- 1872 - RHP Charles “Deacon” Phillippe was born in Rural Retreat, Virginia. The Deacon spent 12 years with Pittsburgh (1900-11), posting a line of 189-109/2.59. He went 3-2 in the 1903 World Series with a 3.07 ERA and closed out two games in the 1909 World Series, pitching six scoreless innings. Phillippe was perhaps the top control pitcher of the modern era, won 20 games six times, and was voted by Buc fans as the greatest right-handed pitcher in Pirates history. He came about his nickname honestly, being a devout Lutheran and clean living guy in an era noted for its rowdy ballplayers. He also went by “The Great Phillippi” due to his pitching prowess. Trivia: The outlaw league Pittsburg Filipinos of 1912 took their name from their manager - Deacon Phillippe.
- 1879 - OF Bill Miller was born in Bad Schwalbach, Germany. 23-year-old Miller was called up in 1902 to help bolster a thin roster on the recommendation of Tommy Leach. He played right field on August 23rd against the Brooklyn Superbas at Exposition Park. He went 1-for-5 with two RBI, and played a fair right field, although he misplayed the first ball hit to him (“He ran in for it when he should have hiked in the other direction...Being a newcomer, his mistake gave the crowd a bad impression from the start” per the Pittsburgh Press). It was his only MLB game.
- 1885 - 1B Hugh Bradley was born in Grafton, Massachusetts. After three years with Boston (he was the first player to homer at Fenway Park), he spent a season in the minors and then signed with the Pittsburgh Rebels. He was the starting 1B in 1914, hitting .307, but was bumped to reserve duty when Ed Konetchy joined the team the next season. Spending time in the pasture and not happy about it, he was released and moved on to the Brooklyn Tip-Tops. They likewise let him go and he became a member of a third Federal League club, the Newark Peppers. Brad spent from 1916-23 in the minors and umpired before getting on with his life. Fun factoid: for a while, Bradley spent the off seasons with a vaudeville act of Boston players called the “Red Sox Quartette,” a barbershop quartet.
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| Crazy Schmit - image Al Demaree/Baseball History Daily |
- 1890 - During a 17-10 New York victory at the Polo Grounds, the Giants swiped a record 17 sacks against the battery of rookie LHP Fred “Crazy” Schmit and veteran C George “Doggie” Miller. The Alleghenys added three steals of their own to set a game record of 20. Crazy was thought nuts by the other players because he was the first pitcher to keep a book on hitters, warmed up at 75' rather than 60’ by tossing a water-soaked ball to make it heavier and used other quirky personal tricks of the trade to get ready for a game. He also answered to “Germany” for more obvious reasons. The 1890 Alleghenys, it should be noted, may have been baseball’s worst team ever, winning just 23 games and allowing 447 stolen bases, nearly four per game - and the catchers had a 31% toss-out rate!
- 1892 - The Pirates ended the Chicago Colts 13-game winning streak with a 5-4 win at Southside Stadium in front of 2,000 Windy City fans. The Pirates overcame an early 4-0 deficit, behind extra base knocks by Jake Beckley, Doggie Miller, Mike Smith and Lou Bierbauer, generating just enough offense to push Mark Baldwin to victory. As recapped by the Pittsburgh Press: “The Pittsburgs defeated the Chicagos in a very close and exciting game. The Pittsburgers were outbatted, but their hits were more timely and counted more than those made by the Colts.” Part of the excitement was the fielding; each side surrendered just one earned run, with the clubs combining to boot five balls.
- 1923 - Pittsburgh sent 2B Cotton Tierney and RHP Whitey Glazner to the Philadelphia Phillies for 2B Johnny Rawlings and RHP Lee "Specs" Meadows. The bespectacled Meadows went 87-51 over the next five years as Glazner's rotation replacement, winning 20 games once and 19 twice while Rawlings lasted four Bucco seasons, batting .272. Whitey was out of baseball after slashing 14-30 for Philly through 1924 and Cotton was done following the 1925 campaign after playing for the Phils, Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers.
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| Clyde King - photo via Sports Memorabilia |
- 1924 - Coach Clyde King was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina. King never played for the Bucs, but after hangin’ up the mitt, he managed the Hollywood Stars in 1957 and the Columbus Jets in 1958, both Pirate farm clubs. After coaching outside the organization, he returned as a member of Harry Walker’s staff from 1965 to 1967. He continued to coach in the minors and the MLB as manager of the SF Giants, Atlanta Braves and NY Yankees, also serving as the Gotham GM.
- 1943 - The Pirates only had one hit during the match but it was enough. Vince DiMaggio’s fourth-inning double scored Elbie Fletcher, who had walked, for a 1-0 win at Forbes Field against the Chicago Cubs. Bob Klinger went the distance for Pittsburgh, tossing a four-hitter to hand Dick Barrett a tough loss. The Pirates wouldn’t win another game with just one hit again until 2017 when they defeated the Dodgers, 1-0, at PNC Park. In that contest, Josh Harrison’s walk-off homer in the 10th broke up both the no-no and shut-out bids of LA pitcher Rich Hill.
- 1950 - After traveling a twisted trail (he was signed out of high school by the Tigers, granted free agency by the league with a handful of other Detroit farmhands due to some contractual hanky-panky, then signed with the Pirates for $20,000 to become their first “bonus baby” to reach Forbes Field), Bill MacDonald made his first major league start. It was a good one as he shut out the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-0, twirling a complete game three-hitter against the future National League champs. “Whalin’ Willie” (his bread-and-butter was the fastball) went 8-10-1/4.29 for the last-place Bucs, making 32 outings (twenty starts) with two shutouts and six complete games to his credit. His major drawback was a wild streak; he averaged over five walks per nine. MacDonald then missed the 1951–52 seasons when he was in the service during the Korean War years, and when he returned in 1953, he had lost it. Bill pitched poorly in four more games (12.27 ERA), was sent to the Pacific Coast League and retired after the 1954 campaign.
- 1952 - It took 13 frames, but Johnny Merson’s double scored Gus Bell with a walkoff game winner to end an eight-game losing streak as the Bucs topped the Cubs, 6-5, at Forbes Field. The Pirates scored four times in the opening inning, but Bob Friend couldn’t hold on to the early lead. Ted Wilks spun the last 5-2/3 frames without yielding a run to end the drought.
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| Sid Gordon - 1955 Bowman |
- 1955 - 3B Sid Gordon was sold to the New York Giants for “considerably over the $10,000 waiver price,” thought to be in the $25K range. Despite hitting .306 in 1954, the 36-year-old Gordon was a seldom-used backup third baseman (he lost his job to Gene Freese) and pinch hitter, providing not a lot of value as their highest-paid player at $27,500. The Pittsburgh Press said he was “...understandably happy and excited when called into Branch Rickey’s office to get the glad news...” The NY gig didn’t do much to extend his career; he got into 66 games and hit .243, ending his career.
- 1958 - IF Nelson Norman was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. In six MLB years, Nelson got into 198 games; three were for Pittsburgh in 1982 when he went 0-for-3. But he had some Bucco history. The Pirates originally signed him in 1975 as a 16-year-old. He went to Texas a couple of years later as part of the Bert Blyleven deal. The Rangers acquired Mario Mendoza in 1981, bumping Nelson out of a job, and after the season, the Rangers traded Norman back to the Pirates for Víctor Cruz. He played mostly for Portland (AAA), Lynn (AA) and Hawaii (AAA) through 1984, finishing out his career in the minors for Baltimore and Montreal in ‘87. He’s coached for several organizations since retiring and is now a scout/head of Dominican Operations for the O’s.
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