9/15 Through the 1930’s: Cannonballs Comin'; Poison Brothers; Game Stories; HBD Elmer, Fritz & Big

• 1862 - 3B Elmer Cleveland was born in Washington, DC. He had a very good season for the Union League’s Cincinnati Outlaw Reds, and after some more minor league seasoning was added to the NY Giants roster in 1888 and then shipped to the Alleghenys. Alas, Elmer was an early AAAA player, hitting .235 for the Giants and .222 for Pittsburgh. He got one more chance in 1891 with Columbus where he hit .171 and ran out of opportunities. He spent a productive decade playing minor league ball in the Western Interstate, Southern, Northwestern and Pennsylvania State Leagues. And yes, he was related to President Grover Cleveland; they were cousins.

Cannonball Morris - 1889 Goodwin/Old Judge

• 1888 - Ed Morris of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys tossed his fourth consecutive shutout‚ a 1-0 win over the NY Giants, setting a NL record that lasted until 1968 when Don Drysdale threw six straight shutouts. Morris began his streak with 2-0 and 1-0 victories over the Phillies and a seven inning, 2-0 win over the Senators. And Cannonball did it in a hurry; it took him eight days to pitch four complete game whitewashes, all at Exposition Park. Morris went 29-23 on the year with a 2.31 ERA. 
• 1907 - LHP Fritz Ostermueller was born in Quincy, Illinois. The veteran southpaw spent the final five seasons of his 15 year-career as a Buc, putting up a line of 49-42-1/3.48 before retiring at the ripe old age of 41 with the nickname “Old Folks.” He later became part of the broadcasting crew for the minor-league Quincy Gems. In his on-air highlight, Ostermueller was in the booth as color man in 1949 when Harry Caray, then the play-by-play voice of the St. Louis Cardinals, came to town to cover the Waterloo-Quincy game, per SABR. 
• 1910 - LHP Edsall “Big” Walker was born in Catskill, New York. Walker pitched for the Homestead Grays from 1936-40 and then returned to toss again for them from 1943-45 before his arm gave out, featuring a sinking fastball. He was the starting pitcher in the 1938 All Star game and worked in many championship series with the elite Gray squad. Per Brent Kelley’s “Voices From the Negro Leagues,” he got his “Big” moniker from the Grays - there were three Walkers on the roster, and at 6’ -  215 pounds, he was the biggest. He had another nickname, too. According to Chris Rainey in Walker’s SABR Bio, “Walker posted a 7-1 record in 1937, but walked more batters than he struck out. His nickname ‘Catskill Wildman’ reflected both his control of the strike zone and his attitude towards batters. He had no qualms about throwing inside to a hitter.” 
• 1928 - Paul Waner banged a pair of doubles against Cincinnati at Forbes Field in a 6-1 win, setting the NL record for two-baggers with 50. The mark only stood for a season as Brooklyn rookie Johnny Frederick broke it in 1929 with 52. 

Big Poison - 1928 Exhibits

• 1934 - The Pirates collected a total of 30 hits while sweeping the Phillies by scores of 6-1 and 4-1 in a doubleheader at the Baker Bowl. Arky Vaughan went deep in both games of the doubleheader for the Bucs. Larry French tossed a complete game six-hitter in game one for his 12th win behind a 16 hit attack, led by Tommy Thevenow and Tom Padden with three hits each. Schoolboy Hoyt went the distance in game two, giving up four hits, to improve to 14-5 on the season. The Pirates had 14 hits in the nightcap, but had to score three times in the ninth to earn the win. Hoyt led off with a single and Woody Jensen doubled an out later. Then, per the Pittsburgh Press, “The Quaker infield blew sky high and handed the Bucs the winning runs...” by throwing a pair of balls away, the first aimed wildly at home while trying to cut down the lead run that instead allowed two Pirates to plate, while the second was an overthrow of first that sent the third score home. 
• 1938 - Big and Little Poison homered in the same match for the third time, but it was the first time in MLB history that brothers went long back-to-back in a game. The deed wasn’t matched again until 2013 when the Upton brothers (Justin and BJ) lost consecutive balls with the Braves. The Lloyd & Paul Waner dingers highlighted a 7-2 Bucco win over the NY Giants and Cliff Melton at the Polo Grounds. Jim Tobin took home a complete game victory. The Waners had two hits and two RBI each; Johnny Rizzo and Arky Vaughan led the attack with three knocks apiece, with Rizzo and Pep Young also adding four-baggers. Mel Ott got some rude treatment from winning Bucco hurler Jim Tobin during the action, who beaned him three times for another record. But it didn’t cause Master Melvin too much damage, though - the soft-tossing Tobin was a knuckleballer. For Little Poison, it was a timely blast - it was the last homer Lloyd hit in the show although he hung on for six more seasons. Bucco siblings wouldn’t homer in the same game again until 2009 when Adam and Andy LaRoche connected against the Twins.