5/3 From 1950 Through the 1980’s: Gunner Returns; Buc Brawl; Dykes to Detroit; Game Stories; HBD Ivan

• 1953 - Johnny Lindell, a pitcher turned outfielder turned pitcher‚ earned the Pirates their fifth straight win‚ beating the Cards‚ 6-2. Lindell notched his first W since 1942 when he was a Yankee reliever, his last MLB season on the mound (he converted to the OF in 1943). In 1950, he became a bush league knuckleballer and returned to the majors in 1953 at the age of 36 as a pitcher. His knuckler was a wild child, and he led the NL in walks and wild pitches that season. Although used mainly by the Bucs as a pitcher (Lindell worked 175 IP), he batted .286 and pinch hit 34 times, once tying a game with a three-run, ninth-inning homer. 

Johnny Lindell 1953 Topps

• 1959 - The Pirates split a twinbill with the Cardinals at Forbes Field in front of 20,860 fans. The Bucs won the opener 4-3 in 10 innings behind ElRoy Face and a little help from Redbird outfielder Gino Cimoli, who let Bill Mazeroski’s soft liner drop with the bases loaded and two outs, when, as Pittsburgh Press beat man Les Biederman wrote, he “did everything but catch it.” The nightcap featured an unassisted DP by catcher Hank Foiles - he caught a strikeout and tried to throw out a Cardinal runner on the move, but batter Bill White double swung the bat and hit the ball he missed the first time, earning an interference call as well. The real action began when player/manager Solly Hemus, who had been nicked by Pittsburgh pitcher Bennie Daniels in the first and exchanged some words, was brushed back in the sixth. He and Daniels charged each other and several tussles broke out - Danny Murtaugh v Hemus and SL pitcher Larry Jackson v Buc coach Len Levy were the main bouts during the shoving match royale - in a rain-shortened game that the Cards eventually took 3-1. 
• 1959 - Pirates coach Jimmy Dykes, who joined Danny Murtaugh’s staff at the start of the season, had a short stay; he was hired away to become the manager of the Detroit Tigers. Jimmy had been a skipper before and would be a skipper again after Motown - in 21 seasons, he guided his six MLB teams to 1,406 victories, although like Gene Mauch, he never did win a flag. 
• 1964 - Big Bob Veale got knocked out of the box after getting just four outs and falling behind the Cards at Busch Stadium by a 6-1 count. But the top of the Bucco order - Gene Alley, Dick Schofield, Bill Virdon, Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell - went 9-for-19 with nine runs scored and seven RBI (five from Pops; he and Alley homered) powered the club to a 12-8 win. The bottom of the lineup, Billy Mazeroski and Jim Pagliaroni, added five hits and chased home four runs. Don Schwall staggered through 4-2/3 innings, allowing 10 runners but only two runs to earn the win, with ElRoy Face tossing three zeroes for the save. 

Ivan Cruz 2000 (photo Ezra Shaw/Getty)

• 1968 - 1B Ivan Cruz was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. He spent bits of four seasons in the show, getting 21 at-bats with the Bucs between 1999-2000 with a .238 BA while spending most of his time at AAA Nashville. He was busy after his Bucco days, playing a bit for the Cards, in Mexico and in Japan until he retired at 35 after the 2003 season. 
• 1973 - The Pirates trounced the San Francisco Giants 14-5 at Candlestick Park. The G-Men were generous to a fault, allowing six unearned runs and missing a couple of other catchable balls. Al Oliver (who was 1-for-20 coming into the contest) had a day, homering twice and plating six runs while slowpoke Milt May added to the festivities with a three-run inside-the-park-homer. Nellie Briles staggered to a complete game victory even though he was touched up for 11 hits. The clubhouse was not all fun and games afterwards - manager Bill Virdon had a spat with Richie Hebner over dogging a play in the field that carried over into a post-game locked door discussion; when it was done, Virdon told the media he didn’t want to talk about it and The Gravedigger fired a stool at the wall after he left The Quail’s office. Gene Clines, the Pirates fourth outfielder, chimed in with a beef about lack of playing time (he played behind Oliver, Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente and Richie Zisk during his Pirates tenure and saw roughly 300 AB/season). Dave Cash was also in a bit of a funk, but his blues were caused by a three-error game at second. 
• 1985 - The Gunner, Bob Prince, returned to the booth after a 10 year absence (he had been fired by KDKA). Prince got a standing ovation from the crowd, and when he took over the mic in the fourth frame, the Pirates erupted for nine runs, earning him another O after the inning. It was a short comeback as The Gunner died of cancer on June 10th. 

Bob Prince (photo Iron City promo)

• 1986 - A skunk wandered onto the field at San Diego in the 7th inning at Jack Murphy Stadium and held up the Padres-Pirates game for several minutes. It was rumored that a family of polecats lived under the stadium‚ feeding on peanuts and other fan debris; guess that’s one rumor that proved true. It was the Bucs who stunk out the joint early on, but they scored three times in the eighth and added the game winner in the ninth to skunk the Padres‚ 7-6.