6/5: Smokin' Starg; Bay, Roberto POTMs, Chico POTW; Stu Swat; Robby Trio; Lawton Splash; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Ray, Gene & Happy Jack

• 1874 - RHP Jack Chesbro (nee John D. Cheesbro) was born in Houghtonville, Massachusetts. The righty spent the first four years (1899-1902) of his career as a Pirate, going 70-38/2.83 with a pair of 20+ win seasons. He jumped from the NL Pirates to the AL New York Highlanders in 1903, and won 41 games in 55 appearances (41-12/1.82 with 14 consecutive wins) in 1904, a record that will never be overtaken. The Old Timers’ Committee voted him into the Hall of Fame in 1946 on the strength of that superb season. Chesbro became “Happy Jack” while working at the Middleton, NY, state mental hospital (he was playing amateur ball for the house team, The “Asylums”) after a patient noted his cheery disposition and friendly grin, per SABR’s Wayne McElreavy. 
• 1890 - UT/PH Gene Madden was born in Elm Grove (now Wheeling), West Virginia. Gene hit .312 at Galveston in 1915, earning a Pirates contract for the next season. He played well in camp and made the Opening Day roster, but after a handful of games was told the Bucs wanted him to play regularly in the minors. Hans Wagner (manager Nixey Hallahan was ejected, leaving Honus in charge) sent him up to pinch-hit on his last day in Pittsburgh, and Madden grounded out. It would be his only MLB game and at bat. He played one more year in the bushes before joining the Marines, and after his discharge, he played for Newark and Syracuse before retiring after the 1921 season. By then, his family was growing (he ended up with seven kids) and Gene eventually opened his own business. 
• 1895 - OF Ray Rohwer was born in Dixon, California. Ray’s MLB career lasted from 1921-22 with the Bucs as a back-up outfielder, hitting .284 over that span. Ray was a west coast kinda guy, playing college ball at the U of California at Berkeley before serving in the Army during WW1. After the Pirates, Rohwer spent nine seasons in the Pacific Coast League, playing for the Seattle Indians, Portland Beavers and Sacramento Senators, where he compiled a career .299 BA. Following his retirement, he stayed in California. 

Fred Clarke - Helmar Cigar

• 1903 - The Pirates banged out 17 hits against Boston at Exposition Park to run away with 9-0 victory while spinning Pittsburgh's fourth straight shutout behind Ed Doheny, setting a new MLB record. Fred Clarke went 5-for-5 and Ginger Beaumont 4-for-5 to lead the attack. The Buc pitchers would run their shutout streak to six games before finally yielding a run. 
• 1951 - Buc rookie knuckler Paul “Lefty” LaPalme hurled a 8-0 shutout against Boston at Braves Field in his first major league start. It was his only win of the year, but he lasted seven MLB seasons, four with the Pirates, with a 24-45/4.42 line. 
• 1959 - Dick Stuart banged a ball over the 457’ mark of Forbes Field center field wall, considered the longest homer hit in the ballpark's history, flying between 475-500’ by various estimates. Dr. Strangeglove's blast came in the first off Glen Hobbie during the Pirates' 10-5 loss to Chicago, and the local papers claimed it was the first ball hit over the center field wall. That may have been true of MLB players (although Rogers Hornsby once hit the flagpole, and Roberto Clemente later hit a light tower) but Josh Gibson lore claimed that he launched balls over the fence in center at least twice during his Negro League career. 
• 1964 - The Colt .45’s were countin' their chickens, holding a 3-1 lead at Forbes Field with two away in the ninth and the bases empty. But there’s a reason you get 27 outs, and Pittsburgh ripped off five straight hits to stun Houston, 4-3. Jim Pagliaroni started the rally with a double, then Donn Clendenon singled off Hal Woodeshick’s glove into center to plate Pags. Ducky Schofield kept it alive, and Manny Mota’s pinch-hit single knotted the score. The Texans beckoned Gordon Jones to the mound to face Roberto Clemente, described by the Pittsburgh Press as “a man on a mission” after he had failed at a sac bunt effort in the eighth. He didn’t fail this time, lining a knock into right center to make a winner of Bob Priddy. The Bucs' first run came on Willie Stargell's solo shot. 

Pags - 1965 Topps

• 1965 - The Pirates jumped on the Mets for six first-inning runs, triggered by Willie Stargell’s three-run double and capped by Jim Pagliaroni’s two-out, three-run homer, to cruise to a 9-0 win at Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente added three hits as Vern Law went the distance and shut down New York on two hits. The Deacon was only 3-5 after the victory though sporting a 1.95 ERA, and he finished the year strong with a line of 17-9/2.15 in his last dominant campaign. 
• 1966 - In a 10-5 Bucs win over Houston at Forbes Field, Willie Stargell went 5-for-5 with two homers, a double and four RBI, ringing up nine straight hits in two days against the ‘Stros. Roberto Clemente put a ball in orbit off Turk Farrell, flying over the 436’ mark and landing in Plaza Field, a little league diamond tucked behind the ballyard’s right center field wall. Starter Bob Veale struck out 11 batters in his six frames of work, but Pete Mikkelsen was credited with the win in relief of Big Bob, pitching one-run ball over the final three innings. 
• 1967 - Roberto Clemente was announced as the NL’s Player of the Month. Roberto batted .403 with 29 RBI during the month and went on to win the batting title with a .357 BA to earn an eighth straight All-Star berth. 
• 1968 - The Bucs lost a tough one when Zoilo Versalles slid home, was called out and then a second later ruled safe as plate ump Bill Jackowski reversed himself to give the LA Dodgers a 2-1 win. The umpire said he saw the ball loose on Zoilo’s leg after the tag; catcher Jerry May claimed it was in his glove all the time. Versalles didn’t hang around for the argument but sprinted straight into the Dodger dugout after the reversal, later explaining “...the umpire not sure, he says out and I yell ‘No, no, safe.’ The ump says ‘Oh, he drop ball, you safe.’” Afterward, Larry Shepard darkly told the media that “This ballpark seems to do something to an umpire,” referring to the number of calls that seemed to go in favor of the hometown nine at Dodger Stadium. LA’s Bill Singer was probably more to blame for the loss than Jackowski as he tossed a six-hit gem against the Bucs with 12 K. Roberto Clemente was the sole Pirate who could solve him with three hits while Alvin McBean, who also tossed a six-hitter, took the hard-luck loss. 

Bill Robinson - 1976 SSPC

• 1976 - McKeesport’s Bill Robinson hit three homers and drove home four runs, but the Pirates lost in 15 innings to the San Diego Padres at Three Rivers Stadium, 11-9, after scoring three times in the ninth, the rally built around Dave Parker’s triple, to send the game into overtime. The Bucs had 18 hits - Robby had four, Rennie Stennett three, and Parker, Al Oliver, Willie Stargell & Frank Taveras each added a pair. Ramon Hernandez took the loss. 
• 2001 - The Pirates snapped a lot of streaks in their 5-2 win over the Marlins at Pro Player Stadium. First, it ended a five-game losing skid with a rare win on the road, where they had the worst record in the majors (7-22 going into the game). Next, it broke a streak of 17 games without a loss by the game’s starter, Florida’s Brad Penny. Finally, Kevin Young ended his six-week home run drought with a sixth-inning grand slam that gave starter and winner Jason Schmidt, followed by Jose Manzanillo and Mike Williams, who earned the save, some wriggle room to work with. One streak that stayed alive was Jason Kendall’s hitting spree, which reached 12 straight games. 
• 2005 - OF Matt Lawton had reached base six straight times without scoring. As Dejan Kovacevich of the Post Gazette wrote “He took it upon himself to get the job done in the most emphatic way he could: Send it for a swim.” Matt cleared the roof in right field, the ball landed on the grassy slope and merrily bounded into the Allegheny during a 5-2 win over the Braves at PNC Park. The big blow was Rob Mackowiak’s two-run homer in the sixth frame to break a tie and put the Pirates up by a pair. Lawton and Mack led the attack with three hits. Ollie Perez, who gave up four hits and fanned seven in seven frames, got the win with a Jose Mesa save. 
• 2006 - Jason Bay was named the NL Player of the Month and Jose Castillo the Player of the Week. Bay banged away at a .321 clip with 12 HR and 35 RBI while Castillo hit .478 with four homers and 15 RBI and posted an impressive .366 average through May. Jason kept up the good work all season, winning his second straight All-Star berth with a .286 BA, 35 dingers and 109 RBI. Jose, not so much - he finished the year batting .253 with 14 home runs.