Weekly Report: PNC Blues, O'Hearn Out, Endy Up, Seth Promoted, Hans, Pud & Oldies Honored

Home show...

Pirates Stuff:

• Hoo boy...Ryan O’Hearn was removed from Saturday’s game with right quad discomfort. After an MRI, he was placed on the 10-day IL (he's expected to miss a month) and Jake Mangum, who was on the IL, returned. On the plus side, Jared Jones is slated to make one more rehab start and then be ready for action.

Ryan won't be swingin' it for a bit...(Pirates image)

• Tuesday moves: C Endy Rodriguez (he has 61 MLB games behind the dish) and RHP Brandan Bidois (he became the Pirates first Australian-born MLB player) were recalled from AAA. C Joey Bart was placed on the 10-day IL due to a left foot infection and RHP Cam Sanders was again yo-yo'ed back to Indy. It was later announced that Joey Bart is expected out for weeks, not days, so it looks like Hank and Endy will back the dish for awhile. Bidnois didn't have to wait long to become the first 'Burgh player from down under to get into the box score as he got into Wednesday's game, giving up a run on two hits in an inning's work. Endy caught on Thursday and had a pair of hits & RBIs in his 2026 debut.
• Nick Yorke was optioned to Indy on Sunday; his replacement will be announced Tuesday when the Card series opens.
• The Pirates sent Indy insurance IF Alika Williams to the Athletics in exchange for High-A RHP Kyle Robinson.

Paul Skenes doin' Paul Skenes stuff...5/12/2026 (photo MLB)

• Paul Skenes struck out the first six Rox he faced on Tuesday. It's the second time in his career he's opened with six K. He struck out the side again in the sixth to become the only Pirates pitcher from 1901 on to post that feat. Paul joined Bob Veale (Sept. 16-22, 1963) & Steve Blass (Sept. 15-20, 1968) as the only Pirates pitchers since 1901 to pitch eight scoreless innings with two or fewer hits in back-to-back starts.
• OF Jhostynxon Garcia's rehab (back) has ended and he's now playing at Indy. Password missed about a month due to the injury. Guess he's feelin' healthy now - he went 5-for-5 with three homers in his Tuesday comeback.
• Seth Hernandez was promoted to Greensboro. His first outing went five scoreless, hitless innings with four walks and seven Ks.

Game Stuff:

• The Pirates swept the Rox in their three-game set at PNC last year and sent out Paul Skenes to keep the good times rollin' Tuesday night. He sure did, going eight scoreless frames, giving up two hits and striking out 10 in a 3-1 dub.
• It was 3-0 good guys going into the sixth before Mitch Keller and the Bucs fell apart. When the final gun sounded, it was 10-4 Rox as they evened the series. The game had more than its share of little league moments as Pittsburgh surrendered three unearned runs and the baserunning was a thing to behold... 
• We're guessin' that Pirates love November weather as they took a 7-2 series-clincher from Colorado on a gray and windy day. Carmen Mlodzinski worked five frames to get the dub, Ryan O'Hearn had three hits, including a dinger, and pups Konnor Griffin and Endy Rodriguez added a pair of knocks, as did Jared Triolo.

Carmen Mlodzinski - image April 2026 Sportsnet Pgh

• The Pirates jumped ahead 6-0 and had an 8-3 lead after six frames v Philly on Friday's Zambelli night as Brandon Lowe & Marcell Ozuna went deep. They were still up 8-5 going into the ninth, when Gregory Sota imploded, allowing the Phils to tie it up. Dennis Santana gave up three more in the 10th, and a Buc rally fell sure in a brutal 11-9 loss in front of stunned crowd of 29,998 faithful.
• Bubba wasn't the answer Saturday and the Buc bats were mousy silent against Christopher Sanchez in a 6-0 whipping at PNC.
• A sunny Sunday afternoon drew a nice crowd of 37,820, the third sellout of the season. Unfortunately for his stans, Paul Skenes proved he was human against Philadelphia and they swept the set, 6-0.
• The Pirates are now off to St. Louis to lick their wounds, then they go to Toronto. Both are three-game sets.

MLB Stuff:

• SABR began releasing their All-Era Teams, starting with the 19th Century (1876-1900) & Deadball (1901-1919) Eras. James "Pud" Galvin repped the town on the 19th Century club with Hans Wagner the Deadball Era's only first-team Pirate. 19th Century reserves were Deacon White & Ned Hanlon while the Deadball Era backups included Buccos Barney Dreyfuss, Fred Clarke, Rube Waddell, Happy Jack Chesbro & Connie Mack
• Tommy Pham inked a minor league deal with the Orioles. It includes a June opt-out if he's not on the O's MLB roster by then.
• Mets RHP Clay Holmes suffered a broken fibula on Friday when the Yankees' Spencer Jones drilled a 111 MPH liner off Clay's leg. He was placed on the 15-day IL and faces a long recovery with an August return at the earliest.
• RHP Peter Strzelecki, who the Bucs signed last year and stashed at Indy before releasing him in July, was called up by Milwaukee.

5/18 Through the 1960s: Hopp Hoppin', Sizzlin' Start, 5 For Max, Crafty Hans, Game Days, Iron Maz; HBD Bill, Cy & Babe

• 1882 - Charles Benjamin “Babe” Adams was born in Tipton, Indiana. The righty worked 18 seasons for Pittsburgh (1907-26), compiling a 194-140-16/2.74 line; his win total is the franchise's second highest, tied with Sam Leever and behind Wilbur Cooper's 202 dubs. He almost single-handedly won the Pirates first World Series title, going 3-0 in 1909 against the Tigers & Ty Cobb, tossing three complete game six-hitters while allowing just four runs in 27 IP. Brian Adams of SABR explains his nickname: “According to one story, his Denver teammates pinned it on him in 1907 after a woman asking for his autograph told him he had a nice round face like a baby's. But James Skipper, Jr., in his book “Baseball Nicknames,” states that Adams earned the sobriquet during his 1908 Louisville stint because female fans hollered ‘Oh, you babe!’ whenever he took the mound. Either way, the dark-featured Adams apparently was popular with the ladies…” 
• 1885 - Eros Bolivar “Cy” (presumably for Cyclone) Barger was born in Jamestown, New York. Cy could do a little bit of everything. He was primarily a RH starting pitcher and LH batter who played the OF as needed for the New York Highlanders, Brooklyn Superbas, Brooklyn Dodgers and the Federal League Pittsburgh Rebels (1914–15), slashing 19-24-7/3.52 while hitting .234 at his last big-league stop. He went to Transylvania University in Lexington and is their only major league alum. 
• 1892 - Bill Batsch was born in Mingo Junction, Ohio. After starring at Bethany College and less certain, at Pitt, he joined the Bucs in 1916 for the briefest of baseball careers - he pinch hit once in a September game, drawing a walk and ending his day by being thrown out at home, never playing the field. Bill passed away at age 71 on New Year’s Eve, 1963 in Canton, Ohio. 

Hans - 2014 Panini Legendary Lumberjacks

• 1906 - Christy Mathewson lost to the Pirates and Lefty Leifield 7-6 at Exposition Park. Honus Wagner had three hits and the defensive play of the game. He erased Bill Dahlen from second base in the ninth inning with the ol’ hidden ball trick, sneaking in from behind with the tag as Dahlen focused on the action in front of him. NY Giants manager John McGraw was so furious with his veteran SS for napping on the bases that he hit him with a $100 fine, which was later rescinded. 
• 1910 - The Pirates beat the Doves (also known as the Beaneaters and later to become the Braves) 8-5 at Forbes Field for their 25th victory over Boston in 26 games. Howie Camitz got the win, supported by Dots Miller’s three hits along with Tommy Leach, Fred Clarke and John Flynn who each had a pair of knocks. The Doves became hawks the next day, finally breaking into the win column against Pittsburgh by a 6-3 tally, scoring five ninth-inning runs off Big Bill Powell and Sam Leever. The Bucs finished the campaign with a 14-8 record against Boston. 
• 1917 - Pittsburgh outfielders banged out 11 hits as Max Carey went 5-for-5 while Casey Stengel and Carson Bigbee added three knocks each in an 11-4 win over Brooklyn. The trio had five runs scored, three RBI, three extra-base hits, a walk and four stolen bases as a unit to lead a 16-hit attack at Forbes Field. Frank Miller went the distance for the win over the Robins.
• 1921 - The Pirates improved to 21-6 on the season with an 11-2 win over the Brooklyn Robins at Ebbets Field in New York. Wilbur Cooper, who would finish the season with 22 wins, tossed a complete game while winning his sixth straight decision to start the year. All nine starters had at least one hit, including Cooper, who brought home two runs with a triple in the fifth inning. The team won 90 games, but blew the pennant when they lost 10-of-12 from August 23rd to September 2nd, whittling a 7-1/2 game lead to a mere half game. The NY Giants pulled past the stumbling Pirates, winning the pennant by four games. 

Wilbur Copper - photo/Detroit Public Library

• 1935 - IF Ken Hamlin was born in Detroit. He was signed by the Pirates as a FA in 1957, and made his big league debut two weeks later with a second shot in 1959, going 1-for-9 in five games total. Ken was traded to KC as part of the Hal Smith deal in the 1959 off season, spending the next five years with the Athletics, Angels, and Senators as a good-glove sub, hitting .241 in 463 games for his AL teams. He kept in the game when he retired, opening a baseball camp in Michigan. 
• 1949 - The Pirates dealt 1B Johnny Hopp to the Brooklyn Dodgers for OF Marv Rackley. Hopp went 0-for-14 and Rackley 11-for-35 before the trade was canceled on June 7th; it ended up that Rackley had a bum arm that Brooklyn forgot (ooops!) to mention before he was traded, although some think it was a ploy to get back to Brooklyn. Rackley was done in 1950, while Hopp gave the Bucs a couple more .300+ years before he was sold to the Yankees in September, 1950. 
• 1968 - Bill Mazeroski played his 392nd straight game, then a record for National League 2B, in an 8-3 loss to the Reds. The streak started in 1965, and he played two straight seasons without missing a match - 162 games in ‘66 and 163 (there was a tie that was counted as a complete game, then replayed with the Cubs, adding an extra match) in ‘67, another record. His streak ended the following day when Chuck Hiller gave the slumping Maz (2-for-24) a blow.

5/18 From 1970: Clint Opener, Starling: From Zero To Hero, Jumpin' Jack's 13th, Jay's 2nd Slam & Bo's 1st, Game Days: RIP Rennie, HBD Josh, Joachim & Nelson

• 1970 - The Pirates won a game at Forbes Field on a blown-up play that plated the winning run, then didn’t, then did again, to hand the Phillies their 10th straight loss, 2-1. The game was played with three umpires when one member of the crew came down with the flu, an omen of things to come. Then in the seventh, the Bucs tied the game 1-1 and had runners on the corners with an out. Pitcher Bob Moose was up and couldn’t lay down an attempted squeeze, then took a check swing on a tight 1-2 pitch. The umpire ruled it a ball, checked with first, and changed the tune to a swinging K. The pitch had meanwhile gotten away from the catcher, scoring Manny Sanguillen. Maz, on first, tried to get to third and was thrown out; to add to the bedlam, Moose sprinted to first, even though he was already out because there had been a runner on first when he fanned. The run counted, said the blue crew, who then gathered and decided it didn’t because it came in during a DP. Danny Murtaugh argued the ruling and then protested the game. The umpires reconvened, finally getting it right - the run was kosher because the passed ball between the strikeout and throw-out negated a rulebook DP. The Whistling Irishman withdrew his protest and Phils manager Frank Lucchesi shrugged his shoulders and said “The only thing I couldn’t figure is why they (the umpires) waited so long. Up until then, I was just trying to steal something.” 
• 1974 - RHP Nelson Figueroa was born in Brooklyn. He signed as a free agent with the Pirates in 2003 and spent most of the season pitching for the Nashville Sounds, the AAA affiliate of the Pirates. In his two Pittsburgh seasons, Nelson went 2-4/4.38. He was, unknown to the club, suffering from arm woes in 2004 and had TJ surgery in 2005. That ended his Bucco stay, although he did return to the fold in 2011, working for AAA Indianapolis. He finished with parts of nine big-league seasons under his belt working as a long guy and spot starter. 
• 1984 - RHP Joachim Soria was born in Monclova, Mexico. The Pirates picked up the reliever from the Tigers at the 2015 deadline in exchange for OF JaCoby Jones, and he was strong as a setup guy, earning a save and 11 holds in 29 outings while tossing to a 2.03 ERA (his FIP was 1.93 with 10 K per nine innings). He left for Kansas City in the offseason as a free agent, bounced around the league and while at Oakland, set the record for most appearances by a Mexican-born hurler (674 games) in 2019. Joakim last played for Toronto in 2021 while JaCoby called it a career after six seasons with the Tigers and a minor league stay with Kansas City in ‘22. 

Bobby Bo - 1990 Score Superstars

• 1990 - Bobby Bonilla cracked his first MLB grand slam and Bob Walk cruised on the hill as Pittsburgh defeated the Braves 9-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Wally Backman also added a two-run shot to support Walk. Backman had four hits on the night and Chico Lind added three more. 
• 1996 - LHP Josh Fleming was born in Bridgeton, Missouri. A fifth round pick of Tampa Bay in 2017 out of Webster U, he tossed for the Rays from 2020-23, with a slash of 19-13-1/4.88 during an injury-battered stay as a multi-role hurler (he made 22 starts in 55 outings). Let go in the 2023 off season, he signed with the Bucs and broke training camp with the club in 2024, which had its share of bullpen arms out of action to create room. He got into 17 games, slashing 1-1-1/5.68 with 13 K in 19 IP, and was DFA’ed on May 14. Josh is now in the Toronto system. 
• 2006 - Jason Bay hit his second career grand slam to highlight a six-run first inning for the Pirates against the Reds at PNC Park. Freddy Sanchez collected three hits while on the road to winning the National League batting title with a .344 BA, Jose Castillo added three more knocks and Jeremy Burnitz went long. Despite all that, the Bucs blew their 6-0 jump and lost 9-8 as Victor Santos, Matt Capps and company couldn’t close the gates against Cincy.
• 2009 - Jack Wilson went 4-for-4 (for Jumpin’ Jack, it was the lucky 13th time he had rattled off four knocks in a single contest) and the Pirates batted 7-for-14 with RISP while scoring nine runs off the Washington bullpen - the Nats added four errors - en route to a 12-7 win at Nationals Park. The Bucs were losing 5-3 before scoring five times in the sixth inning and they never looked back. Wilson doubled twice, singled and tripled while Craig Monroe chipped in with a three-run blast. Ross Ohlendorf was the shaky starter but the beneficiary of the big inning. Ohlie was credited with the win, with Jesse Chavez, Tom Gorzelanny, John Grabow and Matt Capps nailing it down 
• 2011 - Charlie Morton tossed a five-hit shutout while homers from Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen provided all the runs as the Pirates whipped the Cincinnati Reds 5-0 at GABP. It was already Morton’s second shutout and third complete game of the year. He picked a bad day to get much notice as there were five whitewashes spun on this day around the league. 

Charlie Morton - 2011 Topps Diamond

• 2012 - Josh Harrison broke up Justin Verlander’s no-hit bid with one out in the ninth inning when he softly lined a curve ball into center, salvaging a glimmer of pride for the team. Verlander K’ed 12 Buccos and walked a pair at Comerica Park in leading the Detroit Tigers to a 6-0 victory.
• 2014 - The Pirates split a twin bill at Yankee Stadium, dropping the opener 4-3 and taking the nightcap 5-3. Charlie Morton gave up three first-inning runs in the first game and Starling Marte whiffed four times in four at-bats, with eight swings-and-misses. But baseball has a way of reversing fortune, and in the second game, Marte’s two-run homer was key in Gerrit Cole’s win (saved by Mark Melancon). Starling became the first Pirate in 60 years, after Preston Ward in 1954, to wear the golden sombrero in the first game of a double header and then go deep in the nightcap. Other second game standouts were C Chris Stewart with two RBI & a pick-off at third and OF Josh Harrison, who homered, doubled and made a diving catch late in the game to seal the deal. Fun factoid: the second game victory was a long time comin’ - it was the first win the Pirates had claimed over the Bronx Bombers in New York since the 1960 World Series. 
• 2019 - The Pirates had two starters (Jameson Taillon & Trevor Williams) on the IL, and to fill the breach, Clint Hurdle cobbled together one of the the Bucs’ first “opener” games. (Jim Leyland had started RH reliever Ted Power in an NLCS game on 10/12/1990 v the Reds to get Cincy to start a lineup of lefties; after 2-1/3 IP, he had southpaw Zane Smith follow). Montana DuRapau started, followed by Steven Brault, Michael Feliz, Kyle Crick, Frankie Liriano and Geoff Hartlieb. The pitching committee struck out 13 Friars during the contest and the Bucco batters made their day stress-free by banging four long balls (Josh Bell had two, Gregory Polanco and Bryan Reynolds the others) in a 7-2 win at Petco Park. Brault, who worked 3-1/3 innings, got the win. 
• 2021 - Rennie Stennett passed away in Florida at the age of 72 after battling cancer. The Panamanian played for the Pirates from 1971-79 and was part of MLB's first all-minority lineup, a member of two World Series teams, and set the modern-day record with his seven-hit game of 1975. His career was derailed in 1977 after a slide broke his leg and ended after the 1981

5/17 Through 1954: Rabbit-Rocky, Hank & Jackie, Sam Tops Iron Man, Wanna Bet, Game Days, HBD Ozzie, Cool Papa, Harry, Hal, Elmer, Fred, Frank, Henry & Billy

• 1857 - IF Billy Reid was born in London, Ontario. The second baseman was part of a wave of Ontario-born Canadian players that played in the majors around the turn of the 20th century. He had a brief career, spending his second (and last) big league season with the Alleghenys, batting .243 in 1884, after a stint with the Baltimore Orioles. Billy played in the minors until 1888 before returning to London. 
• 1858 - UT Henry Oberbeck was born in St. Louis (maybe) Missouri (for sure). He played 66 matches for two leagues and four teams in two years for a short-lived but busy MLB career. Henry started out with two games at first base for the Alleghenys in 1883, going two-for-nine with a double and a run scored before moving on to the hometown St. Louis Browns. Henry left an impact on baseball when he won a suit against the Browns (Henry Oberbeck v. Sportsman’s Park and Club Association) to collect his entire contracted salary of $785 (although pro-rated by the jury to $431); the MO of the teams of that era was to quit paying a player once they had released him. The verdict was one of the early court decisions that ruled contracts not only bound the player to the team, but that the team was bound to pay its players, although owners found ways to circumvent it. 
• 1860 - RHP Frank Mountain was born in Fort Edward, New York. Frank, who was coming off a 23-win campaign with a no-hitter, was one of 10 players the Alleghenys bought from the defunct Columbus Colts club after the 1884 season. Frank only got to pitch seven games in 1985-86, going 1-6/5.23, and saw more time in his second year at 1B. After hitting .145, his MLB days were done. 
• 1868 - LHP Fred Woodcock was born in Winchendon, Massachusetts. Fred’s MLB career consisted of five games (four starts) tossed for the 1892 Pirates; he went 1-2/3.35. He was signed out of Brown (he started at Dartmouth and there were suspicions that he was a pro at some point during his college career) by Bucco manager Bill McGunnigle, who was high on him. But alas for both Gunner and Fred, Tom Burns became the Pirates skipper and Woodcock was released. He later pitched for a couple of New England League teams and then traded the bump for a desk, becoming a successful insurance broker. 

Elmer Steele - 1911 Conlan Collection/Detroit Public Library

• 1886 - RHP Elmer Steele was born in Rhinebeck, New York. He spent the final two seasons of his five-year career with Pittsburgh in 1910-11, slashing 9-10-2/2.56 over that time. He left the team under unusual circumstances, being sold to Brooklyn in September although the Pirates were in a pennant race at the time. One school of thought believed he had a bad arm, though the likelier tale is that the fiery Steele had thrown several tantrums and finally pushed the Pirates to the brink when he tossed a sweater in the face of Pirates manager Fred Clarke per Bill Newlin of SABR. At any rate, 1911 was his last big league year. He played in the minors until 1914 and settled into being a player & manager in the local Hudson Valley leagues while spending 30 years as a mailman for his day job. 
• 1889 - Per John Dreker of Pirates Prospects “After issuing 10 BB in his debut (on this date), Pittsburgh P Al Krumm offered to buy a hat for any batter that drew a BB off him next game.” The Alleghenys lost that match to the NY Giants 11-7 as Krumm went the distance. He never did get a chance to back up his bet - that outing with the Allies was the only MLB game the wild child ever pitched. 
• 1892 - RHP Harold “Hal” Carlson was born in Rockford, Illinois. He was with the Pirates from 1917-23, with a year off as an infantryman in WW1, posting a 42-55/3.64 line as a curve-ball specialist; he had started out as a spitballer, but wasn’t grandfathered in when the pitch was outlawed. Hal was handy with a stick, too, hitting .224. Carlson died while with the Cubs at the age of 38, the victim of a stomach hemorrhage that some speculate may have been an undiagnosed consequence of being gassed during the Battle of the Argonne Forest. 
• 1897 - 3B Harry Riconda was born in New York City. He spent parts of six years in the majors, with a brief two-month stop in Pittsburgh in 1929, arriving as part of the Glenn Wright trade with Brooklyn. Harry got into eight games and went a pretty solid 7-for-15 with three runs scored and two RBI, but was still sent to the minors next season (Hall of Famer Pie Traynor owned third base at the time). He was lost to the Cincinnati Reds in the Rule 5 draft, got one at bat with Cincy's MLB squad and then retired two years later after spending time with four farm clubs. 

Cool Papa Bell - 2004 E-Topps

• 1903 - James “Cool Papa” Bell was born in Starkville, Mississippi. He played for both the Homestead Grays (1932, 1943–1946) and Pittsburgh Crawfords (1933–1938), posting a .337 BA in the Negro Leagues. His speed was legendary. One Satch Paige story goes that when facing Bell, the outfielder hit a liner up that went zipping past Paige's ear and hit Bell in the butt as he was sliding into second base. He also claimed that when he roomed with Bell, Cool Papa hit the light switch one night and was in bed before the light went out. The first Mexican League Triple Crown winner (he played there for three years), Bell was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Per “Mississippi History Now,” Bell told baseball writer John Holway about his nickname: “They said that ‘he’s so cool he don’t get excited.’ St. Louis Stars Manager Bill Gatewood said, ‘We’ve got to add something to it. We’ll call him Cool Papa.’” Thus was born the legendary name. The Negro League Museum has a slightly different take, saying that when Gatewood voiced that Bell might be nervous before a big game, Bell responded with a "Don't worry!" and thus became "Cool Papa." Yet a third goes back to his pitching days (yep, he started out on the hill) per Baseball Comes Alive: Teammates referred to him as “Cool” after he struck out Oscar Charleston, and then he added “Papa” because he thought it sounded better. Yet another story says that veteran teammates gave him the moniker as a 17-year-old rookie, when their predictions that big summer crowds would intimidate him proved false. Whichever bit of lore is right, James Bell was obviously a Cool Papa from the start 
• 1906 - “The Goshen Schoolmaster” Sam Leever tossed a three-hit shutout against Iron Man Joe McGinnity as the Bucs defeated the New York Giants 2-0. Leever faced just 27 NY batters at Expo Park. Two runners were erased on DPs and the other was caught stealing. Tommie Leach scored the first run and drove home the second. It was a turnaround in fortune for the Pirates. The Pittsburgh Press wrote that after the win “You couldn’t find a ‘knocker’ within 10 miles of Exposition Park...(when) a week ago those Buccaneers were mutts.” To add insult to injury, Giant manager John “Mugsy” McGraw was hauled in front of a magistrate after the game and charged with assault after getting into a post-game shouting match with some boys on the way back to his hotel. The “joshing” ended when Mugsy grabbed the whip from his coach driver and lashed at the kids (literally). He caught one urchin in the face, sending him tumbling out of his wagon and Mugsy rolling into court. 

Sam Leever - Helmar 1906 T260

• 1920 - The Pirates scored three runs in the bottom of the 15th to edge the Giants 7-6 at Forbes Field. NY plated a pair in the 15th when C Walter Schmidt took his sweet time chasing down a wild pitch by Elmer Ponder, allowing not one but two Giants to score. Pittsburgh rallied and took the contest in their half when Charlie Grimm singled in Possum Whitted with two down for the game winner. Because of all that overtime action, the game took an unwieldy 2:43 to complete. 
• 1932 - Utilityman Osvaldo “Ozzie” Virgil Sr. was born in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic. The first Dominican to reach MLB, he spent nine campaigns as a bench player, stopping in Pittsburgh in 1965 and hitting .265 while playing infield and catching. After he retired, he coached for nearly 20 years. His son, Ozzie Jr., played in 11 MLB seasons (1980–90) and was a two-time NL All-Star. 
• 1947 - Hank Greenberg, who had heard an anti-semitic slur or three during his career, made Jackie Robinson’s transition a little easier when he checked on Robinson after a collision at first, then advised Jackie to “...stick in there. You’re doing fine” during a 4-0 Bucco win at Forbes Field over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Per Paul Guggenheimer of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Hammerin’ Hank (Greenberg was the original) told Jackie “Don’t pay attention to these guys who are trying to make it hard for you. I hope that you and I can get together for a talk. There are a few things I’ve learned down through the years that might help you and make it easier.” As far as the game went, da Bums outhit Pittsburgh 12-4, but one of the Pirate knocks was a two-run homer by Greenberg. 1951 - Pittsburgh sent SS Stan Rojek to the St. Louis Cardinals for OF Erv Dusak and 1B Rocky Nelson. Nelson batted .267 in 71 games, then was put on waivers and claimed by the Chicago White Sox before the 1951 season ended. After bouncing around with five other clubs, he returned to the Pirates for a more memorable stint from 1959-61. Dusak played 41 games and hit .273 during the 1951-52 campaigns, his final hurrah in the majors. The Happy Rabbit was at the finish line, too, playing just 60 more games before his career ended in 1952.

5/17 From 1955: Skenes - 7 Up, 7 Sit, Stopper Mitch, Lyle K's 12, 7 & 10-Spot Innings, Quail Deal, Game Days, Cervy Contract; RIP Joe, HBD Ben, Jose & Pascual

• 1956 - The Pirates traded with St. Louis for CF Bill Virdon, sending LHP Dick Littlefield and OF Bobby Del Greco to the Redbirds. The Quail, who was Rookie of the Year in 1955 for the Cards, played 11 seasons for the Pirates, roaming the spacious center field pasture of Forbes Field for a decade while hitting .266 and later returned as a coach and manager. He passed on in 2021 at the age of 90. Littlefield was near the end of his MLB days, last working in May, 1958, while Del Greco had a nine-year big league run as a good glove guy with a .229 career BA. 
• 1957 - RHP Pascual Perez was born in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. Pérez was signed by scout Pablo Cruz in 1976 and made both the 40-man roster and his debut in 1980. He pitched for the Pirates for two seasons with a slash of 2-8/3.94 before being sold to the Atlanta Braves, where he developed into a 15-game winner/All Star. The 11-year vet was quite a character, using a hand motion to shoot down opposing batters, liberally buzzing batters, tossing a blooper pitch and peeking between his legs to check runners at first, even on occasion hiking the ball through his wickets as his pickoff move. His last big league campaign was in 1991 with the New York Yankees. Perez’s colorful life came to a tragic end when he was beaten to death in 2012 during a home robbery. 
• 1959 - The Cubs and Pirates traded long balls in a doubleheader split at Wrigley Field, with the clubs banging out 10 homers. Bill Mazeroski hit a pair of bombs and drove in three runs as the Bucs took the opener 5-4 behind Vern Law and ElRoy Face. Chicago came back in the nightcap, claiming a 7-6 win thanks to Dick Groat muffing a two-out grounder in the seventh, allowing two Cubbies to plate and tagging Bennie Daniels the loss. Beside Maz’s two long flies, Roberto Clemente added a pair (one blast was estimated to travel 520’, one of the longest blows ever hit at Wrigley) while Dick Hoak and Bob Skinner also homered. 
• 1971 - Roberto Clemente's two-out, two-run, walkoff triple off closer Mike Marshall carried the Bucs to a 6-5 win over the Expos at TRS. Clemente had three hits, including a homer, and three RBI. His home run and Bob Robertson’s in the eighth had pulled Pittsburgh within a run to set up Clemente’s ninth inning heroics. Montreal had jumped to a 5-0 lead in the third off Luke Walker, but the bullpen work of Jim Nelson, Nellie Briles and winner Mudcat Grant shut them down to allow Roberto and company to do their thing. 

Jose Guillen - 1998 Fleer Ultra Gold

• 1976 - OF Jose Guillen was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. Signed by the Bucs in 1992, he made the Opening Day roster in 1997 after tearing up the High A Carolina League with Lynchburg. The RF’er was traded after the 1999 season after hitting .267 in his three-year Bucco span. In 2003, he found his power stroke and was a solid MLB player for 14 seasons (he played for 10 teams), finishing up with a .270 BA and 1,591 hits, among them 214 long balls. 
• 1981 - Mt. Washington’s Joe Fabrizi passed away at the age of 82. You may never have heard of Joe, but he was a key member of the Pirates broadcast team: he was the last local Western Union telegrapher dedicated to sports. He was the man in the middle during the early days of radio when announcers like Rosey Rowswell and Bob Prince didn’t go on road trips with the teams. Instead, they recreated the game from the blow-by-blow telegraph reports sent to Fabrizi from the out-of-town ballyard staffers, who forwarded them to the announcers to pass on to the fans. 
• 1984 - The Bucs took a break from the National League rat race and played against their Class AA Eastern League minor league club at Nashua (NH). Pittsburgh beat the farmhands 3-2 in front of the Pirates biggest crowd of the week, 6,089. In their set with Houston at Three Rivers Stadium before the exhibition, the Bucs drew 3,395, 2,978 & 4,523 faithful to the hometown yard. 
• 1985 - After waiting out a 2-1/2 hour rain delay before a Pirates-Cincinnati Reds game at TRS (the Reds won 6-3), Pirate announcer Bob Prince was admitted to the hospital for dehydration and pneumonia and never left. On June 10th, with his wife Betty at his side, he passed away at the age of 68 in Presbyterian University Hospital, ending an era in Pirates baseball. 
• 1992 - OF Ben Gamel was born in Jacksonville. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 10th round of the 2010 Draft straight out of HS, then broke into the majors with the Yanks in 2016. Ben also played with the Mariners, Brewers and Indians before the Pirates claimed him following a spate of injuries to an already thin outfield in May, 2021, after he was DFA’ed by the Tribe. The lefty was mostly a role player but found a niche in Pittsburgh as a vet filling in at all three outfield positions while becoming a fan fave for his hustle despite hitting .242 over his two Pirates seasons. He’s now playing in the Atlanta organization. 

Ben Gamel - 2021 Topps 70

• 2009 - The Pirates erupted for 10 runs in the seventh inning to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 11-4 laugher against the Rockies at PNC Park. The Bucs’ first 11 batters reached safely; the first out was recorded on the bases when Eric Hinske was thrown out stretching to reach third after a single. Pittsburgh used nine hits (three were doubles), two walks and a couple of Colorado errors to cobble the frame together against four Rox twirlers. Zach Duke left the game trailing 4-1, but still got the win thanks to the outburst. The Pirates wouldn’t have an inning that big again until July 9, 2017, when they put up a first-inning 10-spot against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field to ignite a 14-3 victory and wouldn’t tally another PNC Park tenner until April 13, 2025, in the sixth frame of a 16-5 dub against the Nats. 
• 2013 - The Bucs dug their way out of a 4-1 hole to defeat the Astros 5-4 at PNC Park when two Astro fielders ran into each other with two down in ninth, allowing Russ Martin’s pop to drop and Andrew McCutchen to score the walkoff run. There were also some legit efforts by Pittsburgh. Tony Watson, Vin Mazzaro and Justin Wilson tossed 4-1/3 frames of scoreless ball and Pedro Alvarez cranked a 462’ shot that splashed into the Allegheny after a bounce off the Riverwalk. Petey’s eighth-inning, game-tying two-run shot fell a foot short of Matt Lawton’s 2005 blast from becoming the longest homer ever hit at PNC Park. 
• 2016 - The Bucs sent 11 batters to the plate during a seven-run first inning - five reached with two outs to chase home five of the runs, with a throw out at home ending the frame - and then held on to beat the Atlanta Braves 12-9 at PNC Park. Pittsburgh punched out 21 hits as seven Pirates recorded multiple hits, with Fran Cervelli, Gregory Polanco (all doubles), John Jaso and Andrew McCutchen banging out three raps each. Juan Nicasio started and earned the win, but it took five relievers behind him before Mark Melancon nailed down the save. 
• 2016 - The Pirates extended C Fran Cervelli’s contract for three years (2017-2019) and $31M ($9M - ‘17, $10.5M - ‘18, $11.5M - ‘19). With the extension, the Pirates had their starting eight players under contract for the next season and seven of the eight (Cervelli, Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Josh Harrison, Jung Ho Kang and Jordy Mercer) under team control through 2018. Cervelli had been due to hit free agency at the end of the season. 

Jordan Lyles - 2019 photo/Pirates

• 2019 - Jordan Lyles became the first Bucco righty since Gerrit Cole in 2014 to fan a dozen batters as he went seven innings, giving up five hits with a walk and a run via a solo shot on the way to a 5-3 Bucco win against San Diego at Petco Park. The key blow for the Pirates was a two-run blast by rookie Bryan Reynolds to give Pittsburgh a lead it would never relinquish. Lyles was an offseason free agent pickup who was off to a sizzling start; the victory gave him a slash of 4-1/1.97. 
• 2023 - The Pirates hadn’t won a game in which Mitch Keller hadn’t thrown a shutout since April 29th (they were 2-12 over that span and had been outscored 70-22) with pitching that had been spotty and hitting that was non-existent. But both finally came together as the Pirates romped 8-0 over the Tigers at Comerica Park. Winner Rich Hill and three relievers spun a one-hit whitewash (you can’t lose if you don’t give up any runs) with 14 whiffs while the attack banged out 14 hits, capped by a four-run seventh frame. Bryan Reynolds had three hits, Austin Hedges drove in three runs, five Bucs posted multi-hit days and Rodolfo Castro homered. And go figure, the hurler the offense-challenged team beat up was Motown’s ace Eduardo Rodriguez, who entered the game with a line of 4-2/1.57. 
• 2024 - 2023 #1 draft pick RHP Paul Skenes became the first Bucco hurler in team history to fan the first seven batters he faced (seven-in-a-row also tied the overall franchise mark) in just his second career start when he sat down the first seven Cubs he saw at Wrigley Field. It got better; he went six no-hit innings with a walk and 11 whiffs on 100 pitches (and his 100th toss was at 100 MPH, good for a swinging K) to earn his first MLB victory. The bullpen lost the no-hitter and shutout, but the Bucs rolled, 9-3, as a couple of usually quiet cogs, Jared Triolo and Yasmani Grandal, generated three RBI each. Triolo’s homer in the third frame with Rowdy Tellez aboard opened the scoring and Andrew McCutchen closed out the Pirates scoring with an eighth-inning blast.

5/16: Mack Back, Leyland Returns, Barry Good Day, Kramer Gem, Forbes Filled, Charlie's 25-Gamer, Whitewash Vic, Game Days, HBD William, Mitch, Bob, Rick & Big Daddy

• 1902 - Jack Chesbro went wire-to-wire to take a complete game 6-1 win over the Phillies at Exposition Park. Neither was less than expected from Happy Jack - he went on to lead the league with 28 wins and eight shutouts to go with 31 complete games in 33 starts (in all, he worked 35 outings & 286-1/3 IP in 1902). 1B Kitty Bransfield generated the attack virtually single-handedly with five RBI on three hits, including a double. Ginger Beaumont and Hans Wagner were Kitty’s table-setters; they reached base six times (Honus tripled twice) and scored five runs. 
• 1904 - The Pirates rallied from a 5-0 deficit against Christy Mathewson by scoring a run in the fifth and following with five more in the sixth for a 6-5 win over their heated rivals, the New York Giants. The big blow was Claude Ritchey’s three-run, bases-loaded double. Starter Sam Leever hung on for the win at Exposition Park. The crowd of 6,360 provided the fuse to ignite the rally, per the Pittsburgh Press: “...every mother’s son of them became a howling, raving rooter...They yelled like maniacs in one continuous roar...Women threw their hankerchiefs (sic) in the air, men tossed their hats...and all cheered with all the power of their vocal organs.” After the game, the fans rushed the field to mingle with the hometown heroes and taunt the Giants “with cries of derision.” 
• 1906 - Vic Willis started a personal three-game shutout streak with an 11-0 win over the New York Giants at Exposition Park. Willis led the staff with 23 wins (and one save, for good measure), tossed six shutouts and posted a 1.73 ERA for the Pirates, winners of 93 games and third-place finishers in the National League. The Pirates collected 15 hits, many of them bunts that they dropped to torture lumbering NY 1B Frank Bowerman by rolling the ball to the right side (he was usually a catcher); they could get to first faster than he could get to the ball. 
• 1923 - Charlie Grimm extended his hitting streak to 25 games, the record for the longest streak to open a season, against the NY Giants’ Jack Scott in a 6-2 loss at the Polo Grounds. Grimm hit .416 during the span, which ended the next day against the Boston Braves’ Dick Rudolph. Grimm’s streak was actually 30 games as he closed out 1922 with a more modest five-game streak. His stay atop the all-time list didn’t last long; George Sisler put together a 34-game run in 1925. Grimm's streak held up pretty well, though - it's still the fifth longest in history. 

Charlie Grimm - 1923 Bains/Library of Congress

• 1925 - The Pirates used three hits, a walk and two sac flies to score three runs in the 10th inning to defeat Boston at Braves Field, 7-5. Max Carey went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, one run, one RBI and a stolen base, but he had lots of help - all nine Pirates starters, including pitcher Babe Adams, had hits with Johnny Gooch, Kiki Cuyler and George Grantham adding a pair of raps each in a day that the Bucs shot themselves in the foot with four DPs. Emil Yde got the win in relief. 
• 1937 - The Pirates drew MLB’s largest crowd of the day, 39,571, to Forbes Field on a Sunday afternoon to watch Joe Bowman pick up a 2-1 win over the Cards. Gus Suhr and Arky Vaughan drove home Paul Waner and Johnny Dickshot while Bowman ran his record to 5-0. 
• 1949 - RHP Rick Reuschel was born in Quincy, Illinois. Reuschel pitched for the Pirates from 1985-87, going 31-30/3.04 and picked for the 1987 All-Star game. He was a reclamation project who won The Sporting News’ 1985 NL Comeback Player of the Year award, going 14-8 for the last place Bucs after being left off the Cubs postseason roster the season before. “Big Daddy” (he was on the roundish side physically) had a 19-year big-league career with the Cubs, Giants, Yankees and Bucs, making 519 starts, working 3,548 innings and winning 214 games. 
• 1953 - Rick Rhoden was born in Boynton Beach, Florida. The righty spent eight seasons (1979-86) with the Pirates, going 97-93/3.51 during that span. He was an All-Star in 1986 (15-12/2.84) and won three Silver Slugger awards (1984–1986; he hit .251 with five homers as a Pirate). A talented golfer, Rhoden also starred on the Celebrity Players Tour, becoming the CPT’s all-time leading money winner. 
• 1959 - RHP Bob Patterson was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He pitched from 1986-92 for the Bucs in many roles, putting up a record of 25-21-17/3.97 in Pittsburgh. The righty appeared in five NLCS games, with a save and 1.93 ERA. He tossed for 13 MLB seasons, and started up a cottage industry while hanging out in the bullpen; Patterson became the “Glove Doctor.” Players from his team and around the league would ask Patterson to repair their mangled mitts, and Bob would spend his down time in the bullpen patching tattered leather. 

Bob Patterson - 1992 Fleer

• 1959 - OF Mitch “The Natural” Webster was born in Larned, Kansas. Webster spent 13 seasons in the show as a good glove guy; in 1991, he played for three teams, with the middle one being the Pirates, hitting just .175 after 97 at-bats. Mitch became a Bucco when Mike York was sent to Cleveland for his services, then he was later flipped to the Dodgers for Jose Gonzalez. He coached and scouted for the Dodgers for nearly two decades before joining the Royals as a regional supervisor in 2009. He got his nickname after homering in four straight games for the Montreal Expos in 1986. 
• 1961 -- Dick Stuart’s solo blast in the sixth inning (he also doubled) broke a 1-1 tie and ended up the game-winner in a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals at Forbes Field. Elroy Face pitched the final four frames for the win in relief of starter Vern Law, who spun five scoreless innings. Curt Simmons took the loss for St. Louis with Bob Gibson working the last two innings from the pen. 
• 1970 - Bill Mazeroski's ninth inning single ignited the Pirates to 4-3 Pirates walkoff win over the Montreal Expos at Forbes Field. It was Maz's first ever pinch-hit knock in a big league career that began in 1956. Bob Robertson had a big day at the dish, falling a single short of hitting for the cycle with two RBI. Luke Walker, the Pirates third pitcher, earned the win. 
• 1989 - Randy Kramer shut out the Reds 5-0 at Riverfront Stadium. The rookie righty tossed one of the gems of Bucco history; the only hit he surrendered was to Ron Oester, who cleanly doubled with two outs in the eighth frame. An inning earlier, the no-no was kept alive when a hot shot that bounded past 1B Sid Bream was ruled an error on a call that could have gone either way. Rey Quinones led the attack, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. 
• 1992 - Barry Bonds put on a show at TRS, banging out three hits (two were homers, including a grand slam) and chasing home six runs, but it was in vain as the Bucs lost to San Diego, 10-9. The Pirates had jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, but were down 9-6 by the fifth frame as the Friars teed off on Bob Walk (whose throwing error & wild pitch didn’t help the cause) and Vincente Palacios. A ninth-inning Bucco rally got the tying run aboard but fell a run short. 

Barry Bonds - 1992 Topps Lumber Company

• 1992 - LHP Williams Jerez was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic. A second round pick out of Grand Street Campus HS (Brooklyn) in 2011 by the Boston Red Sox, he had cups of coffee with the Angels and Giants in 2018-19 before Pittsburgh claimed him off waivers and put him to work for six outings (no decisions, 7.36 ERA). He fit the Pirates “let’s take a shot” mold as a high strikeout, high walk guy in the minors whose stuff hadn’t translated to the MLB in a small sample size. He elected free agency after the 2020 campaign, spending some time with Seattle in ‘21. He tossed indie ball and in the Latin Leagues since that time and then pitched in Mexico through the 2024 season. 
• 1995 - Denny Neagle and Dave Clark teamed up to drop LA 2-0 at Dodger Stadium. Neagle tossed seven scoreless frames while Jim Gott and Dan Miceli kept the zeros coming; Clark drove in both runs with a homer and single. The game was one of four scoreless contests in the NL, the first time there had been that many goose eggs posted in a single day in the past five years.
• 1997 - Jim Leyland returned to TRS for the first time wearing a uniform other than that of the Pirates. Leyland, who spent 11 seasons as skipper in Pittsburgh before leaving for greener pastures in 1996, and his Marlins beat the Pirates 3-1 on the way to a three-game sweep, the Fish’s first ever at Pittsburgh. The Bucs weren’t the only team he beat that year; Florida won the World Series, a feat Leyland couldn’t pull off in the Steel City despite three division titles. To add injury to insult, SS Kevin Elster, who the Bucs signed to both fill a shortstop hole and add a veteran leader, broke his wrist and was lost for the year. 
• 2004 - Rob Mackowiak broke out of an early season slump with three hits, banging two homers and four RBI, to lead the Bucs to an 8-1 thumping of the Giants at San Francisco’s SBC Park. Craig Wilson added three more knocks as Kip Wells, backed by four scoreless frames from the pen, took the win. 
• 2013 - Led by Travis Snider, who went 3-for-5 with a homer, three RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base, the Pirates defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1 at PNC Park. He had a lot of help as Starling Marte, Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones and Russ Martin each chipped in two hits. Frankie Liriano was the winner with closing support from Justin Wilson, Bryan Morris and Jose Contreras. It was an early leg of a 11-of-14 game winning streak by the Buccos, who would finally break out of the pity party doldrums and snap a 20-year losing streak by putting together a 94-win campaign to earn a playoff spot.

5/15 Through the 1970s: Foiles-Ward, Arky Sixer, Arriba & Hans Shows, Game Days; HBD Alvin, Jimmy W, Greenfield Jimmy, Steve & Harry

• 1855 - P Henry “Harry” Salisbury was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He tossed in 1882 for the Alleghenys in their first big-league (American Association) season. He started 38 games, slashed 20-18/2.63 and worked 335 innings, completing every start he made for a team that finished 39-39. During the campaign, he finished in the top ten in 18 pitching categories, including wins, strikeouts (135), and ERA. Harry was the first 20-game winner for the franchise that would eventually become the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played some CF, though hitting .152 kept him mainly on the mound. At age 28 he retired to become the founder of an industrial glove-making company in Chicago. 
• 1888 - IF Steve Yerkes was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. Toward the end of his fifth season with the Boston Red Sox, Steve, who played in the 1912 World Series and ended up as one of its heroes, jumped leagues to join forces with the Pittsburgh Rebels in 1914. Lured by a magnificent $5,000 salary, he stuck with them for the following season, too, hitting .300 in 160 Federal League games. After the FL disbanded, he finished out his playing days with the Chicago Cubs and then went on to a long career as a minor-league player, manager, and scout. 
• 1895 - IF James Smith was born in Greenfield, forever answering to the nickname of “Greenfield Jimmy.” He played for Duquesne University, but in an eight-year MLB career, he only spent one season with the Pirates in 1916, batting .188. As a ballplayer, he was known for his suspect bat, strong glove, and feistiness, jawing and brawling with opponents and umps. His greatest claim to fame was a melee with his son-in-law, boxing champ Billy Conn, that left the fighter with a broken hand that delayed his title fight with Joe Louis. Smith later ran a speakeasy, and when he died in 1974, he was buried in Hazelwood’s Calvary Cemetery with “Greenfield Jimmy” etched on his tombstone. 
• 1906 - Honus Wagner put on a one-man show at Exposition Park, banging out three of Pittsburgh’s six hits (two doubles and a triple) while taking part in three twin killings as the Pirates topped the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4. Hans’ third inning, bases-loaded double chased home three Buccos and gave Pittsburgh a lead that pitcher Deacon Phillippe never relinquished. 

Hans - 1907 Pickering's Furniture

• 1915 - OF/1B Jimmy Wasdell was born in Cleveland. In an 11-year career, he stopped in Pittsburgh in 1942 after being part of the Arky Vaughan deal. It was a brief visit as he was sold early in the 1943 campaign to the Phillies. He hit .260 as a Bucco and was best known as a hard-hitting loose cannon. Among his feats was slugging Vince DiMaggio for singing (according to Wasdell, it was ruining his concentration) during a card game and once fielding a ball in front of first base, then hiking it between his legs, launching the horsehide into right field. 
• 1935 - The Buccos scored four runs in the first inning at Shibe Park and the Phils answered with a five-spot; it would be the highlight of Philadelphia’s day. Pittsburgh came back with their own five-run frame in the second and as beatman Edward Balinger of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette wrote, “Cutting loose with a hail storm of hits...the Buccaneers flogged the Phillies, 20-5, and made a clean sweep...” Arky Vaughan, Woody Jensen and Gus Suhr homered, while Jensen, player/manager Pie Traynor, Lloyd Waner and pitcher Bill Swift (who got the win in relief of Guy Bush) had three knocks each. Arky had six RBI while Woody and Gus chased home three runners; Little Poison scored five runs while Jensen, Vaughan & Paul Waner crossed home three times. The Pirates banged out 19 hits while the Phils added seven errors and five walks in between the raps. 
• 1938 - Alvin McBean was born at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, in the Virgin Islands. He was one of scout Howie Haak’s signings, agreeing to a $100 bonus, then pitching nine years (1961-68, 1970) for the Bucs, going 65-43-59/3.08. The righty won 28 games for Pittsburgh in 1962-63 with 11 saves, the first year spent as a starter and then in the pen as the heir apparent to ElRoy Face. In 1964, he was named The Sporting News Reliever of the Year, going 8-3-22 with a 1.91 ERA as the full-time closer; Face was traded to Detroit the following season. McBean was lost in the expansion draft. He was a popular Pittsburgh figure, always dressed modishly with a playful personality whom the sportswriters and announcers often called by his full name, Alvin O’Neal McBean. 
• 1940 - During the Pirates 5-2 loss to the Giants at the Polo Grounds, only three Bucs batted in the second inning even though all reached base. Maurice Van Robays singled and was picked off; Vince DiMaggio walked and was forced at second base on a roller by Frankie Gustine, who was then caught trying to swipe second. It was a bad day all around physically and mentally as the Bucs committed four errors, gifting three unearned runs to the New York nine. 

Hank Foiles - 1957 Topps

• 1956 - C Hank Foiles was traded to the Pirates by the Cleveland Indians for Preston Ward. Foiles started two years in Pittsburgh, and earned an All-Star spot in 1957, when he hit .270. He spent four seasons as a Buc, hitting .230 in 345 games before being traded during the 1959 off season to Kansas City. Utility man Ward would play until after the 1959 season, when he retired. 
• 1967 - Roberto Clemente cracked three long balls plus a double off the scoreboard in left center to drive in all seven Pittsburgh runs while climbing the wall in the ninth to bring back a homer, but the one-man show couldn’t carry the day as the Reds won in 10 innings at Crosley Field‚ 8-7. Cincy scored twice in the ninth off Juan Pizarro on a Lee May homer to tie it up and then beat him in the extra frame. 
• 1973 - The Pirates overcame 3-0 and 8-4 deficits by pounding out 20 hits and eventually wearing out the Montreal Expos in 11 innings at TRS by a 9-8 count. Dave Cash had the walkoff hit, his fourth of the game, when he lined a single over third against John Strohmeyer and a five-man infield to plate Bob Robertson. Manny Sanguillen and Al Oliver had three hits each while three other Bucs had a pair of knocks, including starting pitcher Steve Blass. The game was sloppily played by both sides. One example was Dock Ellis, who was called on to pinch run. He was wearing a jacket that the ump made him take off (only the actual hurlers are permitted to wear one on the bases). Dock being Dock didn’t have a jersey on under the coat but just a tee shirt. Being out of uniform, he had to be replaced by someone (Bob Moose) more suitably dressed for the occasion. 
• 1974 - The Pirates beat the Cubs 3-2 at TRS on a walkoff wild pitch in the 14th inning that plated Richie Zisk, who had reached third following a leadoff single, bunt, and passed ball. Starter Jim Rooker gave up two runs in 11 innings while Bruce Kison, the Bucs fourth twirler, fanned two of the three batters he faced in the 14th frame to pick up the win. Ed Kirkpatrick tied the game in the seventh with a two-out rap to score Richie Hebner; Willie Stargell’s double (he had two hits on the day), also with two gone, chased home Dave Parker with the Bucs opening tally.

5/15 From 1980: Bucs No-Hit - & Win, Not Exactly Textbook, Denny Hot, Rick Rolls, Game Days, Kell POTW; HBD Luis & Justin

• 1981 - 1B Justin Morneau was born in New Westminster, British Columbia. He joined Pittsburgh during the 2013 deadline to fill a hole at 1B in a trade with the Twins for OF Alex Presley and RHP Duke Welker. In 25 games for Pittsburgh, he hit .260 with no homers and only three RBI. Morneau had a solid playoff run, reaching base twice in the win over the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card Game, then went 6-for-20 with four runs scored against the Cardinals in the NLDS. His lack of power dimmed the Bucs interest and he signed a FA deal with the Rockies, going on to win the NL batting title with a .319 average in 2014 to finish ahead of Josh Harrison (.315) and Andrew McCutchen (.314). 
• 1982 - Talk about helping yourself...pitcher Rick Rhoden doubled and homered in a nine-run third inning, with Johnny Ray generating five runs, three with a long ball in that decisive frame. The Pirates held off a late Cincinnati push - the Reds scored eight times in the last two innings against Rhoden and Enrique Romo - to hold on to a 12-9 victory at Three Rivers Stadium. 
• 1984 - Astros pitcher Frank DiPino balked with two outs in the 10th, allowing Johnny Ray to advance to second base. Tony Pena then singled home Ray to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 walkoff win at TRS. The balk wasn’t the only one-off circumstance of the game - Rick Rhoden and Mike Scott, the starters, gave up four runs, but only one was earned. Enos Cabell was cut down in the ninth inning when he tried to score on a suicide squeeze that ended up suicidal for Houston. And Rod Scurry was making his first outing since returning from drug rehab. Not so odd were Pena’s three hits and Scurry/Cecilio Guante (the winner) tossing two scoreless frames to finish out the contest. 
• 1991 - The Pirates put up a six-spot in the eighth inning at the Astrodome, keyed by pinch hitter Don Slaught’s two-out, bases-jammed triple, and turned a 5-2 deficit into an 8-7 victory, surviving a shaky bullpen and a Houston attack that amassed 18 hits. Bob Kipper got the win in a match that featured a John Smiley start, a save by Bill Landrum, and Andy Van Slyke’s two-run homer. A key was the ‘Stro’s failure to put the game away by making a couple of early miscues while navigating the basepaths; a Space City pitcher was thrown out by three steps at home with one away and a bases-loaded hot shot turned into a dead-ball out when the ball deflected off an Houston runner’s foot. 

Sluggo - 1991 Topps 40th

• 1996 - Denny Neagle blanked the Braves at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on four hits through seven innings to win his fifth contest in a row 3-0, backed by Jeff King’s two-run homer off Steve Avery. The lefty lost his next outing, then rang up three more victories to sit at 8-2 in early June. Also, the Pirates traded CF Jacob Brumfield, pushed out by Midre Cummings, to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor league 1B DJ Boston. Jacob played through the 1999 campaign as a reserve while DJ, Daryl’s brother, played AAA, Mexican and indie ball through 2006. 
• 1999 - RHP Luis Oviedo was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. He came to the Bucs in a roundabout way, being plucked by the Mets from the Indians in the 2020 Rule 5 draft and then flipped to Pittsburgh for cash. He was a long shot to make the team, having never pitched above Class A, but the Pirates liked his ceiling as a big league starter and carried him on the Opening Day roster, albeit in the pen. He won his first MLB game in relief against the Giants in mid-May. Luis ran into some rough patches, but thanks to several weeks on the IL with a quad injury, managed to make it through his Rule 5 year as a member of the MLB roster. It was to no avail: he was waived in April of ‘22 and was reclaimed by Cleveland. He left there to pitch in Mexico and has spent the past couple of winters in Venezuela. 
• 2005 - The Pirates were still debating whether minor league star RHP Ian Snell’s future lay in the bullpen or rotation (at 5’-11” & 180 lbs, the brass were unsure he’d have the physical stamina to start regularly), but Snell made a strong pitch to remain a starter when he threw a no-hitter against Norfolk. The 23-year-old Indy righty used 101 pitches to tame the Tide, tossing his third offering, a change up, with great success. It was the first Indy no-no since 1974, when they were affiliated with Cincinnati. Snell ultimately proved to be a AAAA hurler: he spent six years as a Bucco with 116 starts and 12 bullpen outings, but only had one campaign when he posted an ERA south of 4.74. 
• 2006 - The Pirates and Cincinnati Reds got in just three innings before rain canceled their Hall of Fame exhibition, but it did mark the first MLB outing for the Bucs 2005 top pick and future MVP/All-Star Andrew McCutchen. He was added to the roster for the game and he popped out in his only at-bat before returning to the Low Class A Hickory Crawdads. Cutch said it wasn’t time wasted. He explained that “To get some experiences from the outfielders, Jason Bay and (Jeremy) Burnitz, I learned a lot.” He made his big league debut with Pittsburgh in 2009. 

Jake HR cut - 5/15/2021 AT&T Sports Network

• 2021 - The Pirates gave up three homers, hit into three DPs, had two guys thrown out at home, let a pop drop that cost them a pair of runs and lost two hits to challenges. But their sticks came alive late to take an 8-6 win from the Western Division-leading Giants at PNC, led by Jake Stallings, who doubled home two runs with two outs in the seventh to tie the game and then whacked a two-out, two-run homer to walk it off in the ninth. He and Bryan Reynolds each had three hits while Chasen Shreve, Chris Stratton and winner Rich Rodriguez kept the San Francisco bats quiet at the end. It was the Bucs second straight walkoff against the G-Men, their first two sudden-death wins of the season at PNC Park. 
• 2022 - The Pirates were no-hit by the Reds’ Hunter Greene and Art Warren at PNC Park - and won! Greene and Jose Quintana were locked in a duel, with the two twirlers going mano-a-mano to spin scoreless ball. Greene was tossing a no-no, finishing with five walks, while Q had a four-hit, one-walk effort. After Chris Stratton was called on to work the eighth and stranded a pair of Redlegs, Greene walked the eight-nine batters after an out, with a work day of 118 pitches. He was yanked and Warren came on, losing the next Bucco to load the sacks. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a chopper to second and hustled to easily beat the attempted DP relay to give the Pirates an unlikely 1-0 lead and win after David Bednar took the ball and worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close it out in front of 10,559 fans. It was only the sixth time since 1901 that a team has won with no hits. 
• 2023 - RHP Mitch Keller was named the National League Player of the Week. Kell went 2-0 (the Pirates only two victories in their past 13 games), giving up eight hits and no runs while fanning 21 batters and walking one in 16 frames with a complete game. His YTD slash was 5-1/2.38 in nine starts.

5/14 Through the 1970s: Don Duel, Hopp 'N' Hammer, Jake Sixer, Game Days, Guaranteed, Rain Rain, Roberto Remembered; HBD Joey, Bob, Willie, Lefty & Horace

• 1853 - Horace Phillips, manager of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys from 1884-89, was born in Salem, Ohio. He coached the club to a 294-316 record with a couple of winning campaigns in his six seasons. Sadly, he was institutionalized shortly after his Allies stint and lost his battle with mental illness (he spent seven years in an institution), dying at the age of 42 in 1896. 
• 1889 – Wonder why players want contracts that are guaranteed? Because in the founding days, pennies counted and contracts often weren’t worth the paper they were printed on as GM’s looked to save every nickel they could. The Pittsburgh Alleghenys suspended Ed Morris and Pete Conway on this date to dodge paying the salaries of the sore-armed pitchers after Conway had won 30 games and Morris 29 in 1888. The salary dump suspensions were FO hardball, but did serve its purpose: Morris returned in three weeks although he was never again effective while Conway never pitched again. 
• 1896 - Jake Stenzel collected six singles and added a stolen base in a 20-4 pounding of the Boston Beaneaters at Expo Park. The Bucs collected 27 hits during the day, with Louis Bierbauer and Denny Lyons also bopping away, posting four raps apiece. Jake hit three doubles a day later and the Pittsburgh Press noted that "Good pitchers do not frighten Jakey Stenzel. The pitchers will soon take to giving Stenzel a chance to walk." The Press was dishing out some good advice - Stenzel was in the fourth year of a five-season streak (1893-97) of batting .350+. 
• 1901 - LHP Drew “Lefty” Rader was born in Elmira, New York. His MLB career consisted of two innings of two-hit, no-run ball for the Pirates in 1921. Rader went to Reading of the International League the next year and his trail went cold after that. He passed away at age 74 in Catskill, New York. 
• 1912 - Umpire Johnny aka Willie (his middle name was William) Stevens was born in Duquesne. After learning the ropes in the Eastern League, Stevens umpired in the AL from 1948 to 1971, working in four World Series, five All-Star Games, and behind the plate for a pair of no-hitters. In all, he was part of the blue crew for 3,345 games and became an evaluator at umpire school after he retired. Stevens also officiated college basketball, calling both NIT and NCAA tourney games. 

Big Bob Thurman & Roberto w/Santurce in the 50's photo via El Bullpen

• 1917 - P/OF Bob Thurman was born in Kellyville, Oklahoma. He was a semi pro star who was signed by the Homestead Grays after he was discharged from the Army and played for Homestead/Washington for 1946-48. The lefty wasn’t much of a hurler, going 5-9/5.32 as a Gray, but he had a strong stick, batting .320, mainly as a RF. The bat was good enough to get him into 334 MLB games with Cincinnati from 1955-59, where he hit .246 w/35 HR. He joined the Minnesota Twins as a scout after his playing days and later bird-dogged for the Reds and the Royals. 
• 1925 - Johnny Morrison’s jughandle curve was bending beautifully as he tossed a five-hitter with seven whiffs against Boston at Braves Field during a 7-1 Bucco victory. Clyde Barnhart extended his hitting streak to 16 games with two knocks; Kiki Cuyler and George Grantham also added a pair of hits. It was a mundane score, but there was lots of action in the eighth when Pirates C Earl Smith was ejected after jumping the stands to fight a mouthy fan. It caused a near riot, broken up by the police, and Smith was conked with a chair as he left the field. 
• 1932 - It was monsoon season, or so it seemed, in Pittsburgh as the Pirates were rained out of their fifth straight game at Forbes Field (they did make them all up over the summer). John McGraw, Giants manager who was victim of three of the washouts, moaned “Our pitchers have about 10 days rest each...these confounded postponements have us at sea. And that’s no pun.” 
• 1950 - All Star 1B Johnny Hopp hit two home runs and four singles in six at-bats, leading the Pirates to a 16-9 victory and doubleheader sweep over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Bucs banged out 21 hits off six Cubby hurlers, with Wally Westlake & Clyde McCullough (who finished a homer short of the cycle) each adding four knocks and Nanny Fernandez three more. Woody Main got the win in relief. The Pirates claimed the opener 6-5 as Danny Murtaugh had two hits, including a long ball, and two RBI. But the clutch blow was struck by pinch hitter George Strickland in the final frame, when his two-out, bases-loaded single plated the tying and go-ahead runs. It was a steep climb to victory; the Pirates fell behind by a 5-0 count after three frames before getting serious. Bob Chesnes earned the win in relief after Bill Werle closed it out; he saved both games. 

Johnny Hopp - 1950 Bowman

• 1965 - Coach Jose “Joey” Cora was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. A 1985 first-round draft pick, he had an 11-year big league career as an infielder. When his ball-playing days ended, Joey coached in the Mets system, then became a member of the White Sox and Marlins major league staff, where he served as third base/bench coach and had some brief stints as an interim skipper. In 2016, he joined the Pirates organization as Altoona’s manager and the following year got the call to Pittsburgh as the third base coach, replacing Rick Sofield. Joey is now the hot corner coach for the Tigers after a stint with the Mets. 
• 1967 - Henry Aaron got the headlines when he hit his 450th homer, but the work of a pair of Bucco Hall-of-Famers, Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski, were the game story when they led the way a 5-2 Pirates win over the Atlanta Braves at Forbes Field before 26,071 fans. Clemente had three hits, falling a homer shy of a cycle, and was driven home twice by Maz. Roberto later plated the insurance RBI to back the work of Dennis Ribant, Pete Mikkelson and ElRoy Face. 
• 1973 - President Richard Nixon presented the Presidential Citizens Medal to Vera Clemente, who was accompanied by Willie Stargell and Manny Sanguillen, for her husband Roberto in the Oval Office; he was the first person to be so honored (another wouldn’t be awarded until 1981). The bill was sponsored by Western Pennsylvania House member William Moorhead and co-sponsored by a rep from North Carolina, Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell, a teammate of Clemente’s on the 1960 World Series squad. The Great One’s citation read in part “He stands with that handful of men whose brilliance has transformed the game of baseball into a showcase of skill and spirit, giving universal delight and inspiration. More than that, his selfless dedication to helping those with two strikes against them in life blessed thousands and set an example for millions.” 
• 1978 - Don Robinson struck out seven batters in a four-hit shutout during Pittsburgh’s 1-0 win at San Diego. Frank Taveras drew a leadoff walk in the sixth inning and eventually came around on a Dave Parker bouncer to score the only run (and it was unearned) of the game. For Robinson, it was the first of six shutouts he would record in his career. Randy Jones and Mark Lee of the Friars were both on top of their games, too, allowing the Bucs just five hits.