9/2 Through The 1960s: Roberto's #2,000, Stu Will Do, Vern's 1st 0, In 1st, 8 Straight, Lovey-Doves, Game Days, 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 win the World Series, took the twin bill’s nightcap at the South End Grounds, 5-3. Pittsburgh swept 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. 

1925 - The Pirates won their eighth 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 Wright 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 at nine against the Cardinals, who rallied in the ninth two days later to top the Bucs. Pittsburgh took the National League pennant and then the World Series in seven games from the Washington Senators.

Ray Kremer - 1927 Exhibits

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 aid 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.

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 after 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.”

Bob Elliott - 1944 Exhibits

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.

1950 - 20-year-old rookie Vern Law tossed the first of his 28 career shutouts, a 6-0 whitewash of the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field. The Deacon surrendered five hits with four whiffs and no walks to the Redbirds. He got all the offense he needed in the third inning when Wally Westlake banged a grand slam, the seventh of his career, and Law took care of business from there.

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 post 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 of a young lineup that paid off in 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.

1966 - The Pirates claimed first place by topping the visiting Cubs 7-5 on Roberto Clemente’s homer off Fergie Jenkins, his 2,000th career hit. Roberto'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.

9/2 From 1970: Martin Mash, Dunston Debut, Pops Pounders, Roberto Hits Leader, Game Days, Bye Bob, Jim Jeremiad, BA Konnor, HBD Gaby, Yamid & Sean

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 crime closer as 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 yo-yo 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 a 6-3 victory at Three Rivers Stadium.

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 southpaw and second overall in Bucco franchise history.

1974 - The first-place Pirates broomed the Phillies in a twin bill at TRS, 7-4 and 11-1. Willie Stargell went 4-for-4 with two dingers in the opener and added a double in the second game, posting four RBI on the day. Bob Robertson also homered and drove in three runs as Jerry Reuss bested Lefty Carlton. Richie Zisk hit a granny while Al Oliver went 3-for-3 with three runs scored in the nitecap to help Bruce Kison to victory and push the Bucs 2-1/2 games up on the Cards.

Willie Stargell - 1974 Kelloggs 3-D

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.

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 now is an analyst for the Fish and the ESPN-ACC Network.

1988 - After a 2-1 loss to the Braves at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, 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 overdue, 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 playing the game the right way and to quit listening to their agents. It didn’t particularly light the fire Leyland hoped it would, as the team muddled to the finish line, going 14-12 during the rest of the season to finish a distant second to the Mets.

Jim Leyland - Not Always Smilin'/1988 Pirates promo

1991 - “The game had a little bit of everything...” wrote Press beat man Bob Hertzel “...except good baseball.” The Pirates blew three-run-or-better leads three times and a one-run edge in the eighth, but had the last comeback of the night in the ninth when a two-out, two-strike wind-blown fly by Lloyd McClendon kept drifting and clanged off a glove to score Jay Bell. Mac got to be the hero because ump Eric Gregg had run Bobby Bonilla earlier in the game (BB was hot, claiming Gregg brought up his contract during their debate; Bo even flung Barry Bonds halfway to LA when Bonds tried to restore some calm) and so Lloyd was batting in his spot. Stan Belinda and Rosario Rodriguez pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, with Belinda getting the 9-8 win and Rodriguez the save at Candlestick.

1992 - Rookie 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 the baseball-only fans in the stands. 

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 Dodgers. For his part, Tommy LaSorda didn’t quite get suspended during the prior hubbub, 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” victory, 5-1. 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 most of the Pirates' points with a three-run homer and four RBI as Tom Candiotti lost for the first time in 16 starts.

Shawon Dunston - 1998 Fleer Tradition

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 in a four-game set by the Reds 5-3, the first time they were broomed in Cincinnati since 1975. But it wasn’t all gloom as Garrett Jones hit the club's 10,000th home run since the Bucs joined the NL in 1887. It was a brutal stretch, though - the Pirates were in a 4-22 summer swoon on the way to a 99-loss season. 

2024 -  The Bucco ship was taking on water; they had gone 9-19 since August 1, lost five of their last six games and had their ninth-inning fireman, Dave Bednar, demoted, to be replaced by a closer committee. And they were at Wrigley Field after the Cubs had just buried them three days before, scoring 41 runs and sweeping a three-game set at PNC Park. They went into the eighth inning looking like the same ol’ Buccos, down to Chicago by a 3-0 count. But the baseball gods smiled; a bloop, a bleeder and a Bryan Reynolds blast tied the game, and Cutch followed B-Rey with a long ball of his own to give Pittsburgh the lead (and to keep his 14-game hitting streak alive). Nick Gonzales added an insurance run in the ninth and Dennis Santana, following a scoreless eighth tossed by Aroldis Chapman, put the game to bed for the second save in three days by the reshuffled bullpen now w/o the Renegade.  

2025 - CF/SS Konnor Griffin, the Pirates #1 pick of the 2024 draft (#9 overall) out of Jackson (Mississippi) Prep, was the cover boy for Baseball America’s summer magazine. As BA’s top-ranked prospect (KG was also #1 per MLB Pipeline), he was featured by the article “Bang For The Bucs. In his first year of pro ball, Konnor jumped three minor-league levels and ended the year at AA Altoona; he would be on the big team the following season.

2025 - The Pittsburgh Pirates unveiled a permanent marker at the former site of Three Rivers Stadium (General Robinson Street/Gold Lot 1) to commemorate the first all-minority lineup in MLB history v the Phils on September 1, 1971. The event brought out Greg Brown, Travis Williams, Roberto Clemente, Jr., Dave Cash, Al Oliver, Manny Sanguillen, Steve Blass, Danny Murtaugh’s family, the Heinz History Center, state & local politicos and the PA Historic & Museum Commission.

9/1 Through 1964: Quail Bake, On Top, 5-Game Sweep, 3-A-Day, Pud Run, Game Days, HBD Dave, Vic, Jim, Joe L, 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, who later became 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. Allegheny 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.

Pgh Dispatch 9/2/1892 via W. Pa History

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. The Louisville-based company knew all about Hans and his rep as he had spent his first three seasons with the Colonels. 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 nine years 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, scoring 10 or more runs 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!)

Earl Smith - 1925 Pgh Press

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 & 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.

1942 - IF Burgess Whitehead was traded by Toronto of the International League to the Bucs for a PTBNL (RHP Dick Conger). Whitehead was to finish out the season in the IL. But he joined the Army Air Corps in the offseason, and the Pirates lost him until 1946, after his service obligation ended. Burgess played one more season, batting .200 after his three-year layoff, and that dropped the curtain on his MLB days. Conger was a minor league ace but only had 19 games in the big leagues over four seasons for three teams; he was a Marine from 1944-46.

1950 - The sad-sack Pirates (they finished 57-96, last in the NL) had a rare day of dominance by blasting the St. Louis Cardinals by a 10-4 tally at Forbes Field in front of a crowd of 12,589 rooters. Bill Werle scattered nine hits with eight whiffs and was amply backed by a 14-rap attack. Johnny Berardino hit the only Pittsburgh homer of his career while Wally Westlake, Bob Dillinger and Jack Phillips (Wally, Jack & Johnny batted back-to-back-back in the 5-6-7 spots) joined Berardino with three hits during the day. It was the start of a sweep; the Redbirds were the only team that the Bucs claimed a winning record against in ‘50 at 12-9.

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 walkoff 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: Key Debut, Brault Ball, Bucs Black Lineup, Aces Trumped, Game Days, Grants Goes, Cam Stays, Umps Out, HBD Antwone

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. They also reinforced the big league roster with September call-ups that included pitchers Bob Moose, Dock Ellis & Luke Walker, outfielder Al Oliver and first baseman Bob Robertson. Adding another iron to the fire, UPI reported that the Pirates were looking to add Gil Hodges to their ‘68 manager candidate list, a job that eventually went to Larry Shephard.

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; seven starters reached base, seven drove in a run or more and seven scored at least once. The historic lineup went almost unnoticed in Pittsburgh as both newspapers were on strike. Bob Prince and Nellie King, the radio team, 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 longer for the light to dawn; they didn’t OK a marker of the event until 2022.

Black Lineup - 1972 Topps

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.
 
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 that included a homer with 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. 

Grant Jackson - 1981 Topps

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, igniting 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.

2003 - RHP Antwone Kelly was born in Oranjestad, Aruba. The Pirates signed him in 2021; two years later he was pitching for the Dutch WBC team; he also tossed for the ‘26 club. He started at Indy for the Pirates in 2026, and Antwone made his big league debut on June 12, 2026 against the Marlins, giving up a two-run homer in 2-2/3 IP and then being optioned back to Indy. He became a Pirates yo-yo, bouncing back & fourth during the year. 

Craig Wilson - 2004 Fleer Ultra

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.

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).  

2020 - Scott Mitchell of The Sporting News reported that the Blue Jays were on the doorstep of a deadline deal to acquire Joe Musgrove from the Pirates with C Alejandro Kirk offered as part of an otherwise unspecified Toronto package, but the deal fell apart at the eleventh hour, with the kicker thought to be Musgrove’s health. Toronto instead acquired Robbie Ray and Ross Stripling to bolster their rotation and wisely held on to Kirk. The Pirates moved Big Joe during the ‘21 offseason to his hometown San Diego Padres for David Bednar, Endy Rodriguez, Omar Cruz, Drake Fellows, and Hudson Head.

Ke'Bryan Hayes - 2020 Panini Prizm Now On Deck

2020 - Ke’Bryan Hayes took his Bucco bow when he opened his career at PNC Park in front of zero fans as the ballyards were in Covid lockdown. He doubled in the sixth frame for his first MLB hit and then homered to tie the game in the eighth inning, becoming the first Pirates player since Walter Mueller in 1922 to debut with two extra-base hits. Key scored three times and drove in two runs, but it wasn’t enough as Pittsburgh lost 8-7 to the Chicago Cubs in 11 innings.

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.

Weekly Report: Bucs Take Two Series, Endy Under The Knife, Konnor Almost Ready To Return, Game-Bucco-Minors-MLB Notes

Slowly segueing into football...

Pirates stuff:

• C Endy Rodriguez underwent surgery on the labrum around his left hip. He's expected to resume baseball activities within 7-9 months. 
• The Bucs recalled RHP Noah Murdock from Indy and RHP Khristian Curtis was optioned back to AAA. A couple of days later, they recalled LHP Evan Sisk and optioned Murdock back to Indianapolis. 
• SS Konnor Griffin started his rehab with Altoona yesterday. He's eligible to return to action on Friday.

Konnor Griffin - 2026 Topps Finest Phenoms

• Brandon Lowe is looking to become the first Pirate since Adam LaRoche in 2007 to lead the team in both home runs and RBI in his first season with the team. Other Pirates to equal that muscle-bat feat since 1946 are Reggie Sanders (2003), Brian Giles (1999), Kevin Young (1997) and Ralph Kiner (1946).
• MLB.com ranked its Top 10 Free Agents this off-season. Lowe is ranked #6, behind Jazz Chisholm at 2B. An ex-Buc, RHP Clay Holmes, is ranked next at #7.
• This year's Pirates Arizona Fall League team will be the Glendale Desert Dogs. Other clubs providing players to Glendale will be the Atlanta Braves, LA Dodgers, Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox.
• The Sporting News series on Baseball's Greatest Players continued with Unsung Heroes; ol' Bucco SS Arky Vaughan made the team.
• Greensboro RHP Draven Zeigler was the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week after working five no-hit shutout frames with five K last week.
• Jim Negrych returned to Pitt baseball as an assistant coach; he had been a scout for the Cards. IF Jim was a Pitt All-America (2005-06) who was drafted by the Pirates and played in several MLB systems plus in China in his 10-year pro career, never making the show but twice earning AAA All-Star honors.

Game Stuff:

• There were plenty of runners in San Diego's Petco Park, but it turned into a 12-inning duel that the Buccos pulled out 3-2 when Nick Gonzales singled home the ghost runner, Jared Triolo. Braxton Ashcraft & Robbie Ray were the starters; the win eventually went to Kirby Yates, nailed down by Yohan Ramirez with three K's in the 12th.

Paul Skenes - 2026 Topps All-Stars Heritage

• Tuesday was a classic duel, with Paul Skenes breaking out his cape once again and San Diego's Michael King tossing like royalty. It was 0-0 with two gone in the ninth and Mason Miller on the hill for the Padres when Oneil Cruz  made the only splash of the night by homering with two gone, the first long ball Miller has given up in a year. The revamped pen used some old hands to finish with Gregory Soto the winner and Mason Montgomery getting the save.
• Bubba Chandler was strong, but bad D and worse bats wasted the sweep effort as the Bucs were bopped 3-0. They went 1-for-13 w/RISP and were shutout for a league-leading 15th time.
• After a day off, the Bucs went to Saint Louis and got bopped 4-1. They still can't hit lefties and made three errors; post-ASG hasn't been kind. It was a big day for the Cards' Quinn Matthews, though - it was the rookie's first MLB victory.
• Brandon Lowe started it off with a homer and Rafael Flores added a three-run bomb while bullpen start regulars Lake Baschar & Carm Mlodzinski were strong, giving up two hits and one earned run in 5-2/3 IP. And despite three more errors - oy vey, that left side! - the Bucs evened the set with a 6-2 win.

Braxton Ashcraft - 2026 Pirates

• Brax only gave the Bucs five frames and the bullpen was kinda meh, but homers by Esmerlyn Valdez & Jared Triolo and a lights-out ninth by Mason Montgomery gave the Pirates the series-winner, 5-4.
• The Pirates are off Monday, then host three-game sets v San Francisco & the LA Angels at PNC.

MLB Stuff: 

• RHP Trevor Williams, who started his MLB career in Pittsburgh in 2016-thru-2020, was DFA'ed by the Nats.
• LHP Caleb Ferguson, who the Pirates swapped at the '25 deadline, was DFA'ed by the Cards, the third team he's played for since being traded.
• Brent Strom, who was the Bucs pitching consultant last year, has taken the same role with Houston.

8/31 Deals: Justin, Shawon, Sid, RJ, Ray & Brunet Join; Diaz, Freeser, Juan, Mad Dog, Scrap Iron, ElRoy & Johnny Go

1953 - The Pirates sold RHP Johnny Lindell to the Phillies. His knuckler fluttered wildly that year, leading the league in walks and wild pitches. He was listed as a pitcher with the Pirates, but was often used as a pinch-hitter and hit .286, once tying a game with a three-run ninth-inning homer. The Phillies released him in May 1954 after his hybrid pitcher-outfielder role proved to be a not very strong pairing. Lindell was an odd story. He entered the league in 1941 as a pitcher, then was converted to the outfield, where he played from 1943-50, earning an All-Star berth once with the Yankees. He came back again after being reincarnated as a knuckleball pitcher after a couple of years in the minors, but only lasted until May of 1954 before being released by the Phils.

1968 - ElRoy Face was sold to the Detroit Tigers for $100K, ending 15 years with Pittsburgh. Motown wouldn’t have a roster spot for him until the next day, so the Bucs trotted him out for one last appearance, his 802nd as a Pirate. That tied an MLB record for most outings with one team while he tossed over 1,300 innings with a 100-93-186/3.46 slash, six All-Star bids and a World Series ring as a Bucco. He ended his career at age 41 with Montreal in 1969.

1970 - Pittsburgh picked up veteran LHP George Brunet from the Washington Senators for minor league LHP Denny Riddleberger and cash. Brunet, 35, made a dozen appearances for the Bucs with a line of 1-1/2.50, played briefly for another year for the Cards and then went on to a long career in Mexico, where “El Viejo” (the Old Man) pitched until 1989, when he was 54. Riddleberger spent parts of the next three seasons in the big leagues with a slash of 4-4/2.70.

1981 - The Pirates acquired 2B Johnny Ray and two PTBNL’s (pitchers Randy Niemann and Kevin Houston) from the Houston Astros in exchange for IF Phil Garner. Ray spent seven years in Pittsburgh, hitting .286, and was Rookie of the Year runner-up in 1982 to Steve Sax. Scrap Iron played through 1988 and hit .260 for the Astros, where he also had a seven-year run. Nieman pitched for parts of a couple of seasons for the Pirates and worked the show until 1987, having a pretty good year for the Mets in 1986. Houston never made it out of the minors.

Phil Garner - 1981 Topps

1985 - The Pirates traded former batting champion Bill Madlock to the Dodgers for PTBNL prospects RJ Reynolds, Cecil Espy and Sid Bream in a pretty solid deal for the Buccos. Madlock would last two more years in the show, retiring after the 1987 campaign at age 36. 1B Bream spent six years in Pittsburgh, four as a starter, and hit .269 in that span. Reynolds, a platoon OF, also spent six seasons with Pittsburgh and oddly enough, also hit .269. OF Espy was sent to AAA and claimed by Texas in the Rule 5 draft. He returned as a FA in 1991-92.

1997 - The Bucs became buyers instead of sellers when they obtained SS Shawon Dunston from the Cubs for future considerations to bolster the chances of the “Freak Show” team sneaking into the playoffs after Kevin Polcovich injured his ankle. Dunston hit .394 with five homers, but after an 18-game Bucco career was lost to Cleveland in free agency after the season. He was a pretty good Plan B; the Pirates had first cast their eyes toward former Pittsburgh SS Jay Bell, but the Royals wanted more in return than the FO was willing to give. 

2011 - Pittsburgh shipped OF Matt Diaz to the Braves for a PTBNL, RHP Eliecer Cardenas, who was quickly released without pitching an inning for the Bucs. Diaz hit .259 in his brief run as a Buc and spent two more bench years with Atlanta before hanging up his spikes in 2013.

2013 - The Pirates pulled off their second trade of the week, picking up 1B Justin Morneau from Minnesota for OF Alex Presley and a PTBNL (RHP Duke Welker). Justin hit .260 w/.370 OBP during the month, but his lack of power (0 HR, 4 2B, 92 PA) led the Bucs to let him walk the following year. He still had some gas in the tank, hitting .316 w/20 HR in 182 games for the Rox over the next two campaigns before retiring after the 2016 season. Presley was a depth OF’er for the next five years while Welker was reacquired by the Bucs and got into two games in 2013.

Justin Morneau - September 2013 photo Justin Aller/Getty

2017 - In a how-not-to-do-it move, RHP Juan Nicasio was placed on irrevocable waivers and claimed by the Phillies on his birthday. It was odd because Nicasio was a solid eighth-inning set-up guy (2-5-2, 22 holds, 2.86 ERA in 65 games w/60 K in 60 IP) who the Pirates let go for nothing. Nicasio was a FA after the season and unlikely to have been retained, but the Bucs, who were still hanging around in July when they could have traded him with no strings attached, kept Nicasio and then tried to slip him through trade waivers when the team faded. In some one-upmanship, Juan was claimed by the Chicago Cubs to block him from going to another contender. So the FO pulled him back and later put him on the waiver wire, saving some cash ($600K owed for September), opening up his spot to audition for 2018, and finally to reward Juan with a “better situation” that was originally foiled when Philadelphia, the NL’s worst team, claimed him but eventually rectified when the Phils dealt him to a competitive St. Louis nine.

2018 - The Pirates committed themselves to a full-scale infield youth movement (and saved a few dollars in the process) by trading vets David Freese and Adeiny Hechavarria at the playoff deadline. Freese went to the Dodgers for DSL player IF Jesus Manuel Valdez (recently released by the D-Backs) while Hechy was sold to the Yankees and last played in Mexico in 2024. Freese, who retired after the 2019 campaign, left a hole as a utility man with a good bat (.270, 32 HR in three years), versatile glove (1B-2B-3B) and locker room leader while Hechy only got into 15 games, hitting .233. Sean Rodriguez had been DFA’ed days earlier, cleansing the roster of most of its older IFs save SS Jordy Mercer and 2B Josh Harrison, who both would depart in the offseason as FA’s.

8/31 Through the 1960s: Baron's Finale, Streakin', Game Days, HBD Morris, Ramon, Ray, William, Wally, Syd, Monte, Red & Duke

1866 - C Charley “Duke” Farrell was born in Oakdale, Massachusetts. Farrell was a big (6’-1”, 208 lbs.), switch-hitting catcher who could fill in at third base/outfield, and batted .277 in 18 big league seasons, backstopping over 1,000 games and playing for seven teams in four major leagues - National, American, Players & the American Association. He stopped at Pittsburgh in 1892 but had a fairly miserable time, batting just .215. He never felt quite at home in the clubhouse or city, and was traded in the offseason for pitcher Lefty Killen. He earned the nickname Duke of Marlborough fairly early in his career as a 24-year-old playing with Boston.

1868 - RHP Phillip “Red” Ehret was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He played for Pittsburgh from 1892-94 and put up a 53-59/3.79 line in 109 starts and 15 relief appearances. Red also played some outfield and got 438 PA in that span (mostly as a pitcher), batting .201 to stay on the right side of the Mario Mendoza line. And yes, he was a redhead.

1869 - SS Monte Cross was born in Philadelphia. Monte spent 15 years in the show and was known as a good glove man. Monte launched his career in Pittsburgh in 1894-95, batting .273 and becoming a starter for the first time in ‘95. He spent his last 10 seasons at home with the Phillies and the Athletics. When his MLB career ended in 1907, Monte hung on for a while, playing minor league/semi-pro ball, then umpiring and managing, most notably for several seasons with the U of Maine Black Bears, before joining the real world as a salesman. He passed away in his hometown at age 64.

1883 - C Syd Smith was born in Smithfield, South Carolina. He spent parts of five seasons in the show, with the last two in Pittsburgh from 1914-15, getting into six games and going 3-for-12. He then managed the Pirates’ Caddo Lake Gassers, a Texas League team in a gas/oil boomtown. Before baseball, he also was the head coach at the Citadel in 1905 - for the football team.

Wally Rehg - 1913 Wilmington Evening Journal/Wiki

1888 - OF Wally Rehg was born in Summerfield, Illinois. He began his seven-year MLB career with the Pirates in 1912, going 0-for-9 in eight games. He did better with the Red Sox and later with the Braves as a bench outfielder. Known for his brash mouth, he greeted Hans Wagner in Pittsburgh by calling him “Grandpa.” He played in the minors until 1930, got a couple of movie cameos, and made cinema his second career, albeit as an Paramount Studio electrician.

1897 - RHP William Bell was born in Galveston. Bell started his career with an eight-year run with the KC Monarchs, spent part of 1932 with Homestead Grays and tossed for the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932-35 when the club won two Negro NL titles. He was nearing the end of his 12-year career at  that point, leaving the Craws for Newark where he got into just 15 games over two seasons. From there, he managed the Eagles for three years. The righty was known for finishing what he started; one stat study has him completing 75% of the games he started, and he could also help himself at the dish. He hit .235 during his career and played some outfield. Bell passed away in 1969 in El Campo, Texas, and the townsfolk named a park after him in memoriam. 

1901 - Jesse Tannehill tamed the Cubs 5-2 in the second game of a twin bill to launch Fred Clarke’s Bucs on a ten-game winning streak. They kept on keepin’ on to the end, going 29-8 to close out the season, stretching their lead from 2-1/2 games entering September to a final 7-1/2 game gap over the runner-up Phillies. The core pitching staff of the Pirates – Tannehill, Deacon Phillippe, Jack Chesbro and Sam Leever – allowed the fewest runs in the league and were in the league’s top ten with sub-3 ERAs. Five everyday players, led by Honus Wagner at .353/126 RBI, had .300+ BA’s while coming in second in the NL in runs scored, averaging 5-1/2 tallies per outing.

1907 - C Ray Berres was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was a Bucco back-up from 1937-40, a good glove guy that hit .225. After his playing days, he was the pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox from 1949-66, then again from mid-season of 1968 through 1969, primarily under manager Al Lopez. He and Lopez had an interesting history together. Berres served as Lopez’s back-up early in his career and then was later traded to the Pirates straight-up for him.

Ray Berres - 1940 Play Ball

1909 - The Pirates extended their winning streak over the Boston Doves to 18 straight games with a 7-2 victory at South End Grounds. Honus Wagner led the way with a pair of doubles, a single, stolen base, a run scored and three Buccos driven home. Vic Willis went the distance for his 19th victory. The streak ended the next day in Boston when Cliff Curtis fired a five-hit shutout to edge Babe Adams, 1-0. Pittsburgh went 20-1 against Boston that year.

1940 - LHP Ramon Hernandez was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The reliever tossed six years (1971-76) in Pittsburgh, going 23-12-39/2.51 after being signed by Howie Haak, and was a bullpen member of the Bucco division champs of 1972, 1974 and 1975 (he was a September call-up for the 1971 team). In a nine-season career, Hernandez’s line was 23–15-46/3.03.

1960 - LHP Morris Madden was born in Lauren, South Carolina. He tossed 14 of his 16 big league outings (three starts) for the Pirates in 1988-89 with a 2-2/5.03 line and was released after the ‘89 campaign. He had a long minor league career, spanning 1979-90 and collected 1,100 strikeouts over that stretch. Morris now coaches the Carolina Metros, an umbrella organization for youth traveling teams that features a strong mentoring component. 

1968 - Steve Blass got the first out against the Atlanta Braves‚ and then moved to LF. ElRoy Face, 40, was in the process of being sold to the Tigers for an estimated $100K (actually, it was a done deal, but Detroit wouldn’t have an open roster spot until September 1st), and the club sent him in for one last appearance (legend has it he was asked whether he wanted to start or relieve, and opted to make his last outing from the pen). He retired Felix Millan on one pitch, a grounder to short, to tie Walter Johnson's MLB record of 802 pitching appearances with one club. Then manager Larry Shepherd came out for Roy to get his recognition, Blass returned, and the Pirates won 8-0 at Forbes Field.