7/5 Through the 1960’s: Woodie Whitewash; Rippin' Ralph & Roberto; Game Stories; HBD Goose, Ward & Beals

• 1884 - OF Ward Miller was born in Mount Carroll, Illinois. He began his eight-year career in the show as a 25-year-old with the Pirates in 1909, batting .143 before he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds along with cash for Kid Durbin. Ward did find his eye and finished his MLB days with a .278 BA. After 15 years of pro ball, Ward retired to Dixon, Illinois, to serve in law enforcement. The city placed a monument dedicated to Miller on the lawn of the Lee County Courthouse to commemorate both his law and baseball careers. He was aka as both “Grump” and “Windy” for reasons unknown. 

Ward Miller - April, 1909 blurb from the Pgh Press

• 1886 - The Pittsburgh Alleghenys swept a DH from the Baltimore Orioles 15-1 and 13-2 at Recreation Park, led by Fred Carroll, who banged out an American Association/big league record nine hits, later matched by eight players. The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette wrote “The visitors were at the mercy of the home terrors from the start...” but didn’t give many game details because “...it would be too tedious to describe how each run was made.” They added that the results were to be expected “...where nine very bad ballpayers contest against nine good ones.” Pud Galvin and Cannonball Morris were the winners, with the crowd estimated at 7-8,000 fans. The Alleghenys finished the year in second and the Orioles were last, with Pittsburgh winning 12-of-19 games between them that season. 
• 1886 - OF Beals (it was his middle name) Becker was born in El Dorado, Kansas. He began an eight-year MLB run in 1908 with the Pirates as a 22-year-old, batting .154. Despite that start, Becker hung around as a platoon guy (he was a LH hitter) with a rep as a big banger of the deadball era, finishing up his career with a .275 BA and 45 home runs. Beals played 21 years of organized ball before retiring after the 1925 campaign at age 38. 
• 1948 - Ralph Kiner hit three HRs off Herm Wehmeier with five RBI in the opener of a twinbill split against the Reds at Forbes Field, backing Vic Lombardi’s pitching in the 10-3 win. Stan Rojek added his first MLB dinger to the pot; he would hit one more during his career. Ralph was shut down in the second game, a 6-4 loss that Cincinnati took by scoring three times in the ninth. 
• 1951 - RHP Rich “Goose” Gossage was born in Colorado Springs. He was only here for one of his 22 MLB years, but the Goose made the most of it, putting together an 11-9-26/1.62 slash for the 1977 Bucs and earning an All-Star spot, working 133 IP and amassing 151 punchouts. The Pirates never made a serious bid to keep him after the season, and he parlayed his Pittsburgh campaign into a six-year, $3.6M contract with George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees. Although some euphony surely helped, Bruce Markusen of The Hardball Times posted “Gossage’s nickname was not a play on his last name. The nickname came from his White Sox roommate, fellow pitcher Tom Bradley. Shortly after Gossage joined the Sox, Bradley took note of Gossage’s unusual delivery and mechanics. Bradley told Gossage that he looked like a goose when he threw the ball. The Chicago media latched on to Bradley’s observation, quickly tagging Gossage ‘Goose.’ The name caught on with a flourish.” 

The Goose on the Loose - 1977 Topps

• 1953 - At Forbes Field, the Phils' Robin Roberts shutout the Pirates 2-0 in ten innings for his 28th consecutive complete game, outlasting Murry Dickson. The Bucs had 10 hits off Roberts but stranded 11 runners during the match. It was also his 13th straight win over Pittsburgh going back to August 26th‚ 1950 (the string would reach 15). The Bucs did win the nitecap of the DH by a 7-4 tally. The Corsairs managed just eight hits in that contest, but collected five of them in the opening frame, along with a couple of walks, to run away and hide with a five-run inning. Jim Waugh got the win with help from Lefty LaPalme who got the call after Waugh walked three batters in the ninth. 
• 1960 - The Bucs and Milwaukee Braves played a dramatic, see-saw game at County Stadium with the Pirates hanging on for a 5-4, 10-inning win. Down 2-0 in the top of the ninth, Rocky Nelson and Don Hoak homered to give the Bucs a 3-2 lead. The Braves Del Crandall’s two-out, bases-loaded single off Paul Giel tied the game, with Bob Skinner cutting down the winning run at the plate to extend the match. With two gone in the 10th, an infield knock by Skinner was followed by Nelson’s second homer to make it 5-3. Bob Friend, a starter by trade, got the call to relieve Giel and gave up a run, but closed it out for his only save of the campaign. 
• 1963 - Roberto Clemente, always touchy about guys throwing at him, clobbered a pitch that Met’s pitcher Tracy Stallard tossed under his chin with two strikes and two outs in the eighth inning, lining it into the upper deck to break a 1-1 tie and give the Bucs a 3-1 win at the Polo Grounds. Stallard told Maury Allen of the New York Post that "'I was trying to waste a pitch. I figured maybe I could get him to swing again at a pitch around his head.” Good execution, bad plan. Don Cardwell got the win, with Alvin McBean picking up the save. For the Metropolitans, it was their eighth straight loss. 
• 1966 - Woodie Fryman tossed his third straight shutout, a 6-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The rookie lefty surrendered just seven hits combined in the three complete game wins. Donn Clendenon smacked a two-run bomb and Jose Pagan added a pair of RBI. They were his only three whitewashes of the campaign as he finished the year with a line of 12-9/3.81. 

Big Bob - 1968 Pirates promo

• 1968 - The Bucs rode one big inning and a gem by Bob Veale to a 4-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Pirates plated all their runs in the fifth when six of their first seven runners reached base, with the key blow being Bill Mazeroski’s two-run double. Veale gave up just two hits, both infield singles, with a walk and five strikeouts to tame the Cubbies. The Windy City nine never had a runner reach second against the lefty in his complete game win. Big Bob only won 13 games that year out of 33 starts, but through little fault of his own: his ERA in the Year of the Pitcher was 2.05 when the season ended.