7/22 From 1930 Through the 1970’s: Two-In-One; Pops Cycle; Game Stories; HBD Vogey, RC, Denny & Jack

• 1932 - LHP Jack McMahan was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He pitched for one season in the show, and his 11 game stint with the Pirates in 1956 didn’t go so well. In 13-1/3IP, the Rule 5 pick from the Yankees gave up nine runs on 18 hits with nine walks and he was traded with Curt Roberts to the Kansas City Athletics on June 23rd for Spook Jacobs. His stay with KC went a little better, but not so well that he got another call to the majors. He retired after the 1959 season, opened a liquor store for a spell and then became a golf equipment salesman.

Tony caused a stir - 1933 Goudey

• 1933 - Fans were hard to come by during the 30’s, but 27,000 came out to Forbes Field to see the Bucs and Giants mix it up, the biggest turnout since 1930. The first game was a duel between Larry French and Carl Hubbell, who exchanged six-hitters in the lidlifter, with the G-Man claiming a 1-0 win thanks to Mel Ott’s sac fly in the first inning. It was a tight game, and the fans got into it by showering ump Charlie Moran with pop bottles after he called Bucco Tony Piet out at first, changed his mind and ruled him safe, and then, as the Giant infield charged first in protest, reverted back to his original call. There were no injuries - Moran even caught a couple of the bottles (although Beans Reardon, the third base arbitrator who had nothing to do with the decision had some debris aimed at him, too) and after a cleanup, the game went on. The heated rooters and NY nine cooled off after an hour’s rain delay and Heinie Meine tossed the Pirates to a calm 6-2 win, with the
• 1934 - 1B RC Stevens was born in Moultrie, Georgia. The 6’5” slugger was signed out of Moultrie HS, but his one-trick stick wasn’t enough to earn him a starting spot in the show. As a backup, he hit decently, with a .260 BA and eight homers in 108 PA in 71 games from 1958-60, but he couldn’t outpace Ted Kluszewski, Dick Stuart and Rocky Nelson in the first base race.
• 1939 - Boston committed seven errors in a 9-3 loss to the Bucs at Braves Field, allowing five unearned runs to cross the plate. One frustrated Bee’s fan jumped out of the stands and took a swing at Braves’ catcher Al Lopez after he dropped a popup. But it wasn’t entirely bad glovework. The Bucs also banged out 13 hits, led by Lee Handley’s 3-for-4 effort. Chuck Klein ran his hitting streak to 21 games with a 2-for-5 performance before the Bees stopped him the next day.
• 1939 - Girls baseball never caught on in Pittsburgh, but softball was red hot here. The Duquesne Gardens hosted a pair of games touted as “Girls Indoor Baseball” (never mind that it was softball) on back-to-back days with the championship New York City Roverettes going against the Pittsburgh All-Stars. Pittsburgh won the opener 2-1 behind SS Ann Giaciach, who had four hits, but was thumped in the rematch 10-1.

Denny Gonzalez - 1986 Topps

• 1963 - Utilityman Denny Gonzalez was born in Sabana Grande de Boya, Dominican Republic. He played parts of four seasons as a Buc (1984-88) but never spent a full campaign on the active roster, hitting .206. After his playing days, Gonzalez scouted for the Chicago White Sox and was in charge of the Sox' Dominican Academy. He also has taken the Dominican National team reins in international play.
• 1964 - Pittsburgh scored four runs in the first and never looked back as they whipped the St. Louis Cardinals 13-2 at Busch Stadium. Bill Mazeroski knocked in five runs with a double and homer while Willie Stargell hit for the cycle with four runs scored and three more driven in. Jerry Lynch also went yard (he had hit a grand slam against the Redbirds in the game before) and added three ribbies as Bob Veale cruised to victory.
• 1973 - Pittsburgh swept San Diego 3-1 and 13-7 at TRS. Willie Stargell hit two home runs and chased home five runs during the twin bill; rookie Dave Parker smacked his first MLB homer in the opener. Nellie Briles went seven innings, giving up six hits, to win the lidlifter with help from Ramon Hernandez and Dave Giusti. Willie’s two-run double was the key blow. Stargell’s two homers primed the attack in the nightcap; Bob Robertson also went long. The Cobra had three raps, with Willy, Robby, Al Oliver and Manny Sanguillen adding two knocks each while Richie Zisk iced the game with a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double. Luke Walker got the win with Bob Moose and John Lamb holding down the fort.
• 1977 - RHP Ryan Vogelsong was born in Charlotte, NC. He worked five years for the Pirates (2001, 2003-06), going 10-19 with a 6.00 ERA. He took a hiatus to Japan, but came back in 2011 to his original team, the SF Giants, and pitched strong ball for the G-Men, earning an All-Star spot in 2011. He rejoined Pittsburgh in 2016 as a long man/spot starter, missing a large chunk of the campaign after a brutal beaning in the eye area. Vogey went 3-7/4.81 for the Bucs in that campaign. He signed with the Twins in 2017 but was released in camp. A fan fave in the Bay, he retired as a Giant later in the year.

Ryan Vogel - 2016 image Positively Pittsburgh

• 1979 - Kent Tekulve saved both ends of a doubleheader as the Pirates swept the Braves 5-4 and 3-2 at TRS. Teke scattered four hits over three scoreless innings in the first game of a twin bill, closing out Don Robinson’s win (which Robinson helped along with two RBI and a run scored), then tossed the final inning in relief of Jim Bibby (who was also a hitting hero with a two-run homer) in the second game for his 16th save of the year. With the sweep, the Pirates pulled within 1/2 game of front-running Montreal. It was a long day; rain delays added four hours to the twin bill, which stretched out over 10 hours. And to boot, the Bucs and Bravos had a twi-light doubleheader on tap for the next evening.