6/21: HBD GI, Gene Joins the Ranks, Bonus Baseball, Walk Off, Game Stories

• 1888 - Chicago’s George “Rip” Van Haltren no-hit the Alleghenys in a rain-shortened, seven inning outing at West Side Park that the White Stockings won 1-0. Van Haltren would convert to the outfield in 1891, and spent a couple of years in Pittsburgh (1892-93) roaming the pasture, with a dozen games at SS.
• 1893 - Pittsburgh rallied past Cleveland 6-5 by scoring five in the bottom of the ninth at Exposition Park. The Spiders committed a pair of errors in the last frame, and Jake Beckley blasted a three-run triple to right for the walk-off win.

Jake Beckley 1894 (photo via Field of Dreams)

• 1922 - Carson Bigbee banged out five hits, including two doubles and a triple good for three runs batted in, while Clyde Barnhart added four hits and four RBIs, but it was for naught as Brooklyn won in ten innings 15-14. Bigbee and Barnhart each booted a ball, along with Pie Traynor, in the extra frame to lose to the Robins at Ebbets Field.
• 1927 - The day after his extra-base hit streak ended at 14 games‚ Paul Waner's 23-game hitting streak was stopped by Dolph Luque during a 7-6 loss to the Reds in 10 innings at Forbes Field. Big Poison did draw a walk, but went 0-for-3 against Cincinnati.
• 1961 - Gene Baker became the first African-American manager in organized baseball when the Pirates named him skipper of their Batavia Pirates farm club in the New York-Penn League. A couple of seasons later, he became a Bucco coach, and later finished his off-field career as a Pirate scout. Baker was an eight-year MLB vet as an infielder, and he spent 1957-61 seasons with Pittsburgh.

Skipper Gene Baker 1961 (photo The Sporting News)

• 1971 - Bob Robertson set a MLB record for most assists in a nine inning game by a first baseman with eight in a 6-0 win over the Mets at TRS, helping Dock Ellis to an eight hit shutout. Ellis was busy, too, setting the NL record for putouts by a pitcher with five. The extra-inning mark for assists was also eight‚ set by the Buc’s Bob Skinner in 1954.
• 1981 - 1B/OF Garrett Jones was born in Harvey, Illinois. He was a Bucco platoon middle-of-the order presence against RHP from 2009-13 after being signed as a minor league FA from the Minnesota Twins organization. He hit 100 HR and had a .256 BA in Pittsburgh before moving on as a FA in 2014. Garrett was known as "GI Jones," a play on GI Joe.
• 1989 - Doug Drabek and Greg Maddux hooked up in a classic pitching duel, though neither was around at the finish, as the Cubs beat the Bucs 1-0 at TRS. Maddux went 10 frames of six-hit ball while Drabek went nine, giving up five knocks. Future Bucco skipper Lloyd McClendon’s sac fly off Doug Bair brought home future Bucco coach Gary Varsho in the 11th for the game’s only tally.
• 1998 - Three Pirate relievers surrendered five runs to the Brew Crew in the final two frames, but the Bucs hung on to take an 8-7 win at County Stadium. The Pirate hero was Jose Guillen, who smacked a grand slam in the third inning off Jeff Juden. Esteban Loaiza won his fifth game in spite of the bullpen meltdown.

Brian Giles 2003 Donruss Elite Aspirations

• 2003 - The Pirates edged the Indians‚ 7-6, for their second straight 15-inning victory over the Tribe, claiming a 5-4 win the day before. It was the first time since 1996 that two teams had played consecutive 15 inning contests. The win was highlighted by a web gem grab by Brian Giles, stealing a two-run homer bid from Brandon Phillips in the eighth inning and as described by ESPN: “Giles pushed off the fence with his foot to elevate himself, stretched his glove over the 6-foot fence and pulled the ball back from the second row of the stands.” The yard was rockin’ as the crowd of 36,856 included many Cleveland fans and was the Pirates' first sellout of the year.
• 2005 - Matt Lawton drove in five runs and scored twice, banging a homer and double, to lead the Pirates to an 11-4 win over the Nationals at PNC Park. Lawton went 3-for-5, Daryle Ward drove home three runs, and Ollie Perez pitched six frames for the win. The Pirates banged out 14 hits, seven for extra bases (one HR & six doubles).
• 2008 - In a pre-game ceremony at PNC Park, the Pirates officially presented the family of Roberto Clemente with his trophy after being named to Rawlings’ All-Time Gold Glove Team. The Bucs went on to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 behind two run homers by Jay Bay, Raul Chavez and Jose Bautista in front of 27,014 fans.