- 1863 - RHP Bill Nelson was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. He tossed three games for the Alleghenys in September of 1884, going 1-2/4.50. His peripherals were a little bit rougher - in 26 IP, he gave up 21 runs (13 were earned), hit four batters and tossed five wild pitches. He was released at the end of the season; the Alleghenys were about to buy the Columbus roster, leaving no room for a pitching project. Little is known what happened to Bill afterward; it appears he got on with his life at home as he ended his days in 1941 back in Terre Haute.
- 1865 - 2B Lou Bierbauer was born in Erie (some sources claim he was born in Philly, que sera, sera). The Pirates signed him in 1891, as he wasn’t on the reserved roster of his American Association club, the Philadelphia Athletics (he had skipped to the outlaw Players League Brooklyn Ward’s Wonders in 1890). His signing rights were decided by an arbitrator, and though the AA thought the Alleghenys’ act was “piratical,” Pittsburgh was awarded the unprotected Bierbauer and a new nickname, the Pirates. From 1891-96, Bierbauer was a defensive master and hit .260 for the Pirates.
- 1883 - RHP Harlan “Cy the Third” Young was born in Portland, Indiana. The Pirates purchased Harlan’s contract from Wichita of the Western Association in 1908 and he did OK in a limited time, going 0-2/2.23 in three starts. Then it gets interesting. In Cy Young’s era, every pitcher named Young became a Cy of one stripe or another. Cy the Third, Harlan, was traded to Boston for Cy the Second (aka Young Cy), Irv Young. The association by name didn’t help Cy Two much nor Three at all. Irv did go 4-3/2.15 for Pittsburgh and lasted two more seasons with the White Sox, winning 63 games in six years. Harlan remained winless with Boston, and then bumped around in minor league ball until 1920. He retired to Florida, where he passed on at the ripe old age of 91.
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| Pete Compton (w/St. Louis) - 1912 photo Bain/Library of Congress |
- 1889 - OF Anna Sebastian “Pete” Compton was born in San Marcos, Texas. Compton had a six-year run in MLB, playing for five clubs, with a brief stop in Pittsburgh in 1916, going 1-for-16 in five games. Though old Pete was just a .241 hitter in the show, he was handy with the wood in the minors - he played through the 1928 season, leaving pro ball after eight straight .300+ seasons, over 2,500 hits, and a career .307 minor league BA. And no, we don’t know how Anna morphed into Pete; we’d guess Ma and Pa Compton were hoping for a girl.
- 1891 - OF Everett Booe was born in Mocksville, North Carolina. His MLB days were from 1913-14; he spent his rookie campaign as a Bucco, batting .200 in 29 games before jumping to the Federal League. Booe was a speedster and did have a long playing career in the minors, stretching from 1910-30 with the last handful of seasons spent as a player/manager. After he was done, he retired with his wife to Kennedy, Texas, where he ran a lumber supply company, was active in community affairs, both civic and baseball and where he died in 1969 at age 77.
- 1893 - 1B/OF Cy Rheam was born in Pittsburgh. Cy went to Indiana Normal School (now IUP) and the utilityman rostered for a couple of seasons with the Pittsburgh Rebels in 1914-15, batting .201 while playing six different positions. That was the sum of Cy’s MLB career, and he apparently stayed local after his playing days. He died in the City in 1947 and was buried in Allegheny Cemetery.
- 1902 - RHP Leon Chagnon was born in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. He worked for the Bucs from 1929-30, then again from 1932-34 after spending 1931 in the minors. Mostly called to action from the bullpen, he went 19-14-2 with a 4.61 ERA during his Pirate career. He closed out his big league stay with the Giants in 1935, then spent two years in the minors before hangin' up the spikes.
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| Leon Chagnon - 1932 photo Mears/TSN |
- 1909 - Player/manager Fred Clarke was honored at Forbes Field before the game, when, according to Ralph Davis of the Pittsburgh Press, “...Mayor WA (William) Magee presented him with a bag of gold coin ($600). Just as the money was being handed to Clarke, James Geary placed a wreath of evergreen on his brow and showered dozens of rosebuds all over him while the fans shouted themselves hoarse at the scene.” After all that, the Pirates went out and lost to the New York Giants, 13-9, but all’s well that ends well. The Pirates clinched the pennant when the Chicago Cubs lost to the Phillies, 3-2, and then went on to beat Ty Cobb’s Detroit Tigers in the World Series.
- 1938 - The Bucs lost the “Homer in the Gloaming” game to the Cubs at Wrigley Field, considered a highlight of one of the greatest pennant race finishes in baseball. The teams were tied for first and tied in the bottom of the ninth. The umpires ruled that the ninth inning would be the last to be played because of darkness; if it was still tied, it would become a no-contest and would be replayed the next day in its entirety. Chicago player/manager Gabby Hartnett came to bat with two out, fell behind 0-2, and then connected off Mace Brown, launching the ball into the left-center field bleachers for the walk off win and sending 34‚465 fans home in ecstasy, many of whom circled the bases with him. The Cubs won the next day (their 10th straight), the Pirates faded, and Chicago became the NL champs. The loss was so painful for manager Pie Traynor that it’s said to have been a major factor in his retirement after the 1939 season.
- 1942 - LHP Grant Jackson was born in Fostoria, Ohio. Buck tossed for the Pirates from 1977-81 and made his last MLB outing as a Buc in 1982. His line here was 29-19-36/3.23, and he tossed scoreless ball in his six appearances during the 1971 NLCS/World Series campaign. After he retired, Jackson was hired as Pittsburgh's pitching coach in 1983. He held similar positions with four other organizations (Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, and Baltimore Orioles) before he retired for good after the 2002 season. He got his nickname while in the minors; one of his teammates thought he walked like a cowboy buckaroo and so dubbed him “Buck.”
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| Grant Jackson - 1977 Topps |
- 1947 - Tiny Bonham tossed a two-hit whitewash as the Bucs defeated the Reds, 7-0, at Forbes Field to end a doleful season in Bill Burwell’s only game as a manager (he replaced Billy Herman, who resigned) on a high note. Pittsburgh finished 62-92, 32 games out of first. Dixie Howell and Frank Gustine homered in front of 33,794 fans. The Bucs took just 64 games the year before, but won 83 contests the following season under new skipper Billy Meyer. Herman wasn’t left in the cold; he still had a year left on his contract and pocketed $28K for 1948.
- 1952 - The Post-Gazette lede told the story: “The Pittsburgh Pirates wound up the clubs losingest (sic) season in modern baseball history by doing just that - losing.” The Bucs at least put up a fight at Crosley Field as Gus Bell dinged a two-run homer in the ninth to tie the game briefly before the Cincinnati Reds stormed back in the ninth to claim a 3-2 win from Forrest Main. The Pirates finished the year with a 48-106 slate. Still, it was a profitable day for a couple of Bucs - in contests held before the game, Brandy Davis won $100 as the fastest player while Joe Garagiola ($50) and Frank Thomas ($25) came in 1-2 in the distance-hitting event.
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