9/1: All-Minority Lineup, Joe L Brown, The Quail, Koufax & Drysdale Go Down, Teke in the OF...

All-Minority Lineup, Joe L Brown, The Quail, Koufax & Drysdale Go Down, Teke in the OF...

• 1917 - The Pirates lost their third straight 1-0 game to the St. Louis Cardinals at Robison Field. The Cards‚ behind the pitching of Red Ames, Oscar Horstmann and Milt Watson‚ outpitched Bob Steele, Wilbur Cooper and Hal Carlson. With the three-in-a-row 1-0 wins, the Cards tied the MLB mark and set the NL standard. 
• 1918 - GM Joe L Brown was born in New York City. Brown served as the general manager from November 1, 1955, through the end of the 1976 season, replacing mentor Branch Rickey. Under his watch, the Pirates became world champions in 1960 and 1971. Ever a loyal Pirate, after a decade of serving as a Southern California-based scout for the Bucs, Brown was called back in 1985 to serve as acting general manager when the Pirates, bloodied by a drug scandal, poor play and falling attendance, were sold by the Galbreath family to a local group. He oversaw the transition and acted as a bridge between GMs Pete Peterson and Syd Thrift. 
• 1963 - The “Quail,” CF’er Bill Virdon, hit a two-out walk off grand slam off Al Worthington to give the Bucs a dramatic 6-4 win over the Reds at Forbes Field. Willie Stargell drove in the other runs with a homer and double. Earl Francis, the third Buc pitcher, got the win. 
• 1965 - The Bucs laid losses on aces Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale on the same day during a Forbes Field twinbill with last at-bat rallies. The Pirates defeated Koufax, 3-2, in 11 innings in the opener and then beat Drysdale, 2-1, in the nitecap. Joe Gibbon and Vern Law picked up the victories. Jim Pagliaroni doubled home Willie Stargell to claim the opener while Bill Virdon scored on a two-out error in the eighth to take the nitecap. It was the Bucs 12th win in 14 games. 
• 1971 - The Pirates fielded baseball's first all-minority lineup 24 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color line in a 10-7 win over the Phillies at TRS. The card read: Rennie Stennett (2B), Gene Clines (CF), Roberto Clemente (RF), Willie Stargell (LF), Manny Sanguillen (C), Dave Cash (3B), Al Oliver (1B), Jackie Hernández (SS) and Dock Ellis (P). Six starters had two hits and every position layer reached base during the game. 
• 1974 - The Major League Scouting Bureau was founded to cut costs and centralizing scouting. Membership wasn’t mandatory until 1984‚ and the Bucs refused to join until then. 
• 1979 - Chuck Tanner sent reliever Kent Tekulve from the mound to left field and brought in southpaw Grant Jackson to face lefty Darrell Evans against the Giants with two down in the ninth. (He wanted Tekulve available in case Evans got aboard.) Evans hit a fly to Teke, who waved his arms and made the catch to finish the game, a 5-3 Bucco win in the opener of a DH at Candlestick Park. Willie Stargell had two homers and Dale Berra added another in support of the Bruce Kison win. It was Teke’s only appearance in the field anywhere but on the mound during his entire major and minor league career. Jim Bibby pitched the Bucs to a 7-2 sweep in the nitecap, backed by Lee Lacy’s three hits, including a homer, two runs scored and three RBI. 
• 2008 - Andy LaRoche’s 45’ roller was the only hit against CC Sabathia in a 7-0 Brewer win in Pittsburgh. Sabathia picked up a ball that was dribbled up the right side and then dropped it. Scorer Bob Webb ruled it a hit almost immediately. Brew Crew players and coaches were livid it wasn’t ruled an error, except for Sabathia, who blamed himself, not the scorer, for LaRoche reaching base.