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10/2 From 1970: Cruz Debut, 2M, Mad Dog Champ, '79 NLCS Win, 'Teke/Goose Duo, '74 Clincher, Game Days, Zisk Signs, PA Sale, Geno Goes, HBD Marino & Victor

Friday, October 2, 2026 7:01

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1971 – The SF Giants scored four runs in the fifth inning off Steve Blass via two-out homers by Tito Fuentes and Willie McCovey, and the outburst was just enough to drop the Pirates 5-4 in the opening game of the NLCS at Candlestick Park. Dave Cash scored twice and had an RBI while Al Oliver drove home a pair of runs in the loss. It was the Pirates sixth straight loss in the City by the Bay.

1971 – LF Willie Stargell was the leading vote-getter and C Manny Sanguillen was the top dog behind the dish per the News Enterprise Association poll for the best performers in the majors as selected by the MLB players themselves. Pops was picked as an outfielder (he wouldn’t see much action at 1B until the following year) while Sangy easily outpolled previous winner Johnny Bench. Roberto Clemente was a second teamer as Tony Oliva dropped Arriba and the Orioles’ Frank Robinson to runner-up status in right field. Also on the second squad was Dave Giusti, who led the league with 30 saves but finished behind the Giants’ Jerry Johnson in the relief pitcher category.

1974 – Bob Smizik’s Pittsburgh Press game story was headlined “Pirates Blunder Into Division Title” and it was right on. The Pirates rallied from a 4-0 hole against the Cubs at TRS to get within a run in the ninth. With two gone and Manny Sanguillen on third, pinch hitter Bob Robertson K’ed on a Rick Reuschel curve. The ball got away from Steve Swisher, and his throw to first hit chug-a-lugging Robby on the back and caromed into right, allowing Robby to safely reach base and The Roadrunner to score. The Bucs won it in the next inning when Al Oliver tripled and scored on Sangy’s swinging bunt up the third base line. A Pirates loss would have given the St. Louis Cardinals, with a rainout to make up, a chance to tie Pittsburgh for the lead. The fans didn’t act in championship fashion, tossing bottles at the Cub outfielders, who had to wear batting helmets in the field. Plate ump Shag Crawford told Smizik after the game that “It was the worst I’ve ever seen a big league crowd. I finally gave some thought to forfeiting in the ninth, but (manager Danny) Murtaugh really helped out…” when he went on the field and scolded the crowd into a semblance of civility.

1975 – Richie Zisk ended what was then the longest holdout in Pirates history when he inked a $65,000 deal after playing the season without signing a contract. He and Joe Brown couldn’t agree on salary at the start of the year and the Pirates renewed his contract. Zisk was reportedly looking to double his ‘74 salary of $35,000, but wasn’t interested in taking his case to arbitration or joining the crowd testing the reserve clause. Just before the playoffs against the Reds began, he and Brown finally reached a $60K agreement (he had been paid at a rate of $55,000 during the year, presumably the figure the Buccos had offered earlier). The impasse didn’t affect his plate performance; he hit .290 with 20 homers during the regular season and then went 5-for-10 in the NLCS.

Victor Santos – 2006 photo Elsa/Getty

1976 – RHP Victor Santos was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Victor, although he had five years in the league, made it to the Pirates via the Rule 5 draft from KC and spent 2006 as a Bucco, slashing 5-9/5.70 in 25 games (19 starts). He took the mound for one more year in the show, then spent most of his time in the Latin leagues, toeing the rubber for the last time in 2012. After his retirement, he became an instructor at Roberto Clemente’s Baseball Academy.

1977 – Kent Tekulve and Rich Gossage each appeared in their 72nd games to break the existing club record for most appearances during a 3-2 Bucco victory over the Cubs in the second game of a twin bill at TRS. Goose got the win after Teke blew the save. Dave Parker clinched his first batting title (he repeated the following season), finishing with a .338 average after going 1-for-4 in the opener, a 5-1 Bucco win. For the Pirates, it was a red hot finish as they won 12-of-13 games to end the season, finishing second to the Phils with 96 wins. Teke shattered the record in 1979 by appearing in 94 outings, later matched by Salomon Torres in 2006.

1979 – In the opening game of the NLCS at Riverfront Stadium, Willie Stargell ended a tight pitching battle started by John Candelaria and Tom Seaver by bombing a three-run homer in the 11th inning off Tom Hume to give the Pirates a 5-2 victory over the Reds. Grant Jackson got the win with a Don Robinson save. The Bucs drew first blood in the third by a 2-0 tally on a Phil Garner homer, Omar Moreno triple and Tim Foli sac fly. The Reds tied the count an inning later on George Foster’s two-run shot.

1981 – RHP Marino Salas was born in Hato Mayor del Rey, Dominican Republic. He was traded to the Pirates as part of the Salomon Torres deal with the Brewers. He began 2008 en fuego, going 2-0-2/0.77 in 14 appearances at AAA Indy and was recalled by the Pirates in May. It didn’t translate as he slashed 1-0/8.47 in 13 outings. Salas ended his career by pitching in the Italian League.

1981 – The Pirates were out of the race with the Cards on life support, and both teams put on a clinic on why non-playoff October baseball is often less than compelling. Playing in 30 degree weather with a swirling wind before the smallest TRS crowd to date (2,348), the Bucs took an 8-7 win from St. Louis. The Pirates jumped ahead early 7-2 thanks to four RBI from Jason Thompson, but allowed five straight unearned runs on four errors (it was the second straight start that Paschal Perez was burdened by five gift runs). Rod Scurry was tagged for two ninth-inning tallies to knot the score before Mike Easler walked it off by doubling home Omar Moreno to earn a win for Kent Tekulve. The Redbirds contributed three boots of their own, the two staffs issued 11 walks, and the contest was so poorly played that the Pirates invited everyone back to attend the next game gratis. Not many took up the offer: there were only 3,600 fans the next night.

Bill Madlock – 1983 Fleer

1983 – Bill Madlock, finishing out the season gimpy with a calf injury, sat out the Bucs last game but managed to hang on to the batting title, finishing the year at .323 to edge out the Cards’ Lonnie Smith, who ended the campaign at .321. Though it was the lowest BA to win a NL title since 1919, it was quite a feather in Mad Dog’s cap as he became just the eighth MLB player with four or more batting crowns since 1900 and the first in the senior circuit to earn a quartet since Roberto Clemente in 1967. Bill was the first hitter to win two titles for two teams, taking the crown in 1975 & ‘76 as a Chicago Cub.

1985 – The Galbreath family and Warner Communications agreed in principle to sell the Pirates to the Pittsburgh Associates, a group of 10 primarily corporate and institutional investors that kept the team afloat and in Pittsburgh, for $21.8M (the deal was finalized in March, 1986). As part of the agreement, Malcolm “Mac” Prine was named president of the Pirates during the transition and takeover. Mac was the CEO of Ryan Homes, which was part of the PA, the first private-public ownership group in pro sports. He brought in Jim Leyland as manager and Syd Thrift as GM; ironically, a power struggle with Thrift led to Prine’s resignation two years later. Mac was replaced by Carl Barger, who had sharper elbows and forced Thrift to walk the plank a year later.

1990 – The Pirates drew 50,028 fans to Three Rivers Stadium to watch the Bucs batter the Mets 9-4 and went over the 2M mark in attendance for the first time in history. Pittsburgh was warming up for their playoff series against the Reds and banged Dwight “Doc” Gooden around, finishing the day with 12 hits in a balanced attack that Bill Landrum rode to victory. Although the 2,049,908 total attendance figure would be edged out the next year, the game average of 25,308 fans would remain the TRS high water mark.

2000 – Gene Lamont was let go as the Pirates manager. The former White Sox skipper had replaced Jim Leyland in 1997 and led the Bucs to a second place finish, but overall his Pittsburgh record was 295-352 (.456). It wasn’t a surprise dismissal; Kevin McClatchy told Lamont that he wouldn’t be back in mid-September. His hitting coach, Lloyd McClendon, was hired to take his spot three weeks later. Lamont returned to coaching with the Red Sox, Astros, and Tigers; he was a special assistant at Kansas City and rejoined the Bucs in 2025 as an advisor to new skipper Don Kelly, officially titled the Special Assignments coach.

A-Ram – 2001 Upper Deck SP

2001 – Aramis Ramirez had three hits and chased home a pair of runs in the Pirates 10-1 romp over the Mets at Shea Stadium. That gave A-Ram 111 RBI on the season (he finished with 112), the most by a Pirates third sacker since 1930, when Pie Traynor plated 119 runners. Craig Wilson also was huge with a homer among his three hits and four RBI. Bronson Arroyo held up his end, tossing a five-hit complete game for a nice highlight to an otherwise dismal, 100-loss season.

2005 – Zach Duke, with help from Mike Gonzalez and Salomon Torres, stopped the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 at PNC Park. The Brewers finished at 81-81, and the loss prevented them from their first winning season since 1992, although it did end a long consecutive losing season streak. The Bucco tallies came on a two-run Nate McLouth homer and a solo shot by Craig Wilson. The Brew Crew won 83 games in 2007 to get over the hump; it would take Pittsburgh until 2013 to finish above water at year’s end.

2021 – The Bucs looked like they were staggering to another defeat, down 5-0 to the Reds at PNC Park before a fireworks crowd of 20,000+. But they put together a six-spot in the fifth, keyed by two-run extra-base raps by Wilmer Difo and Michael Chavis, then added on to take home an 8-6 win. Bryan Reynolds had four hits, falling a homer shy of the cycle, while Ben Gamel added three more knocks to lead a 16-hit attack. It was the MLB debut of uber-prospect Oneil Cruz, who had two hits, a run, an RBI and the hardest hit recorded by a Bucco in the Statcast era of 118.2 MPH. Nick Mears faced two batters in the sixth, giving up a game-tying double before posting the third out but still was credited with the win. Chris Stratton worked a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save.

2022 – It took a decade, but the Pirates finally hung a loss on the Cardinals Adam Wainwright, who hadn’t been defeated by Pittsburgh since June 29th, 2012. The Bucs defeated Waino at Busch Stadium by a 7-5 count on a day he, Yadi Molina and Albert Pujols were all pulled in the fifth inning to be honored during their last regular season home game together. Ben Gamel had a three-run homer, Bryan Reynolds swatted a solo shot, Miguel Andujar added a pair of RBI and Oneil Cruz had two hits and scored twice. Six Buccaneer hurlers ran through the raindrops to close it out, with Chase De Jong getting the win and David Bednar the save.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/10/102-from-1970-cruz-debut-2m-mad-dog.html

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