July 4th: HBD America, Chuck Tanner & Jared Hughes; Expo Flooded; Satchel No-No; Kendall Hurt; Fireworks...

• 1902 - The Pittsburgh Press headline read “River Invades The Park.” During a doubleheader against Brooklyn, a flooding Allegheny River caused water to rise knee-deep in Exposition Park’s outfield. A special ground rule was created for the day: all outfield hits into the water were singles. Players occasionally caught a ball and dove into the water to splash around, much to the crowd’s delight - and there were over 20,000 in attendance. The Pirates swept the Superbas as Jesse Tannehill tossed a 3-0 two-hitter in the opener and Jack Chesbro a four-hit, 4-0 win in the nitecap to extend the team’s winning streak to eight games.

Exposition Park during a rain-out. (image via Pitt Viewer)

• 1905 - The Pirates traded shortstop George McBride to the St Louis Cardinals for IF Dave Brain. Brain lasted in Pittsburgh until the end of the season (he hit .257 in 85 games), when he was packaged in the trade to get Vic Willis, who became a Bucco mainstay on the hill. McBride played for 14 more seasons in the majors. A good glove guy, he never batted higher than .235 during that time, with a lifetime .218 BA.
• 1906 - The Cubs took two from the Pirates by 1-0 scores at Exposition Park. In the opener, Three Finger Mordecai Brown beat Lefty Leifield with both pitchers firing one-hitters. It was the second double one-hitter in history‚ the first occurring on August 20th‚ 1886. Leifield banged the only Buc hit off Brown while holding Chicago hitless until Jimmy Slagle's single in the ninth inning. The Cubs came around on a sacrifice‚ error‚ and ground out. In the second game‚ Carl Lundgren won a duel against Vic Willis. The Pirates had only been shut out twice all season before the twinbill.
• 1927 - The Pirates swept the World Champion Cardinals‚ 7-2 and 6-4 in a Forbes Field doubleheader. Lee Meadows took the opener behind Johnny Gooch’s bases loaded triple. The Cards rallied to tie the second game in the top of the eighth, but Clyde Barnhart answered with a two run double in the bottom half for the win. Carmen Hill went the distance for the W.
• 1928 - Pirate skipper Chuck Tanner was born in New Castle. He managed the Pirates for nine years (1977–1985) and won the World Series in 1979. He was also skipper of the White Sox, Athletics and Braves. Tanner was traded for Manny Sanguillen to the Pirates in 1977 by Oakland, only the second manager-for-player trade in history.

Chuck Tanner (uncredited photo)

• 1932 - Satchel Paige of the Pittsburgh Crawfords tossed a no-hitter against the Homestead Grays at Greenlee Field on Bedford Avenue, the only runners reaching on an error and a walk. He struck out 17, establishing the all-time Negro League record, and matching what was then the MLB whiff record for a single game.
• 1985 - RHP Jared Hughes was born in Stamford, Connecticut. The righty is a converted starter who has worked out of the pen since 2011 as a mid-inning fireman. The Cal State alum was selected in the fourth round of the MLB draft in 2006.
• 1999 - C Jason Kendall dislocated his ankle in a loss to the Brewers. Trying to break up Steve Woodard's perfect game‚ Kendall dragged a bunt in the fifth inning and hit the bag awkwardly‚ ripping the ankle bone from the joint. He was out for the rest of the season, and many believed he was never quite the same after the gruesome injury.

Jason Kendall 2002 (photo: Mangin Photography)

• 2000 - The Pirates scored seven times in the ninth, fueled by three homers, to drop the Cubs 10-4 at Wrigley Field. Jason Kendall, Wil Cordero and Pat Meares had the final at-bat Bucco blasts that made a winner out of Marc Wilkins.
• 2001 - Brian Giles and Adam Hyzdu homered twice while Aramis Ramirez added a pair of doubles, each driving in three runs, as the Bucs put on their own fireworks display in cruising to a 14-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Cinergy Field.
• 2010: The Bucs trailed Philadelphia, 5-2, before scoring six times in the seventh inning for an 8-5 win at PNC Park. Evan Meek picked up the win on the same day he was named to the NL All-Star team. The seventh inning fireworks featured a leadoff homer by Pedro Alvarez and a two-run single by Garrett Jones.