5/8: Rizzo-Vince D; A-Ram POTW; AVS 8-Hit Day; Kell, DD Gems; Starg Smash, Pops 1st; Game Tales; No More Comebacks; Capps Suspended; Filipinos; HBD Jason, Big O, Bill & Eddie

• 1874 - C Eddie Boyle was born in Cincinnati. After getting into three games in 1896 for the Louisville Colonels, the 22-year-old was traded to Pittsburgh and got into two more contests, going 0-for-5, and that brief stay ended his MLB days. He finished the season in the minors, played one more season on the farm and got on with his life’s work at age 23. His brother, “Honest” Jack Boyle, was also a catcher and had a long career in the show, playing 13 seasons for six teams. 
• 1885 - RHP Bill Powell was born in Taylor County, West Virginia. He tossed for the Bucs in 1909-10, compiling a 4-8/2.87 slash. The rest of his MLB career consisted of one appearance for the Cubs in 1912 and another for the Reds in 1913. Bill also put in seven minor-league campaigns, retiring in 1916. 
• 1912 - The Pittsburgh Filipinos of the newly formed United States League opened their home schedule at Exposition Park with a 3-2 loss to Cincinnati. The league folded in June but the team affiliated with the Federal League, an outlaw major league that operated from 1913-15 that formed from the ashes of the USL. The renegades were first called the Filipinos after their manager, Deacon Phillippe. They later became the Stogies (Pittsburgh was at one time a big-league cigar-making center) and then the Rebels, a nod to manager Rebel Oakes. 
• 1929 - 26-year-old hurler Carl Hubbell, in his second MLB season, became the first LHP in 13 seasons to throw a no-hitter when he beat the Pirates, 11-0, at the Polo Grounds. Sparky Adams drew a walk for the Bucs and NY committed three errors behind Hubbell to deny him a perfecto. 
• 1930 - New York’s Freddie Lindstrom had his second five-hit game of the season and went for the cycle as the Giants defeated the Pirates, 13-10, at Forbes Field. He took the spotlight from Adam Comorosky, who went 4-for-5 with four RBI, and George Grantham, who had three hits and plated four times in the losing cause. The Buc bosses took notice; they eventually traded for Lindstrom. 

John Rizzo/Vince DiMaggio deal - 5/8/1940 Press image

• 1940 - The Pirates traded OF Johnny Rizzo to the Reds for OF Vince DiMaggio, Joe & Dom’s bro. Vince held down center for the Bucs for five seasons and hit .255 with 79 homers and 367 RBI’s in 670 games with All-Star years in 1943-44. The move marked the end of the Waner era in Pittsburgh; Paul was traded to Boston in 1941 and Lloyd followed the next year, bumped by DiMaggio and Maurice Van Robays. Rizzo joined the Navy in 1942 and had one strong season after returning. 
• 1962 - 1B Orestes “Big O” Destrade was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. Orestes played for the Bucs in 1988 as a bench bat, hitting .149. After a five-year career in Japan (he led the Nippon League in homers for three straight seasons), he became part of the first Florida Marlins club in 1993 (he hit 20 HR for them and also became the first strikeout victim of The Big Unit, Randy Johnson). He retired to work for ESPN and is now an announcer for the Tampa Bay Rays. 
• 1963 - Willie Stargell hit his first MLB homer, a three-run shot off Lindy McDaniel at Wrigley Field, during a 9-5 loss to the Cubbies. He had a lot more baseballs yet to lose; he ended his career with a franchise-best 475 long flies with record-setting blasts in stadiums around the league. He swatted them all as a Pirate, playing here from 1962-82 before moving into the Hall of Fame. 
• 1968 - Roberto Clemente’s sac fly in the 14th inning plated Maury Wills and gave the Bucs a 4-3 win against the Braves at Fulton County Stadium. The Great One was scheduled to go to Pittsburgh to get a sore shoulder evaluated, but decided to hang with the team in case he was needed. He came in as a defensive sub in the eighth, and sore wing and all, became the hero. Steve Blass started and allowed three unearned runs in the first inning thanks to a two-out throwaway by Wills, who made amends by scoring twice and swiping a sack. The Bucs tied it in the eighth on a Willie Stargell RBI single and game-knotting wild pitch, scoring Al McBean who ran for Pops. Ron Kline earned the win after twirling five scoreless innings of relief, with ElRoy Face nailing down the save. With Dave Wickersham, the Bucco hurlers held the Bravos to five hits over the last 13 frames. 

Willie Stargell - 1973 Topps Pin-Ups

• 1973 - For the second time in his career, Willie Stargell drove a ball out of Dodger Stadium. His blast off Andy Messersmith carried over the 50-foot high right field roof, 470’ away, and was one of two four-baggers for Pops, who was the only player to ever launch a ball out of that park. It was impressive but wasn’t enough to stop Los Angeles, as Big Blue took a 7-4 decision. 
• 1980 - RHP Jason Davis was born in Chattanooga. Drafted out of Cleveland State CC (TN) by the Indians in the 21st round of the 1999 draft, he debuted for the Tribe in 2002. They converted him from starter to reliever and then traded him to the Seattle Mariners in 2007. He lasted there for a year, signed with and was released as a late cut by Texas Rangers and then caught on with the Bucs. Jason started at Indy and was called up in July, slashing 2-4/5.29 as a swingman. He spent 2009 at Indy and retired the next season after putting up an 0-8/6.06 line. 
• 1988 - Doug Drabek took a no-hitter into the ninth before allowing a pinch-hit, infield single to Randy Ready and a home run to ex-Pirate Marvell Wynne, winning a 6-2 decision over the San Diego Padres at TRS. Bobby Bonilla had three hits to lead the Pirate offense. Whether by coincidence or not, shortstop Al Pedrique, the player who couldn’t convert Ready’s infield hit, was demoted to AAA Buffalo and replaced by up-and-coming SS prospect Felix Fermin. 
• 1992 - The wheels were turning in the eighth inning of a 3-3 contest between the Bucs and ‘Stros at TRS. Houston’s skipper Art Howe replaced LHP Al Osuna with righty Doug Jones to face Jeff King with the bases loaded and two away; Jim Leyland sat King down and sent up Orlando Merced to hit. Leyland won this battle when Merced cleared the bases with a double to give the Bucs a 6-3 win. Stan Belinda pitched two scoreless frames for the win in relief of Doug Drabek. 
• 1994 - Andy Van Slyke went 8-for-9 (one hit shy of the MLB twin-bill hit record) during the Pirates' 9-2 and 9-3 Mothers Day twin bill sweep of the Cubs at TRS with a homer, double, five runs scored and four RBI. He entered the day batting .227; after they turned out the stadium lights, his BA was up to .283 after banging out his eight consecutive knocks. It wasn’t just a one-man show by Slick; the Bucs took the first game behind Paul Wagner as Lance Parrish chased home three runs. The nightcap went to Zane Smith, backed by a four RBI outing by Brian Hunter. 

Jason Kendall - 1997 Pacific Prizms

• 1997 - Jason Kendall's bases-loaded double was the big blow in a Bucco eight-run fourth frame as Pittsburgh outlasted Colorado, 10-8. Mark Johnson had three hits while Al Martin and Kevin Elster added homers for the Bucs, which scored 24 runs on 31 hits in their two games at Coors Field. A Pirates natural milieu may be at sea level, but they loved that mountain air! 
• 2001 - 22-year-old 3B Aramis Ramirez was named the NL Player of the Week, batting .361 with three homers, three doubles (.952 slugging %) and eight RBIs. He told the Post Gazette “That’s what I work for. Everything’s about working hard.” Then A-Ram took his leave from the interview to call his mom back home in the Dominican Republic with the good news. 
• 2007 - Matt Capps was suspended for four days for beaning Prince Fielder three days earlier. Fielder had the misfortune of following JJ Hardy after his three-run homer in a loss to Milwaukee. Capps’ 0-1 pitch was up and in; Fielder’s twist and turn saved his noodle as he took the pitch off his upper arm. Capps was immediately ejected and later suspended. He requested a hearing and his defense was that if he meant to hit him, it would have been with the first pitch, which didn’t sway MLB safety guy Bob Watson. As far as Fielder getting a message, well, not so much...he homered in his next at bat against the Bucs in the following game. 
• 2012 - In a see-saw game at PNC Park, Washington’s Adam LaRoche erased a 3-2 ninth inning Pirate lead by blasting a two-run homer off Joel Hanrahan. But the Bucs had an answer. With two down in their half, Rod Barajas took a 2-0 Henry Rodriguez heater deep to left, scoring Alex Presley ahead of him, to pull out a 5-4 walk off Pittsburgh win over the Nats. Tony Watson earned the victory. 
• 2013 - “The Comeback Kid” ran out rebounds: After being DFA'ed on April 30th, LHP Jonathan Sanchez, who broke camp with the Pirates as a fifth starter after a rash of injuries felled the other back-end contenders, was released. He went 0-3/11.85 and gave up 25 hits, including seven home runs, in 13-2/3 innings of work during what would be his final MLB posting. 

Corey Dickerson - 2018 Topps Big League

• 2018 - The Chicago White Sox grabbed a quick 4-0, first-inning lead over Ivan Nova and the Bucs, but a couple of heartbeats later, Pittsburgh came back with four in the second frame and roared back to take a 10-6 victory at Guaranteed Rate Park. The Pirates had 16 hits on the night, with Corey Dickerson collecting four raps. Starling Marte chipped in with three knocks while Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell and Colin Moran added a pair of hits each. All nine of Pittsburgh starting batters reached base safely and either plated or chased home a run (six guys did both). Both teams used a half dozen pitchers (Tyler Glasnow was credited with the win) in a game that lasted almost four hours. 
• 2023 - The Pirates were on a roller coaster; they had reeled off 11 victories in 12 outings, a stretch that featured a seven-game winning streak, and then couldn’t do a thing right while losing seven in a row. Mitch Keller stepped into the breach and stopped the bleeding by tossing the Bucs first complete-game shutout since 2018, a 2-0 squeaker over the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park. It was a scoreless battle until the bottom of the seventh when Rodolfo Castro's fourth homer, banged to straight center with Connor Joe aboard, accounted for the game’s runs. It was all the cushion Kell needed, giving up four hits, fanning eight and walking just one as he ran his slate to 4-1 while earning his first career whitewash after 75 starts. And the righty wasted no time takin’ care of business; the game took an hour and 55 minutes, the Pirates quickest ‘23 outing to date.