- 1972 - Willie Stargell single-handedly carried the Bucs to a 5-3 win over San Diego at TRS with a pair of two-run blasts off Mike Caldwell. His bombs gave Bob Moose a 5-1 lead to work with, and until the ninth he was cruising before the Padres banged back-to-back long balls with one out; he then gave up a single. Ramon Hernandez was waved in; he gave up another knock to bring the winning run to the plate. Ramon settled down, and a whiff & a pop into short right closed the book. Pops’ blasts were big; the Pirates only had six hits during the contest.
- 1974 - The Giants banged out 14 hits at Candlestick Park, but the Bucs took home the bacon with a 3-1 in 11 innings on Ed Kirkpatrick’s two-out double. San Francisco stranded 16 runners as Jerry Reuss and game winner Dave Giusti bent but didn’t break. It was Pittsburgh’s sixth straight win and nudged them 1-1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals.
- 1978 - John Candelaria, pitching through a bad elbow (he had to skip some starts to let it calm down), went six innings of two-hit, one-run, six-strikeout ball and Ed Whitson followed with three no-hit frames as the Bucs tossed their way past the Reds 3-1 at Riverfront Stadium. It wasn’t much of an attack by the Pirates - Dave Parker’s triple sent home Omar Morena while Bill Robinson had a sac fly & blooper to plate Parker and later, Steve Brye. Pittsburgh stranded 10 runners during the contest, leaving the bases loaded twice to allow the Redlegs some false hope.
- 1980 - RHP TJ Beam was born in Scottsdale, Arizona. TJ put his second and last MLB campaign in with the Pirates in 2008, slashing 2-2-1/4.14 in 32 appearances. He afterward inked a couple of minor league deals and closed out his playing days in an indie league. Beam served as a pitching coach for Ole Miss for two seasons when he returned to campus to complete his degree.
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| J Beam - 2008 Topps Update |
- 1988 - The Atlanta Braves sent IF Ken Oberkfell and cash to the Pirates for OF Tommy Gregg. Oberkfell spent a season and change with the Bucs as a seldom used reserve, batting .181 in 34 games, while Gregg played nine more years, mostly as a reserve/platoon outfielder.
- 1992 - OF Dave Clark, signed as a minor league free agent during the off season, became the first modern-era Buffalo Bison (then the Pirates top farm club) to hit for the cycle during a 16-9 win over the current AAA squad, Indianapolis. He added six RBI, and was called up to the big team in September, starting a run with the Pirates that lasted into the 1996 campaign.
- 1996 - LHP Denny Neagle was traded to the Atlanta Braves for RHP Jason Schmidt, OF Corey Pointer and 1B Ron Wright. Schmidt continued the series of starters who would be developed by the Bucs (like Neagle) just to blossom elsewhere because of salary constraints in Pittsburgh. Schmidt went 44-47/4.39 in six Bucco seasons before breaking out as a Giant (three All-Star nods & a World Series); Neagle had gone 43-35/4.02 for his five seasons as a Pirate before five strong campaigns with the Braves (All-Star) and Reds, with two World Series. With that deal done, the Bucs and Cards, along with Cleveland, began talking turkey regarding Jeff King, but they couldn’t agree on a return and Jeff made it through the season before being sent to KC in the winter.
- 2002 - Atlanta’s Greg Maddux hooked up with Brian Meadows in a pitching duel at PNC Park; Maddux went nine innings and Meadows eight, leaving a 0-0 game to their bullpens. Scott Sauerbeck tossed an uneventful ninth, but his next-in-line, Mike Williams, made it exciting in the 10th when he loaded the bases with two outs and went 3-2 on Rafael Furcal before getting him to fan. Mike Remlinger couldn’t match the drama. He worked the bonus frame, walking a pair with one away before Brian Giles shot a ball into the RF corner to chase home the winning run in a 1-0 cliffhanger. It would have been a tough loss to swallow; the Bucs had 10 hits but couldn’t cash anyone in until Giles came through. Family affair: it was the first time the Giles brothers, Brian and Marcus, met in an MLB game.
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| Brian Meadows - 2005 Fleer |
- 2003 - Josh Fogg tossed a four-hitter - he didn’t give up a hit until the sixth inning - en route to a 5-0 win over the Marlins and Dontre Willis at TRS. Jack Wilson had four RBI, with the game’s key blow a two-out, bases-loaded double in the fourth to give Fogg a cushion to work with. Mike Lincoln and Julian Taveras got the final four outs to preserve the whitewash. Kip Wells had shutout the Fish in the previous game as the Pirates swept the three-game series.
- 2007 - Freddy Sanchez and Matt Capps were the Bucs’ two-headed monster at PNC Park in a twin sweep of the Reds. Freddy’s grand salami was the big blow in a 6-5 win in the opener while his eighth-inning triple in the nightcap led to the winning tally in a 3-2 victory. The Mad Capper carried his weight, too, saving both ends of the doubleheader for Tom Gorzelanny and Shawn Chacon. The Pirates were riding a bit of a wave, with 14 wins in the last 20 games.
- 2012 - Pedro Alvarez hit the longest homer by a Pirate at PNC Park, (he bettered this mark in October, 2015, blasting one 479’), bombing a sixth inning Brandon Dickson delivery 469’ for his 25th dinger. The shot cleared the yard in center and bounced onto the Allegheny Riverwalk during the Bucs 9-0 win over St. Louis. El Toro also added a 422’ shot in the third off Jake Westbrook as James McDonald got the win, giving up two hits with six K in seven frames.
- 2013 - Newly acquired Marlon Byrd hit a homer and tallied three RBI in his first game with the Bucs to lead Pittsburgh to a 7-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park. Charlie Morton earned the victory. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Byrd was the third Pirate player to hit a home run and have at least three RBI in his first game with the team after playing for another MLB team earlier in the season. The other quick-off-the-blocks starters: Derrek Lee hit two dingers and had three RBI on August 1st, 2011 after being traded by the Orioles and Shawon Dunston hit two long balls and drove in four runs on September 2nd, 1997 after being acquired from the Cubs.
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| Roansy Contreras - 2022 Topps Fresh Faces |
- 2022 - The Bucs snapped an ugly seven-game losing streak by dropping the Phils at Citizens Bank Park by a 5-0 score. The stopper was rookie Roansy Contreras, who spun five shutout frames while giving up three hits, two walks and fanning seven. Manny Banuelos, Duane Underwood Jr. and Wil Crowe pitched one-hit ball the rest of the way to toss the Bucs first road shutout of the season. The Pirates banged out three triples (Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz and Tucupita Marcano) and used a balanced attack as all nine Pirates starters posted a hit, RBI or run scored to gang up on Noah Syndergaard.
- 2023 - Ellwood City native Hack Wilson had a Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission roadside marker dedicated to him on Woodside Avenue (PA Route 65) at the Lincoln HS Baseball Field in Ewing Park, with the event hosted by the Ellwood City Area Historical Society. In 1930 as a Chicago Cub, Hack swatted 56 home runs, the National League record for 68 years, and drove in 191 runs, a mark yet to be topped. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979.
- 2023 - Johan Oviedo tossed his first career complete game (and, needless to say, his first career shutout), a 112-pitch, two-hit, 5-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. He struck out five, walked a pair and didn’t allow a runner to reach second base. The Buccos backed him with a 12-hit attack. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 4-for-4 with a walk to lead the lumbermen, who shot themselves in the foot by bouncing into three double plays.
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