Atlanta Braves third baseman Terry Pendleton, who hit .319 with 22 home runs and 86 RBI, wins the National League MVP Award. Pendleton surprisingly out-distances runner-up Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Barry Bonds (.292, 25, 116).
Special Memory or Event? Want to have some fun? Advertise your business? Dedicate this page On October 17, 1991, the Atlanta Braves win their first National League pennant since their move from Milwaukee. John Smoltz pitches a complete game, six-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0, Brian Hunter’s two-run home run in the 1st…
1991 – Howard Johnson of the Mets strokes his 37th home run of the season to set a new National League record for switch-hitters, in New York’s 10 – 8 loss to Pittsburgh. Johnson himself had set the previous mark in 1987. He will finish the year with 38 homers and 117 RBIs, becoming the first switch-hitter to lead the NL in driving home runs.
1991 – Rookie Jeff Bagwell hits only the ninth upper-deck home run at Three Rivers Stadium, a 456-foot pinch-hit poke in a 6-4 victory over Pittsburgh. Steve Finley follows with a two-run shot for the winning margin.
1991 – In the greatest extra-inning comeback in major league history, the Pittsburgh Pirates score six runs in the bottom of the 11th inning to erase a five-run Cubs lead built in the top of the inning on Andre Dawson’s grand slam. The Pirates had rallied earlier from a 7 – 2 deficit to tie the game in the 9th.
Being named first on 23 of 24 of the writer’s ballots cast by the writers with the other first-place vote cast for teammate Bobby Bonilla, Pirates’ outfielder Barry Bonds (.301, 23, 114) easily wins the National League Most Valuable Player Award. The future all-time home run king will win an unprecedented seven MVPs, five while playing with the Giants.
On June 24, 1989, Vince Coleman of the St. Louis Cardinals in a 5 – 2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, sets a major league record by stealing his 39th and 40th consecutive bases without being caught. Coleman, who has not been caught since September 15 of 1988, breaks the record set by Davey Lopes…
1989 – The Pittsburgh Pirates send 16 batters to the plate in the 1st inning against the Philadelphia Phillies, taking a 10 – 0 lead in Pittsburgh’s best inning since September 1942) on ten hits, including a three-run home run by Barry Bonds. Pittsburgh leaves the bases loaded. Announcer Jim Rooker crows that if the Pirates lose this game, he’ll walk back to Pittsburgh. Von Hayes and Steve Jeltz answer Rooker with a pair of home runs each and ten RBI. After six innings the game is 11 – 10. The Phillies explode for five runs in the 8th to make the final, 15 – 11. Rooker will make good on his promise after the season, when he conducts a charity walk from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, raising money for a children’s hospital.
On May 14, 1989, Benny Distefano of the Pittsburgh Pirates becomes the first lefthanded catcher to appear in a major league game in nine years. Distefano comes in to catch the ninth inning of a game against the Atlanta Braves. In 1980, Mike Squires, a lefthanded throwing first baseman, went behind the plate…
On a frigid Sunday afternoon, Rick Sutcliffe adds to the wind chill, striking out 11 batters in the Cubs’ 8-3 win over Pittsburgh. Despite a temperature of 33 degrees, along with a stiff breeze making it feel like eight above, 11,387 fans brave the elements to watch the right-hander’s complete-game effort at Wrigley Field.