10/19 Through the 1960s: Hat Named Skipper; Outfield Angels; Stan the PA Man; Alleghenys Post Season; HBD Don, Toms & Rimp

• 1874 - OF Tom McCreery was born in Beaver. The local kid played from 1898-1900 for the Pirates, batting .303 as a switch hitter. Tom became the only player in major league history to hit three inside-the-park homers in a single game in 1897 as a Louisville Colonel. He later became head baseball coach at Pitt for the 1912 season. Tom lived out his days in his hometown, and stayed connected to the game by running the semi-pro Rochester Athletics. 

Tom McCreery - 1913 Pitt Owl Yearbook

• 1887 - The 55-win Alleghenys of the National League and the 39-win Cleveland Blues of the American Association met in a four-game postseason exhibition series set up by their leagues. This date was the opener in Cleveland. The Alleghenys won that lidlifter 9-6 behind Pud Galvin. The teams combined for 26 hits; more telling were the 11 errors. The second game went the Blues way as George Hays suffered an 11-8 defeat. Cleveland scored six unearned runs thanks to Pittsburgh committing seven more errors. The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette wrote “the visitors put up a remarkably shabby game in the field...with Pop Smith (he booted three balls) particularly off.” When the Alleghenys returned to Expo Park, they took the next two games handily, 6-3 behind Galvin and 16-7 with Ad Gumbert on the hill. This was before the World Series concept was finalized, but the NL and AA did have a championship series to battle for the short-lived Dauvray Cup. The two league champs, the Detroit Wolverines (NL) and St. Louis Browns (AA), played a prearranged 15-game set that was taken easily by Motown 10-games-to-five. 
• 1897 - OF Tom Lovelace was born in Wolfe City, Texas. Tom was a minor league vet, playing on the farm from 1920-1932, and he got one at-bat in the majors, with the Pirates in September of 1922, resulting in a ninth-inning lineout. He and a handful of other youngsters who were on the roster didn’t get to see much time; though the Pirates faded from the pennant chase of the Giants, they were involved in a three-way battle for second-place money. They might as well have played the kids; they finished tied for third with St. Louis, a game behind second-place Cincinnati. 
• 1931 - C Don Leppert was born in Indianapolis. He had a brief four year MLB career as a reserve catcher, starting with Pittsburgh in 1961-62 and batting .266. But he made the record books by hitting a homer on the first pitch thrown to him in the show on June 18th, 1961, against Curt Simmons of the St. Louis Cardinals in a 5-3 Bucco win. Leppert managed the Pirates’ Class A Gastonia club in 1967 and then served as a MLB coach for Pittsburgh from 1968–1976. 
• 1948 - OF/3B Lorenzo “Rimp” Lanier was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Pirates drafted him out of high school in the 37th round of 1967 and sent him to Salem. He hit well for the next three seasons, albeit without much power, and got a September look for the powerhouse 1971 Bucs, going 0-for-4 in six games. His star dimmed after that; he was sent down in 1972, had trouble with AAA pitching & his fielding, and he left baseball after the 1973 campaign at age 24. 
• 1949 - Donora’s Stan Musial was honored as a Pennsylvania Ambassador for promoting the state at his hometown St. Dominic’s Hall. 400 fans filled the venue with speakers from business and government honoring “The Man,” including Bucco broadcaster Rosey Rowswell. 

• 1951 - The original “Angels in the Outfield” movie was released. The film was shot primarily at Forbes Field (with Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning getting its fair share of love) and featured cameos by Bing Crosby (part owner), Ralph Kiner, George Strickland, Ed Fitz Gerald, George Metkovich, Sam Narron, Lenny Levy and Pie Traynor. Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio also made bit appearances. Paul Douglas, who played the manager, got the part only after Spencer Tracy and James Cagney were called but unavailable (besides, You Dirty Rat in the Outfield doesn’t have quite the same cachet...) 
• 1964 - Harry “The Hat” Walker was named manager of the Pirates, replacing Danny Murtaugh after an 80-82 season and sixth place finish in the NL (he left because of health, not record, and became Brown’s chief player evaluator). GM Joe Brown had discussed the job with ex-Cards manager Johnny Keane but it never became serious as Keane had the Yankee position lined up and instead recommended Walker. After a couple of competitive seasons (the Pirates came in third with 90+ wins both years and finished second and then first in NL team BA), The Hat was let go in 1967 and replaced by...Danny Murtaugh.