8/22 Through the 1900s: Swatfest; Game Stories; HBD Ned, Howie, Swats & Lyle

• 1857 - CF and manager Ned Hanlon was born in Montville, Connecticut. He played in 1889 and 1891 for the Pirates, hitting .252 with a year in between spent as a Pittsburg Burgher in the Players League where he hit .278. He was a player/manager all three years, and “Foxy Ned” was credited with coming up with tactics such as the hit-and-run and the Baltimore chop. Hanlon was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans’ Committee in 1996. 

Howie Camnitz - 1915 Cracker Jack

• 1881 - RHP Howie Camnitz was born in Covington, Kentucky. The curveballer pitched nine seasons for Pittsburgh (1904-13), going 116-84 with a 2.63 ERA and posting three 20-win seasons. Camnitz was a member of the 1909 World Series club and spun 240+ innings for seven consecutive years. He finished his career by pitching a couple of years in the upstart Federal League for the Pittsburgh Rebels, earning his release in 1915 after a hotel fight (and a fading arm). Howie factoids: He was called “Rosebud” as a kid because of his red hair, tossed a curfew-shortened five inning no-hitter in 1907, was an early Bucco brother act with his sib Harry in 1909 and finally, became a car salesman after he retired. 
• 1881 - 1B Harry “Swats” Swacina was born in St. Louis. Harry played the first two years (1907-08) of his four-year career (he played a couple of seasons in the Federal League) with Pittsburgh as a bench guy, batting .210 but earning a rep as a gold-glove defender. Per Brian McKenna’s book “Early Exits,” it wasn’t Swacina’s weak bat that ended his big league stay; it was a nasty letter to owner Barney Dreyfuss complaining about club practices that in effect got him blackballed. Swacina did carve out a long pro ball career from 1901-23 before he finally hung up the spikes. We assume his nickname is the shorthand form of his last name. 
• 1893 - RHP Lyle Bigbee was born in Waterloo, Oregon. A farm boy with an imposing build, Lyle was a three-sports star at Oregon. Then he worked in the shipyards and the service before beginning his brief MLB career. In 1920, he worked for the Philadelphia A’s and the next year the Pirates brought him up from the minors where he joined his brother, Carson. The curveball whiz worked just eight IP for the Bucs, albeit with a 1.13 ERA, and was cast loose. His control was always an issue (he walked 29 hitters in 53 big league innings) and never made it back to the majors. He retired at age 30, playing semi-pro ball (he was a decent hitter & played some OF) and working as a farmer, watchman, and in the shipyards. 
• 1903 - The Pirates beat the last place Phillies 7-4 in the second game of a doubleheader sweep at Philadelphia. With that win, the Pirates had 1,409 wins and 1,409 losses since playing MLB in 1882, originally as the Alleghenys of the major league American Association. Even with some rough decades of losing ball, the franchise hasn’t dipped below .500 since then, per Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times. 

Vic Willis 1906 - Conlon Collection

• 1906 - Vic Willis edged the NY Giant’s Christy Mathewson 2-1 at Exposition Park. After falling behind in the first inning, the Pirates evened the score in the fifth on two errors followed by two walks, then won in the ninth when Claude Ritchey walked, was bunted to second, and scored with two down on Fred Clarke’s double to right center. 
• 1907 - As the Pittsburgh Press reported “It was a regular swatfest from start to finish, the Buccaneers having no mercy...but hammering the ball to all corners of the lot” in a 20-5 win over the NY Giants at the Polo Grounds. George Gibson, Ed Abbaticchio and Alan Storke had four hits each while Tommy Leach and Fred Clarke had three. Lefty Leifield cruised to the win.