9/11: HBD Glenn, Jackie, Sluggo; Pie Signed; Kiner; Face's Streak Snapped; Frankie Fans 12

• 1905 - RHP Glenn Spencer was born in Corning, NY. He was a Bucco in 1928, spent 1929 in the minors, then returned from 1930-32 for Pittsburgh, going 23-29-8 with a 4.48 ERA, mostly from the pen. Control was his Achilles Heel; he walked 201 batters and only K’ed 162 in his five year pro career. 
• 1920 - The Pirates bought Pie Traynor from Portsmouth for $10,000. The Boston Braves had stashed the infielder there on the assumption that they would have first dibs on him, but even an appeal to AL President Ban Johnson didn’t help in lieu of a written agreement as the Portsmouth owner was more than willing to let him go to the highest bidder. So instead of playing for his hometown Boston club - he came from Framingham, Massachusetts - Traynor spent his 17 year MLB career in Pittsburgh, eventually earning a spot in the Hall of Fame. 

Pie Traynor (undated Conlon Collection/The Sporting News image)

• 1940 - Jacinto “Jackie” Hernández was born in Central Tinguaro, Cuba. The good glove, terrible hitting (.205 as a Pirate) SS played three seasons (1971-73) for Pittsburgh, and when the Bucs traded for him in 1970, manager Earl Weaver of the Baltimore Orioles said that “The Pirates will never win a pennant with Jackie Hernandez at shortstop.” Not only did they win the flag, but Jackie was the regular shortstop from late August forward in 1971 as Gene Alley, the starter, had a bad shoulder. As fate would decree, he put the final nail in the Oriole coffin during the Series; the last out of the Bucs seventh game victory was recorded 6-3, Hernandez to Bob Robertson. 
• 1947 - Ralph Kiner blasted three successive homers and knocked home six runs in a 10-8 win over the Braves at Forbes Field in the nitecap of a DH. He also homered in game one, a 4-3 win that was decided in the 13th when pitcher Kirby Higbe took Johnny Sain long to complete the first step of a Pittsburgh sweep of Boston. Kiner’s four homers in one day established a team record that wouldn’t be matched until 1984 by Jason Thompson. It also set a NL record of 10 multi-homer games in a season which stood until Sammy Sosa had 11 in 1998. 
• 1948 - Out of the lineup because of a virus‚ Ralph Kiner came off the pine to whack an eighth inning pinch hit grand slam to give the Pirates a 13-12 win over Chicago at Wrigley Field. Max West also homered and had three RBI. Mel Queen won with a save by Elmer Riddle. 

Ralph Kiner 1953 Redman series

• 1958 - C Don “Sluggo” Slaught was born in Long Beach. He came to the Bucs in 1990 and platooned during the pennant years with Mike “Spanky” LaValliere. Slaught was the primary catcher in 1993-94, then injuries in 1995 led to his release. Sluggo hit .305 as a Pirate. He was a hitting coach for Detroit in 2005-06, and then began his own private school for hitting instruction in California. 
• 1959 - The LA Dodgers beat Pittsburgh and Elroy Face‚ 5-4, who lost the save and game in relief of Bob Friend in the ninth at Memorial Coliseum by giving up a pair of runs. It was Face's first loss after 22 straight wins‚ 17 this season. The defeat was Face's first to the Dodgers since September‚ 1956, with his last loss to any team going back to May 30th, 1958, at the hands of the Milwaukee Braves. 
• 1974 - A line drive by the Phillies Willie Montanez fractured the hand of Dock Ellis during a 5-3 Philadelphia win at Veterans Stadium. The righty had won eight consecutive games and nine out of ten, tossing seven complete games in that ten-game span. He would miss the rest of the season. Despite the loss of the red hot Ellis, the Bucs took the division crown in a down-to-the-wire race with St. Louis, but fell to the Dodgers in the NLCS three games to one. 
• 1982 - Bill Madlock opened the ninth inning with a walkoff home run, hitting Ron Reed’s first and only pitch, a hung slider. His blast gave the Pirates a see-saw 10-9 victory over the Phillies at TRS. The Bucs had started out up 6-0, but had fallen behind by the sixth. The Pirates regained the lead in the eighth on a two run, two out double by Willie Stargell, but the Phils tied it with a two-out RBI single off Dale Berra’s glove, setting the stage for Mad Dog. Omar Moreno added a pair of triples for the Pirates. Kent Tekulve got the blown save/win combo. 

Bill Madlock 1983 Donruss Action All-Stars series

• 1987 - Jim Gott set a club record with a save in seventh consecutive outings as the Pirates beat the Phillies, 4-2, at Veterans Stadium. Gott entered the game with runners on first and third and one out in the ninth inning and retired the final two batters of the game on grounders for the save, his 10th. Doug Drabek got the win behind homers by RJ Reynolds and Bobby Bonilla. 
• 1990 - Randy Tomlin, Neal Heaton and Ted Power combined on a seven hit, 5-1 victory over the Phillies at Veteran’s Stadium. Lloyd McClendon broke the game open with a two run, two out pinch homer in the seventh. For the Bucs, it was their ninth win in 11 games and upped the division lead to 3-½ games. They went into a six game tailspin after the victory and saw their lead dwindle to ½ game, but then won 10-of-11 to take the title comfortably. 
• 2014 - Francisco Liriano punched out a season high 12 batters as the Bucs beat the Phils 4-1 at Citizens Bank Park. Frankie went eight shutout innings giving up three hits - two were infield singles - and two walks while never allowing a runner past second. Pittsburgh iced the game in the fifth against old teammate AJ Burnett when Travis Snider, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker had consecutive hits. Walker's double scored Snider, Cutch scored on a Russ Martin sacrifice fly and Walker scored on Gregory Polanco’s knock.