5/23 Through the 1920s: Meadows Deal; Crazy Larceny; Streak Snapper; HBD Deacon, Clyde, Bill & Hugh

• 1872 - RHP Charles “Deacon” Phillippe was born in Rural Retreat, Virginia. The Deacon spent 12 years with Pittsburgh (1900-11) with a line of 189-109/2.59. He went 3-2 in the 1903 World Series with a 3.07 ERA and closed out two games in the 1909 World Series, pitching six scoreless innings. Phillippe was perhaps the top control pitcher of the modern era, won 20 games six times, and was voted by Buc fans as the greatest right-handed pitcher in Pirates history. He came about his nickname honestly, being a devout Lutheran and clean living guy in an era noted for its rowdy ballplayers. He also went by “The Great Phillippi” due to his pitching prowess. Trivia: The outlaw league Pittsburg Filipinos of 1912 took their name from their manager - Deacon Phillippe. 

Deacon Phillippe - 1911 American Tobacco T205

• 1879 - OF Bill Miller was born in Bad Schwalbach, Germany. 23-year-old Miller was called up in 1902 to help bolster a thin roster on the recommendation of Tommy Leach. He played right field on August 23rd against the Brooklyn Superbas at Exposition Park. He went 1-for-5 with two RBI, and played a fair right field, although he misplayed the first ball hit to him (“He ran in for it when he should have hiked in the other direction...Being a newcomer, his mistake gave the crowd a bad impression from the start” per the Pittsburgh Press). It ended up his only MLB game. 
• 1885 - 1B Hugh Bradley was born in Grafton, Massachusetts. After spending three years with Boston (he was the first player to homer at Fenway Park), he spent a season in the minors and then signed with the Pittsburgh Rebels. He was the starting 1B in 1914, hitting .307, but was bumped to reserve duty when veteran Ed Konetchy joined the team the next season. Spending time in the pasture and not happy about it, he was released and moved on to the Brooklyn Tip-Tops. They likewise let him go and he became a member of a third Federal League club, the Newark Peppers. Brad spent from 1916-23 in the minors, umpired after that and then got on with his life. Fun factoid: for a while, Bradley spent the off seasons with a vaudeville act of Boston players called the “Red Sox Quartette,” a barbershop quartet. 
• 1890 - During a 17-10 New York victory at the Polo Grounds‚ the Giants swiped a record 17 sacks against the battery of rookie P Fred “Crazy” Schmit and veteran C George “Doggie” Miller. The Alleghenys added three steals of their own to set a game record of 20. Crazy was thought nuts by the other players because he was the first pitcher to keep a book on hitters, warmed up at 75' rather than 60’ by tossing a water-soaked ball to make it heavier and used other quirky personal tricks of the trade to get ready for a game. He also answered to “Germany” for more obvious reasons. The 1890 Alleghenys, it should be noted, may have been baseball’s worst team ever, winning just 23 games and allowing 447 stolen bases, nearly four per game - and the catchers had a 31% toss-out rate! 
• 1892 - The Pirates ended the Chicago Colts 13-game winning streak with a 5-4 win at Southside Stadium in front of 2,000 Windy City fans. The Pirates overcame an early 4-0 deficit, led by extra base knocks by Jake Beckley, Doggie Miller, Mike Smith and Lou Bierbauer, generating just enough offense to push Mark Baldwin to victory. As recapped by the Pittsburgh Press: “The Pittsburgs defeated the Chicagos in a very close and exciting game. The Pittsburgers were outbatted, but their hits were more timely and counted more than those made by the Colts.” Part of the excitement was the fielding; each side surrendered just one earned run, with the clubs combining to boot five balls. 

Lee Meadows - 1924 photo Charles Conlon (filter Colourise SG)

• 1923 - Pittsburgh sent 2B Cotton Tierney and P Whitey Glazner to the Phils for 2B Johnny Rawlings and P Lee Meadows. Meadows went 87-51 over the next five years as Glazner's rotation replacement, winning 20 games once and 19 twice while Rawlings lasted four Bucco seasons, batting .272. Whitey was out of baseball after winning 14 games in two years and the Cotton was done after the 1925 campaign. 
• 1924 - Coach Clyde King was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina. King never played for the Bucs, but after hangin’ up the mitt he managed the Hollywood Stars in 1957 and the Columbus Jets in 1958, both Pirate farm clubs. After coaching outside the organization, he returned as a member of Harry Walker’s staff from 1965 to 1967. He continued to coach in the minors and the MLB as manager of the SF Giants, Atlanta Braves and NY Yankees, also serving as the Gotham GM.