9/9 Through the 1960s: Roberto-Matty Show; Satch-Slim; 1860's Match; Gems & Game Tales; HBD Tom, Pete, Hugh, Schoolboy, Frankie, Dashing Dan, Doc, Dots & Abner

• 1857 - LF Abner Dalrymple was born in Gratiot, Wisconsin. He had a long and illustrious career in early baseball - he was the first hitter to be issued an intentional walk with the bases loaded - and spent two seasons (1887-88) at the backend of his 12-year career with the Alleghenys. Abner hit just .215 with Pittsburgh, but got the team’s first National League at-bat against the White Sox on April 30, 1887, a 6-2 win at Recreation Park that is considered by the Pirates to be the beginning of the franchise. 
• 1863 - The Alleghenies and the Keystones, after a two-year wartime hiatus, met on the West Common in Allegheny City in a match won by the Alleghenies. It helped to establish that the roots of local baseball dated back to at least the Civil War era. The Pittsburgh Daily Commercial wrote “...we hope that they and other clubs will keep it rolling and give us many more matches of the noble game.” 
• 1886 - IF Jack “Dots” Miller was born in Kearny, New Jersey. He played with Pittsburgh for five seasons, from 1909-13. He drove in 87 runs for the 1909 Series champs and had a .263 career average with the Pirates. According to Bucco lore (and the SABR Biography Project), he got the nickname "Dots" after a reporter asked Honus Wagner the whereabouts of the new kid. Wagner pointed to him in a corner and replied in his German accent, "Dots (That's) Miller." A good tale, but according to his family, Miller had a thick accent and pronounced “dots” for “that’s” as a youth, and so Dots became his term of endearment. 

Doc Johnston - 1915 Press

• 1897 - 1B Wheeler “Doc” Johnston (sometimes referred to as Johnson) was born in Cleveland, Tennessee. Doc was bought for $7,500 from Cleveland in early 1915 to cover first base after starter Ed Konetchy jumped leagues by joining the Pittsburgh Burghers of the Federal League. Doc had a decent opening campaign, batting .265, but slumped the following year and was dealt after the 1916 season to Birmingham of the Southern Association as part of the Burleigh Grime package. Johnston played 11 years in the show, finishing his career with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1922. His nickname came about because he was a sickly youth and had broken a bone or two in an accident (he had a lifelong gimpy leg because of that), so he was an expert regarding various aches and pains. 
• 1891 - OF “Dashing Dan” Costello was born in Jessup, PA, in Lackawanna county. The LH hitter played three years (1914-16) for the Bucs as a reserve outfielder and utility man. He hit .241 as a Pirate. Pittsburgh released him in August of 1916, “...as he had been mixed up in several near fights because of his remarks to opposing players.” He also had authority issues, as the Pittsburgh Press added “...his attitude (bad) toward club officials and policy was well known,” probably not a wise tack for a .240 hitter of any era. As far as his nickname, we have not a clue - he was speedy (Dan stole 110 bases in six minor league seasons), or it may be a nod to his reputed love of nightlife. 
• 1898 - Bucco skipper Frankie Frisch was born in the Bronx. He spent his Hall of Fame playing days with the NY Giants and St. Louis’ Gas House Gang. The Fordham Flash managed the Pirates from 1940-46, leading the club to five winning seasons and a second place finish in 1944, ending up with a 539-528 slate in Pittsburgh. Frankie also managed and coached with the Cards, Cubs and Giants, and later was a broadcaster. Frisch died in 1973 after a car crash. He was a track star in college at Fordham, hence the nickname "Fordham Flash.” 

Schoolboy Hoyt - 1936 photo Conlon Collection/TSN/Getty

• 1899 - RHP and Hall of Famer Waite “Schoolboy” Hoyt was born in Brooklyn. Best known for his NY Yankee years, he tossed for the Bucs from 1933-37 as a multi-role arm, compiling a record of 35-31-18/3.08, winning 15 games in 1934. He got his nickname when John McGraw signed him when Hoyt was a teenager and he became known as "The Schoolboy Wonder.” 
• 1913 - RHP Hugh Mulcahy was born in Brighton, Massachusetts. Hugh pitched for Philadelphia for eight years and lost almost five full seasons to WW2; he only got into two games as a Pirate in 1947, his final campaign. But Hugh did leave with one of the more memorable nicknames in baseball history - he was known as “LP” from his time with the Phillies. The moniker was taken from the box scores of his games, which 89 times read “LP, Mulcahy” as in losing pitcher. In justice, he could have just as easily been dubbed “Hard Luck” Mulcahy as some of the Philly teams he played for were terrible. He was a workhorse for those clubs and despite the setbacks, even made the All-Star team once. 
• 1928 - The Pirates rallied with five runs in the eighth to overcome a 7-3 Cardinal lead and take an 8-7 victory home from Sportsman’s Park. Paul Waner went 4-for-5 with two RBI, including the game-winner, and a run while brother Lloyd chipped in with three knocks, including a double, triple, RBI and two runs scored. Joe Dawson worked two perfect innings for the win. 
• 1931 - C Pete Naton was born in Flushing, New York. Pete was part of Holy Cross’ 1952 College Championship club and the Bucs signed him the following year. He got a couple of calls to the show during the 1953 campaign, getting in six games and going 2-for-12 with a pair of walks. That would be it for Pete, who spent six years in the minors before retiring. He was a successful businessman after he left the game, an avid amateur golfer (his memorial service was held at his golf club) and a member of Holy Cross’ Athletic Hall of Fame. 

Satchel Paige - 1936 photo via the Leon Day Foundation

• 1934 - The Pittsburgh Crawfords' Satchel Paige and the Philadelphia Stars' All Star, lefty Slim Jones, traded fastballs through nine innings at Yankee Stadium in a 1-1 draw, called after regulation due to darkness (they were the second game of a doubleheader, with the Chicago American Giants topping the New York Black Yankees, 4-3, in the opener). Paige struck out 12 (he fanned the final two Stars hitters with the bases loaded in the ninth), giving up six hits, and Jones fanned nine while allowing just three knocks, pitching perfect ball over the first six frames and carrying a shutout until the eighth before 30,000+ fans. The pair faced one another a month later, and before that game, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson presented them with travel bags (a fitting gift for the well-traveled Satchel) in honor of the "greatest game ever played." Paige bested Jones, 3-1, in the rematch. 
• 1937 - Ed Brandt outdueled the Reds Gene Schott, 1-0, at Forbes Field, handing the Reds their 30th one-run loss of the year. Arky Vaughan's triple and Bill Brubaker’s single to lead off the ninth walked off Brandt’s four-hitter. 
• 1959 - SS Tom Foley was born in Fort Benning, Georgia. He played for 13 years, spending 1993-94 with the Pirates, getting into 145 games and hitting .246. Foley became the Rays minor league coordinator, and in 2001 joined Tampa Bay’s big league staff, retiring in 2019. 
• 1966 - Roberto Clemente reached base five times (four hits, walk) and Matty Alou four times (three hits, walk), and the pair scored all three runs as the Bucs walked off the Cards, 3-2, in 12 innings at Forbes Field. Willie Stargell plated each guy once, but the clincher was delivered by Bill Mazeroski, whose sac fly sent home Mateo, who had opened the extra frame with a single. The Pirates had plenty of chances to put the game away, stranding 12 runners, and both sides had a runner thrown out at home. Pittsburgh had enough in the tank to post a victory for ElRoy Face, who worked three scoreless frames behind Woodie Fryman and Pete Mikkelson. The win kept the Buccaneers 1-1/2 games ahead of the Giants and Dodgers, but a September swoon (they lost 11 of their last 20 games) would land them in third place, three games off LA’s pace.