8/9 Through the 1940’s: Casey-for-Possum; Rat Hole Game; HBD Ted & Roman

• 1893 - In a match described by the Pittsburgh Press as “...the most sluggish diamond trial of the season”, SS George Van Haltren went from hero to goat. Pop Shriver of the Chicago Colts “...sent a pretty hot grounder to him, and after a hop, skip and jump peculiar to him, Van threw the ball into a rat hole under the grandstand. Beckley (Jake, the third baseman) is no weasel, neither is Stenzel (Jake, the CF’er) and so the ball remained in the hole until Shriver had made the entire circuit of the diamond and tied the score.” George made amends in the 10th of the 7-7 tie with the Colts when his single to center scored Ad Gumbert with the game winner. 
• 1905 - The Bucs lost an error-filled game to the Boston Americans by a 5-3 count at Exposition Park. The Pittsburgh Press wrote that “Both teams played stupid, dopey ball...” Umpire Bill Klem joined the comedy routine by performing an early era ump show. In the ninth inning he threw eight Pirates (and for good measure, the mascot, too) out of the game for mocking his calls, then fined the whole lot $10 per man. BR Bullpen added that he had to spend the post-game hiding in a ladies’ room as gamblers who had bet on the heavily favored Pirates were looking for a piece of his hide after the contest. 

Chief Wilson - 1910 American Caramel

• 1910 - It wasn’t the prettiest shutout ever twirled, but Babe Adams scattered 11 hits to beat Boston 10-0 at the South End Grounds, helped by no walks, a pair of DP and some hot sticks. Owen “Chief” Wilson drove in four runs, Jack Flynn homered with three RBI, & Honus Wagner had three hits, a walk, and scored four times. 
• 1919 - The Pirates traded OF Casey Stengel to the Philadelphia Phillies for utilityman Possum Whitted after Stengel’s contract demands got him a ticket out of Pittsburgh. Possum batted .286 in 277 games for the Bucs through 1921, playing 1B, 3B & OF. The Old Professor lasted until 1925, but only started two more seasons. He hit .280 in his two Pirates campaigns. 
• 1924 - The Pirates swept a pair from the Phils at the Baker Bowl by 16-4 and 7-0 scores. Kiki Cuyler went 6-for-6 in the opener with a triple and two doubles, while Glenn Wright went 4-for-5 with four RBI and a pair of runs to back Wilbur Cooper. Ray Kremer won the nitecap. He tossed a five-hitter and got all the support he needed from Max Carey, who homered, doubled, scored twice and drove home three runs. 
• 1928 - The Pirates won their eighth game in a row and 10-of-11 by a 5-4 score over St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field. Carmen Hill got the win and Burleigh Grimes came on to earn a save by retiring the last batter. George Grantham drove in two runs and Paul Waner scored a pair. 
• 1930 - OF Roman Mejias was born in Abreus, Cuba. He was signed when the Pirates scouted him in 1953 when they held spring training in Havana. Mejias was a spare OF’er and pinch hitter for six seasons (1955, 1957-61) in Pittsburgh, hitting .245 over that span. He earned his way to Pittsburgh with a 55-game hitting streak for Class B Waco of the Big State League in 1954, where he ended the year with a .354 BA. Mejias couldn’t break into the Pirate OF of Bob Skinner, Bill Virdon and Roberto Clemente, but was selected by the Houston Colt .45s in the expansion draft and had his best season for them in 1962, batting .286 with 24 HR. 
• 1935 - Rookie CF Bud Hafey lined an eighth inning homer over the scoreboard at Forbes Field to give Bill Swift a four-hit, 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds' Al Hollingsworth. The Pirates only had seven hits, with Tommy Thevenow leading the pack with a pair. The well-tossed game took 1:32 to play. 

Bud Hafey (1935) - 1979 Diamond Greats

• 1940 - Pittsburgh won its eighth game in a row by whipping the Chicago Cubs 6-2 at Forbes Field. Vince DiMaggio went 3-for-3 with a homer, two RBI and two runs to lead the attack, while Rip Sewell tossed a four-hitter for the win. The streak ended the next day, but helped propel the Pirates to an 85-67 record after being a .500 club through July. 
• 1949 - GM Ted Simmons was born in Highland Park, Michigan. Ted caught for two decades in the majors, and after he retired, Simmons was hired as general manager of the Pirates in 1992 after working in a front office job for St. Louis. He held the spot for just a year, retiring after suffering a heart attack in June 1993. Simmons was the GM who almost traded Barry Bonds. He had agreed to deal Bonds to the Atlanta Braves for P Alejandro Pena, OF Keith Mitchell and a PTBNL during camp in 1992, but had to back out when manager Jim Leyland blew up and stormed into president Carl Barger’s office, talking Barger into nixing the swap. The Pirates won a third division title under him, but Simmons was faced with Bonds and Doug Drabek becoming free agents and an ever-tightening payroll, no doubt adding to his stress. After he recovered, he went on to primarily scouting and player development jobs with a couple of bench coach gigs thrown in for several organizations. Ted made it to the Hall of Fame in 2020.