5/12: Bowman Claimed; Killer B's Buzz; Kiki Goes Kookoo; Alvin's Holiday Gift; Game Tales; HBD Evan, Josh, Johnny, Hank, Alex, Bird Eye & Ed

• 1860 - Umpire EA (Evan Arthur) Griffith was born in Canoe Township, in northeastern Indiana County outside Pittsburgh. EA was one of several local connections to the old American Association, umpiring for half a season (46 games, all behind the plate) in 1884. Apparently Griffith liked the profession but wanted a little more action; he later became a college football ref. 
• 1868 - 2B Harry “Bird Eye” Truby was born in Kittanning. He played two seasons in the show, coming home to play his final eight games as a Pirate in 1896 when his contract was purchased to replace an injured Lou Bierbauer. He batted .156 and was traded 11 days later to Albany for Dick Padden, ending his MLB career. He. Truby did put in 20 pro seasons, playing his last game in 1907. He umpired briefly, managed for three years, and then went on to his life’s work. 
• 1889 - Light hitting (.229 career) and slick fielding reserve infielder Alex McCarthy was born in Chicago. The Notre Dame product played for the Bucs from 1910-1917, hitting .226 during his eight Pittsburgh campaigns. He made a brief yo-yo stop in his hometown of Chicago after the Pirates sold him to the Cubs in September of 1915 and then brought him back the following July. He was originally a shortstop, but couldn’t beat out a guy named Honus Wagner. 

Alex McCarthy - 1912 photo Bain/Library of Congress

• 1908 - The Bucs defeated the New York Giants, 5-3, at Exposition Park as Sam Leever outlasted Iron Man McGinnity. The G-Men overcame a 2-0 deficit in the eighth inning to take the lead; Pittsburgh answered with a three-spot of its own. Hans Wagner was the big gun. He tripled home the tying and winning runs, then swiped home on the back end of a double steal for the insurance tally. The Dutchman had three of the Pirates five hits to go with a walk. 
• 1916 - RHP Hank Borowy was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey. After spending most of his time with the Yankees and Cubs, the Pirates were one of three teams that he played for in 1950, getting into 11 games as a Bucco swingman and going 1-3/6.39 after he was bought from the Phils; after 10 weeks, he was sold to the Tigers. He had been a stalwart of the Bronx Bombers in the first half of his career, but in the final years suffered from chronic blisters and a sore shoulder. 
• 1922 - RHP Johnny Hetki was born in Leavenworth, Kansas. He spent the final two campaigns (1952-53) of his eight-year career with the Pirates, posting a 7-10/4.38 slash in that time, mostly as a reliever. Johnny tossed in the Venezuelan Winter League where he hurled an 18-inning game for his club, Magallanes, setting a record that still stands (and for a tie game, yet!) Hetki later pitched a complete game victory for Magallanes in the 1952 Caribbean Series, an 11-inning, 2–1, win against the Panamanian champions, the Carta Vieja Yankees. 
• 1925 - Kiki Cuyler went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, four RBI, and five runs scored in a 13-8 nitecap win over the Philadelphia Phillies at the Baker Bowl. Glenn Wright added three more knocks and drove in three runs. Starter Ray Kremer was knocked out of the box without getting an out; Lee Meadows worked seven frames for the win with Babe Adams earning a six-out save. It gave Pittsburgh a split of a twin bill as Vic Aldridge lost the opener, 8-5, despite three hits by Max Carey and a Clyde Barnhart homer. 

Gus Suhr - Helmar Big League Brew

• 1930 - Gus Suhr had a homer, double, and three RBI while Adam Comorosky went 3-for-3 with a pair of two baggers as the Pirates broke out of a 7-out-of-8 game losing streak with a 6-2 win over the Brooklyn Robins at Forbes Field. Erv Brame tossed a complete game six-hitter. Despite the early sluggishness, the team ended up 80-74, but still finished a distant 12 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. 
• 1953 - The Bucs plucked LHP Roger Bowman off waivers from the New York Giants. He spent ‘53 and part of ‘55 with the Pirates, with all of ‘54 and most of ‘55 as a farm hand in Hollywood. He went 0-7/5.60 in his 37 Bucco games, with 1955 being his last big league campaign. Bowman then worked in the Pacific Coast League and tossed some in Cuba, with his last pro outing in 1961. 
• 1955 - Rookie RHP Sam "Toothpick" Jones of the Cubs no-hit the Pirates, 4-0‚ fanning Dick Groat, Roberto Clemente and Frank Thomas in the ninth after walking the bases loaded (he walked seven - two DPs and a caught stealing helped his cause - and struck out six). It was the first no-hitter in Wrigley Field since 1917 and the first MLB no-no tossed by an African-American pitcher. Sadly for Jones and posterity, only 2,918 fans showed up to witness his slice of history. 
• 1968 - Al McBean left his house for Forbes Field after promising his wife a victory for Mothers Day and he kept his word with a complete game, 2-1, win over the Phillies, scattering seven hits and fanning five. The Bucs scored both runs in the opening round when Maury Wills and Roberto Clemente touched home against rookie Jeff James. Three straight Philadelphia singles in the seventh cut the Bucco lead to one, but Matty Alou’s throw-out of Johnny Briggs at third limited the damage. And everyone got to enjoy the holiday and celebrate dinner with their moms as the Sunday afternoon game took just one hour and 55 minutes.

Josh Phelps - photo via All Star Collectibles

• 1978 - 1B Josh Phelps was born in Anchorage, Alaska. Phelps spent eight years in the show, mostly as a Blue Jay, and split 2007 between the Yankees and Pirates, joining Pittsburgh in June as a replacement for demoted Brad Eldred after being waived out of the Big Apple. He swung it pretty good for the Bucs, hitting .351 with five homers in 77 at-bats, and he signed with the Cards as a free agent after the year. He got into 19 games late in the season for the Redbirds and that was his last MLB stop. Josh does hold one distinction: his 64 career homers are the most ever banged out by an Alaskan-born player. 
• 1983 - RHP Evan Meek was born in Bellevue, Washington. The Rule 5 pick spent five years (2008-12) as a Pirate and looked like the closer of the future after an All-Star season in 2010, tossing to a 2.14 ERA in 70 appearances. But various arm injuries took their toll on his promising career. He only made one more MLB stop after his Bucco days, in 2014 with Baltimore. He finished his career pitching in the indy leagues after splitting 2015 between the minors and a stint in Korea. 
• 1988 - Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla gave a glimpse into the future when they mashed previously undefeated Dodger ace Orel Hershiser for three homers, four runs scored and six runs plated in a 7-4 Bucco win at Three Rivers Stadium. The B&B boys were in their third MLB campaign and would power the early-nineties Bucco powerhouses to three divisional titles. John Smiley rode their big bats to a complete game win; Chico Lind banged out three hits to aid the cause. 
• 1994 - The Pirates and Zane Smith lost to the Phillies, 6-4, and were their own worst enemies by stranding 17 runners at Veterans Stadium, one shy of the NL record for a nine-inning game. The Bucs wasted 14 hits (every Pirate position starter had a rap; five of them had two knocks), nine walks and a Philly error by going 1-for-15 w/RISP against four Philadelphia pitchers.