6/1 From 1975: Mo-Joe; JK, Austin #1's; Neil's #1, Frankie, Jason, Paul, Denny Aces, Mack, Mo, Dale Grannies, Sweep, Game Tales; We Are Family, Fregosi Manages

• 1978 - The Pirates released reserve infielder Jim Fregosi at the behest of California Angels’ owner Gene Autry. It was a good faith request to free up an old vet for bigger and better things - Fregosi, 36, was named as the replacement for Dave Garcia as Angels manager the next day. 
• 1979 - The Pirates scored four times in the ninth inning to rally past the San Diego Padres, 9-8, at TRS. Dave Parker cranked a one-out, three-run homer off John D'Acquisto to tie it, and Lee Lacy drew a bases-loaded free pass with two away off Rollie Fingers for the win after Ed Ott had been intentionally walked before him. Phil Garner went 4-for-5 and scored twice. Teke gave up four runs in three innings of work, but it was good enough for the win. After the game, Willie Stargell blasted out a tune he thought exemplified the club - “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge - and it caught on, not only among Pirates Nation but the public at large, selling a million copies each of the LP and single after it had originally sputtered (although Kim Sledge, who along with her sisters were from Philadelphia, said “The Phillies...should have used our song.”) 
• 1980 - The Bucs had a big day, banging the Mets, 13-3, at TRS in front of a cap day crowd of 49,626 at TRS. No one had a bigger day than Dale Berra, who had three hits, including a grand slam, and chased home five runs to atone for a pair of boots in the field, bettered by ex-Pirate and current Met Frankie Taveras’ three errors (it wasn’t a very good glove day for shortstops). Vance Law doubled for his first MLB hit while three other Buccos had a pair of knocks each, and the attack allowed Jim Bibby to cruise to a complete game win. 
• 1986 - Jim Morrison showed the way in a 12-3 win over the LA Dodgers at TRS, hitting a grand slam that he almost lost when when he passed Tony Pena for a heartbeat during his trot around the bases (Tony was standing on first and ready to tag if the big fly was caught, but the umps didn’t see the brief fly-by, although Tommy LaSorda did), a double and triple with seven runs chased home. How often does a big galoot bang a three-bagger but fall a single short of the cycle? RJ Reynolds also had three knocks and Rick Rhoden went the distance for the win. 

Jim Morrison - 1986 Donruss

• 1988 - The Pirates selected prep SS Austin Manahan first in the draft (his bonus wasn’t released; Manahan said in an interview that it was “six figures”). Manahan never made it past AA, and in fact Pittsburgh’s first five picks never made the show. They did find some players with a couple of later selections, selecting Tim Wakefield, Randy Tomlin, John Wehner and Blas Minor. 
• 1992 - Prep catcher Jason Kendall was selected in the first round (#23) of the draft and signed for a $336K bonus two weeks later in one of Pittsburgh’s more enlightened picks. He spent nine of his 15 MLB seasons with the Pirates, hitting .306 and earning spots on three All-Star teams. After him came a group of fringy reserves - outfielders Adrian Brown & Trey Beamon, pitcher Marc Wilkins, and infielders Lou Collier and Kevin Polcovich. 
• 1995 - Denny Neagle won his fifth straight decision, stopping the Reds and their nine-game winning streak by a 5-3 count at Three Rivers Stadium. He got all the help he needed from Orlando Merced, who had the first two-homer game of his career and drove in four runs, and four relievers, with Dan Miceli nailing it down for his seventh save of the campaign. 
• 1996 - Paul Wagner tossed a one-hitter with ten strikeouts in seven innings of work at TRS, but still lost to Colorado, 2-0. He couldn’t find the plate in the third; two walks followed by a wild pitch cost him dearly after Dante Bichette hit a ball through the shortstop hole to score the pair. The Bucs had nine hits during the match, but stranded 10 runners. It was both the first time the Pirates were kept off the board and the first shutout tossed by the Rox during the season. 
• 1998 - Jason Schmidt won his seventh straight game, 4-3, against the Mets at TRS, breaking a nine-game string of victories by New York. The righty scattered six hits and fanned eight, with ninth inning help from Ricardo Rincon, who earned a save. The Bucs were led at the plate by Tony Womack, who had two hits and a homer; Al Martin and Mark Smith also had a pair of knocks. Schmidt was 8-1/3.59 at this point but would go on to drop his next eight decisions. He wouldn’t win another game until August 12th and finished the season 11-14/4.07. 

Jason Schmidt - 1998 Upper Deck

• 2005 - Florida lost its ninth straight game at PNC Park‚ 9-1. Rob Mackowiak hit his second career grand slam and Jack Wilson went 4-for-4 to pace the attack behind Josh Fogg and Salomon Torres’ pitching. The last Marlin win in Pittsburgh was September 8th, 2002; the Fish snapped the streak the next day by a 6-3 count. 
• 2006 - The Pirates swept the Milwaukee Brewers in a four-game set by scoring twice in the ninth to take a 4-3 decision at PNC Park. With two away, Jose Castillo doubled home Jeromy Burnitz, followed by the game winning knock by Ryan Doumit, both off Derrick Turnbow. John Grabow, the Bucs fourth pitcher, earned the win. The Pirates outscored the Brew Crew 34-8 in the series. 
• 2010 - Neil Walker hit his first big league home run and it was a game-winner; his two-run blast in the eighth inning gave the Pirates a 3-2 win over the Cubs at PNC Park. Walker went on to hit 93 long balls as a Bucco, second among second-sackers in franchise history to Bill Mazeroski. His blow gave Joel Hanrahan the victory with an Octavio Dotel save. Garrett Jones also homered. 
• 2013 - Francisco Liriano tied the franchise record by striking out seven consecutive Reds, but Mike Leake won the duel at PNC Park by a 2-0 count. Liriano went six innings, giving up a run on four hits and a walk, punching out 11. Not a ball left the infield in the inning he surrendered the run, and only a disputed two-out call at first allowed Cincy to score at all.
• 2014 - Miami got righty reliever Bryan Morris for a competitive balance selection (#39) that turned into first baseman Connor Joe, who was flipped to the Braves in 2017 for Sean Rodriguez. Morris retired in 2017, S-Rod hung them up for a Phillies coaching gig in 2022, and Joe returned to the Buccos fold in 2023 via the trade route, playing regularly in an OF/1B role.