10/1 Through 1974: Roberto & Waner BA Titles, MVP, Max's 51, Deac Wins 1st WSG, Game Days, RIP Goes, O'Connell Deal, Danny Done, HBD Vance, Jim, Specs & Bobby

1868 - SS Bobby Cargo was born in Pittsburgh. He only got into two MLB games, both as a Bucco, in 1892 as an injury replacement and went 1-for-4 after being signed from the local East End club. He was an off-season streetcar driver who still played minor league ball through 1903 (career BA .273 in 13 years) before he caught pneumonia while with Atlanta and passed away at age 35. Cargo was a Lawrenceville resident and was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery.

1895 - RHP Carmen “Specs” Hill was born in Royalton, Minnesota. Carmen pitched eight years in Pittsburgh (1915-16, 1918-19, 1926-29) and went 47-31-8 with a 3.26 ERA. He won 22 games for the NL Champion Pittsburgh Pirates in 1927. As for his nickname, Carmen was the second pitcher in major league history to wear glasses and the other players wouldn’t let him forget it. He also had a second nickname of "Bunker,” inspired by his last name of Hill.

1903 - Deacon Phillippe pitched a six-hitter while whiffing 10 to defeat the legendary Cy Young and the AL’s Boston Americans, 7-3. It was the first World Series game in baseball history, played at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds in front of 16,242 fans. For the books, the first WS hitter was CF Ginger Beaumont, who flew out to the American’s CF Chick Stahl. Tommy Leach got the first hit, a triple, and became the first runner to score when Honus Wagner singled him home for the first WS RBI (Wee Tommy went 4-for-5). Jimmy Sebring hit the first Series’ homer (a seventh inning inside-the-park dash) and drove in four runs. Although the series was not officially sanctioned by the leagues, the clubs had agreed during the season to a best-of-nine postseason showdown, and the World Series was officially OK’ed to be permanently staged starting in 1905.

1917 - Wilbur Cooper tossed a four-hit shutout as the Pirates closed the season with a 2-0 win over the Boston Braves at Forbes Field. Bill Webb had three hits and a run scored to lead the attack. Fritz Mollwitz also crossed home while Lee King & Max Carey drove in the runs. It was Cooper’s 17th win for a team that finished last by 47 games with only 51 victories.

1918 - OF Jim Russell was born in Fayette City, between Belle Vernon and Stockdale on the Mon. He played for the Pirates from 1942-47, starting all but his rookie campaign, and put up a .277 BA. In his final season, the CF’er had Hall-of-Famers Hank Greenberg and Ralph Kiner as bookends in the outfield. As a youth, he contracted rheumatic fever twice; his baseball career was cut short because of associated heart disease which sapped him in his later years.

Jim Russell - circa 1943 Wiki/Steve Russell

1922 - Max Carey swiped his 51st base against the Reds in a 5-1 loss at Redland Field. Not only did he lead the league in larceny, but his 51 steals in 53 attempts was the highest success rate ever achieved by a stolen base leader. His record of 31 straight steals without being caught (he stretched it to 36 straight during the ‘23 campaign) stood until 1975, when Davey Lopes put together a 38-swipe streak. Vince Coleman has the current mark of 50 consecutive steals.

1927 - Paul Waner collected a pair of hits against Cincinnati in a 9-6 win at Redland Field to finish the season with a Bucco record 237 knocks. The victory also clinched the pennant for the Pirates, who finished the year with 94 wins, 1-1/2 games ahead of St. Louis and two up on NY. Pie Traynor, Lloyd Waner and Earl Smith each added three hits to back Johnny Miljus. It was a big year for Big Poison - he won the BA crown at .380, led in RBI with 131 and won the MVP.

1934 - IF Chuck Hiller was born in Johnsonburg, Illinois. Hiller spent the finale of his eight-year career with the Pirates in 1968, going five-for-13 in 11 games, primarily as a pinch hitter. When he retired after the 1968 season, he became a minor league manager in the Pirates' organization for a year, then returned to the Mets in a similar capacity, working for the Mets' director of player development, Whitey Herzog, through 1972. He then served under manager Herzog as a MLB coach with the Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals, and later spent brief stints with the Giants and the Mets. In between his big-league assignments, Hiller served the Mets as an infield instructor in their minor league system, and managed in the Cards' organization. 

1944 - RHP Len “Meow” Gilmore set a couple of dubious Pirate records. His start against the Phils at Shibe Park was his only big league game, and he gave up 13 hits and seven runs, going the distance in a 7-1 loss. He was a poster boy for pitch-to-contact: all 36 batters he faced put the ball in play, leaving him with the Pirates standard for most innings pitched in a game without recording a strikeout or a walk. The Bucs had clinched second place and its $400 bonus in the opening bout of the day with a 9-1 victory behind Rip Sewell and a 17-hit attack, allowing manager Frankie Frisch the luxury of finishing the campaign with a rookie hurler. 

1946 - The Pirates hoped to bolster their staff by purchasing LHP Steve Nagy from Montreal, where he had gone 17-4/3.01 and led the club to an International League pennant. Alas, that hope faded as he tossed to a 1-3/5.79 line for Pittsburgh and spent most of his time at Indianapolis; in 1948, he was shipped to the New York Giants as part of the Bill Werle deal.

Rip Sewell - November 1949 Berger/Press

1949 - The Pirates released 42-year-old RHP Truett “Rip” Sewell after 12 years with the club (he spent his rookie campaign with the Tigers). Sewell appeared in 385 games as a Pirate (243 starts) with a line of 143-97-15/3.43 and two 21-win seasons to go with three All-Star berths. The Bucs had originally released him in 1947 with plans to add him to the coaching staff but instead inked him for active duty for two more seasons.  He was best known for the ol’ eephus, his blooper pitch, but his most valuable contribution came when Sewell, who never made more than $21,500 per year, came up with a funding mechanism for baseball's pension plan. On a train ride to Boston for the 1946 All-Star Game, he and St. Louis shortstop Marty Marion devised the formula to use revenue from the All Star Game to prime the pension pump, and it’s still part of the funding formula.

1949 -  IF Danny O’Connell officially came over from the Brooklyn Dodgers for a PTBNL (IF Jack Cassini) and $50,000 in a deal that had been announced a couple of days earlier. Danny spent two years with the Bucs, bookending two years of military service, and hit .293 as a Pirate. He was flipped to the Milwaukee Braves after the 1953 season for six players and cash. Cassini was a one trick pony; he had gotten into eight games for the Pirates in 1949, all as a pinch runner. He scored three times, and that was his MLB career.

1956 - SS Vance Law was born in Boise, Idaho. Drafted out of high school by Pittsburgh, the son of Bucco great Vern Law spent his first two years as a Pirate (1980-81) and hit .184 as a seldom used reserve. After being traded to the White Sox, he carved out an 11-year MLB career, including an All-Star season. Law showed his dad’s genes as he was also quite the fireman. He was called on seven times to pitch as an arm-saver in blowouts, and finished each outing while compiling a career ERA of 3.38 in eight innings.

1964 - Danny Murtaugh retired as Buc skipper, citing health reasons. Danny joined the Pirate front office, evaluating players for GM Joe L. Brown. Harry “the Hat” Walker was later named as his replacement. Danny became the Bucs' go-to manager; he was the Pittsburgh skipper for all or parts of 15 seasons over four different periods (1957–64, 1967, 1970–71, 1973–76).

1966 - The Giants swept Pittsburgh by 5-4 and 2-0 tallies at Forbes Field to eliminate the Pirates from the pennant race as Juan Marichal and Bob Bolin teamed up to defeat Pete Mikkelsen and Tommy Sisk. The Bucs ended up finishing in third place, three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Arriba's '67 Crown - 2016 Topps Flashbacks

1967 - Roberto Clemente ended the season by going 2-for-5 with a triple, homer, three RBI and two runs scored while winning his fourth batting title with a .357 average in a 10-3 victory over Houston at Forbes Field in front of 28,244 fans on Prize Day. And for the heck of it, he also threw out Sonny Jackson at home. Jerry May matched Roberto, going 3-for-5 with a homer, double, three RBI and two runs while Maury Wills added three more hits. Tommy Sisk finished the year with his 13th win. Roberto did do it all; he was also the manager for the day, as retiring skipper Danny Murtaugh (he’d eventually be back) handed over the reins to the Great One in the season finale. 

1972 - Steve Blass got the start and a chance for his 20th win, but was lit up for three first-inning runs and chased in the third frame by the New York Mets at Three Rivers Stadium as the Pirates fell 7-3. Injury was added to insult when Blass was yanked after a liner caught him in the arm, though he did recover to pitch well in the playoff series ultimately lost to the Reds. Steve never did reach twenty wins in his career; he fell apart the following season and was out of the majors in 1974. It was also Maz’s final regular season game; he was presented with a plaque by the team and pulled in the eighth inning so the fans could give him a proper final farewell.

1973 - By losing 4-3 to Randy Jones and the San Diego Padres at TRS on the season’s last day, the Bucs were officially eliminated from the NL East title hunt. They were 1-1/2 games back going into the contest, with the league leading Mets scheduled to play a doubleheader. New York won their first game, making the Pirates contest a moot point by the sixth inning. Bob Moose took the loss. The Padres put a lot of effort into making up the game (it was a rainout date from July 21st); they flew cross-country to play as the game had a potential impact on the pennant (a possibility of a three-way tie for the flag existed) even though they finished last in their division.

1974 - The Buccaneers took a one-game lead over the Cardinals in the NL East title race by beating the Cubs 6-5 at TRS. A two-run pinch hit homer by Bob Robertson in the eighth inning was the game winning blow while Dave Giusti closed out the last two frames of the contest to earn the come-from-behind win. The Pirates went on to clinch the pennant the next day.

10/1 From 1975: Cole Cuts, Cueto Game, Freddy Crowned, 'Rique Roll, Game Days, Staff Hires, SI Bo, TRS Finale, Lanny Retires, HBD Colin

1978 - The Pirates announced that coaches Joe Lonnett, Al Monchak and Larry Sherry would return next season, but not Jose Pagan. Pete Peterson said they weren’t displeased with Jose’s work, but were specifically looking for a batting coach and eventually brought in Bob Skinner while Pagan moved to the Oakland A’s as a minor league manager. Sherry also left before the next season started (he went to the California Angels), replaced by the Kitten, Harvey Haddix.

1980 - Enrique Romo had a big day in leading the Pirates to a 10-5 win at Shea Stadium. Not only did he work four frames to save the win for Jim Bibby, but he hit his first and only major league homer off Roy Lee Jackson - and it was a grand slam. That feat wouldn’t be matched again until 2016 when Josh Bell hit his first long ball with the bases juiced against the Cubs. Romo’s eighth-inning blast gave him breathing room, turning a 6-5 nail-biter into a comfortable 10-5 tally. He had help at the dish from Dave Parker, who had three hits, three RBI and a long ball of his own along with Omar Moreno, who added three raps and a stolen sack. It was Bibby’s 19th win of the season, matching his career high. 

1987 - Team President Mac Prine and the Pirates agreed to terms with GM Syd Thrift (though he held out for more control and didn’t sign his contract until the 27th), Manager Jim Leyland, and all five of his coaches - Rich Donnelly (bullpen), Gene Lamont (third base), Milt May (hitting), Ray Miller (pitching) and Tommy Sandt (first base) - for undisclosed amounts. As Leyland noted, “The Pirates have treated me fairly both financially and emotionally, plus I got a wife out of it, too...” as he had set the date (November 27th) to marry Katie O’Connor, the Pirates Event Coordinator, during the offseason in a win-win day for the Bucco skipper. 

1990 - Bobby Bonilla was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the story “Down To The Wire.” The pennant race didn’t end up that close as the Bucs won the division by four games, though losing the NLCS to the Cincinnati Reds. Bobby Bo had an All Star season, hitting .280 with 32 HR and 120 RBI and finished second in the MVP voting to teammate Barry Bonds.

The Hook: 10-1-1992 Tom Hayden NH News

1992 - A couple of Bucco fans decided the team needed a symbol to rally behind and came up with “The Hook,” reminiscent of Captain Hook’s Pirate claw. It went on sale and was touted as a counter to the playoff opponent Atlanta Braves’ annoying but effective Chop. Alas, it didn’t work very well as a good luck charm and became a collector’s item rather than a fearsome Bucco amulet.

1992 - 1B Colin Moran was born in Port Chester, New York. The sixth overall selection of the 2013 draft by Miami, he was traded to the Astros, where he was blocked by Alex Bregman, and came to Pittsburgh in 2018 as part of the Gerrit Cole trade. He won the hot corner job, and made Pittsburgh friends in a hurry when he hit a grand slam during his first at bat in PNC Park, joining Roberto Clemente (1962) and Ralph Kiner (1949) on the Bucco Home Opener grand salami list. He was moved to first base in 2020 after Josh Bell was dealt to the Nats and Ke’Bryan Hayes was promoted to the big team. He joined the Reds in 2022 and played indie ball in ‘24. Colin comes from good bloodlines; his uncle is BJ Surhoff and his brother Brian has pitched for three MLB teams.

2000 - A crowd of 55,351, the largest gathering ever to see a regular season baseball game in Pittsburgh, watched the Pirates fall to the Chicago Cubs 10-9 in the final game at Three Rivers Stadium. Sister Sledge was on hand to sing the National Anthem after Gene Lamont, Jim Leyland, Chuck Tanner & Bill Virdon presented the final lineup card to the ump. Dock Ellis tossed the first pitch to Manny Sanguillen after Pie Traynor threw out a ceremonial first pitch. Brian Giles had three hits and became the first Pirate to hit .300 with 30+ home runs and 100+ RBIs in back-to-back seasons. The Bucs ran through seven pitchers, with Scott Sauerbeck taking the loss after surrendering three eighth-inning runs. The Pirates made it interesting to the end, putting runners at second and third with two outs in the ninth, but John Wehner bounced out. He did, however, have the honor of hitting the last homer in the yard in the fifth inning (the Rock also committed the final error and made the last out at TRS, so it was a mixed bag kind of day). After the game, a video stadium tribute was shown, home plate was dug up to be transported to PNC Park (it was flown away by “Rocketman,” who was strapped to a jet pack), and Willie Stargell came out to toss a ceremonial last pitch to Jason Kendall as a final farewell for TRS.

2000 - On the day TRS closed, the Pirates opted for a smooth media transition to PNC Park when they announced that they had signed Greg Brown, Steve Blass and Bob Walk to three-year contract extensions after letting them dangle in the breeze all summer. Lanny Frattare was also returning to the fold; he had signed his deal earlier in the year and it too ran through 2003.

Steady Freddy - 2006 Fleer Ultra

2006 - Freddy Sanchez banged out a pair of singles v the Reds in a 1-0 Pirates victory at PNC Park in front of 25,004, winning the NL batting title in a down-to-the-last-day battle with Miguel Cabrera to claim the first Bucco batting crown since Bill Madlock in 1983. Miggy went 0-for-2 to drop his average to .339 while Steady Freddy climbed to .344 to take the title. It was notable for a couple of other reasons: the pair of raps gave Sanchez 200 hits on the season and reliever Salomon Torres closed to post the save in his 94th outing of the year, tying him for the franchise’s single-season record with Kent Tekulve. As for the game, the dub was earned behind the arms of Shane Youman, John Grabow, Matt Capps and Torres, who combined on a four-hitter. Pittsburgh scored in the eighth by rapping four straight two-out singles; Xavier Nady drove in Jason Bay with the winner.

2008 - Lanny Frattare, the Voice of the Pirates for decades, announced his retirement to end a 33-year career as the team's radio and TV play-by-play announcer. He was the longest tenured announcer in team history, calling over 5,000 games. Frattare and Milo Hamilton became the Pirates' on-air duo in 1976, with Lanny handling the color chores. When Hamilton jumped to the Cubs in 1980, Frattare became the play-by-play man with his own style and calls ("Go, ball! Get outta here!" & "There was no doubt about it!"). Lanny, 60, cited travel and the overall grind as the drivers behind his decision and went academic by taking a Communications job at nearby Waynesburg University. Greg Brown was named as his replacement.

2012 - It took 10 trips to the hill, but Jeff Locke got his first MLB win by beating the Braves at PNC Park 2-1. He gave up two hits (and issued five free passes) in six frames while three relievers tossed hitless ball behind him. Starling Marte provided the offense; he swatted a solo homer and tripled, coming in on Chase d’Arnaud’s ground out, to account for both Bucco runs.

2013 - A record PNC Park crowd of 40,487 saw the Pirates win the NL Wild Card game against the Cincinnati Reds by a 6-2 score. Francisco Liriano gave up one run on four hits over seven innings for the win. He was supported by Russell Martin, who had a pair of homers, and Marlon Byrd, who also went long. Martin became the first catcher to homer for three different teams in the postseason, going yard with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008 and the New York Yankees in 2012. Martin's first blast was legendary. While the crowd was chanting "Cueto" after Byrd's dinger, Johnny dropped the horsehide, picked it up and then served up another long ball to Russ, lifting the roof off PNC Park. Byrd’s homer was during his first postseason at-bat after playing 1,250 MLB games before reaching the promised land. It was the first playoff game ever held at PNC and the first Pirate playoff win in Pittsburgh since defeating the Atlanta Braves, 7-1, on October 11th, 1992 in the NLCS at TRS. The victory cost the Reds more than a playoff run; it also cost them a manager when Dusty Baker was fired three days later after suffering his seventh straight playoff loss.

2013 Wild Card "Raise The Roger" Blackout Towel

2014 - The Pirates laid a playoff egg in front of a record crowd of 40,629 at PNC Park, falling to Madison Bumgarner and the SF Giants, 8-0, in the winner-take-all NL Wild Card elimination game. Bumgarner tossed a complete game whitewash with 10 K and Brandon Crawford’s grand slam in the fourth inning off Edinson Volquez would provide Mad Bum with more than enough runs; for good measure, Brandon Belt drove in three more Giants. Josh Harrison was the Bucs lone bright spot at the dish, collecting two of the four Pirates’ hits. The Bucs weren’t the only club left red-faced by San Francisco as the Giants were on fire in October. Sparked by Bumgarner’s brilliant postseason pitching run, the G-Men beat Washington, St. Louis and KC to reign as the 2014 World Series champions.

2017 - In a game that epitomized September baseball, the Bucs jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held off Washington at Nationals Park by an 11-8 count. The contest was the longest nine-inning game in both clubs’ history at four hours and 22 minutes. The Pirates used 23 players, including nine pitchers. The Bucs stranded 10 runners, the Nats 15; each club issued seven free passes to go along with 30 combined hits. Angel Sanchez got the win and George Kontos was credited with the save, the first for both pitchers. Jake Stallings had three hits plus a walk while Max Moroff had a knock and two free passes; together they drove in seven runs and scored three times. Chris Bostick & Josh Bell had two knocks and a walk, and Starling Marte had two raps to end the year on a 12-game hitting streak. The marathon ended the 2017 season for the Pirates with just 75 wins, earning them the 10th pick (OF Travis Swaggerty) in the upcoming draft.

2021 - The Pirates were handed their 100th loss the night before, but shrugged it off and came back to whip the Reds at PNC Park by a 9-2 tally, led by a pair of unlikely heroes. Wil Crowe (4-8/5.77) tossed six shutout innings, giving up a hit, two walks, and tying his career high with nine K. He left with a 1-0 lead, which the bullpen couldn’t hold (Chris Stratton, who gave up the run that knotted it, got the win), but an eight-run eighth inning put it away for the Bucs, keyed by the other man of the hour, Cole Tucker. Tuck, who was hitting .206 with one long ball, had a dazzling catch in short right that he turned into a twin killing, then tripled and scored the Bucs first run before capping the night with his first grand slam.

2024 - The Pirates housekeeping began before the World Series even started. In a two-week period, pitchers Justin Bruihl, Domingo Germany, Ryan Ryder & Jake Woodford along with position players Billy McKinney & Edward Olivares declared for free agency. A week earlier, the club began their roster scrub by releasing CF Michael Taylor and 1B/DH Rowdy Tellez.