Dave Giusti Marquee

b. November 27, 1939 · Houston Colt .45's 1962, 1964, Houston Astros 1965–1968, St. Louis Cardinals 1969, Pittsburgh Pirates 1970–1976, Oakland Athletics 1977, Chicago Cubs 1977

He started 133 games in his twenties for Houston and St. Louis and was not much good at it, and Pittsburgh made him a relief pitcher at thirty. In 1971 he saved 30 games with a 2.93 earned run average and the Pirates won the World Series; he saved three games in that postseason.

The pitch was a palmball, gripped deep in the hand and thrown with a fastball motion, which almost nobody else threw. Fifteen seasons gave him 145 saves, 100 wins and a 3.60 earned run average across 1,716 innings.

He saved 20 or more in four straight seasons for Pittsburgh clubs that won five divisions in six years. He had a master's degree and taught school in the offseasons early on. He died in January 2026, at eighty-six.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	1	1973
The Sporting News Fireman of the Year	1	1971

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1962	HOU	26	24	3	7	1	0	0	1	2	7	.292
1964	HOU	8	7	1	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	.286
1965	HOU	38	35	2	6	1	0	1	7	2	8	.171
1966	HOU	41	74	5	17	6	0	0	9	3	24	.230
1967	HOU	43	84	8	13	0	1	3	10	2	18	.155
1968	HOU	38	82	4	15	1	0	0	9	1	17	.183
1969	STL	22	25	1	5	1	0	0	1	3	6	.200
1970	PIT	66	16	1	3	0	1	0	3	3	6	.188
1971	PIT	58	17	1	1	0	0	0	2	1	4	.059
1972	PIT	54	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	.000
1973	PIT	67	13	1	4	0	0	0	1	1	1	.308
1974	PIT	64	9	0	1	0	0	0	2	1	1	.111
1975	PIT	61	10	2	3	0	0	0	1	1	2	.300
1976	PIT	40	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
1977	CHC/OAK	60	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Career	—	686	412	29	77	10	2	4	46	23	99	.187

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1962	HOU	2	3	22	5	0	73.2	82	46	30	43	5.62
1964	HOU	0	0	8	0	0	25.2	24	9	8	16	3.16
1965	HOU	8	7	38	13	3	131.1	132	63	46	92	4.32
1966	HOU	15	14	34	33	0	210.0	215	98	54	131	4.20
1967	HOU	11	15	37	33	1	221.2	231	103	58	157	4.18
1968	HOU	11	14	37	34	1	251.0	226	89	67	186	3.19
1969	STL	3	7	22	12	0	99.2	96	40	37	62	3.61
1970	PIT	9	3	66	1	26	103.0	98	35	39	85	3.06
1971	PIT	5	6	58	0	30	86.0	79	28	31	55	2.93
1972	PIT	7	4	54	0	22	74.2	59	16	20	54	1.93
1973	PIT	9	2	67	0	20	98.2	89	26	37	64	2.37
1974	PIT	7	5	64	2	12	105.2	101	39	40	53	3.32
1975	PIT	5	4	61	0	17	91.2	79	30	42	38	2.95
1976	PIT	5	4	40	0	6	58.1	59	28	27	24	4.32
1977	CHC/OAK	3	5	60	0	7	85.2	84	37	34	43	3.89
Career	—	100	93	668	133	145	1716.2	1654	687	570	1103	3.60

On this day & linked events

1939

Born November 27, 1939

Seneca Falls, NY, USA

2026

Died January 11, 2026

1962

Major-league debut: Dave Giusti

Dave Giusti made a major-league debut on April 13, 1962.

1977

Final major-league game: Dave Giusti

Dave Giusti played a final major-league game on September 27, 1977.

Image: Houston Astros / Major League Baseball, public domain