July 12: Birthdays, All-Star Game, Cordova/Rincon No Hitter and More...

Birthdays, All-Star Game, Cordova/Rincon No Hitter and More...

• 1894 - Lee Meadows was born in Oxford, NC. The righty spent the last seven seasons (1923-29) of his 15 year career with the Pirates, going 88-52/3.50 for the Pirates. He was hardly used his last two seasons, but in the first five was a workhorse, leading the NL with 20 wins in 1926 and winning 19 games twice. Meadows was part of two World Series teams, the winning 1925 club and the losing 1927 squad.
• 1902 - Jack Chesbro pitched a five hit shutout and struck out 11 Giants to beat Christy Mathewson, 4-0 at Exposition Park. The Buccos lost five straight runners via baserunning errors. With two outs in the third, Ginger Beaumont was on second base and was tossed out trying to advance to third on a grounder to short. In the fourth, Honus Wagner led off with a triple, but was thrown out at the plate on Kitty Bransfield's grounder to first; Bransfield was then caught trying to steal second. Claude Ritchey drew a walk and got picked off first. Jimmy Burke led off the fifth with a double and tried to stretch it into a triple, but was tagged out by Matty, covering the bag.
• 1935 - Dave Ricketts was born in Pottstown. At Duquesne, he was a two-way star, playing on a pair of Duke NIT teams. He spent most of his MLB career as a back-up catcher for St. Louis, spending 1970 with the Bucs. Ricketts retired after that and coached in Pittsburgh from 1971-74 as part of the World Series team.
• 1938 - The Pirates won their 13th straight game, 14-6 over the Cubs as C Al Todd homered and drove home five runs. With their 40th victory in their last 54 games‚ the Bucs were in the NL lead for the first time that season.
• 1959 - Roberto Clemente kept ElRoy Face’s win streak alive when he cracked a bases loaded single off the right field wall in the tenth to rally the Bucs to a 6-5 win over the Cards at Forbes Field. Face had blown the save in the ninth, but settled down and was on the hill for the win.
• 1982 - Tom Gorzelanny was born in Evergreen Park, Illinois. The lefty was a second round draft pick of the Pirates in 2003, and spent the first 4-1/2 years (2005-09) of his career in Pittsburgh with a 25-26/4.79 line before being traded to the Cubs.
• 1994 - The largest crowd in Pittsburgh baseball history of 59,568 turned out as Three Rivers Stadium played host to baseball's 65th All-Star Game. It was one of the most exciting All-Star games ever held. Tony Gwynn led off the 10th with a single and came around to score the game-winning run on a double by Moises Alou as the NL posted an 8-7 victory. Carlos Garcia was the Pirates lone representative, although Willie Stargell appeared to throw out the first ball.
• 1997 - Mark Smith's pinch-hit, three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th off John Hudek capped a no-hitter by Francisco Cordova (nine innings) and Ricardo Rincon (one inning) against the Houston Astros. It was the first combined, extra-inning no-hitter in MLB history. The game marked the first time that TRS was sold out for a game other than a home opener, drawing 44,119 fans.
• 2002 - The Pirates rode two-run homers by Brian Giles, Kevin Young and Jack Wilson to a 9-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Sean Lowe got the win in relief of Jimmy Anderson, who was yanked in the third after giving up his seventh hit.
• 2008 - The Pirates scored four times in the ninth and twice in the 10th to outlast the St. Louis Cardinals 12-11 at PNC Park. Nate McLouth hit a three run homer and Jay Bay later drove in the tying run in the final frame on a first-and-third force out that the Cards couldn’t convert into a DP. Jason Michaels ripped a two-run shot in the 10th to walk off a winner. Bay had two long balls and five RBI to lead the offense. Adam LaRoche also had a dinger, as the Bucs launched five balls over the fence during the game.