This Pasco native won 2 World Series rings. His friends and the Pittsburgh Pirates are mourning him

It's been 50 years since Phil Jones took a Bruce Kison fastball to the ribs, but he still can remember how much it hurt.

"I was hitting hitting third, and he'd gotten the first two guys out," recalled Jones, who was a junior at Richland High School at the time. "He had this heat-seeking fastball and he just drilled me in the ribs. For a month afterward, I had a greenish bruise with the laces on it. I got to first base and he just looked over at me and gave me this big grin."

Kison, a 1968 graduate of Pasco High School, died Saturday in Bradenton, Fla. He was 68. He was diagnosed with renal cancer in February.

"Today, the Pirates mourn the loss of our good friend and alumni," Pirates president Frank Coonelly said in a statement that was released Saturday. "Bruce was a large part of those great 1970s Pirates teams."

Kison was taken in the 14th round of the 1968 major league draft by the Pirates. He made his major league debut on the Fourth of July, 1971.

He played 15 years in the majors, winning two World Series titles with the Pirates in 1971 and 1979. He finished his career with a 115-88 record and a 3.66 ERA, pitching for the Pirates (1971-79), the California Angels (1980-84) and the Boston Red Sox (1985).

In game 4 of the 1971 World Series against Baltimore, he threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings of one-hit relief as a rookie, and was the first pitcher to win a night game in World Series history.

"Phil (Jones) and I were in college at WSU watching that game," said former Richland player and Hall of Fame coach Ben Jacobs. "We were proud of him. We were telling everyone we played against him in high school. He had a sidearm delivery and he came over from the right side of the rubber. He threw harder than anyone in the league.

"I never got a hit off of him."

After retiring as a player after the 1985 season, Kison served as a minor league pitching instructor for the Pirates, was the Kansas City Royals pitching coach from 1994-98, and later worked as a scout for Baltimore until he retired in December.

Fred Cambria pitched with Kison in 1970 when they were with the Triple-A Columbus Jets, and remained good friends throughout the years.

"He was terrific from the minute he came up," said Cambria, who later in his career spent two seasons as the pitching coach for the Spokane Indians. "He was a great competitor, he was a bulldog on the mound, and he was a great friend."

"People always talk about his ability to pitch, but when we inducted him into the Hall of Fame at Pasco, I talked to some of the guys he worked with," said John Morgan, who was one of Kison's catchers in high school. "They said he would coach you and work with you. He was a really good teacher."

Though Morgan was on Kison's team, he also took his share of punishment from the 6-foot-4 right-hander, who threw three no-hitters his senior year.

"My hand would swell up after catching Bruce," said Morgan, who was a year behind Kison at Pasco. "You would have a bone bruise on your palm. It was fun to play with him. You were happy to play on his team and not have to bat against him."

Morgan and Kison played baseball together since they were youngsters, and said he always was competitive.

"He threw harder than anyone else in high school, even when I coached," Morgan said. "I remember guys stepping out of the box before the ball even got there. It wasn't easy to catch him."

Kison was one of seven people inducted into the Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame's 2001 class, along with Richland coach Art Dewald and NFL player Clint Didier of Connell.

Kison is survived by his wife Anna Marie, son Robbie, daughter Jennifer Kison Goedde, four grandchildren, and brother Paul of Pasco.

A service will be held June 16 at the Bridge Church in Bradenton.

This story was originally published June 4, 2018 at 6:59 PM with the headline "This Pasco native won 2 World Series rings. His friends and the Pittsburgh Pirates are mourning him."