Dave Giusti, World Series Champion With Pirates Who Revolutionized Relief Pitching, Dies At 86
January 12, 2026
Dave Giusti, World Series Champion With Pirates Who Revolutionized Relief Pitching, Dies At 86
8 comments
Bruce Markusen’s “The Team That Changed Baseball” does a great job of placing Giusti’s role in the context of the 71 team.
Wow, his childhood best friend gave me a ride when I was in Southern Oregon this summer. He told me some fun stories about him.
He was getting recruited by an Ivy League school (I think Yale) and scouts told his best friend that if he could convince Dave to pitch for them, he’d get a full ride too.
Anytime Dave would pitch in San Diego, he’d get his friend some tickets to watch.
Clemente was a big reason why he became a Pirate. He told the GM that he thought he was really hard to hit against so they went out and got him.
😢
I want to school in Pittsburgh with his daughter. In the fourth grade Cynthia Guisti.
Dwight d eisenhower elementary upper s clair
September 19, 1974: Pirates entered the game 1.5 games behind the Cardinals, took an 8-6 lead into the ninth. Giusti quickly put the first two men in scoring position, then struck out Reggie Smith, Ted Simmons, and Joe Torre to end the game:
I think it was the most excited I ever heard Bob Prince call a game.Â
Earlier that season, it seemed Giusti may have been finished. Murtaugh found him a couple of starts to see if he could straighten things out if he was starting innings fresh. Giusti went 7 innings both times, gave up a total of two runs. He had a good year and a half left in him after that.
One of my favorites from that time along with Bob Robertson
Yesterday, I made a post on this sub about the original Green Weenie gimmick popularized by Bob Prince.
While Dave Giusti was most remembered for his role on the 1971 team, Dave was pitching for t​he Houston Astros in 1966. He was the original “hex” of the Green Weenie gimmick. He walked the batter he was facing and the Pirates ultimately won the game. RIP, Dave.
I’d love to know if he ever talked about that day (with Prince or anyone else) once he became a Pirate?
8 comments
Bruce Markusen’s “The Team That Changed Baseball” does a great job of placing Giusti’s role in the context of the 71 team.
Wow, his childhood best friend gave me a ride when I was in Southern Oregon this summer. He told me some fun stories about him.
He was getting recruited by an Ivy League school (I think Yale) and scouts told his best friend that if he could convince Dave to pitch for them, he’d get a full ride too.
Anytime Dave would pitch in San Diego, he’d get his friend some tickets to watch.
Clemente was a big reason why he became a Pirate. He told the GM that he thought he was really hard to hit against so they went out and got him.
😢
I want to school in Pittsburgh with his daughter. In the fourth grade Cynthia Guisti.
Dwight d eisenhower elementary upper s clair
September 19, 1974: Pirates entered the game 1.5 games behind the Cardinals, took an 8-6 lead into the ninth. Giusti quickly put the first two men in scoring position, then struck out Reggie Smith, Ted Simmons, and Joe Torre to end the game:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT197409190.shtml
I think it was the most excited I ever heard Bob Prince call a game.Â
Earlier that season, it seemed Giusti may have been finished. Murtaugh found him a couple of starts to see if he could straighten things out if he was starting innings fresh. Giusti went 7 innings both times, gave up a total of two runs. He had a good year and a half left in him after that.
One of my favorites from that time along with Bob Robertson
Yesterday, I made a post on this sub about the original Green Weenie gimmick popularized by Bob Prince.
While Dave Giusti was most remembered for his role on the 1971 team, Dave was pitching for t​he Houston Astros in 1966. He was the original “hex” of the Green Weenie gimmick. He walked the batter he was facing and the Pirates ultimately won the game. RIP, Dave.
I’d love to know if he ever talked about that day (with Prince or anyone else) once he became a Pirate?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Weenie
I got an autographed baseball with his sig from one of the charity bags years ago