7/19: Hans Debut; HBD Jasper, Earl & Vincente; Arky's Cycle; Raffy's Streak; Mugsy & Matty Mutter

• 1873 - OF/1B Harry “Jasper” Davis was born in Philadelphia. Jasper played early in his 22 year MLB stint for the Bucs, from 1896-98, and hit .278. He went on to a long career, mainly with his hometown Philadelphia A’s, and led the league in homers from 1904-07.
• 1887 - Honus Wagner made his NL debut with the Louisville Colonels, owned by Barney Dreyfuss. He got a hit and stole a base in a 12-2 win over the Brooklyn Grays. In 1900, Dreyfuss bought the Pittsburgh franchise and maneuvered most of his Louisville club onto the Steel City roster, including the Flying Dutchman.
• 1891 - LHP Earl Hamilton was born in Gibson, Illinois. The little southpaw spent six of his 14 big league seasons (1918-23) as a Pirate, putting up a line of 55-55/3.35. He won 115 MLB games overall, tossing for four clubs.

Earl Hamilton 1922 Neilson's Chocolate series

• 1893 - From Charlton's Baseball Chronology: “Pittsburgh uses 19 hits –all singles– to win in Cleveland 10-6. Pittsburgh is further aided by the defense of LF Elmer Smith, whose use of green glasses to fend off the sun greatly helped him in his fielding.” It was a noteworthy win in that the game may be the first time that an outfielder donned shades.
• 1904 - The Pirates rallied for a pair of runs in the ninth off Giants ace Christy Mathewson to take a 2-1 victory at the Polo Grounds. Shut out on five hits going into the final frame, Honus Wagner tripled to left, and an out later Jimmy Sebring banged out another three-bagger, rapping a shot off the first base bag that rolled into the corner. Pinch hitter Claude Ritchey followed with a RBI knock, and Mike Lynch made it stand up in the bottom half, tossing a complete game four hitter against NY. After the game, manager John “Mugsy” McGraw and Mathewson got into a jawing match with the crowd, a verbal (and profane) sparring session that lasted until they got back to their hotel. The Pittsburg Press had a couple of juicy lines regarding the affair: “McGraw is not liked here...Some day he will carry things too far, and some husky Pittsburger will thump him” and took this shot at Christy: “ Matty... has to buy a cap a size larger after every victory…”
• 1939 - Arky Vaughan hit for his second career cycle against the Giants at the Polo Grounds, scoring four times and driving home a pair of runs. Fern Bell added three RBI in the 10-3 Pirate win. Mace Brown went the distance for the victory.

Fern Bell 1939 (tnfotos Baseball Photos page)

• 1950 - Frank E. McKinney resigned as president of the Pirates. He sold his interests in the club to partners John Galbreath and Tom Johnson‚ with Galbreath assuming the presidency. Vice President Bing Crosby retained his minority interest. McKinney and the group had bought the Bucs in 1946 from Barney Dreyfuss’ family.
• 1955 - Vern Law pitched 18 innings against the Milwaukee Braves in front of 10,000 Forbes Field fans. And he didn’t even get the win; Bob Friend worked the 19th frame of the 4-3 victory. Law left giving up two runs - one was unearned - on nine hits with two walks and 12 whiffs. Friend came in and gave up a run, but the Bucs came back with a pair of tallies on Gene Freese’s single, Dale Long’s double to plate the first run and the game winning knock by Frank Thomas. Law took the hill on just two days rest; he got the start when the scheduled hurler, Joe Gibbon, became ill.
• 1963 - RHP Vincente Palacios was born in Manlio Fabio Altamirano, Mexico. He tossed five years (1987-88, 1990-92) for the Bucs as a spot starter and long man. and was a member of the powerhouse 1990-92 teams of Jimmy Leyland. Palacios went 12-8-6/4.03 during his time in Pittsburgh. His career was hampered by a pair of shoulder surgeries, and after his Pirate career he yo-yo’ed between MLB and primarily the Mexican League.

Vincente Palacios 1992 Pinnacle series

• 1974: Ken Brett worked 8-⅓ frames while leading the Pirates to a 2-0 shutout against the Braves at Atlanta Stadium. The Pirates scored first in the fifth inning when Frank Taveras led off with a triple and scored on Brett’s sacrifice fly, adding an insurance marker in the ninth on Bob Robertson’s two-out double that plated Ed Kirkpatrick. The five-hit win upped Brett’s record to 12-6 as Dave Guisti picked up his fifth save.
• 1977 - The NL outslugged the AL 7-5 at Yankee Stadium during the All Star game. Dave Parker went 1-for-3, while Bucco closer Goose Gossage made it interesting by giving up a two run homer in the ninth. John Candelaria was also on the squad, but didn’t see any action.
• 1983 - The Pirates won their eighth in a row in workmanlike fashion over the Dodgers 4-1 at TRS. Brian Harper went 2-for-3 with a homer to lead the attack while John Candelaria notched the win with relief help from Rod Scurry. The streak would end the next day when the Dodgers edged the Bucs in 11 innings 3-2.
• 1988 - Rafael Belliard enjoyed the last day of an eight game hitting streak that started on July 8th. In true Raffy style, his first eight hits were infield singles. He went 13-for-31 during that span, with two ground ball knocks, a bloop, a liner, and his only extra base hit, a triple following his eight leg hits. It didn’t help a whole lot; he still hit just .213 during the season. The Bucs split a doubleheader with San Diego, and Raffy’s string ended in the second game.

Rafael Belliard 1988 Score series

• 2001 - The Pirates overcame a 2-0 deficit by scoring three times in the sixth and seventh innings to end a five game losing streak by defeating the Chicago Cubs 3-2 at PNC Park. The key blow was a two out, two run single by Aramis Ramirez off a 1-2 pitch from Julian Taveras. It came with the bases loaded in the sixth following an intentional walk to John Vander Wal.
• 2002 - Adam Hyzdu went 3-for-5 with a homer, four RBI and three runs to lead the Bucs to a 12-9 slugfest win over St. Louis at PNC Park. After the Cards tied the game with five runs in the seventh, Rob Mackowiak put Pittsburgh back in control by countering with a two run pinch hit homer in the Pirate half.
• 2011 - The Bucs shut out the Reds for the second straight game, beating Mike Leake 1-0 at PNC Park and holding on to sole possession of first place in the NL Central for the last time. James McDonald, with help from Joe Beimel, Chris Resop and Joel Hanrahan, got the win when a weak roller to short by Cutch in the first inning cashed in Josh Harrison, on third after a Neil Walker double.
• 2014 - It took 11 innings, but the Bucs finally topped the Colorado Rockies 3-2 at PNC Park on Jordy Mercer’s walk-off double. Charlie Morton and Brett Anderson were hooked up in a duel, both lasting seven innings with the Rox up 2-1. The Bucs tied it in the eighth when Gaby Sanchez’s double plated Neil Walker and then let the bullpen take over. Ernesto Frieri, Mark Melancon, Justin Wilson and Jared Hughes needed just 33 pitches to cover the last four frames. Hughes got the win, but had the baseball gods on his side when with runners on the corners, a bullet back to the box stuck in his mitt and he turned it into an inning-ending DP.