6/12 Through the 1970s: Greatest Day HoF; Haddix Night; Everyone Hits; Dock, Lefty No-Nos; Game Tales; HBD Willie, Sol & Dutch

• 1868 - IF King Solomon “Sol” White was born in Bellaire, Ohio. Known as an educated and gentlemanly guy, his multi-faceted career in black baseball was launched in Pittsburgh. Per BR Bullpen: White began his career in 1887 with the Pittsburgh Keystones of the National Colored League, with a return stop in 1892. Sol got around - he was with Wheeling, the New York Big Gorhams, the Cuban Giants, the Page Fence Giants, the Cuban X-Giants and the Chicago Columbia Giants among the 18 clubs White played/managed for. In 1902, White and white sportswriter H. Walter Schlichter founded the Philadelphia Giants. For the next eight years White co-owned, managed and played for his team, one of the era's best. After leaving the Giants, White managed the Brooklyn Royal Giants and the New York Lincoln Giants. Following a period of semi-retirement, he led the Columbus Buckeyes, the Cleveland Browns and the Newark Stars, finally retiring after the 1926 season. The Wilberforce grad was also a sportswriter, author of the first definitive history of early black baseball in 1907, and elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. 
• 1884 - 2B Otto “Dutch” Knabe was born in Carrick. He got a cup of coffee with the hometown Buccos in 1905 and then returned in 1916, the last season of his 12-year career. He was out of shape, and the Bucs sent him to the Cubs in June, where he finished out as a player/coach. In between, though, he and SS Mickey Doolan formed one of the slickest and competitive DP combos in the league with Philadelphia. He played/managed in the minors through 1922, ran a pool hall/gambling den (it was reported that he was going to bet on the “Black Sox” in the 1919 World Series, was tipped that the fix was in and switched his money to the Reds) and later a bar in Philadelphia. “Dutch” was a play on Deutsch, or German. 

Dutch Knabe w/Phils - photo George Bain/Library of Congress

• 1904 - LHP Willie Foster was born in Lorman, Mississippi. One of the top southpaws of his era (and perhaps any other), he pitched for the Homestead Grays in 1932 (8-1/2.08) and the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1-2) in 1936 on his way to the Hall of Fame. Willie later became an associate dean and coached at Alcorn State, where the Foster Baseball Field at McGowan Stadium, home for Braves baseball, is named in his honor. 
• 1928 - The Pirates set a record, later tied, by having seven batters collect three hits or more in a game when they beat the Phillies 15-4 at the Baker Bowl. Ray Kremer, the Bucco pitcher, led the parade with four knocks. Pittsburgh had 25 hits, with every starting player chipping in. Paul & Lloyd Waner, Sparky Adams, Glenn Wright (five RBI), Pie Traynor and Fred Brickell had three knocks while Clyde Barnhart had a pair with four RBI. 
• 1933 - The Homestead Grays’ 38-year-old Lefty Williams tossed a no-hitter against the local Hazelwood Jehovic club at Greenlee Field, claiming a 3-0 victory. The club wasn’t as fortunate on the back end of a twi-light twin bill, dropping an 8-6 decision to the Baltimore Black Sox despite three hits from SS Leroy Mornay, who would skip to cross-town rivals, the Crawfords, the following season; he played for 14 teams during his career. That was vividly in contrast with Lefty - he pitched for Homestead from 1921-35, with the only gap being six games he worked for Detroit in a split season. 
• 1939 - The Baseball Hall of Fame opened to the public in the greatest gathering of old-timey baseball starpower ever assembled. The Hall named its first five inductees in 1936 (Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson) and others voted in (Grover Alexander, Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, Connie Mack, George Sisler, Tris Speaker & more) prior to the building’s dedication. Hans, in the first HOF vote, tied for second with the Babe. They were outpolled only by the Georgia Peach, Cobb. 

1939 HoF class (AP photo)
First row: Eddie Collins, Babe Ruth, Connie Mack, Cy Young
Top: Hans Wagner, Grover Cleveland, Tris Speaker, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Walter Johnson

• 1959 - To celebrate his 12 perfect innings against the Braves, the Pirates held Harvey Haddix Night at Forbes Field. The Cardinals Don Blasingame, the leadoff hitter, singled on the third pitch to ruin the vibe, and it was an omen of things to come: the Kitten was chased after four innings and the Pirates eventually lost a see-saw contest, 9-6, in front of 27,970 fans. However, the pregame ceremony set up tea time at the Haddix household - NL President Warren Giles presented Harvey with a silver set with 12 goblets (one for each perfect inning, inscribed with the batters that were retired) and Bucco owner John Galbreath also gave him a $1,000 silver set. 
• 1969 - SS Freddie Patek’s boot led to two unearned runs in a three-run third for Houston, but Roberto Clemente’s game-tying two-run shot in the sixth and pinch hitter Carl Taylor’s two-out single in the ninth scored Manny Sanguillen to give the Bucs a 4-3 win. It was almost sent into overtime; with two outs Jim Wynn lifted a long fly to left that Jose Pagan pulled in at the wall. Jim Bunning went the distance for the W at the Astrodome. 
• 1970 - During the first game of a twin bill at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, Dock Ellis walked eight batters but no-hit the Padres, 2-0, to become the fourth Pirate pitcher to accomplish the feat. He later famously claimed he was high on LSD while pitching that day. Pops Stargell provided the muscle with a pair of solo shots. SD took the nitecap 5-2.