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10/1 From 1970: TRS Finale, Freddy's Crown, '87 Brass Signs; WC Win & Lose, Romo Rocks, Game Tales, Lanny Goes, Booth Filled; HBD Redbeard

Tuesday, October 1, 2024 7:05

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1972 – Steve Blass got the start and a chance for his 20th win, but was lit up for three first-inning runs and chased in the third frame by the New York Mets at Three Rivers Stadium as the Pirates fell, 7-3. Injury was added to insult when Blass was yanked after a liner caught him in the arm, though he did recover to pitch well in the playoff series ultimately lost to the Reds. Steve never did reach twenty wins in his career; he fell apart the following season and was out of the majors in 1974. It was also Maz’s final regular season game; he was presented with a plaque by the team and pulled in the eighth inning so the fans could give him a final ovation.
1973 – By losing 4-3 to Randy Jones and the San Diego Padres at TRS on the season’s last day, the Bucs were officially eliminated from the NL East title hunt. They were 1-1/2 games back going into the contest, with the league leading Mets scheduled to play a doubleheader. New York won their first game, making the Pirates contest a moot point by the sixth inning. Bob Moose took the loss. The Padres put a lot of effort into making up the game (it was a rainout date from July 21st); they flew cross-country to play as the game had a potential impact on the pennant (a possibility of a three-way tie for the flag existed) even though they finished last in their division.
1974 – The Buccaneers took a one-game lead over the Cardinals in the NL East title by beating the Cubs, 6-5, at TRS. A two-run pinch hit homer by Bob Robertson in the eighth inning was the game winning blow while Dave Giusti closed out the last two frames of the contest to earn the come-from-behind win. The Pirates went on to clinch the pennant the next day.
1978 – The Pirates announced that coaches Joe Lonnett, Al Monchak and Larry Sherry would return next season, but not Jose Pagan. Pete Peterson said they weren’t displeased with Jose’s work, but were specifically looking for a batting coach and eventually brought in Bob Skinner while Pagan moved to the Oakland A’s as a minor league manager. Sherry also left before the next season started (he went to the California Angels), replaced by the Kitten, Harvey Haddix.

Enrique Romo – 1980 Topps

1980 – Enrique Romo had a big day in leading the Pirates to a 10-5 win at Shea Stadium. Not only did he work four frames to save the win for Jim Bibby, but he hit his first (and only) major league homer off Roy Lee Jackson – and it was a grand slam. That feat wouldn’t be matched again until 2016 when Josh Bell hit his first long ball with the bases juiced against the Cubs. Romo’s eighth-inning blast gave him breathing room, turning a 6-5 nail-biter into a comfortable 10-5 tally. He had help at the dish from Dave Parker, who had three hits, three RBI and a long ball of his own along with Omar Moreno, who added three raps and a stolen sack. It was Bibby’s 19th win of the season, matching his career high.
1987 – Team President Mac Prine and the Pirates agreed to terms with GM Syd Thrift (though he held out for more control and didn’t sign his contract until the 27th), Manager Jim Leyland, and all five of his coaches – Rich Donnelly (bullpen), Gene Lamont (third base), Milt May (hitting), Ray Miller (pitching) and Tommy Sandt (first base) – for undisclosed amounts. As Leyland noted, “The Pirates have treated me fairly both financially and emotionally, plus I got a wife out of it, too…” as he had set the date (November 27th) to marry Katie O’Connor, the Pirates Event Coordinator, during the offseason in a win-win day for the Bucco skipper.
1990 – Bobby Bonilla was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the story “Down To The Wire.” The pennant race didn’t end up that close as the Bucs won the division by four games, though losing the NLCS to the Cincinnati Reds. Bobby Bo had an All Star season, hitting .280 with 32 HR and 120 RBI and finished second in the MVP voting to teammate Barry Bonds.
1992 – A couple of Bucco fans decided the team needed a symbol to rally behind and came up with “The Hook,” reminiscent of Captain Hook’s Pirate claw. It went on sale and was touted as a counter to the playoff opponent Atlanta Braves’ annoying but effective Chop. Alas, it didn’t work as a good luck charm and became a collector’s item rather than a feared Bucco amulet.

Tom Hayden 10/1/1992 North Hills News

1992 – 1B Colin Moran was born in Port Chester, New York. The sixth overall selection of the 2013 draft by Miami, he was traded to the Astros, where he was blocked by Alex Bregman, and came to Pittsburgh in 2018 as part of the Gerrit Cole trade. He won the hot corner job, and made Pittsburgh friends in a hurry when he hit a grand slam during his first at bat in PNC Park, joining Roberto Clemente (1962) and Ralph Kiner (1949) on the Bucco Home Opener grand salami list. He was moved to first base in 2020 after Josh Bell was dealt to the Nats and Ke’Bryan Hayes was promoted to the big team. He was with the Reds in 2022 and played indie ball this year. Colin comes from good bloodlines; his uncle is BJ Surhoff and his brother has pitched for three MLB teams.
2000 – A crowd of 55,351, the largest gathering ever to see a regular season baseball game in Pittsburgh, watched the Pirates fall to the Chicago Cubs, 10-9, in the final game at Three Rivers Stadium. Sister Sledge was on hand to sing the National Anthem after Gene Lamont, Jim Leyland, Chuck Tanner & Bill Virdon presented the final lineup card to the ump. Dock Ellis tossed the first pitch to Manny Sanguillen after Pie Traynor threw out a ceremonial first pitch. Brian Giles had three hits and became the first Pirate to hit .300 with 30+ home runs and 100+ RBIs in back-to-back seasons. The Bucs ran through seven pitchers, with Scott Sauerbeck taking the loss after surrendering three eighth-inning runs. The Pirates made it interesting to the end, putting runners at second and third with two outs in the ninth, but John Wehner bounced out. He did, however, have the honor of hitting the last homer in the yard in the fifth inning (the Rock also committed the final error and made the last out at TRS, so it was a mixed bag kind of day). After the game, a video stadium tribute was shown, home plate was dug up to be transported to PNC Park (it was flown away by “Rocketman,” who was strapped to a jet pack), and Willie Stargell came out to toss a ceremonial last pitch to Jason Kendall as a final farewell for TRS.
2000 – On the day TRS closed, the Pirates opted for a smooth media transition to PNC Park when they announced that they had signed Greg Brown, Steve Blass and Bob Walk to three-year contract extensions after letting them dangle in the breeze all summer. Lanny Frattare was also returning to the fold; he had signed his deal earlier in the year and it too ran through 2003.

Lanny Frattare – Pirates promo card

2006 – Freddy Sanchez went 2-for-4 against the Reds to finish with a .344 BA, tops in the NL. The Bucs won, 1-0, in front of 25,004 at PNC Park behind the pitching of Shane Youman, John Grabow, Matt Capps and Salomon Torres, who combined on a four-hitter. Pittsburgh scored in the eighth by rapping four straight two-out singles; Xavier Nady drove in Jason Bay with the winner.
2008 – Lanny Frattare, the Voice of the Pirates for decades, announced his retirement to end a 33-year career as the team’s radio and TV play-by-play announcer. He was the longest-tenured announcer in team history, calling over 5,000 games. Frattare and Milo Hamilton became the Pirates’ on-air duo in 1976, with Lanny handling the color chores. When Hamilton jumped to the Cubs in 1980, Frattare became the play-by-play man with his own style and calls (“Go, ball! Get outta here!” & “There was no doubt about it!”). Lanny, 60, cited travel and the overall grind as the drivers behind his decision and took a Communications job at nearby Waynesburg University. Greg Brown was named as his replacement.
2012 – It took 10 trips to the hill, but Jeff Locke got his first MLB win by beating the Braves, 2-1, at PNC Park. He gave up two hits (and issued five free passes) in six frames while three relievers tossed hitless ball behind him. Starling Marte provided the offense; he swatted a solo homer and tripled, coming in on Chase d’Arnaud’s ground out, to account for both Bucco runs.
2013 – A record PNC Park crowd of 40,487 saw the Pirates win the NL Wild Card game against the Cincinnati Reds by a 6-2 score. Francisco Liriano gave up one run on four hits over seven innings for the win. He was supported by Russell Martin, who had a pair of homers, and Marlon Byrd, who also went long. Martin became the first catcher to homer for three different teams in the postseason, going yard with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008 and the New York Yankees in 2012. Martin’s first blast was legendary. While the crowd was chanting “Cueto” after Byrd’s dinger, Johnny dropped the horsehide, picked it up and then served up another long ball to Russ, lifting the roof off PNC Park. Byrd’s homer was during his first postseason at-bat after playing 1,250 MLB games before reaching the promised land. It was the first playoff game ever held at PNC and the first Pirate playoff win in Pittsburgh since defeating the Atlanta Braves, 7-1, on October 11th, 1992 in the NLCS at TRS. The victory cost the Reds more than a playoff run; it also cost them a manager when Dusty Baker was fired three days later after suffering his seventh straight playoff loss.

Josh Harrison – 2014 Topps Update

2014 – The Pirates laid a playoff egg in front of a record crowd of 40,629 at PNC Park, falling to Madison Bumgarner and the SF Giants, 8-0, in the winner-take-all NL Wild Card elimination game. Bumgarner tossed a complete game whitewash with 10 K and Brandon Crawford’s grand slam in the fourth inning off Edinson Volquez would provide Mad Bum with more than enough runs; for good measure, Brandon Belt drove in three more Giants. Josh Harrison was the Bucs lone bright spot at the dish, collecting two of the four Pirates’ hits. The Bucs weren’t the only club left red-faced by San Francisco as the Giants were on fire in October. Sparked by Bumgarner’s brilliant postseason pitching run, the G-Men beat Washington, St. Louis and KC to reign as the 2014 World Series champions.
2017 – In a game that epitomized September baseball, the Bucs jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held off Washington at Nationals Park by an 11-8 count. The contest was the longest nine-inning game in both clubs’ history at four hours and 22 minutes. The Pirates used 23 players, including nine pitchers. The Bucs stranded 10 runners, the Nats 15; each club issued seven free passes to go along with 30 combined hits. Angel Sanchez got the win and George Kontos was credited with the save, the first for both pitchers. Jake Stallings had three hits plus a walk while Max Moroff had a knock and two free passes; together they drove in seven runs and scored three times. Chris Bostick & Josh Bell had two knocks and a walk, and Starling Marte had two raps to end the year on a 12-game hitting streak. The marathon ended the 2017 season for the Pirates with just 75 wins, earning them the 10th pick (OF Travis Swaggerty) in the upcoming draft.
2021 – The Pirates were handed their 100th loss the night before, but shrugged it off and came back to whip the Reds at PNC Park by a 9-2 tally, led by a pair of unlikely heroes. Wil Crowe (4-8/5.77) tossed six shutout innings, giving up a hit, two walks, and tying his career high with nine K. He left with a 1-0 lead, which the bullpen couldn’t hold (Chris Stratton, who gave up the run that knotted it, got the win), but an eight-run eighth inning put it away for the Bucs, and that was keyed by the other man of the hour, Cole Tucker. Tuck, who was hitting .206 with one long ball, had a dazzling catch in short right that he turned into a twin killing, then tripled and scored the Bucs first run before capping the night with his first grand slam.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2024/10/101-from-1970-trs-finale-freddys-crown.html

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