7/28 Through the 1980s: Suhr-Butcher, Arky HoF; Josh Attack, Piet Plates 7, Sweeps, Duels, Game Tales; Cobra Out, Prince Night, SI Frank; HBD Carmelo, Chet, Bill & Duke

• 1867 - LHP Duke Esper (birth name: Charles H. Esbacher) was born in Salem, New Jersey. Duke spent nine seasons in the show and made a pair of brief stops, once with the Alleghenys (1890, 0-2/5.29) and another with the Pirates (1892, 2-0/5.40). In between those stints, Duke won 36 games, including 20 with Philadelphia in 1891, in 59 outings (both Pittsburgh years were split seasons). He posted a 101-100/4.39 lifetime slash before retiring after the 1898 campaign. 
• 1867 - RHP Bill Day was born in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. Bill had a 14-game MLB career with the Phils from 1889-90 and the ‘90 Alleghenys, going 0-6/5.52 in six starts after the North Siders sent OF Billy Sunday to the Quakers for him and $1,000 in an early salary dump. He hung around pro ball until 1904, closing out his ballplaying days in the Connecticut League. 
• 1908 - Vic Willis and the NY Giants Hooks Wiltse battled to a 2-2 tie at the Polo Grounds, working 16 frames before the game was called because of darkness. The Pittsburgh Press called it “A fitting finish to a great baseball series. Willis and Wiltse pitched high class baseball and their comrades supported them in grand style. The twirlers were cheered to the echo on leaving the slab after innings of excitement where they had baffled their foes.” The Pirates took 2-of-3 while drawing 70,000 fans during the four-game series, a huge gate for the era. 
• 1932 - Scout Chet Montgomery was born in Warsaw, Kentucky. The Western Kentucky alum was known as “Chet the Jet” for his speed on the diamond and basketball court, but never played organized pro ball. After graduation, he became a high school hoops coach, then scouted for the Bucs (1963-67), Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Indians before returning to the Pirates as Special Assistant to the General Manager and Director of Player Development for a decade. 

Earl Grace - 1933 Press

• 1932 - Pittsburgh swept a twin bill from the New York Giants, winning the matches by 10-7 and 9-1 counts. Earl Grace had three hits and three RBI during the lidlifter to pace the Pirate attack. Paul Waner and Adam Comorosky also had three raps as the Bucs banged out 16 hits, 14 of which were singles. Erv Brame got the win in relief of Steve Swetonic while Larry French picked up the save. In the nitecap, Tony Piet smacked a grand slam and three-run homer to go along with two more hits for a seven RBI, three-run day to allow Heinie Meine to cruise to the win. 
• 1938 - At Zanesville, Ohio’s Mark Grey Park (admittedly a bandbox), Josh Gibson led the Grays to a 17-4 win over the Memphis Red Sox with four home runs (two in one inning), the only four-homer game ever recorded in the Negro Leagues. The Negro National League champion Homestead Grays absolutely dominated the Red Sox, going 10-0 against them, including nine wins in a late July barnstorming series through the Midwest that included this game. Because no official box score or score card has been found, the game wasn’t counted in Gibson’s statistics. 
• 1939 - The Pirates traded veteran 1B Gus Suhr to the Phillies for RHP Max Butcher. Suhr was nearing the end of his career (he was released after playing just 10 games in 1940, his last MLB season), but Butcher became a mainstay for the Bucs. He pitched for seven years, made 154 starts and won 67 games in Pittsburgh before hanging ‘em up after the 1945 campaign. 
• 1940 - The Pirates won their eighth of nine games and fifth in a row by sweeping Boston at Braves Field by 5-2 and 7-3 scores. Maurice Van Robays was the white knight of the opening match, homering and driving in three runs to give Dick Lanahan all the support he needed. The Bucs used a balanced attack to support Max Butcher’s four-hit victory in the nitecap. 

MVR - 1940/Retro Photos

• 1958 - Frank Thomas was featured as the cover story of Sports Illustrated in an article titled “Nobody Knows Him But Everybody Wants Him.” In case you’re among the gang that doesn’t know him, the Pittsburgh native hit 163 homers in eight years as a Bucco (1951-58) and 286 bombs in his 16 seasons in the majors. He was an All Star three times during his Bucco career. 
• 1960 - 1B/OF Carmelo Martinez was born in Dorado, Puerto Rico. Carmelo (he’s Edgar’s cousin) spent parts of the tail end of his nine-year career with the Pirates. The Pirates got him in 1990 as part of the Wes Chamberlain deal with the Phillies and then sent him to Kansas City for Victor Coles in May of the following year. Martinez didn’t see much action in that span, getting in 23 games and hitting .229. He works for the Chicago Cubs now as their Latin Field Coordinator. 
• 1968 - Al McBean had one of those can-do-no-wrong Sundays. He gave up 13 hits to the Cards at Forbes Field, but still went the distance for a 7-1 win as the Redbirds stranded a dozen baserunners and went 1-for-14 with RISP. The big blow? McBean’s grand slam, coming with two down after Milt May was walked to get to Alvin. He also had fun on the hill, tossing several blooper pitches to the Giants in the ninth. Donn Clendenon added a two-run blast. McBean became one of six Pirates pitchers in franchise history to bang out a grannie. 
• 1971 - Luke Walker spun a four-hit, complete game whitewash at Los Angeles in a 4-0 win at Dodger Stadium. Bob Robertson homered and had a sac fly to bring home two runs. The Bucs nickeled and dimed the Dodgers; every position player had a hit, four different guys scored and three had RBI as the club put up their runs one at a time in four different frames. 

Luke Walker - 1971 Topps

• 1972 - “It was “Bob Prince Night” at TRS and 39,035 fans turned out for the event. As Bob Smizik wrote in the Pittsburgh Press “...he is listened to by just about everyone. And there are some who don’t like him. But many, many more see through his exterior to the man inside.” The Gunner requested that any money raised go to his pet project, the Allegheny Valley School for Exceptional Children, and Pirates nation kicked in over $75,000. The Bucs defeated Tom Seaver and the Mets, 3-1, behind Dock Ellis’ complete game seven-hitter, a Willie Stargell homer and a timely DP started by Dave Cash off an Ed Kranepool smash to bail the Docktor out of his biggest jam. 
• 1976 - Richie Hebner cracked a homer in the 13th frame to top the Mets, 1-0, at Shea Stadium, capping a 3-for-5 day. The big fly to right decided a pitching duel started by Tom Seaver and Doc Medich and ended with relievers Ken Sanders and Dave Giusti getting the decisions. Hebner was playing out his option year without a new contract after rejecting Joe Brown’s 20% cut offer in March, and it was part of a hot finish that saw the Gravedigger raise his BA from .192 on May 31st to .249 at season’s end. It didn’t bridge the gap as Richie signed a $550,000 multi-year deal with the Phils after the season, easily topping Pittsburgh’s offer. 
• 1977 - Twelve Bucco batters reached against Dan Larsen of the Astros in the first two innings (Pittsburgh rattled off six straight hits in the first frame) to open up a 5-1 lead and then added on via a Bill Robinson grand slam to claim a 9-4 decision over Houston at TRS. Robinson had three hits while Phil Garner, Dave Parker, Al Oliver and Ed Ott added a pair of knocks to back a sometimes shaky Jim Rooker (he gave up nine hits, including a pair of long balls), who went tape-to-tape for the win. Pittsburgh was en fuego at home; the victory gave them a 38-14 record at Three Rivers for the year. It was also the beginning of a Robby big blast bash - he hit another granny on the 30th, then started off August with a pair of three-run blasts on the 2nd and 5th. 

Bill Robinson - 1977 Topps

• 1982 - The Pirates were dealt a heavy blow when Dave Parker ruptured a thumb ligament while legging out a hustle double against the Phils. The Cobra required surgery and was out of action until September 11th. Even then, he only played two complete games and had little power, getting into just 12 contests and managing 20 at bats, with two doubles and no homers. 
• 1985 - SS Arky Vaughan was enshrined at the Hall of Fame. After missing out on the writers’ vote, the Veterans’ Committee paid Vaughan his dues. Arky was an MVP in 1935 when he hit .385, was a six-time All Star, hit .318 during his decade with the Bucs, never hitting under .300. 
• 1987 - Barry Bonds hit 176 homers while wearing the Bucco colors, but only one was an inside-the-park base circler. In an otherwise blah 5-2 loss to the Phillies at TRS, rookie Bonds drilled a two-out liner to right off Shane Rawley that kicked around, allowing him and Junior Ortiz to score the only Pirates tallies of the day. "Glenn Wilson tried to cut the ball off and missed it," Rawley recalled for the AP. "It rolled around the corner and ricocheted all the way around. By the time he got the ball, there was no way to get Barry." The hit was payback for Bonds, who Rawley had plunked twice. It was the first of three Bonds’ homers that didn’t clear the fence among his 762 long flies, with the other two hit in 1997 with the Giants.

7/28 From 1990: Ty-Bins, JJ-Ross, Wil-Wilson; Rudy 5-for-5, Supe 6, Record Rally, 6 For A-Ram, Game Tales; 1,000 For Marte, No Norris, 9-of-11

• 1995 - The Pirates scored twice with two outs in the ninth to outlast the Mets at Shea Stadium, 10-9. NY ran up seven runs in three innings against Esteban Loaiza, but the Bucs fought back to tie it in the sixth. The Metropolitans came back to regain the lead by scoring a pair in the seventh off Jeff McCurry. The Pirates made it a one-run game in the eighth, but had to solve John Franco in the ninth. And they did - with two gone and Steve Pegues on second, Nelson Liriano knotted the score with a single and then came home a batter later when Jacob Brumfield’s double was misplayed in the corner. Jim Gott worked his second scoreless inning to nail down the win. It was a team effort, as seven Corsairs drove in runs and nine scored while banging out 16 hits. It was the sixth straight loss for the NY nine, who then took the next three games of the series. 
• 1996 - Orlando Merced hit two home runs and tallied four RBI while Al Martin & Mark Johnson had four hits each as the Bucs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-8, at Three Rivers Stadium. Reliever John Ericks took home the win of the nationally televised ESPN Sunday Night Baseball match in what would be the last SNB appearance for the Bucs until 2014. 
• 2000 - Aramis Ramirez drove in six runs with a pair of homers, Emil Brown went long to plate four more runners and John Vander Wal also went yard in a 16-5 romp over the San Diego Padres at TRS. A-Ram, Jason Kendall, Kevin Young and Vander Wal scored three times each. 
• 2000 - The Bucs sent OF Wil Cordero to the Cleveland Indians for IF Enrique Wilson and OF prospect Alex Ramirez. Cordero played respectably through 2003 while Wilson was traded again in 2001 and Ramirez began a long career as a slugger in Japan after the 2000 season. 

Enrique Wilson - 2001 Fleer Tradition

• 2001 - Pittsburgh became the second team in NL history (the Cubs were the first in 1952) to win a game by scoring seven runs with two outs and nobody on base in the ninth inning. Brian Giles capped the scoring with a walk-off grand slam (it was the first granny ever banged at PNC Park) off Astros ace Billy Wagner, to rally for a 9-8 win. Pat Meares had hit a two-run shot earlier in the frame to ignite the comeback. The game was the opener of the first home day-night doubleheader in franchise history before a crowd of 32,977 at PNC Park. The Buccos used up all their luck in the first contest as Houston rolled to a 12-3 nightcap victory. 
• 2003 - Jeff Suppan won his sixth consecutive start with a 3-0 decision over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, scattering seven hits. He was backed by Reggie Sanders’ homer and three hits from Randall Simon. Suppan was flipped to the Red Sox three days later as part of a recalculated deal that landed IF Freddy Sanchez and LHP Mike Gonzalez from Beantown. 
• 2004 - In one of their more frustrating losses, the Bucs collected 11 hits but were shut out by the Atlanta Braves, 1-0, at PNC Park in a contest that saw the Pirates strand 11 runners. Ollie Perez threw a five-hitter with 10 strikeouts, but Chipper Jones’ fourth-inning homer was the difference for the Bravos. John Smoltz came out of the bullpen to save the game for Russ Ortiz. 
• 2005 - The Bucs swapped with the Padres to get IF JJ Furmaniak in exchange for C David Ross. Furmaniak batted 52 times as a big leaguer with a .186 BA while Ross hit .229 but had a long shelf life ahead of him, playing through the 2016 season and managing the Cubs through 2023. 
• 2010 - Bucco first baseman Garrett Jones went 4-for-4 and homered twice with three RBI as Pirates beat the Rockies, 6-2, at Coors Field. Leadoff batter Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Sean Gallagher tossed three hitless innings for the win in relief of starter Ross Ohlendorf, who left the game in the first inning after being struck in the temple by a line drive off the bat of Troy Tulowitzki. Ohlie fortunately just suffered a bruise and made his next start, only to be pulled in the first inning after taking a bullet off the leg. 

Garrett Jones - 2010 Topps Allen & Ginter

• 2012 - The Pirates won for the ninth time in 11 games, taking a 4-3 decision from the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Alex Presley and Neil Walker had solo shots, with Rod Barajas singling in Andrew McCutchen with the game winner with two out in the eighth inning. Chris Resop got the win in relief of ex-’Stro Wandy Rodriguez with Jason Grilli posting the save. The win kept the Bucs two games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central race. 
• 2013 - The final page in a deal that didn’t happen was turned when the Houston Astros passed on the Bucs last and best offer of Luis Heredia & a competitive balance pick for RHP Bud Norris, as reported by Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune Review. The give and take was released as part of Astro emails leaked by St. Louis Cardinal staffers. The Pirates offered one of Heredia, Tyler Glasnow or Alen Hanson for Norris; Houston GM Jeff Luhnow wanted Glasnow and either Heredia or Nick Kingham as the return package, offers that Neal Huntington rejected. 
• 2014 - The Pirates laid some small ball on Madison Bumgarner in the first inning, and it led to a big frame. The Bucs stirred together three hits, two walks, an error and a pair of sac flies to jump ahead of the San Francisco Giants, 4-0, and then added on a final run when Josh Harrison homered. The rest of the night at AT&T Park belonged to Vance Worley, who tossed his first MLB shutout and second career complete game. He allowed four hits, facing two batters over the minimum, just one of whom advanced past first thanks to three DPs and a caught stealing. It was the Bucs first complete game shutout since AJ Burnett did it in 2012. 
• 2019 - Starling Marte went 2-for-5 and collected his 1,000th career hit against the Mets at Citi Field. With the milestone, Marte became the 11th player in team history with at least 1,000 hits and 100 home runs. Bryan Reynolds, Jose Osuna and Jake Stallings added homers, but it wasn’t enough as the Bucs fell short, 8-7, after the NY nine jumped Chris Archer for six first-inning runs. 

Adam Frazier - 2020 Topps

• 2020 - So much for playing six-inning games and handing a lead off to the pen: after blowing a 5-1 ninth-inning lead the night before to the Milwaukee Brewers and losing, 6-5, in 11 frames, the Bucs provided their own late lightning to overcome a four-run Brew Crew edge by scoring four times in seventh and twice in the eighth innings to rally for an 8-6 win at PNC Park. The Pirates' tying frame was fueled by some sloppy Brewer fielding; Phil Evans knotted the score with a two-out double a couple of batters after the Crew threw away a DP ball to allow two runs to cross the plate. Adam Frazier delivered the game winner an inning later with a two-run homer, triggering a couple of firsts as the blast allowed Geoff Hartlieb to post his first MLB win and gave Nick Burdi his first big league save. 
• 2021 - It took two tries, but the Buccos moved LHP Tyler Anderson (5-8/4.35), offered as a two-month rental on an expiring contract, by sending him to Seattle for C Carter Bins, 22, recently promoted to AA as a Top 30 Mariner prospect with some pop in his bat, and Panamanian RHP Joaquin Tejada, 18, working out of the DSL (he had just five pro innings under his belt), touted but obviously a project. Anderson was first traded to Philadelphia earlier in the afternoon for a pair of Low A prospects, but that deal fell through when one of the Phils youngsters didn't pass the Pirates physical. Anderson is now with the Angels after earning an All-Star bid with the Dodgers in ‘22 and another this year. Bins is at Altoona while Tejada is tossing in the Florida Rookie League. 
• 2021 - On the field, the news wasn’t very cheery as the Brew Crew whupped the Bucs, 7-3, at PNC Park. But a bit of history was made when 22-year-old rookie 2B Rodolfo Castro, called up from Altoona after the Adam Frazier trade, banged a pair of homers to account for all three tallies against Milwaukee. Those long balls set an MLB record by making Rudy the first player whose first five big league hits were home runs. His streak ended when he doubled, with the ball clearing the wall but on a hop. After starting 2023 with the big club, he’s currently back with Indy.

7/27 Through the 1960s: Skeeter Lands; Bill Double Dubs, Vic Tops Dazzy For 1st, Game Tales; Matty TSN, ASG; RIP Babe; HBD Biz, Irish & Henry

• 1860 - RHP Henry Jones was born in McKeesport. Henry started playing for McKeesport in 1884 and hopped from one minor/indie team to another, landing with the Alleghenys in 1890. He went 2-1/3.48 in five outings (four starts), though his numbers don’t tell a true tale - he gave up 25 runs, but only 12 were earned, although he did finish with a 3.85 FIP. It still ended up as his only big league campaign, and after two more years in the bushes, he was done with pro ball. 
• 1880 - LHP/OF Henry “Irish” McIlveen was born in Belfast, Ireland. His family later settled in the Pittsburgh area and McIlveen attended Penn State. He got his start in the majors with the Pirates in 1906, pitching two games and slashing 0-1/7.71. He was wisely converted to the outfield and caught on with the New York Highlanders, seeing some action in 1908 and getting into four games the following year before ending his MLB days. He passed away in 1960 at age 80. 
• 1897 - C Biz Mackey was born in Eagle Pass, Texas. The 2006 Hall of Famer played for 24 seasons in the Negro Leagues and he made a brief stop in the area in 1927, playing for the Homestead Grays when they were an independent team. He put together a .329 lifetime BA and is considered one of the two top catchers in black baseball history, along with Josh Gibson. 
• 1908 - Honus Wagner and Chief Wilson led the Bucs to a 4-3 win over the NY Giants and Christy Mathewson at the Polo Grounds. The Flying Dutchman had a pair of doubles good for two runs and an RBI while Wilson had two knocks, including a triple, scored once and drove in a pair. Nick Maddox got the win while Irv Young came on to get the last out in the ninth frame. 

Skeeter - undated photo/Oregon Sports Hall of Fame

• 1916 - The Pirates bought the contract of 21-year-old Carson “Skeeter” Bigbee from Tacoma (he played his college ball at Oregon). Bigbee spent his 11-year MLB career as a Buc, batting .287 as mainly a LF who also played a bit in center and 2B. He was a hero of the 1925 World Series when his two-out, eighth-inning pinch hit double plated the tying run and he scored the winner against Walter “Big Train” Johnson in the seventh game although health issues had reduced him to a role player. He was part of a Buc brother act as sib Lyle pitched for the 1921 club. 
• 1927 - Vic Aldridge tossed a five-hitter and the Bucs scored twice in the eighth inning to beat Dazzy Vance and the Brooklyn Robins, 2-1, at Forbes Field to take over undisputed possession of first place. Kiki Cuyler banged the game winner when his single chased home Paul Waner, who had three hits on the day, and George Grantham for the victory. 
• 1932 - Bill Harris notched a pair of wins in a twinbill against the Giants at the Polo Grounds, tossing three innings in the opening, 9-8, win followed by two perfect frames in a 4-2 nitecap victory. In the first game, Lloyd Waner had four knocks while Arky Vaughan and Tony Piet homered. The Pirates scored three in the ninth to take the second match with C Earl Grace knocking home two of his three RBI and Harris singling in another. The Pirates increased their NL lead over the Cubs to five games, but would finish the season four games behind Chicago. 
• 1941 - Homestead Gray 1B Buck Leonard launched a three-run homer at Chicago’s Comiskey Park to lead the East to an 8-3 win over the West in the Negro League All-Star Game. The contest drew a record crowd of 50,256. The NLASG series began in 1933, the brainchild of Pittsburgh Crawfords’ owner Gus Creenlee, and continued through the 1962 season. 

Buck Leonard - Helmar Oasis

• 1942 - Pirates owner Bill Benswanger planned a tryout for Negro League players Roy Campanella, Sammy T. Hughes, and David Barnhill as reported by the NY Daily Worker. The August date was pushed back to September while Benswanger added Josh Gibson, Willie Wells, Sam Bankhead, Leon Day and several others to the list of players to audition. But the new September showcase never happened for undisclosed reasons (it was thought that most MLB owners were opposed to the idea and Benswanger didn’t want to go solo, but he never publicly gave a reason for the inaction) and a black ballplayer wouldn’t join MLB until Jackie Robinson suited up in 1947. 
• 1961 - Giants’ Manager Alvin Dark said before the game that "Juan Marichal will go all the way" and kept his bullpen in the dugout to emphasize the point. And to rub it in, he was right. Marichal threw a complete game, five-hit shutout with eight whiffs at Forbes Field before 17,885 fans, winning 2-0 over the Pirates while topping hurlers Vinegar Bend Mizell and ElRoy Face. 
• 1968 - Matty Alou was featured as the cover story of The Sporting News in an article titled “Pistol Packing Pirate.” Mateo was indeed packing - he hit .332 for his third straight .330+ campaign as a Bucco and earned a spot on the National League All-Star team for the first time. 
• 1968 - Charles “Babe” Adams passed away in Silver Springs, Maryland, at age 80. The righty was on the short list of great Bucco pitchers, slashing 194-139-16/2.74 in 18 Pirates campaigns. Babe was the hero of the 1909 World Series, going 3-0/1.33 against Ty Cobb and the Tigers. He later was a farmer and newspaperman, covering local Mount Moriah, Missouri, sports and also serving as a foreign correspondent during World War II and the Korean War.

7/27 From 1970: Santana-Severino, Candy POTW; Freeser Hot, Jay Jacks, Jose & Mac Gems, Game Tales; Fort-tress, Wo-mark, '79 Sweep; HBD Enrique

• 1973 - IF Enrique Wilson was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The nine-year vet played two half-seasons for the Bucs in 2000-01, hitting .223 and playing 2B, SS & 3B. The Bucs got him at the 2000 deadline as part of the Wil Cordero deal with Cleveland and then sent him to the New York Yankees at the next deadline for Damaso Marte. Two Enrique factoids: he hit .440 lifetime against Pedro Martinez, and in 2001, he was scheduled to be on American Airlines Flight 587 that crashed in Rockaway, killing everyone aboard. But when the Bronx Bombers lost the 2001 World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks, canceling the planned victory parade, Wilson flew home a few days earlier and missed the doomed flight. He’s had a fear of flying ever since. 
• 1977 - Down by a pair to the Astros at TRS and with their six-game winning streak in peril, the Bucs put their nose to the grindstone and scored in three of the final four innings to eke out a 3-2 win. Down 2-0 in the eighth inning, Omar Moreno singled, stole second and came home on Fernando Gonzalez’s pinch hit single. Bill Robinson led off the ninth frame with a game-knotting dinger and scored the game-winner in the 11th. He walked, moved up to second via a sac bunt and continued on to third base when the throw hit him Bill plated on Rennie Stennett’s walk-off line hugger to right. Kent Tekulve, the Bucs fourth hurler following Odell Jones, Grant Jackson and Goose Gossage, claimed the win. The squad stayed hot and swept Houston the next night, but their streak ended at eight straight at the hands of the Atlanta Braves and Phil Niekro. 
• 1979 - The Bucs swept Montreal in a twin bill at Olympic Stadium in front of 59,260, one of the biggest baseball turnouts in Canada. They took the opener, 5-4, three times losing leads to the pesky Expos before Phil Garner’s eighth-inning single scored Dave Parker with the game winner. Scrap Iron had a big game, with three hits and a homer, while Kent Tekulve allowed an inherited runner to score in the seventh to tie the game but still got the win with Enrique Romo picking up the save. Bob Robertson went long and had four RBI while Phil Garner went 3-for-4 again with four runs scored in the Bucs 9-1 win in the nitecap. Bert Blyleven went the distance, scattering five hits and striking out nine as the Bucs moved within 1/2 game of the first-place Expos. 

Candy - 1982 Topps

• 1982 - Larry McWilliams tossed a three-hitter (he took a no-no into the seventh inning) and struck out 11 in a wire-to-wire whitewash win over Philadelphia, 4-0, at TRS. Jason Thompson drove home a pair and Bill Madlock homered to provide the cushion against the Phils. In more good pitching news, John Candelaria was named the NL Pitcher of the Week after beating Cincy, 3-1, and Atlanta, 8-0, to run his season slash to 7-4/2.67 while working on a six-game unbeaten streak. 
• 1983 - Jose DeLeon spun a four-hitter while Rennie Stennett & Johnny Ray combined for six hits, three homers and seven RBI to lead a 15-hit attack as the Bucs rolled over San Diego at TRS, 10-1. DeLeon struck out seven Padres and carried a no-hitter through the sixth inning in his second major league start (he beat San Francisco in his debut) and first complete game. 
• 1988 - The Pirates found a ball but lost their catcher while taking a 3-2, 10-inning decision from the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. In the third inning, Bobby Bonilla at third base lost a foul pop and Junior Ortiz hunted it down, making a diving, tumbling grab. He broke his collarbone in the process and was lost to the team until mid-September with Mike Lavalliere picking up most of the slack along with Tom Prince. The Pirates had an early 2-0 lead thanks to a Barry Bonds third-inning triple sandwiched between a single & grounder, and won it in the 10th frame when Bonds was chased home by Jose Lind’s double. The two-bagger extended Chico’s hitting streak to nine games and kept the Pirates two games behind the New York Mets in the standings. Mike Dunne started the game which was won by Jeff Robinson and saved by Jim Gott. 
• 1991 - Jay Bell had the first two-homer game of his career while going 4-for-5 with four RBI and four runs scored in Pittsburgh’s 11-5 win at the Houston Astrodome. Bell opened with a homer in the first frame, then added a three-run shot in the sixth inning to extend the Bucs’ lead to 11-0. Barry Bonds added three RBI and scored twice as Randy Tomlin picked up the win. 

Tony Womack - Leaf 50th Anniversary

• 1998 - 2B Tony Womack set a record of 888 consecutive at-bats without grounding into a double play in an 8-7, 13-inning loss to the Rox at Coors Field. The previous record had been held by Brooklyn's Pete Reiser, set in the mid-forties. Tony ran the mark to 219 straight games and 918 at-bats without hitting into a twin killing. Jose Guillen had four hits and a homer (he also made one of the great throws in Pirates history, gunning a ball from the warning track in right on the fly to 3B Keith Osik to hose Neifi Perez by five feet) while Kevin Young also went long with three RBI. 
• 1999 - In one of baseball’s weirder promotions, the Pirates defeated the New York Mets‚ 5-1‚ in the first of MLB's "Turn Ahead the Clock Nights," sponsored by Century 21 Real Estate. Each team wore futuristic uniforms (the Bucs had red jerseys with yellow sleeves and a giant Bucco head logo, costumes better fit for Barnum & Bailey than a ballyard), with the hometown squad becoming the "Mercury" Mets for the night. The pregame welcome was “Greetings, earthlings. Welcome to Shea Station 4C. Blastoff time is 7:40.” The futuristic theme was carried on throughout the evening, with the scoreboard flashing computerized graphics of the players in the MLB space age as each came to the plate. Rickey Henderson, for example, was given three eyes and pointy ears, and played "left quadrant." Al Martin hit the first of his two HRs in the first "sector‚" and rookie Kris Benson went all nine sectors for the win; it was his first complete MLB game.
• 2009 - In an otherwise unremarkable 4-2 loss to Tim Lincecum at AT&T Park, Delwyn Young added a little spice to the show. Randy Winn’s bloop into right went off right fielder Garrett Jones’ mitt, then he soccer-balled it off his knee and kicked it into the air with his foot for good measure. Young, playing second, dove after the horsehide hacky-sack and made a lunging barehanded grab. Alas, despite the dexterity and degree of difficulty in recording the out, the ump blew the call and gave Winn a hit, which was how the Pirates’ luck ran back then. Nevertheless, Tribune Review writer Joe Starkey called the catch the “best play of the decade.” 

Delwyn Young - 2010 Topps

• 2013 - Mike McKenry showed why MLB catchers are a different breed of cat. He caught the final three frames of a 7-4 win against Miami at Marlins Park after tearing the lateral meniscus in his left knee during a slide, an injury that required season-ending surgery three days later. It was hard to tell he was one-legged, as the reserve catcher, who soldiered through the game because starting catcher Russell Martin had tweaked his knee the previous night, went 4-for-5. The Fort caught Charlie Morton, who took home the win with a save by Mark Melancon. 
• 2016 - It took 88 tries, but Gerrit Cole tossed his first complete game, spinning a three-hitter against the Seattle Mariners at PNC Park on the way to a 10-1 Bucco romp. The top of the order was smoking as Jordy Mercer & Andrew McCutchen had three hits apiece while Starling Marte & David Freese added a pair. The foursome went 10-for-17 with four doubles, a homer, two walks and HBP, scoring eight times and chasing home six. And the fifth guy in the order, Jung Ho Kang added a base-loaded double and had four RBI on the night. Ross Ohlendorf, btw, reclaimed the franchise’s title for going the longest without a CG at 64 starts. 
• 2018 - The Bucs had dropped two in a row, coinciding with injuries to Starling Marte and Corey Dickerson, and things looked bleak when Michael Conforto lit up Ivan Nova for a three-run, first-inning homer at PNC Park to give the Mets a quick lead. An inning later, Josh Bell left the game with an oblique injury, but veteran platoon guy David Freese carried the team through the grind to a 5-4 victory. He was aboard five times with three hits, including a homer and two walks, while driving home all five runs, the last a ninth-inning walkoff rap. The Bucco bullpen carried its weight after Nova departed, tossing four innings of scoreless, three-hit ball with five whiffs. Edgar Santana and Kyle Crick held the fort before Felipe Vazquez tossed the ninth inning for the win. 
• 2023 - The Pirates traded 1B Carlos Santana, 37, to the Milwaukee Brewers for SS prospect Jhonny Severino. “Slamtana” joined his sixth team in five years (and he’s with the Twins now) after slashing .235/12/53 in Pittsburgh with solid leatherwork. The 18-year-old Severino was an international signee in 2022 by the Brew Crew, played in the Dominican Summer League and was promoted to the Arizona Rookie League this year (.250/4 HR in 12 games). The switch-hitter was a Top 25 International Prospect but wasn’t listed among Milwaukee’s Top 30 organizational prospects, and at least six other shortstops in the system were ranked ahead of him, so the FO opted to accept the teen lottery ticket for Santana to restock.

7/26: Holmes-Castillo/Park, '08 NYY Deal, Kendall Contract; Star-ling Debut, Jerry Meals Game, Game Tales; Shelty's #1, Gunner & Possum; HBD Ji-Hwan, Joaquin, Jose, Tom, Eddie & Jimmy

• 1889 - The Alleghenys defeated the Cleveland Spiders, 8-4, at Recreation Park despite giving up a three-run infield homer to ex-Allegheny Jay Faatz, whose hot shot to 3B Jim White bounced off his foot and went into the “free seats” - temporary stands - and couldn’t be dug out in time to stop Faatz from circling the bases. Fred Carroll, Ned Hanlon and Doggie Miller each had three knocks to spearhead a 16-hit Buc attack that easily carried Harry Staley to the win. Miller homered over the left field wall, and the Pittsburgh Press wrote “The crowd went wild as little George trotted over the circuit and lifted his cap at the plate. An enthusiast threw a silver dollar at him, which (Miller) accepted with a smile.” Who said there was no bonus money in early baseball? 
• 1911 - The Brooklyn Infants put as many Pirates on base as the Pirates did themselves (Brooklyn dished out eight walks, a bopped batter and error to match the Buccos 10 hits) and the result was a 12-1 romp by Pittsburgh at Forbes Field. Three of the Buc hits were triples, and Bill McKechnie’s four RBI led the pack; McKechnie would later go on to manage the Pirates for five years (1922-26). Howie Camnitz worked the first seven innings (one run, five hits, one walk, three K) to earn the win; 24-year-old Harry Gardner mopped up the final two frames. 
• 1917 - 2B Jimmy Bloodworth was born in Tallahassee, Florida. Jimmy played for 11 seasons and was a member of the 1950 NL champ “Whiz Kids” Phillies team. Like many of his era, he spent time in the Army from 1944-46. Bloodworth put in one season with the Pirates in 1947, batting .250, just about his career average, appearing in 88 games. 1951 was Bloodworth’s last season in the major leagues. He played in the minors for the following three years, managed in the bush leagues for two more years and then served as a deputy sheriff in Florida. 
• 1920 - IF Joe “Eddie” (his middle name) Bockman was born in Santa Ana, California. He had a brief four-year MLB stay, spending his last two campaigns in 1948-49 with the Pirates, playing second and third while batting .230 in 149 games. He then spent a decade as a Bucco player/coach in the minors, then served for another 30 years as a scout for the Philadelphia Phillies, where he signed Bob Boone, Larry Bowa, Joe Charboneau, Buck Martinez, Ricky Jordan, Randy Lerch, Dick Ruthven, John Vukovich and Bob Walk. In 1992, he became a scout for the expansion Florida Marlins. Eddie passed away in 2011. 

Eddie Bockman - 1949 Eureka Sports Stamp

• 1921 - OF Tom Saffell was born in Etowah, Tennessee. He played for the Bucs from 1949-51, then after spending the next three seasons in the minors, returned in 1955. The speedy OF’er hit .239 for the Bucs. He was a minor celeb, though, as he was the pitcher for the 1960 syndicated TV show “Home Run Derby” that was hosted by Mark Scott. That program was said to inspire the All Star Game’s home run derby and was also part of ESPN’s Classic series. 
• 1927 - The Pirates pushed across two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to edge the Brooklyn Robins, 6-5, at Forbes Field to remain tied with the Cubs for the National League lead. They were almost derailed by former matey Max Carey (he moved on to Brooklyn in 1926), who had three hits, three runs, and three stolen bases. But he was countered by the Waner brothers, as Lloyd had three hits and scored twice, both times driven home by Paul. Little Poison’s lumber work allowed him to take over the league lead in hits while Lee Meadows went the distance. 
• 1928 - NY Giant future Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell made his MLB debut against the Pirates at the Polo Grounds. He pitched a scoreless first inning, but the Bucs scored five times in the second to knock him out of the game, winning, 7-5, behind Burleigh Grimes. Paul Waner had three hits and two RBI to lead a balanced Bucco attack. But King Carl persisted: he left MLB after 16 years, with 253 wins under his belt and a slash of 49-21/3.07 lifetime against Pittsburgh. 
• 1942 - Utilityman Jose Martinez was born in Cardenas, Cuba. Jose was signed by the Bucs in 1960 and spent 1969-70 with the Pirates, his only stop in the show as a player, hitting .245 in 96 games. He put in 14 years on the farm before his MLB career took off as a bench boss and team administrator. Jose served as a minor league manager and major league coach for the Kansas City Royals from 1980-88 and then coached with the Chicago Cubs from 1988-94. He joined the Atlanta Braves front office in 1995 and worked for them until his death in 2014. 

Dick Groat - 1952 Topps

• 1952 - The Pirates used the power of persistence to overcome Boston at Braves Field, 6-4. Falling behind 3-0 after an inning, the Bucs, led by rookie Dick Groat’s 5-for-5 day (he broke out of an 0-for-19 funk), chipped away at the Brave lead. Pittsburgh, behind two RBI from Groat and a two-run homer by Gus Bell, climbed back into a tie in the seventh. They went ahead in the ninth inning on George Metkovich’s two-run, two-out double, set up by Clem Koshorek, who had the ball waiting on him as he went from first-to-third on a single but kicked it out of 3B Sibby Sisti’s mitt. Howie Pollet recovered from the rocky first frame (and it didn't get much easier; Boston had runners aboard in eight of the nine frames) for the win, and added three knocks to the attack. 
• 1977 - The Bucs dodged a bullet when John Candelaria took a liner just below his pitching elbow but only suffered a bruise in a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros at Three Rivers Stadium. He was replaced by Goose Gossage, who was pitching for the first time in eight days after a rib pull, and The Goose nailed down the final five outs, one a spectacular leaping catch by Dave Parker at the wall. It was Candy Man’s best season, ending at 20-5/2.34. He led the league in ERA and enjoyed his only 20-win season and sole All-Star selection. Candy’s stellar season wasn’t enough to push the Bucs to the top, though - they won 96 games, but still finished five behind the division-winning Phillies. 
• 1977 - RHP Joaquin Benoit was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The last stop in his 16-year career was with the Pirates in 2017 after a deadline deal with the Phils, getting Benoit for a minor leaguer. He was a season-ending warm body and went 0-2/7.56 in eight games as a 39-year-old. He signed with the Nats for 2018, but spent the season on the DL and was done. 
• 1979 - The Gunner was briefly united with old mate Jim Woods on the United Artists Satellite radio system for a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Three Rivers Stadium. The Possum was a regular broadcaster for the network (they featured national Thursday Night games), and it was a one-time deal for Prince. There was plenty of action to keep the pair from any dead air, but the Bucs fell short, losing, 9-7, as Dave Roberts and Joe Coleman gave up eight runs in three innings, outings that Willie Stargell and Bill Robinson homers couldn’t overcome. 

Sid Bream - 1988 Score

• 1988 - Doug Drabek carried a two-hit shutout into the ninth inning against the Cards at Busch Stadium, but was banged for a two-out homer by Willie McGee to cut the score to 2-1 and add a little drama to the affair. Jimmy Leyland yanked him for Jim Gott (“I’ve seen too many guys give up a home run like that, lose a little concentration and boom, someone else has got them” the skipper told Bob Hertzel of the Pittsburgh Press after the game). Gott added to the final theatrics by giving up a single, but closed it out by blowing a fastball past Tom Brunansky to book the victory. The Bucs scored twice in the fourth frame on a wild pitch and Sid Bream knock that scored Jose Lind & Andy Van Slyke, to snap a four-game losing streak and stay two games behind the New York Mets in the division race. Another notable feat occurred during the game: C Spanky LaValliere stole his first MLB base, one of a single-season high of three swipes in ‘88. He stole two more sacks in 1991 and those five bags were his total big league. 
• 1992 - The Braves were on a 13-game winning streak and weren’t planning on it ending. Down 4-1 in the eighth inning at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Lonnie Smith banged a three-run homer off Stan Belinda to tie the contest. But the Bucs hitters of the hour came through. Jeff King opened the ninth frame with a single, was bunted up and beat the throw home on Orlando Merced’s single. Jeff had two hits, two runs scored and an RBI on the day; Orlando, who came in as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning and stayed on at 1B, went 2-for-2 with two runs chased home (King both times with two outs). Belinda sucked it up and locked it down with a 1-2-3 ninth for the win. 
• 1997 - C Jason Kendall signed a four-year/$7.2M contract extension covering his arbitration years that carried him to the 2001 campaign. It was well worth the price; the young backstop hit .317 over the life of the deal, earned two All-Star bids and his play was amply rewarded later with a club record six-year, $60M deal. 
• 1999 - IF/OF Ji-Hwan Bae was born in Daegu, South Korea. Signed by the Bucs as an international FA in 2018 for $1.25M, he caused a storm when he was suspended 30 days for domestic violence committed in 2017. But he toed the line afterwards, worked through the system and debuted in 2022. Ji-Hwin was versatile, playing some outfield and 2B (his usual spot) while batting .333 in a small sample size. He also showed some speed as he was 3-for-3 on steals, aggressive on the basepaths and could cover center. With the Pirates short of leadoff types and OF’s, Bae was called up to the big team in '23, flashed hot-and-cold on the field and is now at Indy. 

Ji-Hwan Bae - 2024 Topps

• 2008 - OF Xavier Nady & LHP Damaso Marte were traded to the NY Yankees for OF Jose Tabata and RHPs Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen & Ross Ohlendorf. During their Bucco careers, Karstens tossed for five years (23-35/4.31), McCutchen made 109 appearances in four seasons (8-11/4.77) and Ohlie tossed for four years (13-27/4.61). Tabata was the key prospect; the Pirates locked him up to a long-term deal guaranteed for five years/$14.5M. Although he hit .275 over six years, injuries and lack of power were his undoing and he was shipped to LA. 
• 2011 - This was the black day of the Jerry Meals game in Atlanta, heralding the end of the Bucco's improbable pennant (and .500+ season) run. The ump blew a call at home in the 19th inning, giving the Braves a 4-3 win and starting a downward spiral of epic proportions for Pittsburgh. At 6 hours and 39 minutes, it was the longest game in club history. The Pirates filed a protest (at 2:30 in the morning) but the judgment call was upheld, even though the League Office admitted it was wrong. To add salt to the wound, Meals was born in nearby Butler. 
• 2012 - In a rookie-on-rookie match, Starling Marte homered to left center against Houston’s Dallas Keuchel, hammering the first MLB pitch he saw. Pittsburgh won the contest, 5-3, at Minute Maid Park as Garrett Jones and Clint Barmes also went long while AJ Burnett took home the victory against the ‘Stros behind the big boomers. Marte became the third Bucco to send his first major league pitch over the wall, joining Walter Mueller (1922) and Don Leppert (1961). 
• 2020 - It took three tries, but new Bucco skipper Derek Shelton won his first MLB game by a 5-1 count over the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium. Mitch Keller went five innings, giving up a run, before JT Brubaker, in his first big league outing, Michael Feliz and Nick Burdi nailed it down. Jose Osuna and Colin Moran homered while Phil Evans collected three hits. In a sidebar, with no fans in attendance due to the Covid 19 crowd ban, pitcher Derek Holland decided to soak up some sun and catch the game from the box seats, from whence he was ejected for jawing at the plate umpire. Dutch Oven became the first player given the thumb in 2020. 

Clay Holmes - 2021 photo/Pirates

• 2021 - The New York Yankees acquired RHP Clay Holmes from the Pirates in exchange for IFs Diego Castillo, 23, and Hoy Jun Park, 25. Park was playing AAA ball, went to Indy briefly and was called up on 7/31, while Castillo was in AA and assigned to Altoona; both played 2B/SS (Park also had some time in the pasture). The pair showed some pop on the farm with the sticks, and both were up-and-down, filling in as utilitymen. Park now plays in the Oakland system and Castillo is a Minnesota farmhand. Holmes straightened up and became the Yankees closer. 
• 2023 - The Pirates had lost all six series in July, were minus their skipper, Derek Shelton, for the day (suspension), starting a pitcher, Johan Oviedo, who hadn’t won since mid-May and fully committed to their young blood, starting five players with less that two moths MLB experience. But thanks to three solo homers and a steely comeback by David Bednar in the ninth frame, they took two out of three at San Diego’s Petco Park by claiming the finale, 3-2, to hand bench coach Don Kelly his first win at the helm. The Bucco blasts were provided by Ji Man Choi, Bryan Reynolds & Carlos Santana and the drama by The Renegade. Bednar came in with a two-run lead and got the first out before two walks (the first one scored; the second forced the run home), a hit batter and single made it 3-2, with the bases jammed. But it ended well as he closed it out with a pop and a whiff, and though it took 37 pitches, he notched his 20th save to clinch Oviedo’s dub. The Pirates last series win was a sweep at PNC Park in late June, also against the Friars.

7/25 Through the 1950s: Kelly Claimed, Jake Swap; Arriba Winner, Elliott 6-Pack, Josh Debut, Kiki Circuit, Carey On, Game Tales HBD Jack, Marv & John

• 1863 - John Tener was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and moved to the City as a babe. A pitcher for the Pittsburgh Burghers in 1890 (3-11/7.21), he wisely got into politics and served as Pennsylvania’s Governor from 1911 to 1914 after a term as a State House Member (1909-11) and then moved on to become the President of the National League from 1915 to 1918. 
• 1894 - The Chicago Colts pounded out 26 hits, 12 for extra bases, and laid a 24-6 beating on Pittsburgh at the West Side Grounds. Every Colt had at least a hit and a run, and Chicago batted around in four innings. It could have been worse; the game was called after seven innings so the Pirates could catch a train back home. The Pittsburgh Press noted that the game “...resulted in the most disastrous whipping recorded in the annals of the national league of baseball,” adding that “...the Pittsburg fielders were kept busy chasing savage drives...Pittsburg’s weakness in the (pitching) box was apparent,” as it was in the 18-11 loss suffered the day before. Still, the club did finish the year at 65-65, albeit with a 5.62 team ERA, 10th ranked in the 13 team MLB. 
• 1896 - The Pirates traded 1B Jake Beckley to the New York Giants for 1B Harry Davis and $1,000. Beckley was a local favorite who would eventually enter the Hall of Fame, and the deal didn’t sit very well with the fans; Jake was in his eighth Bucco campaign and had a batting average of .300 during that time; he also posted a .323 BA as a Player’s League Pgh. Burgher in 1890. Both teams got a good year, bad year out of the players, who then went on to star for different clubs. Beckley spent seven years with Cincinnati and hit .325 for them, cementing his HoF path, while Davis spent 16 of his last 17 seasons (he played 22 years) hitting .279 for the Philadelphia Athletics. 
• 1908 - Before an SRO crowd of 30,000+ at the Polo Grounds, the Pirates' Lefty Leifield topped the New York Giants and Christy Mathewson, 7-2. Two errors in the seventh opened the door for five Pirate runs to break up what had been a pretty solid pitching duel. Pittsburgh was led by Honus Wagner, who went 5-for-5 to take over the batting lead from Mike Donlin of the Giants. After each hit, Wagner held up a finger to show the number of safeties he had to RF Donlin, according to the BR Bullpen entry. It was an interesting game - it was delayed by rain, and even though police surrounded the field during play, there was a half-hour stoppage when the yard was rushed by fans that were led by, per the Pittsburgh Press, “thick heads in the 25 cent section...,” eventually requiring the Giant players to jump in and help the gendarmes control the crowd. 

Hans - 1908 Rose Co. Post Card

• 1912 - The Pirates blew an early lead against Brooklyn, but rallied to tie the score in the eighth and then rode Howie Camnitz’s arm to a 14-inning, 8-7, win over the Superbas at Forbes Field. Camnitz gave up just two hits in six innings, and got the win when Dots Miller’s sac fly brought home Chief Wilson, who had singled and moved to third on a Honus Wagner double. 
• 1913 - Max Carey scored five runs against the Phillies without a hit, reaching first via an error and four walks, as the Bucs won, 12-2, at Forbes Field. He also stole four bases and advanced twice on wild pitches to disrupt Philly and help Claude Hendrix to the win. The Pittsburgh Press griped that “The battle was a long, drawn out affair that required two hours and 10 minutes.” 
• 1917 - 1B George “Highpockets” Kelly was claimed off waivers from the New York Giants. He got in eight games, and after the injured player he replaced (43-year-old Honus Wagner) came back, he was waived back to the Giants. Bad move; Hans retired after the season, leaving a huge hole at 1B while Kelly became a Hall-of-Fame player for NY, hitting .297 over 16 seasons. 
• 1921 - CF Marv Rackley was born in Seneca, South Carolina. Marv was bungee Bucco - the Brooklyn Dodgers sent him to Pittsburgh in 1949 for 1B Johnny Hopp. He got into 11 games and hit .314, but he complained that he was trying to play through a bum arm dating back to Dodger days, although the injury was a surprise to the Dodgers and thought to be a ploy by Rackley to get back to Brooklyn. Regardless of whether it was a bad wing or bad faith, the deal was voided and he went back to da Bums, who sold him to the Reds in the off season. He played five games for them before being sent down, and he finished his career in the upper minors, retiring after the 1955 campaign. 
• 1921 - CF Max Carey earned his pay this day. He corralled 11 flies, tying the record (it was broken in 1929) during the Pirates' 6-3 win over New York at Forbes Field. He also scored three times, going 3-for-4 with two doubles. Rabbit Maranville, batting behind him, drove home three teammates to support Babe Adams, who went the distance against the Giants for the win. 

Kiki Cuyler - 1925 Best Sports Photos

• 1925 - In a ho-hum 7-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field, Kiki Cuyler became the last Bucco basepath larcenist to steal second, third and home in a game. He was the fourth Buc to complete the circuit, joining Hans Wagner (3 times), Max Carey (twice) and Bobby Byrne. 
• 1930 - The Homestead Grays rode a five-run second frame and Vic Harris’ ninth-inning, two-out walk-off dinger to a 6-5 win over the KC Monarchs at Forbes Field. Harris' homer rolled under a tarp and allowed him plenty of time to circle the bases. It was one of three hits for him; Georges Scales added three more knocks as Lefty Williams went the distance for the win over Chet Brewer, who later was a Pirates scout. It marked the catching debut of 18-year-old Josh Gibson, who took over behind the plate after C Buck Ewing was hurt, but didn’t get a chance to bat. 
• 1931 - Larry French went the distance at Forbes Field during a 14-inning, 3-2 win against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the longest NL contest of the season. It wasn’t exactly a gem, as he gave up 15 hits, but it was enough to outduel Fred Heimach, who also went gate-to-gate. Pie Traynor had three hits (two 3Bs, 2B), two runs and an RBI. It was the second game of a twin bill; the Bucs took the opener, 5-2. Spades Wood not only tossed a three-hitter, but drove in a pair of runs. Traynor had two hits in that match, including a double, and scored twice. 
• 1932 - LHP Jack McMahan was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Pirates drafted him after the 1955 campaign from the New York Yankees as a Rule 5 pick, called him in from the pen 11 times (0-0/6.08) in 1956 and then shipped him, along with Curt Roberts, to Kansas City for Spook Jacobs in June. The Athletics used him as a starter and sent him back to the NYY after the campaign as part of a huge, 13-man trade. It was the only MLB season for McMahan; he spent three more years in the minors and retired, returning to Hot Springs. He kept his hand in baseball as a side gig, scouting for the Cardinals and coaching the local American Legion nine. Jack passed away in 2020. 

Max Butcher - 1942 Play Ball

• 1944 - Max Butcher tossed a six-hit goose egg at the Polo Grounds as the Bucs blasted the NY Giants‚ 15-0. Pittsburgh banged out 20 hits and posted a nine-run second inning. Bob Elliott homered and chased home six runs while Pete Coscarart and Jim Russell each added four knocks. 
• 1951 - The Pirates overcame a 4-0 deficit by scoring four times in the seventh and once again in the eighth to rally past the NY Giants, 5-4, at Forbes Field. Joe Garagiola’s homer in the seventh was the big blow, with the game winner being a bases-loaded sac fly delivered by George Strickland an inning later. Ted Wilks won after two innings of clean relief work with three whiffs. 
• 1952 - Manager Billy Meyer held a clubhouse meeting after the Bucs had dropped six games in a row (per the Pittsburgh Press, Billy told them “...to look respectable”) and apparently the low-key boot in the pants worked as Pittsburgh beat the Boston Braves, 3-2, at Forbes Field. Clem Koshorek doubled home a pair of runs and the game-winner was Jack Merson’s fourth-inning single, scoring Ralph Kiner. Murry Dickson made it hold up while scattering nine hits. It was his seventh win of the campaign - three were versus Boston and three more against the New York Giants. The pep talk afterglow didn’t have very strong legs - after the Pirates won the next day, they proceeded to lose six of the next seven on their way to a last-place, 42-win season. 
• 1956 - The Bucs blew a four-run lead by giving up eight tallies to the Cubs in the last two innings, but the Pirates answered at Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente ripped an inside-the-park, ninth-inning, walk-off grand slam to rally the Bucs to a 9-8 win. His gapper ricocheted off the base of the left field light standard and then rolled along the warning track toward center field. Clemente ran through 3B coach Bobby Bragan’s stop sign (there were no outs) and as Ernie Bank’s relay reached home "He slid, missed the plate, then reached back to rest his hand on the rubber...as the crowd of 12,431 went goofy with excitement" per sportswriter Jack Hernon of the Post Gazette. It was the only walk-off, inside-the-park grand slam posted in MLB history. In the same game, Dale Long hit his 20th homer, then a club record for lefties, to break Arky Vaughan’s 1935 mark.

7/25 From 1960: Fraze Dealt; Danny 1-Hit Loser, 5 For Sid, B's Debut, Candy Faces 27, Game Tales, 1st For Good, ASG; HBD Cam, Alex, Ed & Doug

• 1960 - The Bucs regained first place when Bob Friend defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2, at Busch Stadium behind home runs from Bill Virdon, Bob Skinner and Roberto Clemente. Pittsburgh wouldn’t relinquish the top spot for the remainder of the season (the lead was never less than three games during September) and finished seven games ahead of the Milwaukee Braves. 
• 1962 - RHP Doug Drabek was born in Victoria, Texas. He tossed six seasons (1987-92) in Pittsburgh after coming over from the NYY, posting a line of 92-62/3.02. Drabek won the Cy Young in 1990 when he went 22-6, but oddly never made an All-Star team as a Pirate. Doug spent six more seasons in MLB after he left Pittsburgh after the 1992 season but never won more than a dozen games elsewhere. After he retired, he spent time at home and helped coach Little League ball. In 2010, he returned to pro ball as a pitching coach for Arizona. 
• 1963 - Tommie Sisk pitched five innings of near perfect relief (he didn’t surrender any hits, but he walked a pair) and rode Roberto Clemente’s three-run homer to a 6-2 win over league leading Los Angeles and ace Sandy Koufax at Dodger Stadium. Smoky Burgess chipped in with a pair of RBI. Koufax had entered the game with just three losses and a 1.75 ERA. He evened things up in a September rematch, giving up one earned run with 9 K in a complete game win. 
• 1965 - The Bucs took the opener of a twin bill at Forbes Field from the Cubs, 3-2, thanks to back-up catcher Del Crandall, 35, who was called into duty in the sixth inning. He banged a two-out, 3-1 pitch that dropped over the left center fence for the win. Bill Mazeroski also homered, and Vern Law won his second game in 24 hours as the seventh Pirate pitcher, working the final 1-1/3 IP. The Cubs took the nightcap easily, 5-0, in 1:37; the Pirates had just three hits and a Roberto Clemente line-out triple play to show for their efforts as Bill Faul shut them down. 

Ed Sprague - 2000 Fleer Tradition

• 1967 - 1B/3B Ed Sprague was born in Castro Valley, California. Sprague spent one of his 11 major league campaigns in Pittsburgh, signing as a free agent in 1999 for $1.3M, and gave the club a solid season. He became the Bucco starter, hitting .267 with 22 homers and was named to the only All-Star game of his career. He left for the San Diego Padres in 2000, as 22-year-old Aramis Ramirez was on deck to man the hot corner for Pittsburgh. 2001 was Ed’s last big league year, and he later became the head coach for the U. of Pacific Tigers from 2004-15. In 2016, Sprague joined the Oakland Athletics and is their Coordinator of Instruction. 
• 1972 - The Nationals nosed out the American League, 4-3, at Atlanta Stadium in the All-Star game, kicking off an 11-game winning streak for the Senior Circuit. Manager Danny Murtaugh had a boatload of Bucs to maneuver on his roster: RHP Steve Blass, OFs Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Al Oliver plus C Manny Sanguillen. Blass went an inning and gave up a run. It was his only appearance in an All-Star Game and in effect a ghost outing as NBC couldn’t broadcast the frame he pitched due to technical issues. Sangy went 1-for-2, Pops 0-for-1 with a walk, and Scoops went 0-for-1. The Great One didn’t get into the last of his 12 All-Star games; he was voted a starter, but was injured (knee bruise). The NL had a pretty good replacement: Hank Aaron played in his stead. 
• 1977 - Bill Robinson made amends for a throwing error in the top of the eighth inning by banging a three-run homer in the bottom half of the frame as the Bucs beat Phil Niekro and the Atlanta Braves for the eighth time in nine tries, 6-3. Robinson had a couple of busy innings at Three Rivers Stadium - his leadoff double in the seventh tied the game when he scored, followed by his misfire that put the Bravos’ leadoff guy on third in a 3-3 game, although Jerry Reuss picked him up and stranded the runner. Reuss went the distance, firing a five-hitter. 
• 1982 - John Candelaria faced the minimum 27 batters in a four-hit, 86-pitch shutout win over the Atlanta Braves. Three twin killings and a caught stealing erased the four Bravo runners from the basepaths in an 8-0 whipping at Three Rivers Stadium before 22,565 fans. The middle of the Pirate lineup - Bill Madlock, Jason Thompson and Dave Parker - drove home six runs. 

No, it's not Matt (who he?) but Cecilio - 1983 Donruss

• 1983 - The Bucs were hanging on to a slim 4-3 lead against the Padres at TRS when Rick Rhoden filled the bases with no outs in the sixth inning. Cecilio Guante, who had been out of action since July 14th with a sore shoulder, was waved in and quelled the fire when he struck out the side. It was the key moment of a 6-3 Bucco win, as Guante tossed four shutout frames and was given a safety net in the eighth when Dave Parker, who had three hits on the night, homered. 
• 1985 - OF Alex Presley was born in Monroe, Louisiana. Picked in the eighth round of the 2006 draft, he hit .261 as a back-and-forth member of the Pirate roster between 2010-13, before he was traded to the Minnesota Twins as part of the Justin Morneau deal. He also played for the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers and Detroit Tigers before taking his final MLB bow in 2017. 
• 1986 - 8,622 fans sat through a nondescript 7-3 loss to the Giants at TRS without realizing that they were actually witnessing a bit of Bucco history: for the first time, the Killer B’s, Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla, started together for the Pirates. Bonds was at leadoff while playing centerfield and had two hits; Bo patrolled left and batted sixth in his third game back since being reacquired from the White Sox and drew a pair of walks. They played together through 1991. 
• 1987 - The Pirates ended their west coast trip on a winning note by dropping the San Diego Padres, 9-3, at Jack Murphy Stadium. The journey had started perilously, with a pair of losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers but concluded with a 6-4 slate, their first winning left coast visit since 1983. The offensive heroes were Sid Bream with three hits & five RBI, Andy Van Slyke with two knocks & three runs scored and Barry Bonds with two raps, including a homer. Brian Fischer took home the win with help from Barry Jones and Don Robinson over the final two frames.

Sid Bream - 1987 Donruss

• 1992 - Danny Jackson gave up one hit at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, but it was unfortunately a home run to David Justice as the Braves, behind Charlie Leibrandt, beat the Bucs, 1-0, for their 13th straight win. The Pirates best chance to score was in the first inning, but both Andy Van Slyke and Lloyd McClendon were caught stealing to run themselves out of the frame and allow Leibrandt to catch his wind. Pittsburgh didn’t make any noise again until the seventh frame, with Otis Nixon sprinted to the fence and pulled back AVS’s blast from over the wall. The Buccos made one final push in the ninth inning, but Barry Bonds bounced out with two down and two aboard to bring down the curtain. 
• 1992 - The Pirates made a wholesale change in pitching: Zane Smith (8-7/2.96) was placed on the DL with tendinitis, while vets Jerry Don Gleaton (1-0/4.26) and Jeff Robinson (3-1/4.46) were released, ending both of their MLB careers. The Bucs then brought up their pups - Paul Wagner, Steve Cooke and Blas Minor. None of them set the world afire as rookies, but they did make 19 credible outings among themselves and the trio were major parts of the staff in ‘93. 
• 1995 - Losing to the Atlanta Braves at TRS by a 3-1 tally in 10 innings (the Bravo rally began with two outs and the bases empty with Jim Gott on the hill; the Pirates left the bases loaded in their half) was painful enough. Adding injury to insult in the fifth inning, a collision between Dave Clark and Jacob Brumfield in right center field cost the Bucs Clark’s services until mid-September after he broke his collarbone. Brumfield suffered dizziness and a deep thigh bruise; both were taken away by ambulance after the staff spent 20 minutes stabilizing the pair. The only good news was that Jake made the catch a step before he, Clark and the wall met. 
• 1996 - LHP Cam Alldred was born in Batavia, Ohio. A 24th round draft pick in 2018 (#714 overall) by the Bucs out of the U of Cincinnati, the reliever broke out in 2021 at AA Altoona. After two solid if brief stints at Indy, he was called up to the big team in mid-May, 2022 and tossed a scoreless frame before he was returned to AAA. Cam was released and signed with the Korean League Kia Tigers in May, 2024. 

Cam Alldred - 2022 photo/Hybrid Performance

• 2011 - In their first ESPN-televised game in seven years, Pittsburgh defeated the Atlanta Braves, 3-1, behind James McDonald, who struck out nine in 5-2/3 frames, and four relievers who finished it off at Turner Field, keeping the Bucs tied for first place in the NL Central, although it was the last time for the lead in 2011. The Pirates only had five hits, but back-to-back walks turned into a pair of Bucco runs. Andrew McCutchen led the attack with a knock, walk, run and RBI. 
• 2021 - The Bucs pulled 2B Adam Frazier from the Giants’ game and announced afterward they had traded him to the San Diego Padres with cash ($1.4M) to cover his 2021 salary, the deal becoming official the next day when all the physicals were completed. Friar prospects AAA - IF/OF Tucupita Marcano, 21; AA - OF Jack Suwinski, 23, and Hi A - RH reliever Michell Miliano, 21, were the return package. Marcano was a Padres Top Ten minor-leaguer, known as a versatile defender with a spray-the-ball approach who the Bucs reportedly tried to land as part of the earlier Joe Musgrove deal. The other two were unranked lottery guys, with Suwinski having a big stick and Miliano being a project. Suwinski has flashed power but not consistency, Turcano got banned for life by baseball for gambling and Miliano is playing Frontier League ball. The Friars shipped Fraze to Seattle in the off season. In 2023 he signed with Baltimore as a FA, then moved on to KC this year. Trade Trivia: Adam was the third player since 1900 to be traded at midseason while leading MLB in hits, joining Willie McGee (1990) and Red Schoendienst (1957) per ESPN Stats & Info.

7/24 Through the 1960s: Lloyd HoF; 4 For Roberto, Josh Bomb, Chief x 3, Game Tales; Grace-ful, Hans Hunt, Walk-Off Sweep; HBD Joe, Barry, Preston & Germany

• 1893 - IF and exec Joe “Germany” Schultz Sr. was born in Pittsburgh. He spent one year (1916) of his 11-year MLB career at home, hitting .260. After retiring and managing in the Cards minor league system, Schultz became the farm system director of the Pirates in 1939. Sadly, in 1941, while on his way to one of the Pittsburgh farm clubs, he suddenly passed away at the young age of 47. His legacy carried on, as his son Joe Jr. was a Buc reserve catcher from 1939-41. 
• 1899 - The Pirates swept a pair from Philadelphia at Exposition Park, winning both games on ninth-inning walk-off bops by rookies. After the Phils scored five in the ninth in the opening contest, Jimmy Williams hit a three-run homer in the bottom half to win, 9-8. In the nitecap, Ginger Beaumont tripled with the bases loaded and two away in the last go-around to cap a 5-4 victory. In both games, the Pirates entered the final frame down by a pair of runs. The crowd of 5,200 was more than appreciative. The Pittsburgh Press noted that the hometown fans had “...showered money upon “Buttons” Williams and...carried Beaumont to the clubhouse.” 
• 1899 - A small blurb in the Pittsburgh Press sports section reported that “St. Louis, as well as Brooklyn, is after Hans Wagner, the third baseman, but the Louisville club officials now declare that he is off the market.” Louisville, at the time, was a National League club, but the notice made little impact on local fans. But it soon would prove to be good news to the Steel City rooters; Barney Dreyfuss had machinations afoot to combine the Colonels roster with the Pirates in the off season, and thanks to the virtual merger added Honus, Fred Clarke, Deacon Phillippe, Tommy Leach, Patsy Flaherty, and Claude Ritchey to Pittsburgh’s roster, creating an early 1900’s powerhouse squad. 
• 1901 - The Pirates scored in every inning while defeating the Reds, 11-2, at Exposition Park. Jesse Tannehill tossed a seven-hitter for the win. Ginger Beaumont had four hits and Claude Ritchey tripled twice as the Bucs banged out 14 hits, four for triples. The Pittsburgh Press opined that “The Reds as they are now made up should not be able to win from the Pirates in a hundred years.” 

Chief Wilson - Belmar Oasis

• 1911 - The Pirates pounded the Brooklyn Superbas, 8-2, at Forbes Field behind the hot-hitting “Chief” Owen Wilson who went 4-for-4 with three triples. Ralph Davis of the Pittsburgh Press wrote that “...Wilson came through the contest without a blot on his batting escutcheon. The Chief also played a grand fielding game and was in the battle up to his neck in all departments.” Babe Adams went the distance for the win, helping himself with three hits including a triple. 
• 1927 - OF/1B Preston Ward was born in Columbia, Missouri. Ward came to Pittsburgh as part of the Ralph Kiner deal, and was a back-up/platoon guy from 1953-56, hitting .240 in 305 games. He spent nine years in MLB, mostly serving as bench depth for five teams. 
• 1931 - The Brooklyn Dodgers banged out 21 hits during the game (Babe Herman hit for the cycle) and scored three times in the ninth, but reliever Larry French put down the rally as the Bucs hung on for an 8-7 win at Forbes Field. The Pirates had 13 knocks, seven for extra bases, and jumped out to an early 8-1 lead behind Pie Traynor’s three RBI, Eddie Phillips’ homer and Lloyd “Little Poison” Waner’s three hits/three runs scored and then outlasted the Brooklynites. 
• 1932 - C Earl Grace set an MLB mark with his 285th chance handled without an error as he added three more putouts during a 7-2 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Cubs, his first big league club, at Wrigley Field. He made 444 plays in 121 games from 1931-32 without a miscue before a bad throw ended the flawless fielding streak in September. He finished the campaign with just one error in 413 chances (.998) to set an National League record that lasted until 1946. 
• 1938 - Josh Gibson, playing for the Homestead Grays, hit the second-longest home run of his career at 538’ (reportedly measured by game officials and Monessen’s then-Mayor James Gold) at Page Park, the home yard of the minor league Monessen Indians, against the Memphis Red Sox . The drive was reported to bounce high off of a neighboring mill building. Monessen, along with MLB, the Pirates and the Gibson Foundation, marked the moment with a ceremony and Historical Marker in 2021 after a decade of research. His longest tater is a much debated 580’ shot at Yankee Stadium, and the Black Babe Ruth was said to have several 500’+ homers to his credit. 

Josh Gibson - Helmar Big League Brew

• 1956 - Honored at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon before the game, Roberto Clemente proved his plaudits were well earned by leading the Bucs to a 6-2 win over the Chicago Cubs at Forbes Field. Roberto drove in four RBI on three shots to left center: a sacrifice fly, a triple off the wall, and a homer into Schenley Plaza. Ron Kline got the win with help from Howie Pollet. 
• 1964 - Barry Bonds was born in Riverside, California. The slugger, a first round pick in the 1985 draft, spent seven summers in Pittsburgh, putting up a line of .275/176/556 with two All-Star appearances before really busting out with San Francisco, where he became the all-time home run leader. Bonds ended up with seven MVPs, 14 All-Star selections, is the major’s home run leader with 762 bombs (73 in 2001) and is second only to Babe Ruth in career WAR.
• 1965 - C Joe Oliver was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Joe spent 13 years in the majors, mainly as a reserve catcher, with a 1999 stop in Pittsburgh where he hit .201 at age 34. He took a ball break after retiring, but the bug bit again and he’s been a Red Sox minors manager since 2014. 
• 1967 - With his induction into the Hall of Fame, Lloyd “Little Poison” Waner joined Paul to become the first pair of brothers to be enshrined at Cooperstown. Little Poison played for 18 seasons, collecting 2,459 hits (.319 lifetime BA). Per the Hall of Fame: “Lloyd played 1,993 major league games, 1,803 of them with the Pirates. He was known for his good eye at the plate. Only three times in the majors did he strike out more than 15 times in a season. Waner had four 200-hit seasons and led the National League in hits in 1931 but was an all-star just once, in 1938. He had very good speed and was an excellent defensive center fielder.” Also inducted was Branch Rickey, Pirates GM during the early 50’s, who put together the farm system that fed the 1960 championship squad.