8/5 Through the 1940s: Grimes Deal; Smoky Joe Day; Poison Bros; 1st KDKA Game; Babe v Old Pete; Giant Pout; Game Tales; HBD Bernie, Rich, Nellie, Pepper & Sonny

• 1902 - The first-place Pirates defeated the New York Giants and Christy Mathewson, 3-0, behind Jesse Tannehill, who retired the first 19 Giants to face him. Mathewson made it a fight and struck out 11 Bucs, but had no answer for Honus Wagner, who doubled and scored twice. No one had an answer for Pittsburgh that year; they took the NL crown with 103 wins and finished 27-1/2 games ahead of the runner-up Brooklyn Superbas. 

Hans - 2020 Topps Stadium Club

• 1905 - In front of a record crowd of 18,383 fans at Exposition Park, the NY Giants forfeited to the Pirates over a call at third. In a 5-5 game, Claude Ritchey opened the ninth with a double, his third hit of the day, and beat the throw to third on a bunt. At least that’s what ump George Bausewine called. The Giants disagreed and tried to get the first base ump to overrule the call; lotsa luck with that. The ensuing hubbub by the New York nine continued, and when they wouldn’t return to their positions after several warnings, Bausewine called the game. It was front page news in Pittsburgh, and manager Fred Clarke was incensed, telling Ralph Davis of the Pittsburgh Press that “the New York players realized that only a miracle could prevent us from winning a clean and creditable victory, and rather than give us that satisfaction they allowed the game to break up...If we had disgraced ourselves in front of a record breaking crowd as the Giants did, we would have been mobbed.” The Giants protested the forfeiture to no avail. 
• 1915 - The Pirates beat the Phillies and ace Grover Cleveland Alexander, 1-0, at Forbes Field when Quaker catcher Bill Killefer threw wildly past third base in the ninth; Bill Hinchman, who had tripled, scooted home with the game’s only tally. Babe Adams, who tossed a six-hitter, claimed the win over Old Pete, who had only surrendered five knocks himself. 
• 1915 - OF Bill “Sonny” Randall was born in Hampton, Virginia. After a decade of playing for local Negro indie teams, Sonny was the Homestead Gray’s fourth outfielder from 1942-43 before entering the service, returning for the 1946 season. He had an odd career; he also worked for the government while a player and would rarely travel with the club (by then the team was the Washington-Homestead Grays), sticking to home games. Sonny turned down several offers with other teams because of that and “...the hard times that the black ball players had trying to make it riding up and down the road in those buses” per Brent Kelley’s book “I Will Never Forget.” 

Burleigh Grimes - photo via Detroit Public Library

• 1916 - The Pirates picked up RHP Burleigh Grimes from Birmingham of the Southern Association for 1B Doc Johnston, who spent five years in the junior circuit, RHP Larry Douglas, who appeared in two games for the Baltimore Terrapins, and IF BW Cleveland, a lifetime minor leaguer. Old Stubblebeard would work five years and notch 48 wins as a Pirate in three Steel City stops; overall he won 270 games and a place in the Hall of Fame over his 19-year career. 
• 1919 - C Lloyd “Pepper” Bassett was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Bassett played for the Homestead Grays in 1936 as a backup. The next year, he started for the Pittsburgh Crawfords - he was actually part of a trade for Josh Gibson - and started at catcher in the East-West All-Star Game. He was back on the bench by 1938, jumped to Chicago the following season and became a Negro/Latin League nomad until he retired in 1950. Bassett was credited with inventing the current “snapper” catcher's mitt; the pillowy gloves common in his era slowed his ball transfer during stolen base efforts, so he kept removing padding until he could switch the ball from glove to hand just right. He was also known as the “Rocking Chair Catcher” after he caught a game in a small rocker as a Gus Greenlee publicity stunt to help draw some fans; he would repeat the stunt occasionally during his career. 
• 1921 - The Phils’ Jimmy Ring shut down the top of the Buc lineup as the first three hitters managed just a free pass in 12 PAs (and that was erased on a CS) but the rest of the Buccos collected 10 hits and three walks in an 8-5 win over Philly at Forbes Field. Jimmy Zinn had a big day; not only did he spin six innings off one-run relief for the win, but added a pair of hits in a see-saw game that saw each team lose a lead twice before the Pirates put up three eighth-inning tallies. Possum Whitted and Tony Brottem also had two hits as Possum, who hit cleanup, didn’t have an RBI but started several fires and scored three times. 

Jimmy Zinn - 1920 photo via tnfoto/Out of the Ball Park Developments

• 1921 - KDKA aired the first broadcast of a Major League game as Harold Arlin described the action during the Pirates' 8-5 win over the Phillies at Forbes Field. Jimmy Zinn worked six innings of one run relief for the win and added two hits. That broadcast started a list of firsts for Arlin and KD: he followed with another first when he took his equipment to the Allegheny Country Club for a live broadcast of the Davis Cup tennis match between Australia and Great Britain the next day. In October, he and KDKA became part of a three-station Westinghouse network that broadcast the Yankee-Giants World Series for the first time. Then, later in October, Arlin returned to Forbes Field for another first, a college football game between Pitt and West Virginia. He returned, at Bob Prince’s invitation, to call a few innings of a 1972 game against San Diego at TRS with his grandson, Steve Arlin, on the hill. 
• 1926 - OF Max Carey stole his last base as a Bucco against the Boston Braves during a 4-3 win at Braves Field. Carey is the all-time team leader in swipes with 688. He also had two of the Pirates six hits, as the Bucs gave Ray Kremer just enough support for the win. 
• 1934 - The Pirates swept a twin bill from the St. Louis Cardinals at Sportsman’s Park by 6-4, 7-2, tallies, led by the hot-hitting Waner brothers. From the top of the order, Big and Little Poison combined for 11 hits, eight runs scored and five more driven home to help send Daffy Dean and Bill Hallahan to defeat. They were helped by Earl Grace, who had three hits in the lidlifter, then by Freddie Lindstrom & Gus Suhr, each delivering a pair of knocks in the closing game. Larry French won the opener in relief of Bill Swift while Schoolboy Hoyt took the nightcap. 
• 1934 - The Homestead Grays brought 49-year-old Smokey Joe Williams out of retirement for the season (he served as a combination player/coach) and held a day for him at Forbes Field. In front of 1,200 fans, Smokey struck out the leadoff batter and tossed the first two innings of a 5-1 victory over the Fort Wayne Berghoffs. The big blow of the game was Ray Brown’s triple that helped fuel a four-run sixth frame while Joe Strong finished up for the win. 

Nellie Briles - 1972 Topps

• 1943 - RHP Nellie Briles was born in Dorris, California. He only tossed three years for the Bucs, from 1971-73 with a line of 36-28/2.98, but will be remembered for the two-hit shutout he spun in Game Five of the 1971 series. What isn’t as well known is that he called his own pitches for the last three innings, according to the SABR Biography Project. After disagreeing on whether to go hard or soft (the original game plan), Manny Sanguillen refused to give him signs from that point on, and just played toss-and-catch with Briles for the remainder of the game. After he retired, he went into broadcasting briefly, then joined the Pirate executive team, and founded the Alumni Association. Nellie passed away in 2005. 
• 1946 - Rich Donnelly was born in Steubenville. Rich was a minor league catcher who made his name as a coach, working for several clubs including the Bucs. He was part of Jim Leyland’s posse, coaching in Pittsburgh from 1986–96, then following Leyland to Florida and Colorado. Donnelly also made stops at Texas, Milwaukee, LA Dodgers and Seattle, with another gig as a Pirate from 2008-10 when he was a player development staffer. 
• 1947 - Earl Weaver would disapprove, but the Bucs eschewed the long ball for 10 singles (and a lone double), 10 walks and a Cincy error to run roughshod over the Reds, 12-4, at Forbes Field. Five different Pirates reached base three times and Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg delivered with three RBI while Culley Rickard did what a leadoff man is supposed to by scoring three times. Mel Queen got the win with Kirby Higbe picking up a 3-1/3 IP save 
• 1947 - OF Bernie Carbo was born in Detroit. He ended his 12-year career with the Bucs in 1980, going 2-for-6 at age 33 after signing on as a FA in September. He admitted to drug use during his playing days and said he threw his career away due to his addictions. He later sobered up, largely due to the efforts of Sam McDowell, and became a born-again Christian. In 1993, he founded the  evangelical Diamond Club Ministry and now spends his time ministering to families and their children through talks and baseball camps.