Wednesday, August 26, 2015

8/26: Brian Giles Trade; Big Poison's Big Days; Easy As Pie; Knuckler Duel; Big Frames

  • 1892 - The Bucs mauled the Philadelphia Phils 11-3 at Exposition Park. Elmer “Mike” Smith, Doggie Miller and Jake Beckley led the way with a pair of hits each. Smith, usually an OF’er, was the pitcher (he appeared in 17 games, starting 13), and per the Pittsburg Press, the “(Phils Ed) Delahanty found a package of lard in centerfield and the Phillies tried to work up a story that the ball had been greased...” The Pirates pleaded innocent, and the game stood.
  • 1912 - In a doubleheader split against Boston at Forbes Field, Chief Wilson collected three triples. He finished the year with 36, which is still the league standard.
  • 1926 - Paul Waner went 6-for-6 with two doubles and a triple as the Pirates beat the New York Giants 15-7 at Forbes Field. He used six different bats to collect the hits. Pie Traynor and George Grantham each had three hits; Traynor and Johnny Rawlings added three RBI apiece.
  • 1927 - The Boston Braves defeated the Pirates‚ 6-4 at Braves Field. Paul Waner‚ who went 4-for-4 the day before‚ started off with three more consecutive hits off two Brave pitchers before ending his streak at seven.

Paul Waner 1960 Fleer series
  • 1934 - Chester Williams of the Pittsburgh Crawfords led the East with three hits in the East-West Negro League All-Star game at Comiskey Park. The East won 1-0 in front of 30,000 fans when Jud Wilson drove in Cool Papa Bell in the eighth inning, giving Crawford Satchel Paige the win.
  • 1935 - Player-manager Pie Traynor blasted a grand slam and ended the day with five hits and six RBI as the Bucs battered the NY Giants 10-2 at the Polo Grounds. Woody Jensen and Tom Padden also homered to smooth the path for Ralph Birkofer’s win.
  • 1947 - The Pirates scored four times each in the first and second innings and added seven more in the fifth as they rolled over the Brooklyn Dodgers 16-3 at Ebbet’s Field. Wally Westlake homered, doubled, and drove home five runs as Billy Cox and Culley Rikard added long balls. Ralph Kiner went 5-for-5 with a walk and Frank Gustine added four hits to help Fritz Ostermueller cruise to victory. Brooklyn’s Dan Bankhead, via the Negro League Memphis Red Sox, became the first black pitcher to work an MLB game when he came on in relief of Hal Gregg. The Bucs beat him up on the hill, scoring eight runs in his 3-1/3 frames, though he did swat a two run homer in his first big league at-bat to help even out his rough debut.
Culley Rikard (image via Baseball in Wartime)
  • 1951 - The Pirates scored eight runs in the seventh frame to overcome a 9-2 fifth inning deficit and rally past the Dodgers‚ 12-11, at Ebbet’s Field in the opener of a twin set. Pete Castiglione and Bill Howerton had three RBI each to lead the comeback. The club dropped the nitecap 4-3 in 10 innings.
  • 1975 - The first eight Pirates hit safely against the Braves’ Jamie Easterly and Ray Sadecki before P Larry Demery flied out‚ tying the MLB record. The Buc scored six runs on their way to an 8-2 victory at TRS.
  • 1992 - Pirate rookie Tim Wakefield defeated Tom Candiotti of the Dodgers 2-0 in the first matchup of knuckleballers in the NL since 1982 when Phil Niekro and Joe Niekro faced off in a Braves-Astros game. Wakefield scattered six hits for the victory. Jose Lind provided the offensive spark with a pair of hits, an RBI and a run scored.
  • 2003 - The Pirates shipped Brian Giles to San Diego for Jason Bay, Ollie Perez, and Corey Stewart. Pittsburgh had wanted Xavier Nady in the deal, but SD refused and threw in Bay instead. He worked out pretty well, as Bay ended up the NL Rookie of the Year in 2004 and the Bucs reeled in the X-Man in 2006.
Brian Giles 2002 Topps series
  • 2014 - Gerrit Cole pitched six no-hit innings at PNC Park, but a seventh inning St. Louis rally tied the score at 2-2. Things looked bleak when both Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez left the game with injuries soon after, but Ike Davis brightened up the room in the eighth. With Gaby Sanchez and Starling Marte aboard, he crushed a two out, two strike change up from Seth Maness off the back fence in right center 442’ away to lead the Pirates to a 5-2 win. Tony Watson got the win and Mark Melancon earned a save.

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