4/21 Through the 1960’s: Chief Debuts; Game Stories; HR Day, Rip & Remy Gems; HBD Stan

• 1913 - The Pirates banged out eight straight hits plus a sacrifice fly to score seven times in the sixth inning and rally past the St. Louis Cards‚ 8-5. Babe Adams went the distance for the win at Robison Field. Honus Wagner & Solly Hofman led the attack with three knocks apiece. The victory moved Pittsburgh into a short-lived spot on top of the standings; they finished fourth in a year the NY Giants ran away from the NL field. 

Stan Rojek - 1951 Bowman

• 1919 - SS Stan Rojek was born in North Tonawanda, New York. He played for the Pirates from 1948-51, starting the first two seasons and hitting .266 during his Pittsburgh years. The Bucs got him from Brooklyn, where he was a backup infielder behind Pee Wee Reese. He hit .290 his first Bucco season as the starter but after a beaning that sent him to the hospital, his bat was never quite the same and he was traded to the Cardinals in May of 1951. The Pirates gave him a couple of nicknames, per Edward Veit of SABR. “Initially Rojek’s Pirates teammates called him ‘Reject’ because he had been dumped by the Dodgers. He also was called ‘The Happy Rabbit’ because of...his attitude, and his quickness in scurrying around shortstop.” 
• 1921 - Moses “Chief” Yellowhorse won his first MLB game and the first ever by a full-blooded Native American (he was Pawnee) by working 3-1/3 innings in Pittsburgh’s 8-7 win over the Reds at Forbes Field in the season’s home lidlifter. Rabbit Maranville led the attack with three hits, including a triple, two runs scored and three RBI. Chief Yellowhorse relieved Elmer Ponder, who had come on after Babe Adams stumbled against Cincinnati in the third. 
• 1927 - In their home opener at Forbes Field, Pirates ace Ray Kremer did it all. He tossed a complete game four-hitter while blasting a two-run home run off Reds starter Eppa Rixey to lead the Bucs to a 3-2 victory in front of 33,439 fans. 
• 1933 - The Bucs won their Home Opener at Forbes Field 5-1, rallying in their last at-bat to break up a pitcher’s duel. The Pirates Bill Swift was locked up with Si Johnson of the Reds going into the bottom of the eighth with Cincy up 1-0; Swift had surrendered just two hits, but one was a homer. Manager George Gibson started the eighth frame off with pinch hitter Woodie Jensen (per beatman Volney Walsh of the Pittsburgh Press: “Mr. Jensen was enjoying his usual afternoon siesta on the bench when Gibby summoned him...”) and Woodie lit the fuse - he singled to start a parade of knocks; the Bucs scored five runs behind a two-RBI double by Pie Traynor, Gus Suhr’s triple to chase home two more runs and Tony Piet’s knock to send the final tally plateward. Bill Harris worked the ninth to tuck the game away. 
• 1943 - Rip Sewell ruined the Cubs home opener at Wrigley Field as he tossed a three-hit, 6-0 shutout behind the three hits of Frank Colman & Al Lopez, with a pair of RBI chased home by Vince DiMaggio. Sewell had the Cubbies’ number and won five more contests from them during the campaign. He wasn’t the only ace on this date - there were four games played around the league and they all ended in shutouts, a MLB record. 

Rip Sewell - photo Hall of Fame/Getty Images

• 1957 - In the first game of a doubleheader at Ebbets Field, Frank Thomas, Paul Smith, and Dick Groat hit consecutive home runs in the third inning off Brooklyn’s Don Newcombe to lead Pittsburgh to a 6-3 victory. Bob Skinner also went yard while Roberto Clemente collected three hits. Bob Purkey got the win for the Pirates. Don Drysdale evened things up by winning the nightcap 7-4 for the Dodgers, as Don Zimmer homered and drove in three runs. 
• 1964 - The Bucs beat the Cubs 8-5 at Wrigley Field. Every run scored was the result of a homer to set a MLB standard, and nine different players went long, tying another record. Roberto Clemente, Ducky Schofield, Jim Pagliaroni, and Gene Freese (who hit a three-run bomb in the ninth to win it) went yard for Pittsburgh while the Cubs added five solo shots. 
• 1968 - Roberto Clemente hit one inside-the-park homer after being thrown out at home the inning prior against San Francisco. The four-bagger was a Forbes Field special when a hard-hit single took a giant bounce off the hard turf and over G-Man outfielder Ty Cline’s head; by the time he caught up to the ball and got it in, The Great One had a stand-up dinger. In his previous at-bat, he had drilled a ball off the batting cage in center field 457’ away. Clemente admitted he cost himself that homer by cruising around the bases as he assumed he had a stand-up triple until he saw third base coach Alex Grammas wave him around at third, and a perfectly executed relay cut him down at the plate. The run was fortunately meaningless in a 10-0 Al McBean win. Willie Stargell went long the traditional way while the Pirates banged out 16 hits, with every starter including McBean banging out a hit.