7/26: Holmes, Nady Yankee Swaps; Shelty's 1st; Meals Game; Kendall' Contract; Spanky Swipe; Gunner Sighting; Candy Clipped; Groat 5-for-5; Game Tales; HBD Joaquin, Jose, Tom, Jimmy & Eddie

• 1889 - The Alleghenys defeated the Cleveland Spiders, 8-4, at Recreation Park despite giving up a three-run infield homer to ex-Allegheny Jay Faatz, whose hot shot to 3B Jim White bounced off his foot and went into the “free seats” - temporary stands - and couldn’t be dug out in time to stop Faatz from circling the bases. Fred Carroll, Ned Hanlon and Doggie Miller each had three knocks to spearhead a 16-hit Buc attack that carried Harry Staley to the win. Miller homered over the left field wall, and the Pittsburgh Press wrote “The crowd went wild as little George trotted over the circuit and lifted his cap at the plate. An enthusiast threw a silver dollar at him, which (Miller) accepted with a smile.” 
• 1917 - 2B Jimmy Bloodworth was born in Tallahassee, Florida. Jimmy played for 11 seasons and was a member of the 1950 NL champ “Whiz Kids” Phillies team. Like many of his era, he spent time in the Army from 1944-46. Bloodworth put in one season with the Pirates in 1947, batting .250, just about his career average, appearing in 88 games. 1951 was Bloodworth’s last season in the major leagues. He played in the minors for the next three years, managed in the bushes for two more years and then served as a deputy sheriff in Florida. 

Eddie Bockman - 1949 Bowman

• 1920 - IF Joe “Eddie” (his middle name) Bockman was born in Santa Ana, California. He had a brief four-year MLB stay, spending his last two campaigns in 1948-49 with the Pirates, playing second and third while batting .230 in 149 games. He spent a decade as a Bucco player/coach in the minors, then another 30 years as a scout for the Philadelphia Phillies, where he signed Bob Boone, Larry Bowa, Joe Charboneau, Buck Martinez, Ricky Jordan, Randy Lerch, Dick Ruthven, John Vukovich and Bob Walk. In 1992, he became a scout for the expansion Florida Marlins. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 91. 
• 1921 - OF Tom Saffell was born in Etowah, Tennessee. He played for the Bucs from 1949-51, then after three seasons in the minors, returned in 1955. The speedy OF’er hit .239 for the Bucs. He was a minor celeb, though, as he was the pitcher for the 1960 syndicated TV show “Home Run Derby” that was hosted by Mark Scott. That program was said to inspire the ASG’s home run derby, and was also part of ESPN’s Classic series. 
• 1927 - The Pirates pushed across two runs in the bottom of the eighth to edge the Brooklyn Dodgers, 6-5, at Forbes Field to remain tied with the Cubs for the NL lead. They were almost derailed by a former mate, Max Carey, who had three hits, three runs, and three stolen bases. But the Waner brothers came through in the clutch. Lloyd had three hits and scored twice, both times driven home by Paul. Little Poison took over the league lead in hits while Lee Meadows went the distance for the win. 
• 1928 - NY Giant future Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell made his MLB debut against the Pirates at the Polo Grounds. He pitched a scoreless first inning, but the Bucs scored five times in the second to knock him out of the game, winning, 7-5, behind Burleigh Grimes. Paul Waner had three hits and two RBI to lead a balanced Bucco attack. But King Carl persisted: he left MLB after 16 years, with 253 wins under his belt and a slash of 49-21/3.07 lifetime against Pittsburgh. 

Jose Martinez - 1970 Topps

• 1942 - Utilityman Jose Martinez was born in Cardenas, Cuba. Jose was signed by the Bucs in 1960 and spent 1969-70 with the Pirates, his only stop in the show as a player, hitting .245 in 96 games. He put in 14 years on the farm before his MLB career took off as a bench boss and administrator. Jose served as a minor league manager and major league coach for the KC Royals from 1980-88 and then coached with the Chicago Cubs from 1988-94. He joined the Atlanta Braves front office in 1995 and worked for them until his death in 2014. 
• 1952 - The Pirates used the power of persistence to overcome Boston at Braves Field, 6-4. Falling behind 3-0 after an inning, the Bucs, led by rookie Dick Groat’s 5-for-5 day (he snapped out of an 0-for-19 funk), chipped away at the Brave lead. Pittsburgh, behind two RBI from Groat and a two-run homer by Gus Bell, climbed back into a tie in the seventh. They went ahead in the ninth on George Metkovich’s two-run, two-out double, set up by Clem Koshorek, who had the ball waiting on him as he went from first-to-third on a single but kicked it out of 3B Sibby Sisti’s mitt. Howie Pollet recovered from the rocky first inning (and it didn't get much easier; Boston had runners aboard in eight of the nine frames) for the win, and added three knocks to the attack. 
• 1977 - The Bucs dodged a bullet when John Candelaria took a liner just below his pitching elbow but only suffered a bruise in a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros at TRS. He was replaced by Goose Gossage, who was pitching for the first time in eight days after a rib pull, and The Goose got the final five outs, one a spectacular leaping catch by Dave Parker at the wall. It was Candy Man’s best season, ending at 20-5/2.34. He led the league in ERA and enjoyed his only 20-win season (and only All-Star selection). Candy’s stellar season wasn’t enough for the Bucs, though - they won 96 games, but finished five behind the division-winning Phillies. 
• 1977 - RHP Joaquin Benoit was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The last stop in his 16-year career was with the Pirates in 2017 after the FO pulled off a deadline deal with the Phils, getting Benoit for a minor leaguer. He was a season-ending warm body and went 0-2/7.56 in eight games as a 39-year-old. He signed with the Nats for 2018, but spent the season on the DL and was done. 

Joaquin Benoit - 2017 photo/Pirates

• 1979 - The Gunner was briefly united with old mate Jim Woods on the United Artists Satellite radio system for a game against the Reds at TRS. The Possum was a regular broadcaster for the network (they featured national Thursday Night games), and it was a one-time deal for Prince. There was plenty of action, but the Bucs fell short, losing, 9-7, as Dave Roberts and Joe Coleman were tagged for eight runs in three innings, a deficit that Willie Stargell and Bill Robinson homers couldn’t overcome. 
• 1988 - Doug Drabek carried a two-hit shutout into the ninth against the Cards at Busch Stadium, but was banged for a two-out homer by Willie McGee to cut the score to 2-1 and add a little drama to the affair. Jimmy Leyland yanked him for Jim Gott (“I’ve seen too many guys give up a home run like that, lose a little concentration and boom, someone else has got them” the skipper told Bob Hertzel of the Pittsburgh Press after the game). Gott added to the final theatrics by giving up a single, but closed it out by blowing a fastball past Tom Brunansky to book the victory. The Bucs scored twice in the fourth on a wild pitch and Sid Bream knock, scoring Jose Lind & Andy Van Slyke, to snap a four-game losing streak and stay two games behind the Mets in the division race. Another notable feat occurred during the game: C Spanky LaValliere stole his first MLB base, one of a single-season high of three swipes in ‘88. He stole two more sacks in 1991 and those five bags were his total big league output as a larcenist. 
• 1997 - C Jason Kendall signed a four-year/$7.2M contract extension covering his arbitration years that carried him to 2001. It was well worth the price; the young backstop hit .317 over the life of the deal, earned two All-Star bids and his play led to a six-year, $60M deal when the extension expired. 
• 2008 - OF Xavier Nady & LHP Damaso Marte were traded to the New York Yankees for OF Jose Tabata and RHPs Jeff Karstens, Daniel McCutchen & Ross Ohlendorf. During their Bucco careers, Karstens tossed for five years (23-35/4.31), McCutchen made 109 appearances in four seasons (8-11/4.77) and Ohlie tossed for four years (13-27/4.61). Tabata was the key prospect; the Pirates locked him up to a long-term deal guaranteed for five years/$14.5M. Although he hit .275 for Pittsburgh over six years, injuries and lack of power were his undoing and he was shipped to the Dodgers. 

Jerry Meals says safe - 7/26/2011 photo Scott Cunningham/Getty

• 2011 - This was the black day of the Jerry Meals game in Atlanta, heralding the end of the Bucco's improbable pennant run. The ump blew a call at home in the 19th inning, giving the Braves a 4-3 win and starting a downward spiral of epic proportions for Pittsburgh. At 6 hours and 39 minutes, it was the longest game in club history. The Pirates filed a protest (at 2:30 in the morning) but the judgment call was upheld, even though the League Office admitted it was wrong. To add a little salt to the wound, Meals was born in nearby Butler. 
• 2012 - In a rookie-to-rookie match, Starling Marte homered to left center against Houston’s Dallas Keuchel off the first MLB pitch he saw. Pittsburgh won, 5-3, at Minute Maid Park as Garrett Jones and Clint Barmes also went long while AJ Burnett took home the victory. Marte became the third Bucco to send his first major league pitch over the wall, joining Walter Mueller (1922) and Don Leppert (1961). 
• 2020 - It took three tries, but new Bucco skipper Derek Shelton won his MLB first game by a 5-1 count over the Cardinals in Busch Stadium. Mitch Keller went five innings, giving up a run, before JT Brubaker, in his first big league outing, Michael Feliz and Nick Burdi nailed it down. Jose Osuna and Colin Moran homered while Phil Evans collected three hits. In a sidebar, with no fans in attendance due to Covid 19 regs, Derek Holland decided to take in the game from the box seats, from whence he was ejected for jawing at the plate umpire, Jordan Baker. He became the first player given the thumb in 2020. 
• 2021 - The NY Yankees acquired RHP Clay Holmes from the Pirates in exchange for IFs Diego Castillo, 23, and Hoy Jun Park, 25. Park was playing AAA ball, went to Indy briefly and was called up on 7/31, while Castillo was in AA and assigned to Altoona; both play 2B/SS (Park can also play in the pasture). The pair showed some pop on the farm with the sticks, and both have been up-and-down, filling in as Pirate utilitymen. Holmes was rejuvenated by the deal and became the Yankees back-end go-to guy.