8/4 Through the 1940s: Yeager Comes, Leever Goes; Salkeld Cycle; Ump Show; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Luke, Bill, Homer, Cliff, Hicks, Paddy & Jake

• 1867 - 1B Jake Beckley was born in Hannibal, Missouri. “Eagle Eye” played eight seasons (1888-96) for Pittsburgh, with a year off in 1890 when he suited up for the Pittsburgh Burghers of the outlaw Player’s League. He hit .300/123 OPS+ with 113 triples as a Buc and posted three 100+ RBI/four 100+ runs scored campaigns. Jake could glove it, too. He’s the all-time leader for putouts and top 20 in assists for MLB first basemen. After his 20-year MLB career was done, he was eventually selected in 1971 to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee with a lifetime .308 BA and 23,755 putouts at first base during his career, the all-time record. Jake got his nickname because of his batting eye; he was a contact hitter who finished his career with more walks than whiffs. 
• 1879 - C Patrick “Paddy” O’Connor was born in County Kerry, Ireland. A little used catcher for the Pirates from 1908-10, he hit .250. He played one more season in Pittsburgh in 1915, albeit with the Rebels of the Federal League, batting .228. Paddy got a lot of mileage out of baseball, with a playing career that spanned from 1901-21 counting his bush league years. 
• 1883 - RHP Lew “Hicks” Moren was born in Pittsburgh and attended Duquesne University. He pitched exactly two games for the Pirates between 1903-04 (0-1/9.00), but was more successful with the Philadelphia Phillies, picking up 48 wins and 10 shutouts while compiling a 2.88 ERA from 1907-10 before arm problems ended his MLB career. He was one of the first twirlers to feature a knuckleball, closely following its original practitioner, Eddie Cicotte. Hicks (no clue as to how he got that moniker) lived to the age of 86, and is buried in Homewood Cemetery. 

Cliff Lee (w/Philly) - 1922 TSN

• 1896 - Utilityman Cliff Lee was born in Lexington, Nebraska. Cliff began his eight-year run in the show at Pittsburgh in 1919-20 after being drafted from Portland and then putting in military time. He hit .213 before being claimed by the Phillies and put up three consecutive .300+ campaigns in Philadelphia, playing outfield, catcher and first base. His splits aren’t available, but it appears he never saw much time as a regular because he was a platoon guy that could maul southpaws but righties, not so much. He played in the minor leagues before retiring in 1930. 
• 1897 - It was a bad day for Pittsburgh at League Park II in Cincinnati. Lefty Killen and the defense floundered in the opener of a twin bill, losing, 14-3, and per the Pittsburgh Press “The Reds won the first one with ease as they found Killen at will and the Pirates made so many errors they simply couldn’t do anything else.” In the second game, ump Tim Hurst caught a beer bottle tossed at him from the stands and threw it back at his attacker. Hurst ended up the one arrested (he was fined $100 as the bottle gashed its victim; he had a good arm for an ump) and Red Bittman, who umped a handful of times and was a Cincinnati native, replaced Hurst and called the game a 4-4 tie after six innings due to darkness, wiping out a six-run seventh by the Bucs. Per the Press, the real reason was “...because he failed to check the run getting of the Pirates, he called the game. As the sun was shining, it was a clear case of a steal.” The Pirates won the rescheduled make-up game, 8-1, and it was the last of 10 big league games Bittman umped. 
• 1901 - Before Pittsburgh’s 6-3 win at Cincinnati’s League Park, Reds and Pirates players were clocked while running from home plate to 1B. The fastest time for the 90-foot sprint was three seconds flat, by Bucco OF Ginger Beaumont. Though Beaumont was a lefty and was known for his wheels, scouts today consider 3.9-4.0 to be elite speed. The SABR Biography Project says he was once timed at 4.4, which seems a little more like it. As for the game, the Buc attack was primed by the speedy Beaumont & Hans Wagner with three hits apiece and a Lefty Davis homer. Ed Poole, subbing for sore-armed starter Sam Leever, took the win. 

Sam Leever - 1902 photo via Hall of Fame

• 1901 - The Bucs made a couple of moves. First, they brought in veteran C George Yeager from the Cleveland Blues on a try-out basis after Chief Zimmer, the Bucs starting catcher, was spiked and put out of action (he would then break a rib in a fall three weeks later). George passed the test and finished the year with the Bucs, hitting .264 in 26 games. On the same day, pitcher Sam Leever requested an unpaid leave of absence because of a sore arm, a problem he suffered from throughout his career. The Goshen Schoolmaster told club secretary Harry Pulliam, as reported by the Pittsburgh Press, that “I am not in a position to earn my salary and in justice to the Pittsburg club I think I should take a vacation at my own expense. Just lay off me, Harry, until I send you word that my arm is right.” The Bucs granted his leave, with Pulliam replying “You are one of the highest paid men in the league and the officials will be pleased when they hear of your offer (but) you will get your salary if you do not pitch another game this season.” He didn’t but came back strong the following year and tossed for the Pirates through 1910. 
• 1902 - RHP Homer Blankenship was born in Bonham, Texas. Homer tossed for a couple of years with the Chicago White Sox (1922-23) and then became a long-time Texas League twirler; the Pirates gave him a shot in 1928 and he went 0-2/5.82 in two starts with one complete game. 
• 1912 - IF Bill Schuster was born in Buffalo, New York. He started his five-year, 123-game big league stint in 1937 with the Pirates, going 3-for-6 in a three game audition. Schuster did have a long career spanning 16 years of pro ball, mainly in the Pacific Coast League, where he’s a member of its Hall of Fame. After retiring as a player, Schuster stayed to manage and coach in the west coast league, and later worked in the press room of the Los Angeles Times. 

Luke Easter - 1948/Richard Merkin Collection

• 1915 - 1B Luke Easter was born in Jonestown, Mississippi. The slugger played for the Homestead Grays from 1947-48. He hit .363 and led the Grays to a win over the Birmingham Black Barons in the 1948 Negro League World Series, the last one NLWS held. The Grays sold him to Bill Veeck and he went on to play for the Cleveland Indians, but age (he was 34 when he made his MLB debut) and injury limited him to just a couple of productive MLB seasons. 
• 1931 - Heinie Meine started it and ended it. Pirate pitchers put together a streak of 45 consecutive scoreless innings, starting with Meine’s outing on July 27th and ending with Meine’s 7-1 loss to the Cards at Forbes Field after adding five more frames to the zero column. In between, Buc pitchers Larry French, Ray Kremer, Glenn Spencer and Erv Brame all tossed shutouts. 
• 1945 - C Bill Salkeld went 5-for-5 to become the first and only Pirates rookie to hit for the cycle. He drove in all five runs in the Bucs 6-5 loss to the Cardinals at Forbes Field, with the club stranding 12 runners against St. Louis. “Wallopin’ William” must have really been feeling his oats on this day; his triple was the first of just two that he would hit in 1,050 plate appearances during his six-year MLB career with the Bucs, Boston Braves and Chicago White Sox.