the fans a grin and wave. Then 33-year-old Drew Maggi made his first MLB appearance after 13 seasons/1,100+ minor league games, pinch-hitting for Andrew McCutchen (Cutch was the DH) and drawing an ovation that even the umps stood back and allowed despite the pitch clock. Contreras went six shutout frames for the win by letting the bottom of the order do its thing. Rodolfo Castro, Ji Hwan Bae and Jason Delay, the 7-8-9 hitters, went 8-for-11 with two doubles, four stolen bases, four runs scored and six RBI. It was Pittsburgh’s eighth win in nine games as they continued their April frolic.

4/25 Through the 1950s: HoF Fred; Roberto 1st's; Wally Whacks; Howie 1-Hitter; Intros; HBD Bob, Ed, Jimmy, Fred, Dutch & Tom

• 1864 - C Tom Quinn was born in Annapolis, Maryland. He played three years in the show, getting a cup of coffee with the Alleghenys in 1886 (0-for-11) and finishing with the Players League Pittsburgh Burghers (.213) in 1890. Tom got a job with the state after he was done with baseball and lived in Swissvale. 
• 1868 - 3B Fred “Dutch” Hartman was born in Allegheny City (Northside); some other sites have his birthday as 4/21. He began his career as a Pirate in 1894 after several seasons in the Pennsylvania State League and hit a strong .319. After a couple of years of seasoning, he returned to the show in 1897 after a trade to the Browns, where he was considered a highly touted addition to the club. But his career never took off and Dutch ended up pretty much a league-average player, hitting .278 during a six-year career with Pittsburgh, St. Louis, the NY Giants and Chicago White Stockings. After baseball he lived in McKeesport, and is buried in McKeesport/Versailles Cemetery. 
• 1896 - Fred Haney was born in Albuquerque. He managed the Bucs as a favor to Branch Rickey from 1953-1955. His record reflects the fact that he was brought in during the early stages of a youth movement, losing 104, 101 and 94 games for a 163-299 (.353) slate, although he was used to the drill after managing the sad-sack St. Louis Browns from 1939-41. But he delivered when finally given some players, moving on to Milwaukee to win back-to-back NL titles and the 1956 World Series. Later, he was the Los Angeles/California Angels first GM. 
• 1899 - In a game of foes about to join forces, Pittsburgh lost to Louisville, 2-1, at Eclipse Park as future Bucco SS Honus Wagner went 4-for-4 with two homers, the second being a ninth-inning game winner. The Colonels were managed by future Pirate skipper (and player) Fred Clarke. The following season, most of Louisville’s top players followed owner Barney Dreyfuss to Pittsburgh. 

Hans Wagner - w/Louisville Ars Longa

• 1909 - Howie Camnitz tossed a one-hitter as the Pirates nosed the Reds at League Park by a 2-1 tally. The Pirates workload was carried by Bill Abstein, who had four hits, and Honus Wagner, who added three more raps; the Bucs only had one other hit. The run plated against Camnitz was tainted; the Reds got a triple on a “fan interference” call and scored on a Wagner error. 
• 1910 - IF Jimmy Brown was born in Jamesville, North Carolina. A seven-year major league vet with an All-Star game under his belt, he was signed by the Bucs in 1946 after a two-year hiatus in the Army Air Force. He played three infield spots and hit .241 off the bench in his last hurrah. In 1947 he became a manager in the Pirates farm system at Indianapolis and New Orleans before returning to the NL as a coach for the Boston Braves in 1949. After leaving Beantown in 1952, he managed minor league teams for the Cardinals, Braves and Reds. 
• 1930 - Umpire Ed Vargo was born in Butler. He was an NL ump from 1960-1983 and the umpire supervisor from 1984-1997. Vargo worked the first night World Series game in 1971, two of Sandy Koufax's no-hitters, the last games at Forbes Field & the Polo Grounds, four All-Star Games, four NLCS, four World Series, the first game at Candlestick Park and the game in which Hank Aaron tied Babe Ruth's career home run record. Ed was inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame in 1966 and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame 1994. 
• 1943 - RHP Bob Johnson was born in Aurora, Illinois. He pitched for the Bucs from 1971-73, beginning as a starter and ending in the bullpen. He went 17-16-7/3.34 as a Pirate and appeared in a pair of NLCS games - he beat Juan Marichal in 1971 - and in the World Series. Out of MLB since 1977, Johnson runs a construction company and works as an American Legion coach and umpire.

Bob Johnson - 1973 Topps Update

• 1945 - Fred Clarke was elected to the Hall of Fame (there was no induction ceremony in 1945 as it was delayed a year by the war). Selected by the Old Timers Committee, Clarke spent 15 years in Pittsburgh (1900-11, 1913-15) and hit ahead of Honus Wagner, batting .299. As a manager, he led the Bucs to the first three modern NL pennants, taking four flags in all, and finished second five times. Clarke won (1,602) and managed more games (2,829) than any other Bucco skipper while compiling the club’s highest career winning percentage (.576). 
• 1948 - Wally Westlake homered, doubled, and drove in six runs while Ed Stevens added five more RBI to lead the Bucs to a 13-10 win over the Reds in the second game of a twinbill at Crosley Field. Stevens also went deep in the opener, but the Pirates lost, 7-6, in the ninth. 
• 1954 - Roberto Clemente collected his first pro hit, a single against the International League Buffalo Bisons’ Milo Johnson, as a member of the Class AAA Montreal Royals in a 6-1 loss at Offermann Stadium. Clemente hit .257 in his only farm stop. On April 17th, 1955, he banged out his first MLB hit, a single against Brooklyn’s Johnny Podres at Forbes Field, and didn’t quit until he had 3,000 knocks, a .317 BA over 18 Pirates seasons and a place in the Hall of Fame. 
• 1958 - Roberto Clemente was in fine form as he led the Bucs to a 4-3 win against Cincinnati at Crosley Field. He scored in the sixth after a leadoff double and then smacked his first long ball of the year, a two-out, three-run shot in the seventh that stood as the game-winner. Vern Law earned the win after an ElRoy Face save while future Bucco Harvey Haddix took the loss.