6/28: Madlock-Whitson; Good Ump Show; Long Losing Streaks; Forbes Field Finale; Pops #300; Hans 3,000; Game Tales; HBD Michael, Kevin, Orlando, Mike & Frank

• 1865 - IF Frank Scheibeck was born in Detroit. He spent parts of eight seasons in the show and sported the Bucco colors for 23 games in 1894, batting .353 as a utility guy who played five different positions. Frank stayed on in pro ball through 1906 and after his playing days, he went on to umpire. He later held hometown day jobs as a real estate salesman and as an auto plant assembler. 
• 1880 - P Mike Lynch was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The righty pitched four seasons (1904-07) for the Pirates, picking up 32 wins and working over 400 innings in his first two years. He was still effective in his final two years with the team, but the Bucs had juiced up their staff and he became the odd man out, going to the Giants during the second half of ‘07 and then retiring to go into business. His career Pittsburgh line was 40-26/3.01. 

Mike Lynch - 1904 Pittsburgh Press photo

• 1914 - Honus Wagner became the first 20th century ballplayer to collect 3,000 hits when he singled off of Cincinnati's rookie Pete Schneider in the second game of a twinbill at Redland Field. While a good day for Hans, it wasn’t such a good one for the Pirates. They lost both ends of the doubleheader to the Reds by 7-6 and 1-0 scores. The first loss was especially gruesome as the Bucs blew a 6-2 lead in the ninth triggered by a missed call. Up by a run with two outs and two aboard, a 3-2 foul tip was gloved by catcher Bob Coleman. The Reds on base started to run to the dugout, but the batter, Bert Niehoff, jogged innocently to first and the ump bought his act, calling it a check swing and ball four. A protest, made en masse by the Pirate infield and battery, was to no avail and a following single gave Cincy the game. The second was a pitching duel with Schneider’s three-hitter bettering the four-hit work of Marty O’Toole and Erv Kantlehner. In the long run, it made little difference as the Pirates finished seventh and the Reds last in the NL that season. (There have been a couple of June dates tossed around for Hans’ 3,000th hit. June 9th was the consensus, but this date is the currently accepted one following research of old-timey box scores, which are generally kinda sketchy, and we cite both in the blog.) 
• 1916 - Cubs catcher Bill Fischer set a MLB record by catching all 27 innings of a doubleheader loss to the Bucs at brand new Wrigley Field. Pittsburgh won both games, 3-2, with the second game going 18 innings. The winning pitchers were Mike Prendergast and Tom Seaton with Prendergast pulling double duty, coming on to get the save in the nitecap. Impressed with Fischer's stamina, the Pirates traded for him at the end of July, and he played his last two seasons in the show for Pittsburgh. 
• 1938 - C Orlando McFarlane was born in Oriente, Cuba. Signed by the Bucs as an infielder in 1958, he was converted to catcher and got a cup of coffee with the Pirates in 1962, playing a bit more in 1964 and hitting .208 in his 45-game Bucco career. He was lost in the Rule 5 draft and played three more years with Detroit and the California Angels, but he battled nagging injuries while his impressive minor league bat never carried over to the show. Orlando played 10 years in the bushes with more stops in the Latin leagues. 

Kevin Polcovich - 1998 Upper Deck Collector's Choice

• 1970 - SS Kevin Polcovich was born in Auburn, New York. He spent his MLB career of two years (1997-98) with the Pirates, hitting .234. The University of Florida player was drafted in the 30th round by the Bucs in 1992, getting his call when Kevin Elster was injured, and would become a key member of the 1997 “Freak Show” that against all odds stayed in the divisional race until late September despite a $9M payroll. After he left the game, Kevin did some scouting and established the Icrush Bat Company, a manufacturer of maple bats. 
• 1970 - The Pirates swept a twinbill from the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 and 4-1, in the last games played at 61-year-old Forbes Field in front of 40,918, the second largest crowd to gather at the ballyard. Al Oliver hit the last home run in FF history. Jim Nelson got the final win iced by a Dave Giusti save. It was a fitting finale; the Cubs were the first team the Pirates played at Forbes Field in 1909. Bill Mazeroski had the last Pirate hit there, a seventh inning double, and recorded the last put-out on a force play at second. It was the Pirates seventh straight victory and the Cubs 10th straight loss. The Bucs went on the road afterwards and opened TRS on July 16th, after the All-Star break. 
• 1973 - Willie Stargell hit his 300th career home run as the Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6–0, at TRS. Al Oliver had a huge day, going 4-for-5 with a triple, two doubles and three RBI while Rennie Stennett added three hits to back Dock Ellis’ five hitter. 
• 1979 - The Pirates traded pitchers Ed Whitson, Al Holland and Fred Breining to the Giants for P Dave Roberts plus infielders Bill Madlock & Lenny Randle. Mad Dog solidified the Bucco infield at third and spent six seasons with Pittsburgh, winning batting titles in 1981 (.341) and 1983 (.323). Roberts was workmanlike for the Bucs in ‘79-80, though at 35 he was near the end of his journey; 1981 was his last season. Randle wasn’t here long enough to find his way to the North Shore before he was sold to the Yankees. Whitson pitched through 1991, winning 126 games and saving eight more while Holland worked out of various bullpens for 11 more seasons. Breining had a shorter career, lasting five years as a multi-role hurler. 

Willie Stargell - 2002 Upper Deck Heroes of Baseball

• 1992 - The Bucs jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead, but by the ninth, the Expos had cut the edge to a run at Olympic Stadium. The Bucs took away the drama when their first eight hitters reached in the ninth, highlighted by back-to-back triples by Andy Van Slyke and Orlando Merced, a couple of two-baggers, and Will Pennyfeather’s first MLB hit, a bunt single. The big frame ended prematurely with a Chico Lind DP ball, but was plenty enough to carry the Pirates to a 12-4 victory. Merced had a homer to go with his triple and four RBI to help Jeff Robinson to the win. Steve Belinda, who came on in the eighth, earned a save. 
• 1993 - It took the Bucs nine innings to score five runs but just one frame to add four more as they rallied to take a 10-inning win from the Expos, 9-5, at Stade Olympique. There were two Buccos aboard via walks with two out in the ninth, and Orlando Merced was down to his last swing with the count at 1-2 when he flared a single to right to tie the game. The Pirates were aided by Montreal gifts in the extra frame, when a walk and a poor decision on a bunt, sandwiched around an infield knock, loaded the bases with no outs. Another free pass forced home the lead run and singles by Tom Foley & Jay Bell chased home three more Bucs. Tim Wakefield got the win in relief, with Stan Belinda picking up the save; Pittsburgh went through six pitchers during the contest and the final five covered five innings scorelessly. The hot Pirates took their ninth victory in 11 games and snapped a seven-game winning streak of Expo twirler Denny Martinez. The top of the order reversed roles; Tim Foley and Jay Bell did their job by reaching base five times but didn’t score; instead, they drove in five runs. 
• 1993 - RHP Michael Feliz was born in Azua, Dominican Republic. Houston signed him in 2010 and he debuted in 2015. He averaged better than 13 K/nine innings with the ‘Stros from 2016-17 and was part of the Gerrit Cole package sent to the Pirates. He started as the seventh inning guy and was bumped up a notch when George Kontos was released, but hit on hard times and was removed from that role after compiling a 5.66 ERA. He was mostly in good graces in 2019, although still a roller coaster ride on the hill thanks to an excess of home runs and walks. Feliz missed most of 2020 with forearm issues and was claimed by the Reds after being DFA’ed early in 2021; he’s now in the Red Sox organization. 

Michael Feliz - 2016 Topps

• 2006 - The Bucs set a team record with their 13th straight defeat, eclipsing the old mark set by the 1939 club when the White Sox edged them, 4-3, at PNC Park with Paul Maholm taking the loss. They walked off the next game by a 7-6 score on a Freddy Sanchez homer, but still stumbled to a 67-95 campaign. 
• 2010 - The Pirates finally shook off a 17-game road losing streak that dated back to May 25th and defeated the Cubs by a 2-1 score at Wrigley Field. Jose Tabata was the man of the hour; his triple in the ninth chased home Ryan Doumit with the game-winner while he scored the first Pirates run back in the third frame, drawing a walk and coming around on Andrew McCutchen’s two-out three-bagger. Paul Maholm went eight innings for the win, with Octavio Dotel coming in for the save; he bopped the first Cub, then struck out the side swinging to bring it home. 
• 2011 - Alex Presley was called up to replace an injured Jose Tabata and banged out a pair of hits, including his first MLB homer, while driving in three runs to lead the Bucs to a 7-6 win over Toronto at the Rogers Centre. An unlikely pair of batting heroes, Matt Diaz and Ronny Cedeno, combined for five hits, three runs and an RBI to help the cause against the Jays. Chris Resop, Jose Veras and Joel Hanrahan pitched three scoreless frames to preserve the win for Kevin Correia. 
• 2013 - Gerrit Cole, the first overall pick of the 2011 draft, became the first Pirate rookie since Nick Maddox in 1907 to win the first four games he started when the Bucs shellacked the Brewers 10-3 at PNC Park in front of 36,875. Cole went six frames for the win, with Ryan Reid tossing three scoreless, two-hit innings to cruise home. They were supported by Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte, who each had three hits. Cutch had a double, homer, three RBI and a run while Starling added a double, triple, two runs and two RBI. 

Gerrit Cole - 2013 Topps Chrome

• 2017 - Walking on the Roberto Clemente Bridge while on his way to work the Pirates-Rays game at PNC Park, umpire John Tumpane saw a woman scaling the span’s railing; she told him she wanted a better view of the river. Sensing that she was suicidal and ready to plunge into the Allegheny River, Tumpane grabbed one arm, passer-by Chris Dazen grabbed the other and a Tampa Bay staffer heading to the yard, Mike Weinman, joined in to keep her hogtied until emergency workers came to the rescue. John modestly said "I just happened to be there."