8/24: Ricardo Signs, Petty Goes; Redbeard Slam, Bullpen Brilliance, Gems, Game Tales, PHoF, Pre-Game Howdy-Do, Freak Fever, Meetings, 10 Straight; HBD Kevin, Al, Matty, Jewel & Billy

• 1881 - C George “Billy” (it was his middle name) Kelsey was born in Covington, Ohio. His MLB credentials consist of two games played for the Pirates in 1907 as a 25-year-old, going 2-for-5. He did put together a nine season career with various farm clubs and later managed in the Texas League (player/manager for Oklahoma City) and the Western Association (Tulsa). 
• 1889 - IF Jewel Winklemeyer Ens was born in St. Louis. He was with the Pirates from 1922-25, hitting .290 as a seldom used bench player/coach. Jewel then coached the Bucs from 1926-29 and 1935-39, managing the club in between from 1929-31, putting up an overall 176-167 slate while finishing second once. He also coached for the Detroit Tigers (1932), Cincinnati Reds (1933; 1941) & Boston Braves (1934), then spent eight seasons (1942–49) as manager of the Syracuse Chiefs, then the Reds' top farm club. He was elected to the International League Hall of Fame in 1950, a few months after his death. Jewel, btw, isn't a moniker - it was his given first name. 
• 1890 - OF Ralph “Matty” Mattis was born in Roxborough, Pennsylvania. Matty spent seven years in the minors as a pretty good batter with a lifetime .303 BA, but his only major league shot was in 1914 with the Federal League Pittsburgh Rebels where he hit .247 in 36 games. The pasture was a crowded place to elbow into that season; the Rebels carried, at one time or another, eight OF’ers including player/manager Rebel Oakes, the team’s namesake. 
• 1897 - C Al Bool was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. He played three years of big league ball, with his busiest year being in 1930 with the Pirates. He got into 78 games and hit .259, then moved to Boston in the off-season. He played one more year and retired to become a Nebraska farmer. 
• 1921 - The Pirates, in front by 7-1/2 games with 35 to go, dropped a double dipper to the Giants at the Polo Grounds before 35,000. Art Nehf won the lid lifter, 10-2, to hand Babe Adams his first loss in 10 games while Phil Douglas took the nightcap, 7-0. Manager George Gibson called a team meeting after the losses, per the Pittsburgh Press, and “...club matters were discussed, but they were discussed in a way that hurt. Errors of omission and commission were probed down to the raw flesh…” It didn’t rally the boys; they would end up blowing the title to the Giants by four games, going 14-21 over their final 35 contests. 

George Gibson - 1922 W501 Strip Card

• 1928 - The Pirates romped over the NY Giants, 16-5, at Forbes Field. The middle of the Pittsburgh order - Paul Waner, George Grantham and Pie Traynor - pounded out seven hits, including a homer and three triples, drove in 11 runs and scored six more to rev the engine. Every Pirates position player had at least two hits as the Bucco lineup banged out 19 knocks. 
• 1930 - The Pirates sold LHP Jesse Petty to the Cubs. He was part of the return for SS Glenn Wright (Buc manager Donie Bush was a Petty fan, having coached him in the minors), and The Silver Fox (he had prematurely graying hair) was solid in his first season, with 11 wins and a 3.77 ERA for 1929. He got off to a rough start for the Bucs in 1930 and was shipped to Chicago. He pitched a little better though not very often in the Windy City, and it ended up his last MLB campaign. Petty then pitched and managed through the mid-30s in the minors. 
• 1956 - The Cards defeated the Pirates, 6-2, at Busch Stadium in a game notable for its batting order. Manager Bobby Bragan batted the pitcher seventh, Maz eighth and Hank Foiles ninth. Mazeroski went 1-for-3 while Foiles homered. The pitcher, Fred Waters, went 0-for-3. Bragan used the ploy next season, too, and then it wouldn’t be repeated in Pittsburgh again until 2008 when John Russell penciled in Paul Maholm to bat eighth, ahead of Jack Wilson. 
• 1959 - Bob Friend gave up 12 hits, but went the distance to shut out SF‚ 6-0. He struck out eight and stranded a dozen G-Men at Forbes Field, backed by a pair of Rocky Nelson homers. Nelson had three hits, three RBI and three runs scored; Dick Groat also posted a trio of raps. 
• 1978 - The Pirates won their 10th game in a row by dropping the Braves, 5-1, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in a matchup of future Hall-of-Famers Bert Blyleven and Phil Niekro. Bert not only pitched his way to victory, but his two-out, bases-loaded double in the seventh cleared the sacks to break a 0-0 tie. Pittsburgh dropped the next two games, then started a fresh 11-game winning streak. But in the end, the Pirates couldn’t catch up to the Phils, who won the division by 1-1/2 games over the 88-73 Buccos. The race went to the wire, with Philly clinching the crown with a 10-8 win over Pittsburgh in the campaign’s next-to-last game. 

Bert Blyleven - 1978 Hostess

• 1980 - RHP Kevin Correia was born in San Diego. He signed as a FA with the Pirates and slashed 11-7/4.01 before the 2011 break and was named to the All-Star team for the first (and only) time of his career, but faded during the stretch. Correia became a long man/sixth starter in 2012 after Wandy Rodriguez was picked up at the deadline, although KC was on a five-game winning streak. He was the first Pirates' pitcher since Pascual Perez in 1981 to start a game one day after appearing in relief when he volunteered to take the hill rather than have the Pirates call up a minor-league starter in 2012, losing the start 3-1. Kevin signed a two-year deal with the Minnesota Twins following that season after going 24-22/4.49 in his two Pirates campaigns, and tossed his last game in 2015 for the Philadelphia Phillies to end a 13-year MLB career. 
• 1982 - The Bucs looked out of it, down to San Diego by a 5-1 count after six at Three Rivers Stadium, but they kept chipping away. They got a pair back in the seventh when a Padre error opened the gate, cut the lead to one in the eighth on Tony Pena & Johnny Ray doubles, and then tied it in the ninth with some flair when Bill Madlock stroked a two-out homer off Gary Lucas. The Friars stranded a pair in both the 10th and 11th frames, with SS Dale Berra making a play in the hole to save a run. The Pirates walked it off in the 11th after Lee Lacy singled, stole second, tagged to third and came in with two outs on Pena’s bouncer up the middle. Lee and Tony led the hit parade with three raps each while Kent Tekulve faced one batter in the final frame for the win. 
• 1984 - Jose DeLeon went into the seventh inning against the Reds pitching a no-hitter, but lost it and the game when ex-Buc Dave Parker singled in a run to give Cincy the lead and eventual 2-0 win at TRS behind a three-hitter by Jeff Russell. Parker had the only Cincinnati hit. 
• 1987 - Peter Gammon wrote in Sports Illustrated that GM Syd Thrift called a team meeting for his young and underachieving Pirate club (53-71) and asked the team to set goals. Reliever Jim Gott suggested aiming for 25 wins in the final 38 games. “Be realistic,” Thrift replied. It ended up that Gott was indeed a bit unrealistic - the team won 27 down the stretch, starting a seven-game winning streak that night with a 5-4 win over the Reds. Gott earned the save. The Pirates hot streak allowed them to finish at a competitive 80-82, though they were still a couple of seasons away from contention under Jim Leyland in the early 90s. 

Jim Gott - 1987 Donruss

• 1989 - The Pirates dropped the Houston Astros, 3-2, in 14 frames at Three Rivers Stadium. Doug Drabek tossed a nine-inning two-hitter that was tainted by two unearned runs due to three Bucco errors. Doug Bair got the win after Jose Lind’s bonus time sac fly brought home Gary Redus. 
• 1992 - Knight-Ridder News reported that the Pirates were considered the frontrunners to land Texas Ranger rental OF Ruben Sierra, an All-Star hitting .278 w/14 HR. He was in the walk year of his contract and would be owed $1.35M for the rest of the year. Ruben was a right fielder, a spot the Pirates were filling by committee, and even wore #21 in honor of his countryman, Roberto Clemente, but he ultimately went to Oakland as part of a big trade package for Jose Canseco. The major hitch was that Texas wanted SS Carlos Garcia, and the Pirates were reluctant to deal a top prospect for a one-and-done player. 
• 1997 - The “Freak Show” Pirates were on a roll after sweeping the San Francisco Giants at Three Rivers Stadium, having won 9-of-12 games to claw their way to within three games of first. The Post Gazette had them featured above the fold on the front page and wrote “And what is this strange ailment suddenly gripping Western Pennsylvania...Pennant fever?” Alas, though it was a precursor of Buctober a couple of decades later, the Corsairs hit their high point on September 2nd when they got within a 1-1/2 games of first place, only to fade and finish in second, five games off the pace. 
• 1998 - LHP Ricardo Rincon signed a two-year/$1.25M contract - his current, second-year deal was worth $245K - with incentives that could push the package to $2M if he was used as a back-end reliever rather than a set up man. The agreement was a few weeks away from turning over to Cleveland; they traded for Ricardo during the winter, sending the Bucs Brian Giles. 

Ricardo Rincon - 1998 Pacific

• 2002 - The Milwaukee Brewers pounded out 20 hits against the Buccos at PNC Park but it was for naught as the Pirates out-slugged the Brew Crew, 17-10. Pittsburgh coasted with a 16-hit attack of their own and were up, 7-2, after three frames and 14-3 after seven innings. The Pirates had seven multi-hit performance, led by Brian Giles with three knocks, and banged out nine two-baggers and a pair of homers (Craig Wilson, Armando Rios) as every Pittsburgh starter scored (Pokey Reese & Rob Mackowiak touched home three times) and all but one chased home runs (Craig Wilson four RBI, Giles and Jason Kendall three). Kip Wells got the win with the finishing touches provided by three relievers. 
• 2005 - The Pirates were clobbered by the Cards at PNC Park, 8-3, but staged a much better show before the gates opened. As the two teams were changing over during batting practice, 2-1/2 hours before the game, Redbird coach Dave Duncan chirped at Pirates reliever Rick White, who had buzzed Hector Luna earlier in the set after Luna had gone hard into Jose Castillo and tore up his knee. Lloyd McClendon took exception at the barking, the pair became animated during their discussion, and Bucco coach Gerald Perry stepped between the duo, eventually popping Duncan in the jaw. Dunc and St. Louis reliever Ray King were both dragged away from the escalating brouhaha, and peace was restored under the watchful eye of four bemused city cops (there was no ump intervention; the shoving match was over before they arrived in the yard). 
• 2007 - The Pirates’ Xavier Nady hit a two-out homer to tie the game in the ninth off Brad Lidge and then the Bucs erupted in the 15th inning to take an 8-3 victory from the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Adam LaRoche’s three-run shot in the 15th off Travis Driskill was the big blow. Shane Youman picked up the win after two innings of scoreless relief with four K against Houston. Six Pirates relievers tossed eight shutout frames, giving up just six hits and striking out eight. The Nady-Lidge result was deja vu all over again from Opening Day in Houston, when the X-Man swatted a two-out, ninth-inning bomb to knot the score in a game that the Pirates went on to wrest from the 'Stros in the 10th frame. 

Jason Grilli - 2012 Topps Update

• 2011 - Jason Grilli spun 2-2/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Aaron Thompson to pick up his first win with the Pirates, 2-0, against the Brewers at PNC Park. Jose Veras tossed a 1-2-3 eighth while Joel Hanrahan struck out the side with a walk and hit in the final frame to add some drama to his 32nd save. Andrew McCutchen scored Jose Tabata with a sac fly in the opening inning while Neil Walker added the insurance with another sac fly in the fourth to plate Josh Harrison. The pitchers reigned as the Bucs had four hits on the day and Milwaukee posted five. 
• 2019 - After going 8-30 after the All-Star break and falling deep into the cellar, the Pirates showed signs of life against the Cincinnati Reds. After scoring twice in the ninth inning to walkoff Cincy, 3-2, the night before, the Bucs unloaded the lumber in a 14-0 romp at PNC Park. Colin Moran smacked a pinch-hit grand slam, Josh Bell swatted a three-run four-bagger and Kevin Newman reached base five times with three raps and a pair of free passes to lead the tidal wave. Trevor Williams scattered three hits over six innings with three guys behind him spinning shutout ball. The Corsairs followed up by jumping to an early lead in the third game of the set the next afternoon to broom the Redlegs, 9-8, their first series sweep since downing San Diego in June. 
• 2024 - Barry Bonds (two-time NL-MVP), Jim Leyland (three division titles & 851 wins) and Manny Sanguillen (two-time World Series champ & three-time All-Star) were presented as the 2024 class of inductees of the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony before playing the Reds. They threw out the first pitch(es) and then partied to a Zambelli’s post game fireworks display. Their entry brought the three-year-old Pirates HoF roster up to 26 members.