5/22 Through the 1940s: Peach Pie Pirates; Josh Jolt; Streakin' Steve; Hot Time At Expo; Game Tales; HBD Jim, George, Terris, Hooks & Tom

• 1884 - RHP Tom McCarthy was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Tom makes today’s list as one of the Bucs flipped so quickly that hardly anyone knew he was here. He started the year as a Cincinnati Red, had one terrible outing and was sold to the Pirates in May. He pitched twice for the Buccos, once as a starter and once in relief, and reversed his fortune by giving up one unearned run and three hits in six frames. Then in mid-June, he was part of a deal with the Boston Doves for LHP Irv Young, joining his third team in a span of 39 days. Tom tossed pretty well for the Beaneaters into 1909, then was traded to the minor league Hartford club (then an independent club rather than an affiliate) for RHP Chick Evans. That was the end of Tom’s baseball road for all intents and purposes - he had two good minor league seasons, then had to retire due to a balky back. 
• 1894 - 3B Hoke “Hooks” Warner was born in Del Rio, Texas. Hooks played for the Bucs in 1916 as the starting third baseman after being purchased from Dayton in August and returned for cups of coffee in 1917 and 1919 (he spent 1918 in the army). Warner hit .232 over that span, and would play just 14 more MLB games with the Chicago Cubs in 1921. In retirement, he managed a local restaurant. 

Peach Pie O'Connor - Conlon Collection/Detroit Public Library

• 1900 - The Pirates purchased C Jack “Peach Pie” O’Connor from the Cardinals for $2,000 (St. Louis papers reported $2,500), outbidding several clubs for his services. The 35-year-old was coming off a pair of subpar years at the dish and hit just .239 in 153 games from 1900-02 for the Pirates before jumping ship to join the American League’s New York Highlanders. 
• 1900 - Exposition Park was plagued by a series of fires set in the stands. The Pittsburgh Press wrote that “It is believed the fires were started by persons who formerly held passes but whom the new management refuses to recognize,” referring to small stockholders who were cut out of the action by new owner Barney Dreyfuss and apparently took the loss of their park perks to heart. 
• 1910 - RHP Terris McDuffie was born in Mobile, Alabama. Originally a speedy but poor-hitting outfielder, he later converted to pitching and won over 170 games. He played baseball for 25 years in the Negro, Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Venezuelan and California Winter leagues with some time in the minors. He pitched for the Homestead Grays in 1941, going 12-8/3.12 and starting in the All-Star game. McDuffie was a flashy player; he wore a jacket that had “McDuffie the Great” embroidered across the back and went by the nicknames of Speed, Elmer the Great, Terris the Terrible, Schoolboy and Payaso (a person who likes to clown around, probably the most fitting of all).

Possum Whitted - 1921 Exhibits

• 1921 - In their initial meeting of the season, the first place Pirates defeated the second place New York Giants, 8-6, at the Polo Grounds. After trailing for most of the game, the Pirates scored twice in the eighth inning and six times in the ninth. Possum Whitted went 3-for-3 with a homer, George Cutshaw went 4-for-5 with two doubles, Cotton Tierney added three knocks and Max Carey belted a four-bagger while Wilbur Cooper went the distance for the win. It was a 2-0 game in favor of Gotham going into the eighth; the G-Men had no quit in them either and scored once in the eighth and three times in the ninth to keep the match competitive. New York lost that battle but won the war; the Giants took the 1921 National League title by four games from the Bucs. 
• 1925 - Pittsburgh scored five times in the first inning, keyed by Glenn Wright’s three-run homer, and then didn’t score again until the 10th frame, but it was just enough lumber to edge the New York Giants, 6-5, at the Polo Grounds. Pie Traynor drilled a liner off pitcher Wayland Dean’s shin that ricocheted into short right for a fluke double and then scored on a two-out knock by George Grantham for the overtime game winner. Vic Aldridge got the win in relief of Lee Meadows while Dean was a hard luck loser, working 9-2/3 innings of one-run relief only to get tagged with the loss (and a bruise). 
• 1932 - Mt. Pleasant’s Steve Swetonic, a Pitt grad, had his scoreless innings streak snapped at 26 frames (and a concurrent hitless streak ended at 10 innings) when Pepper Martin hit a two-out, seventh inning solo homer, but still ended up with a three-hit, 5-1, win over Bill Hallahan and the St. Louis Cardinals at Sportsman’s Park. Steve would finish with a slash of 11-6/2.86 for the year, but a bum arm short-circuited his career. He would have only one more healthy season left in his tank, missing all of 1934 and retiring in 1935. His career (1929-33) was spent entirely in Pittsburgh with a line of 37-36-13/3.81. 

Steve Swetonic - April, 1932 Press photo

• 1937 - OF George Spriggs was born in Jewell, Maryland. The Bucs signed the speedy Spriggs after he spent two years barnstorming with the Kansas City Monarchs followed by two more years in the service. The burner led the AA Southern and AAA International League in stolen bases from 1964-66, but in 56 games for the Pirates from 1965-67, Spriggs hit just .182 though he was 5-for-5 in stolen bases. He got two more MLB years as a bench guy for the Kansas City Royals. George also logged time in Mexico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and independent leagues in addition to his 10-year minor league tenureand two-year Kansas City tour of duty. 
• 1946 - Josh Gibson hit a homer that traveled an estimated 490’ over the left center wall at Forbes Field to lead the Homestead Grays to an 11-8 victory over the New York Black Yankees. Gibson hit .379 that season and led the Negro League with 16 homers in 49 games. It was the opener for the defending Negro National League champion Grays and was played in front of 5,000 fans. Homestead center fielder Jerry Benjamin led both teams with four hits. 
• 1946 - Coach Jim Colborn was born in Santa Paula, California. He pitched for a decade in the show - he was the Brewers first 20-game winner and tossed a no-hitter for KC - then went to LA as a pitching coach after his playing days. Colborn followed Jim Tracy to the Pirates in the 2006 offseason. He didn’t endear himself here - Jim got into an infamous shouting match with Jack Wilson on a ball that dropped between three Buccos, didn’t have much luck in developing the Pirates young pitchers, and was let go after the 2007 campaign. He then caught on with the Texas Rangers as a bullpen coach and later as their Pacific Rim coordinator.