9/4 Expo Park-Forbes Field Era: Brother Boppers; Gill's Boner; 23-In-A-Row; HBD Herky Jerky & Jackrabbit; More

• 1869 - RHP Elmer “Herky Jerky” Horton was born in Hamilton, Ohio. He made three MLB starts to fill his big league resume, two with the 1896 Pirates. He went 0-2, giving up 16 runs in 15 innings, with the second game coming after two days rest (he also lost his final start in 1898 12-3 as a member of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms). Herky got his start in 1894 with the Winfield nine and played through 1905, spending his last few seasons with New York-based teams, near his home. His nickname came from his herky-jerky pitching delivery. 
• 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. 

The 1890 Pittsburgh Sad Sacks

• 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. Doc Gill, on first base, saw Clarke score, and pulled a u-turn toward the clubhouse 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 Pittsburgh 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. 

The Waners 1994 Conlon/Sporting News

• 1927 - Lloyd and Paul Waner became MLB’s first brothers to hit home runs in the same game. They pulled off the feat in the same inning when Lloyd led off the fifth frame with his second home run of the season, and an out later Paul followed with his ninth dinger, both off the Reds’ Dolf Luque. Neither long ball would have counted today as each cleared the fence on a hop, then considered a home run but now a ground-rule double as Pittsburgh defeated Cincinnati at Redland Field, 8-4. The Waners were among six Bucs to have two or more hits, with Johnny Gooch’s three hits and RBIs leading the way for Vic Aldridge’s complete game win. The win gave the Bucs a two-game lead in the NL race, and they would go on to win the flag, although they be swept by the Yankee’s “Murderers’ Row” in the World Series. 
• 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. 
• 1964 - Bill Mazeroski and Donn Clendenon led a 16-hit Bucco attack as the Pirates downed the Houston Colt .45s, 10-2, at Forbes Field. The dynamic duo went 6-for-9, combining for seven RBI and three runs scored. Bill Virdon also had three knocks, with Bob Bailey and Roberto Clemente chipping in with a pair each. Bob Veale went the distance to breeze his way to his 15th victory. 
• 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 at age 35. The Deacon won 12 more games in 1966, but faded in ‘67, his final campaign. 

• 1967 - The Pirates pounded out 32 hits in sweeping a Busch Stadium twinbill from the Cards by 10-8 and 9-3 scores. Manny Mota led the parade with five hits, four runs and five RBI during the day; Willie Stargell also collected five knocks. Billy Mazeroski had four hits (2-2Bs, HR) and four RBI while Maury Wills added four more hits and plated three runs. Dennis Ribant won the first game in relief of Bob Veale with Juan Pizarro getting the save; Steve Blass got the win in the nightcap with Pizarro collecting his second save of the day.