9/17 Through the 1930s: Hans Done; Specs Debut; Timely Trips; Boot Hill; Game Tales; HBD Jim, Ed, Ralph, Bob, Sam, Sheriff, Whitey, Wildfire; Otto & Brains

• 1870 - 2B Dick “Brains” Padden was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. He started his nine-year MLB career with Pittsburgh from 1896-98, recruited from the Virginia State League by player/manager Connie Mack to fill a 2B hole. He was a regular for his last two seasons, hitting .265 in the Steel City before being part of a trade package sent to Washington for his replacement, 2B Heinie Reitz. When Dick ended his playing days, he scouted for a while and then worked in the glass industry. Who gave him his nickname is uncertain, but it was attributed to him being “foxy” on the field. 
• 1876 - Utilityman Otto Krueger was born in Chicago. Otto played 15 years of pro ball, seven in the majors. He suited up for the Pirates from 1903-04, hitting .219. Krueger missed the ‘03 World Series (he was recovering from a beaning) and was traded the next season as part of the deal for Del Howard. He was nicknamed "Oom (Uncle) Paul” Otto after the president of the Transvaal, “Oom” Paul Kruger, as American audiences of his era were fascinated by the Boer War. 

Otto Krueger - The Sporting Life

• 1882 - OF Frank “Wildfire” Schulte was born in Cochecton, New York. Frank played organized pro ball for 21 years, beginning his journey in 1902 after turning down $1,000 from his father to give up baseball and work in the family business. He was a star for the Cubs and played in four World Series, but was on the downhill slope of his career in 1916 when he was traded to the Bucs. Frank hit .239 in Pittsburgh and was sold to the Phils; his last campaign was 1918. His nickname was somewhat self-anointed; he was a fan of actress Lillian Russell and a play she starred in by that title. That led him to name one of his racehorses Wildfire; eventually the sportswriters picked up on it and applied the moniker to him. 
• 1893 - RHP Charles “Whitey” Glazner was born in Sycamore, Alabama. He pitched from 1920-23 for the Bucs, with a line of 27-18/3.48, with an exceptional 1921 campaign when Whitey went 14-5-1 with a 2.77 ERA. He was the first Pirates starter to open his career with five straight wins (he relieved twice in 1920), a record that held up until Zach Duke matched it in 2005. But he couldn’t repeat, and was traded to the Phils in 1923. 
• 1898 - 1B Willie Clark banged a pair of bases-loaded triples to help the Pirates avoid being swept by the Brooklyn Bridegrooms at Washington Park, escaping with an 8-8 tie (called after nine innings because of rain) after dropping the opener, 6-1. Clark, a local lad who hit .306 during the year, is still the only player in franchise history to hit two bases-loaded triples in a game. 
• 1899 - RHP John “Sheriff” Blake was born in Ansted, West Virginia. Blake worked over 300 games during his decade in MLB, getting his start in 1920 as a 20-year-old Pirates rookie, used six times from the bullpen (the Bucs were actually high on him, but he had injured his ankle and was never fully healthy that year) while posting an 8.10 ERA. He spent the next three years seasoning in the International and Pacific Coast Leagues and arrived to stay in 1924 with the Cubs and stayed in Chicago for the next eight years. Per Gregory Wolf, who wrote Blake’s SABR bio, Blake credited minor league manager George Stallings for giving him the nickname Sheriff (no, he never was a lawman) during Prohibition. “Stallings knew I was from West Virginia, (and) that there was a lot of moonshining going on... He went to call me one day and could not think of my name, so he said ‘Hey you moonshining sheriff, come here.’” 

Sam Streeter - 1932 team photo snip

• 1900 - LHP Sam Streeter was born in New Market, Alabama. After starting out with Birmingham and the Cuban League, Sam worked both sides of the local black league street, tossing for the Homestead Grays from 1928-30 and then finishing his career with a 1931-36 stint with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, where he won an All-Star berth in 1933. Streeter had several pitches, but was known particularly for his curve and smarts in setting up a hitter. After his pitching days, Sam went to work at Jones and Laughlin steel mill for 29 years before retiring for good. 
• 1915 - Rookie Carmen “Specs” Hill won his first start, 5-0, over the NY Giants in the second game of a twin bill at Forbes Field. Hill pitched eight years for the Pirates, winning 22 games in 1927 for the NL pennant winners. He also became the second MLB pitcher to wear glasses; Lee Meadows, who became a Bucco teammate of Hill in the twenties, was the first big leaguer to sport peepers earlier in the season. The Bucs won the opener 9-6 behind Wilbur Cooper. 
• 1917 - Hans Wagner, at the age of 43, played his final game in a 15-inning, 4-1, loss to the Boston Braves at Forbes Field. Ralph Davis of the Pittsburgh Press wrote “Wagner did not practice but he played second base for the last five innings (actually, he played just a couple or three innings; he was pinch-hit for in the 13th and never batted. Hans did get an assist in the field.) Honus has a very sore right hand which prevents him from properly grasping either ball or bat and he was not anxious to play…” and also was suffering from a badly spiked foot injured in July. The Flying Dutchman sat out the final 12 dates (16 games in all, w/four doubleheaders), finishing his last campaign hitting .265 and retiring as the NL's all-time hit leader with 3,418 knocks (later surpassed by Ty Cobb and later, Pete Rose). 
• 1918 - 3B Bob Dillinger was born in Glendale, California. Dillinger was a speedy contact hitter who led the league in stolen bases from 1947-49. The Bucs had him for the last half of 1950 and first half of 1951. The 31-year-old hit a respectable .279 in 70 games as a platoon player, but his wheels weren’t what they used to be and he stole just six bases in that span. 

Bob Dillinger - 1951 Bowman

• 1920 - IF Ralph Wyatt was born in Chicago. Ralph was a good glove infielder whose Pittsburgh connection was during the 1943 Negro World Series. He played for the Chicago American Giants of the Negro American League, which lost in the playoffs to the Black Barons, setting up a Birmingham-Homestead Grays championship. The Giants loaned Wyatt to the Grays for the series (being an equal opportunity club, the also loaned catcher Double Duty Radcliffe to the Barons). The Grays won the series in seven games, with Wyatt going 3-for-7 and then returning to Chicago. 
• 1927 - The Pirates won their 10th and 11th games in a row, sweeping the Brooklyn Robins 2-1 and 6-0. Vic Aldridge won the opener and drove in a run to help himself. Ray Kremer tossed his third shutout in four outings while Lloyd Waner banged out his 200th hit of the season, becoming the first MLB rookie to reach that mark in the 20th century. The Bucs then went on to lose 5-of-7 and see their lead cut to 1-1/2 games, but finished strong to win the NL. 
• 1928 - NL ump Ed Vargo was born in Butler. A minor league catcher, he first called games while in the Army, then spent 1953-59 honing his craft in the minors before going on to have a long career in blue. He worked in the NL from 1960-83, retiring only because he hit the mandatory retirement age of 55, and then became the league supervisor, holding the post until 1997. He umped four World Series, four NLCS and four All-Star Games. Ed called eight no-hitters, including Sandy Koufax’s perfecto, arbitrated the game when Henry Aaron tied the Babe’s HR mark, and was part of the first WS night game. He was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. Vargo died at his home in Butler at age 79 in 2008. 
• 1930 - RHP Jim Umbricht was born in Chicago. Umbricht joined the Pirates in 1959 in a minor league trade with the Braves. From 1959-61, he put up a line of 1-2-1/5.12 in 19 games, mostly working in the minors. Umbricht was drafted by the expansion Houston Colt .45s in 1962 and became one of the NLs top tier set-up guys with a 2.33 ERA in 69 games from 1962-63. Diagnosed with melanoma in March 1963, his return to baseball following surgery made headlines and spurred research & funding to fight the cancer. Umbricht's health deteriorated after the season and he passed away in April of 1964 at age 33 with his ashes spread over the construction site of the Astrodome. The team retired Umbricht's #32 and wore black armbands in his honor for the 1964 season. 

Jim Umbricht - 1960 Topps Rookie Star

• 1939 - In a 7-3 loss to Philly, the Bucs set a club record with eight errors - 3B Frankie Gustine alone had three misplays - and every Philadelphia run was unearned. The game was the opener of a doubleheader at Forbes Field. The Pirates played flawlessly in the field during the nitecap to earn a split with a 10-1 victory. Bob Klinger not only tossed a four-hitter, but went 3-for-4 at the plate and scored twice. Paul Waner and Arky Vaughan homered.