7/27: Back To the Future; Big Buc Sweep in '79; Dandy Delwyn; The Fort

• 1908 - Honus Wagner and Chief Wilson led the Bucs to a 4-3 win over the NY Giants and Christy Mathewson at the Polo Grounds. The Flying Dutchman had a pair of doubles good for two runs and an RBI while Wilson had two knocks including a triple, scored once and drove in a pair. Nick Maddox got the win while Irv Young came on the get the last out in the ninth.
• 1927 - Vic Aldridge tossed a five hitter and the Bucs scored twice in the eighth to beat Dazzy Vance and the Brooklyn Robins‚ 2-1 at Forbes Field to take over undisputed possession of first place. Kiki Cuyler’s single scored Paul Waner, who had three hits on the day, and George Grantham for the win.

Vic Aldridge (photo TSN-Mears Collection)

• 1932 - Bill Harris notched a pair of wins in a twinbill against the Giants at the Polo Grounds‚ tossing three innings in the opening 9-8 win followed by two perfect frames in a 4-2 nitecap victory. In the first game, Lloyd Waner had four knocks while Arky Vaughan and Tony Piet homered. The Pirates scored three in the ninth to take the second match with C Earl Grace knocking home two of his three RBI and Harris singling in another. The Pirates increased their NL lead over the Cubs to five games, but would finish the season four games behind Chicago in the pennant race.
• 1941 - Homestead Gray 1B Buck Leonard launched a three run homer at Comiskey Park to lead the East to an 8-3 win over the West in the Negro League All-Star Game. The contest drew a record crowd of 50,256.
• 1961 - Giants’ Manager Alvin Dark said before the game that "Juan Marichal will go all the way" and kept his bullpen in the dugout to emphasis the point. And he was right. Marichal threw a complete game, five hit shutout at Forbes Field, winning 2-0 over Vinegar Bend Mizell.
• 1968 - Matty Alou was featured as the cover story of The Sporting News in an article titled “Pistol Packing Pirate.”

• 1979 - The Bucs swept Montreal in a DH at Olympic Stadium in front of a crowd of 59,260, the biggest baseball turnout in Canada. They took the opener 5-4, three times losing leads to the pesky Expos before Phil Garner’s eighth inning single scored Dave Parker with the game winner. Garner had a big game, with three hits and a homer. Kent Tekulve allowed an inherited runner to score in the seventh to tie the game, but got the win, with Enrique Romo picking up the save. Bob Robertson went long and had four RBI while Phil Garner went 3-for-4 again with four runs scored in the Bucs 9-1 win in the nitecap. Bert Blyleven went the distance, scattering five hits and striking out nine as the Bucs cut the Expos lead to ½ game.
• 1982 - Larry McWilliams tossed a three hitter and struck out 11 in complete game shutout win over Philadelphia, 4-0, at TRS. Jason Thompson drove home a pair and Bill Madlock homered to provide the cushion against the Phils.
• 1991 - Jay Bell had the first two-homer game of his career, going 4-for-5 with four RBI and four runs scored in Pittsburgh’s 11-5 win at Houston’s Astrodome. Bell hit a one-out homer in the first off the Jimmy Jones, then a three-run shot in the sixth inning off Jim Corsi to extend the Bucs’ lead to 11-0. Barry Bonds added three RBI and scored twice as Randy Tomlin picked up the win.
• 1998 - 2B Tony Womack set a record of 888 consecutive at bats without grounding into a double play in an 8-7, 13 inning loss to the Rox at Coors Field. The previous record had been held by Brooklyn's Pete Reiser, set in the mid-forties. Tony eventually went 219 straight games and 915 at-bats without hitting into a double-play. Jose Guillen had four hits and a homer and Kevin Young also went long with three RBI in the defeat.

Tony Womack 1998 Fleer Tradition series

• 1999 - In one of baseball’s weirder promotions, the Pirates defeated the Mets‚ 5-1‚ in the first of MLB's "Turn Ahead the Clock Nights," sponsored by Century 21 Real Estate. Each team wore futuristic uniforms (the Bucs had red jerseys with yellow sleeves and a giant Bucco head logo)‚ with the hometown squad becoming the "Mercury" Mets for the night. The pre game rap was “Greetings, earthlings. Welcome to Shea Station 4C. Blastoff time is 7:40.” The theme was carried on throughout the evening‚ with the scoreboard flashing computerized graphics of the players of the future as each came to the plate. Rickey Henderson‚ for example‚ was given three eyes and pointy ears‚ and played "left quadrant." Al Martin hit the first of his two HRs in the first "sector‚" and rookie Kris Benson went the distance for the win.
• 2009 - In an otherwise unremarkable 4-2 loss to Tim Lincecum at AT&T Park, Delwyn Young added a little spice to the show. Randy Winn’s bloop into right went off right fielder Garrett Jones’ mitt, then off his knee, and he kicked it into the air with his foot for good measure. Young, playing second, dove after the cowhide hacky-sack and made a lunging barehanded grab. Alas, the ump blew the call and gave Winn a hit, which was pretty much how the Pirates’ luck ran back then. Nevertheless, Tribune Review writer Joe Starkey called the catch the “Best play of the decade.”
• 2013 - Mike McKenry showed why MLB catchers are a different breed of cat. He caught the final three frames of a 7-4 win against Miami at Marlins Park after tearing the lateral meniscus in his left knee during a slide, an injury that required season-ending surgery three days later. It was hard to tell, as the reserve catcher, who soldiered through the game because starting catcher Russell Martin had tweaked his knee the previous night, went 4-for-5. The Fort was the battery mate of Charlie Morton, who took home the win with a save by Mark Melancon.