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9/30 From 1980: 82 Wins, Ryan Roars, '90 Clincher, Game Days, Kramer Deal, Clemente Day, Skenes ROTY, '26 Staff, HBD Shawn & Bryan

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 7:01

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1980 – RHP Bryan Bullington was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Ball State junior was the Bucs top pick and first selection overall in the 2002 draft. He made his debut in 2005 for the Bucs, then returned to toss some in 2007 after labrum surgery, going 0-3/5.89 in six games (three starts) as a Pirate. BB never made much headway in the show, winning just one game. After pitching for KC in 2010, he went to Japan where he tossed until a shoulder injury in 2015.

1986 – In a minor league deal, the Pirates traded RHP Jeff Zaske to the Texas Rangers for RHP Randy Kramer. After a five-game trial in ‘88, Kramer had a workmanlike 1989 campaign as a swingman, posting a line of 5-9-2/3.96 in 35 outings (15 starts). He split 1990 between the big team and AAA Buffalo, and after struggling with the Pirates was traded to the Chicago Cubs in September. Afterwards, he got into four more games with the Seattle Mariners in 1992 before ending his MLB career. Zaske had a three-game cup of coffee with the Bucs in 1984 in his only MLB action, retiring from pro ball in 1988.

1987 – The Bucs played a rain-out twilight twin bill at TRS against the Cubs. The Pirates won the opener 5-3 as Brian Fisher not only went eight innings for the win, but 2-for-2 at the dish with a run scored and an RBI. The nightcap went Chicago’s way 10-8, but don’t fault Darnell Cole. He went 4-for-4 with three homers, six runs chased home and he plated three times. John Cangelosi helped him out with two hits, including a triple, and two RBI. But the dynamic duo couldn’t overcome a Cubbie attack that banged out eight extra-base hits during the match.

1988 – The Pirates hired Terry Collins to manage Class AAA Buffalo after he had won the Minor League Manager of the year award for the Dodgers Albuquerque club. Collins, who started out as a Bucco draftee in 1971, managed three years for the Bison, winning 246 games. He was promoted to bullpen coach for the Pirates in 1992, where he coached through the 1993 season before taking the Houston managing job and later skippering for Anaheim and the Mets.

1988 – President Ronald Reagan tossed out two ceremonial first pitches (and was greeted by Jim Leyland as Dutch left the hill for a handshake and quick chat) before the Cubs lost 10-9 to the Pirates at Wrigley. The prez, a former play-by-play announcer, joined Harry Caray for an inning and a half in the WGN booth. Jose Lind and Andy Van Slyke combined for seven hits in the win, spoiling the Prez’s day. It was a wild finish; Pittsburgh and Chicago each scored five times in the eighth and ninth innings to end up with a 9-9 regulation stalemate before Andy Van Slyke drove in Rafael Belliard with the winner in the 10th. Scott Medvin, the fourth of five Bucco hurlers (the Cubs used six twirlers), claimed the victory with Brian Fisher earning his only save of the campaign. The Bucs finished the season with 85 wins, their highest victory total since 1979.

Doug Drabek – 1990 Donruss

1990 – Pittsburgh beat St. Louis 2-0 at Busch Stadium behind Doug Drabek’s three-hitter to clinch its first NL East title since 1979. Gary Redus and Andy Van Slyke had the RBIs as the Pirates finished up a seven-game winning streak and a stretch of 10 wins-in-11 games to pull away from the Mets (the Bucs finished four games ahead of NY; they were up by a game before the hot run). It took Drabek just 80 pitches to go the distance to set up a Pirates-Reds NLCS. Ironically, the old rivals were the only two NL teams not to win a division title in the 80s.

1991 – In a pre-game ceremony, the Pirates officially named their TRS clubhouse for equipment manager John “Hully” Hallahan, who passed away three weeks prior at the age of 64 due to surgical complications. Hallahan spent 50 years in the organization, starting in 1941 as a bat boy for the visiting teams at Forbes Field and as the Pirates clubhouse manager since 1956. Then the Bucs went out and claimed a 6-5 win from Montreal, keyed by Jay Bell’s grand slam.

1993 – Tim Wakefield shut out the Phillies on four hits (although he did walk six) in a 5-0 whitewashing at TRS. It was the first time Philadelphia had been shut out since September 19th, 1992 (that was also at TRS, spun by Doug Drabek), a National League record-setting stretch of 174 games between blankings. Pittsburgh’s home finale victory over Philadelphia was led by Dave Clark, who homered & tripled, and Tom Foley, who had three hits including a two-bagger.

1999 – C Shawn Ross was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Shawn was an NAIA player and went undrafted in 2022; the Pirates inked him as a free agent. He advanced through the ranks although his bat never came around, but a mash-up of injured Buc C’s got him a call up in July of 2026. He made his debut and then started the next day, hitting a two-run homer in his first at bat of that match. The feel-goods didn’t last long; Endy Rodriguez returned from the IL and Shawn was DFA’ed after a three-day stay in the show. The Mets claimed him, released him from his minor league deal in early September and Toronto picked him up.

2009 – Ryan Doumit went 4-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored and four RBIs in the second game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs, an 8-3 Pittsburgh win behind Jeff Karstens. Dewey became the second Pirate catcher in the last 40 years to have at least four hits and four RBIs in the same game; Jason Kendall collected four knocks and five RBIs in a 13–1 Pirates victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on May 19th, 2000. The Bucs took the opener, too, by a 4-0 count. Charlie Morton spun a four-hitter with eight whiffs and Jason Jaramillo doubled in two runs to lead the attack.

Charlie Morton – 2010 Topps Diamond Anniversary

2012 – The Pirates were dropped by Cincinnati 4-3 for their 82nd loss, finishing below .500 for the 20th straight season to extend their sad little record. The Bucs were 16 games over .500 on August 6th, but just as last year, a dog day’s collapse did them in. This one at PNC Park hurt, as the Reds scored twice in the ninth off Joel Hanrahan to steal the win in front of 32,814 fans.

2015 – The Pirates stayed alive in the NL Central race by winning the lid lifter of a twin bill at PNC Park against St. Louis 8-2 for Gerrit Cole’s 19th win. The offense was generated via a grand slam by Francisco Cervelli, Neil Walker’s homer and Gregory Polanco chasing home two runs. But the Cardinals clinched the flag and a 100-win season when they won the back end 11-1 chasing Charlie Morton in the third with a Jason Heyward grand slam of their own off Bobby LaFromboise. The Pirates hosted the Wild Card walk-in game for the third straight season.

2017 – The Pirates had been held to one hit over eight innings by Max Scherzer, AJ Cole and Enny Romero and were down 1-0 going into the ninth inning at Nationals Park. Washington sent Brandon Kintzler to close it out, and he got within a strike of doing it. With runners at first and second, Sean Rodriguez slapped a two-out, 3-2 sinker into left to tie the game. A walk loaded the bases and Max Moroff cleared them with a triple to weave a wide three-run safety net. Felipe Rivero mopped up to save George Kontos’ win. Starter Jameson Taillon tossed seven innings of four-hit ball as the Bucs won, 4-1.

2018 – The Pirates finished an 82-79, roller-coaster campaign with a 10-inning 6-5 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park. The teams used 13 pitchers in a showcase of the young guys that featured four home runs, three errors and everything in between. Pablo Reyes scored on a wild pitch to win it for Michael Feliz, and Jose Osuna added a pair of doubles. The vets had a hand in it, too, as Josh Bell homered, Starling Marte went long & doubled, and Felipe Vazquez notched his 37th save. Some notable achievements: Marte became the third Pirate to have a 20 HR/30 SB season, joining Barry Bonds (four times) & Andy Van Slyke (1987-88). It was also the first time that the Bucs had two relief pitchers with at least 80 strikeouts in the same season as Vazquez punched out 89 and Richard Rodriguez, 88. And finally, Clint Hurdle got his 1,200th career victory, finishing with 1,269 MLB dubs. He joined Bruce Bochy, Mike Scioscia, Buck Showalter and Terry Francona as active skippers in the 1,200 win club.

Rich Rod – 2018 photo/Pirates

2022 – Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey declared it “Roberto Clemente Day.” The event included the playing of the 3,000th hit call by Bob Prince and the unveiling of the TRS home plate and second base markers, now part of a parking lot, with future plans calling for markers of all of the former stadium’s bases and the pitcher’s mound. The Pirates were repped by Steve Blass and president Travis Williams (the team was in St. Louis, where the Cards held a pregame ceremony to honor the 50th anniversary of Roberto’s 3,000th hit), a bevy of local politicians were on hand and Roberto Jr. called from St. Louis. Prior to the ceremony, Senator Bob Casey and Governor Tom Wolf had honored Clemente by proclamation.

2024 – Baseball America named 22-year-old RHP Paul Skenes as its 2024 Rookie of the Year. Skenes was only the second Pirate to win BA/ROTY award, following Andrew McCutchen, who took the honor in 2009. Skenes, who was the National League’s starting pitcher in this year’s All-Star game, was 11-3/1.96 in 133 IP (23 starts) with an 0.95 WHIP, 170 strikeouts and a .198 oppo BA. Paul was the #1 overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft. After a brief tune-up in the minors, he debuted for the Bucs on 5/11/2024 with a no-decision against the Cubs and didn’t miss a turn during the year. And as the cherry on top, he was named the NL Rookie of the Month the following day.

2025 – The day after he was hired, Don Kelly began to put together his own staff. The Pirates didn’t renew the contracts of pitching coach Oscar Marin (a surprise, but it was reported he had lost the faith of the staff despite how well the young Pirates pitching performed. He caught on next month with the Reds as their bullpen coach) and 3B coach Mike Rabelo (he joined Derek Shelton at his new landing spot, Minnesota, as an ass’t bench coach) while ass’t pitching coach Brent Strom retired after a year on the job; he was 76. A month later, the Pirates brought in Bill Murphy, 36, who had been the Houston Astros’ pitching coach since 2022, to replace Marin. A week later, the staff was filled with the hires of Kristopher Negron as bench coach and Tony Beasley as third base coach. Negron spent the past four years on the Mariners MLB staff while Beasley is coming home. Tony managed in the Pittsburgh farm system from 2001-05 and was the 3B coach from 2007-10. He had been on the Rangers’ staff since 2015, the last several seasons coaching third base.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/09/930-from-1980-82-wins-ryan-roars-90.html

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