8/13 From the 20’s Through the 50’s: ABC Affair;Scouts' Honor; Game Stories; HBD Vinegar Bend & Mudcat,

• 1923 - The Bucs beat the Brooklyn Robins 5-2 at Ebbets Field. Charlie Grimm had three hits and two RBI, and Max Carey stole second, third and home to back Lee Meadow’s four-hitter. Carey ended up the NL steals leader with 51 swiped sacks on the year. 

Max Carey 2001 SP Legendary Cuts

• 1926 - The ABC Affair concluded with Babe Adams, Carson Bigbee and Max Carey cut loose from the club. Adams had been a World Series hero, Bigbee had over a decade’s service with the team, and Carey was a Hall of Fame player. But they crossed management by holding a team meeting to complain of an odd management dynamic - Bill McKechnie was the manager, but the owner, Barney Dreyfuss, had Fred Clarke sit on the bench every game, leaving the players befuddled as to who was in charge. After the ABC heads rolled, Clarke never sat on the bench again (and in fact severed ties with his long-time team) and Dreyfuss fired McKechnie after the season. Another dynamic may have been some house cleaning: Per SABR’s Stephen Rice “Adams, at age 44, was done after nearly 3,000 innings pitched for the Pirates in 18 seasons. Bigbee, a reserve outfielder, was no longer needed after 11 seasons with the team. And Carey, the team captain in his 17th year with the club, was also let go.” 
• 1928 - Several thousand Boy Scouts gathered at Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park and marched to Forbes Field behind a 20-piece band. The boys did a lap around the yard, then stopped at home plate where Bucco owner Barney Dreyfuss was made an honorary First Class scout of Rodef Shalom’s Troop #5 and presented with a Scout’s Manual. Then the youngsters trooped to the stands to watch the Pirates thump the Brooklyn Robins 6-1 behind Ray Kremer, who not only tossed a six-hitter but chipped in a pair of RBI to close the jamboree on a proper note. 
• 1930 - LHP Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell was born in Vinegar Bend, Alabama (or thereabouts, anyway). The Pirates sent 2B Julian Javier to St Louis for Mizell in May of 1960, and in four months he won 13 games to help carry the Bucs to the 1960 championship. In parts of three seasons, Mizell’s Bucco line was 21-16/3.94. He was nearing the end of his career and the Pirates shipped him to the NY Mets in 1962, from where he retired at season’s end. He became a politician after baseball and went on to serve in local offices and as a three-term congressman from North Carolina. 

Vinegar Bend Mizell 1961 (photo Manny's Baseball Land)

• 1930 - The Pirates won their fourth game in row, scoring exactly eight runs in each, by dropping the Philadelphia Phillies 8-4 at Forbes Field. Paul Waner had three hits and a homer, while pitcher Ray Kremer also went yard. 
• 1935 - RHP Jim “Mudcat” Grant was born in Lacoochee, Florida. Mudcat made 50 appearances for Pittsburgh with a 7-4-7, 3.41 line but never tossed in the playoffs - he was acquired too late in 1971 (September) to be eligible for the roster and was sent to Oakland before the 1972 postseason began. His nickname was bestowed on him in the minors when a teammate dubbed him Mudcat, mistakenly believing that he hailed from Mississippi, the home of a large catfish known as a mudcat. At least that’s his story; another claims that his MLB roomie Lary Doby of the Indians pinned it on him when he claimed that Grant was as “ugly as a Mississippi mudcat.” Ouch. 
• 1950 - Pittsburgh took a twin bill from the Chicago Cubs by 7-4 and 2-0 scores at Forbes Field. The Bucs rode a six-run fifth inning to victory in the opener. Gus Bell had three hits, including two doubles, while Ralph Kiner (#200) and Danny O’Connell homered. Cliff Chambers went the distance for the win. Mel Queen was the story in the nitecap, tossing a complete game five hitter with 11 K. Johnny Hopp went 4-for-4 and was a homer shy of the cycle.

Mel Queen 1951 Bowman

• 1953 - The Pirates fell behind three times but overcame the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 at Forbes Field when Hal Rice’s eighth inning fly scored Cal Abrams with the game winner. Frank Thomas had a pair of solo homers to back Lefty LaPalme’s pitching. For the Bucs, it was a rare bright spot. The victory was their only win in a dozen game stretch. 
• 1957 - Bob Friend was dealing as he tossed a two-hit shutout against Phillies, winning 6-0 at Connie Mack Stadium. He was hooked up in a 2-0 duel with Warren Hacker through six innings before Bill Mazeroski chased Hacker with a two-run two-bagger in the seventh. Pittsburgh iced it in the eighth on a run-scoring error and Hank Foiles two-out RBI knock. Maz had a big day, with his two-run, second-inning homer with two gone giving Friend some early breathing room. The pitcher said after the game that he had fallen in love with his curve “...but now I’ve learned that the fastball is my best pitch.” 
• 1958 - Though nicked by three-run pinch-hit homers off the bats of Rip Repulski and Bob Bowman‚ the Pirates nosed the Phils 10-9 at Connie Mack Stadium for their seventh straight victory. Roberto Clemente had two homers (his first ever multi-homer game), Maz added one more‚ and Ted Kluszewski doubled and tripled.