On this date
Oct. 2
1920 – The major league’s last tripleheader is played in Pittsburgh between the Pirates and Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati wins the first two games and Pittsburgh wins the finale, which is shortened to six innings.
1965 – Allen McCune passes for five touchdowns and runs for another score as West Virginia outscores Pitt, 63-48, in one of the highest-scoring games in the Backyard Brawl series. West Virginia gains 624 yards.
1970 – Mark Kurinczak scores on a two-yard run late in the fourth quarter and John Chambers throws a two-point conversion pass to Tony Mayer to give Carmichaels a 16-14 victory over visiting Frazier.
1974 – Manny Sanguillen’s infield single in the 10th inning scores Al Oliver with the winning run as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 and win the National League East Division championship. The Pirates trail 4-2 entering the ninth inning and tie the score when Chicago catcher Steve Swisher turns a game-ending strikeout into a run-scoring passed ball. The ninth inning is delayed several times by rowdy Pittsburgh fans, who toss whiskey bottles onto the Three Rivers Stadium field.
1979 – Willie Stargell hits a three-run homer off Cincinnati reliever Tom Hume in the top of the 10th inning to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Riverfront Stadium.
1985 – The Galbreath family sells the Pittsburgh Pirates to a private-public investor group headed by Pittsburgh mayor Richard Caliguri, Malcolm Prine and Carl Barger.