5/12: Bowman Claimed; B&B; Mother's Day Promise; Hot Heaton; Hans Tops Iron Man; Killer Kiki; Game Tales; HBD Evan, Josh, Alex, Johnny, Hank, EA & Bird Eye

• 1860 - Umpire EA (Evan Arthur) Griffith was born in Canoe Township, northeastern Indiana County. EA was one of several local connections to the old American Association, umpiring for half a season (46 games, all behind the plate) in 1884. Apparently Griffith liked the profession but wanted a little more action; he later became a college football ref. 
• 1868 - 2B Harry “Bird Eye” Truby was born in Kittanning. He played two seasons in the show with his final eight games as a Pirate in 1896 when his contract was purchased to replace an injured Lou Bierbauer, and he batted .156 to end his MLB career. He was traded 11 days later to Albany for Dick Padden. Truby did put in 20 pro seasons, playing his last game in 1907. He umpired briefly, managed for three years, and then went on to his life’s work.

Alex McCarthy - 1913 Pgh Press

• 1889 - Light hitting (.229 career) and slick fielding reserve infielder Alex McCarthy was born in Chicago. The Notre Dame product played for the Bucs from 1910-1917, with a brief stop in Chicago where the Pirates sold him in September of 1915 and then brought him back the following July, hitting .226 during his eight Pittsburgh campaigns. He was originally a shortstop, but couldn’t beat out a guy named Honus Wagner. 
• 1908 - The Bucs defeated the NY Giants 5-3 at Exposition Park as Sam Leever outlasted Iron Man McGinnity. The G-Men overcame a 2-0 deficit in the eighth to take the lead; Pittsburgh answered with a three-spot of its own. Hans Wagner was the hero. He tripled home the tying and winning run, then swiped home on the back end of a double steal for the insurance tally. The Dutchman had three of the Pirates five hits to go with a walk. 
• 1916 - RHP Hank Borowy was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey. After spending most of his time with the Yankees and Cubs, the Pirates were one of three teams that he played for in 1950, getting into 11 games as a Bucco swingman and going 1-3/6.39 after he was bought from the Phils; after 10 weeks, he was sold to the Tigers. He had been a stalwart of the Bronx Bombers in the first half of his career, but in the final years suffered from chronic blisters and a sore shoulder. 
• 1922 - RHP Johnny Hetki was born in Leavenworth, Kansas. He spent the final two campaigns (1952-53) of his eight year career with the Pirates, posting a 7-10/4.38 slash in that time, mostly as a reliever. Johnny tossed in the Venezuelan Winter League where he had a couple of spotlight moments. Hetki hurled an 18-inning game for his club, Magallanes, setting a record that still stands (and for a tie game, yet!) He later pitched a complete game victory for Magallanes in the 1952 Caribbean Series, an 11-inning, 2–1 win against the Panamanian champions, the Carta Vieja Yankees. 

John Hetki - 1952 Topps

• 1925 - Kiki Cuyler went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, four RBI, and five runs scored in a 13-8 win over the Phillies at the Baker Bowl. Glenn Wright added three more knocks and drove in three runs. Starter Ray Kremer was knocked out of the box without getting an out; Lee Meadows worked seven frames for the win with Babe Adams earning a six-out save. It gave Pittsburgh a split of a twin bill as Vic Aldridge lost the opener 8-5 despite three hits by Max Carey and a Clyde Barnhart homer. 
• 1930 - Gus Suhr had a homer, double, and three RBI while Adam Comorosky went 3-for-3 with a pair of two baggers as the Pirates broke out of a 7-out-of-8 game losing streak with a 6-2 win over the Brooklyn Robins at Forbes Field. Erv Brame tossed a complete game six-hitter. Despite the early sluggishness, the team finished 80-74, but 12 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. 
• 1953 - The Bucs plucked LHP pitcher Roger Bowman off waivers from the New York Giants. It was a case of getting what ya pay for; he spent ‘53 and part of ‘55 with the Pirates, with all of ‘54 and most of ‘55 as a farm hand in Hollywood. He went 0-7/5.60 in the 37 Bucco games that he got the ball, with 1955 being his last big league campaign. Bowman then worked in the Pacific Coast League and tossed some in Cuba, with his last pro outing in 1961 with the Hawaii Islanders of the PCL. 
• 1955 - Rookie RHP Sam "Toothpick" Jones of the Cubs no-hit the Pirates 4-0‚ fanning Dick Groat, Roberto Clemente and Frank Thomas in the ninth after walking the bases loaded (he walked seven - two DPs and a caught stealing canceled that out pretty well - and struck out six). It was the first no-hitter in Wrigley Field since 1917 and the first MLB no-hitter tossed by an African-American pitcher. Sadly for Jones and posterity, only 2,918 fans showed up. 

Al McBean kept his promise - 1968 Topps

• 1968 - Al McBean left his house for Forbes Field after promising his wife a victory for Mothers Day and kept his word with a complete game, 2-1 win over the Phils, scattering seven hits and fanning five. The Bucs scored both runs in the first when Maury Wills and Roberto Clemente touched home against rookie Jeff James. Three straight Philadelphia singles in the seventh cut the Bucco lead to one, but Matty Alou’s throw-out of Johnny Briggs at third capped the damage. And everyone got to celebrate dinner with mom - no pace of play issues on this day as the game took just one hour and 55 minutes. 
• 1978 - 1B Josh Phelps was born in Anchorage, Alaska. Phelps spent eight years in the show, mostly as a Blue Jay, and split 2007 between the Yankees and Pirates, joining Pittsburgh in June as a replacement for demoted Brad Eldred after being waived out of the Big Apple. He swung it pretty good for the Bucs, hitting .351 with five homers in 77 at-bats, and he signed with the Cards as a free agent after the year. He got into 19 games late in the season for the Redbirds and that was his last MLB stop. Josh’s 64 career homers are the most banged by an Alaskan-born player. 
• 1983 - RHP Evan Meek was born in Bellevue, Washington. The Rule 5 pick spent five years (2008-12) as a Pirate and at one point looked like the closer of the future after an All-Star season in 2010, tossing to a 2.14 ERA in 70 appearances. But various arm injuries took their toll on his promising career. He only made one more MLB stop after his Bucco days, in 2014 with Baltimore. He finished his career pitching in the indy leagues after splitting 2015 between the minors and a stint in Korea. 
• 1988 - Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla gave a glimpse into the future when they mashed previously undefeated Dodger ace Orel Hershiser for three homers, four runs scored and six runs plated in a 7-4 Bucco win at Three Rivers Stadium. The B&B boys were in their third MLB campaign and would power the early-nineties Bucco powerhouses to three divisional titles. John Smiley rode their big bats to a complete game win; Chico Lind banged out three hits to aid the cause. 

B&B Boys 1988 - Topps Pirates Leaders

• 1990 - Neal Heaton improved his record to 6-0 after allowing one unearned run on four hits in seven innings of work during a 3-1 win over the Astros at TRS with Ted Power coming in for the save. The lefty won 10 games before the All-Star break and earned his first and only NL All-Star nod, finishing the season 12-9. The Bucs only got four hits off Mark Portugal, but Barry Bonds, Mark LaValliere and RJ Reynolds RBI’s were enough to carry the day. 
• 1994 - The Pirates and Zane Smith lost to the Phillies, 6-4, and were their own worst enemies by stranding 17 runners at Veterans Stadium, one shy of the NL record for a nine-inning game. The Bucs wasted 14 hits (every Pirate position starter had a rap; five of them had two knocks), nine walks and a Philly error by going 1-for-15 with RISP against four Philadelphia pitchers.