- 1903 - A crowd of 7,500 filled Exposition Park as the Pirates defeated the Boston Americans 5-4 in the first World Series game ever played in Pittsburgh, delayed a day by rainy weather. Boston even brought 200 fans, who sat in their own section and brought along a brass band that played between innings. Deacon Phillippe was the winner for the third time, pitching this match on two days rest. It almost caught up to him as the Americans scored three times in the ninth until Phillippe finally got pinch hitter Jack O’Brien to pop out. Tommy Leach knocked in three runs while Honus Wagner and Ginger Beaumont each collected three hits. Sadly, it would be the last game they’d win in this Series.
- 1908 - C Tom Padden was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. A part-time catcher for Pittsburgh, he appeared in 399 games from 1932-37 and compiled a .272 BA. He might be best known for coin rather than horsehide flinging. On February 26th, 1936, surrounded by a large crowd, he tossed a silver dollar about 475 feet over the Merrimack River and into a snow pile. He made the hurl to copy pitcher Walter “Big Train” Johnson, who did it a few days earlier over the Rappahannock to emulate the reported feat of George Washington. He retired to Manchester, where he coached local baseball and basketball teams.
- 1912 - Owen “Chief” Wilson hit his 36th triple of the season, establishing a MLB record. Wilson tried to stretch the triple into an inside-the-park home run, but was thrown out the plate in a 16-6 Pirate win against Cincinnati at Redland Field. He wasn’t a gap guy; as noted by SABR’s bio of Wilson “Spacious Forbes Field may have been the best park ever for triples, and the Pirates led the NL in that category 30 of the 62 seasons they played there. Wilson did hit 24 of his 36 triples at home, but it is likely that many of these triples would have been home runs at other parks.” The Sporting Life pointed out that "Few of the smashes have struck in front of fielders. They have all been over the heads or between the fields, all juicy jams."
 |
| Chief Wilson 1911 Piedmont series |
- 1927 - The Yankees’ George Pipgras quieted the Buc bats at Forbes Field as New York took a 2-0 lead in the World Series. Vic Aldridge was hooked up in a 3-2 game in the eighth when three singles, two walks (to #8 hitter Benny Bengough and then to Pipgras), a HBP and wild pitch gave the Bronx Bombers three runs on their way to a 6-2 win. Lloyd Waner scored both Buc runs, driven home by brother Paul and Clyde Barnhart. 1929 - In the season finale, second place Pittsburgh beat league-leading Chicago 8-3 at Wrigley Field. The Bucs collected 12 hits, led by Lloyd Waner’s 3-for-3 day, and Larry French earned the victory. The Pirates, with 88 wins, still finished 10-½ games behind the Cubs, but set the MLB record by banging out double-digit hits in 102 games during the season.
- 1946 - OF Gene Clines was born in San Pablo, California. A speedy center fielder with a good glove, he was a platoon outfielder for the Bucs from 1970-74, putting up a .287 BA. He played for the 1971 World Series champs and also the division winning teams of 1972 and 1974. Clines had a long career coaching and is a front office exec in the Dodger organization.
- 1960 - The Yankees roared back from their opening defeat to win 16-3 and even the World Series at a game apiece. Mickey Mantle put on a show with a pair of blasts, one measured at 478’ and thought to be the first homer that a RH batter hit out of Forbes Field to the right of dead center. The Mick had five RBI and three runs scored as the Bronx Bombers pounded out 19 hits. Mantle was the only player to have a multi-homer playoff game in Pittsburgh until 2013 when Russell Martin hit a pair against the Reds at PNC Park in the Wild Card game.
- 1971 - The Pirates rolled over the Giants 9-5 at TRS to take the NLCS three games to one. The Gravedigger, Richie Hebner, and Al Oliver both homered and had three RBI, and Roberto Clemente drove in the other three runs. Bruce Kison got the win and Dave Giusti the save as they twirled seven innings of scoreless relief after Steve Blass was rocked in the second frame. The game was tied 5-5 after the second inning as the Bucs banged Gaylord Perry early, too, before finally knocking him out of the box in the sixth.
 |
| Bruce Kison 1972 Topps series |
- 1974 - The Pirates tied the Dodgers in the seventh inning on RBI from Richie Hebner and Al Oliver, but LA rattled four straight eighth inning hits off Dave Giusti and another off Larry Demery to score three times and take a two games to none lead in the NLCS at TRS with a 5-2 victory.
- 1991 - In the last game of the year, John Smiley tossed a five hit shutout with help from the pen to beat the Expos 7-0 at TRS. It was Smiley’s 20th win of the year for the pennant winning Pirates. He was backed by three RBI from Jose Lind and another pair from Barry Bonds, who also scored twice.
- 1992 - John Smoltz and the Braves won the opening game of the NLCS at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium by a 5-1 count over Doug Drabek and the Pirates. The Bucs had just five hits, with the only run coming in on Chico Lind’s eighth inning homer.
- 2013 - PNC Park had another record breaking crowd of 40,489 to watch the Pirates take a two-one lead in the best-of-five NLDC against the Cards by a 5-3 score. St. Louis rallied from behind twice against the Pirates, but the last comeback belonged to Pittsburgh. The Bucs went up 2-0 on a two-out, two-run Marlon Byrd single in the first, and the Redbirds tied it in the fifth on Carlos Beltran’s two-out, two-run single. The Pirates went ahead 3-2 an inning later on Russell Martin’s sac fly. Beltran tied it again in the eighth with a homer to right center off Mark Melancon. Pittsburgh put up two in their half off Carlos Martinez, with RBI singles from Pedro Alvarez and Martin. Jason Grilli then closed out the see-saw game, with Melancon getting a blown hold and the win. Francisco Liriano and Joe Kelly started the game, but neither made it to the seventh inning.
 |
| Russ Martin (photo Keith Srakocic/AP) |
No comments:
Post a Comment