8/8 Through the 1960s: Bucs Sold; Groat Cover; Law Retires; Trip Trips; Flyin' Dutchman; Smoky, Tiger, Reb, Cotton En Fuego; Team Rights; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Brett, Mark, Billy & Elzie

• 1865 - RHP Billy Gumbert was born on Frankstown Avenue in Pittsburgh’s East End. He played for the Alleghenys in 1890 and the Pirates in 1892, with a pitching line of 7-8/3.93 and a .200 BA (he also played a little OF and 1B). Per John Dreker of Pittsburgh Baseball History, Billy was only available for home games because he owned & operated a business in Pittsburgh, so he worked “as needed” without a contract - he got a $15 game fee. His brother, Ad Gumbert, was also a major leaguer twirler and pitched for the Bucs from 1893-94. 

Denny Lyons - photo via NY Public Library

• 1893 - Pittsburgh swept a DH from the Chicago Colts 17-10 and 9-8 at Exposition Park. George Van Haltren, Denny Lyons and Joe Sugden (2B & 3B) each had three hits in the opener to give Ad Gumbert the win. In the nitecap, the Colts scored three times in the ninth to go up by four; the Pirates answered with a five spot, keyed by Lyons, who tripled with the bases loaded to tie the game and then scored the winning run. Lyons had six hits on the day. Red Ehret, who went the distance, got the victory. The fans were into the comeback victory; per the Pittsburgh Press “Not at Exposition Park this year has there been such a scone of excitement and enthusiasm...Lyon’s hit (the ninth inning triple in the second game) caused the wildest scene ever seen here for many a day. There were nearly 6,000 people and they all stood up and yelled themselves hoarse. Hats were flying in all directions.” The crowd had been stirred up by Colt manager Cap Anson, who after Chicago took the lead “...indulge(d) in some very jeering talk” per the Press, and then got to enjoy eating his own words as a post-game snack. 
• 1902 - Honus Wagner became the first Pirate to steal second, third and home in an 8-6 loss to the Boston Beaneaters at the South End Grounds. He did it four times during his career. Other Pirates to swipe a three-pack were Max Carey (2), Kiki Cuyler and Bobby Byrne. 
• 1903 - RHP Elzie Clise Dudley was born in Graham, North Carolina. He tossed for five years in the majors, putting up a line of 17-33-2/5.03, with his last MLB outing (and only appearance) with the Pirates in 1933, when he gave up five runs on six hits and a walk in 1/3 IP against Boston. He’s noted for two things: As a Pirate, his 135.00 ERA/21.000 WHIP are franchise records (not in a good way). A better standard was set as a Brooklyn Robin in 1929, when Dudley became the second player (and the first pitcher) to hit a homer on the first pitch thrown to him. 
• 1905 - Second baseman Dave Brain, who hit three triples in a game for St. Louis against the Pirates earlier in the season, repeated the performance against Boston after being traded to Pittsburgh, becoming the only player to triple-triple twice in one season. Pittsburgh defeated the Beaneaters 5-4 in 10 innings at Exposition Park, with Mike Lynch getting the win in relief of Sam Leever. Brain, who went 4-for-5, had the game winning knock, a single to score Tommy Leach. Davy had quite the day; the Pittsburgh Gazette wrote “Not only did Brain bat well, but he fielded in fine style, and some of the plays made by him were decidedly sensational.” 1905 was his only year with Pittsburgh; he hit .257 as a 3B/SS before being flipped to Boston as part of the Vic Willis trade. 

Rabbit Maranville - 1922 American Caramel

• 1922 - The Pirates lined, drilled, dribbled and blooped a major league record 46 hits during a doubleheader sweep against the Phillies at Shibe Park. Bucco SS Rabbit Maranville made a record 13 plate appearances during the day. The team had 27 knocks, a franchise record, in their 19-8 rout in the opener. Reb Russell went 5-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, five runs and seven RBI while Cotton Tierney had four hits, scored five runs and drove in five. Tierney went 4-for-5 in the nitecap with four RBI and Russell doubled three times as the Bucs banged out 19 hits in a 7-3 brooming. Tierney and Russell each recorded eight hits during the twin bill. 
• 1938 - A federal court ruled that KQV Radio could not broadcast games without the permission of the Pirates, who had sold game rights to KDKA/WWSW. The sly KQV broadcasters perched on Oakland rooftops, using that as their play-by-play roost and thus pirating the Pirates contests. The decision etched in stone that the controlling rights of game coverage belonged to the teams, a huge part of the clubs’ ka-ching today. 
• 1946 - Bill Benswanger, representing the Dreyfuss family, sold the Bucs to a group headed by Frank McKinney, Tom Johnson and John Galbreath, along with Bing Crosby as one of the minority investors. The price was reported to be $2.5M. The Galbreath group controlled the Pirates until 1985 when he sold the club to a group of local business and civic leaders, the Pittsburgh Associates, who baby-sat the club for another decade. 
• 1952 - Murry Dickson did it all for the Bucs. He pitched a 10-inning, six-hit, 1-0 shutout against the Cubs at Forbes Field and drove in the game’s only run. Joe Garagiola led off the 10th with a single, and Brandy Davis, who had just been called up from Waco and didn’t arrive at the park until 7:30, was sent in to pinch run. A grounder moved him up a station, and with two down, Dickson hit a ball toward the SS hole. Roy Smalley made a diving stop to knock the ball down, but that didn’t slow down the speedster Davis who sprinted home from second on the infield knock. 
• 1957 - RHP Mark Ross was born in Galveston, Texas. Mark got six pretty brief stops in the show, two with Pittsburgh in 1987 and his last go-around in 1990. In 10 Pittsburgh outings, he went 1-0/3.95. Ross pitched for Team USA in 1987 and served for several seasons as a minor league coach for the Atlanta Braves organization. 

• 1960 - Dick Groat was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the story “Fiery Leader of the Pirates.” The team captain and All-Star became the first Pirate to be named MVP since Paul Waner in their last pennant year of 1927 and led the league with a .325 BA. 
• 1961 - The Bucs swept a twinbill against the Phils by 10-2, 3-2, scores at Connie Mack Stadium, running Philadelphia’s losing streak to 12 games. Harvey Haddix and Tom Sturdivant spun the ball nicely while Smoky Burgess went 5-for-5 in the opener with a homer and four RBI while Don Hoak added five hits during the afternoon, also launching a long ball. The frustrated Phillies didn’t go down without a fight - in the sixth inning of the nightcap, Roberto Clemente threw out the tying run, Tony Gonzalez, at the plate. Catcher Hal Smith was spiked high and applied a hard tag; Gonzalez took a poke at him and the fireworks erupted. The ensuing basebrawl went on for nearly 10 minutes, left both managers (Danny Murtaugh & Gene Mauch) battered (Mauch ended up with a shiner) and had seven different individual battles going on before peace was restored. The umps, who perhaps wisely stayed out of the fray and oddly didn’t toss a soul, had two of Philadelphia’s finest sit on each teams’ bench for the remainder of the contest. 
• 1963 - Injuries drove RHP Vern Law to the voluntarily retired list. But the Deacon returned with a vengeance to win 12 games in 1964, and in 1965, at the age of 35, he led the Pirates with 17 victories and a 2.15 ERA. He was honored with the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award as comeback player of the year. But the injuries finally wore him down and the Deacon retired permanently after the 1967 campaign. 
• 1963 - RHP Brett Gideon was born in Ozona, Texas. He was a sixth round pick of the Pirates in 1985 and made his debut in 1987, getting in 29 games with a 1-5-3/4.46 line. He was traded to Montreal for Neal Heaton in 1989, and only got in five games in two Expo seasons. Brett worked in the minors until 1992 before hangin’ up the spikes. Now he’s the national sales director for a pharmo company. 

Brett Gideon - 1988 Fleer

• 1964 - Bob Veale struck out 11 batters and tossed a complete game as the Pirates beat the Cubs 5-2 at Forbes Field. The Cubs scored twice in the first inning before Big Bob shut the door and let the offense do its thing. Bob Bailey put the Pirates ahead in the fifth inning with a three-run homer while Gene Freese provided the coup d’ grace in the sixth with a two-run blast. 
• 1969 - Manny Sanguillen was a homer shy of the cycle and scored three times as he led the Pirates to a 7-1 win over the Padres at San Diego Stadium. The Roadrunner was on a roll, going 13 for his last 26 at bats. Willie Stargell added a double and two RBI. Bob Veale gave up 11 hits but struck out 10 Friars for the win.