10/12: WS Wins In '25, '71, Losses In '09, '60, '79; Bad Day In NLCS; HBD Pop, Pete, Erv & Joe

• 1856 - Charles “Pop” Smith was born in Digby, Nova Scotia. He played the infield for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys from 1885-89. Pop wasn’t much with the bat, hitting .220 for the Alleghenys, but could run (117 stolen bases in 557 games) and was a good glove man who could play second or short equally well. Smith was one of the earliest Canadian major league players, joining the show in 1880 as a Red.
• 1882 - Negro League OF and manager John Preston "Pete" Hill was born in Culpepper County, Virginia, but was raised in Pittsburgh after arriving in town as an infant. He played for 11 teams during his Hall of Fame career, getting his first taste of organized ball as a teen with the Pittsburgh Keystones in 1899.

Pete Hill HoF Plaque

• 1901 - RHP Erv Brame was born in Big Rock, Tennessee. He spent his five year MLB career (1928-32) with Pittsburgh, going 52-37-1 with a 4.76 ERA, mostly as a starter who was converted to the pen in his last season. He was 16-11 in 1929 with 19 complete games in 28 starts, then posted a 17-8 record and led the NL with 22 complete games in 29 starts in 1930. Erv had a nice stick, too, as his career batting marks were .306 with 21 doubles, eight homers, 43 runs scored and 75 RBIs.
• 1906 - SS Joe Cronin was born in San Francisco. He spent his first two seasons (1926-27, .257 BA) of a 20 year career in Pittsburgh, getting in 50 games before being sold. The Bucs should have exercised a little more patience. During the next 18 seasons, Joe made seven All-Star teams with Washington & Boston and entered the Hall of Fame.
• 1909 - The Tigers, behind George Mullin’s five hit whitewash, evened up the World Series at two games with a 5-0 win at Bennett Park. Deacon Phillippe tossed four shutout innings for Pittsburgh after relieving starter Lefty Leifield. The Buc fielders didn’t help out as they committed six errors during the contest.
• 1925 - Five different Pirates banged out a pair of knocks as Pittsburgh used a 13 hit attack to defeat the Washington Senators 6-3 at Griffith Stadium and stay alive in the World Series, although down two games to three. Vic Aldridge went the distance for the win. Clyde Barnhart had a pair of hits, two RBI and a run scored while Washington’s Joe Harris, who would play for Pittsburgh’s 1927 WS club, homered to lead the Sen’s.

Clyde Barnhart 1922 American Caramel series

• 1960 - Whitey Ford again owned the Bucs in the World Series, tossing a seven hitter as New York blanked Pittsburgh 12-0 at Forbes Field to stave off elimination and force a seventh game. Bobby Richardson tripled twice and had three RBI as the Bronx Bombers amassed 17 hits. Roberto Clemente and Hal Smith had a pair of hits each for the Pirates, who shot themselves in the foot by bouncing into three double plays.
• 1963 - The final baseball game at the Polo Grounds was the Hispanic American All-Star game, the only one held in MLB history. The roster of Latino stars included Pirates Roberto Clemente, Manny Mota, who delivered a clutch two-run pinch-hit single, and Alvin McBean, who got the W in a 5-2 NL victory.
• 1971 - The Bucs broke open a duel between Mike Cuellar and Steve Blass by scoring three times in the seventh on the way to a 5-1 World Series win at TRS in front of 50,403 fans. Bob Robertson blasted the deciding three-run homer came after he missed a bunt sign. Steve Blass was sitting next to Danny Murtaugh in the dugout at the time, and told the skipper: "If you fine him (Robertson, for missing the bunt sign), I'll pay." Murtaugh didn't. The three-hit victory left Pittsburgh with a pulse, as they were now down two games to one in the Fall Classic.

Bob Robertson 1971 team promo

• 1979 - The Pirates brought the World Series back to TRS and 50,848 fans, but were run off the field 8-4 by Baltimore, which lit up John Candelaria with a five run fourth inning. The Birds were led by Kiko Garcia, who drove in four runs with four hits. For the Bucs, Willie Stargell had a pair of hits and scored twice while Phil Garner chipped in with two RBI and Omar Moreno added a pair of doubles. It was too little, too late against Scott McGregor as the Orioles went up two games to one.
• 1990 - Danny Jackson‚ Norm Charlton‚ and Randy Myers combined on a one-hitter as Cincinnati beat the Pirates 2-1 to win the NLCS in six games. 1B Carmelo Martinez had the only Bucco hit, a double that scored Barry Bonds (aboard on a walk) as Zane Smith took the loss at Riverfront Stadium. Jim Leyland started a back-end reliever, Ted Power, in order to keep the Reds from using their favored platoon lineup (he followed him with LHP Smith) and it almost worked. The game clincher was an over-the-fence catch by RF Glenn Braggs, robbing Carmelo Martínez of a two-run homer with an out in the ninth, to preserve the win in dramatic fashion. The Reds would go on to sweep Oakland in the World Series.
• 1991 - The Braves returned to Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and pasted the Pirates 10-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the NLCS. Pittsburgh had 10 hits, but stranded 11 runners as John Smoltz took the win from John Smiley. Jay Bell and Orlando Merced homered for Pittsburgh, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a four run first and an eighth inning, three run pinch hit homer by Sid Bream.