{"id":112082,"date":"2026-01-12T15:37:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T20:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=112082"},"modified":"2026-01-13T14:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T19:48:11","slug":"dave-giusti-1970s-pirates-relief-ace-passes-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/01\/12\/dave-giusti-1970s-pirates-relief-ace-passes-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Giusti, 1970s Pirates Relief Ace, Passes Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/giustda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dave Giusti<\/a>, ace relief pitcher during the Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 early 1970s dominance over the National League East Division, has died. He was 86 years of age. His passing on Sunday was confirmed by the Pirates on Monday morning on behalf of his family.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Pirates pitcher Dave Giusti.<\/p>\n<p>Dave spent seven of his 15 big league seasons with the Pirates and was an important member of the 1971 World Championship team as he led the NL in saves that year with 30.<\/p>\n<p>After his playing\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SwtkJ1zdaZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/SwtkJ1zdaZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pirates\/status\/2010750437331268050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 12, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Dave Giusti, Pirates Relief Ace, Has Died<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Giusti pitched for the Houston Colt 45\u2019s\/Astros (1962-68), who signed him for a $30,000 bonus after he graduated from Syracuse, St. Louis Cardinals (1969), Pirates (1970-76), Oakland Athletics (1977), and Chicago Cubs (1977). For his career, he was 100-93 with 145 saves, a 3.60 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 1.296 WHIP, and 95 ERA+ while accumulating 16.1 WAR in 668 games, 133 of which were starts.<\/p>\n<p>But he\u2019s best known for his time with the Pirates, when he was their accidental ace relief pitcher (before they were called \u201cclosers\u201d) as they won the NL East in five of his seven years, including a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/21\/ohtani-judge-world-series-clemente-robinson\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">World Series championship in 1971<\/a>. With Pittsburgh, he became the answer to several trivia questions. He was the last relief pitcher to be credited with a win at Forbes Field, the last pitcher to record a save at Forbes Field, the first Pirates pitcher to earn a win at Three Rivers Stadium, and the first pitcher to earn a save in a World Series night game.<\/p>\n<h2>Early Years<\/h2>\n<p>At Syracuse, Giusti\u2019s pitching coach, former major league pitcher <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kleinte01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ted Kleinhans<\/a>, taught him to throw the \u201cpalm ball,\u201d a changeup held deep in the palm. This would become a key weapon in Giusti&#8217;s professional career.<\/p>\n<p>Most of Giusti\u2019s starts (118) came with Houston, for whom he was 47-53 with a 4.02 ERA. However, during his time with Houston, they never finished higher than eighth in the NL. Thus, he was happy to be dealt to the defending NL champion Cardinals after the 1968 season in a deal that brought catcher <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edwarjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Johnny Edwards<\/a> to Houston. His time with Houston wasn\u2019t a total loss, however. It was there that general manager <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/richapa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Richards<\/a> insisted Giusti rely on his palm ball more, despite the pitcher\u2019s stubborn insistence that his fastball was his best pitch.<\/p>\n<p>Any hopes Giusti had of playing for a winner seemed to have died three days after St. Louis acquired him. That\u2019s because Cardinals GM Bing Devine gambled and left Giusti unprotected in October\u2019s 1968 expansion draft. In the draft, the San Diego Padres selected Giusti from the Cardinals. Giusti wasn\u2019t happy about it. \u201cWithout downgrading San Diego, the expansion clubs figure to have even more trouble than Houston,\u201d he told Bob Broeg of the <em>St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em>, \u201cand I was depressed about starting over again.\u201d However, Giusti was back with the Cardinals before he even had a chance to fill out his W-4 form for the Padres. They reacquired him during the winter meetings, sending <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/breedda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Danny Breeden<\/a>, <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=davisro02,davis-006ron,davisro01&amp;search=Ron+Davis&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ron Davis<\/a>, <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/spiezed01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ed Spiezio<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=knuckl001phi\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philip Knuckles<\/a> to the Padres. Knuckles never pitched in the majors. Unfortunately, we can\u2019t confirm that he threw a knuckleball, which would have been appropriate.<\/p>\n<h2>The Accidental Relief Ace<\/h2>\n<p>After a year in St. Louis, the Cardinals traded Giusti and catcher\/former <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/10\/21\/pittsburgh-products-starred-in-both-baseball-and-basketball\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">college basketball star<\/a> <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rickeda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dave Ricketts<\/a> to the Pirates for <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tayloca01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carl Taylor<\/a> and Frank Vanzin. It was the only offseason trade made by Pirates GM Joe L. Brown for the 1970 Bucs. Manager <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murtada01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Danny Murtaugh<\/a> planned to use Giusti as a \u201cswing man\u201d \u2013 a reliever and spot starter. Giusti made it clear that he wanted to be a regular member of the starting rotation. Murtaugh was open to the idea, provided Giusti pitched well in spring training.<\/p>\n<p>Giusti was terrible during the spring training games. After a rough outing against the Chicago White Sox in his final spring exhibition game, the headline in the <em>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/em> read, \u201cBrown\u2019s Trade A Flop \u2013 So Far.\u201d Giusti told Charley Feeney of the <em>Post-Gazette<\/em> that he\u2019d always been a good spring pitcher. \u201cI can\u2019t understand it,\u201d said Giusti. \u201cI feel in good shape. My arm feels good. But I just haven\u2019t been able to do anything right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Giusti\u2019s misfortune was the Pirates\u2019 \u2013 and his \u2013 gain. In the season\u2019s 10th game, Giusti was brought in for the seventh inning to protect a 3-1 lead against the Astros at Forbes Field. He was sharp, and Murtaugh let him finish the game to earn his first save as a Pirate. The rest, as they say, is history. A star reliever was born. Giusti saved 26 games in 1970 while receiving consideration for the NL\u2019s <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngcy01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cy Young<\/a> and Most Valuable Player Awards.<\/p>\n<h2>A World Series Champion and Award Winner<\/h2>\n<p>In 1971, Giusti earned an NL-leading 30 saves for the eventual World Series champion Pirates. For that, he won the NL\u2019s Fireman of the Year Award from <em>The Sporting News<\/em>. He finished all four games in the NL Championship Series against the San Francisco, recording two saves. He wasn\u2019t needed much to put out fires in the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, thanks to two complete game victories by <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/blassst01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Blass<\/a> and another by <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brilene01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nelson Briles<\/a>. But he earned a save in Game 4, the first night game in World Series history.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Agony of Defeat<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Giusti picked up 22 more saves for the Pirates in 1972. Many observers believe the 1972 Pirates were their best team of the 1970s, even better than the World Series winners of 1971 and 1979. The 1972 Pirates finished 96-59 in a season shortened by a players\u2019 strike at the beginning of the season. Alas, chances for Giusti and the Pirates to repeat as world champions died with one bad inning in the Championship Series against the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>The Pirates were winning the deciding Game 5, 3-2, when Giusti entered the ninth inning to protect the lead. He surrendered a long, opposite-field home run to leadoff hitter <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/benchjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Johnny Bench<\/a>. After giving up two more hits without recording an out, manager <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/virdobi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bill Virdon<\/a> turned to starter <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moosebo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bob Moose<\/a>. With runners on first and third, Moose uncorked The Wild Pitch Heard \u2018Round the World. The Reds, not the Pirates, were on their way to the World Series. Giusti, who was said to take defeat harder than any Pirate, wasn\u2019t available to the media afterward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought Giusti had good stuff,\u201d said Virdon to Bob Smizik of <em>The Pittsburgh Press<\/em>. \u201cBench got a pitch that was up and hit it out. That upset him. Then he tried to rush and got a little wild. I had to get a strike thrower in there. But Dave Giusti doesn\u2019t have anything to apologize for.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The End of a Career<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Giusti continued to pitch effectively from 1973-75. He had his worst year as a Pirate in 1976, when the team\u2019s run of success ended with a second-place finish. In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov\/digital-research-room\/topic-guides\/american-bicentennial-celebration#event-number-1498\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bicentennial year<\/a>, Giusti posted a 4.32 ERA and six saves. Eventually, he lost his job as the Pirates\u2019 top relief pitcher to <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tekulke01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kent Tekulve<\/a>, who would become another <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/01\/27\/relief-pitchers-left-hall-of-fame\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">unlikely hero<\/a> out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n<p>Brown and Murtaugh retired at the end of the 1976 season. There were signs that the good times were coming to an end in 1975, but they were overly loyal to certain players who were part of the 1971 champs and reluctant to dismantle the team. Their replacements, GM <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/peterha01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hardy Peterson<\/a> and manager <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tannech01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chuck Tanner<\/a>, had no such loyalty. In the spring of 1977, Giusti was one of six players Peterson traded to Oakland to obtain <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garneph01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-01-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Phil Garner<\/a>, an All-Star second baseman during Tanner\u2019s lone year there. As a \u201cten-and-five\u201d man, Giusti had the right to veto the trade. He accepted the deal anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Giusti pitched well in Oakland, posting a 2.98 ERA and six saves in 40 games. Even so, the A\u2019s sold him to the Cubs in August. With Chicago, he struggled, recording a 6.04 ERA and 1.737 WHIP. Blass, his best friend on the Pirates, saw Giusti struggle on TV, as told in Blass\u2019s book, <em>A Pirate for Life<\/em>. Blass decided to fly to Chicago to be there for his buddy. Unfortunately, a night of binge drinking between friends did nothing to help Giusti\u2019s pitching. His career was over when the Cubs released him in November.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>Said Pirates principal owner Bob Nutting in a statement, \u201cWe are saddened by the loss of such a beloved member of the Pirates family. He was a vital member of our World Series-winning team in 1971 and spent seven of his 15 big league seasons with the Pirates before eventually making Pittsburgh his home. We extend our sincere condolences to his wife, Ginny, his daughters, Laura and Cynthia, and the entire Giusti family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mandatory Photo Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dave Giusti, ace relief pitcher during the Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 early 1970s dominance over the National League East Division, has died. He was 86 years of age. His passing on Sunday was confirmed by the Pirates on Monday morning on behalf of his family. We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Pirates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":102043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1071,35],"tags":[5120,6208,28324,2074,4702,2327],"class_list":["post-112082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-mlb","category-news","tag-bill-virdon","tag-bob-nutting","tag-danny-murtaugh","tag-johnny-bench","tag-phil-garner","tag-steve-blass"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112082"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112125,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112082\/revisions\/112125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}