6/19 Through the 1960s: Big Poison X-B; Groat Debut; 8 Straight; HBD Butch, Johnnie, Jerry, Fernando, Bill, Don, Frank & Jake

• 1856 - UT Frank McLaughlin was born in Lowell, Massachusetts by some sources; others say he was born in Ireland. Frank stopped in Pittsburgh between 1883-84, seeing not a lot of action as an Allegheny and then with the Stogies next season. He hit .219 with the Alleghenys in ‘83 as a shortstop and went 0-0/13.00 in nine innings of mound work. Frank then went the Union League route, batting .239 as a 2B before joining the KC Unions, with which he finished out his career in 1884. 
• 1892 - SS Harry “Jake” Daubert was born in Columbus, Ohio. His major league career consisted of one at bat for the 1915 Pirates, and he fanned. Jake played pro ball from 1912-19, mostly in the Ohio State League. 

Bill Swift - 1934 Goudey

• 1908 - RHP Bill Swift was born in Elmira, New York. He tossed eight seasons (1932-39) for the Bucs, with a 91-79/3.57 record. Swift was a staff workhorse, going 200+ innings and picking up double-digit wins in his first five seasons, topping out with 16 wins in 1936. He wasn’t a power guy, with just 3.4 K/nine during his Pittsburgh career, but gave up less than two walks per game and a homer just once every 18 frames. 
• 1912 - IF Don Gutteridge was born in Pittsburg, Kansas. The 12-year MLB vet closed out his big league days in Pittsburgh, PA, retiring after getting into four games and going 0-for-2 in 1948 for the Pirates. Afterward, he was a long time manager for the White Sox, winning a pennant in 1959, and also scouted for the Royals, Yankees and Dodgers. 
• 1927 - Paul Waner doubled twice in a 14-7 loss to the Cubs to extend his NL record extra base hit streak (12 doubles, 4 triples, 4 homers) to 14 straight games. The streak ended the next day but has held up well, being matched only by Chipper Jones in 2006. 
• 1942 - Paul “Big Poison'' Waner‚ now 39 and a Boston Brave‚ joined Cap Anson and Honus Wagner as the only NL players with 3‚000 hits (seven overall) with a fifth inning single to center off Rip Sewell, appropriately at Forbes Field. The game was stopped as the ball was presented to him, and both teams gathered round to offer their congratulations. Pittsburgh won the game in 11 innings, 7-6. Waner’s hit should have been 3,001. Two days earlier, he was given a hit on a ball that glanced off a glove; Waner had the scorer change it to an error so his 3,000th would be a clean knock. 
• 1949 - Jerry Reuss was born in St. Louis. The lefty spent six seasons with the Pirates (1974-78, 1990) and put up a 61-46/3.52 line as a rotation mainstay. He won 220 games in a 22 year big league career. Jerry spent time as a coach and major/minor league announcer after his playing days ended, also writing his 2014 autobiography “Bring In the Right Hander!” 

Fernando - 1977 Topps

• 1950 - IF Fernando Gonzalez was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Fernando had a couple of stints with the Bucs, beginning his career with cups of coffee in 1972-73 and contributing as a role player in 1977-78 before being waived to the Padres. He hit .257 as a Pirate, played all the infield spots except first base and manned the corner outfield spots. He finished his career in 2004 playing in the Mexican League. After his playing days were over, Gonzalez coached in the Yankees system and later was the field general for a team in Italy. Now he manages a traveling Puerto Rican youth squad. 
• 1952 - Bonus baby Dick Groat made his first big league start in an 8-1 Pirates victory over the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. Groat went 2-for-4 with two RBI just three days after signing his first contract out of Duke. Veteran hurler Murry Dickson had a little bit to do with the win, too, as he tossed a complete game five-hitter and added three knocks, scoring three times. 
• 1954 - IF Johnnie LeMaster was born in Portsmouth, Ohio. He played 12 years of MLB ball, and the Pirates were one of three teams he was on in 1985 (oddly, all three - the Pirates, Giants and Indians - finished last in their division). The good-glove utility guy hit .155, and made it back to the show briefly in 1987 with Oakland before his career closed. He retired to Painesville, Kentucky, where he was raised, and worked for Ashland Oil while coaching youth at various levels and serving as an elder/bible study leader for his church. 
• 1958 - OF Wallace “Butch” Davis was born in Williamston, North Carolina. He got eight years and 166 games in the bigs. He sipped some coffee with the Pirates in 1987; in seven games he went 1-for-7 with three whiffs while spending most of his time at AAA Vancouver. He played 13 years in the minors with a couple of campaigns in Venezuela. When he hung up the spikes, he was a long-time Orioles minor league hitting coach and manager before spending three years as a Twins first base coach. He also lives on in cinematic history: he made a cameo appearance in the movie Bull Durham. 

Bob Veale - 1968 Topps

• 1968 - The Pirates ran their winning streak to eight games with a 2-1 victory over the LA Dodgers at Forbes Field. Bob Veale gave up a first-inning run, then settled in to toss a complete game six-hitter with eight strikeouts, helped along by three DPs. The Trolley Dodgers boosted the Bucs to the win with a couple of miscues. A passed ball with Maury Wills at second set up the first run on a Willie Stargell sac fly and the game-winner came when Gene Alley walked in the seventh, stole second and went to third when Bill Singer misfired on an attempted pickoff, scoring on Jerry May's two-out single. Singer was a tough nut to crack for the Pirates; he fanned 10 despite the loss. The Pirates split a twinbill with LA the next day, taking the opener and dropping the nightcap to end their joy ride at nine games.