This Day in Pittsburgh Pirates History
Today
September 22, 2007
Zach Duke, off the disabled list and making his first start since June 28, allowed 5 runs and 3 home runs against the Cubs in Wrigley Field as the Pirates lost 9–5. Their winless streak was extended to 8 games as they continued to battle Florida for the worst record in the National League.
1 Year Ago
September 22, 2006
Former Pirate minor-leaguer Chris Young came within two outs of a no-hitter as the Pirates lost to the Padres in San Diego, 6–2. Joe Randa's 2-run homer in the 9th provided the only Pirates' only runs. Matt Herges, acquired by Dave Littlefield in exchange for Young in December 2002, allowed 2 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run in an inning of relief for the Marlins, who lost to the Phillies 5–2.
3 Years Ago
September 22, 2004
The Pirates mustered 6 singles and 3 walks against Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs in Pittsburgh, losing 1–0 and handing Oliver Perez his 10th loss of the season. Pinch-hitter Humberto Cota struck out to end the game; Ty Wigginton was hit by a pitch.
6 Years Ago
September 22, 2001
Cardinals rookie Bud Smith won his 6th game and St. Louis improved their record in PNC Park to 6–0 as the Pirates lost, 4–1. Todd Ritchie allowed all 4 runs on 10 hits in 7+ innings of work and fell to 11–13. Leadoff hitter Chad Hermansen went 0 for 4.
9 Years Ago
September 22, 1998
Barry Bonds went 3 for 3 with a triple and a home run and drove in 3 runs as the Pirates lost to the Giants in San Francisco, 14–2. In two innings of work Jon Lieber allowed 7 runs, 5 of which were unearned. It was the Pirates' 17th loss out of 22 during September 1998.
12 Years Ago
September 22, 1995
The Cubs' Kevin Foster, on his way to leading the National League in home runs allowed, pitched 8 innings of mostly dominating baseball as the Pirates lost to the Cubs 6–3 at Wrigley Field. Pirates rookie John Ericks fell to 3–9 after allowing 7 hits and 7 walks in 4 innings. Midre Cummings and Jay Bell each singled for the Pirates; Al Martin, Orlando Merced, Jeff King, Dave Clark, Carlos Garcia, and Don Slaught did not.
14 Years Ago
September 22, 1993
Pinch-hitter Dave Clark's 9th-inning 2-run homer tied a back-and-forth game against the New York Mets in Three Rivers Stadium, setting up a dramatic 6–5 loss in 10 innings. Reliever Joel Johnston lost his 4th game of the year, giving up a 2-run home run to the Mets' Charlie O'Brien in the 10th. The Mets also benefitted from a 2-run homer in the top of the 8th inning, hit by rookie right fielder Jeromy Burnitz.
September 22, 2007
Zach Duke, off the disabled list and making his first start since June 28, allowed 5 runs and 3 home runs against the Cubs in Wrigley Field as the Pirates lost 9–5. Their winless streak was extended to 8 games as they continued to battle Florida for the worst record in the National League.
1 Year Ago
September 22, 2006
Former Pirate minor-leaguer Chris Young came within two outs of a no-hitter as the Pirates lost to the Padres in San Diego, 6–2. Joe Randa's 2-run homer in the 9th provided the only Pirates' only runs. Matt Herges, acquired by Dave Littlefield in exchange for Young in December 2002, allowed 2 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run in an inning of relief for the Marlins, who lost to the Phillies 5–2.
3 Years Ago
September 22, 2004
The Pirates mustered 6 singles and 3 walks against Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs in Pittsburgh, losing 1–0 and handing Oliver Perez his 10th loss of the season. Pinch-hitter Humberto Cota struck out to end the game; Ty Wigginton was hit by a pitch.
6 Years Ago
September 22, 2001
Cardinals rookie Bud Smith won his 6th game and St. Louis improved their record in PNC Park to 6–0 as the Pirates lost, 4–1. Todd Ritchie allowed all 4 runs on 10 hits in 7+ innings of work and fell to 11–13. Leadoff hitter Chad Hermansen went 0 for 4.
9 Years Ago
September 22, 1998
Barry Bonds went 3 for 3 with a triple and a home run and drove in 3 runs as the Pirates lost to the Giants in San Francisco, 14–2. In two innings of work Jon Lieber allowed 7 runs, 5 of which were unearned. It was the Pirates' 17th loss out of 22 during September 1998.
12 Years Ago
September 22, 1995
The Cubs' Kevin Foster, on his way to leading the National League in home runs allowed, pitched 8 innings of mostly dominating baseball as the Pirates lost to the Cubs 6–3 at Wrigley Field. Pirates rookie John Ericks fell to 3–9 after allowing 7 hits and 7 walks in 4 innings. Midre Cummings and Jay Bell each singled for the Pirates; Al Martin, Orlando Merced, Jeff King, Dave Clark, Carlos Garcia, and Don Slaught did not.
14 Years Ago
September 22, 1993
Pinch-hitter Dave Clark's 9th-inning 2-run homer tied a back-and-forth game against the New York Mets in Three Rivers Stadium, setting up a dramatic 6–5 loss in 10 innings. Reliever Joel Johnston lost his 4th game of the year, giving up a 2-run home run to the Mets' Charlie O'Brien in the 10th. The Mets also benefitted from a 2-run homer in the top of the 8th inning, hit by rookie right fielder Jeromy Burnitz.
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5 Comments:
This sequence will remain depressing to me until I finally manage to free myself from caring about Pittsburgh sports.
P.S. Go Steelers!
It would be interesting to identify the day that is most representative of the Pirates' 15 years of failure. I'd suggest a combination of criteria: most loses on that day over the past 15 years, with special weighting given to the longest string of losses in the immediate past.
Maybe on a four-variable matrix including awfulness in on-field performance, team leadership, clubhouse attitude, and high-level roster management.
An easier algorithm might be just looking up when Derek Bell threatened "Operation Shutdown," which pretty much summed up all four.
I think intangibles do need to be part of the calculus along with the raw number of losses on the calendar day. In that respect the Chris Young near-no-hitter would seem to put 9/22 way up on the list.
Wasn't Operation Shutdown a Spring Training thing, or at least an event early in the season? If so that might put Derek Bell Day at a disadvantage, since I'm pretty sure that in a few seasons since 1993 the Pirates' hopes weren't fully crushed as early as April.
I must say I like the idea of naming whatever day pops to the top in Jack's matrix as Derek Bell day. The season-quashing impact of that remark of his could happily sum up in title the Pirates' futility, and the chosen day's events could speak for themselves.
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