9/1 Through the 1950s: Hans Battery; Fun Five; Fido Riot; Triple Trouble; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Dave, Vic, Joe L, Jim, Sam & Shoemaker

• 1877 - Jim “Pud” Galvin and the Alleghenys edged St. Louis in 15 innings, 1-0. Two days earlier, they had beat Milwaukee by the same score in 12 innings. Both games were played in the International Association, making the Alleghenys the first local minor league club; the other area nines were independent/sandlot teams. The Alleghenys finished the season with a 13-6 record, the second best record in the league. The club consisted of twelve players in 1877, all of whom later made it to the majors, and was managed by Denny McKnight, a lifelong Pittsburgh native who also served as the International Association's president. The team folded the next season, not to return until the 1882 campaign. 

Pud - 1888 Baseball Game Card

• 1890 - On Labor Day at Washington Park, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, later known as the Dodgers, won all three games against Pittsburgh in the first tripleheader ever played. The home team swept the visiting Alleghenys, who were rebranded as the Pirates next season, 10-9 (The Alleghenys scored nine times in the ninth with Doggie Miller tossed out at home trying to stretch a triple into a game-tying homer), 3-2, and 8-4. Allegheny hurler Dave Anderson went the distance for games two and three and took both losses (ouch). The Alleghenys then lost to them the next day 5-4 to run their losing streak to 23 games. The Pittsburgh franchise would also play MLB’s last tripleheader in 1920 against the Reds, doing a bit better by winning one of the contests. 
• 1890 - C Olaf “Sam” (his middle name was Selmar) Brenegan was born in Galesville, Wisconsin. He got the briefest of time in the majors - he caught a couple innings for the 1914 Pirates, not long enough to get an at bat but long enough to allow a passed ball. Per Paul Dickson’s “Baseball Dictionary,” his passed ball came about when he was hit in the hand with the pitch, which allowed a baserunner to advance. For some time afterwards, any catcher who took a ball off his bare hand was said to have "pulled a brenegan." Even with that rep, he played pro ball until 1919, closing out his baseball days at St. Joseph’s in the Western league. 
• 1892 - The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette headline was “Baldwin Bagged - Pirates Prize Pitcher Charged With Riot.” Pirates P Mark "Fido" Baldwin was arrested in his hometown of Homestead (his dad sold real estate & insurance there) on charges of riot and providing the Carnegie Steel strikers with weapons. Baldwin posted a $2‚000 bond and claimed to be an onlooker, not a participant, in the mill melee. Fido was indicted on the charges but never brought to trial. On the diamond, he finished the year with a 26-27/3.47 slash, pitching 440-1/3 IP in 56 games, but had a contract squabble and was released the following season after one outing. After baseball, Fido became a MD and worked out of Passavant Hospital. 

Mark Baldwin - 1988 Yum Yum

• 1894 - OF Fred “Shoemaker” Nicholson was born in Honey Grove, Texas. He played for the Bucs from 1919-20 as a platoon outfielder and pinch-hitter, putting up a .342/.389/.505 slash during those seasons. Nicholson left the team as part of the 1921 Rabbit Maranville deal and spent a couple of years with the Boston Braves before settling into a minor league career that lasted through 1935, when he was 40-years-old. 
• 1905 - Per the Pittsburgh Press, on this date Honus Wagner gave Hillerich & Bradsby permission to brand his name on their Louisville Slugger bat. This is thought to be the first equipment endorsement ever made by a player and opened a lucrative cash sideline for athletes that’s milked to this day. 
• 1917 - The Pirates lost their third straight 1-0 game to the St. Louis Cardinals at Robison Field. The Cards, behind the pitching of Red Ames, Oscar Horstmann and Milt Watson, won their tag team match against Bob Steele, Wilbur Cooper and Hal Carlson. With the triad of 1-0 wins, the Cards tied the MLB mark and set the NL standard. 
• 1918 - GM Joe L Brown was born in New York City. Brown served as the general manager from November 1st, 1955, through the end of the 1976 season, replacing mentor Branch Rickey. Under his watch, the Pirates became world champions in 1960 and 1971. Ever a loyal Pirate, after a decade of serving as a Southern California-based scout for the Bucs, Brown was called back in 1985 to serve as acting GM when the Pirates, rocked by a drug scandal, poor play and falling attendance, were sold by the Galbreath family to a local group. He oversaw the transition and acted as a bridge between GMs Pete Peterson and Syd Thrift. 

Joe Brown - 1985 photo George Gojkovich/Getty

• 1919 - RHP Jim Hopper was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. The MLB games on his resume were as a member of the 1946 Pirates; he gave up five runs in four innings. Jim could be forgiven - he won 30 games in two minor league seasons, but lost his edge after serving two years in the military, returning in ‘46. He never got his mojo back and was done with pro ball after the 1949 season, spent in Class D ball. 
• 1922 - IF Vic Barnhart was born in Hagerstown, Maryland. Vic got cups of coffee in 1945 & 1947, seeing almost all of his playing time in 1946 for the Pirates. That was the sum of his career - 74 games and a decent .270 BA. He spent five years in the minors (he refused a 1947 trade to the Dodgers) before retiring. He then worked for the Maryland Correctional Institute where he was the Athletic Director. Vic’s dad was Clyde Barnhart, who played for the Bucs through the 1920s. 
• 1925 - The Buccos defeated the Philadelphia Phils, 10-3, to sweep a five-game series at the Baker Bowl. The Pirates outscored Philadelphia 54-18 during the set and scored in double digits in every game. Pie Traynor had four hits while Earl Smith (w/four RBI) and winning pitcher Vic Aldridge added three knocks and a homer apiece. That Pittsburgh club won the NL title, the World Series and their 912 runs scored were the most tallied by the franchise in the modern era. (the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of 1893-94 put up 970 & 965 runs, averaging over seven runs per game!) 
• 1927 - The Pirates tied for the NL’s top spot by beating the Cubs‚ 4-3, at Forbes Field. Joe Harris homered and doubled, with two runs and two RBI, to back Lee Meadows. The Waner brothers cut down Chicago runners at home and third. The Bucs whipped the Cards the next day to take sole possession of first place and never looked back, winning a sizzling pennant race by 1-1/2 games. 

Dave Rucker - 1989 Upper Deck (reverse)

• 1957 - LHP Dave Rucker was born in San Bernardino, California. Rucker was a seven-year MLB vet who tossed his last campaign in 1988 for the Pirates with an 0-2/4.76 slash in 31 games. He joined Dan Quisenberry and Ewell Blackwell as LaVerne University Leopards that made it to the show. The hurler also tossed for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies, becoming an instructor after he hung ‘em up at Yorba Linda’s Baseball/Softball World Academy.