4/2 From 1995: Bart Joins, Carlos Walkoff, Redbeard Granny, Skenes Gem & Game Days, GQ Couple, Strike Ends; RIP Larry, HBD Nick

• 1995 - The players’ strike ended after a court ruling undercut the owner’s position. The 1994–95 strike was the eighth work stoppage in baseball history as well as the fourth in-season work stoppage in 22 years. The strike began on August 12th, 1994, and resulted in the remainder of that season being canceled, including the postseason and, for the first time since 1904, the World Series. After spending 232 days walking the picket lines, the walk-out was the longest such stoppage in MLB history. 948 games were lost and the MLB became the first major pro sports league to lose an entire postseason due to labor struggles. Because of the strike, neither the 1994 or 1995 seasons were played in entirety; the strike was called after most teams had played 113 games in 1994 and 1995’s schedule was reduced to 144 games to accommodate the late settlement. 
• 1996 - Carlos Garcia banged a two-out, two-strike, three-run homer in the ninth off Alejandro Pena to break a 1-1 tie with Florida at Joe Robbie Stadium and propel the Pirates to a 4-1 win. Carlos’ stage was set when the inning was kept alive thanks to a Marlin error. Jason Christiansen earned the win while Dan Miceli retired all three batters he faced to notch the save. Denny Neagle started and went six frames with Francisco Cordova and Jon Lieber behind him. 
• 2002 - IF/OF Nick Yorke was born in Newport Beach, California. A first-round pick of Boston in the 2020 draft (#17 overall) from Archbishop Mitty HS, he was advancing through the BoSox system when he was dealt to the Bucs at the 2024 deadline for RHP Quinn Priester. Nick had gone through a couple of blah seasons, but was still Boston’s #8 prospect and got hot for Beantown at AAA Worcester (.310) and continued at Indy (.355), earning a mid-September call to the big team. He mainly played second with corner OF/3B time and hit .216 in 11 games/42 PA in Pittsburgh. He had a sluggish camp at the dish (.206 BA) and began the 2025 campaign at Indy to find his eye. Nick started out slowly at AAA but turned it on later in the summer to earn a September call-up. 

  

  Nick Yorke - 2024 Topps Now

• 2007 - The Pirates claimed the season opener with a 4-2, 10-inning win over Houston at Minute Maid Park. Jason Bay’s two-run homer in the 10th off Chad Qualls earned the victory for Matt Capps, who tossed a scoreless ninth after Xavier Nady tied it with a two-out, first-pitch solo shot served by Brad Lidge in the top half of the frame. Salomon Torres nailed down the save with a 1-2-3 10th to close out a match started by Zach Duke and Roy Oswalt. Both clubs collected nine knocks, but the Bucs turned three DPs to bail out their hurlers. Nate McLouth also went deep for the Buccos. 
• 2014 - The Pirates and Cubs hooked up for the longest baseball game ever played in Pittsburgh, a 16-inning marathon that lasted five hours and 55 minutes before the Bucs could eke out a 4-3 decision. Chicago tied it in the ninth and took the lead in the 12th, but the Corsairs knotted the score again on a two-out single by Starling Marte. Tony Sanchez ended the longest day with a knock to drive home Jose Tabata. Stolmy Pimentel got his first MLB win while Carlos Villanueva dropped his second straight game - he was the losing pitcher on Opening Day, another extra-inning affair played two days earlier. 
• 2018 - The Home Opener went the Buccos way thanks to an early grand slam by Colin Moran. It was his first at-bat in front of the home crowd, his second career homer, and his first curtain-call in Pittsburgh. The blast was only the third Home Opener granny by a Buc; Roberto Clemente (1962) & Ralph Kiner (1949) had the others. It gave the Buccos a 5-0 first inning lead over Minnesota, and the Pirates survived a four-run pitching meltdown in the sixth to hang on for a 5-4 win, their fourth without a loss. Jameson Taillon struck out nine Twinkies for the victory, with George Kontos earning his second career save. The game was played in front of 30,186, the smallest Opening Day crowd in PNC Park history, as a morning snowfall, low-40s temperatures and general malaise caused by the off season trades of fan favorites Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen took their toll. The Bucs sprinted out of the box with a mark of 11-4 by mid April, but finished up with an 82-79 slate, good for fourth place in the division and well out of the wild card race.

Joey Bart - 2024 Topps Update

• 2024 - With Endy Rodriguez out for the year and Yasmani Grandal’s foot injury landing him on the 10-day IL, the Pirates picked up C Joey Bart from the Giants, who had been DFA’ed, in exchange for RHP Austin Strickland, last year's 8th round pick from Kentucky. In four years of yo-yo’ing between the Giants and AAA Sacramento, Bart got into 162 MLB games and hit .219. He has a .274 BA in the PCL, so he carries the slash lines of either a Quad-A poster boy or a guy badly in need of a change of scenery, both a far cry from the days of being touted as Buster Posey’s replacement when he was selected second overall in the 2018 draft out of Georgia Tech. Out-of-options Bart went on the MLB roster and Indy’s RHP Colin Selby was DFA'ed while C Jason Delay was placed on the 10-day IL. The move was made official two days later. Joey liked his new digs; he got into 80 games in ‘24 (.265 BA/13 HR) and started behind the dish in 2025. 
• 2024 - Larry Lucchino passed away at the age of 78. Though he wasn't involved with the Pirates, Larry was Greenfield born-&-raised, and graduated from Allderdice HS. From there, he went to Princeton and Yale, got a law degree and went to work for Edward Bennett Williams firm. That link eventually led Lucchino into the president's role of the Baltimore Orioles (1988-93), San Diego Padres (1995-2001), and Boston Red Sox (2002-15). As an exec, he won four World Series and was key in building both the Camden Yards and Petco Park ballyards. 
• 2025 - Pirates have been featured in a whole host of sports and local media, but Paul Skenes took it to another level when he and LSU gymnast galpal Livvy Dunne were the stars of April's GQ story "Mr. & Mrs. Rizz." The article chronicled their relationship along with a fashion photo shoot. The day the mag hit the streets, he went out and shut down the Tampa Bay Rays. 
• 2025 - The Pirates were off to a miserable start to the season, having dropped four straight games with three walk-off losses to Miami in the previous series. So whatta ya’ do? Give Paul Skenes the ball. In his second start (he had a no decision in the Season Opener), he spun 102 pitches in seven innings, giving up one unearned run on three hits with six punchouts and the Bucs then traded runs with Tampa at Steinbrenner Field to hit the win column by a 4-2 count. Oneil Cruz homered and had two RBI with Dennis Santana, replacing David Bednar as the closer, earning the save. Skenes made the 25th start of his career, posting a 1.92 ERA with 183 strikeouts, to become the first pitcher in MLB history with 175+ strikeouts and a sub-2.00 ERA over his first 25 games.