9/4: HBD Jackrabbit, Gill's Boner, Bootball, Kitten Scratched From Record Book, Game Stories

• 1875 - OF Jack “Jackrabbit” Gilbert was born in Rhinecliff, New York. The small and speedy (5-8, 145 lbs, hence his moniker) Jackrabbit played three games in 1898 between the Senators and Giants. Gilbert went to the minors where he swiped 182 bases between 1897-1900 (records are incomplete beyond that). He got one more call to the majors in 1904, appearing in 25 games for Pittsburgh as a left fielder. It wasn’t exactly the fast track to job security; the Pirates had future Hall of Famer Fred Clarke starting in left, and Fred was also the manager of the team. Jack didn’t return (hitting .241 with three steals in six tries didn’t help his cause) and played in the minors afterward, hanging on through 1910 when he was 34. 

Billy Gumbert (photo via Out of the Park)

• 1890 - The Pittsburgh Alleghenys snapped a 23-game losing streak and a stretch where the club lost 33-of-34 games with a 6-2 win over the Cleveland Spiders at Recreation Park. 2B Sam LaRoque had a pair of knocks and Dave Anderson notched the win. It didn’t do much to turn the season around; they dropped 20 of the last 23 games to finish 23-113. From July 3rd (when they had their final winning streak of the year of three in a row), they were 6-66. Local hurler Billy Gumbert (his brother Ad also pitched later for Pittsburgh) led the staff with four wins. 
• 1908 - With two outs and the Pirates-Cubs in a scoreless 10th-inning tie at Exposition Park, Chief Wilson singled to center with the bases juiced, scoring Fred Clarke with the winning run for Vic Willis, who tossed a four-hitter. Warren Gill, on first base, saw Clarke score, and pulled a u-turn into the dugout before touching second (which, while lazy, was a common enough practice by the players). The Cubs' Johnny Evers then ran over and tagged second base to claim (properly) a run-preventing force out on Gill. But the lone umpire, Hank O'Day, had already left the field and Chi-town protested the game to no avail. Charley Murphy, the Cubs president, told Pirates beat man Ralph Davis of the Pittsburg Press that “I do not expect the protest will be allowed, but it certainly is a strong one and should prove a strong argument in favor of the double-umpire system” instead of the single arbitrator currently in use. Three weeks later on September 23rd, Evers did get a force call in roughly the same situation against the NY Giants’ Fred Merkle, and that play, which impacted the pennant race, became forever known as “Merkle’s Boner.” Ironically, O’Day was the ump for that game, too. 
• 1916 - The Pirates swept the Cards at Forbes Field behind some stellar pitching. Frank Miller threw a four-hit whitewash in the opener, winning 7-0 as the Redbirds shot themselves in the foot with four errors leading to three unearned runs. Wilbur Cooper followed with his own four-hit shutout, taking a 2-0 decision. Carson Bigbee went 3-for-4 with an RBI, double and stolen base while Cooper drove in the other run. 

Carson Bigbe 1921 (photo Bain News Service/Library of Congress)

• 1948 - With an off date during a Labor Day week home stand, the Pirates added to the Allegheny County Fair festivities by playing an exhibition against the Second Army club at the South Park Fairgrounds. Both papers reported a Bucco victory though neither gave a score. 
• 1965 - Vernon Law was featured on the cover of The Sporting News. He won the NL Comeback Player of the Year award that season with a 17-9/2.15 slash in 29 games. 
• 1971 - The Bucs mishandled five balls, but still won 7-6 over the Montreal Expos in 11 innings at TRS. The Expos clanked four themselves as six of the game’s 13 runs were unearned. Pittsburgh won on an oddball rally. Rennie Stennett singled and went to second when Gene Clines was HBP by Mike Marshall. Marshall picked Stennett off second, and during the same at-bat, had Clines picked off first, but Ron Fairly mishandled the throw. Instead of being out, Clines ended up on second where he scored the winning run on Vic Davalillo’s knock. 
• 1976 - The Pirates put up three runs in the ninth, then held off the Expos 5-3 at Parc Jarry for their 10th straight win. The Bucs ninth inning was sparked by a two-run hit from Omar Moreno, who later scored on a wild pitch. Kent Tekulve gave up a score in the ninth and faced the tying run in Larry Parrish, but retired the slugger on a fly to center to pick up a save for Dave Giusti. Montreal had 13 hits, but were thwarted by four DP balls. 

Po' Doe 1978 Topps

• 1978 - In his first major league at-bat, Dorian “Doe” Boyland struck out while sitting on the bench. The Pirate rookie was yanked with a 1-2 count after the Mets made a pitching change in the seventh frame, replacing Skip Lockwood with Kip Kobel. Pinch hitter Rennie Stennett took Boyland’s place in the box as Chuck Tanner played the match-up game, and completed the K by watching strike three during the first game of a Bucco 7-4, 7-0 doubleheader sweep at TRS. The victories put the Bucs one game out of first. They would finish the year in second, 1-½ games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. 
• 1982 - Lee Tunnell got his first MLB start as a replacement for John Candelaria (his shoulder was tight), and took full advantage. Tunnell outpitched Fernando Valenzuela in a 1-0 win over Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium when Lee Lacy’s first inning homer stood as the game’s only score. Tunnell left in the eighth with a blister; Rod Scurry and Kent Tekulve finished up. 
• 1991 - The Bucs won their eighth of nine games by defeating the SF Giants 8-3 at Candlestick Park. John Smiley won his 17th as Steve Buechele and Andy Van Slyke homered while Don Slaught went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles to increase their divisional lead to nine games. 

Harvey Haddix 1960 Topps Insert

• 1991 - The MLB Committee For Statistical Accuracy deleted Harvey Haddix’s 12-inning perfect game from the list of perfectos while removing the asterisk from Roger Maris’ 61 homer year. In The Kitten’s case, the committee ruled that a pitcher had to “complete the game” to get credit, no matter how many innings. Haddix's response, according to Albert Chen of Sports Illustrated, was "It's OK; I know what I did."