Weekly Notes: RIP Cobra; Mets Swept; Ke Hot; Mitch Wins

Summertime, summertime...

Pirates Stuff:

• The Pirates announced on Saturday that Dave Parker, 74, passed away. With the Pirates from 1973 to 1983, Parker earned one National League MVP award, two batting titles, three Gold Gloves, and a World Series Championship in 1979. The Cobra was part of the first Pirates Hall of Fame class in 2022 and will join the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on July 27.

Cobra remembered - 6/28/2025 photo/Pirates

• OF Oneil Cruz was pulled (story ESPN) in the seventh inning of Tuesday's game for not running out a DP ball. His defense was that he had lost tracks of the outs, but he said that he understood where Don Kelly was coming from and took it as a learning moment.
• 3B KeBryan Hayed ended the week with three knocks on Sunday and an eight-game hitting streak.
• RHP Dennis Santana got a day shaved off his suspension earned during the Motown series and began serving a three-game sit-down on Sunday.
• The Pirates called RHP Michael Darrell-Hicks up to the big club. He was claimed from the Angels earlier this month. RHP Hunter Stratton was optioned back to Indy, then shortly thereafter DFA'ed when the Bucs signed LHP Génesis Cabrera after the Cubs DFA'ed him. That also ended Darrell-Hicks stay as he was optioned back to Indy. Genesis is a 28-year-old and Pittsburgh will be his fifth MLB club (17-14-5/4.03 career). 
• RHP Colin Holderman (thumb inflammation) began a rehab assignment at Low-A Bradenton on Friday. He's been on the IL since May 20; before that, he missed three weeks in April with a knee injury and has been scored on in nine of his 14 outings this year.

Game Stuff:

• Nick Gonzales went 5-for-5 with two RBI, Tommy Pham swatted a two-run bomb and Isiah Kiner-Falena tripled home the winning run as the Bucs, mixing 14 hits with 16 strikeouts, took the opener from Milwaukee on Monday, 5-4. Brent Ashcraft was sharp in his opener role, and except for Hunter Stratton getting banged, the bullpen was sturdy enough. Chase Shugart got the dub and The Renegade finished for the save.
• Andrew Heaney was hammered on Tuesday as the Bucs fell, 9-3. The Brew Crew's 8-9 hitters each homered and drove in seven runs to power their bottom-up attack; Nicky G's three-run shot in the sixth frame was it for the Pirates attack.
• Wednesday was Paul Skenes vs. Jacob Misiorowski day. But it was a bad day for Paul - he gave up four runs in four frames, with a couple of plays his mateys couldn't pull off hurting the cause, while the Pirates bats were limited to four hits in a 4-2 loss to the Crew. Pittsburgh has an off day and then opened a homestand against the Mets on Friday. 

Kells - image SportsNet Pittsburgh

• And holy moly! With Mitch Keller on the hill, the Bucs actually scored some runs to give Kells his first win since March 28, whipping NY 9-1. B-Rey banged a three-run shot while Isaac Mattson shut down the Mets best comeback push in the sixth.
• And what's a homestand without some thunder, lightning and rain? After a somber start - the announcement of the Cobra's passing - the Bucs fell behind 1-0, then sat for 90 minutes before boppin' in Parker-like fashion, taking a 9-2 win by scoring six times in the eighth frame. Brant Ashcraft got the win in what was basically a bullpen game. As for the Mets, the players held a closed-door postgame meeting to ponder...
• Well, meeting, schmeeting - Oneil Cruz (he hit two) and Tommy Pham went B-2-B to highlight a five-run first inning for the Pirates. B-Rey banged another, Henry Davis had four hits and the Bucs rock 'n' rolled, 12-1. Mike Burrows was strong (4-1/3 scoreless IP) to start and the win went to Carmen Mlodzinski, who put up zeroes over the final 3-2/3 frames.
• The Cards come in on Monday for a three-gamer before the Bucs hit the road; they won't be back at PNC until after the All-Star break.

MLB Stuff: 

• The Orioles signed C Jake Stallings to a minor league deal after he had been released by the Rox earlier this month. 

6/30 Through the 1960s: Game Tales - Forbes Opens, Smokey 7 RBI, Stu Swats 3, Hans 2 Days/8 Hits, Nixey Axed; HBD Dave, Don, Tincan, Hal, Jovo & Davy

• 1880 - OF Davy Jones was born in Manikota, Minnesota. After 13-years in the show, the 34-year-old Jones spent his last two campaigns (1914-15) with the Pittsburgh Rebels, where he hit .279 before an ankle injury led to his release. Jones had spent most of his MLB time holding onto a third outfield spot in Detroit between Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford, seeing considerable time as the leadoff hitter. As one would expect, Davy scored at a good pace with those two Hall-of-Fame bats behind him, and homered in the 1909 Series against the Pirates. That he ended up skipping from Motown to the Rebels was part of his MO. Per SABR’s Mike Grahek, “During his first years in the pros he jumped so many contracts that the press nicknamed him ‘The Kangaroo.’" 
• 1892 - The Philadelphia Phillies were the home team at Expo Park for a twin bill, and they weren’t even playing the Pirates, but the Washington Senators! The Phils were making up a pair of rain dates against the Sens while the Pirates were away playing the Cleveland Spiders (Pittsburgh won 6-5). Washington had just finished a set at Baltimore and the Phils were coming off a home series, and both teams had a mutual off day scheduled. 1,200 fans showed up at the North side yard to watch the double dipper split, with each side taking a 3-2 win. 
• 1893 - The Pirates scored seven runs in the ninth inning at Expo Park and still lost to the Brooklyn Bridegrooms by a 22-16 count. It was the epitome of ugly baseball - 38 runs, 37 hits, 24 walks and 11 errors resembled an amateur rather than pro competition. The Pittsburgh Press wrote of the walks (although noting that the ump seemed “a little off”) that “This beats anything in that line seen in a league game...Three pitchers were used by the Pittsburgs in one inning, and this, too, had never been heard of in the league.” The first six Pirates in the batting order combined for 16 hits, with George Van Haltren banging out four knocks. 

Jovo - 1927 Photo Harwell Collection/Detroit Public Library

• 1895 - RHP Johnny Miljus was born in Lawrenceville and went to Pitt, where he was a football and baseball star. Known as “Jovo” (short for Jovan, or John in Serbian) and “The Big Serb” (a nickname hung on him by Babe Ruth, per baseball lore), he got his start with an inning for the Pittsburgh Rebels of the Federal League in 1915, and later joined the Bucs from 1927-28 (he fought in WW1 and was wounded in action, delaying his career), going 13-10-1/3.53. He was a multi-role hurler, and handled every chore from starting to closing. He’s best remembered for his wild pitch that allowed the New York “Murderers Row” Yankees to sweep the 1927 Series. Jovo struck out Lou Gehrig and Bob Meusel in the ninth of that game and got two strikes on Tony Lazzeri. But he muscled up on the next pitch (some say it was a spitter, though Johnny never 'fessed up) and it got past C Johnny Gooch, allowing the winning run to score. Miljus played seven MLB campaigns through 1929, with his Pirates stint tucked between Brooklyn and Cleveland stops. Johnny was thought to be the first Serbian to play MLB. 
• 1902 - RHP Harold “Hal” Smith (no relation to the future catcher) was born in Creston, Iowa. Smith broke into the big leagues as a 30-year-old, and spent his four-year career (1932-35) as a Buc, although most of his twirling in the first and last year was done for the AA Kansas City Blues. He went 12-11-1 with a 3.77 ERA as a Pirate with his time split between starting and the bullpen. Hal played for the KC Blues again in 1936, then hung ‘em up. 
• 1903 - Honus Wagner swatted four hits for a second straight game, missing the cycle by a double (The Pittsburgh Press sidebar story was “Wagner is After Batting Honors” and he did take the ‘03 NL crown with a .355 BA) as the Pirates rolled over the Brooklyn Superbas, 17-8, at the Washington Grounds. The game was never in doubt as the Bucs ran up a 13-0 lead before the Brooklynites got on the scoreboard. Fred Clarke and Ginger Beaumont also had four knocks as Pittsburgh banged out 19 hits, allowing Sam Leever to cruise to victory. 

Forbes Field - Opening Day

• 1909 - The fans were pumped; they began lining up 6-1/2 hours before the game for tickets as an SRO crowd of 30,338 filled every nook, to date the largest gathering to ever watch a baseball game, to watch the Pirates fall to the Chicago Cubs, 3-2, in the debut of Forbes Field. Ed Reulbach tossed a three-hitter to top Pittsburgh’s Vic Willis, who spun a four-hitter. Honus Wagner collected two hits and scored a run in a game that was played in one hour and 50 minutes. Mayor William Magee threw out the first ball. He was in the second tier and lobbed the ball to John M. Morin, Director of Public Safety, on the field below. Morin then went to the mound and threw the first pitch to open the festivities. Danny Nirella and his band played, as they would for every Opening Day at Forbes Field for the next 45 years. The ball yard was one of the nation's first made completely of concrete and steel, featuring public phones, separate ladies room, ramps rather than stairs and even included a visitor’s clubhouse. FF’s firsts: the first radio broadcast in 1921, the first fan elevator installed in 1938, the first field tarps, the first pads to cushion the outfield wall in the forties and the first All-Star (1944) game played at night. It had a print shop (Banker’s Lithographing) in its interior and in the twenties, the space under the LF bleachers was used for car sales and repairs! It wasn’t exactly embraced at the beginning; it was often called "Dreyfuss' Folly" in its conceptual years. Some folly; the yard ended up as the Pirates’ home for 61 seasons. 
• 1909 - LHP Harry “Tincan” Kincannon was born in North Fork, West Virginia. Harry moved to the City for work, became a sandlot star and pitched for the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1930-36, being one of just three players to transition from the original indie Craws to the Negro NL. The curve-ball specialist made one All-Star appearance for the Crawfords before he was traded to the New York Black Yankees. He finished his career after the 1939 campaign. 
• 1917 - Pirates skipper Jimmy “Nixey” Callahan was fired after the club staggered to a 20-40 start, and Honus Wagner took over as player-manager. The Wagner-led Bucs won 5-4 win over the Reds, with the Dutchman banging a two-run double. Wilbur Cooper went the distance for the win at Forbes Field. Wagner resigned after a five-game stint at the helm; he much preferred playing to filling out lineup cards, and business manager Hugo Bezdek took the reins. 
• 1927 - Per BR Bullpen, SS Glenn Wright, on the way home from St. Louis after being beaned while batting against the Cards, was slightly injured when the train he was riding wrecked in Ohio. “Buckshot” lost two weeks to the twin traumas, not returning to the lineup until July 14th. Lee Meadows, who accompanied Wright on the trip home, escaped shaken but unscathed. 

Don Gross - 1960 Topps

• 1931 - LHP Don Gross was born in Weidman, Michigan. Gross pitched from the pen for the Bucs from 1958-60, going 6-8 with a 3.82 ERA. The Pirates made one of their “whatever was I thinking of” deals when they got him from the Reds; they sent RHP Bob Purkey to Cincinnati, where he won in double figures for eight seasons and made three All-Star teams. 
• 1933 - 1B/OF Dave Roberts was born in Panama City, Panama. After a couple of years playing off the Houston Colt .45’s (Astros) bench, Roberts spent a year on the farm and joined the Bucs in 1966 via the Rule 5 draft, going 2-for-16 in his last MLB shot while spending most of the campaign at AAA Columbus. Afterwards, he played eight seasons in Japan (1967-74). 
• 1934 - A small stone monument dedicated to Barney Dreyfuss was unveiled outside Forbes Field’s RF gates, leading to Schenley Park, on the 25th anniversary of the ballyard. The monument was later displayed in TRS and it’s now located at PNC Park, on the concourse behind home plate. The ceremony didn’t help the Bucs, who were 4-2 losers to the Cubs. 
• 1960 - Dick Stuart bombed three consecutive HRs to key an 11-6 win as the Pirates split a DH with the second place Giants at Forbes Field. Stuart had seven RBI in the nitecap and joined Ralph Kiner as the second Pirate to hit three homers in a game at Forbes Field. Joe Gibbon worked 7-2/3 innings, giving up six hits and a run after Vinegar Bend Mizell was chased by the G-Men in the second frame. The Bucs were flattened in the opener, losing by an 11-0 count. 
• 1962 - The Pirates clobbered the Cards, 17-7, at Busch Stadium. Smoky Burgess banged out two homers and a double, good for seven RBI. Roberto Clemente had a hot stick, too, going 4-for-5 with a homer, a double and five runs driven in. Dick Groat, Bob Skinner and Dick Stuart added three knocks apiece as the Pirates drilled 22 hits against St. Louis. 
• 1965 - Post Gazette Sports Editor Al Abrams disclosed that in May, in the midst of an eight-game losing streak, the Pirates and the Braves were close to pulling the trigger on a Lee Maye for Vern Law, Donn Clendenon and Jerry Lynch swap. But the Bucs turned it around on the field and the deal (thankfully for Pittsburgh) fell through. Milwaukee sent Maye to the Houston Astros instead for Ken Johnson/Jim Beauchamp and he never developed into more than a platoon guy and off-season singer with the Five Crowns & the Hearts. Law won 17 games in ‘65 and a dozen more the next season, the often-dangled Clendenon played through the 1968 campaign for the Bucs, and Lynch retired as a Buccaneer at age 35 in 1966.

6/30 From 1970: Burney-Hanny, Perez-McWilliams, Game Tales - Perez 3-HR, Jon & DD Gems, Cutch POTM; HBD Cole, Drew, Delwyn & Chan

• 1973 - RHP Chan Ho Park was born in Kong Ju City, South Korea. He finished his 17-year MLB career in Pittsburgh in 2010 after being claimed from the New York Yankees, making 26 appearances and slashing 2-2/3.49. He tossed for two more years in Korea before retiring to focus on various children charities on behalf of his Chan Ho Park Dream Foundation. 
• 1978 - The Bucs lost both a ballgame and Dave Parker in the ninth inning at TRS. The Pirates were leading, 3-2, when two errors helped the Mets to four runs. The Pirates came roaring back. Frank Taveras and Omar Moreno singled with one out, and Parker followed with a triple to cut the lead to 6-5. Bill Robinson lifted a fly to RF Joel Youngblood, and his throw home beat the tagging Cobra, who tried to run through New York catcher John Stearns, a former defensive back in college. Instead Stearns exploded into him to make the tag, ending the game and breaking Parker’s jaw & cheekbone all in one fell swoop, then spiking the ball after the play. David was Cobra-tough, though, returning 16 days after his bones were set and his jaw wired shut, first wearing a goalie's mask, then a football helmet and later a cage to protect his puss. He slumped on his return - he was on a liquid diet and lost 20 pounds - but rediscovered his stroke in time to repeat as league batting champ (.334) and was voted the Senior Cicuit’s MVP. 
• 1982 - The Atlanta Braves traded LHP Larry McWilliams to the Pirates for RHP Pascual Perez and minor leaguer Carlos Rios. Both pitchers were solid starters for a spell (each won 33 games during his next three seasons) in a rare even-up deal while Rios never made the show.
• 1982 - UT Delwyn Young Jr. was born in Los Angeles. A touted minor-league prospect, Delwyn was a AAA All-Star and played for Team USA, but the Dodgers outfield was loaded and Young was sent to Pittsburgh for Eric Krebs & Harvey Garcia. He became the starting 2B, replacing the traded Freddy Sanchez. Delwyn began on fire but faded during the dog days, relegating him to a utility role in 2010. His bat slipped - he hit .238 following a .266 season - and he became a free agent. Young had a couple of bites, but never caught on in the majors again. 

Delwyn Young - 2010 Topps

• 1983 - Utilityman Drew Sutton was born in El Dorado, Arkansas. Drew had a dizzy but brief Bucco stay. The Pirates purchased Sutton from the Atlanta Braves on May 20th, 2012. Then Tampa Bay purchased Drew from the Bucs on the next day; the Pirates had let him go as a professional courtesy because the Rays were going to add him to their MLB roster. 18 games and a month later, Sutton was DFA’ed by Tampa and claimed by Pittsburgh. He became the stuff of local folklore when Drew hit his first career walk-off home run into PNC’s batter’s eye off the Astro’s Wesley Wright to give the Pirates a come-from-ahead win after a blown save by Joel Hanrahan. The victory gave the Pirates a share of first place. Drew left as a free agent after the year, spent one more season as a 30-year-old at AAA Pawtucket in the Boston system and then retired. 
• 1987 - IF Cole Figueroa was born in Tallahassee, Florida. He made three brief stops in the show between 2014-16 with his last hurrah in Pittsburgh. He got into 23 games in 2016, batting .154. He read the writing on the wall; he’s now with the Tampa Bay Rays, working in Baseball Research & Development and putting his Sports Management degree from Florida (he was selected to the All-SEC Academic Team) to good use for a club that appreciates its techies. 
• 1992 - Pittsburgh eked out a 2-0 win v St. Louis at Busch Stadium. Doug Drabek tossed a three-hit, complete game whitewash with nine strikeouts. It was the third time that Drabek went the distance on the road to a career-high 10 CGs during the season. The Bucs scored both runs in the sixth off Rheal Cormier when Cecil Espy and Chico Lind’s back-to-back two-out singles plated Lloyd McClendon and Don Slaught. Espy’s was a game-winning gift; his in-between hopper got through SS Tim Jones for a single and error to score the first run and set up the second. 
• 1997 - Jon Lieber tossed a five-hit, 10-K, complete game 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox at TRS, backed by homers from Kevin Young and Dale Sveum. But the most memorable part of the afternoon was Lieber’s dominance of Albert Belle, whom he whiffed four times. The 28,070 fans loved it; Belle was in the first year of an $11M contract, while the “Freak Show” Pirates had a $9M payroll for the entire team. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette headline for Bob Smizik’s game story was “Pirates Clang Belle.” Lieber also held Frank Thomas, who was making a mere $7.15M, 0-for-2, limiting the Big Hurt to a sac fly. It also launched a seven-game winning streak for the dark horse Buccos, taking them from third place to the top spot by the first week of July. 

Jason Schmidt - 1999 Skybox Premium

• 1999 - The Bucs rode an eight-run fourth frame to a 9-1 win over the Phillies at TRS. Brian Giles had a three-run homer, Al Martin had a three-run bases-clearing double and Brant Brown doubled in another pair as the Bucs banged out six hits with three walks in their big frame. Jason Schmidt cruised to victory, with ninth inning help from Brad Clontz. 
• 2006 - The hottest team in baseball, the Detroit Tigers (at the time, 54-25, and eventually World Series bound) rolled into PNC Park with a boatload of old Bucco honchos: Manager Jim Leyland and his coaches Gene Lamont, Lloyd McLendon, Andy Van Slyke, Don Slaught and Rafe Belliard. They won the opener, 7-6, and took 2-of-3 games of the series. Motown also rostered a bunch of future Buccos during the visit - Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe, Jason Grilli and Wil Ledzema all appeared during the set and all eventually donned a Pirates uniform. 
• 2007 - To protest the team’s small payroll and general ineptitude, a group called “Fans for Change” staged a walkout at PNC Park. Estimates ranged from a few hundred to a few thousand of the 26,959 on hand who strolled out of the park after the third inning. They picked a bad day for it, as the Bucs beat the Nats 7-2 behind Tom Gorzelanny, backed by a three-run homer by Adam LaRoche. Though the sentiment was widespread, the boycott had little effect. 
• 2008 - The Pirates penciled a pitcher in the eight-hole for the first time in over 50 years when John Russell had Paul Maholm (.161) bat ahead of Jack Wilson (.312); Bobby Bragan had been the last Pittsburgh skipper to use the ploy during the 1957 campaign. It didn’t exactly juice the attack as the Bucs went down, 4-3, to the Cincinnati Reds at GABP after Matt Capps gave up a two-run homer in the ninth to Junior. Maholm went 0-for-3; Wilson 1-for-3. 
• 2009 - The Bucs traded LF Nyjer Morgan and LHP Sean Burnett to the Washington Nationals for RHP Joel Hanrahan and OF Lastings Milledge in a change-of-scenery swap. Hanrahan would become the major piece, eventually taking over as the Pirate closer. Burney tossed for eight more years while Morgan played into the 2014 campaign. They also shipped utilityman Eric Hinske to the New York Yankees for minor leaguers C Eric Fryer and RHP Casey Erickson. 

Joel Hanrahan - 2012 Topps

• 2013 - The Pirates won their ninth straight game, 2-1, in 14 innings over the Brewers at PNC Park. The yard was packed with 35,351 fans on a Sunday afternoon, but the game was delayed in the second inning by rain for nearly 2-1/2 hours, and the bullpens took over with Milwaukee ahead, 1-0. Andrew McCutchen tied the game in the eighth when his two-out knock drove in Starling Marte. The Pirates left the bases loaded in the 13th to miss a golden chance, but Russ Martin, the last position player remaining, singled home Gaby Sanchez, who had an infield knock and stolen base to open the frame, with the game winner in the next go-around. Tony Watson got the win after three scoreless innings. He followed five other Pirate relievers, and the ensemble tossed 12 innings of two-hit, shutout ball without a walk, led by Vin Mazzaro’s perfect five-inning stint (it was the first Bucco five IP+ bullpen perfecto since Elmer Ponder did it in 1919). It was the first time in franchise history that the pen put up 12 consecutive zeros in one game. 
• 2017 - The Bucs were bombed by the Giants, 13-5, at PNC Park to complete a San Francisco sweep, but the G-Men couldn’t slow down Andrew McCutchen. He went 2-for-2 with a walk to close out a red-hot June. He slashed .411/.505/.689 with six homers, 23 RBI and 22 runs scored, taking the Player-of-the-Month Award for a franchise record fifth time. 
• 2022 - Michael Perez became the third Pirate in 12 days to bang three homers in a game, joining Bryan Reynolds (6/29) and Jack Suwinski (6/19), while Oneil Cruz and Suwinski added bombs of their own at PNC Park in an 8-7 win over the Brewers; all the Bucco runs were the result of long balls. Pittsburgh carried an 8-4 lead into the ninth, but Milwaukee made a game of it by scoring a trio of runs off David Bednar, who was just coming off a couple of down days with a sore back. Yerry De Los Santos came on to close the door on the Brew Crew, stranding two runners with two away, to earn a save of JT Brubaker’s win. It was the first multi-homer game of Perez’s MLB career, his first big-league four-hit game (he went 4-for-4) and the first time this season he had collected more than one hit in a contest. The Pirates made the record book as the first MLB team to have three players smack three homers in a game in the same month. 
• 2024 - Pittsburgh beat Atlanta, 4-2, at Truist Park. Barney Falter opened and the last four frames were covered by a short-handed bullpen (Kyle Nicholas, Carmen Modlzinski and Aroldis Chapman) as the trio served goose eggs. The attack was double-pronged as Oneil Cruz and Rowdy Tellez each homered and had two RBI to account for the Bucco runs. For Tellez, it was a fitting finish to a sizzling month. He ended May batting .177 (his BA for the month was .143) and was on the edge of being released, at least in the eyes of the media, when he caught fire in June. Rowdy hit .333 with three homers and 14 RBI in 66 ABs (he had just one long ball and eight RBI in April-May) and went from being one the season’s off-season busts to a Bucco fan fave.

6/29 Through 1974: Cheney-Sturdivant, Game Tales - Briles & Moose Gems, Ralph 5 RBIs, Expo Park Finale; HBD Rock, Whitey, Patsy & Heinie

• 1867 - IF Henry “Heinie” Reitz was born in Chicago. Heinie had established himself as a dependable .290 hitter over his first five years and the Pirates sent three players to Washington to get him. Father Time won this deal. The 32-year-old Reitz played just 35 games for the Bucs, hitting a career low of .262 and was traded to Milwaukee of the American Association for Harry Smith, a backup catcher. Heinie never played major league ball again after the deal and became a sad but historic footnote in baseball history when he died in 1914 at age 47, the first major league player to meet his Maker as the result of a car accident. 
• 1876 - LHP Patsy Flaherty was born in Mansfield (now Carnegie). The Flaherty and Wagner families were neighbors and Patsy & Johannes were lifelong friends. Flaherty was a “quick-pitch” stylist and master of the pickoff (between pitching as soon as he got the ball back without a windup and his deceptive pickoff move, there’s a misty bit of baseball lore that he struck out at least two batters who swung at throws to first!) who was recommended to the Pirates twice by his bud Hans. He pitched for the Bucs in 1900 and then again from 1904-05. He went 29-19-1/2.85 in that span. When he retired after nine years of major league ball with a dead arm, he coached, managed and scouted for various clubs until 1940.
• 1907 - The Pirates edged the Cubs 2-1 at West Side Park when CF Tommy Leach threw out Chicago’s Harry Steinfeldt at the plate in the ninth inning. Per the Pittsburgh Press: “...the wee outfielder (Leach)...was as active as a cat all afternoon. Tommie grabbed the bounding sphere and hurled it to catcher (George) Gibson at the plate. It was a perfect throw and had ‘Steiny’ beaten by 20 feet.” 35-year-old Deacon Phillippe, in his last season as a full-time starter, was the winner over Chi-town’s Ed Reulbach, who had a 17-game victory streak. 

Press - 6/30/1909

• 1909 - The Pirates won the final game they played at Exposition Park by an 8–1 count from the Chicago Cubs in front of 5,543 people, moving on to Oakland and Forbes Field the next day. George Gibson banged the final big league hit in the ballpark and Lefty Leifield earned the win over Three Finger Mordecai Brown. Lefty ended the game dramatically, striking out Jim Archer. Tommy Leach and Dots Miller, with four RBI, each collected three hits, and three other Bucs had a pair of knocks. The Park was ushered out in appropriate style - “Commodore” Charles Zieg played Taps as the flag was lowered after the contest. It was a full circle finale: the Cubs launched the Expo in 1891 against the Alleghenys as the Chicago Pirates and would perform the same honors for Forbes Field against the Pirates, both opening and closing the Oakland yard. 
• 1910 - Burgess “Whitey” Whitehead was born in Tarboro, North Carolina. A good glove, erratic hitting infielder, Whitey put in eight years with the Cards and Giants, winning a World Series, three NL pennants and earning an All-Star selection. After missing three seasons while in the military, he returned in 1946 for a last hurrah with the Pirates, hitting .220 at age 36 and then retiring after two more years toiling in the minors. Whitehead was elected into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and was the last surviving member of the Gas House Gang when he died in 1993 at the age of 83. Fun Fact: He hit 17 career homers; they were all in the Polo Grounds, 16 as a Giant (S/O to John Dreker of Pirates Prospects) 
• 1915 - The Bucs and Cards split a doubleheader at Robison Field in less than ideal conditions. Today’s groundskeepers would be aghast, but the St. Louis crew used 300 gallons of gas to “bake” the infield after rain had turned it to mush. Doc Johnson of the Redbirds and the Buccos Hans Wagner both suffered minor leg injuries (they returned the next day) on the torched surface. Left fielder Max Carey, who had three assists in the two games, collected one with an unwitting helping hand from the hitter: the Cards LF Cozy Dolan's drive hit his own glove in the grass behind third base (it was common practice to leave your glove on the field between innings) and Carey took advantage of the deflection to throw Dolan out at second. Pittsburgh won the opener, 8-6, by scoring four ninth-inning runs. They were led by Hans Wagner and Carey with two hits and RBIs each; Babe Adams pitched the last two frames for the win. The Cards took the nitecap, 6-4, holding off the Pirates after jumping out to an early 6-0 lead. 

Max Carey - 1915 Cracker Jack

• 1949 - Ralph Kiner had a feature article running in the current Saturday Evening Post and celebrated by driving in five runs with a grand slam (the fourth of his four-year career) and a double to lead the Bucs to a 7-3 win over the Reds at Forbes Field. Johnny Hopp led the hit parade with three knocks while Kiner, Pete Castiglione and Dino Restelli had a pair of raps. Vic Lombardi was given a six-run lead after two innings and coasted to the win, with a three-run dinger surrendered to Virg Stallcup his only major miscue. Kiner’s homer was his 19th of the year, tying him with Ted Williams for the MLB lead, and Ralph eventually ran away from the Splendid Splinter to take the title with 54 long flies, the Bucco record. 
• 1952 - The Bucs stopped the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1, at Forbes Field behind Howie Pollet. The game went just five frames as a thunderstorm washed away the final 12 outs. Howie and Mother Nature teamed up to pull the plug on Donora’s Stan “The Man” Musial’s 24-game hitting streak; he walked and lined out in his only two at-bats before the weather turned soggy. 
• 1961 - The Pirates traded RHP Tom Cheney, 26, to the Senators for 32-year-old RHP Tom Sturdivant. Sturdivant slashed 14-7-3/3.49 for the Pirates in 65 games (23 starts) before being sold to the Tigers in 1963. Cheney lasted until 1966 with DC, and in an outlier to a journeyman career (19-29-2/3.77), set the single game MLB strikeout record, whiffing 21 Orioles batters on September 12th, 1962 in 16 innings, tossing a three-hitter in a complete game win. 
• 1965 - 28,589 fans got their fill of baseball at Forbes Field when the Bucs split a twilight twin bill with the Reds. The contests started at 6:05 and ended at 1:42 AM, with the Pirates taking the opener, 2-1, in 16 innings and dropping the second game, 7-5. Cincy had 11 hits in the first game but went 1-for-11 w/RISP; the last of the Buccos six hits was a two-out rap by Roberto Clemente that scored Bob Bailey, making a winner of Steel City’s fourth hurler, Don Schwall. The Reds broke out of their malaise with a five-run fourth frame in game two to overcome two-hit outings by Clemente, Manny Mota and Donn Clendenon to hang a loss on Joe Gibbon. 

John Wehner - 2014 Topps Debut

• 1967 - John Wehner was born in Carrick. The Rock was drafted out of Indiana University by the Pirates in the seventh round of the 1988 draft and the infielder spent nine seasons (1991-96, 1999-2001) with the Bucs as a utilityman, hitting .250. On October 1st, 2000, Wehner hit the final home run smacked at Three Rivers Stadium. He played every position except pitcher during his career. John shares the major league record of 99 consecutive errorless games at third base with Jeff Cirillo and has a 1997 World Series ring won with the Florida Marlins under Jim Leyland. After a couple of years as a Bucco hitting coach at Altoona, he became an analyst on the Pirates’ TV team. 
• 1968 - The Pittsburgh Press sports page lede was “M-000 000 000-se Blanks Phils” after Bob Moose twirled a two-hit, one walk, eight-K performance at Veterans Stadium to claim a 1-0 win. Both of the hits were weak, with one being a bad-hop single off Maury Wills’ mitt and the other a ball through the box that Moose couldn’t react to quickly enough. His eight whiffs were of just three Phillies - Dick Allen (four times), Johnny Briggs (twice) and pitcher Larry Jackson (two times - both on foul third strike bunts). The Buccos' only score came in the ninth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Matty Alou hit a two-hopper to seven-time Gold Glove winner Bill White at first; against the odds, it went through his wickets to allow Wills to score the game’s only run. 
• 1972 - Nellie Briles spun a three-hitter (all collected by Boots Day) as the Bucs romped over the Montreal Expos, 9-0, at Three Rivers Stadium. Nellie got all the help he needed from Manny Sanguillen, who had four hits and scored three times, and Richie Hebner, who bopped a two-out, three-run homer. Briles even helped himself by singling in a run and then coming around to score as he ran his record to 6-2 with the complete game victory.

6/29 From 1975: Game Tales - Chapman K Mark, B-Rey Bops, Goin' Downtown, Stairs-Way, Pops #400, Shelty All-Star; HBD Tony

• 1977 - Pops Stargell became the first Pirates player to hit 400 career home runs when he connected in the fifth frame off Eric Rasmussen in a 9-1 win at Busch Stadium. Bill Robinson had a four-bagger and double while Phil Garner added a long ball against the Cards. Bruce Kison and Goose Gossage combined for a seven-hitter. Captain Willie finished his career with 475 bombs, far and away the most by a Bucco - Ralph Kiner is a distant second with 301. 
• 1977 - RHP Tony McKnight was born in Texarkana, Arkansas. Tony was a first round draft pick and pitched modestly well for Houston (5-1/3.91 in nine starts) in limited work. The Pirates took a dice roll on the 24-year-old by swinging a deadline deal that sent reliever Mike Williams to the ‘Stros for him. They rolled snake eyes; Tony went 2-6/5.19 in 12 starts with a 1.572 WHIP, then ended his career with two years in the minors. He’s now a coach for the Texas A&M at Texarkana Eagles. Williams became a free agent and re-signed with the Bucs in 2002. 
• 1978 - Rennie Stennett, gimpy but game with a bum ankle, came off the bench in the eighth and tripled in Phil Garner to give the Bucs a 4-3 win over the Mets at TRS. The drive gave Grant Jackson the win with a ninth-inning save by Ed Whitson after they took over from Bert Blyleven and Kent Tekulve. Willie Stargell had three knocks, including a homer and double, and Kenny Macha added three more, one a triple, to account for half of the Pirates 12 hits. 
• 2000 - Jason Kendall put on a show with two hits, including a homer, walk, two stolen bases, three RBI and two runs as the Bucs outlasted the Cubs, 5-4, in 10 innings at TRS. He capped the game with a walk-off single to bring home Mike Benjamin for the bonus baseball win. Marc Wilkins, the fourth Pirates pitcher, got the victory in a game started by Jose Silva. 

Matt Stairs - 2003 Topps Advantage

• 2003 - Matt Stairs drove in four runs with a homer and double while Jason Kendall added four knocks to lead the Bucs to a 9-0 whipping of the Rockies at PNC Park. Jeff Suppan pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout for the win. In the day’s other big news, veteran first baseman Kevin Young was released. He was hitting just .202 and the writing was on the wall, but it was a bittersweet split as KY was a respected clubhouse guy and mentor for many of the players in the organization as the 34-year-old had spent 11 of his 12 big league years with Pittsburgh. 
• 2005 - LHP Ollie Perez was placed on the DL with a broken toe. He kicked a laundry cart in frustration after being pulled from a game in St. Louis on the 26th (an eventual 10-inning, 5-4 Pirate win) and was out of action for 10 weeks. He was traded to the Mets the following year. 
• 2006 - The Pirates edged the Chicago White Sox at PNC Park, 7-6, ending a club-record 13-game losing streak. Freddy Sanchez was the hero with four hits, including a walk-off ninth inning homer. He had help from the tres Jose's - Bautista, Castillo and Hernandez had two hits - and Jack Wilson, who also rapped out a pair of knocks. Mike Gonzalez got the win. 
• 2012 - The Pirates pounded four homers on the way to a 14-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones, Clint Barmes and Alex Presley all went yard. Cutch had a 4-for-5 day with four runs and three RBI; Alvarez added four RBI. Kevin Correia went five frames for the win; Brad Lincoln and Chris Resop covered the final four innings. It was an early leg of a 24-of-35 winning streak that put them 16 games above .500 in early August, but a late free fall left them at 79 wins for their 20th straight losing season. 
• 2013 - A life-size statue of Roberto Clemente was unveiled at the 25-acre Roberto Clemente State Park along the Harlem River in the Bronx. The likeness, sculpted by Maritza Hernandez, was the first in New York to honor a person of Puerto Rican heritage, according to the park's director. The park opened in 1973 as the Harlem River Park before being renamed after Clemente, and holds an annual Roberto Clemente Week to celebrate its namesake. 

Josh Harrison - 2014 Topps Update

• 2014 - Josh Harrison hit his first career leadoff home run and Francisco Liriano allowed one run in seven innings while striking out 11 as the Bucs beat the SF Giants, 3-1, at AT&T Park. J-Hay went deep in his third straight game and was matched by Travis Snider, who added the Buccos final pad with a two-run blast in the second frame for his third game with a bomb. 
• 2021 - The hapless Bucs barely avoided being no-hit when Ka’ai Tom, batting .131 (he was in a 2-for-39 slump), lined a single to right to open the ninth inning against German Marquez at Coors Field for the Pirates sole knock. It was the only highlight of an 8-0 drubbing against Colorado, the second straight night they had been whitewashed by the Rockies. 
• 2022 - Bryan Reynolds set career-highs by banging three homers and driving in six runs to lead Pittsburgh over Washington at Nationals Park by an 8-7 count to end a Pirates five-game losing streak. Daniel Vogelbach also homered and a big run was scored thanks to the rule book. With one out in the fifth inning and the score tied, Hoy Park was on second and Jack Suwinski was on third. Ke’Bryan Hayes’ low liner to 1B Josh Bell was snagged as both runners were off on contact. Bell threw to 3B Ehire Adrianza, who tagged Park and then stepped on the base. He should have stepped on the base first as Suwinski crossed the plate before Park was out, and his run counted. The blue crew invoked the “fourth out” rule because Washington didn’t appeal before leaving the field though Suwinski never retouched third; the two bads added up to a good thing for the Bucs. Both teams burned their pens; the Nats used six pitchers and the Bucs five, with Chase De Jong getting the win and Yerry De Los Santos earning his first MLB save. 

Henry Davis - 2023 Bowman Sights On September

• 2023 - The Pirates, who had lost 12-of-13, had a bat revival and won the first two games against San Diego at PNC Park. This third day started out ominously; yesterday’s contest was played in wildfire haze from the Canadian forest fires and today was no better, with the start delayed 45 minutes and the players wanting to reschedule. But the Pirates, after talking to MLB and the MLBPA, said play on. It looked at first to be a bad decision on several levels, the main one being an early 4-0 deficit. But Pittsburgh ground it out, scoring on a Nick Gonzales sac fly in the fourth and a Henry Davis single in the sixth. Then in the seventh, the Pirates, with help from the Friars, scored the tying runs when Jack Suwinski’s dribbler up the first base line was tossed into right by the pitcher, who was trying to thread a throw through a crowd approaching the sack. An out later, Davis dropped a flare into right to plate Suwinski and give the Bucs a 5-4 lead. David Bednar came in with two away in the eighth to pick up a four-out save, striking out three to save the win for Dauri Moreta, the third of five Corsair hurlers used during the day. Recently promoted Davis went 3-for-4, chasing home a pair of runs and scoring once to lead the attack. It was the Pirates fifth sweep of the season.
• 2023 - Pirates field general Derek Shelton got a surprise call - he was the first Buc to be selected to the 2023 All Star team, as long-time bud Rob Thompson, the Phillies manager and AS skipper, added him to the National League staff. It was Shelty’s first All-Star appearance. 
• 2024 - Aroldis Chapman struck out his 1,197th career batter when he fanned Sean Murphy to overtake Billy Wagner for the most career Ks among lefty relievers (and yes, the glove was safely bubble-wrapped and sent off to Cooperstown). Paul Skenes had set the stage by tossing the first six innings, giving up a run - a leadoff homer to start the contest - on six hits with a pair of walks and nine strikeouts. Bryan Reynolds also kept his 25-game hitting streak alive with a two-out, ninth-inning triple, but it was all to no avail as the Bucs dropped a 2-1 decision in 10 innings to Atlanta. The Pirates stranded 12 and went 0-for-10 w/RISP.

6/28 Through the 1980s: Whitson-Madlock, Game Tales - Forbes Field Finale, Willie's #300, Hans #3,000, DH Dingers, TRS Packed; HBD Kevin, Orlando, Mike & Frank

• 1865 - IF Frank Scheibeck was born in Detroit. He spent parts of eight seasons in the show and sported the Bucco colors for 23 games in 1894, batting .353 as a utility guy who played five different positions. Frank stayed on in pro ball through 1906 and went on to umpire. He later held hometown day jobs as a real estate salesman and as an auto plant assembler. 
• 1880 - RHP Mike Lynch was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The righty pitched four seasons (1904-07) for the Pirates, picking up 32 wins and working over 400 innings in his first two years. He was still effective in his final two years with the team, but the Bucs had juiced up their staff and he became the odd man out, going to the New York Giants during the second half of ‘07 and then retiring to go into business. His career Pittsburgh line was 40-26/3.01.
• 1914 - Honus Wagner became the first 20th century ballplayer to collect 3,000 hits when he singled off of Cincinnati's rookie Pete Schneider in the second game of a twinbill at Redland Field. While a good day for Hans, it wasn’t such a good one for the Pirates. They lost both ends of the doubleheader to the Reds by 7-6 and 1-0 scores. The first loss was especially gruesome as the Bucs blew a 6-2 lead in the ninth triggered by a missed call. Up by a run with two outs and two aboard, a 3-2 foul tip was gloved by catcher Bob Coleman. The Reds on base started to run to the dugout, but the batter, Bert Niehoff, jogged innocently to first and the ump bought his act, calling it a check swing and ball four. A protest, made en masse by the Pirate infield and battery, was to no avail and a following single gave Cincy the game. The second was a pitching duel with Schneider’s three-hitter bettering the four-hit work of Marty O’Toole and Erv Kantlehner. In the long run, it made little difference as the Pirates finished seventh and the Reds last in the NL that season. (There have been a couple of June dates tossed around for Hans’ 3,000th hit. June 9th was the original consensus, but this date is the currently accepted one following research of old-timey box scores, which are generally kinda sketchy, and we cite both in the blog.) 

Honus Wagner - 1914 Cracker Jack

• 1916 - Cubs catcher Bill Fischer set a MLB record by catching all 27 innings of a doubleheader loss to the Bucs at brand new Wrigley Field. Pittsburgh won both games, 3-2, with the second game going 18 innings. The winning pitchers were Mike Prendergast and Tom Seaton, with Prendergast pulling double duty, coming on to get the save in the nitecap. Impressed with Fischer's stamina, the Pirates traded for him at the end of July, and he played his last two seasons for Pittsburgh, batting .22 in 135 games as a semi-regular catcher and pinch hitter. 
• 1938 - C Orlando McFarlane was born in Oriente, Cuba. Signed by the Bucs as an infielder in 1958, he was converted to catcher and got a cup of coffee with the Pirates in 1962, playing a bit more in 1964 and hitting .208 in his 45-game Bucco career. He was lost in the ‘65 Rule 5 draft to the Detroit Tigers and played three more years with Motown and the California Angels, but he battled nagging injuries while his impressive minor league bat never carried over to the show. Orlando played 10 years in the bushes with more stops in the Latin leagues. 
• 1942 - It wasn’t a very good year for Pittsburgh, finishing in fifth place, 36-1/2 games behind the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, but it was a pretty good day for the boys. They swept a twin bill from the New York Giants, 8-7 and 9-3, at the Polo Grounds behind a seven-homer barrage, with Bob Elliot and Jimmy Wasdell each banging a pair of bombs. It was their only winning day that week; they lost the three games before and three more afterward. 
• 1970 - SS Kevin Polcovich was born in Auburn, New York. He spent his brief MLB career of two years (1997-98) with the Pirates, hitting .234. The University of Florida Gator was drafted in the 30th round by the Bucs in 1992, getting his call when Kevin Elster was injured, and became a key member of the 1997 “Freak Show” that against all odds stayed in the divisional race until late September despite a $9M payroll. After he left the game, Kevin did some scouting for Florida and later established the Icrush Bat Company, a manufacturer of maple bats. 

Kevin Polcovich - 1998 Pacific (reverse)

• 1970 - The Pirates swept a twinbill from the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 and 4-1, in the last games played at 61-year-old Forbes Field in front of 40,918, the second largest crowd to gather at the Oakland field. Al Oliver hit the last home run in FF history and Jim Nelson got the final win, iced by a Dave Giusti save. Bill Mazeroski had the last Pirate hit there, a seventh inning double, and recorded the last put-out on a force play at second. It was a fitting finale; the Cubs were the first team the Pirates played to open Forbes Field in 1909, so the ballyard circle remained unbroken. The Bucs then went on the road and opened TRS on July 16th, after the All-Star break. Both clubs continued streaks - it was the Pirates seventh straight victory and the Cubs 10th straight loss. 
• 1973 - Willie Stargell hit his 300th career home run as the Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6–0, at TRS before a crowd of 39,932 fans. It was a first-inning blast, so the crowd didn’t have long to wait on Willie’s milestone. Al Oliver went 4-for-5 with a triple, two doubles and three RBI while Rennie Stennett added three hits to back Dock Ellis’ five-hitter. 
• 1979 - The Pirates traded pitchers Ed Whitson, Al Holland and Fred Breining to the Giants for P Dave Roberts plus infielders Bill Madlock & Lenny Randle. Mad Dog solidified the Bucco infield at third and spent six seasons with Pittsburgh, winning batting titles in 1981 (.341) and 1983 (.323). Roberts was solid for the Bucs (5-3-1/3.29) in ‘79-80, though at 35 he was near the end of his journey; 1981 was the last of his 13 seasons. Randle wasn’t here long enough to find his way to the North Shore before he was sold to the Yankees. Whitson pitched through 1991, winning 126 games and saving eight more while Holland worked out of various bullpens for 11 more seasons. Breining lasted five MLB years as a multi-role hurler.
• 1988 - Pirates fans broke down the gates for a second straight night as 53,357 (45,011 paid) of the faithful came out to see the Bucs’ Brian Fisher tangle with Sid Fernandez and the Mets at TRS. They left disappointed as Darryl Strawberry, Howard Johnson and Kevin Elster all went deep to lead the New York’ers to a 5-2 victory. The Pirates managed just three hits, including a Bobby Bonilla blast.

6/28 From 1990: Game Tales - King Cole, Beanbrawl, Late Put-Aways, Long Losing Streaks, Best Ump Show Ever; HBD Michael

• 1992 - The Bucs jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead, but by the ninth inning, the Expos had cut the edge to a run at Olympic Stadium. The Bucs took away the drama when their first eight hitters reached in the final frame, highlighted by back-to-back triples by Andy Van Slyke and Orlando Merced, a couple of two-baggers, and Will Pennyfeather’s first MLB hit, a bunt single. The big frame ended prematurely with a Chico Lind DP ball, but was plenty enough to carry the Pirates to a 12-4 victory. Merced had a homer to go with his triple and four RBI to help Jeff Robinson to the win. Steve Belinda, who came on in the eighth, earned the save. 
• 1993 - It took the Bucs nine innings to score five runs but just one frame to add four more as they rallied to take a 10-inning win from the Expos, 9-5, at Stade Olympique. There were two Buccos aboard via walks with two out in the ninth, and Orlando Merced was down to his last swing when he flared a single to right to tie the game. The Pirates were aided by Montreal gifts in the extra frame, when a walk and a poor decision on a bunt, sandwiched around an infield knock, loaded the bases with no outs. Another free pass forced home the lead run, then singles by Tom Foley and Jay Bell chased home three more Bucs. Tim Wakefield got the win, with Stan Belinda picking up the save; Pittsburgh went through six pitchers during the contest and the final five covered the final five innings scorelessly. The hot Pirates took their ninth victory in 11 games and snapped the seven-game winning streak of Expo twirler Denny Martinez. The top of the order reversed production roles; Tim Foley and Jay Bell did their lineup job by reaching base five times but didn’t score; instead, they drove in five runs. 
• 1993 - RHP Michael Feliz was born in Azua, Dominican Republic. Houston signed him in 2010 and he debuted in 2015. He averaged better than 13 K/nine innings with the ‘Stros from 2016-17 and became part of the Gerrit Cole package. He started as the seventh inning guy and was bumped up a notch when George Kontos was released, but hit on hard times and was removed from that role after compiling a 5.66 ERA. He was mostly in good graces in 2019, although still a roller coaster ride on the hill thanks to an excess of home runs and walks. Feliz missed most of 2020 with forearm issues and was claimed by the Cincinnati Reds after being DFA’ed early in 2021; he’s now in the New York Yankees organization. 

Michael Feliz - 2020 Topps Total

• 1998 - The Pirates had lost 5-of-6 and were down, 4-1, at Dodger Stadium when a Gary Sheffield tap on the cap started a fire. To be exact, it ignited a fight when he was easily tossed out at home, and then slapped Jason Kendall’s helmet off before he trotted to the dugout. JK aimed a couple of choice words toward Sheffield, and the two got together in an impromptu wrestling match, with the Dodger getting the worst of the deal, going to the hospital to get a cut under his eye stitched. It fired up the Pirates; Al Martin banged a two-run homer in the seventh to tighten the score and apparently it helped take the wind out of the LA sails as infield errors contributed to three more Bucco runs over the final two innings, giving Mike Williams a 6-4 win with a Rick Loiselle save. That was all the good news - the two combatants were each suspended three days (and ignored one another a few days later as teammates at the All-Star Game) and the Pirates went on to drop 10 of the next 13 games on their way to a last-place finish in the NL Central. 
• 2004 - With one gone in the ninth, Jack Wilson tripled and then scored on an error (a bad relay by Albert Pujols, of all people) to walk-off the Cardinals by a score of 2-1 at PNC Park. Kris Benson surrendered six hits and one run over eight innings to set up Jose Mesa’s victory. Craig Wilson and Jason Bay banged back-to-back doubles in the seventh inning to tie the game. 
• 2006 - The Bucs set a team record with their 13th straight defeat, eclipsing the old mark set by the 1939 club when the White Sox edged them, 4-3, at PNC Park with Paul Maholm taking the loss. They walked off the next game by a 7-6 score on a Freddy Sanchez homer, but still stumbled to a 67-95 campaign as Jim Tracy’s charges finished fifth in the division. 

Jose Tabata - 2010 Topps Update

• 2010 - The Pirates finally shook off a 17-game road losing streak that dated back to May 25th and defeated the Cubs by a 2-1 score at Wrigley Field. Jose Tabata was the man of the hour; his triple in the ninth chased home Ryan Doumit with the game-winner while he scored the first Pirates run back in the third frame, drawing a walk and coming around on Andrew McCutchen’s two-out three-bagger. Paul Maholm went eight innings for the win, with Octavio Dotel coming in for the save; he bopped the first Cub, then struck out the side swinging to bring it home. 
• 2011 - Alex Presley was called up to replace an injured Jose Tabata and banged out a pair of hits, including his first MLB homer, while driving in three runs to lead the Bucs to a 7-6 win over Toronto at the Rogers Centre. An unlikely pair of batting heroes, Matt Diaz and Ronny Cedeno, combined for five hits, three runs and an RBI to help the cause against the Jays. Chris Resop, Jose Veras and Joel Hanrahan pitched three scoreless frames to preserve the win for Kevin Correia. 
• 2013 - Gerrit Cole, the first overall pick of the 2011 draft, became the first Pirate rookie since Nick Maddox in 1907 to win the first four games he started when the Bucs shellacked the Brewers 10-3 at PNC Park in front of 36,875. Cole went six frames for the win, with Ryan Reid tossing three scoreless, two-hit innings to cruise home. They were supported by Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte, who each had three hits. Cutch had a double, homer, three RBI and a run while Starling added a double, triple, two runs scored and two RBI. 
• 2017 - Walking on the Roberto Clemente Bridge while on his way to work the Pirates-Rays game at PNC Park, umpire John Tumpane saw a woman scaling the span’s railing; she told him she wanted a better view of the river. Sensing that she was suicidal and ready to plunge into the Allegheny River, Tumpane grabbed one arm, passer-by Chris Dazen grabbed the other and a Tampa Bay staffer heading to the yard, Mike Weinman, joined the pair to keep her hogtied until emergency workers came to the rescue. John modestly said "I just happened to be there."

6/27 Through the 1980s: Pizarro-Henry, Game Tales - 9-Gamer, Arriba Bell-Ringer, Maz Cameo, HBD Al, Daryle, Lee, Elmer, Roy, Hank, Minute Man & Jackie

• 1861 - C Jackie Hayes was born in Brooklyn. Hayes played in three leagues - the National League, the American Association and the Players League - and spent two of his seven big league campaigns with the Alleghenys from 1883-84. Primarily a catcher, Jackie also played three infield positions and the corner outfield for Pittsburgh, batting .253. He fit right in with the rowdy bunch on the team at that time, gaining some notoriety for a late-evening brawl in a Cincinnati saloon. Hayes’ story had a sad ending as he died at the age of 43, deaf and suffering from locomotor ataxia, a condition that prevented him from walking unaided. 
• 1903 - The Pirates banged 15 hits off Iron Man Joe McGinnity, including four knocks by Honus Wagner, and it still took the Bucs extra innings to topple the Giants, 4-2, at the Polo Grounds. Tommy Leach hit a two-run double in the 11th, drilling a McGinnity curve off the LF wall, to earn a win for Deacon Phillippe, who notched his seventh straight victory. Hans stayed hot in the Big Apple; he had four hits in his next game against Brooklyn. 
• 1916 - P Cecil “Minute Man” Kaiser was born in New York. Per BR Bullpen, Kaiser got his start on the sandlots of West Virginia. Lured by a $700 per month paycheck, he pitched for the Grays in 1946-47, going 3-1/4.21 in 15 outings. He spent most of his time in the Latino leagues, not getting a shot in the minors until he was 35; unfortunately, his arm was gone by then. He was a small guy in stature at 5’6” but with great control and a killer curve. He became “Minute Man” because it was said that’s how long it took for him to strike out a batter. 
• 1921 - RHP Hank Behrman was born in Brooklyn. The righty pitched for four seasons, splitting 1947 between his hometown nine and the Pirates. The Bucs got him as part of the Al Gionfriddo deal, and used him for 10 outings (0-2/9.12) before selling him back to Brooklyn. He had a strong year for da Bums in 1946, showing a strong heater/curve combo, but as Rob Edelman of SABR wrote “His career was all promise and little delivery.” His last MLB campaign was in 1949 with the New York Giants and he tossed his last pro game in 1953 for Charleston of the American Association before his arm went bad. 

Roy Jarvis - photo via Find-A-Grave

• 1926 - C Roy Jarvis was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma. A 17-year-old bonus baby when he played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jarvis then served in the Navy during WW2 and then returned to baseball with the Pirates which had claimed his rights in the 1944 Rule 5 draft. (Roy was the last Pirate to lose a full season to WW2 military duty. Pittsburgh sent 28 MLB players and 15 minor-leaguers to the service in WW2 per “Baseball in Wartime.”) He got a couple of cups of coffee with the Buccos in 1946-47, hitting .163 in 20 games and spent the rest of his career in the minors, retiring after the 1955 campaign with 10 farm league seasons under his belt. 
• 1938 - C Elmo Plaskett was born in Frederiksted, Virgin Islands. Elmo played in 17 games for the Bucs between 1962-63, hitting .200. He was a great hitter in the minors, winning a batting title and being named “Player of the Year'' while with Asheville of the Sally League, but it didn’t carry over to the show. He played other positions beside catcher, but wasn’t one to write home about with the mitt, and when he broke his leg in a winter league game in 1964, it spelled the end of his MLB days in the pre-DH era. He played in the minors through 1969, then retired to operate beisbol programs as a rec specialist for St. Croix and was credited with developing Midre Cummings for the Pirates. Plaskett, who died in 1998 at the age of 60, had a sunny, Manny Sanguillen-type personality, was dedicated to baseball throughout his life, and is still a hero in the Virgin Islands. The city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, inducted Elmo into the Museo Pancho Coímbre (Sporting Hall of Fame), and the Little League program on St. Croix is named after him, per SABR. 
• 1967 - Bill Mazeroski hit into the only triple play of his career (although he participated in a pair as a fielder) at Shea Stadium. It didn’t hurt the Bucs, though - it was staged before the game and filmed in 10 minutes as a scene for the film “The Odd Couple.” Roberto Clemente was first called on for the shot; there are two stories regarding that per Rob Edelman's 2018 "The National Pastime: Steel City Stories." First, he thought it was for a children's promotional film and agreed to the scene for the minimum fee, and pulled out when he discovered it was a regular Hollywood production. The second was that he always beat the throw to first, either through pride or ability, and so they switched to the more laid back Maz. 

Lee Hancock - 1996 Leaf Signature

• 1967 - LHP Lee Hancock was born in North Hollywood, California. He got into 24 games from 1995-96 for the Pirates, with no decisions and a 4.45 ERA, and that was the extent of his MLB resume. Lee joined the Pirates in 1990 from the Mariners, swapped straight up for Scott Medvin, but spent most of his Bucco time on the farm at Buffalo and Calgary. The Cal-Poly alum finished his pro career the following year, split between the Giants and Cubs systems. 
• 1968 - The Bucs rearranged their bullpen by selling LHP Juan Pizarro to the Boston Red Sox and purchasing 40-year-old LHP Bill Henry from the San Francisco Giants. Pizarro pitched through 1974, returning to end his baseball days as a Pirate, while Henry was released by the Bucs in mid-August and got three more outings in ‘69 with Houston before his curtain fell. 
• 1971 - Roberto Clemente bombed a pinch hit homer in the eighth to give the Bucs a wild win, 10-9, at Philadelphia. He became the first player to “ring the bell” as his drive hit the duplicate Liberty Bell in the second level of center field at Veterans Stadium, chiming in to celebrate his 1,200 RBI. But Jose Pagan earned the game’s gold star with a pair of home runs and five RBI. Dave Giusti saved the win, despite giving up a three-run homer to Tim McCarver, for Dock Ellis, who had been cruising after a slow start until a late push in the ninth by Philly. The victory gave Pittsburgh a split on the day; they had dropped the twin bill’s opener by an 8-4 score despite Willie Stargell’s three hits, including a homer and double. 
• 1975 - 1B Daryle Ward was born in Lynwood, California. He played from 2004-05 for the Bucs, with a slash of .256/27/120. Ward joined his father, Gary, to become the first father-son combination in major league history to hit for the cycle after he matched his dad’s feat in 2004 against the Cards. Ward was also the first player to hit one into the Allegheny from PNC Park while he was a member of the Astros, launching his shot off Kip Wells in 2002. 

Daryle Ward - 2005 Fleer Tradition

• 1983 - The Pirates ran their winning streak to nine games while the Cardinals dropped their seventh straight as Pittsburgh won, 6-1, at Busch Stadium. The game did have some early excitement when Joaquin Andujar buzzed Marvell Wynne; payback came quickly when John Candelaria dusted him, earning an ejection from umpire Joe West and a near brawl. It devolved into a bench-clearing coffee clatch due to Chuck Tanner’s peacemaking intervention with the Buccos all lined up to take a shot at Andujar. Tanner was also booted (it was automatic; West had warned the clubs after Wynne bit the dust) as was Jim Bibby, who was a bit too rambunctious. A two hour and 20 minute rain delay gave both sides a chance to regain their cool, and Cecilio Guante’s work in relief kept the Cards at bay the rest of the way. The win capped the Pirates victory skein; they lost the next day at Wrigley Field. In other news, GM Pete Peterson announced that he wouldn’t talk contract during the season, leaving Kent Tekulve, Dave Parker and Bibby in the cold during their walk year; only Teke would return to the fold in 1984.
• 1989 - RHP AJ Schugel was born in Winter Haven, Florida. A waiver claim by the Bucs, he got into 36 games for Pittsburgh in 2016, going 2-2-1/3.63 as a long man in the pen with a nice 1.038 WHIP. He started 2017 at AAA Indy with a brief Pirates stop in June and more permanent residence in August, but spent 2018 on the DL. He opted for free agency afterward and following a 2021 stint in the New York Mets organization, he started ‘22 with the indie Milwaukee Milkmen and Kane County Cougars before moving on to ply his trade in the Mexican League.

6/27 From 1990: Grilli-Frieri, Game Tales - Cutch 16 Gamer, City Connection, Five Long Flies, B-2-Bs, Big Three, Denny Granny; HBD Yacksel

• 1991 - The Bucs finally solved rookie Frank Castillo in the ninth (he was making his MLB debut), turning a 3-0 deficit to the Cubs into a 4-3 win at TRS. Castillo and two relievers, Paul Assenmacher and Heathcliff Slocumb, gave up four singles, two walks, and a two-out wild pitch that allowed Barry Bonds to score from third with the walkoff game winner. Bob Walk worked the final frame to earn the win and run his record to 6-0 with Bill Landrum getting the save. 
• 1993 - It took a couple of comebacks, but the Bucs rallied past the Phils, 4-3, in 10 innings at TRS in front of 27,824. Down 2-1 in the eighth frame, Jeff King banged a two-out single to plate Carlos Garcia with the game-tying run. Stan Belinda gave up a score in the 10th, but the Pirates got him off the hook quickly when the first batter, Don Slaught, took a 3-2 Mitch Williams delivery and tucked it just inside the left field screen to knot the score. Jay Bell singled, then a bunt and a pair of walks later (one intentional, one not) set up King again. His second clutch knock brought the Pirates all the way back in a match that Zane Smith had started against Uniontown’s Terry Mulholland. Garcia had four hits and scored twice. 
• 1993 - RHP Yacksel Rios was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. A 2012 draftee of the Phils, he yo-yo’ed between them and AAA Lehigh from 2017-19. He was DFA’ed in July of ‘19, claimed by the Pirates, assigned to Indy and called up in September. Yacksel featured a 96 MPH heater, and the Bucs were hoping the change of scenery would help straighten out his control issues but he walked seven and bopped three batters in 14-1/3 Pirates innings. He was released in 2020 and is now in the New York Mets organization, his seventh team since leaving Pittsburgh. 
• 1995 - Denny Neagle helped himself to his ninth victory by belting a grand slam, the key blow in a 6-5 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Neagle became the first Pirate pitcher to hit a salami since Don Robinson on September 12th, 1985 and just one of six Buc hurlers to smack one in franchise history. Not known as a strong batsman, Neagle told Ben Walker of the Associated Press "Something must have been in the coffee." Paul Wagner earned a hold and Dan Plesac posted the save of Neagle’s victory. Despite his swat, Neagle still made his rep from the slab, making his first All Star appearance later in the campaign. 

Jermaine Allensworth - 1998 Upper Deck

• 1998- Pittsburgh traded OF Jermaine Allensworth, a 1993 first round draft pick, to the Kansas City Royals for 21-year-old minor league pitcher Manuel Bernal. It didn’t move either team’s needle very much. Allensworth’s last MLB year was 1999, and he left organized ball in 2008 after a long career playing on the farm and in the indie leagues. The righty Bernal never joined the Pirates, but remained in his native Mexico, tossing south of the border through 2009. 
• 1998 - Ishmael Valdez was one batter shy of throwing a perfecto against the Bucs at Dodger Stadium, giving up a leadoff eighth-inning single to Kevin Young. Valdez struck out seven and used just 97 pitches to tame Pittsburgh, 2-0. Francisco Cordova was the hard-luck loser, a victim of temporary loss of control when with two outs and a runner on third in the sixth, an intentional walk was followed by an unintentional pass to set up Raul Mondesi’s two-run single. 
• 2004 - Jason Bay, Jack Wilson and Craig Wilson combined to go 9-for-16 with three walks, three doubles, a triple and homer to score seven runs and drive in seven more as the Bucs romped over the Reds, 14-4, at GABP. Josh Fogg got the win after five relievers closed the deal. 
• 2007 - Xavier Nady and Ryan Doumit smacked back-to-back home runs with two outs in the 10th inning to give the Pirates a 7-5 win over the Miami Marlins at Dolphin Stadium. Nady homered twice and Jose Bautista banged a two-run shot to give Shawn Chacon the win, to go with a blown save, and Matt Capps finished for the save. Pittsburgh used seven pitchers - John Van Benschoten started and went four innings, walking five before Jim Tracy emptied the bullpen. Dewey had a rough night; the Bucs gave up one run and set up the tying tally thanks to passed balls. As they say in baseball, four long balls make up for a multitude of sins... 

Brandon Cumpton - 2014 Bowman

• 2014 - Two pups, the Bucs’ Brandon Cumpton and the Mets’ Jacob deGrom, pitched strong games and then turned the game over to the bullpens as the Pirates outlasted NY, 3-2, in 11 innings at PNC Park. Pittsburgh was clutch; Jordy Mercer singled in a pair of runs with two outs in the fourth, then Josh Harrison chased home Clint Barmes with the game winner with a two-out double to right center; both RBI knocks came on the first pitch. Jared Hughes picked up the win. 
• 2014 - In a change of scenery deal, the Pirates and Angels traded struggling closers, with Pittsburgh sending Jason Grilli to Los Angeles for Ernesto Frieri. Both had lost their closing gigs in 2014 (Mark the Shark Melancon took over for Grilli) after being the shut-down guy in 2013. Grilled Cheese had another good year left, notching 24 saves for Atlanta in 2015. He and Frieri both last pitched in MLB in 2017 for the Texas Rangers, with Ernesto hanging on in Mexico. 
• 2018 - Zach Wheeler put up seven zeros against the Bucs at Citi Field in a battle with Ivan Nova and left the bullpen a 3-0 lead; it wasn’t enough. The Pirates plated once in the eighth and then put up a four-spot against closer Jeurys Familia in the ninth to rally for a 5-3 win over the Mets. The Corsairs went small ball to win with five singles, a walk and sac fly doing the final frame damage against the New York nine. Felipe Vazquez claimed the victory. 
• 2019 - The Pirates swatted five homers on the way to a 10-0 win over the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park after having won the prior game, 14-2, with four bombs (two off 1B Tyler White, used by the ‘Stros as a ninth-inning mop-up guy). Former Astro Joe Musgrove tossed six innings of shutout ball, and another old Houstonian, Michael Feliz, tossed a 1-2-3 inning of relief. Kevin Newman and Jake Stallings each had three hits, including a homer. Starling Marte, Josh Bell and Corey Dickerson also went deep. Every Pirate but one had a rap (and he walked), while seven Buccos scored and six had RBI (six had both) in a balanced offensive effort. The Pirates became the first team ever to win back-to-back interleague games by 10+ runs (although the Yankees turned that trick in 1960 during the WS, ironically against the Bucs, with 16-3 and 10-0 wins in games 2 & 3). They also became just the fourth NL team since 1900 to hit four or more homers with four or more doubles in consecutive games. As a bonus, they were the first squad in 13 tries to win a series in Houston during the ‘19 campaign. 

Max Kranick - 2021 Darkside MLB Debuts

• 2021 - Max Kranick made his MLB debut, pitching five perfect innings and striking out three at Busch Stadium. His day ended after 50 pitches thanks to an hour’s rain delay, though he worked long enough to claim his first win as the Bucs romped over the Cards, 7-2, behind homers from Ben Gamel and Gregory Polanco along with three hits from Adam Frazier. Max, now with the Mets, defeated future Bucco Johan Oviedo in a match-up of 23-year-old twirlers. 
• 2023 - The Pirates introduced their City Connect uniforms, and they sure looked like keepers. The Bucs broke out of a weeks-long batting (and losing) slump with a 9-4 win over the San Diego Padres at PNC Park in front of 16,539 rooters. There were a couple of big league firsts checked off the bucket list - Nick Gonzales collected his first hit, a triple high off the Clemente Wall, for his first RBI and crushed his first homer, launching it 442’ into the batter’s eye shrubbery while Roansy Contreras kept the firsts coming with his first save, closing out Rich Hill's victory. Carlos Santana and Jack Suwinsky banged back-to-back long balls in the third inning and Andrew McCutchen kept his 16-game on-base streak alive with three hits. Santana also had a trio of raps, with Gonzales, Henry Davis, Rudolfo Castro and Austin Hedges posting a pair of knocks as eight players had a hit, seven pushed in runs and six scored. Finally, Josh Palacios robbed Juan Soto, pulling back his blast with a well-timed leap, to add the cherry on top.