6/18 Through 1964: Lead-Off Leppert; Conn Game; Smith's Swing; Cy Youngs Dealt; Game Tales; HBD Ron, Newt, Chippy, Pepper & Ben

• 1888 - SS Marty “Pepper” Berghammer was born in Elliot (now a Pittsburgh West End neighborhood). Marty had a couple of years with the Reds before joining the Pittsburgh Rebels in 1915 and batting .243 (although 83 walks and 12 plunks brought his OBP up to .371). He went to St. Paul later in the season and played a decade for them, finishing out his career in 1929 after a run as a minor league manager. He stayed local and was buried in Elliot’s St. Martin’s Cemetery. 
• 1893 - 1B/C Ben Shaw was born in La Center, Kentucky. Ben’s MLB career was a short sip of sarsaparilla, lasting for four months and 23 games with the Pirates from 1917-18 while batting .184. Not much is known of him after that other than he managed some in the late 20s-early 30’s in the low levels of the farm. 
• 1890 - RHP George “Chippy” Britt (aka Brittain & Britton) was born in Macon, Georgia. He pitched for the Homestead Grays from 1926-33 and again in 1940, earning one all-star appearance; the stats on his career are wildly incomplete. He played with 16 teams from 1917 to 1945 and manned every position on days that he wasn’t on the hill. His nickname was well-deserved. Per Baseball Reference “He was known as one of black baseball's ‘four big bad men’ along with Jud Wilson, Oscar Charleston and Vic Harris, and someone once said ‘he could whip the whole ballclub.’ In Mexico City, he once was declared ‘Public Enemy Number One’ when he challenged some armed revolutionaries in the crowd.” (A gentler alternate version claims he got his nickname because he called everyone Chippy). When Britt retired, he took a job as a nightclub doorman, a point for the original basis of his nickname... 

Chippy Britt - photo via Phil Dixon

• 1896 - 1B Newt Halliday was born in Chicago. Newt’s MLB days consisted of one Bucco outing in 1916 as a 20-year-old when he got a couple of innings in at first after Honus Wagner tweaked his leg mid-game, handling four chances flawlessly, and batting once (he K’ed). It would be Newt’s sole major league moment; he joined the Navy next year during WW1 and contracted tuberculosis while in training camp. He died at the age of 21, one of eight big leaguers to perish as part of the war effort. 
• 1908 - The Buccos sent young righties Tom McCarthy and Harley Young to the Boston Doves for vet LHP Irv “Young Cy” Young (Harley was also a “Cy.”) Irv was supposed to bolster an already formidable pitching staff (Vic Willis, Nick Maddox, Lefty Leifield, Howie Camnitz and Sam Leever) and though he tossed well (4-3-1/2.01), he ended up a swingman and was sold to the minor league Minneapolis Millers after the season. He finished his career tossing for the White Sox in 1910-11 and toiled on the farm through 1916. The Pirate pups had a short MLB shelf life - McCarthy lasted two more seasons, and Harley Young’s final year was 1909. 
• 1927 - Continuing a feud that dated back to Pirate C Earl Smith's days with the Braves, Smith dropped Boston manager Dave Bancroft with a right to the kisser after they jawed in the seventh inning. Bancroft was carried off the field, and Smith drew a $500 fine and a 30-day suspension. The Pirates won, 7-4, at Forbes Field. Smith went 1-for-2 before being ejected (Johnny Gooch was his replacement), with Ray Kremer earning the victory. 

Earl Smith - 1927 photo via Detroit Public Library

• 1932 - Minor league legend RHP Ron Necciai was born in Gallatin, Fayette County. In 1952, Necciai struck out 27 batters while throwing a 7-0 no-hitter for the Bristol Twins, followed by a two-hit, 24 K performance. The Bucs called him up later from Class A, but the 20-year-old Necciai posted at 1-6/7.08 with 31 strikeouts in 54-2/3 IP from August 10th to September 28th, 1952, the span of his entire big league career. He went into the service in 1953, and never played again in MLB as chronic ulcers and a torn rotator cuff ended his run. 
• 1941 - Local boxer Billy Conn fought Joe Louis at New York City's Polo Grounds in a legendary slugfest for the heavyweight championship. The Pirates and the New York Giants, playing at Forbes Field, were called into their dugouts while the 24,738 fans in attendance listened to the radio broadcast of the 56-minute bout. The game resumed after the bout, went 11 innings and was called with the score tied, 2-2, at 1:10 AM. It was decided on August 3rd as part of a twin bill that NY swept, so it didn’t end up a very good night for Pittsburgh fans. 
• 1948 - The Pirates spoiled Robin Roberts' five-hit debut, beating the Phils' rookie, 2-0, at Shibe Park behind Elmer Riddle’s five-hitter. Wally Westlake homered and Frankie Gustine singled home Ed Fitz Gerald for the Bucco runs. But Roberts was in the show to stay. He lasted 19 years, won 286 games (40 against the Pirates) and entered the Hall of Fame. 

Gino Cimoli - 2002 Topps '60 Super Teams

• 1960 - The Bucs were down, 3-0, in the ninth at LA Memorial Coliseum with two outs and Gino Cimoli down to his last swing, behind in the count 1-2. Cimoli kept the Bucs alive when he eked out an infield hit to ignite a fast and furious comeback against the Dodgers. Hal Smith homered to cut the lead to one. Then Don Hoak singled, Maz walked and Smoky Burgess tied the game with another knock. Smith was the hero again in the 10th, banging a ground ball single to left off Larry Sherry that brought home Roberto Clemente to give the Bucs an in-and-out of the jaws of death 4-3 win. ElRoy Face picked up the victory. 
• 1961 - C Don Leppert made his MLB debut a memorable one with a homer off the first pitch he faced as a big league ballplayer against Curt Simmons in a 5-3 win over Cards at Forbes Field in the opener of a twin bill. The feat wouldn’t be duplicated by another Bucco until 2012 when Starling Marte lifted one off Houston’s Dallas Keuchel at Minute Maid Park. The Bucs dropped the nightcap of the bargain bill by a 7-3 count.