8/11 Through the 1970s: Ott Attack; Cobra 22-Gamer; TSN Pops; NLASG; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Josh, Al, Dorn, Woody & Dinty

• 1891 - IF Walter “Dinty” Barbare was born in Greenville, SC. He started 120 games for the Pirates from 1919-20 (he missed part of 1920 with a broken jaw), hitting .273. He was part of the package sent to Boston in the 1921 Rabbit Maranville trade. After his playing days were finished, Barbare served as a manager and umpire in the minor leagues. 
• 1907 - LF Forrest “Woody” Jensen was born in Bremerton, Washington. He spent his whole MLB career in Pittsburgh between 1931-39. He hit .285 overall and started from 1935-37. His major league record of 696 at bats (he drew just 16 walks in 731 PAs) in 1936 stood until Matty Alou broke it in 1969 with 698 AB. 
• 1921 - The Pirates tattooed Chicago pitching for 21 hits in a 12-9 slugfest win at Forbes Field, launched by a seven-run first inning. Though Wilbur Cooper was dented for 13 hits, he went the distance for the victory and contributed four knocks. Rabbit Maranville, Dave Robertson, Charlie Grimm and Tony Brottem had three raps while Carson Bigbee and Clyde Barnhart added two each. Everyone in the lineup scored and seven players chased home runs. 
• 1930 - Josh Gibson Jr., the son of legendary slugger Josh Gibson, was born in the North Side and raised in the Hill, graduating from Schenley HS. He started as a Pittsburgh Crawford’s batboy when his dad was a Craw, and eventually played for the Homestead Grays as an IF from 1949-50. Josh broke his ankle playing for Farnham of the Canadian Provincial League the following season and retired. He went to work at Homestead’s US Steel plant, traveled as a black baseball ambassador and helped found the Josh Gibson Foundation with other family members. He passed away in 2003 after a fall at his home. 

Josh Gibson - Helmar Oasis

• 1935 - The East-West Negro League All-Star game drew 25,000 to Comiskey Park. The fans got to watch an 11-inning thriller with the West winning, 11-8. C Josh Gibson of the Pittsburgh Crawfords led the West attack with four hits. Pittsburgh was well represented. Besides Josh, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston and Jimmy Crutchfield were West starters with Chet Williams and P Leroy Matlock as reserves. Charleston not only played, but was the manager. 
• 1958 - The Bucs moved into a tie for second by whipping the league-leading Milwaukee Braves and Warren Spahn by a 6-4 count in front of Forbes Field’s biggest crowd of the year, 38,938. Bob Friend was tough until he faded in the ninth, with ElRoy Face coming on to record the final two outs. Bill Mazeroski had a big day with three hits, including a triple, and chased home three Buccos. Roberto Clemente and Bob Skinner chipped in a pair of knocks. It was the Pirates fifth straight win and their eighth consecutive home victory. The fans had the fever; the turnout was the second largest ever for a night game in Oakland since 1940 when 42,254 fans showed up to watch the Bucs tackle the first-place Reds. 
• 1958 - RHP Dorn Taylor was born in Abington, Pennsylvania. Taylor joined the Pirates in 1981, signed as an undrafted free agent out of Pfeiffer College. He had a couple of tastes with the Pirates in 1987 and 1989, going 3-4/5.63 as a starter who was later converted to the pen. From 1988-90 he was an excellent starter at AAA Buffalo, posting sub-3 ERAs and showed well in spring camp, but never got an extended opportunity in the show. He closed out his career in Baltimore and coached HS baseball after he retired. 
• 1960 - IF Al Pedrique was born in Valencia, Venezuela. He was a utilityman for the Pirates from 1987-88 while batting .259. Al’s managed in the minors after his retirement, had several MLB coaching stints, and is currently on the Miami staff. 

Al Pedrique - 1988 Score

• 1963 - The Houston Colt .45s were a batter away from victory at Forbes Field, but Roberto Clemente and Jerry Lynch turned the tables to give the Bucs a 2-1 walk off win. Knuckleballer Skinny Brown, who had scattered six hits through the first eight innings, retired the first two Pirates in the ninth, but The Great One kept Pittsburgh alive with a ground ball single to right. Pinch hitter Lynch took the next flutterer from Brown and planted it in the right field stands to give ElRoy Face the win in relief of Joe Gibbons. The Bucs had the number of the second-year Colts; the win was the 11th in 14 meetings with the Space City nine. 
• 1966 - The Pirates scored three times in the ninth to defeat the NY Mets at Forbes Field by a 7-5 tally. Down 5-4 going into their last at-bats, Matty Alou opened with a single and was bunted to second. Roberto Clemente singled him home to tie the game, and Willie Stargell launched a bomb to win it. ElRoy Face won as the last of four relievers who combined to toss six scoreless innings against the Mets. 
• 1977 - Pittsburgh rolled over the NY Mets, 9-1, at TRS as Odell Jones tossed a five-hitter. Bill Robinson homered, doubled and drove in four runs. Rennie Stennett went 4-for-4 and Phil Garner 3-for-4. The Cobra, Dave Parker, added a pair of hits to record his second 22-game hitting streak of the season. He had lesser streaks just before and after this one; he banged out hits in 41-of-44 games between July 4th and August 23rd and never went longer than two games without a knock during the season. Al Oliver had a costly brush with the law. Scoops disputed a call at first, and inadvertently pushed coach Al Monchak, who was trying to keep the peace, into ump Bruce Froemming. He was fined and suspended for four days. 
• 1979 - The Pirates overcame an 8-0 deficit in the fifth to rally past the Phillies, 14-11, at Veterans Stadium. All but one of the Pirates 14 runs came home with two outs, as did 17 of their 23 hits. Ed Ott had four raps to lead Pittsburgh, including an eighth-inning grand slam off Tug McGraw, to go with three knocks from Omar Moreno, Tim Foli, Willie Stargell, John Milner and Bill Madlock. Moreno and Dave Parker homered for the Bucs. 

• 1979 - Willie Stargell was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Sonic Boomer.” He was a boomer during the ‘79 season, going long 32 times for his highest HR production since 1973 and adding five more homers (and two MVP’s) during the NLCS and World Series. The honors kept coming: Pops was co-winner of the NL-MVP with Keith Hernandez and named co-Sportsman of the Year with Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw by Sports Illustrated.