Apr 15, 2021 4 min read

ON THIS DATE

April 17

1955 – Roberto Clemente, a 20-year-old rookie from Carolina, Puerto Rico, makes his major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates in right field at Forbes Field.

1959 – Trinity High School’s Mark Opatt throws a no-hitter and strikes out 12 in the Hillers’ 5-0 baseball victory over host Canonsburg.

1964 – The New York Mets lose their first game at Shea Stadium, to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3. Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell hits the first homer at Shea and scores the winning run on a ninth-inning single by Bill Mazeroski.

1978 – Joe Montana, who quarterbacked Notre Dame to college football’s national championship, is named the Observer-Reporter Sports Headliner.

1991 – John Smiley pitches a one-hitter and Jeff King hits a two-run homer to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-0 win over the New York Mets. Kevin McReynolds’ one-out double in the second inning is the only Mets hit. Smiley retires the final 23 Mets in order.

1999 – The Pittsburgh Steelers select Louisiana Tech wide receiver Troy Edwards with the 13th pick in the NFL draft.

1999 – Trinity’s Ben Junko wins two long-distance races and takes second in the 800 but Canon-McMillan wins the boys team title at theWashington-Greene County Coaches Track Meet.

2005 – Winning pitcher Danielle Claassen tosses a two-hitter and J.C. Timko smacks a double and triple as Chartiers-Houston (8-0) remains undefeated with a 3-1 win over West Greene in Section 2-A. It is West Greene’s first section loss.

2006 – Sidney Crosby scores three assists in Pittsburgh’s 6-1 win over the New York Islanders to become the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season. The 18-year-old becomes the seventh NHL rookie to reach the 100-point mark.

April 18

1950 – The first opening day night game is held in St. Louis. The Cardinals, behind a complete game by Gerry Staley and home runs from Red Schoendienst and Stan Musial, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2.

1952 – Donora’s Irving Peatross runs the 100-yard dash in 9.9 seconds to equal the WPIAL record in the Dragons’ dual meet against Charleroi.

1968 – Connie Hawkins scores 39 points as the Pittsburgh Pipers win the opening game of the ABA’s best-of-7 championship series, 120-112, over the New Orleans Buccaneers at the Civic Arena.

1977 – Jack Cox is promoted to head football coach at Peters Township High School.

1979 – Philadelphia’s Greg Luzinski becomes the first visiting player to hit an upper-deck home run at Three Rivers Stadium. Luzinski hits a 483-foot homer to the left-field seats off the Pirates’ Don Robinson.

1982 – Super Bowl XVI MVP Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers returns to Washington County and receives the Observer-Reporter Sports Headliner Award at the 28th Annual Knights of Columbus Coach of the Year Banquet at the Washington Elks Lodge.

1987 – Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt hits his 500th home run with two outs in the ninth to rally the Phillies to an 8-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium.

1989 – Duquesne University hires John Carroll as its basketball coach. Carroll spent the previous seven seasons as the top assistant at Seton Hall.

1999 – Wayne Gretzky ends his NHL career at Madison Square Garden with an assist, setting up a second-period goal as his New York Rangers fall to Pittsburgh 2-1 in overtime. Before the game, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announces the league is retiring No. 99 in honor of “The Great One.”

2008 – Darcie Vincent, who coached California University’s women’s basketball team to 212 wins and one NCAA Division II national championship in eight seasons, resigns to take the head coaching job at Appalachian State.

2018 – Chartiers-Houston scores eight runs in the bottom fo the fourth inning and then holds off defending Class A state champion West Greene for a 13-11 victory in a non-section softball game. Ella Brookman hits a three-run homer for C-H in its big inning.

2018 – Pittsburgh legend and profesisonal wrestling great Bruno Sammartino dies at age 82.