4/10 From 1975: Mike, Jay Sign; B-Rey POTW; Game Tales - Game Of 1st's, #500 For Jim, Smiley Starts, Rallies, Openers; Milo On Air; HBD Mike

• 1975 - The Bucs were the Opening Day foes at Wrigley Field and flexed some long ball muscle to tame the Cubs, 8-4. Pittsburgh started off hot with first-inning homers by Richie Hebner and Willie Stargell, then padded the lead with a two-out, two-run rally in the third. Chicago got to Dock Ellis in the fifth with a barrage of doubles and tied the game. It stayed at four-all until the eighth when Pops went deep again, Manny Sanguillen tacked on a two-run dinger and Rennie Stennett added the cherry on top with a two-out RBI knock. That was all she wrote as Sudden Sam McDowell, Larry Demery and game winner Dave Giusti shut the gate after Dock. Captain Willie wielded the hottest bat - he went 4-for-5 with two dingers, a walk, three RBI and two runs scored. 
• 1975 - RHP Mike Lincoln was born in Carmichael, California. He debuted as a teen for the Twins and pitched for the Pirates from 2001-03. He had two effective years as a reliever, but arm troubles hounded him in 2003 and throughout the rest of his career; his ERA was 5.56 from that season forward. As a Bucco, Lincoln went 7-9-5/3.50. His last campaign was in 2010 as a Red. 
• 1976 - Milo Hamilton replaced Bob Prince as the voice of the Pirates, marking the first time that an MLB team followed one future Ford Frick winner with another. Prince won the award posthumously in 1986 and Hamilton was recognized in 1992. Milo had a tough go in the Steel City as his quiet, polished style didn’t go over well with the fans who were brought up on the Gunner’s colorful, folksy delivery. Hamilton moved on to the Chicago Cubs broadcasting team in 1980. Lanny Frattare also made his broadcast debut as Hamilton’s partner. Frattare went on to become the Pirates longest tenured announcer, announcing victories with his tagline "...and there was nooo doubt about it" for 33 seasons before his retirement into academia at Waynesburg University. 
• 1976 - The Pirates defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4, at Veterans Stadium in the season Opener. Dave Parker scored the winning run in an 11th inning collision at home that cost C Johnny Oates two months of the season with a broken collarbone. Willie Stargell was the batting hero with three hits, a walk and three RBI while Larry Demery claimed the win after three scoreless innings of work. 

Johnny Ray - 1982 Fleer

• 1982 - Johnny Ray went deep for the first time in his career to help the Pirates beat the Cardinals, 11-7, on Opening Day at Busch Stadium. Ray led the Pirates with three hits (homer, double, single), while starter Rick Rhoden also went deep (it was RR’s sixth career dinger). Dale Berra also had three hits, including a pair of two-baggers, as the Buccos banged out five doubles and two homers among their twelve hits to go along with nine walks and four Redbird errors as Pittsburgh stranded 11 runners. Rhoden left with the game tied; Rod Scurry took home the victory and John Candelaria claimed the save. 
• 1983 - John Candelaria was hit hard and the Bucs found themselves down, 7-2, to Houston at the Astrodome after three innings. But Manny Sarmiento, Jim Winn, Jim Bibby, Kent Tekulve and Rod Scurry allowed just one more run over the last six frames and the Bucs bats kept grinding away, eventually taking a 10-8 victory from the Texans. The Buccos only had nine hits, led by Jason Thompson’s homer/double combo, but seven ‘Stro walks, four leading to scores, and three steals, with two setting up tallies, kept the runners moving along. Bibby was the game winner, with Scurry picking up the save. 
• 1987 - The Pirates beat the Cards, 4-3, at TRS in the Home Opener in front of 52,119 fans, the biggest baseball crowd in Pirates history to date. They did it the hard way, with Don Robinson giving up a 3-1 lead in the ninth. The Redbirds almost took the lead that frame but 3B Jim Morrison threw out Curt Flood trying to score on a dink to short left. The Bucs and Mo weren’t to be denied - Morrison scampered home from first on Sid Bream’s two-out double off Dave LaPoint for the walk-off win. Morrison was the game’s hero; he went 4-for-4 with two homers, a double and a walk. It also marked the passing of the torch. PA announcer Art McKennan, 80 years young with 38 years behind the mic, announced the game before handing over his chair to Bucco broadcaster Greg Brown, who was at that time a member of the Pirates PR department. Art had been fired in the off season, but the public outcry was so loud that the Pirates relented and allowed McKennan to announce Sunday games, which he did until 1993. 
• 1988 - After 76 appearances out of the bullpen, John Smiley made his first MLB start. He didn’t get the win, though he did leave ahead after five frames, 3-2, creating a good enough impression that he started 116 of his remaining 119 career outings in Pittsburgh. The lead at Busch Stadium almost held up; the Cards tied the match in the ninth to send it into extras. With two gone in the 11th inning, Sid Bream’s opp field pop fell between three Redbirds for a double, and Spanky LaValliere followed with a two-bagger for the lead. John Cangelosi’s knock added an insurance run as the Bucs took home a 5-3 victory, with Bob Kipper the winner and Jim Gott earning the save. 

  

  John Smiley - 1988 Fleer

• 1992 - The Pirates presented skipper Jimmy Leyland with his 500th win, defeating the Phils, 3-2, at Veterans Stadium. The Bucs scratched out a 3-0 lead, survived a two-run, seventh-inning blast by Philly pinch hitter Jim Lindeman, and hung on for the win as Roger Mason and Stan Belinda came on to finish off the victory for Randy Tomlin. Barry Bonds homered, Lloyd McClendon drove in and scored a run and Steve Buechele singled home the game-winner in the sixth. It would be Tomlin’s first win in his standout season, when he posted a 14-9/3.41 line. 
• 1993 - The Pirates announced that they signed SS Jay Bell, 27, to a four year/$17.5M contract extension to begin in 1994, after his current $2.6M deal expired. Bell received $3M (‘94), $4.2M (‘95), $4.5M (‘96) & $4.8M (‘97) along with a $1M signing bonus by giving up his final arb year (1994) and three free agency seasons. The agreement jumped him into elite company, making him the third-highest paid shortstop in the league, behind only Cal Ripken and Barry Larkin. 
• 1995 - The Bucs signed veteran RHP Mike Maddux, 33, to an NRI contract worth $200K (a $1M cut from his ‘94 deal) if he made the club. He did, but not for long. Maddux appeared eight times, all from the pen, posting a 9.00 ERA and was released May 15th. He survived for a decade in MLB and would last five more years in the show, pitching for five more teams through 2000. 
• 2006 - The Bucs were dissed by actor Michael Keaton, who threw the first pitch at the PNC Park home opener and then said afterward of ownership "I fear they will take advantage of the goodwill of the people who continue to show up. For my money, that's disrespectful. At some point, you...have to write the check.” The Pirates seemed to agree as the Dodgers bombed Zach Duke for an 8-3 win. 

Pedro Alvarez - 2014 Topps Triple Threat

• 2014 - The Pirates roared back from a 4-0 hole at Chicago’s Wrigley Field with a five-run seventh inning to blast out a 5-4 win over the Cubbies. Travis Snider began Pittsburgh’s comeback with a pinch-hit two-run homer while Pedro Alvarez came through with the game-winner, a three-run, 446’ shot with two outs. It was El Toro’s fifth home run in six games. Gerrit Cole went six innings for the win that was carried home by Tony Watson, Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli, who earned the save but made it exciting by leaving the bases full of Cubs in the ninth. 
• 2018 - The Pirates were rude visitors, defeating the Cubs 8-5 in Chicago’s Home Opener. Corey Dickerson went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI while Francisco Cervelli also collected three hits, including a three-run homer in the seventh inning. Ivan Nova went seven innings to pick up his first win on the season. Dickerson, who the Pirates had picked up in a deal with Tampa Bay for RHP Daniel Hudson and prospect Tristan Gray, took over left field and hit .300 during the campaign. 
• 2022- Lotta firsts were posted for the Bucs today. Their 9-4 win over the Cards at Busch Stadium was their first win of the season. Diego Castillo had three hits in his first big league start. Miguel Yajure earned his first MLB win while Wil Crowe closed it out to claim his first save in the show. Michael Chavis cranked out three hits, including a grand slam (his career second, spoiling the first-time vibe) to get Pittsburgh rolling after dropping the first two games of the Opening Day set. 
• 2023 - Bryan Reynolds was named the NL Player of the Week. He batted .480 with four homers, 12 RBI, nine runs scored and a couple of stolen bases added to the package. The Pirates started the year off 6-3; B-Rey had raps in all nine games, including a trio of three-hit games. A step below, Tucupita Marcano rolled seven and was selected as the International League POTW, batting .526 with seven runs driven home, seven runs tallied and a seven-game hitting streak.