6/21: Babe Sold; Roberto All-Time GG Team; I Fought The Law(ton); Busy Bob; Carson & Clyde Not Enough; Game Tales; HBD GI & Spencer

• 1888 - Chicago’s George “Rip” Van Haltren no-hit the Alleghenys in a rain-shortened, seven inning outing at West Side Park that the White Stockings won 1-0. Van Haltren would convert to the outfield in 1891, and spent a couple of years in Pittsburgh (1892-93) roaming the pasture, with a dozen games at SS. 
• 1893 - Pittsburgh rallied past Cleveland 6-5 by scoring five times in the bottom of the ninth at Exposition Park. The Spiders committed a pair of errors in the last frame, and Jake Beckley blasted a three-run triple for the walk-off win. The Pittsburgh Press set up Beckley’s blow: “The bases were full, and so were the Cleveland’s - full of alarm and bad humor. The crowd was full of excitement and began to yell and scream. But finally Beckley settled the controversies of the day by swinging the ball into right field good and true...” 
• 1898 - IF Spencer Adams was born in Layton, Utah. He spent four seasons in the majors on four teams as a bench guy, starting as a 25-year-old in 1923 with the Pirates and hitting .250 in 25 games. The Pirates had sent two players and $5,000 to Seattle to get Adams; at the end of the year, they flipped him to Oakland, another PCL club, as part of the Ray Kremer deal. 

Carson Bigbee - 1922 Exhibits

• 1922 - Carson Bigbee banged out five hits, including two doubles and a triple good for three RBI while Clyde Barnhart added four hits and chased home four Buccos, but it was for naught as Brooklyn won in 10 innings 15-14. Bigbee and Barnhart each booted a ball, along with Pie Traynor, in the extra frame to lose to the Robins at Ebbets Field. 
• 1935 - The Pirates sold OF Babe Herman to the Cincinnati Reds after picking him up as a part of a five-man deal with the Cubs in the offseason. The 32-year-old vet carried a big stick (.329 BA, 143 OPS+ over nine years), but batted just .235 in 26 games as a Pirate, dropping from starter to bench bat. The Bucs, however, gave up too soon on Babe - he hit .335 for the Reds during the remaining 92 games of the year and .280 from 1936-37 for them and the Tigers. He spent most of his remaining pro years in Hollywood of the PCL, returning for a last hurrah with Brooklyn in 1945. 
• 1971 - Bob Robertson set a MLB record for most assists in a nine inning game by a first baseman with eight in a 6-0 win over the Mets at TRS, helping Dock Ellis to an eight-hit shutout. Ellis was busy, too, setting the NL record for putouts by a pitcher with five. The extra-inning mark for assists was also eight‚ set by the Buc’s Bob Skinner in 1954. 
• 1978 - Bucco shortstop Frank Taveras delivered a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning, bringing home Phil Garner with the walk-off run in a 2-1 victory over the Cubs at TRS. John Candelaria pitched a complete game for the Pirates, as did Chicago’s Ray Burris. “Scrap Iron” had three hits and scored both runs. 
• 1981 - 1B/OF Garrett Jones was born in Harvey, Illinois. He was a Bucco platoon middle-of-the order presence against RHP from 2009-13 after being signed as a 28-year-old minor league FA from the Minnesota Twins organization. He hit 100 HR and had a .256 BA in Pittsburgh before moving on as a FA in 2014. Garrett was known as "GI Jones," a play on GI Joe. 

Garret Jones - 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary

• 1989 - Doug Drabek and Greg Maddux hooked up in a classic pitching duel, though neither was around at the finish, as the Cubs beat the Bucs 1-0 at TRS. Maddux went 10 frames of six-hit ball while Drabek went nine, giving up five knocks. Future Bucco skipper Lloyd McClendon’s sac fly off Doug Bair brought home future Bucco coach & scout Gary Varsho in the 11th for the game’s only tally. 
• 1992 - The Bucs bolted out of the gate and were up 5-0 over the Expos going into the seventh at TRS, a lead built largely on Orlando Merced’s three-run long fly. But Pirates relievers Denny Neagle and Roger Mason were banged around enough to make it a 5-4 nailbiter by the ninth. Marquis Grissom started the final frame off with a rap, and an out later was standing on third after swiping a pair of bases. Stan Belinda took the hill and coaxed a short pop fly up the right field line and Marquis faked a tag home. The feint worked, too - RF Gary Varsho airmailed the ball over Spanky LaValliere, and Belinda, backing up, chased it down in front of the dugout. But the baseball gods were in one of their moods, as Grissom lost sight of the ball and retreated back to third after Varsho uncorked the wayward throw rather than jogging plateward. Belinda wiped his brow and whiffed Rick Cercone on three pitches to earn a close-cut save. 
• 1998 - Three Pirate relievers surrendered five runs to the Brew Crew in the final two frames, but the Bucs hung on to take an 8-7 win at County Stadium. The Pirate hero was Jose Guillen, who smacked a grand slam in the third inning off Jeff Juden. Esteban Loaiza won his fifth game in spite of the bullpen meltdown. 
• 2003 - The Pirates edged the Indians‚ 7-6, for their second straight 15-inning victory over the Tribe, claiming a 5-4 win the day before. It was the first time since 1996 that two teams had played consecutive 15-inning contests. The win was highlighted by a web gem grab by Brian Giles, stealing a two-run homer bid from Brandon Phillips in the eighth inning and as described by ESPN: “Giles pushed off the fence with his foot to elevate himself, stretched his glove over the 6-foot fence and pulled the ball back from the second row of the stands.” The yard was rockin’ from the crowd of 36,856, which included many Cleveland fans, and was the Pirates' first sellout of the year. 

Brian Giles - 2003 Donruss Elite Aspirations

• 2005 - Matt Lawton drove in five runs and scored twice, banging a homer and double, to lead the Pirates to an 11-4 win over the Nationals at PNC Park. Lawton went 3-for-5, Daryle Ward drove home three runs, and Ollie Perez pitched six frames for the win. The Pirates banged out 14 hits, seven for extra bases (one HR & six doubles). 
• 2008 - In a pre-game ceremony at PNC Park, the Pirates officially presented the family of Roberto Clemente with his trophy after Arriba was named to Rawlings’ All-Time Gold Glove Team. The Bucs went on to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 behind two-run homers by Jay Bay, Raul Chavez and Jose Bautista in front of 27,014 fans. 
• 2016 - Ma, I’m In the Record Book: Erik Kratz, who tossed an inning while an Angel in April, became the first player in the modern era to catch and pitch for two teams in the same season when he flipped a scoreless ninth inning during the Pirates' 15-4 loss to the Giants at PNC Park.