10/7: Trio of WS Losses; Playoff Contests, Scooper-Dooper, Candy Fans 14; Hans Title & High Expectations; Tanner Chucked; '96 Staff; Game Tales; HBD Nick, Chuck, Moonlight Ace, Brickyard & Adam

• 1867 - P Bill “Brickyard” Kennedy was born in Bellaire, Ohio. He tossed his final MLB season for the Pirates in 1903, going 9-6/3.45 and worked one game in the WS, losing badly to the Boston nine, 11-2, although six runs were unearned. Brickyard was noted for a lively fastball that he had sporadic control over, walking over 1,200 batters in his 12-year career. He got his Brickyard nickname because he worked for a brick-making company. Kennedy was also known as “Roaring Bill” because of his loud voice, which he used to barber anyone within ear shot. 
• 1892 - IF Adam DeBus was born in Chicago. The son of German immigrants, he played minor league ball in the Midwest before the Cards signed him in 1917. He didn’t play for them but caught the eye of the Pirates, who inked him in July. Adam hit .229 in 131 ABs and that three month audition ended up being all of his MLB days and in fact the end of his pro career. After the 1917 season, DeBus joined the 86th Infantry Division, and played on the 86th’s baseball team. He spent his post-baseball days working as an electrician. 
• 1895 - LHP Fred “Moonlight Ace” Fussel was born in Sheridan, Missouri. Fred tossed his first two years with the Cubs, spent the next three years in the minors and then finished his career as a Pirate in 1928-29, going 10-11/4.61. He was a baseball lifer, though, and toiled on the farm for the next 11 years before calling it a day at age 43. He was dubbed with his moniker in the minors after his MLB stint when he threw a no-hitter in a 1933 night game to become a "Moonlight Ace." 
• 1901 - It ain’t easy being The Flying Dutchman. Per the season-ending Pittsburgh Press Bucco recap, “Hans Wagner leads the Pirates in batting with a good percentage. His batting this year, however, has not come up to his own or expectations of friends.” Honus’ disappointing campaign consisted of hitting .353, the fourth best average in the National League (of course, he had hit .381 in 1900), and he also finished fourth in total bases with 271. Tough crowd... 

Sam Leever - undated photo via Goshen History

• 1902 - Sam Leever and the NL champ Pirates beat a team of AL all-stars in an exhibition at Exposition Park by a 4-3 score, with the AL pushing across three runs in the ninth to give the Bucs a scare. Ginger Beaumont led the Pirates with three hits. Cy Young took the loss, giving up eight hits and striking out seven. There was no post-season or World Series yet; the NL and AL were still merrily raiding one another’s rosters in a bid for baseball supremacy. 
• 1903 - Game Five of the World Series at Exposition Park was a pitcher's duel for the first five innings between Boston's Cy Young and Pittsburgh's Brickyard Kennedy. But in the top of the sixth inning, the Americans scored six runs and added four more in the seventh frame on the way to an 11-2 romp over the Bucs. Young went the distance and struck out four for his first World Series win while the Pirates didn’t help their moundsmen much with either their bats or mitts, collecting six hits while committing four errors that led to six unearned runs. 
• 1904 - OF Chuck Klein was born in Indianapolis. The HoF’er played one year (1939) in Pittsburgh, hitting .300 with 11 homers. He was signed by the Pirates after being released by the Phillies and fittingly returned to Philadelphia in 1940 to end his career, giving him 15 years in the City of Brotherly Love. Klein then put down roots in the City of Brotherly Love, operating a Philly bar after his playing days. The Phils retired his number, but as he wore eight of them during his years with the club (two of them twice), they just put a Philly “P” up where the number should be on the Veterans Stadium Wall of Fame. 
• 1907 - The Bucs split a twinbill with the Reds to finish with 91 wins, 17 behind the front-running Cubs. But it was a championship season for Honus Wagner. Hans led the league with a .350 BA, .408 OBP, .513 slugging %, 38 doubles, 264 total bases and 61 stolen bases. He tied teammate Ed Abbaticchio for second in RBI with 82 and came in third in runs scored with 98. 

Pie Traynor - 1925 photo/Acme Pictures

• 1925 - Walter Johnson of the Senators struck out 10 Pirates during a 4-1 Washington victory in the opening game of the World Series at Forbes Field. Pie Traynor’s homer was the only dent against the Big Train, who surrendered just five hits. Lee Meadows took the loss. In a sidebar, Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis had the Pirates and the Sens wear black armbands in memory of New York Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson, who had died that morning. It was thought to be the first time that teams recognized the passing of a fellow MLB player with a memorial uniform patch. 
• 1927 - Herb Pennock took a perfect game into the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium before Pie Traynor broke it up with a one-out single, followed by Clyde Barnhart double to bring him home. That was about all the local offense as the New York nine claimed an 8-1 victory over the Pirates to give the Murderers’ Row Yankees a 3-0 bulge in the World Series. It was actually a close game until NY scored six runs in the seventh, capped by Babe Ruth’s three-run bomb. 
• 1972 - The Pirates scored three times in the first and never looked back as they beat Cincinnati, 5-1, in the NLCS opener at TRS. Al Oliver had a homer, triple, two runs scored and three RBI to give Steve Blass all the offensive help he’d need. He gave up eight hits and walked four, but Steverino dodged the bullets by stranding 11 Reds before giving way to Ramon Hernadez with one out in the ninth. A postgame sidebar: Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht discovered that being a politico wasn’t a ticket to ride when he was arrested for disorderly conduct. It seems he didn’t like the way a City cop was directing stadium traffic, and after several warnings from the officer to refrain from his sharp-tongued commentary, Cy found himself hauled into a paddy wagon. 
• 1975 - John Candelaria fanned 14 Reds at TRS, but Pittsburgh lost the NLCS finale, 5-3, as Cincy swept the series three games to none. The Bucs got a two-run homer from Al Oliver, but Ramon Hernandez was touched up for a pair of runs in the 10th inning to take the loss. The Reds went on to beat the Boston Red Sox in seven games to win the World Series. 

Candy Man - 1975 Pirates promo photo

• 1985 - Chuck Tanner was fired by the Pirates, but wasn’t out of work for long as he was hired to manage the Atlanta Braves three days later. Chuck’s teams had spent five years around .500 after the ‘79 championship and suffered a black eye during the Coke Trials. Jim Leyland would later be named as the new skipper while Tanner went on to spend three years with the Bravos. He then served as a baseball operations assistant for the Milwaukee Brewers (1992-2002) before scouting for five years for the Cleveland Indians. Chuck closed out his Bucco days as a senior advisor to Pirates GM Neal Huntington beginning in 2007, a position he held until he passed away in 2011. 
• 1992 - The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the NLCS with a 13-5 pounding of the Pirates at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Bucs threw seven pitchers at Atlanta, which banged out 14 hits, including a Ron Gant grand slam. The Bravos had a pair of four-run innings and iced it in the seventh, when they scored five two-out tallies off Denny Neagle. Chico Lind had two RBI for the Buccos while Barry Bonds scored twice; Lloyd McClendon’s two hits led the Pirates pack. 
• 1996 - Manager Gene LaMont put together his first Pirates staff when he added Pete Vukovich (pitching)/Lloyd McClendon (batting) as coaches, joining Spin Williams (bullpen & only holdover)/Jack Lind (first base) and the soon-to-be-hired Rich Renick (bench)/Joe Jones (first base). Lamont, who had been the White Sox skipper from 1992-95, had a tough act to follow when he took the reins from Jim Leyland after serving a season as his third base coach, and lasted through 2000 in Pittsburgh, when he was replaced by one of his coaches, McClendon. 
• 1996 - RHP Nick Mears was born in Sacramento, California. Mears, an undrafted free agent, joined the Bucs in 2018 and was a fast riser, going through three MiLB levels before reaching Altoona at the end of 2019 and capping off the year with a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League. He was invited to camp and called up on August 8th, made one appearance, and was returned to the alternate minor league camp after the MLB staff got a chance to look him over. Nick rejoined the club later in the month, getting into four games total and fanning seven in five frames with a 5.40 ERA. Mears started at Indy in 2021, was recalled in late May, then joined the Pirates pen full time in late July, finishing with a line of 1-0/5.01 in 30 outings. He was out for most of 2022 after an elbow ‘scope procedure and got into just two games for the Pirates. In the off season, Nick was claimed by Texas after being DFA’ed to clear a roster spot for Connor Joe. He now tosses for the Colorado Rockies, where he was called up three times and made 16 outings. 

Chad Hermansen - 2001 Fleer Tradition

• 2001 - Pirate prospect Chad Hermansen showed a brief flash when his three-run homer in the eighth inning off Carlos Zambrano scored the Wilson boys, Craig and Jack, to give Pittsburgh a season-closing 4-3 win over Chicago at Wrigley Field. Joe Beimel got the win with a save from Mike Fetters. The Bucs finished last in the Central with 62 wins and Chad was dealt to the Cubs the following year. 
• 2013 - The Pirates were on the brink of eliminating the St. Louis Cardinals from the NLDC at PNC Park, but the Redbirds rode Michael Wacha’s arm to a 2-1 victory and winner-take-all game at Busch Stadium. The Cards drew first blood when Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Charlie Morton. Pittsburgh halved the gap in the eighth when they got their first and only hit, a 438’ bomb by Pedro Alvarez, to make it a one-run contest. But both bullpens were in shutdown mode, and the score stood. 40,493 fans showed up for the third consecutive postseason game to set a park attendance record. The Cardinals set a playoff record as all three of their pitchers (Wacha, Carlos Martinez and Trevor Rosenthal, who got the save) were 23-years-old or younger. 
• 2015 - The Bucs were one-and-done in the 2015 playoffs, losing the wild card game to the Chicago Cubs, 4-0. The Cubs scored early off Gerrit Cole as the top of the order, Dexter Fowler and Kyle Schwarber, went 5-for-6 against Cole Train, accounting for all four runs and each pounding a homer. The Pirates big opportunity came in the sixth when they loaded the bases with an out, but a bullet off Starling Marte’s bat, with an exit speed of 109 MPH, was an at ‘em ball to short, resulting in a rally-and-game-crushing DP. Jake Arrieta held the Bucs to four hits with 11 K in a complete game win. A PNC Park record 40,889 fans were at the game to watch the 98-win Pirates face off against the 97-win Cubs; the Cardinals won the division with 100 victories.