7/14: Borbon Bites; HBD Joe C, Bob Purkey, Earl Francis; Roberto Booed at ASG; AS Notes

• 1889 - RHP Joe Conzelman was born in Bristol, Connecticut long before ESPN was a twinkle in an eye. He spent his three year career (1913-15) with Bucs, going 6-8 with a 2.92 ERA. He was a Columbia and Brown graduate, and left baseball to pursue his calling as an engineer.
• 1910 - The Bucs were down 3-0 going into the ninth against Christy Mathewson and the NY Giants at Forbes Field, but scored four times to take home the win. A walk, error and two singles set the table. Matty then loaded the bases with back-to-back walks‚ and after throwing two balls to Tommy Leach was relieved by Red Ames. Ames lost Leach, forcing home the winning run and giving Deacon Phillippe the victory.
• 1929 - RHP Bob Purkey was born in Pittsburgh, and was signed by the Bucs right after he graduated from South Hills HS. The knucklerballer spent his first four and his final seasons with the Pirates (1954-57, 1966), going 16-30/4.13. His heyday was with the Cincinnati Reds, where he won 100+ games, appearing in a World Series and three All-Star contests. After retirement, he lived in Bethel Park and ran an insurance agency.

Bob Purkey 1954 Topps series

• 1935 - Earl Francis was born in Slab Fork, West Virginia. The hard throwing righty tossed five seasons (1960-64) for the Bucs, going 16-23/3.77 with his time split between starting and as a long man from bullpen. 1940 - The Pirates won their sixth game of seven by whipping Brooklyn 6-2 at Forbes Field. Rip Sewell got the win and also cracked a homer. They dropped the nitecap of the twin bill 2-0 as the Dodgers’ Freddie Fitzsimmons got the better of Ken Heintzelman.
• 1946 - Hall of Famer Warren Spahn beat the Bucs at Forbes Field by a 4-1 tally for his first MLB win; he would earn 363 of them in his 21 year career, with 49 coming against Pittsburgh. His only blemish was a solo shot by Frankie Gustine. Spahn could have reached 400 wins, but gave up three years (1943-45) to WW2.
• 1953 - P Murry Dickson was the Bucco rep at the All Star Game, a 5-1 NL victory at Crosley Field. He tossed the final two innings, giving up a run on three hits and earning a save of Warren Spahn’s victory.
• 1955 - The Pirates suffered the worst defeat in their history when Cincinnati mashed them 19-1 at Forbes Field. Reds Johnny Temple, Wally Post and Smoky Burgess had 13 hits among the three of them. Five Pirate pitchers gave up 21 hits (3 HR), 12 walks and a hit batter while the fielders chipped in with three errors.
• 1961 - A two out grand slam in the bottom of the eighth by Roberto Clemente, a rising liner that carried the center field wall at the 410’ mark, erased a 4-1 deficit and led the Bucs to a 6-4 win over the SF Giants at Candlestick Park. Clem Labine got the win and ElRoy Face the save.

Roberto Clemente (photo Associated Press file)

• 1970 - Roberto Clemente was booed by the All-Star crowd at Riverfront Stadium after saying he would only play if the game was held in Pittsburgh instead of Cincinnati. He changed his tune (GM Joe Brown changed it for him with a bit of arm twisting), and though resting a chronically sore neck, was used late in the game. OF Clemente, the only Buc rep on the AS roster, hit a sac fly to tie the contest and held Willie Horton to a 375’ single off the wall in right as the NL won 5-4.
• 1974 - The nitecap of a twinbill against the rival Reds erupted into a donnybrook. The action started after a fourth inning beanball of Bruce Kison by Jack Billingham, causing both teams to rush the field. When Sparky Anderson stepped on Ed Kirkpatrick's foot‚ the Buc catcher shoved the Reds skipper and was rewarded with a sock from Andy Kosko. The best remembered bit of mayhem was when Cincy’s Pedro Borbon bit Daryl Patterson after a little hair-tugging. Patterson got a tetanus shot after the chomp (Borbon told the media afterward for Patterson not to worry about tetanus, but rabies; Patterson countered by saying Borbon "fights like a woman.") The Pirates won the spirited contest 2-1 after dropping the opener 3-2. The victory began an eight-game winning streak and the Pirates stormed through the second half of the season to take the NL East title - and meet the Reds again in the NLCS!

Pirates & Reds get it on in 1974 (image via NBC Sports)

• 1987 - The NL used plenty of pitching to take a 2-0 win over the AL in the Midsummer Classic held at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. P Rick Reuschel represented the Bucs and tossed 1-⅓ frames of scoreless ball, giving up a hit and striking out one.
• 1992 - Lotta lumber being swung at the Midsummer Classic as the AL took a 13-6 victory from the senior circuit at Jack Murphy Stadium. Outfielders Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke started; Bonds went 1-for-3 with a double and a run while AVS went 0-for-2 and hit into a DP.
• 1997 - The Bucs came from behind three times, falling behind 1-0, 2-1, and 4-3, to beat the Mets 5-4 at TRS. Steve Cooke left after seven with a 3-2 lead, but the Mets scored twice off Clint Sadowsky in the eighth to leapfrog ahead. The Pirates scored twice in the eighth for the victory on four straight hits: doubles by Al Martin, Kevin Young and Jason Kendall sandwiched around a knock by Dale Sveum. Rich Loiselle picked up his 12th save (he finished the year with 29), tying the club rookie record set by Francisco Cordova one year earlier. Ricardo Rincon got the win.

Rich Loiselle 1998 Finest Refractors series

• 2006 - Seven of the Bucs’ 15 hits went for extra bases (six doubles and a Jose Bautista homer), all hit by different players, as the club spread the offense around in a 7-4 win against the Washington Nationals at PNC Park. Bautista, Jason Bay and Jack Wilson each collected three knocks.
• 2009 - The AL continued to snowball over the NL in All Star competition, taking a 4-3 victory at Busch Stadium. P Zach Duke and 2B Freddy Sanchez made the team, but didn’t get into the game.