8/9 Through the 1960s: Possum Trade; Long Day's Night; Rabbit HoF; Kiki Sixer; Rats; Streakin'; Game Tales; HBD Ted & Roman

• 1887 - Hampered by a laundry list of team issues, the Alleghenys introduction to the National League was rocky as they limped along with a 28-42 record, one spot from the cellar. They were closing out a long homestand with eight losses in ten tries, but the Boston Beaneaters proved good medicine for the North Siders, pitcher Cannonball Morris and 2,000 undaunted fans. The Bostonians booted the ball around behind Old Hoss Radbourne (14 runs were unearned), Fred Carroll homered and doubled, and the Beaneaters were drubbed, 23-3. The Allegheny win opened a three-game sweep at Recreation Park that triggered a Pittsburgh mini-run, taking seven of their next eight games. The 23 runs were the most the Allies had scored as a MLB team and the 20-run margin was their largest margin of victory to date. It didn’t lead to a second half surge, though - the Alleghenys finished with 50 wins and a sixth place finish. 

Ed Morris - 1888 Goodwin/Old Judge

• 1893 - In an Expo Park match described by the Pittsburgh Press as “...the most sluggish diamond trial of the season”, SS George Van Haltren went from hero to goat. Pop Shriver of the Chicago Colts “...sent a pretty hot grounder to him, and after a hop, skip and jump peculiar to him, Van threw the ball into a rat hole under the grandstand. Beckley (Jake, the third baseman) is no weasel, neither is Stenzel (Jake, the CF’er) and so the ball remained in the hole until Shriver had made the entire circuit of the diamond and tied the score.” George made amends in the 10th when his single to center scored Ad Gumbert to take an 8-7 win. 
• 1905 - The Bucs lost an error-filled game to the Boston Americans by a 5-3 count at Exposition Park. The Pittsburgh Press wrote that “Both teams played stupid, dopey ball...” Umpire Bill Klem joined the comedy routine by performing an early era ump show. In the ninth inning he threw eight Pirates (and for good measure, the mascot, too) out of the game for mocking his calls, then fined the whole lot $10 per man. BR Bullpen added that he had to spend the post-game hiding in a ladies’ room as irate gamblers who had bet on the heavily favored Pirates were looking for a piece of Klem’s hide after the contest. 
• 1910 - It wasn’t the prettiest shutout ever twirled, but Babe Adams scattered 11 hits to beat Boston, 10-0, at the South End Grounds, helped by no walks, a pair of DP and some hot sticks. Owen “Chief” Wilson drove in four runs, Jack Flynn homered with three RBI, & Honus Wagner had three hits, a walk, and scored four times. 
• 1919 - The Pirates traded OF Casey Stengel to the Philadelphia Phillies for utilityman Possum Whitted after Stengel’s contract demands got him a ticket out of Pittsburgh. Possum batted .286 in 277 games for the Bucs through 1921, playing 1B, 3B & OF. The Old Professor lasted until 1925, but only started two more seasons. He hit .280 in his two Pirates campaigns.

Possum Whitted - 1921 Exhibits

• 1924 - The Pirates swept a pair from the Phils at the Baker Bowl by 16-4 and 7-0 scores. Kiki Cuyler went 6-for-6 in the opener with a triple and two doubles, while Glenn Wright went 4-for-5 with four RBI and a pair of runs to back Wilbur Cooper. Ray Kremer won the nitecap. He tossed a five-hitter and was backed by Max Carey, who homered, doubled, scored twice and drove home three runs. 
• 1928 - The Pirates won their eighth game in a row and 10-of-11 by a 5-4 score over St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field. Carmen Hill got the win and Burleigh Grimes earned a save by retiring the last batter. George Grantham drove in two runs and Paul Waner scored a pair. 
• 1930 - OF Roman Mejias was born in Abreus, Cuba. He was signed when the Pirates scouted him in 1953 when they held spring training in Havana. Mejias was a spare OF’er and pinch hitter for six seasons (1955, 1957-61) in Pittsburgh, hitting .245 over that span. He earned his way to Pittsburgh with a 55-game hitting streak for Class B Waco of the Big State League in 1954, where he ended the year with a .354 BA. Mejias couldn’t break into the Pirate OF of Bob Skinner, Bill Virdon and Roberto Clemente, but was selected by the Houston Colt .45s in the expansion draft and had his best season for them in 1962, batting .286 with 24 HR. 
• 1935 - Rookie CF Bud Hafey lined an eighth inning homer over the scoreboard at Forbes Field, providing just enough offense to give Bill Swift a four-hit, 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds' Al Hollingsworth. The Pirates only had seven hits, with Tommy Thevenow leading the pack with a pair. 

Bud Hafey (1935) - 1975 Diamond Greats

• 1940 - Pittsburgh won its eighth game in a row by whipping the Chicago Cubs, 6-2, at Forbes Field. Vince DiMaggio went 3-for-3 with a homer, two RBI and two runs to lead the attack, while Rip Sewell tossed a four-hitter for the win. The streak ended the next day, but helped propel the Pirates to an 85-67 record after being a .500 club through July. 
• 1949 - GM Ted Simmons was born in Highland Park, Michigan. Ted caught for two decades in the majors, and after he retired, Simmons was hired as general manager of the Pirates in 1992 after working in a front office job for St. Louis. He held the spot for just a year, retiring after suffering a heart attack in June 1993. Simmons was the GM who almost traded Barry Bonds. He had agreed to deal Bonds to the Atlanta Braves for P Alejandro Pena, OF Keith Mitchell and a PTBNL during camp in 1992, but had to back out when manager Jim Leyland blew up and stormed into president Carl Barger’s office, talking Barger into nixing the swap. The Pirates won a third division title under him, but Simmons was faced with Bonds and Doug Drabek becoming free agents and an ever-tightening payroll, no doubt adding to his stress. After he recovered, he went on to primarily scouting and player development jobs with a couple of bench coach gigs thrown in for several organizations. Ted entered the Hall of Fame in 2020. 
• 1954 - SS Rabbit Maranville was inducted into the Hall of Fame after a 14-year wait. The sweet fielder played for Pittsburgh from 1921-24, hitting .283. Rabbit sadly passed away in January, so his long anticipated moment was posthumous. Rabbit’s given name was Walter; he earned his moniker because he was quick as a bunny thanks to his speed and size (5’5”). 

Dick Groat - 1959 Topps

• 1959 - The Pirates, losing 3-1 to the Cubs in the ninth, tied the game and then won, 5-3, in the 10th at Wrigley Field. Roberto Clemente singled home Dick Groat in the ninth and touched home to tie the game on Smoky Burgess’ sac fly. Groat’s knock in the 10th scored Roman Mejias with the go-ahead run and Rocky Nelson’s bases-loaded walk added the insurance. Elroy Face got the win to go 15-0. The win was the part of a remarkable 19-2 record in extra inning games during the season - and ironically, one of the losses was Harvey Haddix’s 12-inning perfecto. 
• 1963 - It was a long day at the yard. A twin bill between the Colt 45's and the Pirates was delayed an hour by rain, and then both games went into extra innings. Houston took the opener, 7-6, in 15 innings; the Bucs claimed the nitecap by the same score in 11 innings. Only 300 hardy fans remained at Forbes Field when the curtain finally fell at 2:30 AM. Roberto Clemente picked up five RBI in the two contests; Don Schwall lost the first match while Al McBean won the second game. The Pirates used eight pitchers, with McBean and ElRoy Face tossing both ends. 
• 1964 - Don Schwall and Al McBean combined on a four-hitter to shut out the Chicago Cubs, 2-0, at Forbes Field. Battery mate Jim Pagliaroni launched a two-run homer off Bob Buhl in the fourth to back his hurlers. Schwall started and didn’t give up a hit until there were two outs in the sixth inning; McBean took over from him after a leadoff single in the ninth to post the save.