6/20 Through the 1910’s: Shortcut; Honus Swipes Home; Three-Bag Chief; Game Stories; HBD Cum, Bill, Ed & John

• 1889 - LHP Ed Warner was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. His MLB career consisted of 11 games (three starts) in 1912 for the Pirates as a 23-year-old, going 1-1/3.60. June 20, 1890 - Cumberland Willis “Cum” Posey was born in Homestead. He was an outfielder, manager and eventual owner of the Negro League powerhouse Homestead Grays from 1911-1946. At one time or another he had 11 of the 18 current Negro leagues Hall of Famers playing for him. He also wrote a regular sports column for the Pittsburgh Courier. 

Denny Lyons took the direct route - photo via Detroit Public Library

• 1894 - Per Baseball Chronology: “Denny Lyons scores the winning run in the ninth inning to lead Pittsburgh to 7-6 win over Washington. Lyons gets into scoring position by running from 1B to 3B - across the pitcher’s mound – on a fielder’s choice. The umpire did not see Lyon’s transgression, a common one in the 1890s.” The Pittsburgh Press in its game story didn’t include Lyons shortcut but did castigate the ump for missing a call at third. In a separate notes column, the paper mentioned that “Dennis Lyons was accused of cutting second base in running to third on (Jack) Glassock’s sacrifice but he could have scored from second, however, on (Lou) Bierbauer’s hit.” Despite the skulduggery, it was a nice win for Pittsburgh, which overcame a 6-1 deficit to rally for the decision at Exposition Park. It took a few more sleight-of-hand tricks by the players for it to come about, but in 1898 the league went to a two umpire system partly because of “transgressions” like these. 
• 1901 - In a 7-0 win against the Giants at the Polo Grounds, Honus Wagner became the first player in the 20th century to steal home twice in one game. Jack Chesbro tossed the shutout. The Pittsburgh Press credited the win “...almost entirely to the sensational pitching of Chesbro, who allowed New York only three hits, and baserunning of Hans Wagner, who last year was champion batsman of the league. In five times at bat yesterday Honus made four hits, two of which were doubles.” Wagner wasn’t shy about pulling off a little run-scoring larceny; he stole home 27 times in his career. As for Happy Jack, this was one of six shutouts he tossed during the year; he would author 17 no-run games in 107 Pirates outings over four years. 
• 1902 - IF John Beckwith was born in Louisville. Considered one of the great sluggers of black baseball (his nickname was “The Black Bomber”), John played with the Homestead Grays in 1924, again from 1928-29 and for a last stint with them in 1935 toward the end of his 23-year career. He rarely stuck around for long periods with one club; he was a jack of all trades but master of none as an infielder and had a sometimes disruptive clubhouse attitude.  
• 1907 - The Pirates salvaged the finale of a four-game set against the Phils by a 4-2 count at Exposition Park. Deacon Phillippe tossed a seven hitter (one K, one walk) for the win. The Pirates big gun, Honus Wagner, who had two hits, scored twice and per the Pittsburgh Press “In the third inning Wagner made the longest hit on this grounds...” when he tripled, settling for three bases when he pulled up lame while running the bases. They never gave an estimate of the distance, but Expo was a huge yard, 400’ down the lines and 450’ in dead center. 
• 1912 - In a doubleheader at Cincinnati’s Redland Field, Owen “Chief” Wilson hit two triples in the opener, including a big blow the 10th, to key a 6-4 win, then bopped another in the nitecap, a 5-3 loss. It was his fifth straight game with a three-bagger. Wilson swatted 36 triples that season, a major league record, although he never hit more than 14 in any other year of his career. Chief was a pretty big guy for the era and not much of a speedster, but he was a slugger; many of his triples weren’t gappers but balls drilled over the outfielder’s heads in an age of deep pastures. Forbes Field was chief among the spacious yards and the Pirates joined Chief to set the MLB team triples record with 129 that year. 

Chief Wilson - 1912 American Tobacco T207

• 1919 - RHP Bill Clemensen was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He pitched for the Pirates in 1939, 1941 and 1946, going 1-1/5.57 in 15 appearances. He was a guy whose potential career was cut short by WW2. Bill’s best season was 1941 (1-1/2.77 in 13 IP) and he looked like he would break camp with the Pirates for the ‘42 campaign, but Uncle Sam had different plans and he ended up spending four years in the Army Air Corps. Even though he played Army ball, he couldn’t overcome the layoff after his military stint. Clemensen made one more MLB outing and spent the rest of 1946-47 in the minors before leaving the game.