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7/16 From 1970: Duelin' Doug, Dual Dave, Robby Rocket, TRS Opens, Game Days, Fraze Dealt, Skenes & ASGs HBD Ildemaro

Thursday, July 16, 2026 7:01

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1970 – The first game at Three Rivers Stadium, located near old Exposition Park, the home of the Pirates from 1891-1909, was played. The Dukes of Dixieland played, Billy Eckstine sang the National Anthem, and Pie Traynor tossed out the first pitch. Cincinnati’s Tony Perez hit the park’s first home run as the Bucs lost to the Reds, 3-2. Richie Hebner had the first Pirates hit in the new ballyard and scored the first run in the stadium’s history when Al Oliver doubled him home in the first inning to chase in the park’s first RBI; Pops hit the first Bucco homer and was rewarded with a $1,000 prize by a local retailer. Dock Ellis started and took the loss. The Pirates rocked their new uniforms of stretch cotton and nylon (they were the first MLB team to sport knit outfits) in front of 48,846 fans.

1971 – Bob Robertson became the first player to blast a shot into the upper left field deck of Three Rivers Stadium when he connected off of San Diego’s Steve Arlin in the seventh with the eventual game winner in a 2-1 Pirate victory. Al Oliver added three hits, Richie Hebner singled home a two-out run and Bob Johnson went the distance while tossing a six-hitter for the win.

1972 – Reliever Dave Giusti had a day every reliever dreams of as he got a win and save in a twin bill against the Astros at TRS in front of 49,341 fans. Giusti worked 2-1/3 IP, giving up two hits and fanning a pair in twin 3-2 Bucco wins. His victory came in the 10th inning after Bob Moose started the opener and he got the last out of the nightcap to save Bruce Kison’s win.

1978 – The Bucs swept the Phillies by 3-2 and 10-6 scores in a Three Rivers Stadium twinbill, but the big news was that Dave Parker was back. The Cobra missed 15 games with a broken cheek suffered in a collision at home, but sporting a variety of masks (a goalie mask when at bat and football face bar attachment for his helmet in the field), he returned to action. The Cobra drew an intentional walk in the 10th inning of the opener, setting up Bill Robinson’s game-winning knock, and his triple in the seventh frame of the nightcap tied the score and triggered an eventual five-run outburst to break the game open. Parker went on to take the NL MVP title, but the team was a couple of bricks shy, finishing second with 88 wins, 1-1/2 games behind Philly.

1985 – The Senior Circuit took a 6-1 decision from the Americans at the Metrodome in the All-Star game. For the second season, C Tony Pena was the only Buc on the team, and he struck out against Dan Petry. There was a local connection: Ex-Buc Dave Parker won the first Home Run Derby. The honorary captains were players from the 1965 All-Star game, recognizing the first ASG held in Minnesota, with hometown hero Harmon Killebrew, who homered in the ‘65 Classic and Sandy Koufax, 1965’s winning pitcher, on tap.

Ildemaro Vargas – 2021 Justin Aller/Getty

1991 – UT Ildemaro Vargas was born in Caripito, Venezuela. 2020-21 was a busy time for the five-year D-Back reserve; he went from Arizona to Minnesota to the Cubs to Pittsburgh (seven games/.133 BA) and then back to Arizona within a 10-month period. The Pirates picked him up after injuries thinned the roster in May of 2021, sold him to Arizona in June when the wounded began to return, then he went to the Cubs, played three seasons with the Washington Nationals and is now back in the Arizona D-Back organization.

1992 – Doug Drabek scattered four hits, and supported by a pair of two-out RBI hits – a homer by Andy Van Slyke and a single by Alex Cole – led the squad to victory as the Bucs defeated the Chicago Cubs 2-1 at Three Rivers Stadium. The win kept the Pittsburgh lead over the Baby Bruins and Cards at six games in the NL Eastern Division as play resumed after the All Star break.

1999 – The middle men of the Pirate order – Brian Giles, Kevin Young and Ed Sprague – each banged a homer and together drove in a total of eight runs while scoring seven times in an 11-3 win against the Cleveland Indians at TRS in front of 43,519 mixed-city rooters. The Bucs ran away and hid from the Tribe early; they were up by a 10-0 count after four frames. Francisco Cordova got the win, lasting into the sixth before three relievers carried the game home.

2002 – Brian Giles and Jack Wilson drove in all seven runs in a 7-3 Bucco win against the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Giles produced a homer and sac fly while Wilson collected three hits, including a triple, as the Pirates’ Josh Fogg outlasted Houston’s Roy Oswalt for the dub.

2005 – Behind Zach Duke, the Bucs shut out the Chicago Cubs and Greg Maddux at Wrigley Field, 3-0. The Zachster gave up eight hits, but the Buc defense turned four DPs on his behalf. Duke even helped himself with a sac fly to chase home his first MLB RBI, with the other runs scoring on a Jason Bay homer and a double by Matt Lawton, both coming with two outs. Duke finished July en fuego with a 3-0/0.87 slash and was named the NL Rookie of the Month.

Zach Duke – 2005 Topps Update

2013 - OF Andrew McCutchen, 3B Pedro Alvarez, and pitchers Jason Grilli, Mark Melancon and Jeff Locke were named to the All-Star game. It was a homecoming of sorts for Alvarez, as the game was played in Citi Field near his Manhattan home of Washington Heights, and he also participated in the home run derby. Petey didn’t make it past the first round, but his six homers were the most ever hit by a Bucco in that event until Josh Bell’s 18 in 2019. The Americans took the ASG match, 3-0, as El Toro went 0-for-1 and Cutch 0-for-2 while Grilli tossed a scoreless inning of relief. Melancon didn’t get in the game, and Locke was on ice, nursing a back injury. It was the first time since 1972 that the Pittsburgh Pirates had five players selected for the game.

2024 - Paul Skenes took his lil’ hop over the foul line, toed the rubber and worked a clean first frame (his scheduled allotment), ceding only a walk on a pitch that looked suspiciously close to strike three in his first ASG start at Globe Life Field. He became the first player in MLB history to earn an All Star nod the year after being drafted No. 1. The game went to the AL, 5-3, par for the course. Boston CF Jarren Duran smacked a two-out, two-run homer in the fifth off Hunter Greene to overcome LA’s Shohei Ohtani’s earlier three-run blast (Sho-Time became the first MLB player who has both an AS win and homer). The Pirates Bryan Reynolds started in left field and went 1-for-2 while Bethel Park HS/Waynesburg U/Oakland’s Mason Miller earned the win. Earlier the NL topped the AL in the Futures Game, 6-1. The Bucs were repped by Altoona RHP Bubba Chandler, who spun one scoreless inning, and Greensboro 2B Temarr Johnson, who went 1-for-2.

2025 – The Pirates traded UT Adam Frazier to the Royals for IF (primarily shortstop) Cam Devanney, 28, who was optioned to Indy. Cam was hitting .272/18 HR for the Royals’ AAA Omaha club, but has never played in the show, spending the last six years in the Milwaukee/KC systems w/.253 career BA. He’s an insurance policy should Isiah Kiner-Falefa land elsewhere before the deadline ends. IKF stayed, and Cam got a September callup, hitting .139 in 14 games. He’s now playing in Japan.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/07/716-from-1970-duelin-doug-dual-dave.html

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