9/19 From 1980: Ian's 1st, Bay Plates 8, Jose's 5, DD's 20th, Gems & Game Tales, The Hunt, Test Run, #4 Retired; HBD Robinzon, JJ & Ray

• 1980 - OF Ray Sadler was born in Clifton, Texas. Sadler played three MLB games in his career, all with the Bucs in early May of 2005, banging out a pair of hits, including a homer (which was his first MLB hit), in eight at bats. He did have a long shelf life as a player, though, playing 16 years (2000-15) and nearly 1,700 games in the minors, Latin leagues and indie ball. 
• 1983 - 1B/OF John Jaso was born in Chula Vista, CA. The Bucs signed the 32-year-old to a two-year, $8M deal after Jaso hit .286 and produced a .380 OBP/.839 OPS in 70 games with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015. JJ was primarily a catcher and DH in the show until the 2015 campaign, when concussion issues necessitated a switch of positions. He was converted by Pittsburgh to a full-time first baseman to replace Pedro Alvarez after Petey was non-tendered. JJ adjusted, pinch-hitting and playing 1B/OF off the bench. Jaso hit .245 in 258 Pirates games with 18 HR and retired after the 2017 campaign to travel the world. 
• 1983 - C Robinzon Diaz was born in Monte Plata, Dominican Republic. He was the return for the Jose Bautista swap with Toronto in a deal that Neil Huntington would like to reclaim as a mulligan. Diaz played briefly in 2008-09 for Pittsburgh, hitting .289 in 43 games but he couldn’t beat out Jason Jamarillo for the back-up spot due to his glovework. After bouncing around in AAA, he took a gig in the Mexican League and later was the bullpen catcher for the Brewers from 2017-20. 
• 1987 - Ralph Kiner’s #4 was retired. The Mets won the game at TRS, 5-4, in front of 20,933 fans in a match that Kiner himself announced on WOR-TV. The slugger was a Hall-of-Famer, and in his eight years as a Buc, he hit .280 with 301 HR and 801 RBI. “Mr. Slug” set the team record for homers in 1949 with 54 and hit 40+ long balls for five straight seasons. 

Ralph Kiner's Retirement Night Program

• 1989 - The Pirates did a little experimenting, flipping rookie Jeff King from his usual spot at first across the diamond to third, trading positions with Bobby Bonilla, the usual hot corner guardian. Though King didn’t get any chances to handle this game, the Bucs liked him there. He got several more starts there in the season's closing days and was the regular third sacker in 1990. Bo didn’t stay at first, though, as the team brought Sid Bream aboard and moved Bobby to right field. Bonilla didn’t really fret about his position; he told Paul Meyer of the Post Gazette that the team should “Just find me someplace where I can bat about 500 times.” Good point, and well taken as he had three raps and three RBIs against the Phils in a 6-2 Pirates victory at TRS. 
• 1990 - Doug Drabek won his 20th game while Bobby Bonds hit his 30th and 31st HRs as Pittsburgh beat Chicago, 8-7, at Wrigley Field. The win snapped a six-game Pirates losing streak and put them a game ahead of the Mets. It was also the start of a 10-of-11 games winning streak that vaulted them into a five-game lead and the title. Bonds and his dad became the first father-son members of the 30/30 club. Two days later, Bonds swiped his 50th base of the season to become the second MLB player to join the 30/50 club, joining the Reds’ Eric Davis. For Drabek, it was a red letter day; it would be the only time in his career that he won more than 15 games (he finished with 22 wins) and it propelled him to the Cy Young Award, though oddly, not the All-Star game. 
• 1991 - In a finish that defied the odds, the Pirates walked off a 5-1 win over the Cards at TRS thanks to a two-out grand slam by...Curtis Wilkerson, the only grand salami of his career. Wilky was batting .185, hadn’t banged a homer since April of 1989, and was facing Lee Smith, one of the league’s premier closers who had already collected 41 saves on the season. Of course, he lined Smith’s first pitch heater into the right field seats to end the game. To make the odds a little steeper, St. Louis had been 37-0 when leading after eight innings, and went into the ninth with a 1-0 lead. A much more likely hero, Barry Bonds, tied the game on a first-and-third force followed by a walk to set up Wilkerson. With a deep September bench, Jim Leyland opted to bypass several stronger bats to give Curtis his chance (having an 11-1/2 game divisional lead probably played into his decision, too) and as the skipper told scribe Gene Collier after the game “I was never accused of being too smart.” He sure seemed dumb like Einstein on this night.

Curtis Wilkerson - 1991 Bowman

• 1993 - A Buc rally fell short as the Cards prevailed, 7-6, at Busch Stadium. Dave Clark swatted a two-run, pinch-hit homer in the ninth to give the Bucs a 6-5 lead, but Mark Dewey surrendered the game after two outs with a walk (the second of the inning; the other was charged to Denny Neagle) and a double just inside the line by Mark Whiten that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Carlos Garcia and Jeff King each had three hits in the heartbreaker. Clark’s homer, even if it was swatted to no avail, would be the last for another decade to give the Bucs the lead in the ninth after trailing until Rob Mackowiak’s blast defeated the Reds in 2003. 
• 1996 - With Jim Leyland all but gone to the Florida Marlins, the Pirates media began speculating on his successor. The early frontrunners were favorite Terry Francona, Art Howe, Gene Lamont, Bruce Benedict and Grady Little. The ultimate winner was the in-house candidate, Gene Lamont, who lasted from 1997-2000, posting a 295-352, .456 record as Buc skipper. He wet his feet in the managerial pool by spending four years as the Chicago White Sox skipper (1992-95). 
• 1997 - The Pirates held a Roberto Clemente commemoration night, unveiling a video of his career highlights followed by his widow Vera tossing out the first pitch at TRS before playing the Cards. The team handed out magnets, but despite the vid and Vera, they still lost, 6-5. 
• 1998 - Jose Guillen homered and doubled to drive in five runs while Francisco Cordova scattered eight hits over eight innings (Rick Loiselle mopped up) for a 7-1 win over Houston at TRS. Turner Ward also went deep and Jason Kendall & Adrian Brown added two knocks each. The victory ended a seven-game losing streak to the Astros during a dismal 69-win campaign. 
• 2000 - The Pirates rode a nine-run sixth inning to a 12-8 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium. The Bucs sent 13 batters to the plate, with the big hits being a two-run knock by Emil Brown and a bases-loaded double by John Wehner. The Phils made a game of it in the ninth, scoring three runs off Scott Sauerbeck before Mike Williams came on to end it. 

Emil Brown - 2001 Topps 50 Years

• 2003 - Jason Bay drove in eight runs (the franchise single game record is nine, set by Johnny Rizzo in 1939; Ralph Kiner was the last to chase home eight Buccos in 1950) during a 10-9 loss to the Cubs. Jay Bay hit a pair of homers, including a grand slam, and a double in the first game of a doubleheader split at PNC Park. It was a tale of two games; Chicago scored the match’s final run in the top of the sixth and there was just one more hit between both clubs over the final 3-1/2 innings. The Buc bats stayed hot in a 10-6 nightcap win. Matt Stairs went long and five different Pirates added a pair of hits to give Salomon Torres the win. 
• 2005 - Ian Snell pitched eight innings to earn his first MLB win as he beat Roger Clemens and the Houston Astros, 7–0, at PNC Park. Snell allowed just three hits, retiring the final nine batters he faced before José Mesa closed out the four-hit shutout in the ninth. Four different Pirates - Tike Redman, Jason Bay, Jack Wilson & Freddy Sanchez - had three hits, and every Buc starter except JJ Furmaniak had a hit and scored/drove in a run (or both). The game checked off another notch on Clemens’ bucket list of having pitched in every current major league ballpark. 
• 2014 - The Pirates were dueling with the Milwaukee Brewers for the last wild card spot and losing late, 2-0, at PNC Park, unable to dent long time nemesis Yovani Gallardo. Jonathan Broxton came on in the eighth, and after giving up singles to Starling Marte and Neil Walker, watched Russ Martin launch a ball into the seats to give the Bucs a 3-2 lead, with the electrified sellout crowd of 37,974 fans demanding a curtain call. Ike Davis singled in an insurance run as John Holdzkom earned his first MLB win after a strong start by Jeff Locke, with Mark Melancon posting his 31st save. It was the 21st time that the Pirates won a contest during their last at-bat of that campaign. 

John Holdzkom - 2015 Topps Auto

• 2015 - Francisco Liriano and the Pirates beat LA ace Clayton Kershaw at Dodger Stadium, 3-2, to snap a four-game losing streak. Frankie K’ed nine and retired 16 straight batters during one stretch. Tony Watson and Mark Melancon finished up the game, with Mark the Shark recording a club record-setting 47th save. Andrew McCutchen and Aramis Ramirez provided the offense with on-time doubles; Cutch’s two-bagger drove in a pair while A-Ram’s chased home the game-winner. The Pirates couldn’t quite catch up to the Cards in the NL Central race, falling two games short, but did win 98 games and finished as the top wild card team. 
• 2018 - In a squeak-by series, the Bucs completed a sweep of the sad-sack Kansas City Royals (the game was KC’s 100th loss) by taking the nightcap of a twin bill by a 2-1 score at PNC Park. They won the opener, 7-6, on a two-out, ninth-inning walk-off hit by Jacob Stallings, the Bucs third-string catcher and a September call up from AAA Indianapolis. Then they captured the middle game, 2-1, in 11 innings on a walk-off single by Ryan Lavarnway, the fourth-string catcher and also a September call up from Indy, after a blown save by Felipe Vazquez, his first after converting 24 straight save opportunities. It was Lavarnway’s first walk-off rap and Stallings’ second. The third and final game wasn’t quite as dramatic - though a squeaker, there were no walk-off heroics, with the game winner a solo shot by 2B Adam Frazier in the fifth inning, followed by rows of goose eggs. For the Pirates, it was part of a nice, albeit late (“wait til next year,” you betcha) run as they took their fifth straight win and were on an 11-of-14 roll to go three games over .500.