8/16 Games: Three In A Row For Ralph & Frank, 72-Pitch Whitewash, Bonus Baseball, STFD, Game Stories

• 1904 - The Pirates swept the NY Giants by 7-2 and 4-1 counts at the Polo Grounds in front of 23,000 disappointed fans. Patsy Flaherty took the opener from Christy Mathewson while Mike Lynch did the honors in the nightcap, defeating Dummy Taylor. Ginger Beaumont had five hits during the day to lead the Pirates while Hans Wagner chipped in with three. It was the first time during the year that the New Yorkers had dropped a twin bill in a season that they ran away with the pennant by reeling off 106 wins.

Patsy Flaherty 1904 (photo Chicago History Museum/Getty)

• 1909 - OF Red Murray of the NY Giants saved Christy Mathewson’s bacon when, as the Pittsburg Press described “...the ball was seen rising, rising far out over the the heads of the waiting fielders. But Red Murray had his eye on the ball...the most wonderful catch ever seen at Forbes Field was pulled off, Murray getting the sphere with his bare hand after a long hard run. The inning was over and the Pirates were robbed of victory "...as the game was called because of rain with the score deadlocked at 2-2. Two runners had already crossed home when Murray snagged Dots Miller’s two-out drive...as the wind whistled, the lightning flashed, the thunder crashed and the rain descended.” 1B Ham Hyatt chipped in with his third pinch-hit triple of the year‚ a record that wouldn't be matched until 1970 by Vic Davalillo of St. Louis. 
• 1911 - Elmer Steele tossed just 72 pitches in downing the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers 9-0 at Washington Park. Steele surrendered no walks, had no strikeouts‚ and allowed just one hit, a one-out ninth inning single that just got past 2B Dots Miller. But it wasn’t all good news: Honus Wagner severely injured his ankle during the match, ended up on crutches and would miss 25-of-26 games. During his absence, the Bucs fell out of contention and finished a distant third to the NY Giants. 
• 1913 - The Pirates jumped on the Giants Christy Mathewson, scoring eight times in the first three frames and then hanging on for an 8-6 win at the Polo Grounds. The “demon Dutchman” (per the Pittsburg Press) Hans Wagner went 4-for-5 with a homer to lead the offense. Babe Adams got the win with help from George McQuinlan. 

George McQuillan 1911 Tango Eggs

• 1947 - The Pirates blasted a franchise record seven homers in a game against the Cardinals in a 12-7 win at Forbes Field. Ralph Kiner launched three dingers - in a row! - while Hank Greenberg and Billy Cox had a pair. For Greenberg, it was his 35th and final multi-homer game. The homers accounted for all 12 of the Buc runs. Kiner matched the MLB marks of seven HRs in four games‚ six in three games‚ five in two games‚ and four in consecutive at bats while becoming the first Pirate to homer three times in a single game. Kiner, Greenberg and Cox were joined by Cardinal Whitey Kurowski, who also had a pair of homers, to set a MLB record for most players with multi homers in a game. 
• 1958 - Frank Thomas bombed three consecutive HRs off three different pitchers (Harvey Haddix, Will Schmidt & Alex Kellner), drove home six runs and scored four times in a 13-4 romp over the Reds at Crosley Field. Dick Groat added four knocks and three tallies while Dick Stuart also went long. Bob Friend got the win with Bob Porterfield tossing the final two frames for the save. 
• 1989 - The Bucs took home a 5-4 win in 12 innings against Houston at the Astrodome. Bobby Bonilla hit the winning dinger off Larry Andersen. It first played out as an apparent double, but the call was changed to a home run after a quick ump’s conference; the ball had bounced off a fan’s stone hands and back into the field. P John Smiley had two RBI, but wasn’t around for the final decision. The win went to Neal Heaton, with a save credited to Bill Landrum. 

Bill Landrum 1989 Fleer Update

• 2011 - Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run homer to give Pittsburgh the early lead, Neil Walker hit another bomb to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, and Garrett Jones went yard in the eleventh inning for 5-4 win against the Cardinals at PNC Park. Chris Resop, the fifth Pirate pitcher of the game, got the win after working a pair of scoreless innings. Longtime Buc nemesis Albert Pujols lit up Jeff Karstens in the sixth to become the first player in MLB history to hit 30 homers in each of his first 11 seasons. 
• 2012 - AJ Burnett wasn’t at his best, but battled into the seventh to take a 10-6 win over the Dodgers at PNC Park. This contest entered Pirate folklore when Hanley Ramirez homered off Burnett in the fourth and tossed a couple of barbs at the Bucco hurler, who got his revenge in the sixth when he struck Ramirez out swinging on a 3-2 pitch and famously told him to “STFD.” Garrett Jones had a pair of three-run homers to spark the victory over LA.