9/15 Happenings: HBD Elmer, Old Folks, Catskill Wildman, Dennis & Rich; RIP Tiny; Waner, Alou Bros

• 1862 - 3B Elmer Cleveland was born in Washington, DC. He had a very good season for the Union League’s Cincinnati Outlaw Reds, and after some more minor league seasoning was added to the NY Giants roster in 1888 and then shipped to the Alleghenys. Alas, Elmer was an early AAAA player, hitting .235 for the Giants and .222 for Pittsburgh. He got one more chance in 1891 with Columbus where he hit .171 and ran out of opportunities. He spent a productive decade playing minor league ball in the Western Interstate, Southern, Northwestern and Pennsylvania State Leagues. 
• 1907 - LHP Fritz Ostermueller was born in Quincy, Illinois. The veteran southpaw spent the final five seasons of his 15 year-career as a Buc, putting up a line of 49-42-1/3.48 before retiring at the ripe old age of 41 with the nickname “Old Folks.” He later became part of the broadcasting crew for the minor-league Quincy Gems. In his on-air highlight, Ostermueller was in the booth as color man in 1949 when Harry Caray, then the play-by-play voice of the St. Louis Cardinals, came to town to cover the Waterloo-Quincy game, per SABR. 

Edsall Walker 1992 Eclipse

• 1910 - LHP Edsall Walker was born in Catskill, New York. Walker pitched for the Homestead Grays from 1936-40 and then returned to toss again for them from 1943-45 before his arm gave out, featuring a sinking fastball. He was the starting pitcher in the 1938 All Star game and worked in many championship series with the elite Gray squad. According to Chris Rainey in Walker’s SABR Bio, “Walker posted a 7-1 record in 1937, but walked more batters than he struck out. His nickname ‘Catskill Wildman’ reflected both his control of the strike zone and his attitude towards batters. He had no qualms about throwing inside to a hitter.” 
• 1928 - Paul Waner banged a pair of doubles against Cincinnati at Forbes Field in a 6-1 win, setting the NL record for two-baggers with 50. The mark only stood for a season as Brooklyn rookie Johnny Frederick broke it in 1929 with 52. 
• 1938 - At the Polo Grounds‚ Lloyd and Paul Waner hit consecutive HRs off Cliff Melton in the 5th inning as part of a 7-2 win. It was the third time both homered in the same game‚ but the first time off the same pitcher. It was the first time that brothers hit back-to-back homers in the majors, not to done again until BJ and Justin Upton went back-to-back for the Atlanta Braves in 2013. For Lloyd‚ it was his also his last MLB round tripper. Bucco siblings wouldn’t homer in the same game again until 2009 when Adam and Andy LaRoche connected against the Twins. Mel Ott got some rude treatment from winning Bucco hurler Jim Tobin, who beaned him three times. It didn’t cause Master Melvin too much physical damage, though - Tobin was a soft-tossing knuckleballer. 

Jim also hit Mel Ott three times, too - Conlon Collection/TSN

• 1949 - RHP Ernest “Tiny” Bonham died 18 days after pitching his final game as a Buc, an 8-2 win over the Phils. Tiny - who was 6’2”, 215 lb. - passed on at the age of 36, following an appendectomy and stomach surgery; the docs discovered he had cancer. Chet Smith of the Pittsburgh Press wrote, "No more loveable guy than Ernie Bonham ever pitched a baseball and you can put that in the official score." He tossed three years for the Pirates (1947-49), going 24-22, after spending his first seven years with the Yankees and was twice named an All-Star. 
• 1963 - The three Alou brothers, Felipe, Jesus, and Matty, played in the San Francisco Giants’ outfield at the same time. Manager Alvin Dark played the Alou boys together for an inning during the Giants’ 13-5 win over the Pirates at Forbes Field, putting Willie Mays on the bench. Matty would later join the Bucs in 1966 for a five year run. 
• 1967 - LHP Dennis Moeller was born in Tarzana, California. Moeller was part of the Jose Lind deal with KC in 1992. Pittsburgh used the starter as a reliever in the show, and that didn’t work out so well - in 10 outings, he put up a 1-0, 9.92 line. He mostly was rostered at AAA Buffalo, where he made 24 appearances (11 starts) with a slash of 3-4/4.34. Dennis was non-tendered after the season and signed with the Royals again, but never made it back to the show. 

Dennis Moeller 1993 Pinnacle

• 1968 - LHP Rich Robertson was born in Nacogdoches, Texas. A 1990 draft pick of the Bucs, he was a seldom used mop-up guy for Pittsburgh in 1993-94, getting in 17 games and putting up an 0-1/6.57 slash. The Twins picked him up off the waiver wire, and he had his best season for them in 1995 and started from 1996-97, winning 17 games. He lasted one more campaign and after spending time in the minors, he hung ‘em up in 2000.