- 1880 - RF Harry Cassady was born in Bellflower, Illinois. Out of Illinois Wesleyan, he got into 22 games in the show; 12 of them were with the 1904 Pirates, hitting .205 in 44 at bats. Cassady went on to spend three years in the American Association (1905-07) and then six seasons with Denver of the Western Association (he was a much better hitter in the high minors), retiring after the 1912 campaign at age 31.
- 1882 - Nearly 3,000 fans watched the Pittsburgh Alleghenys earn the first home walk off win in franchise history when they defeated the Cincinnati Red Stockings 3-2 at Exposition Park. Down 2-1 in the ninth, Billy Taylor drilled a one-out, game-tying homer. Rudy Kemmler’s single would become the game-winning run when he was plated by Chappy Lane’s two-out rap. Denny Driscoll got the win with a complete game three-hitter.
- 1894 - Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh 7-6 in 10 innings when George "Germany" Smith‚ homered with two outs. Pirate OF Elmer Smith was prevented from retrieving the game-winning hit in the field-level LF bleachers, as permitted per Cincinnati’s League Park ground rules, by zealous Reds fans. One of them allegedly pulled a revolver on Smith after he wrestled with several other rooters in an attempt to reach the ball, per Charlton’s Baseball Chronology. The Pittsburgh Press wrote diplomatically that Germany “...drove one into the seats." Quite a finish to the NL’s first extra-inning game of the year.
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| Heinie Manush - 1940 Play Ball |
- 1901 - Hall of Fame LF Heinie Manush was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Manush spent the last two years of his career (1938-39) in Pittsburgh as a pinch hitter, getting just 28 PA (four hits, three walks) before being released, ironically enough for another future HoF’er, Chuck Klein. He was a .330 hitter during his 17 year career with 1183 RBI and 1287 runs scored.
- 1905 - Club baseball was serious biz (especially for the men in blue) back in the day, like the big rivalry game between the local nines of the Western Union and the Postal Telegraph Co, played at Bedford Park in the Hill District. The Pittsburgh Press description: “The rival managers had bowed gravely to each other as befitted the leaders of baseball gladiators. The umpire had made his will and left it with his wife...it was time to play. There was some terrible slugging (and) thus the battle went on until the 11th inning…” Then a couple of spectators got into a brawl, the ballplayers intervened, and a riot ensued as bricks flew (“The women screamed and fled”) until police calmed things down. The game was called a draw, and the Press reported that “...the umpire has sent word to the managers of the two clubs that if there is another game to be played, he wants time to take out an accident insurance policy and get it mentioned in his will.”
- 1946 - RHP John Lamb was born in Sharon, Connecticut. John came from a Northeast prep powerhouse, Housatonic Valley HS, which produced several players including the Pirates Steve Blass (John was his brother-in-law) and Tom Parsons; Pittsburgh had a bit of an edge as their coach, Ed Kirby, was also a part-time Buc scout. He was signed out of high school in 1964 and debuted in 1970, working parts of three seasons (1970-71, 1973) with a slash of 0-2-5/4.07 and was part of the Bucs triple entree of Moose, Veale and Lamb. It’s hard to tell where his career may have gone if he hadn’t suffered a brutal camp accident - in 1971, he fractured his skull when a Dave Cash liner found him during spring training.
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