- 1894 - RHP Phil Morrison was born in Rockport, Indiana. His MLB career consisted of ⅔ IP for the Pirates in 1921, but he became one of the early Pirate brother acts with that appearance, joining his brother, pitcher Jughead Johnny Morrison, on that season’s stat sheet.
- 1900 - The Brooklyn Superbas won the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup three games to one with a 4-1 win at Exposition Park as Iron Man Joe McGinnity outpitched Sam Leever. The series was a challenge match sponsored by the Pittsburgh Chronicle-Telegraph (bought by the Pittsburgh Press in 1924) between the top two NL teams in an era before post-season games. It was a fruitful learning experience for the runner-up Pirates, which went on to win the next three NL pennants and played in the first World Series in 1903. The Brooklyn club didn’t win another postseason set until 1955, when they claimed the World Series title as the Dodgers.
- 1973 - The Pirates shipped 2B Dave Cash to Philadelphia in exchange for LHP Ken Brett. Cash was being phased out for Rennie Stennett, but still had seven years and three All-Star games left in him. Brett went 22-14 with a 3.32 ERA for Pittsburgh in two seasons and made an All-Star team before an elbow injury slowed him down, and like Cash still had a long shelf life. He pitched seven more years after leaving the Pirates, although he wasn’t really effective again after 1976.
Ken Brett 1974 Topps series
Nice to see the mention of George Brett's mostly-forgotten older brother, particularly now that Ken has passed away. It's not remembered much anymore, but most people thought Ken was better than George when both were kids. Ken was a better than average major league pitcher before he got hurt, as you say, but what was really notable about him was that he was one of the best-hitting pitchers ever. I well remember the Pirates' broadcasters talking about a doubleheader against the Padres, I believe in Brett's first year in Pittsburgh, in which he 1) won the first game as the starting pitcher, I think with a shutout, then 2) came off the bench in the nightcap as a pinch-hitter and won that game, too, with a two run, pinch-hit triple. One of the more remarkable forgotten feats in baseball history, I think.
ReplyDeleteDang, Will, didn't remember that one; I'll have to look up the date and add it to the Bucco history. I always liked Ken too - I wonder how many old derailed careers could have been resurrected if those old guys had today's surgeons and medical techniques available to them.
ReplyDeleteHere ya go, Ron, from Wikipedia's Ken Brett page:
ReplyDeleteAlthough a much-traveled pitcher who played for 10 MLB teams over a 14-year career, Brett did have remarkable career moments. He was the winning pitcher of the 1974 All-Star Game, where he was the only member of the host team Pittsburgh Pirates on the National League squad. Earlier that year on May 27, Brett held the San Diego Padres hitless into the ninth inning before settling for a 2-hit shutout win in the first game of a doubleheader. In the second game he had a pinch-hit triple to help the Pirates sweep.