Apr 21, 2019 8 min read

The dark and damp weather made for a gloomy Sunday afternoon at Three Rivers Stadium back on April 21, 1991.

When the Pittsburgh Pirates, after rallying to tie the Chicago Cubs in the ninth inning, allowed five runs in the top of the 11th inning, the day and the mood was even darker.

But not even the Cubs’ five-run lead could rain on the Pirates’ parade of hits in the bottom of the inning that led to an unthinkable six-run rally – the largest extra-innings comeback in Major League Baseball history – that gave the Pirates a shocking 13-12 victory. The win brightened the day, and the team’s early season fortunes, immeasurably.

While Chicago was all wet, Pirates manager Jim Leyland fought back a steady stream of tears that flowed from the skipper’s eyes because of the great pride he had in his club and its grit to battle back from what seemed a certain defeat.

In his postgame interview, Leyland talked about his pride in the effort put forth and in his team in general.

Never one to hold back his emotions, Leyland clearly appreciated the effort as much as the victory itself.

“I’m kind of an emotional guy,” Leyland said. “But I just like people who go out and play hard.

“Some people get down on our guys because of the salaries and the outside stuff. These guys proved to the world today they’re special individuals.”

No one had ever done it like that before. Only one time has it happened since, when the Arizona Diamondbacks scored six runs in the bottom of the 10th to upend the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6, Sept. 27, 2011.

To say the least, the Pirates’ comeback was special. What it certainly showed is that the 1991 Pirates were not going to be satisfied by winning the 1990 National League East Division championship and losing in the NL Championship Series to Cincinnati. Pittsburgh was looking to repeat. The Pirates were hungry for more and probably had their best team since the 1979 World Series champions.

The Pirates had won just seven of their first 12 games in 1991. Talk of them being flukes in 1990 was prevalent. They lost Wally Bachman, Sid Bream, Rafael Belliard and R.J. Reynolds from the 1990 team.

But general manager Larry Doughty successfully re-signed free agents Zane Smith, Gary Redus and Don Slaught, and acquired third baseman Steve Buechele from Texas before September.

The extra-inning win over the Cubs was a profound statement.

The game introduced first baseman Orlando Merced to the team. He was inserted as the leadoff batter in his MLB debut.

The game was pivotal in so many ways but, most importantly, it crystallized the team’s resolve to win a second consecutive NL East division title and make a return to the postseason.

Said Redus about the game and the season: “That’s the way we are. Like (Leyland) always says, ‘If you play hard, and for nine innings, you always have a chance.'”

The Pirates had to rally twice from five-run deficits to beat Chicago that day. The Cubs took a 7-2 lead with a four-run eighth inning, roughing up Neal Heaton and Mark Huisman.

Pittsburgh answered with four runs of its own in the bottom of the inning as Jose Lind singled, Lloyd McClendon walked, and Merced hit a triple. With two out, Bobby Bonilla hit a two-run home run to make it 7-6.

The Pirates tied it in the ninth. Jeff King hit a leadoff single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Slaught. After Lind flew out, pinch-hitter Gary Varsho delivered a game-tying double to right field.

Long-time MLB and Pirates beat reporter, John Perrotto, said one of the most incredible aspects of the game was that the Pirates were basically out of it going to the bottom of the eighth.

“When you think about it, they were dead in the water in the eighth inning,” said Perrotto, who currently covers the Pirates and MLB for dkpittsburghsports.com. “I firmly believe there is a point in every season where you find out whether you’re championship caliber or not. The Pirates knew that day, even though they were a little bit of a different team from 1990, that they were championship caliber.”

Perrotto, who is in his 32nd year covering big-league baseball, said the game would rank in the top five that he has ever covered.

“I’m not good with rankings but that game was pretty amazing.”

It was “Memorial Day all over again.”

That’s the phrase then-Pirates’ play-by-play man, Lanny Frattare, used in describing the end of the game.

He was referring to a five-run, ninth-inning, comeback the Pirates made on the Los Angeles Dodgers the previous season.

But this one was even better.

“That was a great win (Memorial Day win in 1990), but nothing compared to this,” center fielder Andy Van Slyke said. “It was like taking that game and doing it twice. That was a routine win compared to this one. This one was incredible.”

Reliever Bill Landrum, who pitched in the 1991 game, said: “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. It was the ultimate comeback.”

The game was played in a steady rain. It was damp and cold, with temperatures in the low 40s. The attendance was 10,860. Not half that number of fans remained to the exciting and stunning end.

The Cubs took the lead in the 11th when Doug Dascenzo, a Brownsville High School product, broke the 7-7 tie with an RBI single. Dascenzo had been 0-for-13 in the four-game series prior to his hit.

Hall of Fame outfielder Andre Dawson followed with a grand slam, his second in three games against the Pirates. But like two days before, when Dawson hit a dramatic grand slam to give Chicago a 4-3 lead, the Cubs watched the Pirates rally for victory.

Dawson’s blast in the 11th prompted legendary Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray to boast gleefully: “And the Cubs have put this one away.”

Relief pitcher Heathcliff Slocumb walked Lind to open the bottom of the 11th. Curtis Wilkerson and Merced followed with singles. Jay Bell, who was hitless in the game, greeted Mike Bielecki – who relieved Slocumb – with a two-run double. It was 12-9.

Van Slyke hit a sacrifice fly to make it 12-10. Bonilla walked. Barry Bonds, who had struck out four times in the game, singled to drive in Bell. 12-11.

Redus drew a pinch-hit walk to load the bases. Slaught came to the plate looking to finish off the rally and provide the knockout punch to Chicago.

Slaught hit a long fly ball to center that somehow made its way over the head of the Cubs’ Jerome Walton. Bonilla scored and Bonds raced home with the lucky 13th run.

Game over.

“I’ve never seen a game like it in my life,” said Slaught, who scored the winning run in the comeback against the Dodgers. “It would have been hard to do that against a batting practice pitcher.”

The victory spoke to the Pirates’ toughness, their confidence and grit.

“They had a lot of tough guys, but good guys,” Perrotto said. “You look at some of the people on that team like Varsho, McClendon, Wilkerson and others who had to scratch and claw for everything they got. Slaught was kind of the thinking man’s player. They were mentally tough as a group.

“You go up and down the lineup, it was just a tough group. A lot of that came from the manager. He was firm when he had to be, and he instilled confidence. Leyland played everybody and he put people in position to be the hero when it was on the line. The players trusted him and believed in him.

“That game reminded me of a Spring Training B-game on a back field. You could hear the players on the field while sitting in the press box, which was on the third level. It was an unforgettable game.”

The Pirates went on to win their second straight division title. They fell short of the World Series losing to the upstart Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, dropping the last two games at home.

While the end was disappointing, the extra-inning comeback win over the Cubs 38 years ago will live forever.

“They bust their butts, every minute on the field,” Leyland said. “How else can you account for a win like this?”

Said Redus: “Twice we were down and out of it. It shows great character.”

Indeed it did.