8/27 Through the 1920’s: Pirates Win Pair 1-0; Alleghenys Give Up 28; HBD David, Eddie & Cholly

• 1875 - RHP David Wright was born in Dennison, Ohio. He had a slim MLB resume, working one game for the Bucs in 1895 and giving up six runs in two innings featuring a pair of wild pitches, then tossing a barely more successful outing for the Chicago Colts two years later. 

The 1887 Alleghenys Kalamazoo Tobacco/Charles Gross & Co

• 1887 - The Alleghenys gave up the most runs in franchise history when they were bombed by the Boston Beaneaters 28-14 at North Side's Recreation Park. It was the sixth season of the franchise and its first in the NL, where the Alleghenys finished sixth with a record of 55–69. 
• 1894 - IF Eddie Mulligan was born in St. Louis. Mulligan had a long and strong minor league career with short MLB interludes. He made his big league debut with the 1915-16 Chicago Cubs, then returned to the minors. In 1921, he joined the Chicago White Sox after the Black Sox scandal and after two seasons there, he went back to the minors with the San Francisco Seals. Five years later in 1928, Mulligan spent his final season in the majors as a utility infielder for the Pirates, batting .233. Eddie returned to the Pacific Coast League, this time for another decade. He spent 17 years overall in the PCL for eight teams, banged out 2,574 hits. He was elected as a member of the PCL Hall of Fame and was later presented with the King of Baseball award given by Minor League Baseball.
• 1903 - IF Charlie “Cholly” Engle was born in New York City. Cholly had a couple of cups of coffee in the show, then got his only real taste of the bigs with Pittsburgh in 1930 when he got into 67 games, playing 2B, SS & 3B while hitting .264. Cholly played in the minors for eight years after that, then managed on the farm through the 1950 season. Engle then ran a bar/restaurant in San Antonio for 25 years after his baseball days. 
• 1917 - In the fourth inning in New York at the Polo Grounds, Max Carey beat out a bunt and moved to second on a single by Tony Boeckel. Both runners stole on the next pitch from Rube Benton and when Boekel and the Giants 2B Buck Herzog got jumbled up at second, Carey steamed home before they could untangle. Wilbur Cooper made that one run stand up to top Benton and the G-Men, 1-0. It was Carey’s 13th swipe of home; he would set the NL standard of 33 steals of home during his career. The loss didn’t slow down NY, which won the NL title with 98 victories. The Pirates went the opposite way, winning just 51 times and finishing in the cellar, 47 games behind the Giants. 

Vic Aldridge (photo Bain/Getty)

• 1925 - The Bucs tossed their second straight shutout against Boston at Braves Field, winning 1-0. The Pirates Vic Aldridge and Boston’s Larry Benton traded four-hitters; Pie Traynor drove in Eddie Moore in the third with the game’s only run. The day before, Lee Meadows threw a nine hit, 2-0 whitewash of the Braves, and did it without striking out a soul.