7/25 From 1930 Through the 1960’s: Bucs Take Top Spot; Game Stories; HBD Doug & Ed

• 1931 - Larry French went the distance at Forbes Field during a 14-inning, 3-2 win against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the longest NL contest of the season. It wasn’t exactly a gem, as he gave up 15 hits, but enough of an effort to outlast Fred Heimach, who also went gate-to-gate. Pie Traynor had three hits (two 3B & 2B), two runs and an RBI. It was the second game of a twin bill; the Bucs took the opener 5-2. Spades Wood not only tossed a three-hitter, but drove in a pair of runs. Traynor had two hits in that match, including a double, and scored twice. 

Larry French - photo The Sporting News Collection

• 1944 - Max Butcher tossed a six-hit goose egg at the Polo Grounds as the Bucs blasted the NY Giants‚ 15-0. Pittsburgh banged out 20 hits and posted a nine-run second inning. Bob Elliott had six RBI and a homer while Pete Coscarart and Jim Russell each added four knocks.
• 1951 - The Pirates overcame a 4-0 deficit by scoring four times in the seventh and once again in the eighth to rally past the NY Giants 5-4 at Forbes Field. Joe Garagiola’s homer in the seventh was the big blow, with the game winner being a bases-loaded sac fly delivered by George Strickland an inning later. Ted Wilks got the win after two innings of clean relief work with three whiffs. 
• 1952 - Manager Billy Meyer held a clubhouse meeting after the Bucs had dropped six games in a row (per the Pittsburgh Press Billy told them “...to look respectable”) and apparently the low-key boot in the pants worked as Pittsburgh beat the Boston Braves 3-2 at Forbes Field. Clem Koshorek doubled home a pair of runs and the game-winner was Jack Merson’s fourth-inning single, scoring Ralph Kiner. Murry Dickson made it hold up while scattering nine hits. It was his seventh win of the campaign - three were versus Boston and three more against the NY Giants. The pep talk aftermath didn’t have very strong legs - the Pirates beat Boston the next day, then lost six of the next seven on their way to a last-place, 42-win season. 
• 1956 - The Bucs blew a four-run lead by giving up eight tallies to the Cubs in the last two innings. But Chicago didn’t roster the only comeback kids at Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente ripped an inside the park, ninth-inning grand slam to bring the Bucs back for a 9-8 win. He banged the pitch off Jim Brosnan, and it ricocheted off the base of the left field light standard and ran along the track into center. Clemente ran through 3B coach Bobby Bragan’s stop sign (there were no outs) and as Ernie Bank’s relay headed home "He slid, missed the plate, then reached back to rest his hand on the rubber...as the crowd of 12,431 went goofy with excitement" wrote Jack Herndon of the Post Gazette. It was the only walk-off, inside-the-park grand slam in MLB history. In the same game, Dale Long hit his 20th homer, then a club record for lefties, breaking Arky Vaughan’s 1935 mark. 
• 1960 - The Bucs regained first place when Bob Friend defeated the Cardinals 4-2 at Busch Stadium behind home runs from Bill Virdon, Bob Skinner and Roberto Clemente. Pittsburgh wouldn’t relinquish the top spot for the remainder of the season.

Doug Drabek - 1991 Score All Star

• 1962 - RHP Doug Drabek was born in Victoria, Texas. He tossed six seasons (1987-92) in Pittsburgh with a line of 92-62/3.02. Drabek won the Cy Young in 1990 when he went 22-6, but oddly never made an All-Star team as a Pirate. Doug spent six seasons in the show after he left Pittsburgh following the 1992 season but never won more than a dozen games elsewhere. After he retired, he spent time at home and helping coach Little League ball. In 2010, he returned to pro ball as a pitching coach for Arizona, a position he still holds. 
• 1963 - Tommie Sisk pitched five innings of near perfect relief (he walked two) and rode Roberto Clemente’s three-run homer to a 6-2 win over league leading Los Angeles and ace Sandy Koufax at Dodger Stadium. Smoky Burgess chipped in with a pair of RBI. Koufax had entered the game with just three losses and a 1.75 ERA. 
• 1965 - The Bucs took the opener of a twin bill at Forbes Field from the Cubs 3-2 when back-up catcher Del Crandall, 35, was called into duty in the sixth. He banged a two-out, 3-1 pitch barely into the left center seats for the win. Bill Mazeroski also homered, and Vern Law won his second game in 24 hours as the seventh Pirate pitcher, working the final 1-⅓ IP. The Cubs took the nightcap easily 5-0 in 1:37; the Pirates had just three hits and a Roberto Clemente line-out triple play to show for their efforts. 
• 1967 - 1B/3B Ed Sprague was born in Castro Valley, California. Sprague spent one of his 11 major league campaigns in Pittsburgh, signing in 1999 for $1.3M, and it was a solid season. He became the Bucco starter, hitting .267 with 22 homers and made the only All-Star game of his career.He left for San Diego in 2000, with Aramis Ramirez slotted in at the hot corner for Pittsburgh. 2001 was his last big league year, and he became the head coach for the U. of Pacific Tigers from 2004-15. In 2016, Sprague joined Oakland as a special advisor and is their Coordinator of Instruction.