9/23 Expo Park-Forbes Field Era: Pick Off Pud, Bucs Clinch in '25, Murry's 20th, Game Stories...

• 1886 - According to Charlton’s Baseball Chronology and Wikipedia, Pittsburgh Alleghenys’ pitcher Pud Galvin walked the first three Brooklyn Bridegrooms he faced - and picked them all off for a 1-2-3 inning! Pittsburgh went on to win the game 8-2. 

Charlie Case (photo Chicago Daily News/Chicago History Museum)

• 1904 - The Pirates downed the runaway NL leaders, the NY Giants, by a 7-0 score at the Polo Grounds. Charlie Case tossed a two-hitter, and didn’t give up a knock after the second frame. His opponent wasn’t quite up to snuff; the Pittsburg Press said that “Leon Ames...was as wild as a March hare and issued six free passes. Besides, the Pirates stung his delivery at a lively rate and practically sewed up the game in the second inning, when three free passes turned into tallies.” The New York Herald was a little less kind - "Pittsburg Plays All By Itself" was its headline. 
• 1907 - The Pirates dropped the NY Giants 2-1 at Exposition Park. Vic Willis tossed a six hitter with six K to outgun Hooks Wiltse. Bill Hallman had three hits and a run scored for the Bucs, Honus Wagner added two knocks and a stolen base, and Ed Abbaticchio doubled and scored. The game had a little added spice when umpire Bill Klem and Giant manager John McGraw argued during the lineup exchange, setting the scene for McGraw’s ejection in the sixth inning. 
• 1925 - The Pittsburg Press wrote “The Phillies gave the Pirates a merry tussle in the game that clinched the pennant for the Smoky City…” as the Bucs turned six DPs and edged the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at Forbes Field to claim the NL flag for the first time since 1909. It was the ninth straight victory for the Pirates. Emil Yde tossed a seven hitter for the victory with late help from Tommy Sheehan. Max Carey and Pie Traynor contributed a pair of knocks. 

Jim Weaver (photo via Out of the Park Development)

• 1935 - Behind the four-hit pitching of Jim Weaver and Pep Young’s three knocks and seven RBI, the Bucs left the St. Louis Cardinals pennant hopes on life support, taking a 12-0 over the Redbirds at Sportsman’s Park to drop the Redbirds four games behind the Cubs in the loss column with four games to go. Woody Jensen had four hits, including a pair of doubles, while Lloyd Waner and Arky Vaughan added three hits and runs apiece. 
• 1951 - Murry Dickson tossed a five hitter against the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field to win his 20th game 3-0. Gus Bell had a pair of hits and two RBI to back Dickson. Murry was the only Bucco pitcher to win more than eight games that season; the team only won 64 contests. 
• 1956 - With the Dodgers leading the Pirates 8-3, 44,932 fans, the largest crowd in Forbes Field's history (with several thousand turned away at the gates), lured by a “prize day” promotion, left early when a ninth inning rain delay postponed the game with two outs, triggering the Sunday curfew with the Dodgers up 8-2. Brooklyn officially won the game the next day. Don Newcombe got the win in a match that saw seven Bucco hurlers take the bump.