9/12 From 1950: Smoky Sold; Helmet Intro; Attendance Surge; Game Stories; HBD Mike, Franquelis, Trench & Joe

• 1951 - Scout Joe Niederer was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania. He went to Duquesne University and began his baseball career as a ticket seller for the Pirates in 1973. Four years later, he became a scout, signing Stan Belinda and operating a series of Tri-State scouting camps. After leaving the Bucs in 1986, he bird-dogged for the California Angels and Seattle Mariners before passing away in 2009. 

1952 helmet - photo Associated Press

• 1952 - The Pirates split a twilight doubleheader against the Boston Braves, winning the opener 8-1 behind a pair of Ralph Kiner home runs and Bob Friend’s seven-hitter to break an eight-game losing streak, then returning to form to absorb a 16-0 plastering in the late game. The Bucs set a new team low by suffering its 104th defeat (the old mark for damage done was 103, set in 1917) on their way to a 42-112 finish, and the match at Forbes Field drew just 2,608 fans. They also used Branch-Rickey inspired batting helmets for the first time in the majors, plastic caps with a foam layer around the head band, both at-bat and in the field. All the Buccos but Joe Garagiola wore one; his helmet size was too big. The Post-Gazette noted the headgear with a terse “New Helmets But Same Bucs” headline. The Buc FO introduced the helmets during spring training and finally Branch Rickey ordered their use, both at the plate and in the field, on this date. Coincidently, we’re sure, Rickey owned stock in the company that made the helmets, American Baseball Cap, that were designed by Ed Crick and Ralph Davis of Cleveland. The Pirates mellowed some after a couple of seasons, requiring them only for batting when the players bellyached about the weight in the field. It took awhile, but the headgear eventually caught on, being mandated by the MLB in 1970. 
• 1960 - A crowd of 21,261 cheered the first-place Pirates over the Giants 6-1 and set a new Pittsburgh home attendance record of 1‚521‚251, edging the old mark set in 1948. The final attendance for 1960 was 1,705,828, which would be the high water mark until the 1988 Pirates drew 1,866,713 at TRS.
• 1960 - OF Trench Davis was born in Baltimore. He was signed in 1980 out of Southern HS as a 19-year old. He got on the radar as a speedy stolen base machine on the farm and had a cup of coffee with Pittsburgh in June. He played in 15 games for the Pirates in May 1986, hitting just .130 (he hit 4-for-30 in his Pirates stint with one stolen base), and became a Bucco footnote when he was optioned back to the minors to make room for Barry Bonds. He signed with the Braves in 1987, spent most of the season on the farm and played out his career in the Mexican League. 
• 1963 - RHP Mike Roesler was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He had a couple of brief MLB stops, tossing five games for the Pirates in 1990 with a line of 1-0/3.00 to close out his MLB work. Roesler bounced around the Pirates and Kansas City Royals’ farm systems afterward before pitching in Taiwan and then retiring in 1992. He was inducted into the Northeast Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 for his sporting exploits at Fort Wayne’s Bishop Luer HS and later at Ball State. 

Mike Roesler - photo via Diamond Baseball Academy

• 1964 - The Pirates sold C Smoky Burgess to the pennant-chasing Chicago White Sox for $50,000. He went 1-for-5 off the bench for the Sox which finished one game behind the Yankees in the 1964 AL race. But Smoky found his final home in the Windy City; he played there until 1967, ending his career at the age of 40 with 18 MLB seasons to his credit. 
• 1969 - Doing it with their arms and sticks, pitchers Jerry Koosman and Don Cardwell not only pitched 1-0 wins but drove in the winning scores to lead the Mets to a DH sweep of the Bucs. Bob Moose and Dock Ellis took the losses at Forbes Field. Moose threw a five-hitter with 10K; Ellis a six-hitter with 11 whiffs. The games were the second and third in a row that Buc starters had fanned 10+ hitters; Bob Veale started the string the day before with 12 K in a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. 
• 1979 - The Pirates whitewashed the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 at TRS behind John Candelaria’s six-hit, 8-1/3 shutout innings and Ed Ott’s bat. Bill Madlock singled, stole second and scored on Ott’s single in the second inning before Otter tripled in the fifth and scored on Phil Garner’s knock to give the Pirates their two runs. Kent Tekulve nailed down his 27th save of the season by retiring the last two Cards and stranding Redbirds at second and third. 
• 1981 - RHP Franquelis Osoria was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Osoria was waived by the Dodgers after the 2006 campaign and claimed by the Bucs. He worked his first year mainly in Indianapolis, but saw considerable time with the Bucs, going 0-2/4.76 ERA in 25 outings. He was with the big club for most of the 2008 season with a slash of 4-3/6.08 in 43 games. Frankie finished his career in the Dominican Winter League, pitching in his native land through the 2015 year. Like fellow Dominican Antonio Alfonseca, Osoria had an extra digit on his throwing hand, though it didn’t seem to give him much of an edge. 

Franquelis Osoria - undated photo Jeff Gross/Getty

• 1985 - The Bucs banged out three homers to rout the Cubs 10-2 at TRS. RJ Reynolds and Mike Brown connected off Dennis Eckersley, but the big blow was a two-out grand slam by reliever Don Robinson off Warren Brusstar in the eighth frame. He also picked up the save for Rick Rhoden, tossing two innings of one-hit ball with three whiffs. Robinson became one of just five Pirates pitchers to clean the bases. Though The Caveman hit well for a hurler (.238 in ‘85), that was his only homer and RBIs on the year.