7/8 Through the 1940’s: Bonus Balls; Players Push; AS's; Game Stories; HBD Johnny, Hank, Jay & Bill

• 1859 - Ump and P Hank O’Day was born in Chicago. He tossed one year for the Alleghenys, in 1885 (5-7/3.67). Later, he became noted as an ump, calling plays for 30 years, most famously the controversial “Merkle Bonehead” decision. He wore the blue for 10 World Series and in 2,710 major league games. O’Day also managed a couple of times, and for his long service to early baseball, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012; he was the first former Pittsburgh franchise player named to the Hall. 

Hank O'Day - 1915 Chicago Daily News

• 1874 - RHP Jay Parker was born in Theresa, New York. The unfortunate Jay had one MLB outing as an 1899 Bucco in late September against the Chicago Orphans; he walked two batters and plunked another before he was pulled. Two of them eventually scored and so he has a lifetime ERA of infinity. In justice, it should be noted that he was a 1B/C by trade and that was the first time as a pro that he had ever stepped on the mound; it was the second game of a twinbill and ended up a 7-7 draw. He did have a long career in organized ball, starting in 1895 and keeping on through the 1914 campaign, and did pitch again, briefly, going 1-1 for Evansville in 1905. 
• 1894 - C Bill Haeffner was born in Philadelphia. He played for the A’s in 1918, the Giants in 1928 and got his best look in Pittsburgh in 1920 when he got into 54 games and hit .194. After his playing days, he managed the LaSalle University nine from 1947-52. 
• 1915 - Al Mamaux pitched a 2-0 shutout, his fifth of the year, over the Phils at the Baker Bowl. He struck out nine, and the Bucs tied a record by recording only two assists the entire game, both by 2B Jim Viox. Mamaux was tough at the end; the Phils loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on three singles, but a whiff and CF Eddie “Zip” Collins running grab at the wall put it in the books.
• 1921 - A ruling by the City of Pittsburgh allowed fans to keep balls hit into the stands in Forbes Field. Robert Alderdice‚ the Director of Public Safety, made the call following threatened lawsuits against police who had earlier arrested three fans for refusing to return balls to the team. 
• 1927 - Johnny Gooch’s two-out single in the seventh was the only hit the Bucs got off the Cubs’ Charlie Root as he outdueled Lee Meadows for a 1-0 win at Forbes Field. Meadows scattered eight hits, and the only score he gave up was in the second, when 3B Pie Traynor threw wildly to first with two outs to allow Charlie Grimm to score from second base. 

Johnny Gooch - photo via Rutherford County Historical Society

• 1929 - OF Johnny Powers was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Johnny was a legendary minor league masher with 298 long balls during his farm career, but with Pittsburgh between 1955-58, he hit just .190 with four homers in 160 PA. He played two more seasons for four teams, hit two more long balls and called it a career. 
• 1935 - SS Arky Vaughan and RF Paul Waner repped the Pirates in the All-Star game at Cleveland Stadium. Vaughan doubled, walked and scored in three at-bats while Waner was 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter in the AL’s 4-1 win. 
• 1941 - At Detroit's Briggs Stadium, SS Arky Vaughan became the first player to hit two home runs in an All-Star Game, cracking a pair of two-run homers in the NL's 7-5 loss (unfortunately for Vaughan, Ted William’s three-run homer in the ninth made the Splendid Splinter da man that year). Arky went 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI in his eighth straight (and final) AS appearance. 3B Bob Elliott and C Al Lopez also played, both going 0-for-1. 
• 946 - Per BR Bullpen, a special meeting of clubs was held to deal with player demands (desertions to the Mexican League were beginning to dilute the MLB product), and the owners did make some concessions. The results were a $5,000 minimum salary, $25-per-week training-camp expenses, a fixed period for spring training, 25 days for post-season barnstorming, and a maximum pay cut of no more than 25 percent. A pension fund aimed at providing $100 a month for retired 10-year players was set, to be funded by World Series broadcast rights and net proceeds from All-Star Games. Each league will also name a player rep to attend the baseball councils. 
• 1947 - Pittsburgh’s All-Star at Wrigley Field was 3B Frank Gustine, who went 0-for-2 in a 2-1 loss to the junior circuit.