Notes: Good Week on the Road; Andujar, Mlodzinski Called Up; Davis, Contreras, Skenes Updates; Junior Moves (Again) & Hack Honored at Home

Hullo, Labor Day...

Notes:

• The week began with a set at Kansas City. It was a good start with a 5-0 win; Johan Oviedo tossed a complete game 2-hitter and Ke'Bryan Hayes remained on fire with four hits & a walk. They rallied late in the second match, getting homers from Hayes in the eighth (told ya he was hot) and Liover Peguero in the ninth to support Colin Selby and Luis Ortiz to take a 6-3 decision. The Bucs swept the set, 4-1, behind starter Andre Jackson and a bunch of boxes checked - it was the Pirates first sweep since June, Jackson's first MLB win, Jack Suwinski's first homer in five weeks, Vinny Capra's first big league extra-base hit and RBI...the trip to St. Louis was a happy journey. The good vibes carried over to the opener. With solid work by Mitch Keller and company, the Bucs prevailed in 10 innings, 4-2. The second game was equally nail-biting; Josh Palacios drilled a two-run, 9th-inning dong and David Bednar stranded runners at second and third to cap a rollercoaster 7-6 win. It was their 63rd win, one more than they had in all of 2022. The streak ended at five games; the off-and-on Johan Oviedo wasn't on as the the Bucs fell in the finale, 6-4.
• The Pirates posted a 9-4 slate in the 2023 season series v St. Louis, the first time since 2013 that they’ve recorded a winning record against the Redbirds.  

Miguel Andujar - 2023 photo/Pirates

• A handful of September moves: 1B/OF Miguel Andújar was called up, RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (sore elbow) came off the IL, OF Cal Mitchell & RHP Yohan Ramirez were DFA’d, and RHP Max Kranick’s rehab stint (TJ surgery) ended and he was optioned to Indy.
• RF Henry Davis (thumb/wrist) started taking BP and intends to be back with the boys before the season ends.
• Roansy Contreras has hit a bump; he's experiencing some soreness and has been pulled from Indy's rotation. He's now in playing catch mode, return date TBD.
• The Paul Skene watch: Altoona stretched Skenes out to two innings this time; he K'ed three and gave up one hit in a scoreless, 25-pitch outing v Erie on Saturday. He's due out on the hill again on Thursday against Harrisburg and old LSU mate Dylan Crews, the draft's #2 pick.
• RHP Junior Fernandez made three outings for the Pirates last year, was released and has since gone to the Yankees & Blue Jays, both which let him go. He just signed another minor league deal with the Washington Nationals.
• Ellwood City native Hack Wilson had a Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission roadside marker dedicated to him on Woodside Avenue (State Route 65) at the Lincoln HS Baseball Field in Ewing Park, with the event hosted by the Ellwood City Area Historical Society. In 1930 as a Chicago Cub, Hack swatted 56 home runs, the NL record for 68 years, and drove in 191 runs, a mark yet to be topped. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979. 

9/4: Wallopin' Waners; 10 Straight; Tunnell Vision; Kitten Scratched; SI Law; Gill's Gaffe; Tarp Fail; Gems, Twin Killings, Lumber & Game Tales; HBD Jackrabbit & Herky-Jerky

• 1869 - RHP Elmer “Herky Jerky” Horton was born in Hamilton, Ohio. He made three MLB starts to fill his big league resume, two with the 1896 Pirates. He went 0-2, giving up 16 runs in 15 innings, with the second game coming after two days' rest (he also lost his final start in 1898, 12-3, as a member of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms). Herky started his pro journey in 1895 for Terre Haute and played through 1905, spending his last few seasons with New York-based teams, near his Lake Oneida home. His nickname came from his twitchy pitching delivery. 
• 1875 - OF Jack “Jackrabbit” Gilbert was born in Rhinecliff, New York. The small and speedy (hence his moniker) Jackrabbit played three games in 1898 between the Washington Senators and New York Giants. Gilbert went to the minors where he swiped 182 bases between 1897-1900 (records are incomplete beyond that). He got one more call to the majors in 1904, appearing in 25 games for Pittsburgh as a left fielder. It wasn’t exactly the fast track to job security; the Pirates had future Hall of Famer Fred Clarke starting in left field, and Fred was also the manager of the team. Jack didn’t return (hitting .241 with three steals in six tries didn’t help his cause) and played in the minors afterward, hanging on through 1910 when the Jackrabbit was an ol’ gray hare of 34. 
• 1890 - The Pittsburgh Alleghenys snapped a 23-game losing streak and a stretch where the club lost 33-of-34 games with a 6-2 win over the Cleveland Spiders at Recreation Park. 2B Sam LaRocque had a pair of knocks and Dave Anderson notched the win. It didn’t reverse their fortunes; they dropped 20 of the last 23 games to finish 23-113. From July 3rd forward (when they had their final winning streak of the year of three in a row), they were 6-66. Local hurler Billy Gumbert (his brother Ad also pitched later for Pittsburgh) led the staff with four wins. 

Sam LaRocque - 1892 Nashville American

• 1901 - The Buccos swept the NY Giants at the Polo Grounds by 12-6 and 10-3 scores. Their big guns carried the day: Fred Clarke collected eight hits (five runs scored, four RBI), Hans Wagner six (six RBI, two runs) and Ginger Beaumont five knocks (four runs scored) as the Pirates collected 34 hits during the afternoon. Jesse Tannehill went the distance to claim the lidlifter; Happy Jack Chesbro won the nightcap. Pittsburgh and New York were rivals for much of the early 20th century, but this was the Pirates year - they claimed the NL flag with 90 wins to earn their first championship after finishing second in 1900, although there was no official World Series until 1903. 
• 1908 - With two outs and the Pirates-Cubs in a scoreless 10th-inning tie at Exposition Park, Chief Wilson singled to center with the bases juiced, scoring Fred Clarke with the winning run for Vic Willis, who tossed a four-hitter. Doc Gill, on first base, saw Clarke score, and pulled a u-turn toward the clubhouse before touching second (which, while lazy, was a common enough practice by the players back in the day). The Cubs' Johnny Evers then ran over and tagged second base to claim (properly) a run-preventing force out on Gill. But the lone umpire, Hank O'Day, had already left the field and Chi-town protested the game to no avail. Charley Murphy, the Cubs president, told Pirates beat man Ralph Davis of the Pittsburgh Press that “I do not expect the protest will be allowed, but it certainly is a strong one and should prove a strong argument in favor of the double-umpire system” instead of the single arbitrator currently in use. Three weeks later on September 23rd, Evers did get a force call in roughly the same situation against the NY Giants’ Fred Merkle, and that play, which impacted the pennant race, became forever known as “Merkle’s Boner.” As fate would have it, O’Day was the umpire for that game, too. 
• 1916 - The Pirates swept the Cards at Forbes Field behind some stellar pitching. Frank Miller threw a four-hit whitewash in the opener, winning, 7-0, as the Redbirds shot themselves in the foot with four errors that led to three unearned Bucco runs. Wilbur Cooper followed by spinning his own four-hit shutout, taking a 2-0 decision. Carson Bigbee went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a double and a stolen base while Cooper helped himself by driving in the other run. 

Carson Bigbee - Helmar Oasis

• 1927 - Lloyd and Paul Waner became MLB’s first brothers to hit home runs in the same game. They pulled off the feat in the same inning when Lloyd led off the fifth frame with his second home run of the season, and an out later Paul followed with his ninth dinger, both off the Reds’ Dolf Luque. Neither long ball would have counted today as each cleared the fence on a hop, then considered a home run but now a ground-rule double as Pittsburgh defeated Cincinnati at Redland Field, 8-4. The Waners were among six Bucs to have two or more hits, with Johnny Gooch’s three hits and RBIs leading the way for Vic Aldridge’s complete game win. The win gave the Bucs a two-game lead in the NL race, and they would go on to win the flag, only to be swept by the Yankees legendary “Murderers’ Row.” 
• 1948 - With an off date during a Labor Day week home stand, the Pirates added to the Allegheny County Fair festivities by playing an exhibition against the Second Army club at the South Park Fairgrounds. Both papers reported a Bucco victory. 
• 1954 - The Pirates sent 1B Jack Phillips to the Chicago White Sox for IF Jim Baumer and cash; neither guy ever played for the club they were sent to. Baumer tread water in Pittsburgh’s farm system (he did play a handful of games for the Reds in 1960) and finished his career with a five-year stint in Japan. Phillips had hit .264 with the Bucs over four years before being dealt, but the CWS stashed him in the minors. He resurfaced in 1955 with Detroit, batting .301 in two seasons and a game (he played one last MLB contest in 1957 at the age of 35). 
• 1964 - Bill Mazeroski and Donn Clendenon led a 16-hit Bucco attack as the Pirates downed the Houston Colt .45s, 10-2, at Forbes Field. The dynamic duo went 6-for-9, combining for seven RBI and three runs scored. Bill Virdon also had three knocks, with Bob Bailey and Roberto Clemente chipping in with a pair each. Bob Veale went the distance to breeze his way to his 15th victory. 

• 1965 - Vernon Law was featured on the cover of The Sporting News. He won the NL Comeback Player of the Year award that season with a 17-9/2.15 slash in 29 games at age 35. The Deacon won 12 more games in 1966, but faded in ‘67, his final campaign, and retired to a coaching career. 
• 1967 - The Pirates pounded out 32 hits in sweeping a Busch Stadium twinbill from the Cards by 10-8 and 9-3 scores. Manny Mota led the parade with five hits, four runs and five RBI during the day; Willie Stargell also collected five knocks. Billy Mazeroski had four hits (two 2Bs and a HR) and four RBI while Maury Wills added four more hits and plated three times. Dennis Ribant won the first game in relief of Bob Veale with Juan Pizarro getting the save; Steve Blass got the win in the nightcap with Pizarro collecting his second save of the day. 
• 1970 - In the midst of a heated pennant race, the Bucs were ahead of the Phils, 4-1, in the seventh frame when a drizzle fell. The TRS automatic tarp came halfway up and then quit. The result was that the remainder of the game was pushed back to the next night as the Cubs slid into a first place tie with the Pirates with a win over Mets. The Bucs and Steve Blass held on to take the opener 4-3, the next night, then won the regulation contest behind rookie Fred Cambria, 6-4, to move 1-1/2 games ahead of Chicago. It was Cambria’s only MLB win as an arm injury cut his career short and he retired in 1973. Eventually the Buccaneers captured the NL East flag by five games only to be swept by the Reds in the NLCS. 
• 1971 - The Bucs mishandled five balls, but still won, 7-6, over the Montreal Expos in 11 innings at TRS. The Expos clanged in four themselves as six of the game’s 13 runs were unearned. Pittsburgh won on an oddball rally. Rennie Stennett singled and went to second when Gene Clines was HBP by Mike Marshall. Marshall picked Stennett off second, and during the same at-bat, had Clines picked off first, but Ron Fairly mishandled the throw. Instead of being out, Clines ended up on second where he scored the winning run on Vic Davalillo’s knock. 

Bruce Kison - 1972 Topps

• 1972 - Steve Blass threw a five-hit shutout for his 16th win and was followed by Bruce Kison, who also tossed a five-hitter while surrendering one run as the Bucs rolled over the Phils in a twin bill at TRS, 10-0 and 5-1. Al Oliver had four hits in the lid lifter, smacking two homers while scoring four runs and driving home six tallies. Vic Davalillo added four more raps and touched home three times. In the nightcap, Willie Stargell, who had five hits in the two games, banged a triple and homer to chase home two runs, giving him a league-leading 108 RBI, and Kison helped himself with a two-run double in the seventh to give himself some breathing room. 
• 1976 - The Pirates put up three runs in the ninth, then held off the Expos, 5-3, at Parc Jarry for their 10th straight win. The Bucs ninth inning was sparked by a two-run hit from Omar Moreno, who later scored on a wild pitch. Kent Tekulve gave up a score in the ninth and faced the tying run in Larry Parrish, but retired the slugger on a fly to center to pick up a save for Dave Giusti. Montreal had 13 hits, but were thwarted by four DP balls. The Bucs dropped the next match to end the streak, but stayed hot, winning eight of the next 11 games. 
• 1978 - In his first major league at-bat, Dorian “Doe” Boyland struck out while sitting on the bench. The Pirates rookie was yanked with a 1-2 count after the Mets made a pitching change in the seventh frame, replacing Skip Lockwood with Kip Kobel. Pinch hitter Rennie Stennett took Boyland’s place in the box as Chuck Tanner played the match-up game, and completed the K by watching strike three during the first game of a Bucco 7-4, 7-0, doubleheader sweep at Three Rivers Stadium. The victories put the Bucs one game out of first. They would finish the year in second, 1-1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. 
• 1982 - Lee Tunnell got his first MLB start (and appearance, for that matter) as a replacement for John Candelaria (his shoulder was tight), and took full advantage. Tunnell outpitched Fernando Valenzuela in a 1-0 win over Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium when Lee Lacy’s first inning homer stood as the game’s only score. Tunnell left in the eighth with a blister; Rod Scurry and Kent Tekulve finished up to preserve Lee’s first big league victory. 

Lee Tunnell - 1983 photo via Historical Images

• 1991 - The MLB Committee For Statistical Accuracy deleted Harvey Haddix’s 12-inning perfect game from the list of perfectos while removing the asterisk from Roger Maris’ 61-homer year. In The Kitten’s case, the committee ruled that a pitcher had to “complete the game” to get credit, no matter how many innings. Haddix's terse response to the slap, according to Albert Chen of Sports Illustrated, was "It's OK; I know what I did." 
• 1992 - Pittsburgh rallied for a 6-5 win against the LA Dodgers at TRS. Randy Tomlin allowed one unearned run in eight innings, turning over a 3-1 lead to Roger Mason in the ninth, but he and Bob Patterson, who gave up a two-out grand salami to Todd Benzinger, flipped a two-run lead into a two-run deficit. But the Bucs answered with three runs in their half off three Angelino pitchers, winning the game on Don Slaught’s pinch-hit, walkoff single that scored Orlando Merced. Andy Van Slyke stroked three doubles while Jay Bell homered to lead the attack.

9/3 Through The 1960s: Al Axed, Connie Hired; Dizzy & Daffy Dropped; Pops Peepers; Altoona Allies; Ironclad; Gems & Booming Bat Tales; HBD Ed & Harry

• 1864 - C Harry Decker was born in Lockport, Illinois. Harry spent most of his fourth and final MLB season (1890) with the Pirates, hitting .274. Decker was all-around; he also played 1B, 2B, SS and OF for Pittsburgh. Per SABR, Decker is on the short list as an inventor of the modern catcher's mitt, winning a patent in 1906. Harry’s later years are a mystery - in the 1910s, he was serving time at San Quentin prison under the name Earl Henry Davenport (and playing ball for the prison team, which is how he was outed by The Sporting Life). His criminal ways involved forgery, larceny and bigamy (he was also said to be a womanizer) while several of his crimes victimized other ballplayers. The string of aliases he used made documenting his life beyond baseball impossible; baseball historians lost track of him after 1915 when he was released from The Q. 
• 1885 - 1B Ed Konetchy was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He stopped in Pittsburgh in the middle of his 15-year career, hitting .249 for the Pirates in 1914 and .314 for the Federation League Pittsburgh Rebels in 1915. Konetchy was noted for his speed, consistency with the stick (.281 career BA plus he broke up four no hitters during his career) and solid glovework along with his friendly demeanor (His SABR bio noted that “He was the kind of player that even the umpire liked.") Ed was a man of many monikers: the Candy Kid (his first job was in a candy factory), Big Ed (he was 6-2, 195 lb), the LaCrosse Lulu (hometown), the Big Bohemian (he was Czech), Edward the Mighty (600+ career extra-base hits) and he was listed in box scores simply as Koney. He was posthumously inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1961. 

Ed Konetchy - Helmar Oasis

• 1890 - Pittsburgh played the Cleveland Spiders in Altoona, one of four regular season home games in the Alleghenys/Pirates history that wasn’t played in Pittsburgh (Wheeling and two at Williamsport were the others). The Alleghenys lost to a 23-year-old rookie named Cy Young, 10-6. The Pirates self-destructed during the game by committing 10 errors, leaving the Altoona fans “somewhat disappointed” per the Pittsburgh Press. The game’s actual status confused later baseball historians, who can’t quite figure out if it was a make-up of a rainout or barnstorming, such was the state of record-keeping back in the day. The Press called it a “championship” game - ie, the result counted towards determining the league champion - and we’ll leave it at that. 
• 1894 - Replacing fired skipper Al Buckenberger, C Connie Mack took the helm to lead the Pirates to a 22-1 win (“...the Pittsburgs were in brave form against the visiting Senators” said the Pittsburgh Press) over his former Washington team at Exposition Park. Mack was a Bucco for six years, batting .242 from 1891-96 while compiling an 149–134 (.527) record as a player/manager (1894-96). Mack (real name: Cornelius McGillicuddy) later went on to a Hall-of-Fame career as the long-time skipper of the Philadelphia Athletics. 
• 1905 - Deacon Phillippe and Chicago's Bob Wicker hooked up in a 10-inning scoreless duel, each allowing three hits, before the Colts scored an unearned run in the 11th following a triple. That runner scored a batter later when with the infield in, 1B Del Howard threw the ball away going for the out at home. In the nitecap, Paul “Lefty” Leifield made his MLB debut and whitewashed Chicago 1-0 on a three-hitter in a game stopped after six innings at West Side Park because both teams had to catch a train to their next series. The Buc run scored in the final frame when Fred Clarke doubled to lead off and scored on a pair of groundouts. In a bit of an oddity, all four pitchers threw three-hitters. The opening loss broke an 11-game winning streak by the Bucs. They went on to win 8-of-9 afterward on the way to a 96-win, second-place finish. 

Lefty Leifield - Harwell Collection/Detroit Public Library

• 1914 - In a rare early example of a guaranteed contract being upheld, Pittsburgh Rebel Harry Gessler reached a final settlement with the Federal League club after he was fired as player/manager two weeks into the season. He rebuffed the ownership’s proffered settlement and hired an attorney to collect his pay and a separation bonus, as stipulated in his “ironclad” contract. Gessler, from Indiana and Greensburg HS, then left baseball and went to medical school, where Harry picked up the moniker “Doc” and started a hometown practice.
• 1914 - The Pirates had a big day in an otherwise dismal season when they swept the Cards, 11-6 and 10-3, at Forbes Field. Wilbur Cooper won the opener with relief help from “Hickory Bob” Harmon while Erv “Kanty” Kantlehner went the distance in the nitecap. The offensive hero was Max Carey, who scored five times in the opener. The Bucs swept a four-game set from St. Louis without the injured Honus Wagner. Pittsburgh ended the season with a 69-85 slate, finishing in seventh place, 25-1/2 games off the pace of the Boston Braves, as their roster was badly deflated by defections to the upstart Federal League. 
• 1925 - The Pirates won their ninth in a row with a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field. Glenn Wright went 3-for-4 with two RBI to back Ray Kremer’s pitching. Pittsburgh upped their league lead to nine games. The gap would never drop below seven games as they won the crown by 8-1/2 games and whipped the Senators in the World Series. 
• 1927 - The Pirates bombed the Cards, 14-0, at Forbes Field. George Grantham went 4-for-4 while Paul Waner and Pie Traynor each went 3-for-4. Carmen Hill tossed a five-hit winner as the Pirates began to pull away from the Cards and NY Giants, taking a two game lead in the NL race, a position that they would never surrender on their way to meeting Murderer’s Row in the Series.

The Waner bros - Helmar Big League Brew

•  1928 - The Bucs broke out the bats at Forbes Field, clobbering the Chicago Cubs, 16-1, in the opener of a Forbes Field twin bill and taking the nitecap, 6-3. Five Pirates had multiple RBI in the first game as Lloyd Waner led the 19-hit outburst with four knocks behind Erv Brame’s five hitter. Paul Waner, Adam Comorosky and Dick Bertell added three hits each. Big Poison homered and had a pair of RBI to back Ray Kremer in the finale. Comorosky was a busy boy; he tied an NL record for right fielders with nine putouts in the second contest. 
• 1934 - The Pirates beat the Dean brothers, Daffy (Paul) and Dizzy (Jay), by 12-2 and 6-5 scores during a Forbes Field doubleheader. Freddie Lindstrom had four hits in the lid lifter, Pie Traynor and Gus Suhr knocked in three runs each and Larry French cruised to the victory. The Bucs put it away with their biggest inning of the season, an eight-run third. The second game had its action in the ninth. The Cards scored three times to take a 5-3 lead; the Pirates came back with a three spot of their own in the bottom half, ripping three hits off reliever Dizzy Dean and claiming the win when Pie Traynor singled into right to score Lindstrom, who had seven hits during the day. Howie Meine got the win after coming in to relieve Waite Hoyt in the final frame. Volney Walsh of the Pittsburgh Press wrote “the customers had come to see Dizzy pitch, no doubt about it, but when he left the mound, thousands stood and gave a tremendous ‘boo’ that could be heard for blocks. Even the Carnegie Museum seemed to rock from that razzberry.” 
• 1944 - The Pirates took both ends of a twinbill from the Cardinals, 6-5 and 8-2, to sweep the four-game set from St. Louis. The brooming ended the Cards’ amazing MLB record of 132 consecutive series without being swept. Rip Sewell and Jumbo Strincevich were the complete game winners, putting on a show for the largest Forbes Field crowd of the season of 34,927. 
• 1945 - The Bucs took a double dipper from St. Louis, 6-5 and 6-2. The Bucs banged four homers in the opener, two by C Bill Salkeld. Fritz Ostermueller got the win while Ted Wilks took the loss; Wilks wouldn’t lose again until 1948, after 77 more appearances. In the nitecap, Preacher Roe scattered seven hits while fanning 11, and his battery mate Al Lopez caught his 1‚793rd game‚ a then-MLB record for catchers, eclipsing Gabby Hartnett, who set the mark in 1941. 

Al Lopez - 1977 TCMA

• 1950 - The Pirates gave up a pair of runs in the 10th to the Cards, then rallied to score three in their half to beat St. Louis, 12-11, at Forbes Field. Bob Dillinger and pinch hitter Pete Castiglione hit back-to-back homers off Harry Breechen to tie the game. After Breechen walked Ralph Kiner intentionally with two outs, Gus Bell doubled home the game winner. 
• 1962 - OF Dave Clark was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. He played for the Pirates for five seasons (1992-96) as a reserve OF’er and bench bat. Clark’s Pittsburgh line was .278/35/158 with an OPS+ of 111 in 940 AB. He went on to coach in Pittsburgh, Houston (where he served as interim manager) and Detroit. Dave also managed several seasons for Licey in the Dominican League. 
• 1966 - The Bucs showed off their muscle in a 9-1 win over the Cubs at Forbes Field. All eight position players had at least one rap and either scored or drove in a run, while seven of the Pirates 14 hits went for extra bases (two doubles, three triples, two homers). Tommie Sisk appreciated the support, but more than held up his end by tossing a complete-game four-hitter. 
• 1968 - Willie Stargell took off the glasses he had been wearing for 10 days (he was 1-for-25 with 11 K while wearing them) and returned to his normal ball-banging self, hitting a solo homer in the sixth that was the game winner in a 3-2 win over the Astros at Forbes Field. His play wasn’t the big one, though - Larry Dierker, who limited the Bucs to four hits, walked the bases loaded in the second inning, and Jose Herrera booted a DP ball that should have ended the inning. Instead, Stargell scored on the error and Bill Mazeroski came in a batter later on a short Freddie Patek sac fly. Dock Ellis got the win - he was in almost constant hot water, giving up 11 hits, but for the most part dodged the raindrops - finished off by Luke Walker, who struck out the final four ‘Stros. The crowd was a dismal 3,003 as the Pirates sat in sixth place, 21 games off the lead.

9/3 From 1970: Taylor Deal; Solly Back; Rook-100; DD-POTM; Lee, Merced & Hit Man Big Boppers; Pirates HoF; Teke Day; Game Tales; RIP Clyde & Rip; HBD Matt & Juan

• 1971 - The Pirates purchased C/OF Carl Taylor from the Kansas City Royals. It was a homecoming of sorts; Taylor played with the Pirates during the 1968-69 campaigns, hitting .315 over 148 games. His stay was considerably shorter this time around as he went 2-for-12 and during 1972’s spring training was sold back to the Royals (Carl spent five of his six MLB years with either Pittsburgh or Kansas City), where he finished his career after the 1973 season. 
• 1972 - It took the Pirates 10 innings, but they held off the San Francisco Giants at TRS by a 2-1 score. Bob Moose carried a 1-0 lead into the ninth, but Gary Maddux’s two-out knock knotted the game. Maddux was also key in the Pirates comeback; with Bob Robertson at first base, Ken Henderson tried to make a shoe-string grab of Richie Hebner’s sinking liner and missed, with the ball scooting past him. Maddux didn’t get over to back up, allowing Big Red to come all the way around with the winning run to hand Dave Giusti the win in relief. Giants reliever Jerry Johnson took it hard - on his way back to the clubhouse, “fuming and cursing” per Post Gazette beat man Charley Feeney, he kicked the water cooler, tore the thermostat off the wall, scattered the bats and splintered a stool. Giant manager Charlie Fox read the riot act to his troops after the game, no doubt frustrated after his gang had outhit the Bucs for the third straight game - they had 13 hits and stranded 13 on this day - yet were swept in the series. The Bucco room was notably more lighthearted as they had just won their sixth straight and were 12 games up in the pennant race with 29 contests to go; they took the NL East crown with an 11-game cushion. 

Juan Perez - 2007 Topps Rookie

• 1978 - LHP Juan Perez was born in Villas Rivas, Dominican Republic. Perez was signed by Boston out of high school in 1998, becoming their Minor League Pitcher of the Year and tossed for the World Futures team. He was sold to the New York Mets in 2006, waived in August and claimed by the Bucs, who called him up for September. He also got some big league time the next year, but was 0–1/8.10 and released after spending 2008 on the farm. Juan returned to work in the show from 2011-13, and finished his pro career (61 MLB outings with a line of 2-4/4.25) in the Mexican League in 2016. 
• 1978 - Dale Berra’s three-run, walk-off homer off Gene Garber in the ninth gave the Pirates a 6-3 win over the Braves at TRS after Atlanta manager Bobby Cox had intentionally walked Bill Robinson to get to Berra. Phil Garner tied the game in the seventh with a two-out, three-run bomb, the same frame that Willie Stargell collected his 2,000th hit. Kent Tekulve got the victory in relief of Bert Blyleven. The win was their 19th in 22 games and put them just two games behind the first-place Phils, a margin that held up as the Bucs fell 1-1/2 games short of Philadelphia. 
• 1979 - It took 11 tries, three months, a couple of blown saves by the bullpen, and a visit to the DL with a cranky back, but almost-37-year-old Jim Rooker finally got win #100, defeating the Phils, 7-3, in the nightcap of a twin bill at TRS. To make it more memorable, Rook took the win on his daughter Jaime Elizabeth’s first birthday. Dale Berra drove in three runs and Phil Garner two more to grease the attack before Kent Tekulve came on to earn his 25th save. The Bucs had a six-game winning streak stopped in the opener, 2-0, as Steve Carlton bested Bert Blyleven. 
• 1983 - The Braves took an early 2-0 lead against Rick Rhoden at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, built around a Chris Chambliss double, and the game stayed that way until the seventh inning. The Pirates tied the score on knocks by Bill Madlock and Johnny Ray. An intentional pass packed the sacks for Mike Easler, making his first appearance in 25 days after a thumb injury had sent him to the DL. The Hit Man returned to face ace Steve Bedrosian, taking over from Phil Niekro, and didn't waste any time by drilling a grand slam to center on the first pitch to carry the Bucs to a 6-2 victory. Jim Bibby got the win while Cecilio Guante picked up a save. 

Matt Capps - 2006 Fleer Tradition Rookie

• 1983 - RHP Matt Capps was born in Douglasville, Georgia. The closer spent five years (2005-09) in Pittsburgh, putting up a record of 19-19-67/3.61. Though he converted 27 of 32 save opportunities in 2009, his 5.80 ERA led the Pirates to non-tender him after the campaign. After stints in Washington and Minnesota, he was out of MLB since 2013, signing several minor league deals and hanging ‘em up after the 2016 campaign. He now works in the Pirates TV/radio booth. 
• 1987 - Second-year RHP Doug Drabek, 24, was named the NL Pitcher of the Month. DD went 5-0/2.79 in six August starts, his last one being his first complete game and first shutout in the majors, a 7-0, three-hit win against the Astros. He finished the year with a line of 11-12/3.88 and then broke out in 1988, starting a six-year string of 30+ starts/200+ IP. 
• 1989 - The Pirates held a pregame celebration of Kent Tekulve’s career. The righty fireman was driven onto TRS by a classic red fire engine to the strains of “Rubber Band Man.” Carl Barger, Chuck Tanner, Willie Stargell, Dave Giusti and Jim Gott were there, paying honors and bearing gifts (the opponents, the Reds, even had a gift for him), along with Teke’s wife, college coach Don Schaly and the Pirate scout who signed him, Dick Coury. The Bucs won the game against the Reds afterward, 3-1, behind Doug Drabek’s arm and an Andy Van Slyke homer. 
• 1989 - Truett "Rip" Sewell passed away in Plant City, Florida, at the age of 82. Rip was a three-time All-Star who led the NL in wins, winning %, and complete games. A workhorse (eight years w/175+ IP), he posted four 15-wins seasons (w/two 21-win campaigns), and logged 200 or more IP four years in a row. A cousin of big league brothers Joe and Luke Sewell, he was noted for the eephus pitch. The righty pitched virtually his entire career in Pittsburgh from 1938-49, starting 243 games, winning 143 (with 15 saves tossed in) while posting a 3.43 ERA. 

Rip Sewell - Baseball Heroes Deck

• 1992 - Orlando Merced drove in five runs on three hits to help the Pirates complete a three-game sweep of the Giants with a 9-3 victory at TRS. He had just begun to wear glasses after noticing night vision problems while driving home and it apparently improved more than his steering skills. Alex Cole added a personal-high four hits, tripling twice. Doug Drabek worked into the seventh for the win in a late-starting game that was delayed 42 minutes by a passing rainstorm. In other news, LHP Zane Smith said he was considering season-ending surgery for his shoulder woes, having pitched just twice since July 11th. He delayed it until November, but only appeared twice more during the campaign and missed the playoffs. 
• 2000 - Longtime Pirates coach and scout Clyde Sukeforth passed away in Waldoboro, Maine, at the age of 98. He caught for 10 years with the Reds and Dodgers and then became a Brooklyn coach (he was involved in Jackie Robinson’s recruitment), moving to Pittsburgh to join Branch Rickey in 1952, where he coached, managed in the minors (he turned down the Pirates reins in 1957, bringing on Danny Murtaugh), served as a super scout (he helped bird-dogged Roberto Clemente) until 1965, then beat the bushes as an Atlanta scout. 
• 2002 - Salomon Torres pitched his first MLB game since July 20th, 1997, and went 8-1/3 scoreless innings against the Braves He also collected his first hit since 1994 in the Pirates 3-0 win. Torres, 30, retired as an active player in 1997 and served as Montreal's pitching coach in the Dominican Summer League before he signed with Pittsburgh in January. Torres did hang ‘em up after 2008 and now runs three training complexes for minor leaguers in the Dominican Republic. 
• 2011 - Former Cub Derrek Lee hit a game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning off Carlos Marmol to give the Pirates a 7-5 victory over Chicago at Wrigley Field. Lee went 3-for-3 with five RBI while Alex Presley added three more hits. Joel Hanrahan sealed the deal with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to save the win for Chris Resop, the fourth Bucco pitcher of the day. 

Travis Snider - 2013 Topps

• 2013 - Travis Snider’s ninth-inning homer lifted the Pirates to a 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park and gave Pittsburgh a two-game lead in the NL Central. It was also Pittsburgh’s 81st win and snapped a 20-year losing streak by the franchise, unmatched by any other major professional sports team in North America. It was a team effort, though - Andrew McCutchen, Justin Morneau and Marlon Byrd combined to go 7-for-10 with three RBI and three runs scored, Mark Melancon picked up the save for winner Vin Mazzaro, and Gerrit Cole, who gave up a pair of first inning runs after just three batters, came back to put up zeroes through six innings and retired the last 12-of-13 hitters he faced. Cutch’s homer was his 100th, putting him in the Bucco 100 HR/100 steal club along with Barry Bonds, Al Martin, Andy Van Slyke, Dave Parker and Paul Waner. And in a final bit of irony, the Brewers had broken their club record 12-season losing streak at PNC Park in 2005, so it was fitting the Bucs returned the favor at Miller Park. 
• 2022 - After being delayed by the Covid era - the project was first planned to become a thing in 2020 - the Pirates Hall of Fame, which included members of the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays, was unveiled at PNC Park with pre-game festivities and a postgame drone exhibition. The Steel City’s first class included Jake Beckley, Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke, Max Carey, Paul Waner, Lloyd Waner, Oscar Charleston, Pie Traynor, Ray Brown, Arky Vaughan, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Ralph Kiner, Bill Mazeroski, Danny Murtaugh, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Steve Blass, and Dave Parker.

9/2 Through 1964: No Boos For Stu; 1st For Good; 9 In-A-Row; Ooops; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Luke, Milo & Ben

• 1907 - IF Ben Sankey was born in Nauvoo, Alabama. His MLB career lasted for 72 games from 1929-31, mainly at SS and all as a Bucco, and he hit .213 over that span. Ben stuck at it, playing minor league ball until 1941, waiting until he was 33-years-old before unlacing the spikes. After his Pittsburgh stay, the slick fielder spent six years with Montreal and three more with Baltimore of the International League, earning a spot in the IL Hall of Fame in 1947. 
• 1909 - Boston's Cliff Curtis pitched his first MLB game and beat the Pirates, 1-0, to give the Doves their only win against Pittsburgh that year. The Pirates, who would claim the NL pennant with 110 victories and then the World Series, won the twin bill’s nightcap at the South End Grounds, 5-3. Pittsburgh took all the remaining September games against Beantown and finished the season 20-1 against last-place Boston. Indeed, the only team that could compete with them that year was the NY Giants, who finished 11-11 against the Buccos. 
• 1917 - The Pirates won a wild one at Redland Field as they held off the Cincinnati Reds by an 8-7 count. Hans Wagner had three hits, including his final MLB two-bagger to send home Max Carey in the ninth with what proved to be the game-winning run. Bill Evans got the win in relief of Burleigh Grimes with Bob Steele saving it by working the final two frames. 

Hans - 1917 Collins-McCarthy

• 1925 - The Pirates won their ninth straight game by defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 8-2, at Forbes Field. It was scoreless going into the sixth inning when the bats woke up. The Redlegs put up a pair and the Bucs answered in spades with seven tallies of their own. George Grantham led the attack, going 4-for-4 and falling a homer short of the cycle while Eddie Moore chipped in with three raps. Glenn Wight added two hits, two runs and two RBI to the cause. Johnny Morrison went the distance; he was touched up for 12 hits but stranded 11. The Pirates streak ended the next day against the Cardinals, who rallied in the ninth to topple the Buccos. It was a good year for Pittsburgh, which took the National League pennant and then the World Series in seven games from the Washington Senators. 
• 1927 - The Pirates took over first place with a 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cards at Forbes Field. Ray Kremer won the day against Grover Cleveland Alexander, and added an RBI to the effort. The Waner brothers went 7-for-10 with two runs scored and two RBI. The Bucs never relinquished first place after the victory, and nosed out the Cards for the title by a 1-1/2 game margin. 
• 1927 - Leland Milo Hamilton was born in Fairfield, Iowa. Milo had the unenviable and ultimately untenable job as Bob Prince’s replacement in the booth. His smooth “broadcast school” delivery was a stark contrast to the Gunner’s homespun boosterism; it didn’t take long for the gig to wear thin on both Hamilton and the City. He moved on to the Cubs job in 1980 and discovered that working with Harry Caray wasn’t much easier than replacing Prince. Milo finally found a home in Houston in 1985, where he broadcast for 28 years until his retirement in 2012. Hamilton was the 1992 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award and was also inducted into the National Radio and Texas Radio Halls of Fame. 

Heinie Meine - 1933 Goudey

• 1933 - Pittsburgh won its eighth straight game by a 4-1 tally over the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field. Woody Jensen and Tommy Thevenow each had a pair of hits with a triple each and together drove in three runs to give Heinie Meine enough backing to claim the win. The Cincinnati Reds ended the streak convincingly the next day at Redland Field by a 9-3 score. 
• 1943 - LHP Luke Walker was born in DeKalb, Texas. He worked eight years (1965-66, 1968-73) for the Bucs, with a line of 40-42-9/3.47. Walker had a breakout 1970, going 15-6 with a 3.04 ERA and was a member of the 1970-72 championship teams. He started, closed and did everything in between for Danny Murtaugh and Bill Virdon. The lefty worked just one more MLB campaign after leaving Pittsburgh by being sold to the Tigers before the 1974 season. 
• 1944 - The Pirates slid by the first-place St. Louis Cards, 5-4, at Forbes Field, giving the Redbirds’ Ted Wilks his first loss following a string of 11 straight victories. The Bucs walked it off in the bottom of the ninth when Bob Elliott, who was 4-for-5 with a homer, singled home Jim Russell to give Max Butcher the victory. The lead switched hands several times during the game; Dick Fortune of the Pittsburgh Press called the contest “...a ding dong battle all the way.” 
• 1948 - The Bucco hand was caught in the cookie jar... Commissioner Happy Chandler fined the Pirates $2‚000 for violating the NL bonus rule when the Pirates signed ML Lynch as a scout while offering his son Danny a $6,000 contract. Chandler saw the deal (and probably rightly so) as an attempt to sway the second baseman's decision. Lynch was declared a free agent and signed with the Cubs. It ended up much ado over nothing; he played just seven MLB games. 

Bob Friend - 1958 Hires Action

• 1958 - Bob Friend and the Pirates held off the Phils at Forbes Field by a 3-2 count. The Bucs built an early lead via homers by Bill Virdon & Frank Thomas, along with a Ted Kluszewski rap that chased home Roberto Clemente after a triple. Philadelphia scored singletons in the eighth and ninth, but Friend fanned the last two batters to nail down his 19th win. Friend won 22 games before the campaign ended, the only time in his career that he would claim twenty victories. The victory moved the once sad-sack Buccos into second place, albeit eight games behind Milwaukee, and that’s how they’d finish the season as they went through the growing pains that led to 1960. 
• 1961 - Dick Stuart had a pair of homers, but his biggest hit was a broken-bat single that went off the pitcher’s mitt in the eighth to plate Dick Groat. That knock proved the game winner in a 5-4 Buc victory over the St. Louis Cards at Busch Stadium. Big Stu had all five RBI and ElRoy Face shut the door in the last two frames to earn the win. OF’er Joe Christopher threw out Stan Musial in the sixth, trying to go from first-to-third on a single to right. That toss-out was followed by a pair of knocks, so Joe’s arm may have saved the game for the Buccaneers.

9/2 From 1965: Veale Goes; Roberto's 2,000 & 2,971; Shawon Shines; Jim Jaws; AAA Flip; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Gaby, Yamid & Sean

• 1966 - The Pirates claimed first place by topping the Cubs, 7-5, on a Roberto Clemente homer, his 2,000th career hit. Clemente's long fly gave him 101 RBI for the year, the first time he reached the century mark. He ended up with a career high of 119 RBI in 1966, and collected 110 the next season, the only other time he drove in 100+ runs. Arriba won the MVP and the Bucs finished third with 92 wins, three games behind the LA Dodgers. 
• 1970 - LHP Sean Lawrence was born in Oak Park, Illinois. Drafted by the Pirates in the 6th round of the 1992 draft out of the College of St. Francis, his seven games in 1998 as a Bucs was the extent of his big league career, finishing with a slash of 2-1/7.32. He later pitched in the San Diego and Arizona systems, retiring in 2002 to become a police officer. 
• 1970 - The Pirates AAA team, the Columbus Jets, announced this would be their last season due to attendance woes. The Jets franchise relocated to Charleston and the Charlies became the Bucs top farm club through 1976. In 1977, the Columbus Clippers were organized and the Pittsburgh franchise returned to Columbus again, although for only two seasons. 
• 1972 - With his 2,971st knock as a Bucco (he ended up with 3,000), Roberto Clemente broke Honus Wagner's record for the most hits in the history of the franchise. The record-setting blow was a single off Giant hurler Sudden Sam McDowell. Roberto then chased Sam from the game with a three-run homer in the fourth during an 6-3 victory at Three Rivers Stadium. 

Bob Veale - 1972 Topps

• 1972 - LHP Bob Veale, 36, was sold to the Boston Red Sox after an 11-year career in Pittsburgh that saw him win 116 games and save six more, starting 255 times in his 341 Pirates outings. His 1,652 strikeouts are still the Pirate mark for a LHP and second overall in Bucco history. 
• 1977 - C Yamid Haad was born in Cartagena, Colombia. He got into one game with the Pirates in 1999 as a pinch hitter; he was called up after Jason Kendall broke his ankle. Yamid also got a taste with the Giants in 2005, but mostly served as depth because of an inconsistent bat. He spent 13 years in the minors (nine in AAA) and ended his career in 2016 in Mexico. 
• 1978 - Willie Stargell blasted a three-run homer in the first, but the Braves chipped away to tie the game at TRS and send it into extra innings before Dave Parker’s 12th-inning rap past a drawn-in infield gave the Pirates and Grant Jackson a 4-3 win. Phil Garner was on third with an out when the Braves worked around Frank Taveras and intentionally walked Omar Moreno to get to The Cobra (Atlanta manager Bobby Cox feared the squeeze was on with Frankie & Omar, and so took his shot with Parker, who had hit into two DPs during the contest). Kent Tekulve & Stargell almost became the goats in the 10th. With pinch-runner Rod Gilbreath on, Teke threw wildly to first. Gilbreath made it all the way to third, but held up as 1B Pops ran the ball down and Rod decided not to challenge his arm. Good thing - as Willie went to turn and throw home, he slipped and fell, but the runner had already hit the brakes. It was the Pirates sixth straight win over the Bravos and their 11th-of-12 at TRS, finishing second in the NL East by 1-1/2 games to Philly. 

Gaby Sanchez - 2013 Topps

• 1983 - 1B Gaby Sanchez was born in Miami, went to the U of Miami and played for the Marlins til the Bucs traded for him in 2012 as the right-hand half of a first base platoon with Garrett Jones and then with Ike Davis. He played for the Bucs through 2014, hitting .241, before going to Japan. He spent a year there and then dropped off the pro ball radar after the Mariners released him in camp the following spring, and was an analyst for the ACC Network at last peek. 
• 1988 - After a 2-1 loss to the Braves, Jim Leyland lit into his players in a 15-minute scolding of which “...six minutes were spent throwing nachos all over the place, three minutes were devoted exclusively to expletives and six minutes were the sermon” per Press beat man Bob Hertzel. Vet Andy Van Slyke, for one, thought it was due, telling the Post Gazette's Paul Meyer "After the way we've played the last month, you can tell the people of Pittsburgh to start following the Steelers." The tirade centered on paying attention to the details of the game and to quit listening to their agents. It didn’t particularly light the fire Leyland hoped it would, although the team did finish 14-12 during the rest of the season. 
• 1992 - Tim Wakefield, who tossed 129 pitches, came one out away from a complete game win as the Pirates beat the Giants, 3-2, at TRS. Bob Patterson came in to get the final out while picking up his ninth save. The Bucs took the lead for good in the sixth inning on a two-run homer from Barry Bonds after Don Slaught’s blast in the fifth provided the first score. The victory was in the midst of a seven game Pirate winning streak and kept the Bucs comfortably in first place by a three game margin; they won the Eastern Division by nine games over the Nats. The game had a little extra spice as two strippers, wearing just G-strings while serving drinks in a private box during a bachelor-party, were escorted out after peep-show complaints from other fans. 

Tim Wakefield - 1992 Donruss Rookie

• 1993 - Jim Leyland returned from a five-game suspension for “provoking a melee” in the last series against LA just in time for a TRS visit from the City of Angels. For his part, Tommy LaSorda didn’t quite get suspended during the prior melee, but umpire Eric Gregg did give him the heave-ho this time around as the Pirates rode Paul Wagner and Al Martin to a “welcome home Jimmy,” 5-1, victory. Wagner tossed his third complete game (the team had just eight), giving up a run in the opening frame before settling in for an eight-hit complete game win. Martin provided the offense with a three-run homer and four RBI as Tom Candiotti met defeat for the first time in 16 starts. 
• 1997 - In front of 43,380 at TRS, newcomer Shawon Dunston (he had been acquired from the Cubs two days earlier and was making his Bucco debut) hit a pair of homers to lead the Freak Show Bucs to a 6-4 win over the Cleveland Indians. His four RBI powered Jose Silva, with help from the bullpen, to his first MLB victory and helped pull the Pirates to within 1-1/2 games of first, the closest they would come to the top spot during the last month of the campaign. 
• 2009 - The Pirates were swept by the Reds, 5-3, the first time they were broomed in Cincinnati since 1975. But it wasn’t all gloom (although in a 99-loss season, there weren’t many highlights) as Garrett Jones hit the club's 10,000th home run since the Bucs joined the NL in 1887.

9/1 Through 1964: King Quail; 5-Game Sweep; Fido Riots; Let's Play 3; Hans Ad; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Joe L, Dave, Vic, Jim, Shoemaker & Sam

• 1877 - Jim “Pud” Galvin and the Alleghenys edged St. Louis in 15 innings, 1-0. Two days earlier, they had beat Milwaukee by the same score in 12 innings. Both games were played in the International Association, making the Alleghenys the first local minor league club; the other area nines were independent/sandlot teams. The Alleghenys finished the season with a 13-6 record, the second best record in the league. The club rostered twelve players in 1877, all of whom later made it to the majors, and was managed by Denny McKnight, a lifelong Pittsburgh native who also served as the International Association's president. The team folded the next season, not to return in name until the 1882 campaign as an American Association club, unrelated to the old Alleghenys but the forebears of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 
• 1890 - On Labor Day at Washington Park, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, later becoming the Dodgers, won all three games against Pittsburgh in the first tripleheader ever played. The home team swept the visiting Alleghenys, who were rebranded as the Pirates next season, 10-9 (The Alleghenys scored nine times in the ninth inning with Doggie Miller tossed out at home trying to stretch a triple into a game-tying homer), 3-2, and 8-4. Pittsburgh hurler Dave Anderson went the distance for games two and three and took both losses (ouch). The Alleghenys then lost to them the next day 5-4 to run their losing streak to 23 games. The Pittsburgh franchise would also play MLB’s last tripleheader in 1920 against the Cincinnati Reds, doing a bit better by winning one of the contests. 
• 1890 - C Olaf “Sam” (his middle name was Selmar) Brenegan was born in Galesville, Wisconsin. He caught a couple innings for the 1914 Pirates, not long enough to get an at bat but long enough to allow a passed ball. Per Paul Dickson’s “Baseball Dictionary,” his passed ball came about when he was hit in the hand with the pitch, which popped out and allowed a baserunner to advance. For some time afterwards, any catcher who took a ball off his bare hand was said to have "pulled a brenegan." Even with that rep, he played pro ball until 1919, closing out his baseball days at St. Joseph’s in the Western League. 

• 1892 - The Homestead Messenger’s headline was “Baldwin Bagged - Pirates Prize Pitcher Charged With Riot.” The Pirates Mark "Fido" Baldwin was arrested in his hometown of Homestead (his dad sold real estate & insurance there) on charges of riot and providing the Carnegie Steel strikers with weapons. Baldwin posted a $2‚000 bond and claimed to be an innocent onlooker, not a participant, in the mill melee. Fido was indicted on the charges but never brought to trial. On the diamond, he finished the year with a 26-27/3.47 slash, pitching 440-1/3 IP in 56 games, but had a contract squabble and was released the following season after making just one outing. Following baseball, Fido became a MD and worked out of North Side’s Passavant Hospital. 
• 1894 - OF Fred “Shoemaker” Nicholson was born in Honey Grove, Texas. Claimed from the Detroit Tigers, he played for the Bucs from 1919-20 as a platoon outfielder and pinch-hitter, putting up a .342/.389/.505 slash during those seasons. Nicholson left the team as part of the 1921 Rabbit Maranville deal and spent a couple of years with the Boston Braves before settling into a minor league career that lasted through 1935, when he was 40-years-old. 
• 1905 - Per the Pittsburgh Press, on this date Honus Wagner gave Hillerich & Bradsby permission to brand his name on their Louisville Slugger bat. This is thought to be the first equipment endorsement ever made by a player and opened a lucrative side gig for athletes. 
• 1917 - The Pirates lost their third straight 1-0 game to the St. Louis Cardinals at Robison Field. The Cards, behind the pitching of Red Ames, Oscar Horstmann and Milt Watson, won their tag team match against Bob Steele, Wilbur Cooper and Hal Carlson. The back-to-back-to-back 1-0 wins tied the Redbirds for the MLB mark and set a new National League standard. 

Joe Brown - 1985 photo George Gojkovich/Getty

• 1918 - GM Joe L Brown was born in New York City. Brown served as the general manager from November 1st, 1955, through the end of the 1976 season, replacing mentor Branch Rickey. Under his watch, the Pirates became world champions in 1960 and 1971. Ever a loyal Pirate, after a decade of serving as a Southern California-based scout for the Bucs, Brown was called back in 1985 to serve as acting GM when the Pirates, rocked by a drug scandal, poor play and falling attendance, were sold by the Galbreath family to a local group. He oversaw the transition and acted as a bridge between GMs Pete Peterson and Syd Thrift. 
• 1919 - RHP Jim Hopper was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. His MLB career was spent with the 1946 Pirates; he gave up five runs in four innings. Jim could be forgiven - he won 30 games in two minor league seasons, but lost his edge after serving two years in the military, returning in ‘46. He was done with pro ball after the 1949 season, spent in Class D. 
• 1922 - IF Vic Barnhart was born in Hagerstown, Maryland. Vic got cups of coffee in 1945 & 1947, seeing almost all of his playing time in 1946 for the Pirates. That was his MLB career - 74 games and a decent .270 BA. He spent five years in the minors (he refused a 1947 trade to the Dodgers) before retiring. He then worked for the Maryland Correctional Institute where he was the Athletic Director. Vic’s dad was Clyde Barnhart, who played for the Bucs through the 1920s. 
• 1925 - The Buccos defeated the Philadelphia Phils, 10-3, to sweep a five-game series at the Baker Bowl. The Pirates outscored Philadelphia 54-18 during the set and scored in double digits in every game. Pie Traynor had four hits while Earl Smith (w/four RBI) and winning pitcher Vic Aldridge added three knocks and a homer apiece. That Pittsburgh club won the National League title, the World Series and their 912 runs scored were the most tallied by the franchise in the modern era. (their predecessors, the Alleghenys of 1893-94, put up 970 & 965 runs, averaging over seven runs per game!) 

Joe Harris - 1927 photo George Rinhart via Detroit Public Library

• 1927 - The Pirates tied for the NL’s top spot by beating the Cubs‚ 4-3, at Forbes Field. Joe Harris homered and doubled, with two runs and two RBI, to back Lee Meadows. The Waner brothers cut down Chicago runners at home and third. The Bucs whipped the Cards the next day to take sole possession of first place and never looked back, winning a sizzling pennant race by 1-1/2 games. 
• 1957 - LHP Dave Rucker was born in San Bernardino, California. Rucker was a seven-year MLB vet who tossed his last campaign in 1988 for the Pirates with an 0-2/4.76 slash in 31 games. He joined Dan Quisenberry and Ewell Blackwell as LaVerne University Leopards that made it to the show. The hurler also tossed for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies, becoming a baseball/softball instructor after he hung ‘em up. 
• 1963 - The “Quail,” CF’er Bill Virdon, hit a two-out, walk-off grand slam, set up by a single sandwiched between two walks, to defeat the Reds, 6-4, at Forbes Field. Al Worthington, Cincy’s third pitcher of the inning, was the victim of Virdon’s dramatic shot. Willie Stargell drove in the earlier tallies with a homer and double while Earl Francis, the third Buc pitcher, got the win.

9/1 From 1965: Grant Gone; 1st A-A Lineup; Woodie's 15K; Cam Inked; OF'er Teke; Aces Trumped; Umps Out; Bureau Born; Catapult; Gems & Game Tales

• 1965 - The Bucs laid losses on aces Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale on the same day during a Forbes Field twinbill with last at-bat rallies. The Pirates defeated Koufax, 3-2, in 11 innings in the opener and then beat Drysdale, 2-1, in the nitecap. Joe Gibbon and Vern Law picked up the victories. Jim Pagliaroni doubled home Willie Stargell to walk off the opener while Bill Virdon scored on a two-out error in the eighth to take the nitecap. The day wasn’t a complete wash for da Bums as Sandy Koufax set a record for K’s by a lefty with 307 when he fanned Willie Stargell in the fourth inning of the lidlifter. It was the Bucs 12th win in 14 games, moving them within 2-1/2 games of LA in a tight, five-team NL flag chase. Alas, though they won 90 games, the Pirates finished third in the NL race, seven games behind LA, the eventual World Series champs. 
• 1967 - Woodie Fryman had missed a good chunk of his second campaign and at 2-7 was a bit underwhelming when healthy, but the lefty showed his promise by fanning 15 Phils in a complete game three-hitter, winning, 3-0, at Forbes Field. He fell one short of the team single-game record of 16 K held by Bob Veale, who had just set the standard a year earlier. Woodie added a hit to the cause and scored the Pirates second run; an error led to the first tally for Pittsburgh, with Maury Wills and Bill Mazeroski later chasing home the insurance markers. 

PNC Park marker - image AT&T SportsNet

• 1971 - The Pirates fielded baseball's first non-Negro League, all-black lineup 24 years after Jackie Robinson broke the NL/AL color line in a 10-7 win over the Phillies at TRS. The card read: Rennie Stennett (2B), Gene Clines (CF), Roberto Clemente (RF), Willie Stargell (LF), Manny Sanguillen (C), Dave Cash (3B), Al Oliver (1B), Jackie Hernández (SS) and Dock Ellis (P). Richie Hebner (3B) and Gene Alley (SS) were both injured, with Stennett (Cash moved from 2B to 3B) and Hernandez filling in. The usual 1B, Bob Robertson, got a rest day, so Scoops moved to the infield and Clines took center. They played pretty well; six starters had two hits and every position player reached base during the game. The historic lineup went almost unnoticed in Pittsburgh as both newspapers were on strike. Bob Prince and Nellie King, the radio announcers, mentioned it in passing, and Bill Guilfoile, the Pirate PR man, said he would have to check the records after the game to see if it really was the first all-black lineup (in 1967, Harry Walker had a lineup with eight black position players, but Dennis Ribant was on the hill). Even Al Oliver said "When we took the field we didn’t give it any thought. It was probably about the third inning when I finally looked at Cash and said, ‘We’ve got all brothers out here, man.’" It took the PA Historical Commission a little longer for the light to dawn; they didn’t OK a commemorative marker of the event until 2022. 
• 1973 - Bruce Kison and some timely glovework put the Pirates into a virtual first-place tie (actually, they were .0001 percentage points ahead of St. Louis) with a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs at TRS. Kison went eight innings, giving up four hits & four walks, while Dave Giusti worked the final frame for the win. Chi-town’s Burt Hooton was equally tough, having surrendered just three hits going into the ninth before the Bucs struck. With an out, Richie Hebner singled and Al Oliver doubled. An intentional walk loaded the bases for Richie Zisk, who got ahead 2-0 before banging the next pitch over a shallow outfield for the walkoff win. The mittmen bailed out their hurlers, as they turned three DP’s (one via strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out) and cut down another Bruin trying to go from first-to-third. 
• 1974 - The Major League Scouting Bureau, the offspring of the 60’s Central Scouting Bureau, was founded to cut costs and centralize scouting, with Pirates GM Joe Brown being one of its early movers. Membership wasn’t mandatory until 1984 when the bureau was made a part of the Commissioner’s Office, and it now supplements the individual teams’ scouting operations. 

Teke also saw some pasture duty - 1979 Topps

• 1979 - Chuck Tanner sent reliever Kent Tekulve from the mound to left field and brought in southpaw Grant Jackson to face lefty Darrell Evans against the Giants with two down in the ninth. (He wanted Tekulve available in case Evans got aboard.) Evans hit a fly to Teke, who waved his arms to call off a distant but closing Omar Moreno and made the catch to finish the game, a 5-3 Bucco win in the opener of a DH at Candlestick Park. It was Teke’s only showing in the field other than the hill during his entire 16-year MLB career. Willie Stargell had two homers and Dale Berra added another in support of the Bruce Kison win. Jim Bibby pitched the Bucs to a 7-2 sweep in the nitecap, backed by Lee Lacy’s three hits, including a homer, two runs scored and three RBI. 
• 1981 - Pittsburgh sold 38-year-old LHP Grant Jackson to the Montreal Expos for $50,000. He had been with the Bucs since 1977 and posted a line of 29-19-36/3.23 in 278 outings during that span. Buck was at his best in the 1979 post season, giving up no runs and a hit in six outings against the Reds and Orioles. 1982 was his last campaign; he finished out his 18-year career with a final appearance with Pittsburgh before becoming a Pirates coach from 1983-85. 
• 1998 - GM Cam Bonifay, who had been rumored to be in line for the Dodgers job, squelched that speculation by signing a three-year contract extension with the Bucs, carrying him through the 2003 season. It was a big deal; after the 1997 campaign, The Sporting News had named Bonifay as the MLB Executive of the Year. Cam had been Pittsburgh’s GM since 1993, when he replaced Ted Simmons, who had left for health reasons. 

• 1999 - A federal judge worked out a settlement that cost 22 umpires their jobs. They were among the 57 who resigned in mid-July in an effort to get negotiations between Richie Phillips’ ump union and MLB on a fast track; it backfired, and the gung-ho 22 who had quit (the others had rescinded their resignations when MLB hired permanent replacements for the missing boys in blue) found themselves without a job. The league said they’d pay their salary to the end of the season and they could grieve to get their jobs back, with the proviso that the costs of arbitrating the judges decision would be deducted from their final settlement. That was the final nail in Phillips’ coffin; his Major League Umpires Association was replaced by the World Umpires Association. As for the 22 umps, half returned to the field; the other half were permanently retired with a severance bonus. 
• 2000 - The Pirates had a textbook Jekyll and Hyde performance in September. They began the month with a 3-2 win at San Diego, starting a six-game winning streak while on the West Coast and running the skein up to eight straight victories before returning home and falling to the Reds after taking the first pair of a four-game set, which triggered a nine-game losing funk. They closed out the month hot again, winning eight-of-twelve. It was apropos of nothing, though - they finished the year with just 69 wins and then lost 100 games in 2001. 
• 2004 - The sputtering Bucco offense was rescued at the last minute by Craig Wilson, who drilled a last-gasp, two-out homer in the ninth inning off closer Dan Kolb to tie the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-2, at Miller Field. The Pirate attack woke up in the 10th when Ty Wigginton’s two-out, bases-loaded infield knock plated a run and Jose Castillo provided the insurance with a two-run two-bagger. Ryan Vogelsong started for Pittsburgh, with the 5-2 win going to Salomon Torres and the save to Jose Mesa. The Pirates' first run was scored by Jack Wilson, who was chased home by Daryle Ward’s double. 

Craig Wilson - 2004 Fleer Tradition

• 2013 - The opening pitch was tossed out not by a human celebrity, but by a trebuchet (a catapult), designed by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. The first machine to ever toss a ceremonial ball at PNC Park (it was named “Rookie of the Gear”), it delivered a strike to the Pirate Parrot 10 minutes before the game against the St. Louis Cards was to begin. The Bucs might have been better off keeping the contraption on the hill, as they lost to the Redbirds, 7-2. 
• 2019 - Steven Brault had a day to remember against the Rox at Coors Field. He got a 6-2 win, lasting 6-2/3 IP and starting the game off with 69 consecutive fastballs (77 of his 82 pitches would be heaters) to help counter a rough second half of the season. To add the cherry on top, he belted a 441’ homer, his first big league long fly, to cap off a year that saw Steven bat .333 (he was used a pinch hitter eight times during the campaign). 
• 2021 - The Pirates were on the road, so the 50th anniversary of MLB’s first all-black lineup (non-Negro League) instead was celebrated locally at a round table event held at the Heinz History Center’s Sports Museum. The speakers, all who played that day, were Dave Cash, Al Oliver, Manny Sanguillen and Gene Clines, along with Roberto Clemente Jr. Mayor Bill Peduto stopped by to speechify and presented the Pirates with a proclamation commemorating the event.