June 1 Bucco History: The Eephus & Bob Veale's 16 K Night

Home cookin', a little nite ball, the ol' euphus, Veale whiffs 16, late rallies...

• 1901 - The Bucs lost to the Reds 4-3, following a disputed call by umpire Bert Cunningham, a pitcher whom the Pirates got in an offseason trade and then cut, ending his playing career and creating a bit of conflict of interest. Cunningham ruled Kitty Bransfield out at first, costing the Pirates the tying run, to end the game. 2,000 fans stormed the field at Exposition Park after the questionable call.
• 1939 - Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia in the Phillies’ first night game at Shibe Park, 5-2, as Rip Sewell took the W. The Bucs only had seven hits, but eight walks and a beaned batter gave them plenty of runners. Bill Brubaker homered while Paul Waner and Arky Vaughan scored the other four runs from the top of the order.
• 1943 - For the first time that we can find, Rip Sewell tossed the ol’ eephus in a MLB game during a 5-4 win against the Boston Braves at Forbes Field. He first unveiled it during the 1942 exhibition season against Detroit’s Dick Wakefield. The pitch went by the names blooper, LaLob, dew drop, moon ball and many other less flattering titles. It’s name legendary came from Pirate OF Maurice Van Robays, who said an "'Eephus ain't nothing, and that's a nothing pitch." It’s thought that his reference was from the Hebrew word "efes,” meaning "nothing.” The Bucs won the game thanks to Huck Geary and his 14th inning steal of home.
• 1965 - Bob Veale set the Pirate nine inning strikeout mark when he K'ed 16 Phillies at Forbes Field in a 4-0 victory. The five-hitter was the Bucs 12th consecutive win. The big lefty also struck out 16 Reds in 12 innings on September 30th, 1964.
• 1979 - The Pirates scored four times in the ninth inning to rally past the San Diego Padres 9-8 at TRS. Dave Parker cranked a one out, three run homer off John D'Acquisto to tie it, and Lee Lacy drew a bases loaded free pass with two away off Rollie Fingers for the win after Ed Ott had been intentionally walked before him. Phil Garner went 4-for-5 and scored twice for the Bucs.
• 2010 - Pittsburgh fell behind Chicago 2-0 on a two run, third inning blast by ex-Pirate Xavier Nady. A homer by Garrett Jones in the next frame halved the deficit and an eighth inning blast over the left center by Neil Walker with Cutch on ahead of him gave Joel Hanrahan a 3-2 win over the Cubs at PNC Park. Octavio Dotel earned the save for his set-up man and future Buc closer Hanny.