5/11 From 1956 Through the 1960’s: Walk-Off Granny; Game Stories; HBD Walt, Mike & Mark

• 1956 - Down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, rookie C Danny Kravitz hit a walk-off grand slam, his first and only MLB granny (he hit just 10 big flies during his career), off Jack Meyer in the ninth to give the Pirates a 6-5 win over Philadelphia at Forbes Field. Losing 5-0 in the sixth, Pittsburgh put up a pair but were otherwise stymied until Danny’s blast. Phil pitchers helped; they walked seven Buccos and three touched home. Dale Long added three hits as newly acquired Luis Arroyo won the game that Vern Law started, with ElRoy Face and Nellie King providing the bridge. 

Danny Kravitz 1957 Topps

• 1957 - Roberto Clemente hit an inside the park homer that went under the batting cage 457’ away at Forbes Field before CF Richie Ashburn could (almost literally) dig it out. The Phils, 7-2 winners (they were up 6-0 before the Bucs batted), protested at the time, but the umps ruled that there was no ground rule to cover the situation and so the home run stood, with Philadelphia’s win making it a moot point. The Great One lined his four-bagger off future teammate Harvey Haddix. 
• 1958 - Bob Porterfield, newly acquired from the Red Sox, won a duel with Curt Simmons at Forbes Field to take a 1-0 win over the Phils. RC Stevens drove home Dick Groat in the 11th inning for the walk-off win. It was a twinbill sweep as the Bucs won the opener 10-4 behind Bob Friend, who survived back-to-back first inning homers. Bob Skinner doubled, scored three runs and drove in a pair. Ted Kluszewski homered with three RBI, Frank Thomas drove in three more, Dick Groat tripled and scored three runs while Roberto Clemente had a double, triple, and plated a pair. 
• 1958 - RHP Walt Terrell was born in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The 11-year MLB vet tossed for the 1990 Bucs, starting 16 games with a line of 2-7/5.88 after signing an $800K free agent deal in the off season. He was released in July and signed with the Tigers, pitching for Motown through 1992 to finish his career. He was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. 
• 1958 - RHP Mark Huismann was born in Littleton, Colorado. Mark tossed parts of nine seasons for six clubs, closing out his career with the Pirates in 1990-91. He slashed 1-0/7.88 in seven games over those two seasons, spending most of his time as an insurance policy in AAA Buffalo. That was par for the course; Mark spent just one campaign - 1986 with KC & Seattle - with more time on the big team than in the minors. 

Al McBean 1962 Topps

• 1962 - The Reds' Joey Jay and Al McBean matched zeroes for nine innings at Crosley Field. The Bucs scored twice in the 10th with two outs on knocks by Dick Groat and Bob Skinner, but it wasn’t enough. They fell 3-2 when Frank Robinson singled home Joe Gaines with two away off Elroy Face for the Cincy comeback win. 
• 1968 - RHP Mike Garcia was born in Riverside, California. Garcia had a 20-game MLB career, spent with Pittsburgh in 1999-2000. He went 1-2/7.36 with three holds over that span. The Bucs had inked him after a two-year run in Korea. He was well-traveled afterwards, tossing in the minors, Korea, Mexico and finally closing it down after spending 2007 playing indy ball.