9/4: Wallopin' Waners; 10 Straight; Tunnell Vision; Kitten Scratched; SI Law; Gill's Gaffe; Tarp Fail; Gems, Twin Killings, Lumber & Game Tales; HBD Jackrabbit & Herky-Jerky

• 1869 - RHP Elmer “Herky Jerky” Horton was born in Hamilton, Ohio. He made three MLB starts to fill his big league resume, two with the 1896 Pirates. He went 0-2, giving up 16 runs in 15 innings, with the second game coming after two days' rest (he also lost his final start in 1898, 12-3, as a member of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms). Herky started his pro journey in 1895 for Terre Haute and played through 1905, spending his last few seasons with New York-based teams, near his Lake Oneida home. His nickname came from his twitchy pitching delivery. 
• 1875 - OF Jack “Jackrabbit” Gilbert was born in Rhinecliff, New York. The small and speedy (hence his moniker) Jackrabbit played three games in 1898 between the Washington Senators and New York Giants. Gilbert went to the minors where he swiped 182 bases between 1897-1900 (records are incomplete beyond that). He got one more call to the majors in 1904, appearing in 25 games for Pittsburgh as a left fielder. It wasn’t exactly the fast track to job security; the Pirates had future Hall of Famer Fred Clarke starting in left field, and Fred was also the manager of the team. Jack didn’t return (hitting .241 with three steals in six tries didn’t help his cause) and played in the minors afterward, hanging on through 1910 when the Jackrabbit was an ol’ gray hare of 34. 
• 1890 - The Pittsburgh Alleghenys snapped a 23-game losing streak and a stretch where the club lost 33-of-34 games with a 6-2 win over the Cleveland Spiders at Recreation Park. 2B Sam LaRocque had a pair of knocks and Dave Anderson notched the win. It didn’t reverse their fortunes; they dropped 20 of the last 23 games to finish 23-113. From July 3rd forward (when they had their final winning streak of the year of three in a row), they were 6-66. Local hurler Billy Gumbert (his brother Ad also pitched later for Pittsburgh) led the staff with four wins. 

Sam LaRocque - 1892 Nashville American

• 1901 - The Buccos swept the NY Giants at the Polo Grounds by 12-6 and 10-3 scores. Their big guns carried the day: Fred Clarke collected eight hits (five runs scored, four RBI), Hans Wagner six (six RBI, two runs) and Ginger Beaumont five knocks (four runs scored) as the Pirates collected 34 hits during the afternoon. Jesse Tannehill went the distance to claim the lidlifter; Happy Jack Chesbro won the nightcap. Pittsburgh and New York were rivals for much of the early 20th century, but this was the Pirates year - they claimed the NL flag with 90 wins to earn their first championship after finishing second in 1900, although there was no official World Series until 1903. 
• 1908 - With two outs and the Pirates-Cubs in a scoreless 10th-inning tie at Exposition Park, Chief Wilson singled to center with the bases juiced, scoring Fred Clarke with the winning run for Vic Willis, who tossed a four-hitter. Doc Gill, on first base, saw Clarke score, and pulled a u-turn toward the clubhouse before touching second (which, while lazy, was a common enough practice by the players back in the day). The Cubs' Johnny Evers then ran over and tagged second base to claim (properly) a run-preventing force out on Gill. But the lone umpire, Hank O'Day, had already left the field and Chi-town protested the game to no avail. Charley Murphy, the Cubs president, told Pirates beat man Ralph Davis of the Pittsburgh Press that “I do not expect the protest will be allowed, but it certainly is a strong one and should prove a strong argument in favor of the double-umpire system” instead of the single arbitrator currently in use. Three weeks later on September 23rd, Evers did get a force call in roughly the same situation against the NY Giants’ Fred Merkle, and that play, which impacted the pennant race, became forever known as “Merkle’s Boner.” As fate would have it, O’Day was the umpire for that game, too. 
• 1916 - The Pirates swept the Cards at Forbes Field behind some stellar pitching. Frank Miller threw a four-hit whitewash in the opener, winning, 7-0, as the Redbirds shot themselves in the foot with four errors that led to three unearned Bucco runs. Wilbur Cooper followed by spinning his own four-hit shutout, taking a 2-0 decision. Carson Bigbee went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a double and a stolen base while Cooper helped himself by driving in the other run. 

Carson Bigbee - Helmar Oasis

• 1927 - Lloyd and Paul Waner became MLB’s first brothers to hit home runs in the same game. They pulled off the feat in the same inning when Lloyd led off the fifth frame with his second home run of the season, and an out later Paul followed with his ninth dinger, both off the Reds’ Dolf Luque. Neither long ball would have counted today as each cleared the fence on a hop, then considered a home run but now a ground-rule double as Pittsburgh defeated Cincinnati at Redland Field, 8-4. The Waners were among six Bucs to have two or more hits, with Johnny Gooch’s three hits and RBIs leading the way for Vic Aldridge’s complete game win. The win gave the Bucs a two-game lead in the NL race, and they would go on to win the flag, only to be swept by the Yankees legendary “Murderers’ Row.” 
• 1948 - With an off date during a Labor Day week home stand, the Pirates added to the Allegheny County Fair festivities by playing an exhibition against the Second Army club at the South Park Fairgrounds. Both papers reported a Bucco victory. 
• 1954 - The Pirates sent 1B Jack Phillips to the Chicago White Sox for IF Jim Baumer and cash; neither guy ever played for the club they were sent to. Baumer tread water in Pittsburgh’s farm system (he did play a handful of games for the Reds in 1960) and finished his career with a five-year stint in Japan. Phillips had hit .264 with the Bucs over four years before being dealt, but the CWS stashed him in the minors. He resurfaced in 1955 with Detroit, batting .301 in two seasons and a game (he played one last MLB contest in 1957 at the age of 35). 
• 1964 - Bill Mazeroski and Donn Clendenon led a 16-hit Bucco attack as the Pirates downed the Houston Colt .45s, 10-2, at Forbes Field. The dynamic duo went 6-for-9, combining for seven RBI and three runs scored. Bill Virdon also had three knocks, with Bob Bailey and Roberto Clemente chipping in with a pair each. Bob Veale went the distance to breeze his way to his 15th victory. 

• 1965 - Vernon Law was featured on the cover of The Sporting News. He won the NL Comeback Player of the Year award that season with a 17-9/2.15 slash in 29 games at age 35. The Deacon won 12 more games in 1966, but faded in ‘67, his final campaign, and retired to a coaching career. 
• 1967 - The Pirates pounded out 32 hits in sweeping a Busch Stadium twinbill from the Cards by 10-8 and 9-3 scores. Manny Mota led the parade with five hits, four runs and five RBI during the day; Willie Stargell also collected five knocks. Billy Mazeroski had four hits (two 2Bs and a HR) and four RBI while Maury Wills added four more hits and plated three times. Dennis Ribant won the first game in relief of Bob Veale with Juan Pizarro getting the save; Steve Blass got the win in the nightcap with Pizarro collecting his second save of the day. 
• 1970 - In the midst of a heated pennant race, the Bucs were ahead of the Phils, 4-1, in the seventh frame when a drizzle fell. The TRS automatic tarp came halfway up and then quit. The result was that the remainder of the game was pushed back to the next night as the Cubs slid into a first place tie with the Pirates with a win over Mets. The Bucs and Steve Blass held on to take the opener 4-3, the next night, then won the regulation contest behind rookie Fred Cambria, 6-4, to move 1-1/2 games ahead of Chicago. It was Cambria’s only MLB win as an arm injury cut his career short and he retired in 1973. Eventually the Buccaneers captured the NL East flag by five games only to be swept by the Reds in the NLCS. 
• 1971 - The Bucs mishandled five balls, but still won, 7-6, over the Montreal Expos in 11 innings at TRS. The Expos clanged in four themselves as six of the game’s 13 runs were unearned. Pittsburgh won on an oddball rally. Rennie Stennett singled and went to second when Gene Clines was HBP by Mike Marshall. Marshall picked Stennett off second, and during the same at-bat, had Clines picked off first, but Ron Fairly mishandled the throw. Instead of being out, Clines ended up on second where he scored the winning run on Vic Davalillo’s knock. 

Bruce Kison - 1972 Topps

• 1972 - Steve Blass threw a five-hit shutout for his 16th win and was followed by Bruce Kison, who also tossed a five-hitter while surrendering one run as the Bucs rolled over the Phils in a twin bill at TRS, 10-0 and 5-1. Al Oliver had four hits in the lid lifter, smacking two homers while scoring four runs and driving home six tallies. Vic Davalillo added four more raps and touched home three times. In the nightcap, Willie Stargell, who had five hits in the two games, banged a triple and homer to chase home two runs, giving him a league-leading 108 RBI, and Kison helped himself with a two-run double in the seventh to give himself some breathing room. 
• 1976 - The Pirates put up three runs in the ninth, then held off the Expos, 5-3, at Parc Jarry for their 10th straight win. The Bucs ninth inning was sparked by a two-run hit from Omar Moreno, who later scored on a wild pitch. Kent Tekulve gave up a score in the ninth and faced the tying run in Larry Parrish, but retired the slugger on a fly to center to pick up a save for Dave Giusti. Montreal had 13 hits, but were thwarted by four DP balls. The Bucs dropped the next match to end the streak, but stayed hot, winning eight of the next 11 games. 
• 1978 - In his first major league at-bat, Dorian “Doe” Boyland struck out while sitting on the bench. The Pirates rookie was yanked with a 1-2 count after the Mets made a pitching change in the seventh frame, replacing Skip Lockwood with Kip Kobel. Pinch hitter Rennie Stennett took Boyland’s place in the box as Chuck Tanner played the match-up game, and completed the K by watching strike three during the first game of a Bucco 7-4, 7-0, doubleheader sweep at Three Rivers Stadium. The victories put the Bucs one game out of first. They would finish the year in second, 1-1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. 
• 1982 - Lee Tunnell got his first MLB start (and appearance, for that matter) as a replacement for John Candelaria (his shoulder was tight), and took full advantage. Tunnell outpitched Fernando Valenzuela in a 1-0 win over Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium when Lee Lacy’s first inning homer stood as the game’s only score. Tunnell left in the eighth with a blister; Rod Scurry and Kent Tekulve finished up to preserve Lee’s first big league victory. 

Lee Tunnell - 1983 photo via Historical Images

• 1991 - The MLB Committee For Statistical Accuracy deleted Harvey Haddix’s 12-inning perfect game from the list of perfectos while removing the asterisk from Roger Maris’ 61-homer year. In The Kitten’s case, the committee ruled that a pitcher had to “complete the game” to get credit, no matter how many innings. Haddix's terse response to the slap, according to Albert Chen of Sports Illustrated, was "It's OK; I know what I did." 
• 1992 - Pittsburgh rallied for a 6-5 win against the LA Dodgers at TRS. Randy Tomlin allowed one unearned run in eight innings, turning over a 3-1 lead to Roger Mason in the ninth, but he and Bob Patterson, who gave up a two-out grand salami to Todd Benzinger, flipped a two-run lead into a two-run deficit. But the Bucs answered with three runs in their half off three Angelino pitchers, winning the game on Don Slaught’s pinch-hit, walkoff single that scored Orlando Merced. Andy Van Slyke stroked three doubles while Jay Bell homered to lead the attack.