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8/21 From 1970: B-Rey Day, Rennie Hurt, Game Days, SI Dock, Big Daddy & Joey Bats Dealt, Giles POTW, Tabata Signs, Bucs HoF, HBD Luke, Jeff, Jesse, Ramon & Lou

Friday, August 21, 2026 7:01

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1971 – Dock Ellis was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Sound Off.” That’s the year Ellis told the media that NL All-Star Team manager Sparky Anderson would “never start two brothers against each other” as Vida Blue was starting for the AL. Anderson surprised Ellis (or played into his hand) by naming him the starter. Dock may have been better off muted; he was the losing pitcher in the game, giving up a titanic shot to Reggie Jackson.

1973 – IF Lou Collier was born in Chicago. He began his eight-year career as a Bucco in 1997-97, hitting .235 after being selected in the 31st round of the 1992 draft from Kishwaukee College. He spent two years in Korea after his MLB days and retired from baseball in 2007. He founded the Lou Collier Baseball Association, recruiting Chi-town kids out of rec center/little league teams to showcase their skills. He’s also an area scout for KC.

1976 – IF Ramon Vazquez was born in Aibonito, Puerto Rico. He spent the final campaign of his nine-year career with Pittsburgh in 2009, hitting .230 while playing third, short and second. Since retiring, he’s coached for San Diego, Houston, and currently is with Boston, along with managing Santurce (Roberto Clemente’s old club) in the Puerto Rican League.

1977 – Rennie Stennett broke his right ankle sliding into second against the Giants at Three Rivers Stadium and was lost for the year. Rennie never recovered fully, and his best BA after the accident was just .244. At the time, Stennett was the NL’s #2 hitter, batting .336 and fell 12 at-bats short of qualifying for the title, though his .336 BA would have been nosed out by the eventual winner, teammate Dave Parker, who hit .338. To rub some salt into the wound, the Bucs lost the game, 5-4. The second baseman left the Pirates after the ‘79 campaign to join San Francisco, inking a big five-year deal, but was never the same player and was released after two seasons on the Bay at age 31.

Jesse Chavez – 2009 O-Pee-Chee

1983 – RHP Jesse Chavez was born in San Gabriel, California. He started out with the Pirates in 2008-09, going 1-5/4.48 from the bullpen after arriving as the return from Texas for Kip Wells. In turn, the Bucs sent him to Tampa Bay in 2009 for 2B Akinori Iwamura. Jesse tossed for nine teams in 18 seasons and was with the Braves when his MLB road ended in 2025. When he pitched for Oakland, they had converted him to the rotation, though most clubs preferred him out of the pen – in 657 MLB outings, he started 85 times. Jesse was pretty strictly a mid-inning guy; he earned just nine saves, although he won 51 games.

1983 – 1B Jeff Clement was born in Marshalltown, Iowa. He was a highly touted power hitter from Southern Cal and was taken third overall in the 2005 draft by Seattle. The Pirates got him from the Mariners in 2009 as part of the return for Ian Snell and Jack Wilson. Jeff got a look-see in 2010 and again in 2012, putting up a .193 BA, and retired from baseball in 2014.

1984 – Johnny Ray and Dale Murphy exchanged homers at TRS, and the Bucs and Braves had a 4-4 match going into the ninth. Don Robinson put the Bravos away (he fanned five-of-six batters he faced) and after a leadoff double by Denny Gonzalez to open the ninth, Gene Garber came on for Atlanta, giving up a sac bunt followed by a pair of intentional walks. Kinda iffy strategy for the Bravos, setting up a RHP v LHB situation against a guy who already had a pair of knocks, CF Marvell Wynne. It went the Pirates way as Wynne’s single was the walkoff hit, giving Robby a well-deserved 5-4 win.

1987 – Vet RHP Rick Reuschel was sent to the Giants for two pitchers, righties Jeff Robinson and Scott Medvin. Reuschel had two strong years on the Bay, winning 36 games and earning an All-Star berth. Robinson lasted three years in Pittsburgh as a fairly solid reliever/spot starter (20-19-17/3.98) while Medvin (3-1/5.03 in 23 Bucco outings) was traded to Seattle in May, 1990 after spending most of his Pirates time in the minors at Buffalo.

Luke Walker – 1972 Topps

1993 – RHP Luke Weaver was born in DeLand, Florida. The St. Louis Cards selected Weaver with the 27th pick of the first round of the 2014 draft out of Florida State. Weaver has gotten around since – when the Pirates got him from the Mets in 2026 for Sammy Stafura, Pittsburgh became his eighth team in 11 MLB outings. He was a setup guy for NY, but should get a look at closing for the Pirates; he posted eight saves in ’25, so he’s been there. Luke makes $9.5M in ‘26 and is signed for $12.5M for 2027, so another plus was that he wasn’t a rental.

1995- It was a pretty ho-hum 5-3 win by the Bucs over the Marlins at TRS, but it was a notable victory. Not only was it their first sweep of the year, but it was a five-game broom job, their longest winning streak of the season (they won the next contest, too, to make it a season-best six-game streak).

1998 – All nine Pirates starters had hits, eight had RBI and seven scored in a 14-2 romp over the Reds at TRS. Kevin Young banged out three knocks and five other Bucco had a pair of raps as the Bucs collected 17 hits and six walks. Al Martin and Jason Kendall homered; Pittsburgh whacked five doubles and a triple. Chris Peters went seven innings for the decision. The batfest was part of a 15-game streak of the Pirates scoring four or more runs.

2000 – OF Brian Giles was named the NL’s co-POTW, along with Todd Helton. Giles was 11-of-21 with three doubles, a triple and three homers, scoring six times and chasing home eight runs. It was the fourth time Giles had earned the award.

2008 – 3B Jose Bautista was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for a PTBN (C Robinzon Diaz). Bautista bloomed as a slugger in Toronto and while no one saw it coming at the time, it ended up among the more lopsided deals in Bucco history – Joey Bats spent 10 years with the Jays and pounded 288 dingers while Diaz played 43 games in two Bucco seasons. A side note: the Pirates were trying to pry C Brian Jeroloman loose for Jose. Jeroloman, a prospect that never played MLB (he spent 11 years with various farm clubs), did eventually end up a Bucco, albeit at Indy, when he was sold to the club in 2013. He was traded away in May to the Nationals. The FO had kept its eye on Jeroloman before that, claiming him off waivers in 2011, but then DFA’ed him three days later.

Jose Tabata – 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter

2011 – The Pirates announced a six-year extension of Jose Tabata’s contract. It guaranteed him $15M and included three club option years. JT’s advisers quit, believing the terms were too team friendly; they were wrong. From 2012-15, JT hit .267/96 OPS+ for the Bucs and logged lots of minor league innings before being traded to the LA Dodgers at the 2015 deadline; they released him in 2016, and after bouncing around some, he hasn’t played since 2021-22.

2020 - OF Bryan Reynolds drove in four runs and scored three more to lead the Pirates to a 7-2 win against the Brewers, collecting three hits including a homer and triple. It was a red-letter day for RHP Chad Kuhl, too, who went five frames and picked up his first win since June, 2018, after missing the entire 2019 campaign while recovering from TJ surgery. 1B Colin Moran and SS Cole Tucker added three more hits apiece as the Bucs banged out 14 knocks at PNC Park.

2023 – The Cards called up lefty Drew Roms to make his debut at PNC Park, and he probably wished that his bus had a flat as the Pirates scored eight times (six runs earned) in 3-2/3 IP off him en route to an 11-1 victory. Reliever Thomas Hatch started and went three before Bailey Falter worked the final six frames for the win, his first of the year. Josh Palacios played his first MLB game against sibling Richie of the Redbirds, and with their proud parents in the stands, he put on a big bro show of muscle with a homer and double good for five RBI. Connor Joe banged out three doubles & scored four times while Endy Rodriguez added three more hits. The Bucs posted 16 hits, eight for extra bases.

2025 – The Pirates Hall of Fame added 1960 World Series winner/Cy Young awardee RHP Vern Law, 1971 WS champ CF/1B Al Oliver and 1925 WS victor/Hall of Famer OF Kiki Cuyler, bringing the franchise HoF up to 29 members since its inception in 2022. The ceremony was followed the next day by the annual Hall of Fame Game, this year against the Colorado Rockies.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/08/821-from-1970-b-rey-day-rennie-hurt.html

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