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8/1 From 1980: Big First Not Enough, Lee Debut, Cutch Hammer, Wild Rallies, Game Days, Almost A Deal.., Benji Signed, Q, Nova & Bastardo Deals

Saturday, August 1, 2026 7:01

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1982 – They say that the best way to not hit a home run is to swing for one, but Bill Madlock laid that to rest with a 10th inning game winner against the Mets at Shea Stadium. Mad Dog told the Pittsburgh Press’ Russ Franke that “…I was definitely looking for a home run with two out and nobody on. It was either be a hero or a bum…I just stepped in the bucket and swung.” His blast into the left field bleachers against Terry Leach gave the Bucs a 4-3 victory over New York. Pittsburgh battled back from a 3-1 deficit with a pair of scores in the seventh strung together by Lee Lacy, Dale Berra (he had two RBI on the night) and Willie Stargell. They almost won it in the ninth, but a potential rally was squashed by some happy feet by Berra. Tony Pena blooped a hit into right, but was picked off between the bases when a hesitant Berra rounded second late (“I thought the right fielder caught the ball”) and fell down trying to get back to the bag, leaving Pena hung out to dry. But all’s well that ends well; Kent Tekulve got the win and Rod Scurry the save.

1998 – Per Paul Meyer of the Post Gazette, the Pirates had a conditional deal with Seattle set up that would have landed Brian Giles in Pittsburgh, but it was inadvertently blown up by the Houston Astros. The Mariners were set to deal Randy Johnson to the Indians, and part of the return would have been Giles, who was then supposed to be flipped to the Bucs (GM Cam Bonifay tactfully refused to name the Pirate player who was part of the foiled trade). But the Tribe lost the bidding war five minutes before the midnight deadline to the ‘Stros, and there was no time for them and the Pirates to reach a side deal. It would wait until the offseason when Ricardo Rincon went to Cleveland for Giles, who patrolled the Bucco outfield for the next 4-1/2 years. To add a little salt to the wound, the Big Unit pitched the next night against the Buccos and whipped them, 6-2.

2000 – The Pirates announced that they had signed IF Mike Benjamin to a two-year contract extension with $1.85M guaranteed and another $600K available in bonus bucks. The 34-year-old Benjamin hit .270 for the Pirates in 2000, then missed all of the 2001 season with a bad elbow. He came back in 2002 but hit just .150 in 108 games before retiring.

2003 – Trailing the Rockies 11-6 with one out and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth, the Pirates rallied for the win at PNC Park. Craig Wilson, Reggie Sanders and Jose Hernandez packed the sacks. Jack Wilson’s single scored one run and a grounder brought home another Bucco. With two down, a passed ball made it 11-9 before pinch hitter Jeff Reboulet walked. Tike Redman, who had just been called up, tripled home a pair to tie the game, and Jason Kendall lined a single to left for the win. Duaner Sanchez, the Pirates fourth pitcher, got the victory.

Cutch – 2009 Topps Victory

2009 – Andrew McCutchen tied a club record by homering three times in Pittsburgh’s 11-6 victory over the Washington Nats at PNC Park. Cutch became the 10th player in club history to go long three times in the same game, the first since Aramis Ramirez launched a trio on April 8th, 2001, and the first Buc rookie to swat three bombs in a single game. His blasts accounted for six RBI as Andrew hit a solo home run in the first inning to lead off the game against starter Craig Stammen, a two-run shot in the fourth frame off Tyler Clippard and then a three-run tater in the sixth inning off Logan Kensing, falling a grand slam short of hitting for a natural home run cycle.

2011 – At 54-53, the Pirates were making a run to at least break the .500 mark, something they hadn’t accomplished in 18 years. They strengthened the roster and brought in 1B Derek Lee, who debuted on this date. He did his part, banging two homers and driving in all three Bucco runs in a 5-3 loss to his old club, the Chicago Cubs, at PNC Park. Pittsburgh’s luck continued to run cold though, as the veteran 1B broke his wrist two days later after being hit by a pitch, and the Pirates went 8-20 in the weeks that he missed. He did get into 28 games overall, batting .337 with seven homers and 18 RBI, and then, not finding a deal to his liking, retired at age 36.

2014 – Behind 4-0 in the fifth inning, the Pirates went on a late rampage to bury the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-4 at Chase Field. Pittsburgh scored three runs in the eighth frame, keyed by Pedro Alvarez’s two-run pinch hit double. The Bucs exploded for five more tallies in the ninth. Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer led off with doubles, Andrew McCutchen was intentionally walked and four of the next five Pirates bopped singles. Harrison, Mercer and Cutch batted 1-2-3 and had six hits, two walks and seven runs scored in the win. Tony Watson was the winner.

2016 – Given an extra 24 hours to wheel and deal because the usual 7/31 deadline fell on a Sunday, the Bucs FO burned the phone lines. First, they got rental RHP Ivan Nova from the NY Yankees for two PTBNL (OF Tito Polo and LHP Stephen Tarpley). After going 5-2/3.06, they made the relationship more permanent by signing Nova to a three-year contract. They returned Jon Niese to the Mets (he was traded to Pittsburgh before the season for Neil Walker) for lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo (who was a Pirate in 2015 and left as a FA), and finally sent LHP Francisco Liriano, along with prospects OF Harold Ramirez and C Reese McGuire, to Toronto for RHP Drew Hutchison; Francisco returned to the Bucco fold in 2019. The Blue Jays picked up the approximately $17M left on Frankie’s contract for 2016-17, and that cost the Pirates the big prospect package.

Ivan Nova – 2016 Topps Update

2022 – In a deadline deal, extended as 7/31 fell on a Sunday, the Pirates sent RHPs Jose Quintana, 33, and Chris Stratton, 31, to the St. Louis Cardinals for RHP Johan Oviedo and 1B/3B Malcom Nunez, a power-hitting AA prospect. Q, signed as a free agent in the offseason, went 3-5/3.50 in 20 starts as the Pirates most effective starter while Stratton, who joined the Bucs in 2019 and posted a Pittsburgh line of 15-7-10/3.98. Oviedo, 24, was 2-9/4.65 with 19 of his 33 MLB outings as a starter. The 21-year-old Nunez had 17 HRs and was converted from 3B to 1B when he arrived. Oviedo was optioned to Indy and Nunez to Altoona as RHPs Chase De Jong came off the IL and Colin Holderman was called up from Indy to replenish the active roster. Oviedo became part of the Pirates starting rotation in ’23, but had TJ surgery and is near to returning from a long layoff while Nunez has spent the last four years in AAA.

2023 – 1B Ji Man Choi (.205/6/11) and LHP Rich Hill (7-10/4.76) were shipped to the San Diego Padres for prospects LHP Jackson Wolf, 1B/OF Alfonso Rivas and OF Estuar Suero in a deadline deal. Choi became a Buc via trade and Hill as a FA during the off season. Wolf, 24, was a 4th round pick in 2021 after tossing for WVU and was flipped back to San Diego. Rivas, 26, was a good-glove guy who got into 40 games (.237) and is now playing in Mexico. 17-year-old switch hitter Suero is a lotto ticket playing in the Florida Rookie League. Later in the day, Pittsburgh sent C Austin Hedges to Texas for international bonus pool space; he is currently with Cleveland. In a final minor swap, Pittsburgh traded IF Rodolfo Castro, 24, to the Philadelphia Phillies for LHP Bailey Falter, 26. Rudy has spent 2024-25 playing in AAA while Bailey claimed a rotation spot until he was flipped a year later to KC for Callan Moss and Evan Sisk.

2025 – The Pirates scored nine! first-inning runs v Colorado at Coors Field, keyed by an Oneil Cruz grannie and Andrew McCutchen three-run shot. It wasn’t quite enough; they lost 17-16 when new closer Dennis Santana yielded two homers and five runs in the ninth after Andrew Heaney and Thomas Harrington gave up a 10-spot over the first five frames. It was the first time since 1890 that the club has scored 16 or more runs and lost. Cutch finished the night with five RBI, Cruz had four and Isiah Kiner-Falena added three. All nine Pirates reached base and scored (Joey Bart was the sole hitless Bucco batter, but he had an excuse – he was walked four times and bopped once).

2025 – To refill the roster after the deadline (the FO dealt four rostered players in two days, but didn’t receive any MLB-ready talent in return), the Pirates recalled RHP Thomas Harrington, RHP Kyle Nicolas and IF Jared Triolo from Indy and LHP Ryan Borucki from the IL. Triolo wasn’t a lock and there was some fan/media support for the call-up of UT Ronny Simon (.300 for two AAA teams) or IF Cam Devanny (.316 at Indy since being traded here for Adam Frazier) to take Key’s spot on the big league roster, while RHPs Bubba Chandler & Johan Oviedo were considered possible next arms up, though Bubba has workload concerns and Johan was just finishing long-term lat strain rehab. Harrington only lasted an outing (he got toasted by Colorado), was optioned back and replaced by RHP Dauri Moreta, who had missed all of ‘24 after shoulder surgery and was knocking off the rust at Indy.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/08/81-from-1980-big-first-not-enough-lee.html

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