10/7: 2013 NLDS, '03, '25 & '27, Series, '72, '75 & '92 NLCS, Chuck Tanner Axed & More...

2013 NLDS, '03, '25 & '27, Series, '72, '75 & '92 NLCS, Chuck Tanner Axed & More...

• 1902 - Sam Leever and the NL champ Pirates beat a team of AL all-stars in an exhibition at Exposition Park by a 4-3 score, with the AL pushing across three runs in the ninth to give the Bucs a scare. Ginger Beaumont led the Pirates with three hits. Cy Young took the loss, giving up eight hits and striking out seven. There was no World Series yet; the NL and AL were still merrily raiding one another’s rosters in a bid for baseball supremacy.

Ginger Beaumont Pittsburgh Baseball Heroes card collection

• 1903 - Game Five of the WS at Exposition Park was a scoreless pitcher's duel for the first five innings between Boston's Cy Young and Pittsburgh's Brickyard Kennedy. But in the top of the sixth, the Americans scored a then-record six runs and added four more in the seventh on the way to an 11-2 romp. Young went the distance and struck out four for his first World Series win. 
• 1925 - Walter Johnson of the Senators struck out 10 Pirates during a 4-1 Washington victory in the opening game of the World Series at Forbes Field. Pie Traynor’s homer was the only dent against the Big Train, who surrendered just five hits. Lee Meadows took the loss. 
• 1927 - Herb Pennock took a perfect game into the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium before Pie Traynor broke it up with a one out single, followed by Clyde Barnhart double to bring him home. That was about all the local drama as the NY Yankees claimed an 8-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates to give the Yanks a 3-0 bulge in the World Series. It was actually a close game until NY scored six runs in the seventh, capped by Babe Ruth’s three run bomb. 
• 1972 - The Pirates scored three times in the first and and never looked back as they beat the Reds 5-1 in the NLCS opener at TRS. Al Oliver had a homer, triple, two runs scored and three RBI to give Steve Blass all the offense he’d need.
•  1975 - John Candelaria fanned 14 Reds at TRS, but Pittsburgh lost the NLCS finale 5-3 as Cincy swept the series three games to none. The Bucs got a two run homer from Al Oliver, but Ramon Hernandez was touched up for a pair of runs in the 10th inning to ice the game for Cincinnati. The Reds went on to beat the Boston red Sox in seven games to win the World Series. 

John Candelaria via Main Line autographs

• 1985 - Chuck Tanner was fired by the Pirates. He was hired to manage the Braves three days later. Jim Leyland would later be named as his replacement. 1992 - The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the NLCS with a 13-5 pounding of the Pirates at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Bucs threw seven pitchers at Atlanta, which banged out 14 hits, including a Ron Gant grand slam. 
• 2001 - Pirate prospect Chad Hermanson showed a brief flash when his three run homer in the eighth inning off Carlos Zambrano scored the Wilson boys, Craig and Jack, and gave Pittsburgh a season-closing 4-3 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Joe Beimel got the win with a save from Mike Fetters. 
• 2013 - The Pirates were on the brink of eliminating the St. Louis Cardinals from the NLDC at PNC Park, but the Redbirds rode Michael Wacha’s arm to a 2-1 win and a showdown game at Busch Stadium. The Cards drew first blood when Matt Holliday hit a two run homer in the sixth off Charlie Morton. Pittsburgh halved the gap in the eighth when they got their first and only hit, a 438’ bomb by Pedro Alvarez, to make it 2-1. But both bullpens were in shutdown mode, and that score stood as the final. 40,893 fans - the third consecutive playoff game to set a park attendance record - left the North Shore disappointed. The Cardinals set a playoff record as all three of their pitchers (Wacha, Carlos Martinez and Trevor Rosenthal, who got the save) were 23 or younger. 

Pedro Alvarez - photo by Dilip Vishwanat of Getty Images