5/29 From 1960: Almon-Pedrique; Chuck's 1,000th; Double Dip Zip, Zane, Robby Gems; Big Bats & Game Tales; HBD Ka'ai & Charlie

• 1965 - Despite allowing three runs in the first inning, the Pirates rallied to defeat the New York Mets, 7-4, at Shea Stadium. The Buccos were led by Roberto Clemente, who went 4-for-5, collected two RBI, scored three runs, and finished a home run shy of the cycle. The Pirates put the game away in the seventh when a two-out walk followed by four singles plated three runs. Don Schwall earned the win and Al McBean was credited with the save. 
• 1965 - 3B Charlie Hayes was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Charlie manned the hot corner and played a little first base for 14 big league seasons for seven teams (and three of them he played for twice), spending most of 1996 with the Pirates. He hit .248 as a Bucco starter before being sent to the NYY for a minor-league guy. The deadline deal worked out great for Charlie; he ended up a member of the Yankees ‘96 World Championship club after leaving the Buccos, a Central Division bottom feeder that campaign. Hayes now runs the Big League Baseball Academy in Texas. His son Ke'Bryan was selected 32nd overall by the Pirates in the 2015 draft and has taken over his dad’s old spot at 3B. 
• 1979 - Don Robinson scattered five hits over eight innings to lead the Bucs to an 8-0 win over the Cubs at TRS. Dave Parker led the offense with three hits, a dinger/two two-baggers, and three RBI. Phil Garner had two knocks, also going deep, while Omar Moreno, Tim Foli, Willie Stargell and even hurler Robby had two knocks each as part of a 15-hit attack. 
• 1983 - Chuck Tanner claimed his 1,000th win as a manager (his skipper career began in 1970 with the White Sox) after an 8-5 victory over the Reds at Riverfront Stadium. The game wouldn’t make any coaching textbooks - the Bucs committed three errors and ran the bases like ninnies - but behind a 15-hit attack, the Pirates left themselves a lot of wiggle room. Tony Pena went 4-for-4 and four other Corsairs - Lee Mazzilli, Bill Madlock, Jason Thompson & Dave Parker - had two knocks while Manny Sarmiento tossed three shutout innings in relief to earn the save of Larry McWilliams’ victory. 

Al Pedrique - 1988 Fleer

• 1987 - IF Bill Almon was traded to the New York Mets for OF Scott Little and IF Al Pedrique. The well-traveled vet Almon was at the end of his trail and finished his career at Philly in 1988, the seventh club he played for over the years. Little never made it out of the minors and Pedrique stuck with the Pirates for two years, batting .259 (he went Jekyll and Hyde here, yo-yo’ing from .301 in ‘87 to .180 in ‘88) and ended his MLB days with Detroit in 1989. He went on to become a big league manager and coach as well as farm league skipper. 
• 1989 - Barry Bonds posted a home run and four RBI to lead the Pirates to a 12-3 victory over the Reds at TRS. Bobby Bonilla added three knocks, including a dinger, and Andy Van Slyke also went deep as the Pirates banged out 14 hits. It was a team effort; eight different Bucs plated and eight different Bucs chased home runs (even Bob Walk and reliever Bob Kipper each had a hit, scored once and collected an RBI). Walk picked up the win. 
• 1991 - The Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-0, at Busch Stadium as Zane Smith threw the second one-hitter of his career, striking out five to earn his seventh win of the season. The hit was “a parachute,” per Press writer Bob Hertzel, that fell between RF’er Mitch Webster & 2B Chico Lind who looked each other off, and it snapped an 0-for-31 streak by Redbird batter Jose Oquendo. Orlando Merced led the attack with two hits and two RBI for the Bucs. There were no pace of play issues to distract Zane during his 89-pitch gem; the game took 2:12 to complete. 
• 1992 - Pittsburgh rocked the San Francisco Giants, 13-3, at TRS to break out of a five-game tailspin. Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, Jose Lind chipped in with three runs driven in and Andy Van Slyke had three hits. Vicente Palacios got the win and Bob Patterson earned a save after he tossed the final three frames. The Pirates used a 13-hit, 10-walk attack and an eight-run seventh inning to pull away from the G-Men. 
• 1996 - OF Blaze Ka’ai Tom was born in Honolulu. A 2015 Cleveland draftee who Oakland claimed in the Rule 5 draft, he was DFA’ed after going 1-for-16 and claimed by the Pirates in 2021. He made his Bucco debut in late April as a pinch hitter and later as regular left fielder before a wrist injury landed him on the IL. He was released in September, signed with the Giants and was released in August ‘22; he’s now an FA. Trivia tidbit: he got his first MLB hit off David Price. 

Ka'ai Tom - 2021 Topps Gallery

• 2000 - The Pirates put on a show for the 17,282 fans at Three Rivers Stadium in a 10-4 romp over the Florida Marlins. Every Bucco starter reached base safely, including winning pitcher Jason Schmidt, who walked. John Vander Wal, Kevin Young and Pat Meares combined for eight RBI and every starter but Meares scored. Pittsburgh banged out 13 hits and the Fish hurlers aided the Bucco cause by issuing seven walks in the first six innings. 
• 2017 - Leadoff hitter Andrew McCutchen banged a walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Pirates a 4-3 victory over Arizona at PNC Park. It was his sixth game-winning long fly as a Buc, tying Cutch with Willie Stargell and Ralph Kiner for the most walkoff homers in franchise history. Tony Watson squandered a two-run lead in the final frame, but Cutch in the clutch earned him the win against the D-Backs in front of 16,939 Monday afternoon rooters. 
• 2021 - For the first time since October 3rd, 1976, the Pirates swept a twinbill (each scheduled for seven innings, per MLB rules) behind a pair of shutouts, dropping the Colorado Rockies, 7-0 and 4-0, at PNC Park. The story was the pitching of JT Brubaker in the opener and Mitch Keller in the nightcap. The attack was balanced, with Bryan Reynolds homering in the lidlifter while Adam Frazier & Ka’ai Tom (on his birthday) went yard in the closing match. The victories snapped a six-game losing streak and nine-losses-in-10-games spell for the Buccos. The 1976 sweep was much more dramatic - a pair of 1-0 wins over the Cards at TRS behind the arms of Jim Rooker and Jerry Reuss, both going the distance to close the season. 
• 2023 - The Pirates continued through a miserable month of play; they started the season with a shiny 20-8 mark, but their 14-4 demolition at the hands of the Giants at Oracle Park left them below .500 at 26-27. There was one bright spot: Jack Suwinski homered twice, and both blasts were splash hits, landing in McCovey Cove (actually, it’s properly called China Basin, who knew?) beyond the right field wall. The only other player to pop two balls into the drink in the same game was ex-Bucco and then-Giant Barry Bonds, who did it first in 2000 and again in 2002.