10/4 Through 1974: '70 Playoff Loss; Dock Talk; Maz Bow; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Billy, Joe, Red & Jim

• 1874 - RHP Jim Gardner was born in Pittsburgh. He pitched for Pittsburgh in 1895, then again from 1897-99, mostly on the hill but with an occasional start in the field. The soft-tossing Gardner pitched for the local Pittsburgh Athletic Club and rejected offers to turn pro because he was attending law school and didn’t want to miss classes by travelling; in his first season, he struck a deal with the Bucs so that he didn’t have to go to any away games at all. Jim pitched well enough, with a line of 24-20/3.91 in 56 outings, but didn’t hit much, though he did play a couple of dozen games at 2B, 3B and the outfield. The Pirates released him after a bout of malaria in addition to a serious beaning during the ‘99 season. He worked his way back to the show in 1902 with the Cubs but suffered a concussion when he was thrown from a carriage by a spooked horse. He passed away young in 1905 after surgery for an abscess that led to fatal complications, blamed by some on the lingering effects of the beanball. Jim was buried in Homewood Cemetery. 

Hans had a big year - 1902 photo Carl Horner

• 1902 - The Pirates wanted to get in their last game of the year despite the rainy weather, as they were going for a record 103rd win; the Cincinnati Reds, according to the Pittsburgh Press “...wanted to go out and place a few bets on the races.” The game went on, and to show their chagrin the Reds pitched their first baseman, put a pitcher behind the plate, and player/manager Joe Kelley even stepped up to bat with a cigarette dangling from his mouth until threatened with ejection by ump Hank O’Day. Pittsburgh won easily 11-2. Per the Press’ Ralph Davis, owner Barney Dreyfuss refunded the fans’ money after Cincy’s sad-sack showing, and when the Reds business manager came looking for his team’s share of the gate, Dreyfuss just pointed to the now empty cash drawer. The Pirates won the NL by a record 27-1/2 games and had several league-leading performances: Ginger Beaumont won the batting title with a .357 mark and had the most hits at 193, Tommy Leach led in home runs with six, Honus Wagner drove home 91 RBI/plated 105 times/stole 42 sacks, and Jack Chesbro claimed 28 wins with eight shutouts. The club scored 775 runs, which was 142 more than any other team, while the pitching staff allowed just four home runs during the season, the fewest in MLB history. 
• 1905 - Charlie Case and the Pirates lost to the Boston Beaneaters and Chick Fraser, 1-0, in 13 innings at Exposition Park. Pittsburgh had six hits and baserunning blunders cost them dearly. Heinie Peitz tripled but was called out for missing first base, Steamer Flanagan slid past third and was tagged out in the ninth and later made the last out of the game in the 13th trying to steal second. It was a tough year for Case - he had his best season with a 2.57 ERA and 115 ERA+ in 24 starts/217 innings, but only 11 wins as the Pirates scored just 66 runs for him. 
• 1908 - Old-timey fans remember the Cubs and Giants “Merkle” playoff game for the 1908 pennant, but it was the Bucs that were ahead by 1/2 game on their final day when they lost to Chicago and Three Finger Mordecai before 30‚247 fans‚ the largest crowd ever at Chicago's West Side Grounds. Down 5-2 in the ninth, 2B Ed “Batty” Abbaticchio lined a ball down the line and over the fence with Honus Wagner aboard (the bases weren’t loaded, as sometimes reported for dramatic effect), but the drive was ruled foul. The Pirates argued that it was a HR, but ump Hank O'Day stood his ground and with that call went the Pirates last chance of taking the flag. There’s an urban legend that a lady in the stands was hit by the ball and later sued Batty. She claimed she was on the fair side of the seats when the blast conked her, but that tale has never been substantiated. It was a tough loss; the Bucs had won eight in a row (and 13-of-14 contests) to get a half game lead on the Cubs (who were no slugs and went 16-3 down the stretch) going into the final game. Chicago had to win the next day to clinch, and the Bruins beat the NY Giants 4-2 to finish 99-55 to Pittsburgh’s 98-56 in one of history’s hottest pennant races. The Bucs may have been a game short, but Honus Wagner had a championship season. The Dutchman led the league with a .354 BA, 201 hits, .413 OBP, .542 slugging %, 109 RBI, 39 doubles, 19 triples, 308 total bases and 52 stolen bases. He was second with 100 runs scored and 10 HR. 

Red Munger - 1952 Bowman

• 1918 - RHP George “Red” Munger (he was a redhead) was born in Houston, Texas. After an eight-year run (with three All-Star nods) with St. Louis, Red joined the Bucs in 1952 via a deal for P Bill Werle. He returned for a final bow in 1956 at age 37 after posting some strong numbers in the Pacific Coast League (1953-55) where Pittsburgh had stashed him with the Hollywood Stars. He went 3-7-1/4.66 for the Bucs in 40 games (17 starts) in ‘52 and ‘56. He retired in 1957 and became a Pinkerton investigator. 
• 1960 - RHP Joe Boever was born in Kirkwood, Missouri. He closed out a 12-year career in 1996 in Pittsburgh where he appeared in 13 games, going 0-2-2/5.40 after being claimed off waivers from the Tigers. The palm baller retired after the campaign. 
• 1960 - OF Billy Hatcher was born in Williams, Arizona. Billy spent the middle of his 12-year tenure with Pittsburgh in 1989 when they got him just after the deadline from Houston for Glenn Wilson. He hit .244 for the Bucs and in April of the following season was shipped to Cincinnati for Jeff Richardson. He spent a decade after his playing days coaching in the Tampa Bay organization, with the Cincy Reds and now is with the Miami Marlins. 
• 1970 - Pittsburgh fell behind in the NLCS two games to none after being held to five hits by three pitchers and losing to the Reds, 3-1, at TRS. Roberto Clemente drove in Dave Cash, who had doubled, in the sixth inning for the Bucs only tally. Luke Walker took the loss. Bobby Tolan had three hits, including a homer, three runs and an RBI for Cincinnati. 
• 1971 - Dock Ellis told the Post Gazette’s Charley Feeney that “I got something to say and I’m going to say it. The establishment around here, the brass as some call them, doesn’t deserve a winner,” a year after small TRS crowds led him to say the Pirates fans didn’t deserve a winner, either. He was triggered by a bed he thought was too small for him in his San Francisco hotel during the NLCS and that the charter plane carrying them to The Bay was also too small (it was near full passenger capacity, but included Pirates FO and the players’ wives and kids, including Dock’s). Ellis did add that manager Danny Murtaugh was “a good man” and that he wanted to remain on the team because “It is a young club. It is going to win some titles...I want to be part of it.” The Docktor won his one game against the Giants during the NLCS, lasting into the sixth, but only made one short appearance in the ensuing World Series, suffering from a bum elbow that had plagued him throughout September. He missed two weeks and the injury cost him a shot at 20 wins (he finished with 19). 

Maz - 2008 Upper Deck/Goudey

• 1972 - The Pirates closed out the regular season at TRS in front of 4,603 fans, scoring twice in the ninth but losing to the St Louis Cards 4-3. The defeat was immaterial as the Pirates had already clinched the pennant, but it was notable as Hall-of-Famer Bill Mazeroski’s last regular season game. He got in as a pinch hitter and grounded out (no surprise; he finished the year batting .188) in just the 34th game he appeared in that season (Dave Cash had pushed him out of the lineup a year earlier). Mazeroski told Jeff Samel’s of the Pittsburgh Press post-game that “It happens to everyone sooner or later...I can’t do it any better than the guys we’ve got.” Maz would go 1-for-2 in the NLCS against Cincinnati before hanging up the spikes after 17 seasons as a Pirate.