6/11 Expo Park-Forbes Field Era: Frank Thomas B-Day Bash; Paul Waner Day; Die-Hards; Game Stories; HBD Frank, Dave & Lenny

• 1901 - The Pirate faithful saved the day for the Bucs in a 4-0 win at Exposition Park over Christy Mathewson and the NY Giants. Thunderstorms were predicted for the area, and by the start of the fifth a deluge began, with the Giants pleading for a rain-out. But umpire Hank O’Day, following a league directive that games not be called until the fans in the uncovered parts of the park deserted their seats (the NL figured if the paying customers could brave the elements, so could the players), pointed to the mass of Pirate rooters packing the bleachers (they drew 7,000, a huge showing, for the highly anticipated Matty/Schoolmaster Sam Leever match, of which 4,000 were in the open) and said play on - and no stalling shenanigans either, he warned. The G-Men went down in order, and with the game safely in hand the soggy crowd headed for shelter as the game was called, ending in the Buccos favor. Wee Tommy Leach had all four Pirate RBIs while Leever gave up two hits in his short outing. 

Deacon Phillippe (photo source: S Dakota Sports HoF)

• 1903 - Deacon Phillippe tossed his third straight whitewash, a three-hitter, to defeat Brooklyn 9-0 at Exposition Park for the Pirates ninth consecutive win. The Pittsburgh Press wrote “Deacon Phillippe was the artist and he has never been in finer form.” Phillippe won 25 games that season, but only ended up with one more shutout. Eddie Phelps spanked three hits and Claude Ritchey added a pair. 
• 1909 - Player/Manager Fred Clarke banged out five hits to lead the Pirates to an 8-1 win over the Brooklyn Superbas at Forbes Field for their 11th straight win. Clarke had a double, triple, a pair of stolen bases and three runs scored. Lefty Leifield claimed the win. 
• 1913 - Len Levy was born in Squirrel Hill. The Allderdice grad did about everything you could do for the Pirates without playing. He was a batboy, a Forbes Field ticket-taker, a minor league player, bullpen catcher, PR man, scout and coach in both the Pirate system and for the Bucs; he’s the guy that you saw in the first base box as Maz galloped by after his Series-winning homer in 1960. Older yinzers will remember him from his later days when he ran an Oakland car lot, Forbes Field Auto, that was popular with the players. 

Len Levy (photo source: SABR)

• 1918 - Pittsburgh’s Roy Sanders and Boston's Bunny Hearn battled for each other for 16 innings before the Bucs won 3-2 on a bases-loaded squeeze play by Howdy Caton. Sanders allowed just one hit over the last eight innings at Braves Field after Boston had taken an early 2-0 lead in the second, tossing 14 consecutive goose eggs. The Braves had chances early on, with 11 hits and 13 stranded runners during the contest. 
• 1925 - Emil Yde did it all. The multi-tasking lefty scattered nine hits and went 3-for-4 with a double and triple, three runs and three RBI to carry the Pirates to an 11-3 win over the Boston Braves at Forbes Field. He did have some help - Johnny Rawlings had three hits while Max Carey, Kiki Cuyler and Johnny Gooch each collected a pair of knocks. 
• 1927 - The Brooklyn Robins crashed Big Poison’s party to take an 11-10 win at Forbes Field by scoring four runs in the ninth. Waner had just been married the day before, and the Pirates held a “Paul Waner Day” for him. He was gifted with a car and celebrated with three hits. He was joined in the hit parade by LF Clyde Barnhart, who also collected three knocks to run his multi-hit streak to 10 games. That string ended the next day when he could only manage a single against Brooklyn. 

Frank Thomas 1954 Post-Gazette

• 1929 - OF/3B Frank Thomas was born in Pittsburgh. The local kid spent half of his 16 year career as a Pirate (1951-58) before being traded to the Reds. While a Buc, his line was .275/.363/.562 and he was a three time All-Star. Frank was as noted for his contract fights as he was for his 286 career homers. When he retired, he settled in Ross Township with his wife Dolores and eight kids. 
• 1948 - Dave Cash was born in Utica, New York. Drafted in 1966, he played his first five seasons in Pittsburgh (1969-73) and replaced Bill Mazeroski at second base in 1970; he in turn was bumped off the position by Rennie Stennett. Cash hit .285 as a Bucco and was in the league for a dozen campaigns, having three All-Star seasons with Philadelphia. Dave coached/managed for a while with the Oriole organization and is now retired and living in Tampa. 
• 1958 - Birthday boy Frank Thomas hit two homers‚ one a grand slam‚ and drove in seven runs as the Pirates pounded the Giants 14-6 at Seals Stadium. Bill Mazeroski also went long and had three hits with three runs chased home; Roberto Clemente and Bill Virdon added three raps as the Pirates rolled up 18 hits. Vern Law got the win with ElRoy Face finishing up. 

Roberto Clemente 1969 Deckle Edge

• 1969 - The ‘Stros were cruising with a 6-3 lead going into the sixth at the Astrodome when the Bucs woke up. They loaded the bases and cut the lead to a run via some small ball with an infield single and walk. The came the blast; Roberto Clemente cranked out a grand slam. It was his only hit, but he scored three times with an intentional walk, HBP and stolen base, adding an outfield assist to his basket. The Bucs banged out 15 hits,with Freddie Patek and Matty Alou chipping in three each. Houston helped - they committed four errors, leading to three unearned runs. Steve Blass got the win with Bruce DalCanton and Chuck Hartenstein mopping up the final four frames.