8/25 From 1950’s Through the 1970’s: Rallies; Ump Strike; More; HBD Euclides & Junior

• 1952 - 18 year old RHP Bill “Ding Dong” Bell tossed his third no-hitter as a member of the Pirates Class D Appalachian League affiliate Bristol, winning 4-0 in a seven inning game against Bluefield. Bell is one of two professional pitchers to toss three no-hitters in the same season. He was called up in September by the Bucs after posting an 11-3/2.09 slash, though he did have one big red flag - in 112 IP, he had 194 whiffs, but also 113 walks. Ding Dong made it back to Pittsburgh for a short while in 1955, but his wildness continued - Bell was 0-1, 4.32 in his MLB career with 14 walks in 16-⅔ IP. 

Ding Dong 1955 Diamonds In The Dusk

• 1959 - The White Sox sent 3B Bob Sagers and OF/1B Harry "Suitcase" Simpson packing to Pittsburgh in exchange for vet 1B Ted Kluszewski, looking to improve their bench. Klu hit .297 during the rest of the season and .391 with three homers in the World Series for the Sox. Simpson retired after the season and Sagers was a career minor leaguer. Per SABR, Harry wore a size 13 shoe, and a sportswriter dubbed him “Suitcase” Simpson based on a character by that name with feet as large as suitcases from the comic strip “Toonerville Folks.” 
• 1962 - The Pirate players called off a threatened walkout in objection to a rained out game that was rescheduled as part of a Saturday doubleheader with another doubleheader already scheduled on Sunday. Bob Friend, team rep, was irked that the players were bypassed in rescheduling the game. Friend lost the opener 3-2 to St. Louis at Busch Stadium, giving up a run with two down in the ninth. The Bucs took the second game 4-0 behind Earl Francis, who tossed a three-hitter and was backed by homers off the bats of Dick Groat and Dick Stuart. They also split the next day’s twinbill. 
• 1967 - Euclides Rojas was born in Havana. He was the Cuban National Team's all-time leader in saves before he left his homeland by raft in 1994, was rescued by the US Coast Guard, and emigrated to America. He’s been the Buccos bullpen coach since 2010, having served in the same position for the Red Sox and briefly, the Marlins. Rojas spent six years (2005-2010) as the Pirates Latin American Field Coordinator and also worked for Pittsburgh as a roving minor league instructor in 2002 with an emphasis on the club's Latin American program. Prior to that job, Rojas spent five seasons as a coach in the Florida Marlins organization. 

Euclides Rojas (image via Positively Pittsburgh)

• 1972 - Steve Blass pitched a career-high 11 innings but had a no-decision in a 3-2, 12-inning walkoff win in the first game of a doubleheader against the Dodgers at TRS. Steverino had a rare bout of wildness, walking nine and bopping one, but had some glovely fielding behind him to keep the damage minimal. Richie Hebner sent the game into overtime with a homer in the ninth, then Manny Sanguillen delivered the game-winning rap with a two-out single in the 12th off reliever Pete Richert. Dave Cash had reached second on a throwing error and scored the winning run. The Dodgers were held to three hits in the second game by Bruce Kison, but split on the day by taking a 4-3 win. A walk came around, another run scored on a balk and Bill Buckner homered after an error. 
• 1974 - OF Gary “Junior” (he’s Gary Matthews’ son) Matthews Jr. was born in San Francisco. He put in 12 big-league years with nine stops, spending 46 games in Pittsburgh in 2001 when he was taken off waivers from the Cubs. He hit .245 and was sold to the Mets in the off season. Known for defensive flair, he also made the All-Star team in 2006, joining his dad as the 14th father-son combo to appear in the Midsummer Classic. 
• 1978 - Major League umps staged a one-day strike, its first walk-out, to air a laundry list of grievances they had with MLB; semipro and amateur arbitrators were used as replacements. The umpires walked out again at the beginning of the 1979 season. The Major League Umpires Association authorized several disruptive events on behalf of the boys in blue, including the ill-fated mass resignation of 1999, leading the umps to decertify the MLUA and start a new unit called the World Umpires Association, recognized in 2000 and still the umps’ bargaining unit. 

Dave Roberts 1980 Topps

• 1979 - The Bucs scored twice in the ninth after two were out and no one aboard to send the game into extra innings, eventually winning 4-3 in 19 frames over the Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium. Dave Roberts pitched out of a pair of bases loaded jams to earn the win. He wriggled off the hook with the sacks juiced and no one away in the 17th inning after escaping in the 16th, when the bases were juiced with two outs and he went 3-0 to opposing pitcher John D'Acquisto. The Friars stranded 26 runners in the match, one short of the MLB record. The contest lasted six hours and twelve minutes, the longest Pirate contest until the Jerry Meals 19-inning game at Atlanta in 2011.