8/26 From 1930 Through the 1980’s: Hitting Clothes On; Buster's Big Date; Game Stories; HBD Jeff

• 1934 - Chester Williams of the Pittsburgh Crawfords led the East with three hits in the East-West Negro League All-Star game at Comiskey Park. The East won 1-0 in front of 30,000 fans when Jud Wilson drove in Cool Papa Bell in the eighth inning, giving Satchel Paige the win.
• 1935 - Player-manager Pie Traynor blasted a grand slam and ended the day with five hits and six RBI as the Bucs battered the NY Giants 10-2 at the Polo Grounds. Woody Jensen and Tom Padden also homered to plow the road for Ralph Birkofer’s win.

Pie Traynor  - 1935 National Chicle

• 1947 - The Pirates scored four times each in the first and second innings and added seven more in the fifth (as Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press noted “The Bucs simply had their hitting clothes on...”) as they rolled over the Brooklyn Dodgers 16-3 at Ebbets Field. Wally Westlake homered, doubled, and drove home five runs as Billy Cox and Cutley Rikard added long balls. Ralph Kiner went 5-for-5 with a walk and Frank Gustine added four hits to help Fritz Ostermueller cruise to victory. Brooklyn’s Dan Bankhead, via the Negro League Memphis Red Sox, became the first black pitcher to work an MLB game when he came on in relief of Hal Gregg. The Bucs beat him up on the hill, scoring eight runs in his 3-1/3 frames, though he did swat a two-run homer in his first big league at-bat to help even out his rough debut.
• 1951 - It was a down-to-the-wire twin bill: The Pirates scored eight runs in the seventh frame to overcome a 9-2 fifth inning deficit and rally past the Dodgers‚ 12-11 at Ebbets Field in the opener of a twin set. Brooklyn loaded the bases with an out in the ninth, but Murry Dickson weathered the storm to save the win for Vernon Law. Pete Castiglione and Bill Howerton had three RBI each to lead the comeback; Pete homered twice and Bill once. The club dropped the nitecap 4-3 in 10 innings with Preacher Roe topping Ted Wilks, pitching in relief of Bob Friend.
• 1965 - IF Jeff Richardson was born in Grand Island, Nebraska. Richardson spent parts of three seasons (74 games total) in the show, with six games coming in 1991 for the Bucs; he went 1-for-4 during that time with three K. He spent a decade in the minors, closing out his career in 1995 with the Pirates AAA Calgary club. Richardson managed in Pirates farm system from 1996-1998, then took over as head coach at Louisiana Tech University in 1999. He resigned following the 2002 season to devote more time to his family and bar business in his hometown of Grand Island.
• 1968 - The Bucs beat the Atlanta Braves for the seventh straight time as Steve Blass dodged several bullets to toss a complete game shutout, 4-0. He had only one clean inning, giving up nine hits and a pair of walks but kept the scoreboard dark. Manager Larry Shephard said of his young hurler “He went from my fifth starter (at the beginning of the year) to the top spot” after the win. The Pirates had a small-ball attack: they scored on two sac flies, an error and an infield single. Freddie Patek, Maury Wills and Gene Alley each had two raps.
• 1975 - The first eight Pirates hit safely against the Braves’ Jamie Easterly and Ray Sadecki - Frank Taveras (triple), Rennie Stennett (single), Al Oliver (single), Willie Stargell (single), Richie Zisk (single), Dave Parker (single), Richie Hebner (single) and Duffy Dyer (single) - before P Larry Demery flew out‚ tying the MLB record. The Bucs scored six runs in the frame on their way to an 8-2 victory at TRS.

Buster - 1978 Topps

• 1977 - The Bucs rode Bruce Kison’s arm and bat to a 3-1 win over the Padres at San Diego Stadium. Kison gave up a run over seven innings, had three hits, a run scored, the game-winning RBI and a stolen base before Goose Gossage came up to earn a two-inning save. It was Kison’s first win in eight weeks and 11 starts. Frank Taveras chipped in with four hits and the insurance was provided by Dave Parker’s sixth-inning homer. Both guys had base-running blunders to atone for; Frank was thrown out trying to stretch a double and The Cobra was picked off first twice. Pittsburgh cut Philly’s NL lead to 5-½ games, but that’s about how it finished as Philadelphia won 101 games, finishing the year five games better than the Bucs.
• 1979 - Bruce Kison tossed seven strong innings and smacked a grand slam off Bob Shirley, the first Bucco hurler since Al McBean in 1968 to launch a grannie, to lead the Bucs to a 9-2 win over San Diego at Jack Murphy Stadium. He’s one of five Pirates twirlers to hit a grand salami, joining McBean, Deacon Phillippe (1910), Don Robinson (1985) and Denny Neagle (1995). Bill “Mad Dog” Madlock had a big day at the dish with four knocks, a pair of RBI, and two runs.