6/21: Babe Goes; Matt & Carson Fivers; Rick Rolls; Busy Bob; OT At PNC; One-Man Battery; Gems & Game Tales; HBD GI & Spencer

• 1888 - Chicago’s George “Rip” Van Haltren no-hit the Alleghenys in a rain-shortened, seven inning outing at West Side Park with the White Stockings winning, 1-0. Van Haltren would convert to the outfield in 1891 (his .316 career BA made that a no-brainer move though he was OK on the hill with a line of 40-31-4/4.05), and spent a pair of seasons in Pittsburgh (1892-93/.325 BA) roaming the pasture, with a dozen games at SS and a couple more at second. 
• 1893 - Pittsburgh rallied past Cleveland, 6-5, by scoring five times in the bottom of the ninth at Exposition Park before 1,100 fans after the Ohio nine had taken the lead by posting three tallies in the top of the frame. The Spiders committed a pair of errors in that final inning, and Jake Beckley blasted a three-run triple for the walk-off win. The Pittsburgh Press set up Beckley’s big blow: “The bases were full, and so were the Cleveland’s - full of alarm and bad humor. The crowd was full of excitement and began to yell and scream. But finally Beckley settled the controversies of the day by swinging the ball into right field good and true...” 
• 1898 - IF Spencer Adams was born in Layton, Utah. He spent four seasons in the majors on four teams, starting as a 25-year-old in 1923 with the Pirates and hitting .250 in 25 games. The Bucs had sent two players and $5,000 to the Pacific Coast League’s Seattle to get Adams; at the end of the year, they flipped him to Oakland, another PCL club, as part of the Ray Kremer deal. 
• 1922 - Carson Bigbee banged out five hits, including two doubles and a triple good for three RBI while Clyde Barnhart added four hits and chased home four Buccos, but it was for naught as Brooklyn won in 10 innings, 15-14. Bigbee and Barnhart each booted a ball, along with Pie Traynor, in the extra frame to hand the win to the Robins at Ebbets Field. 

Carson Bigbee - 1922 Exhibits

• 1935 - The Pirates sold OF Babe Herman to the Cincinnati Reds after picking him up as a part of a five-man deal with the Chicago Cubs in the offseason. The 32-year-old vet carried a big stick (.329 BA, 143 OPS+ over nine years), but batted just .235 in 26 games as a Pirate, dropping from left field starter to bench bat. The Bucs, however, gave up too soon on Babe - he hit .335 for the Reds during the remaining 92 games of the year and .280 from 1936-37 for them and the Detroit Tigers. He spent most of his remaining pro years in Hollywood of the Pacific Coast League, returning for a last hurrah with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945. 
• 1971 - Bob Robertson set a MLB record for most assists in a nine inning game by a first baseman with eight handoffs in a 6-0 win over the Mets at TRS, helping Dock Ellis to an eight-hit shutout victory. Ellis was busy, too, setting the NL record for putouts by a pitcher with five. The extra-inning mark for assists was also eight, set by the Buc’s Bob Skinner in 1954. 
• 1978 - Bucco shortstop Frank Taveras delivered a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning, bringing home Phil Garner with the walkoff run in a 2-1 victory over the Cubs at TRS. John Candelaria pitched a complete game for the Pirates, as did Chicago’s Ray Burris. “Scrap Iron” had three hits and set the Bucco table, scoring both of the Pittsburgh runs. 
• 1981 - 1B/OF Garrett Jones was born in Harvey, Illinois. He was a Bucco platoon power presence against RHP from 2009-13 after being signed as a 28-year-old minor league FA from the Minnesota Twins organization. He hit 100 HR with a .256 BA and 113 OPS+ in Pittsburgh before moving on in 2014. Garrett was known as "GI Jones," lifted from GI Joe. 

Garrett Jones - 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary

• 1986 - Rick Rhoden showed them how to do it at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. He went the distance against the Expos, defeating them, 14-1, and the three hits he collected (among them the game-winner in the third frame) equaled the number he gave up, to go along with spinning 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk. Sid Bream also had three hits, including a homer, and four other Bucs had two hits. Every Pirates starter had at least one knock, nine different players scored and Johnny Ray & Bill Almon each chased three men home. 
• 1989 - Doug Drabek and Greg Maddux hooked up in a classic pitching duel, though neither was around at the finish as the Cubs beat the Bucs, 1-0, at TRS. Maddux went 10 frames of six-hit ball while Drabek went nine, giving up five knocks. Lloyd McClendon’s sac fly off Doug Bair brought home future Bucco coach & scout Gary Varsho in the 11th to decide it. 
• 1992 - The Bucs bolted out of the gate and were up 5-0 over the Montreal Expos going into the seventh inning at Three Rivers Stadium, a lead built largely on Orlando Merced’s three-run long fly. But Pirates relievers Denny Neagle and Roger Mason were banged around enough to make it a 5-4 nailbiter by the ninth. Marquis Grissom started the final frame off with a rap, and an out later was standing on third after swiping a pair of bases. Stan Belinda took the hill and coaxed a short pop fly up the right field line and Marquis faked a tag home. The feint worked, too - RF Gary Varsho airmailed the ball over Spanky LaValliere, and Belinda, backing up, had to give chase. But the baseball gods were in one of their moods, as Grissom lost sight of the ball and retreated back to third after Varsho uncorked the wayward throw. Belinda wiped his brow and whiffed Rick Cercone on three pitches to earn a second chance save. 
• 1998 - Three Pirate relievers surrendered five runs to the Brew Crew in the final two frames, but the Bucs hung on to take an 8-7 win at County Stadium. The Pirates big man was Jose Guillen, who smacked a grand slam in the third inning. Esteban Loaiza won his fifth game of the year in spite of the bullpen meltdown. 

Jose Guillen/Estaban Loaiza - 1998 Pacific  (reverse)

• 2003 - The Pirates edged the Indians, 7-6, for their second straight 15-inning victory over the Tribe, claiming a 5-4 win the day before. It was the first time since 1996 that two teams had played consecutive 15-inning contests. The win featured a web gem grab by Brian Giles, stealing a two-run homer from Brandon Phillips in the eighth inning and as described by ESPN: “Giles pushed off the fence with his foot to elevate himself, stretched his glove over the 6-foot fence and pulled the ball back from the second row of the stands.” It was the Pirates' first sellout of the year with a raucous crowd of 36,856 that included many Cleveland fans. 
• 2005 - Matt Lawton drove in five runs and scored twice, banging a homer and double, to lead the Pirates to an 11-4 win over the Washington Nationals at PNC Park. Lawton went 3-for-5, Daryle Ward drove home three runs, and Ollie Perez pitched six frames for the win. The Pirates banged out 14 hits, seven for extra bases (one dinger & six doubles). 
• 2008 - In a pre-game ceremony at PNC Park, the Pirates officially presented the family of Roberto Clemente with his trophy after Arriba was named to Rawlings’ All-Time Gold Glove Team (Roberto won a dozen GG's). The Bucs went on to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-3, behind two-run homers by Jay Bay, Raul Chavez and Jose Bautista in front of 27,014 fans. 
• 2016 - Look Ma, I’m In the Record Book As A One-Man Battery: Erik Kratz, who tossed an inning while an arm-saving Anaheim Angel in April, became the first player in the modern era to catch and pitch for two teams in the same season when he flipped a scoreless ninth inning while mopping up during the Pirates' 15-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants at PNC Park.