- 1953 - OF Carlos Bernier hit three consecutive triples to tie a mark held by several players (four Pirates have done the deed) in a 12-4 win over the Redlegs at Forbes Field. Bernier added a single and a stolen base to the day’s stat line. In a stretch of 11 at bats, Carlos banged four triples, two doubles, and two singles. It was a great but misleading start to his only MLB season; he finished the year hitting .213. Carlos played through 1965, mostly in the Pacific Coast League.
- 1954 - The Bucs and Chicago Cubs split a twin bill at Wrigley as Pittsburgh lost the opener, 5-3, and won the nitecap, 18-10. Frank Thomas had seven straight hits on the afternoon. Bob Friend, winner of the second game, drove in three runs to win his first of the year and set a backhand standard: Not until Vida Blue in 1979 had anyone else allowed 10 runs and still won.
- 1954 - A sputtering drive to raise funds for a Hans Wagner statue received a shot in the arm when Beechview declared “Honus Wagner Day,” featuring a game between its American Legion club and the “Old Timers” at Alton Field with the proceeds donated to the statue fund. The effort renewed interest for the Honus memorial, and on April 30th, 1955, the Frank Vittor bronze was unveiled outside Forbes Field, made the move to TRS and is now displayed at PNC Park.
- 1956 - Lee Walls went 5-for-5 in a losing effort against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Pirates fell, 10-9, in 10 innings despite Wall’s three doubles, three RBI and three runs scored. Roberto Clemente added two hits and Frank Thomas homered in the overtime loss.
- 1985 - RHP Jose Ascanio was born in Maracay, Venezuela. He joined the Bucco system in 2009 as part of the Tom Gorzelanny/Mike Grabow deal with the Cubs and tossed that year and in 2011 for the Buccos, slashing 0-1/7.00. He was considered a potential closer, but spent all of 2010 and much of 2011 on the DL due to shoulder surgery. He never returned to the majors, but spent several years afterward playing in the Mexican and Venezuelan Leagues.
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| Jose Ascanio - 2010 photo Marc Serota/Getty |
- 1987 - Bob Walk tossed six innings of three-hit ball as the Pirates squeaked by the Giants, 1-0, at Three Rivers Stadium. Logan Easley, winner John Smiley and Don Robinson with the save carried Walkie’s torch to finish up the shutout. Sid Bream scored the winner in the eighth when his two-out grounder was booted, followed by back-to-back knocks from Jim Morrison and RJ Reynolds.
- 1988 - RHP Neftali Feliz was born in Azua, Dominican Republic. The Pirates picked him up in 2016 as a $3.9M FA, and he got into 62 games, compiling a line of 4-2-2/3.52, with 29 holds and 61 K in 53-2/3 IP. The vet signed with Milwaukee in 2017, his fourth team in the past three campaigns, after beginning his career in Texas where he spent six seasons before becoming a bullpen drifter. After a three-year minor league stint, he worked for the Phils and Dodgers in ‘21; Neffi has been tossing in the Dominican and the Mexican Leagues since then.
- 1992 - LHP Denny Neagle won his first MLB game with a 6-0 victory over the Houston Astros at the Astrodome, holding the ‘Stros to two hits over six frames before handing off the ball to Dennis Lamp and Roger Mason, who kept the zeros coming. Barry Bonds gave him all the help he needed, doubling home a run in the first frame and then belting a three-run homer in the seventh, both with two away. Andy Van Slyke added two hits, two runs and an RBI to the total.
- 2006 - Zach Duke tossed a five-hitter to earn his first MLB complete game and shutout in the Pirates' 8-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Freddy Sanchez had three hits with three RBI and two runs scored while Jeromy Burnitz banged a two-run shot to lead the attack.
- 2012 - AJ Burnett gave up 12 runs in 2-2/3 innings as the Cardinals clocked the Pirates, 12-3, at Busch Stadium. AJ had shut them out two weeks earlier, 2-0, at PNC Park. He allowed the most runs by a Pirate hurler in 80 years and surrendered more earned runs in under three innings since earned runs became an official stat in 1913. "I stunk," Burnett told the AP. "There is nothing more I can say.” AJ put the outing in his rear view mirror, finishing the year with 31 starting assignments and 200 innings pitched while posting 16-10/3.51 slash.
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| AJ Burnett - 2012 Topps Update |
- 2014 - The Bucs rallied from a 5-3 deficit to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5, at PNC Park on the strength of a pair of ninth-inning home runs. Pedro Alvarez slammed a two-run shot to tie the game and Starling Marte walked it off with a two-out, two-strike solo bomb into left center to give Mark Melancon the win. The Shark was the third reliever behind starter Gerrit Cole.
- 2016 - In one of the great Jekyll-and-Hyde outings, Tyler Glasnow tossed 36 pitches in the first inning, giving up three walks, two hits (one a moon shot by Joey Votto), two stolen bases, and three runs, then flipped the switch, tossing five shutout frames while surrendering two hits, a walk, and whiffing five on 69 pitches to earn his first MLB win, 12-3, over the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Josh Harrison, a Cincy native, hit his third homer in two nights at GABP, a three-run dinger that capped a six-run fourth inning and gave Pittsburgh a 7-3 lead. The Pirates added five more runs in the seventh as they banged out 10 hits and drew eight walks to run away from the Reds.
- 2023 - SIS Baseball, the gang that hands out the year-end Fielding Bible awards, named Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes Hayes as their MLB Defensive Player of the Month. He led all third sackers with six Defensive Runs Saved in April; no one else had more than three. They also noted that Key has compiled 50 Runs Saved since his debut in 2020, the most of any hot corner man in MLB. Hayes won the honor in 2021; Nolan Arenado took it again in 2022 for the fifth time. The honor found its way back home in 2023 when Hayes was named the winner of the Fielding Bible Award for third basemen and also chosen as FB’s Defensive Player-of-the-Year.
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