4/3 Birthdays: HBD Dewey, Bobby, Miguel, Dick, Guy, Larry & Alex

• 1856 - Manager and 1B Guy Hecker was born in Youngsville, in Warren County. He was the Alleghenys player-manager in 1890, and it wasn’t a great year for Guy’s resume - he hit .226 as the first baseman and the team finished 23-113, decimated by Player League roster raids. Guy compiled quite a resume, though. During his career he played for Louisville Eclipse prior to the Alleghenys and is considered by some baseball historians to be the best combination pitcher and hitter to play in the 19th century. Hecker remains as one of the only two pitchers in MLB history to hit three home runs in one game, along with Jim Tobin, and the only pitcher to win a batting title (in 1886). In addition, he is the only pitcher in baseball history to get six hits in a nine-inning game. He could toss it, too - Hecker was the second pitcher ever in the American Association to pitch a no-hitter and led that league in Ks in 1884. 

Guy Hecker (image John Thorn/Our Game)

• 1919 - Manager Larry Shepherd was born in Lakeland Ohio. He managed in the Pirate system from 1953 to 1966, spanning the Sally to the International Leagues, and won three pennants along the road. He returned to the Bucs after a year off in 1968 to replace Harry the Hat Walker at the helm, and in almost two seasons put together a 164-155 record. Shepherd was replaced by Alex Grammas with a week to go in the '69 season despite an 84-73 slate. 
• 1921 - RHP Dick Conger was born in Los Angeles. The Rule 5 selection from Detroit got a pair of Bucco appearances in 1941 and two more in 1942, split between starts and relief appearances. In his 12+ IP, he had no record but posted a sharp 1.46 ERA. Small samples have their flaws, tho, and in 1943 he went 2-7/6.09 with Philadelphia. It was his last MLB go-around as he entered the service the following year and upon his return tossed in the minors until 1950. 
• 1926 - Coach Alex Grammas was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Grammas, who played as a major league infielder for a decade, served as a coach for the Pirates from 1965-69 and was the Bucs’ interim manager for five games in 1969 after Larry Shepard was fired. When Danny Murtaugh took over for 1970, Grammas caught on with Sparky Anderson at Cincinnati, and would eventually end up with a gig as the Milwaukee Brewers’ head man. He was later a long-time Tiger coach and retired from baseball in 1991. 
• 1967 - LHP Miguel Garcia was born in Caracas, Venezuela. The Pirates got him from the Angels as part of the Johnny Ray deal. Miguel had brief big league visits from 1987-89 with the Bucs, going 0-2/7.71 in 13 outings. ‘89 was his last stop in the show. After some time spent as a scout for the Marlins and Red Sox, he’s now Director of Latin American Operations for the Tigers. 

Bobby Hill 2004 Fleer

• 1978 - 2B Bobby Hill was born in San Jose. Part of the return from the A-Ram salary dump, he played in Pittsburgh from 2003-05. He hit .262 over that span and lost the second base job to Jose Castillo in 2005 after being the starter the year before in what proved to be his last MLB season. Hill has been the head coach of Mission College Baseball since 2015. 
• 1981 - C Ryan Doumit was born in Moses Lake, Washington. Dewey was drafted by the Pirates in 1999 in the second round out of high school and caught ‘n’ stuff for the Pirates from 2005-11, with Bucco career numbers of .271, 67 HR and 266 RBI. Unfortunately, in those seven years he never stayed healthy and he only got into 100+ games twice for Pittsburgh. He retired after the 2014 season, taking his final spin with Atlanta. He will always be one of the great debates of Pirate evaluation. Despite a solid stick, defense and injuries kept him from becoming an everyday catcher, and the question is begged as to how his career may have turned out if he been converted to a different spot early in his career.

4/3 Happenings: Patterson, Wilson Deals; Walk Signed; Games of Note

• 1984 - After being released by the Braves, the Pirates signed RHP Bob Walk. Walk ended up spending 10 seasons as a Bucco back-ender, going 82-61 with a 3.83 ERA and putting up a 2-1 record during the Bucs three NLCS series from 1990-92. 
• 1986 - RJ Reynolds became the second Bucco to lead off the Home Opener with a home run (Billy Cox was the first in 1947) and added a double, but it wasn’t enough as Doc Gooden and the Mets dropped the Pirates 4-2 at TRS. Rick Reuschel took the loss. 
• 1986 - The Pirates sent OF Marvell Wynne to the San Diego Padres for RHP Bob Patterson. It was a win-win deal. Patterson eventually was effective as a reliever for the Bucs (he came to the club as a starter) over six seasons, and Wynne played fairly regularly for SD for the next four seasons. He was replaced in Pittsburgh by Barry Bonds and a year later, Andy Van Slyke. 

Glenn Wilson 1989 Donruss

• 1990 - The Bucs traded OF’er Billy Hatcher, whom they had picked up at the 1989 deadline for Glenn Wilson, to the Reds for a pair of minor leaguers. Hatcher helped the Reds sink the Bucs in the 1990 NLCS, hitting .333, and played six more MLB seasons as mainly a platoon outfielder. Wilson was solid for Pittsburgh, too, playing as a bench guy and part-time starter while batting .274 in his time (1989-90, 1993) as a Pirate. For Hatcher, the trade wasn’t the big thing of the day. He was in the delivery room with his pregnant wife, and didn’t even ask what team he was traded to. Hatcher found out later, after his daughter Chelsea was born, when Cincy GM Bob Quinn called to welcome him to the Reds. 
• 2003 - The Pirates completed a season opening three game sweep of Cincinnati at The Great American Ballpark with a 7-5 win. Former Red Reggie Sanders went deep twice for Pittsburgh, going 4-for-5 and adding five RBI. Sanders went 7-for-10 in the series as the Pirates jumped out to their first 3-0 start to a season since 1993. 
• 2011 - The Pirates plated a pair of runs in the ninth to down the Cubs at Wrigley Field 5-4. A walk to Garrett Jones, a single by Neil Walker and a Lyle Overbay bunt against Carlos Marmol left runners at second and third in the ninth for Pedro Alvarez, who rolled a ball softly to the left side hole. He beat it out for a hit as both Bucs scored, giving El Toro three RBI on the day. Jeff Karstens got the win in relief of Ross Ohlendorf, with Joel Hanrahan picking up the save. 

Petey used his legs to churn out a win - 2011 Topps Opening Day/Stadium Lights

• 2016 - In the kick-off of the major league season shown on ESPN, the Pirates defeated the Cardinals 4-1 in front of a sellout crowd of 39,500 fans at PNC Park. Frankie Liriano struck out 10 batters in six scoreless frames and also drove in the game’s first run with a single off losing hurler Adam Wainwright. Josh Harrison managed to hit into a rare RBI double play when with runners on first and third and no outs, his fly plated a run although the runner at first was cut down trying to get to second (basepath gaffes like that were common during the season, costing 3B/baserunning coach Rick Sofield his job in October). Though the year started off on a high note for the Cisco Kid, he would be traded to Toronto at the deadline after posting a 6-11/5.46 slash during the campaign.

Home Opener: Bucs Hang On To Take 5-4 Win & Remain Undefeated

Jameson Taillon started the 2018 home card with a 1-2-3 inning; Gregory Polanco gave the crowd a quick jolt by doubling home J-Hay, who had drawn a walk from Lance Lynn. Another pair of free passes set up a bases-loaded, two-out situation for Colin Moran. He launched a full-count high heater over the Clemente Wall to give the Bucs a 5-0 jump from the box and earn himself a curtain call after his first Pittsburgh at bat. Jamo liked it; he struck out the side in the second around an infield single. It remained quiet; Lynn, with six walks and at 95 pitches, was replaced by Taylor Rogers in the fifth. S-Rod went to short in the sixth; Jordy jammed his hand a couple of innings prior after he hit the dirt.

Jamo had the curve/heater combo workin' today (image Positively Pittsburgh)

The Twins made some sixth-inning noise. After a whiff, Brian Dozier went long, just tucking a drive inside the foul pole. That was followed by a single, and Clint waved in Edgar Santana. It was a good day for JT if shorter than hoped. He went 5-1/3, giving up two runs on four hits (two were infield knocks), walking none and fanning nine while tossing 91 pitches. A double, wild pitch and double brought in Josh Smoker; another double made it 5-4 before Dovy Neverauskas put out the fire twice; he induced a foul pop that plopped right between Cervy and Moran, neither taking charge of ball before a fly to left redeemed them. Trevor Hildenberger took the ball in the bottom half and sat down the Bucs. Dovy started the seventh with a walk and a plunk on the toe that had to be awarded via challenge. An Uncle Ray visit helped; Neverauskas served up a hot shot around-the-horn DP ball and then a can-of-corn fly to keep the Pirates up. Zach Duke came on for the Twins. Two free passes and two swingin' K's later, Addison Reed took the ball to face Freeser and walked him, but got Cervy on a fly.

Michael Feliz toed the rubber in the eighth and started with a walk. Two outs later, he lost another Twinkie, but a forceout closed the frame without any damage. The Bucs opened with a walk, single and sac bunt by Frazier (don't ask; Clint do love his bunts). J-Hay whiffed, looking bad while doing it, and Gregory was given an intentional pass (the 11th Twinkie walk of the day). Good move; Marte went down 6-3 to run the Corsair LOB count to 10. With Felipe off today, George Kontos came in for the close; he was 1-for-2 in save opps last year for the Bucs (it was his first MLB save, earned on the last day of the season against the Nats), but 0-for-5 earlier in the season as a G-Man. He acted like he's been there before and tossed a no-drama frame. RTJR, the Pirates are now 4-0.

Colin had the big blow (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The Pirates had five hits on the day; Colin Moran's was the big kahuna. The Bucco starters need to get a little more length to their game; the middle pen is pretty volatile at this point. That said, carrying eight guys as cavalry ended up a stroke of genius the way the weather has jerked the schedule around so far. They used every available guy today (Rivero/Glasnow off days due to workload, Brault because he'll get Thursday's start) except for Clay Holmes, who was prob just a little jet-lagged after flying from Detroit to Indy to Pittsburgh. After a quick turnaround yesterday with three games started within 24 hours, the boys deserve a nap day tomorrow.

Notes:

• Colin Moran is the first Pirate to hit a grand slam in the Home Opener since Roberto Clemente in 1962. The only other Bucco with a Home Opener grand salami is Ralph Kiner, who did his deed in 1949. 
• Gregory drew four walks today; R-E-S-P-E-C-T, as Aretha would say. 
• It was officially announced post-game that Steven Brault will take Joe Musgrove's spot in the rotation Thursday against the Reds.
• In the crucial walk-up music category,  Fran Cervelli switched out Dino's "That's Amore" for Guns N' Roses "Paradise City" during his first at bat before returning to regular programming in the following sets of swings.
• Today's announced attendance was 30,186, breaking a streak of 14 straight Home Opener sellouts. It's the smallest Opening Day crowd in PNC history and the smallest Opening Day gate since 1982.
• Clay Holmes will replace Steven Brault as a long-man while Joe Musgrove is on the DL. Don't sleep on Holmes; Minor League Ball's John Sickels pegs him as the Pirates 2018 sleeper candidate. As for Musgrove, he can return to action on April 9th, in time for the Cub series at Wrigley.
• The Orioles signed briefly-a-Bucco OF Michael Saunders to minor league deal. Since last June, he's been with the Phils, Blue Jays, Pirates, Royals and now the Birds organizations. That's a lot of stops for a 2016 All-Star.

Pirates Open At PNC Park w/Jamo v Lynn; Notes - Musgrove to DL

Today: The Pirates take on the Twins at 1:05. The game will be carried by AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan, with those attending getting a magnetic schedule to stick on their refrigerator door and a calendar for wherever. The last time they played interleague was in 2015, when they had two-game home and home series. They split, with each team sweeping the road games. More recently, the Bucs met the Twinkies four times in Grapefruit League play, finishing 3-1. Let's hope they can stay awake for the contest; they had 15 or so hours with a flight and drive home between ending the game at Detroit and the first pitch in Pittsburgh today.

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Gregor Polanco RF, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Corey Dickerson LF, Fran Cervelli C, Colin Moran 3B, Jordy Mercer SS & Jameson Taillon P.

Pitchers: RHP Jameson Taillon (8-7/4.44) takes on RHP Lance Lynn (11-8, 3.43). With a clean bill of health and a strong spring showing in the books, Jamo is making his first start as team ace now that Gerrit Cole is spinning in Texas. How well the 26-year-old can handle that role is pivotal for Pittsburgh not only this year but into the future. So step one of the journey begins today. Lance fell into the Twinkies' lap. The 30-year-old was looking for five-year deal and found no takers, so he's looking to rebuild some value with a one-year agreement on the cheap ($12M) with Minnesota that wasn't inked until March 10th. As an old Card, Lance has faced the Bucs often and not particularly effectively, with a 7-7/5.10 slash in 23 outings while Taillon has never thrown against the Twins.

Notes:

• Guess it didn't work out that well in Florida - the Pirates have placed RHP Joe Musgrove on the 10-day DL retroactive to March 30th with a muscle strain in his right shoulder. They've recalled RHP Clay Holmes.
• Chip Ganassi will toss the honorary first pitch before today's game while El Roy Face will forkball the ceremonial first pitch. God Bless America and the National Anthem will be performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Cello Quartet. During the pregame ceremony, there will be a moment of silence for Pirates alumni Ross Powell, Manny Jimenez, Al Luplow, Bob Bailey, Laurin Pepper and Curt Raydon, as well as longtime official scorer Tony Krizmanich, all of whom have passed away in the last year.
• Felipe Rivero, with two outings yesterday, and Tyler Glasnow, who tossed 37 pitches, will be out of action today. The last two Pirates to save both ends of a doubleheader before Rivero were Mark the Shark in 2016 and Matt Capps in 2007.
• Today's headcount will be interesting as a 14-year Opening Day sellout streak is at risk. Maybe the Tiger sweep and Jamo will fire up the fence-sitters, despite the weather.
• Here's Baseball Almanac's list of all the Bucco Home Openers and scores. 
• Yay freebies - Chick-fil-A locations in and around the Pittsburgh area will give a free chicken sandwich to any customer wearing official Pirates attire Monday. The promotion lasts from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

4/2: A Whole Bunch of Random Stuff...

• 1922 - Jim “Cotton” Tierney had his homecoming celebration spoiled by the minor league Kansas City Blues of the American Association by a 4-3 score. KC rallied for three eighth-inning runs and held off a ninth inning Bucco rally in the pre-season exhibition played at the KC Speedway. Cotton didn’t help himself much, going 0-for-3 at the leadoff spot. A pair with local ties helped drop the barnstorming Bucs - Beltzhoover’s Otto Knabe did the Blue’s hurling and Bill Skiff, who the Pirates had released, did the catching. 35,000 plus turned out to honor local-boy-done-good Tierney, whose hometown was a stone’s throw across the river in Kansas City, Kansas. 

Honus Wagner Wagner 2016 Panini Diamond King

• 1942 - The Sporting News released a poll of 100 former major leaguers and managers voting for the best player of all time. Ty Cobb won easily, with Buc SS Honus Wagner second. The Flying Dutchman handily outpolled both Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby. 
• 1954 - TV station WENS, the City’s first ABC affiliate, announced that it would broadcast 20-30 Pirates games during the season beginning with the April 17th Opener at Philadelphia. Bob Prince and Rosey Rowswell were the broadcast team; Joe Tucker would take over the WWSW radio mic when the usual radio duo switched over for TV games. 
• 1958 - Just in case you thought selling the Bucco franchise was a eighties/nineties thing, think again. Sportswriter Al Abrams in his Post Gazette “Sidelight on Sports” column asked club president John Galbreath about the rumors that New York interests wanted to buy the franchise to replace the Dodgers and Giants. Galbreath said “I didn’t get one offer, I got 20 offers. Some of them were tremendous (thought to be in the $8-10M range)...(But) I would like to put an end to this stuff once and for all...We didn’t sell the club or move out in our worst years when we could have without any trouble. I don’t see why we should now.” 
• 1963 - The Pirates made the decision to leave pitcher Vern Law at Daytona Beach to start the season for work on strengthening the lingering rotator injury he first suffered in 1960. What was hoped to be a two-week stay turned into a month, and Law made just 18 outings (12 starts) good for 76 IP and a 4-5/4.93 slash before he was shut down for good in early August. The long rest period paid off as he put together three solid seasons on the hill from ‘64-66, averaging a 14-10/3.20 line with 196 IP over that span and earning the NL Comeback Player of the Year award in 1965.

Jon Lieber 1997 Circa Rave

• 1970 - RHP Jon Lieber was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Pirates picked him up at the 1993 deadline as part of a trade for Stan Belinda with KC, and he pitched his first five (1994-98) seasons with the Bucs, going 38-47/4.36. Pittsburgh sent him to the Cubs for Brant Brown after the 1998 campaign. He spent another nine workmanlike years in the show, winning 131 games in 14 seasons, including 20 in 2001 for the Cubs. 
• 1975 - The Pirates signed pitcher Sudden Sam McDowell, a 32-year- old free agent who started out at Central Catholic. It would be the last hurrah of a 15-year career that saw him win 141 games and K 2,453 batters, mostly with the Indians. Sudden Sam was The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year in 1970 when he worked 305 frames and punched out 304 batters. But his bouts with the bottle caught up with him; he pitched well for the Pirates but was released in June. McDowell later went through rehab and turned his life around. The character Sam Malone, the bartender on the TV show “Cheers,“ was said to be loosely based on Sudden Sam. 
• 1995 - The players’ strike ended days after a court ruling undercut the owner’s position. Per Wikipedia, 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 professional sports league to lose an entire postseason due to labor struggles. Because of the strike, neither the 1994 or 1995 seasons reached 162 games; the strike was called after most teams had played 113 games in 1994 and 144 games in 1995. 
• 1997 - Per BR Bullpen, for the first time in major league history, the salary of one player was more than that of a team. The Chicago White Sox paid Albert Belle $10M for the season, which was $928,333 more than the entire Pirate “Freak Show” payroll. 

Tony Sanchez 2014 Bowman Platinum

• 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 scrape out a 4-3 decision. Chicago tied it in the ninth and took the lead in the 12th, but the Bucs 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 consecutive game as he was the losing pitcher on Opening Day.

Nightcap: How Sweep It Is; Bucs Take Nightcap 8-6

The Bucs left runners on the corners in the first against MLB debut boy Ryan Carpenter. Chad Kuhl got the first two Tigers and should have had the third, but S-Rod misread a liner to left, allowing it to fall for a double. A single followed; Marte's throw was way off the mark, allowing the run to score and letting the runner move up; the next batter brought him home with another two-bagger. The second went quietly. In the third, the Bucs banged the rookie. J-Hay dinged a two-run shot and Starling added a solo blast before the inning ended on another strike 'em out, throw 'em out DP; that's twice J-Bell has been on the wrong end of that twin killing. Chad set down seven in a row, but a leadoff triple and one-out single tied it in the fourth. Now facing Buck Farmer in the fifth, the Bucs had an answer, and it was a big one.

Josh was tonight's hero Topps 2015 Tier One

The Pirates had a run in on a Jordy sac fly with two outs and runners on second and third when they got rockin'. A wild pitch and Cervy single plated a pair, then Freeser's first-pitch (it was a hung curve), two-run shot made it an 8-3 game. Cool Chad tossed a 1-2-3 frame. The Corsairs went quietly in the sixth. Miggy homered, and with two on and two out, Clint called on Edgar Santana, who fanned Julio Iglesias to end the threat. Kuhl's line was 5-2/3 IP, four runs on eight hits with four K on 85 pitches. It was a catch away from being a pretty decent job. The seventh was scoreless, with Tyler Glasnow getting his first outing. After a couple of whiffs, he was tapped for a triple and walk but worked out of it after an Uncle Ray chat. The eighth went by without any damage.

Dovydas Neverauskas took over in the ninth with a four-run lead. Do the Tigers have the Bucs right where they want them, like on Friday? A single and double to start the frame with a quick run made it look like it could be. It also made it a save opp and in for the second time today came Felipe Rivero. After a whiff, he was banged for a Miggy double - the old dude has sipped from the Fountain of Youth against Pittsburgh - then claimed a K and fly to get his second save of the day in an 8-6 win.

Big bounce-back day for Felipe Topps 2018 Series 1

J-Hay had three hits, scored twice and chased a pair home; Freeser had two hits, plated once and chased a pair home and Eli had two knocks and touched the plate two time. The pitching was good enough, and though the club still runs the bases like a fire drill and refuses to make all the plays in the field, the offense is carrying over from Florida. It's been a good formula in Motor City; now to see how they function on Opening Day after a long day.

Notes:

• Win some, lose some: Polanco's second inning try for a bomb was called foul; an ump review upheld the decision. J-Hay's third inning blast was first ruled a double, but another ump review reversed that decision and waved him around.
• Trevor Williams was on board with Clint's decision to pull him after six no-hit innings in the lidlifter. "It was only a matter of time. I couldn't keep walking guys, getting out of jams. I understand the move, totally."
• Gerrit Cole's first line as an Astro: seven innings, one run on two hits, 11 K.

Bucs Close in Motor City w/Cool Chad v Ryan Carpenter; Notes & First Game Recap of 1-0 Win

First game: In the first frame, Gregory Polanco banged an RBI double into the right-field corner to score Adam Frazier, but was tossed out at third after the throw went home; he watched the ball instead of Joey Cora. But hey, that stood up as Trevor Williams and the suddenly ferocious bullpen took a 1-0 win home in the opener.

Trevor Williams 2018 Topps Series 1

Williams threw six no-hit innings with five walks and a K after 85 pitches; his only struggle was trying to figure out home ump Lance Barrett's strike zone. Michael Feliz gave up a double in the seventh but ended the frame with a whiff. George Kontos dropped a brief bit of sweat in the eighth after two-outs, surrendering a single and walk, but a 4-3 ended the jam. Felipe was the closer we all know and love; he struck out the side in the ninth (Miggy, Nick Castellanos and Victor Martinez) to wrap up the ball game.

The pitchers ruled as the Bucs managed just six hits (J-Bell had two knocks) and El Tigres two. After the first, no runner reached third and each team turned three DPs to blunt any attempted uprising; the Bucs helped Motown by losing three runners on the bases. What else did you expect after a 13-10 opener?

Tonight: The finale of the opening set will start at 6:10. AT&T SportsNet has the television side (the Pens are the National TV game) while 93.7 The Fan will beam the radio waves.

Lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Jordy Mercer SS, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Fran Cervelli DH, David Freese 3B, Gregory Polanco RF, Sean Rodriguez LF, Elias Diaz C (Chad Kuhl P). The bench brigade makes its debut against a lefty.

Pitchers: RHP Chad Kuhl (8-9/4.28) takes on LHP Ryan Carpenter. Chad may be the hinge that the season swings on; he's adding to his toolbox and is considered a potential breakout guy this season. He unfortunately didn't look like an ace in the making during the spring, not missing as many bats as usual and walking nearly five per game, so he's a guy who needs to get ahead early in the count. 27-year-old LHP Ryan Carpenter was brought up as the Tigers' 26th man from AAA Toledo and gets the start, his first in MLB. Carpenter, who was signed to a minor-league deal after spending time in the Rockies system, tossed a strong season in the hitter-friendly PCL last season with the Rockies' farm club in Albuquerque. Carpenter started 25 games and made two relief appearances for the Isotopes, finishing with a 10-9/4.15 slash and 161 strikeouts in 156 IP. (The league's ERA was 4.73.) His bread and butter is the fastball (91-92), with a slow curve for righties and a sweeping, 80-mph slider that he throws mostly to lefties; changing speeds is his thing.

Notes:

• Ex-Bucco Frankie Liriano was scheduled to start this game, but the Tigers pushed him back a day to keep their starting rotation lined up. Because of the weather-related schedule havoc, the Tigers will play six games in five days. 
• Per @joe_block, Trevor Williams became the second Pirates starting pitcher pulled while tossing a no-no going back to 1908; Francisco Cordova, in his combined 1997 no-hitter with Ricardo Rincon, was the other.
• Joe Musgrove will make his first Bucco start on Thursday against the Reds.
• It'll be a quick, hectic turnaround for the Pirates. They have to be back on the field at PNC Park at one o'clock tomorrow for the home opener and may have to drive home through some falling snowflakes after they touch down at Pittsburgh International following this game.

Sunday Game One: Williams v Fulmer

Today: The game starts at 1:10 at Comerica Park as round one of a split doubleheader. It will be shown on AT&T SportsNet with 93.7 The Fan providing the radio-side coverage.As for weather, it'll be dry by with temps in the upper thirties - lower forties. Here's to opening in San Diego next year!

Lineup: A repeat of Opening Day's Lumber Company lineup: Fraze DH, J-Hay 2B, El Coffee RF, J-Bell 1B, Corey Dickerson LF, Starling Marte CF, Fran Cervelli C, Colin Moran 3B, Jordy SS (Trevor Williams P).

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (7-9/4.07) climbs the hill opposite RHP Michael Fulmer (10-12/3.83). Williams had a strong kick after a slow start in 2017 and showed a much improved K-rate in the spring, so we'll see if he can build on that. On the other side of the pillow, he also had some problems last year against lefties and on the road. Fulmer, a control guy who pitches to contact, was a 2017 All-Star in his second campaign. The first-round pick of 2011 out of HS came over from the Mets in 2015 as part of the Yoenis Cespedes deal. It will be the first time Fulmer has faced his opponent; William's last outing against the Tigers was a good one, going seven innings of one-hit ball last August in a 3-0 win.

Notes:

• Both clubs can call up a 26th man for today's twinbill.The Buccos opted for an extra arm and sent for Clay Holmes, who can go multiple innings if need be, especially as long man Steven Brault is expected to be on ice after throwing 47 pitches Friday. The Tigers called up LHP Ryan Carpenter from AAA Toledo; he'll start the second game. Both bullpens welcomed the break; each team had one reliever left unused in the Opener.
• Joe Musgrove threw six innings and 92 pitches yesterday at Pirate City against the GCL pups, and he's set to rejoin the rotation against the Reds at PNC Park next week.
• Lefties are like achy knees; you can't get rid of them. 36-year-old Ollie Perez signed a minor league deal with Yankees after being cut by the Reds. 
• Kevin Pillar of Toronto stole second, third and home against Dellin Betances of the Yankees. He had two inspirations for the swipe, both with local roots - first, he had parsed Pirates minor leaguer Lolo Sanchez's Grapefruit steal of home against the Phils in the clubhouse, and second, ex-Bucco Gift Ngoepe of the .222 lifetime BA was at bat with two outs.

4/1 - TRS/PNC Park Era: Thompson, AVS Trades; The Kids Granny; Strike; Parrot Hatched; Top 10; HBD Axman; RIP Frankie & Jerry

• April 1-13, 1972 - The first players' strike in baseball history wiped six-to-eight games off the schedule, which were canceled upon settlement. This resulted in teams playing a different number of games during the 1972 season and led to the Detroit Tigers edging the Boston Red Sox by only one-half game to win the AL East Division championship. The strike settlement required the team owners to add salary arbitration to the CBA and increased pension fund payments, per Wikipedia. 

Original Parrot 1979 (photo Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

• 1979 - The Pirate Parrot was “hatched” at Three Rivers Stadium as a response to the Phillie Phanatic, introduced the year before. The concept of a parrot came from Robert Lewis Stevenson’s pirate tale “Treasure Island.” At first, the Parrot was a lean, mean bird dressed in pirate gear, but in the mid-eighties was transformed into the more child-friendly, goofy butterball in a team jersey and backward cap that we have today. The Green Machine is a mainstay of charity, community and childrens’ events and even hosts a Twitter account. The big bird has had its controversial moments, too, being involved in a drug scandal and showing up at a political event but has managed to escape the temporary bad press with its feathers unruffled. 
• 1981 - 1B Jason Thompson was traded by the California Angels to the Bucs for LHP Mickey Mahler and C Ed Ott. Thompson took control of a muddled first base situation in Pittsburgh, which was transitioning from Pops Stargell (Doe Boyland and Eddie Vargas, the organizational heir apparents, never panned out), and held the starting job through 1985 until Sid Bream replaced him. The 29-year-old Ott was taken by surprise by the swap - he and the Pirates had been close to finalizing (at least in Ott’s mind) a six-year/$275K per season deal. Steve Nicosia and rookie Tony Pena shared the load after Otter’s departure. The deal was originally to be a three-teamer. The Yankees were to send the Pirates 1B Jim Spencer, two minor league pitchers and $850,000 for Thompson, with $450,000 earmarked to pay Spencer's salary, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn nixed that part of the swap because of the money involved; at the time, $400K was the max amount allowed to switch hands. That decision worked out bigly to the Pirates advantage - the 33-year-old Spencer hit .182 over 1981-82 and then retired. 
• 1983 - RHP John “The Axman” Axford was born in Simcoe, Ontario. Axford has 10 MLB campaigns on his resume, with two months spent as a Pirate in 2014. He was claimed off waivers from the Indians in August, where he had a workmanlike campaign, to strengthen the Bucco mid-inning pen during its playoff run. He slashed 0-1/4.14 and after the season signed with the Rockies; he’s now with Toronto. 

AVS 1987 Topps Traded

• 1987 - St. Louis sent OF Andy Van Slyke‚ C Mike LaValliere‚ and RHP Mike Dunne to Pittsburgh in exchange for All-Star C Tony Pena. Van Slyke thought it was an April’s Fool joke when first told of the trade, and Pena cried at the press conference when the deal was announced. AVS ended up a key player in the Pirates early nineties resurgence and Spanky formed a solid catching combo with Don Slaught during the same era. Pena remained solid behind the dish but only hit above .263 once in his remaining 12 big league campaigns. 
• 1991 - Frankie Gustine died at the age of 71. The versatile infielder was a three-time All-Star who played a decade for the Pirates (1939-48) after signing as a 16-year-old, compiling a .268 BA. After his MLB career, Gustine coached at local Point Park College from 1968-74 (he’s in the school’s Hall of Fame). He became a successful local business owner, too, operating a popular Oakland restaurant on Forbes Avenue located just a Texas League bloop away from the ballyard; he also held part ownership of the Sheraton Inn at Station Square. 
• 2006 - The Pirates Top Ten prospects going into the year were IF Neil Walker, 1B Brad Eldred, CF Andrew McCutchen, 3B Jose Bautista, LHP Tom Gorzelanny, IF Yurendell DeCaster, C Ronny Paulino, RHP Josh Sharpless, CF Rajai Davis and OF Adam Bouve, a collection of youngsters who covered a full gamut of baseball achievement. Another riser with a bullet, RHP Matt Capps, who was expected to start the year by returning to AA Altoona, instead went north with the big team. 

Neil Walker 2011 Topps

• 2011 - Neil Walker hit his first career grand slam on Opening Day at Wrigley Field off Ryan Dempster. He became the second player in team history to hit a grand salami on Opening Day, joining Roberto Clemente, who drilled one to start the 1962 season. It was the key blow in a 6-3 win over the Cubs behind the pitching of Kevin Correia and four relievers. 
•  2012 - One of the games great pinch-hitters, Jerry Lynch, died at the age of 82. He started and ended his career as a Pirate, spending seven seasons with the Bucs. He came off the bench to collect 116 pinch hits during his career, 18 of which were homers. Lynch lived in Allison Park when he passed away and was part owner of Champion Lakes GC, along with Dick Groat.

4/1 - Expo Park/Forbes Field Era: Cronin, Lee Deals; Titusville Bucs?; Overtime; Eyeball Test; HBD Willie, Masumi, Hugo, Jake & Fred

• 1858 - OF Fred Mann was born in Sutton, Vermont. The center fielder played two of his six MLB years with the Alleghenys from 1885-86. He hit .251 over that span, spent one more season in the show and left baseball after spending the following three years in the bushes. He was the first major league ballplayer to hail from the Green Mountain state. 

Hugo Bezdek (photo via Out of the Park Developments)

• 1884 - Manager Hugo Bezdek was born in Prague, Bohemia, then part of Austria-Hungary empire and now part of the Czech Republic. While he coached at Oregon, he was also a Pirates scout covering the West Coast. When 1917 Pirates manager Nixey Callahan was let go by Barney Dreyfuss, Wagner was hired as an interim manager before Dreyfuss settled on Bezdek as skipper. The team went 30-59 the remainder of the year, but improved to 65-60 in 1918. The 1919 Pirates were 71-68. Bezdek relied on his players advice to overcome his lack of baseball experience, with two of them - Casey Stengel and Billy Southworth - becoming Hall of Fame helmsmen. Bedzek left the team in 1919 for his true love, football. He coached at Penn State where his football teams went 65-30-11 with two undefeated seasons and a Rose Bowl appearance. In addition, he was manager of the Nittany Lion nine, going 129-76-1 from 1920-1930 (bio provided by BR Bullpen). He spent a couple of seasons as the Cleveland Browns coach and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. 
• 1904 - In what was considered the first major deal between the AL & NL after their 1903 truce, the Pirates bought Wyatt “Watty” Lee from Washington for $3,000. The P/1B had three solid seasons for the Senators, but was a flop for the Bucs, appearing in just eight games, five as a pitcher and three as a pinch hitter. Watty went 4-for-12 at the plate, but his pitching record lefty much to be desired with a slash of 1-2/8.74. It was the end of Lee's major league days though he soldiered on with a long minor league career. 
• 1911 - Just to prove that umps’ eyesight has always been under suspicion, according to Charlton’s Baseball Chronology “NL president Tom Lynch reveals he had asked all umpires to produce certificates as to their eyesight; tests showed all have perfect vision.” Our only question is who tested the doctors? 

Jake Thies 1955 Topps

• 1926 - RHP Jake Thies was born in St. Louis. As a 28-year-old, he spent 1954 (3-9/3.87) and one lackluster start in 1955 with the Pirates, slashing 3-10/3.90 overall. He was dealt to Kansas City where he spent two years at AAA, returning to the Buc system for three games to close his pro days before retiring to a long career as a salesman. 
• 1928 - The April Fool’s victim this year was the Pirates, who sold SS Joe Cronin to KC of the American Association, which then flipped him to Washington in July. In Pittsburgh, he was blocked at SS by Glenn Wright and manager Donie Bush preferred vet George Grantham at second base, so the Pirates deemed him to be excess baggage. They deemed wrong; after a 20-year career, seven All-Star games and .301 BA, he earned a plaque in the Hall of Fame. 
• 1948 - 1B Willie Montanez was born in Catano, Puerto Rico. Willie spent part of 1981 and 1982 with the Pirates at the tail end of his 14-year career after he was swapped from the Expos for John Milner. He seldom made the lineup but hit .271 off the bench before the Bucs released him. He closed out his MLB stint in ‘82 with the Phils. Trivia Tidbit: Cardinal Curt Flood was traded to the Phillies in 1969 as part of the big Dick Allen deal but refused to go, retired, and then unsuccessfully sued MLB for free agency, eventually setting all sorts of player movement wheels in motion. Part of the blowback was that Montanez ended up as one of the guys (Jim Browning was the other) the Redbirds sent to Philly as his replacement. 
• 1957 - The Pirates and KC Athletics played an 18-inning, 0-0 exhibition game before darkness put an end to the match. The two teams collected a combined 18 hits, 16 of which were singles, and only used three pitchers each. The contest was just shy of lasting four hours before the managers called it a day. Ron Kline and Bob Purkey did most of the tossing for the Bucs, with long-shot Purkey winning a spot on the staff after his 10-inning whitewash performance. 

• 1963 - The Titusville Herald’s headline screamed “Pittsburgh Pirates To Move Club To Titusville.” The April Fools gag drew a chuckle but no interest from ownership and the Bucs remained firmly rooted in Forbes Field. Titusville’s population per the 1960 census was 8,356 souls; Forbes Field had an average attendance of 9,675 in 1963; maybe there was a match to be made. 
• 1968 - RHP Masumi Kuwata was born in Yao, Japan. He ended his 21-year stay with the Yomiuri Giants (173 wins, 3.55 ERA) after the 2006 campaign because at age 38, he wanted to take a shot at MLB. He drew some interest from the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but chose the Pirates because he thought they offered the fastest track to the majors. He hurt his ankle in camp, went to Indy and got a call up in June. He lasted two months and 19 outings, tossing to a 9.43 ERA, and was outrighted. He refused the Indy assignment and returned to Japan, but then signed a minor league deal with the Bucs for 2008; apparently neither side believed that experience was a very good teacher. Kuwata didn’t make the 25-man out of camp and retired. The Pirates offered Kuwata a coaching job (he was a pro at preparation and a willing mentor to younger guys), but he declined and went back to Nippon for good. He did make the Bucco annals, though, as the first Japanese player for Pittsburgh.