5/18 From 1970: Game Tales - Early Opener, Charley Zippo, Starling See-Saw, Jay & Bo Grannies; RIP Rennie, HBD Josh, Joachim & Nelson
- 1970 – The Pirates won a game at Forbes Field on a blown-up play that plated the winning run, then didn’t, then did again, to hand the Phillies their 10th straight loss, 2-1. The game was played with three umpires when one member of the crew came down with the flu, an omen of things to come. Then in the seventh, the Bucs tied the game, 1-1, and had runners on the corners with an out. Pitcher Bob Moose was up and couldn’t lay down an attempted squeeze, then took a check swing on a tight 1-2 pitch. The umpire ruled it a ball, checked with first, and changed the tune to a swinging K. The pitch had meanwhile gotten away from the catcher, scoring Manny Sanguillen. Maz, on first, tried to get to third and was thrown out; to add to the bedlam, Moose sprinted to first, even though he was already out because there had been a runner on first when he fanned. The run counted, said the blue crew, who then gathered and decided it didn’t because it came in during a DP. Danny Murtaugh argued the ruling and then protested the game. The umpires reconvened, finally getting it right – the run was kosher because the passed ball between the strikeout and throw-out negated a rulebook DP. The Whistling Irishman withdrew his protest and Phils manager Frank Lucchesi shrugged his shoulders and said “The only thing I couldn’t figure is why they (the umpires) waited so long. Up until then, I was just trying to steal something.”
- 1974 – RHP Nelson Figueroa was born in Brooklyn. He signed as a free agent with the Pirates in 2003 and spent most of the season pitching for the Nashville Sounds, the AAA affiliate of the Pirates. In his two Pittsburgh seasons, Nelson went 2-4/4.38. He was, unknown to the club, suffering from arm woes in 2004 and had TJ surgery in 2005. That ended his Bucco stay, although he did return to the fold in 2011, working for AAA Indianapolis. He finished with parts on nine big-league seasons under his belt working as a long guy and spot starter.
- 1984 – RHP Joachim Soria was born in Monclova, Mexico. The Pirates picked up the reliever from the Tigers at the 2015 deadline in exchange for OF JaCoby Jones, and he was strong as a setup guy, earning a save and 11 holds in 29 outings while tossing to a 2.03 ERA (his FIP was 1.93 with 10 K per nine innings). He left for Kansas City in the offseason as a free agent, bounced around the league and while at Oakland, set the record for most appearances by a Mexican-born hurler (674 games) in 2019. Joakim last played for Toronto in 2021 while JaCoby called it a career after six seasons with the Tigers and a minor league stay with Kansas City in ‘22.
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| Jose Soria – 2015 Topps |
- 1990 – Bobby Bonilla cracked his first grand slam and Bob Walk cruised on the hill as Pittsburgh defeated the Braves, 9-3, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Wally Backman also added a two-run shot to support Walk. Backman had four hits on the night and Chico Lind added three more.
- 1996 – LHP Josh Fleming was born in Bridgeton, Missouri. A fifth round pick of Tampa Bay in 2017 out of Webster U, he tossed for the Rays from 2020-23 with a slash of 19-13-1/4.88 during an injury-battered stay as a multi-role hurler (he made 22 starts in 55 outings). Let go in the 2023 off season, he signed with the Bucs and broke training camp with the club in 2024, which had its share of bullpen arms out of action to create some room. He got into 17 games, slashing 1-1-1/5.68 with 13 K in 19 IP, and was DFA’ed on May 14. He’s now with Seattle.
- 2006 – Jason Bay hit his second career grand slam to highlight a six-run first inning for the Pirates against the Reds at PNC Park. Freddy Sanchez collected three hits while on the road to winning the National League batting title with a .344 BA, Jose Castillo added three more knocks and Jeremy Burnitz went long. Despite all that, the Bucs blew their 6-0 jump and lost, 9-8, as Victor Santos, Matt Capps and company couldn’t close the gates against Cincy.
- 2009 – Jack Wilson went 4-for-4 (for Jumpin’ Jack, it was the lucky 13th time he had rattled off four knocks in a single contest) and the Pirates batted 7-for-14 with RISP while scoring nine runs off the Washington bullpen – the Nats added four errors – en route to a 12-7 win at Nationals Park. The Bucs were losing 5-3 before scoring five times in the sixth inning and they never looked back. Wilson doubled twice, singled and tripled while Craig Monroe chipped in with a three-run blast. Ross Ohlendorf was the shaky starter but the beneficiary of the big inning. He got the win, with Jesse Chavez, Tom Gorzelanny, John Grabow and Matt Capps nailing it down
- 2011 – Charlie Morton tossed a five-hit shutout while homers from Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen provided all the runs as the Pirates whipped the Cincinnati Reds, 5-0, at GABP. It was already Morton’s second shutout and third complete game of the year. He picked a bad day to get much notice; there were five whitewashes spun on this day around the league.
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| Josh Harrison – 2012 Topps Gold |
- 2012 – Josh Harrison broke up Justin Verlander’s no-hit bid with one out in the ninth inning when he softly lined a curve ball into center, salvaging a glimmer of pride for the team. Verlander K’ed 12 Buccos and walked a pair at Comerica Park in leading the Detroit Tigers to a 6-0 victory.
- 2014 – The Pirates split a twin bill at Yankee Stadium, dropping the opener, 4-3, and taking the nightcap, 5-3. Charlie Morton gave up three first-inning runs in the first game and Starling Marte whiffed four times in four at-bats, with eight swings-and-misses. But baseball has a way of reversing fortune, and in the second game, Marte’s two-run homer was key in Gerrit Cole’s win (saved by Mark Melancon). Starling became the first Pirate in 60 years, after Preston Ward in 1954, to wear the golden sombrero in the first game of a double header and then go deep in the nightcap. Other second game standouts were C Chris Stewart with two RBI & a pick-off at third and OF Josh Harrison, who homered, doubled and made a diving catch late in the game to seal the deal. Fun factoid: the second game victory was a long time comin’ – it was the first win the Pirates had claimed over the Bronx Bombers in New York since the 1960 World Series
- 2019 – The Pirates had two starters (Jameson Taillon & Trevor Williams) on the IL, and to fill the breach, Clint Hurdle cobbled together one of the the Bucs’ first “opener” games. (Jim Leyland had started RH reliever Ted Power in an NLCS game on 10/12/1990 v the Reds to get Cincy to start a lineup of lefties; after 2-1/3 IP, he had southpaw Zane Smith follow). Montana DuRapau started, followed by Steven Brault, Michael Feliz, Kyle Crick, Frankie Liriano and Geoff Hartlieb. The pitching committee struck out 13 Friars during the contest and the Bucco batters made their day stress-free by banging four long balls (Josh Bell had two, Gregory Polanco and Bryan Reynolds the others) in a 7-2 win at Petco Park. Brault, who worked 3-1/3 innings, got the win.
- 2021 – Rennie Stennett passed away in Florida at the age of 72 after battling cancer. The Panamanian played for the Pirates from 1971-79 and was part of MLB’s first all-minority lineup, a member of two World Series teams, and set the modern-day record with his seven-hit game of 1975. His career was derailed in 1977 after a slide broke his leg and ended after the 1981.
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2025/05/518-from-1970-game-tales-early-opener.html
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