7/23 Through the 1960s: Ralph, Pie Swat; Clark Cycle; Quail Player/Coach; ASG, Gems & Game Tales; HBD Mack, Ed & Ginger

• 1876 - OF Ginger Beaumont was born in Rochester, Wisconsin. He played eight seasons (1899-1906) for Pittsburgh, hitting .321 with 757 runs scored and 200 stolen bases. Beaumont led the league in batting with a .357 average in 1902, and in 1903 led in at bats (613), runs (137) and hits (209) while hitting .342, helping the team to a spot in the first World Series. 
• 1899 - RHP Ed Holley was born in Benton, Kentucky. Ed was purchased in mid-season of 1934 from the Phils, where in 1932-33, he had won 34 games in 58 starts and tossed 435 IP for a weak Philly club. Alas, at age 34 the sidewinder was done, lasting 7-2/3 frames in four Pirates starts with a line of 0-3/15.43. It was his last MLB posting after four years in the show. 
• 1901 - Fred Clarke hit for the cycle as the Pirates whipped the Cincinnati Reds, 9-2, at Exposition Park behind Jack Chesbro, who struck out 11 batters. Lefty Davis, Honus Wagner and Kitty Bransfield added three hits apiece to power the 16-hit Bucco barrage. Clarke became the second Pittsburgh player to hit for the cycle (Fred Carroll in 1887 was the first) and in 1903, again against the Reds, he rode the cycle one more time to become the first NL’er to post a pair of cycles. 
• 1901 - IF Malcomb “Mack” Hillis was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mack had a 12-game major league career; 11 of those outings were with the 1928 Pirates. He went 9-for-39 with two doubles, three triples, six runs scored and seven RBI, but with Sparky Adams and Pie Traynor ahead of him, it was his last Pittsburgh and MLB campaign. Hillis started pro ball in 1922 and finally hung them up in 1934, playing mostly in the Eastern and Pacific Coast Leagues. 

Claude Hendrix - 1912 Wire Service Photo

• 1912 - Claude Hendrix tossed a seven-hit shutout, fanning nine, and Hans Wagner singled home Chief Wilson, who had doubled in the bottom of the ninth, to give the Bucs a hard-earned 1-0 win over the Boston Braves at Forbes Field. Honus used a little trickery for his walkoff; he showed bunt, but instead hacked away. Hendrix and Braves hurler Otto Hess were in command throughout; only one runner from each squad had reached third prior to the Wilson tally. 
• 1925 - The Pirates scored twice in the ninth inning to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2, at Forbes Field to regain first place. They held the top spot for all but three days during the rest of the season and capped it with a World Series title. Jess Haines of the Redbirds and the Buccos Emil Yde “waged a brilliant slab duel” per the Pittsburgh Press. The Pirates final frame was opened by Kiki Cuyler’s triple. The Cards’ infield played in and Pie Traynor punched a double over their heads into right field. Glenn Wright followed with a single to center to walkoff the Corsairs into first place. 
• 1930 - Pie in the sky guy: The Pirates won the first game of a Baker Bowl twin bill against the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1, as Heinie Meine slipped past Roy “Swede” Hanson in a match decided by a ninth-inning Pie Traynor homer. The second game, twice delayed by rain, went 13 innings and ended in a 16-15 Pittsburgh victory. With darkness threatening, Traynor was again the Bucco of the hour, blasting a three-run shot that provided just enough insurance to hold off the Phils, while capping a 5-for-7 showing in the nitecap. The second game set a couple of single game records: With eight home runs and nine doubles, the total bases mark of 83 was established. The other record was for the total number of at bats; the two clubs combined for 117 AB’s. 
• 1947 - Ralph Kiner hit his 24th and 25th long balls of the year off the Phils’ Al Jurisich, breaking the club record of 23 set by Johnny Rizzo in 1938 and tied by Kiner in his rookie year of 1946. Pittsburgh beat Philly, 6-2, at Forbes Field as Hank Greenberg also went yard. Tiny Bonham gave up 11 hits but only two runs in the complete-game win. Kiner ended the year with 51 homers, tops in the National League and tied with Johnny Mize for the Major League title. 

Dick Groat - 1958 Hires Root Beer

• 1958 - The Dodgers put up crooked numbers before the Bucs got to the plate in both ends of a twilight double bill, but the first inning jump made no difference as the Bucs swept them, 11-3 & 6-3, at Forbes Field. Ronnie Kline gave up three runs to open the double dipper, then settled in to toss a four-hitter. Dick Stuart had four hits, including two triples, and two RBI; Roberto Clemente and Frank Thomas added three more raps, including a homer, and six more RBI while Dick Groat plated two more runs. Bob Friend did the honors in the nightcap, fanning 10 before getting ninth inning help from ElRoy Face. LA jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, but Groat’s bases-filled double keyed a five-run response by the Buccos; he ended the evening with three hits and four RBI. 
• 1965 - The Pirates backed up 34-year-old Bob Friend's one-hitter, a fourth inning infield rap by Don Landrum, with three homers (two by Jim Pagliaroni, the other by Donn Clendenon) to defeat the Cubs handily at Wrigley Field, 6-0. Five Bucs had multiple hits, led by Roberto Clemente and Manny Mota with three each as the Bucs put up single runs in six separate innings. Friend made ‘em hit his pitch; he struck out just two Cubbies and walked three, with none of the Windy City runners reaching second. It was almost a mirror image of his only other MLB one-hitter in1955, also tossed at Wrigley and spoiled by a fourth-inning infield knock. 
• 1967 - The Bucs dropped the opener of a Forbes Field twin bill to the Astros, 8-5, despite seven hits between Maury Wills and Bill Mazeroski. But they kept swinging in the nightcap, winning a 15-2 laugher. Maz banged out two more hits and joined Roberto Clemente (with a pair) and Donn Clendenon (four RBI) in the home run parade. The Great One had three hits, along with Wills and Manny Mota, giving Tommy Sisk a big pad in his complete-game win. Manny Sanguillen, fresh from the Columbus Jets, made his MLB debut and first start, going one-for-five. 

Maz - 1967 Topps sticker

• 1968 - Three years after taking his last MLB at bat, coach Bill Virdon was called back to duty with the Bucs due to multiple injuries, military obligations, and the Quail having more ability than the Bucs had available in the minors. Virdon got into six games (two pinch hitting, four as a OF’er) from July 17th to August 7th as a 37-year-old while still pulling coaching duties. The Quail went 3-for-6 at the dish, and this day was his return’s highlight when he banged a ninth inning, game-tying, two-run pinch hit homer off Reds closer Ted Abernathy. Unfortunately for the storyline, the Pirates dropped the game in 12 innings at Forbes Field by a 7-6 tally. 
• 1969 - After three years of low scoring games, the All Star contest at RFK Stadium featured some offense, with the National League winning, 9-3. Bucco reps Matty Alou went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run while Roberto Clemente whiffed against Sudden Sam McDowell in his only at bat. The game was originally scheduled to be contested the prior evening but heavy rains forced its postponement to the following afternoon. It also cost the match its ceremonial opening pitcher, President Richard Nixon, who was slated for the night game formalities but spent Wednesday at the Apollo 11 splashdown as Vice President Agnew Spiro performed the day game’s honorary duties. The daylight contest was the last All-Star Game to be played earlier than Eastern prime time.