10/9: WS Matches, Playoff Clashes; Hans 8th Title; Danny Rehired; Lenny Leaves; RIP Tiger; HBD/RIP Bob Moose; HBD Starling, Dutch Oven, Jason, Felix, Ray, Cricket, Jack, Arnie & Al

• 1865 - RHP Paul “Al” Maul was born in Philadelphia. He worked two years for the Alleghenys (1888-89), one season (1890) for the Pittsburgh Burghers, and spent 1891 as a Bucco. He went 2-8/6.24 with the Alleghenys & Pirates and 16-12/3.79 in the Players League. Al spent 10 more campaigns in the big leagues after leaving the Bucs, primarily as a Washington Senator. Maul coached at Lehigh and then spent a decade as a Philadelphia A’s scout. Although he had a cranky arm throughout his career, his cheerful, upbeat demeanor earned him the nickname “Smiling Jack.” Maul came up as an outfielder and hit .241 over his career. 
• 1892 - LHP Arnie Stone was born in North Creek, New York. His MLB days were in 1923-24 when he toiled for the Pirates, posting a line of 4-3/3.77 in 35 games (two starts). The 31-year-old Stone tossed for two more years in the minors before retiring back home to New York. 
• 1903 - LHP Jack Tising was born in High Point, Missouri. Jack was a minor-league lifer who got his big league time with the Bucs in April/May of 1936, making 10 outings (six starts) and posting a 1-3/4.21 line as a 32-year-old. The spitballer pitched from 1924-46 in the bushes (he took off 1929-31 before the itch returned) and won 167 games, appearing over 600 times before retiring at age 42. 
• 1909 - Detroit jumped on Howie Camnitz early, scoring five times in the second and third innings after Pittsburgh had taken a 2-0 lead in the opening frame, and never looked back in taking a 7-2 win over the Bucs in front of 30,915 attendees at Forbes Field to square the World Series at a game apiece. Wild Bill Donovan limited the Pirates to five hits with seven whiffs. Tommy Leach was the only Pittsburgh batter to solve him, cracking a pair of doubles; Wee Tommy drove in the first run and scored the second. Ty Cobb stole home against reliever Vic Willis in the third inning to plate the fifth Tiger tally. 

Honus Wagner - 2020 Topps Stadium Club

• 1911 - In a 10-inning, 6-5, loss to the Chicago Cubs at the West Side Grounds, Honus Wagner collected a pair of hits to finish the season with a .334 BA to win his eighth NL batting title. No one would wear that many crowns again until Tony Gwynn equaled Hans’ mark in 1997. 
• 1944 - SS Freddie Patek was born in Seguin, Texas. Known as “The Cricket” - he was 5’5” and chirpy - Freddie played his first three seasons (1968-70; .244 BA) with Pittsburgh and then spent nine more years in the American League, mostly with KC. He was a speedy, glove-first shortstop who was blocked in Pittsburgh by Gene Alley. He played on three pennant-winning Royals squads, was chosen as an All-Star three times and led the league with 53 stolen bases in 1977. 
• 1947 - RHP Bob Moose was born in Export. He went to Franklin Regional HS, where he threw three no-hitters and was drafted by the hometown Bucs in 1965 during the 18th round. The righty added one more to his resume in the MLB, tossing a no hitter against the Mets on September 20th, 1969. In a decade with the Pirates - he first twirled in the show at 19 - he slashed 76-71-19/3.50. He died tragically in an auto accident while heading to a golf party celebrating his birthday in 1976, entering and departing this vale on the same date. Sparky Anderson, skipper of the rival Cincinnati Reds, upon hearing the news, summed it up aptly: “How sad. Only 29. How sad.” 
• 1959 - RHP Ray Krawczyk was born in Sewickley. The local kid was raised in California but the hometown nine reclaimed him by drafting Ray in the first round (4th overall) of the 1981 MLB June Draft (Secondary Phase) from Oral Roberts University. He got a handful of outings with the Bucs from 1984-86, appearing in 24 games and going 0-3/8.65. He got a couple of more shots with California and Milwaukee, but he was out of baseball following the 1989 season. He’s now based out of Orange County and pushes a training device he invented, the Throw Trac. 

Vern Law - 1960 Fleer

• 1960 - Vern Law won his second contest against the Yankees, thanks to his own two-out RBI double followed by Bill Virdon's two-run knock in the fifth inning. Roy Face retired the final eight Bronx Bombers for the save at Yankee Stadium. The 3-2 victory stopped the Buccaneer bleeding to even the Series at 2-2 after a pair of New York runaways. The game’s big play was Virdon’s leaping grab of a Bob Cerv drive at the wall (he and Roberto Clemente actually crashed into one another after meeting at the fence) in the seventh inning, saving a pair of runs. 
• 1963 - SS Felix Fermin was born in Mao, Dominican Republic. He played for the Pirates, the team that first signed him, from 1987-88, hitting .265 in 66 games. He was traded to Cleveland and spent the next five years as their starting shortstop, ending his 10-year career with stops at Seattle and then with the Chicago Cubs. His nickname was "El Gato" because of his cat-like reactions on defense. After his playing days, he went on to manage in the Dominican and Mexican Leagues. 
• 1969 - Danny Murtaugh was hired for the third time as Bucco bench boss. He replaced Alex Grammas, who was serving in Larry Shepherd's spot. For 19 of the next 22 years, Grammas coached third base and infield for Sparky Anderson’s staff, with a three-year stint as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. As for the Whistling Irishman, he would manage the Pirates between 1970-71, retire for health reasons, then take the helm for a final time from 1973-76. 
• 1969 - Don Hoak passed away on the same day that Danny Murtaugh was named manager, a job the Tiger thought he deserved. His widow, singer Jill Corey, claimed that Hoak died of a broken heart because the Pirates had passed him over for skipper, although he actually suffered a fatal heart attack chasing after a relative’s stolen car. Hoak was a Tiger to the end. 

Don Hoak - 1960 Topps

• 1971 - Pittsburgh scored three times in the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of the World Series at Memorial Stadium on just one hit. But the Birds came back on the strength of three homers, the killing blast delivered by Merv Rettenmund that chased home three runs, to take the lidlifter by a 5-3 count. Dave McNally tossed a three-hitter with nine whiffs to earn the win while sore-armed Dock Ellis took the loss in his only appearance of the Series. 
• 1972 - The Pirates overcame an early 2-0 deficit and nipped the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium, 3-2, to take a two games to one lead in the NLCS. Manny Sanguillen homered and had a pair of RBI to back winner Bruce Kison and Dave Giusti, who earned the save. 
• 1974 - The Bucs were eliminated from the NLCS three games to one by LA as Don Sutton tossed a one-hitter in a 12-1 thrashing at Dodger Stadium. Steve Garvey had four hits, including two homers, with four runs scored and four RBI to lead the Big Blue onslaught. Charlie Finley’s Oakland A’s then rolled over the Dodgers in five games to claim their third straight World Series crown. 
• 1982 - C Jason Jaramillo was born in Racine, Wisconsin. JJ came to the Pirates in the 2008 offseason after a deal for C Ronny Paulino with the Phillies, but in three years (2009-11) with Pittsburgh hit .235 and was non-tendered by the Bucs in 2012. He signed a series of minor league deals with four teams in the next two years before retiring after the 2013 season. He’s now part of Forceout, a family company that makes a protective glove to wear under a fielder’s mitt. 

Jason Jaramillo - 2011 Topps

• 1986 - LHP Derek Holland was born in Newark, Ohio. Holland, an 11-year veteran known as “Dutch Oven,” was added as an NRI on a minor-league deal in 2020 and broke camp as part of the rotation. He was a free spirit (and sometimes loose cannon) who brought some experience to a fairly young staff. Holland landed him in the pen after five starts, where he was much more solid (8.20 ERA starting/4.40 relieving with a line of 1-3/6.86 overall). He moved on to Detroit the next year and was last pitching in the Toronto system before being released. Dutch Oven started the 2023 campaign with York of the Atlantic League before needing TJ surgery.
• 1988 - OF Starling Marte was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He signed as an international free agent in 2007. Starling joined the big club in 2012, the first Pirates Dominican Academy graduate to reach the majors, and won a regular OF spot in 2013. He homered on the first pitch he saw in the show off Houston’s Dallas Keuchel, the first Pirate to do so since Walter Mueller in 1922. Marte won a Gold Glove (he had 33 OF assists in 2015-16) and was named to the All-Star team in 2016. He took a big hit in 2017 when he was suspended for 80 games because of steroid use. He hit .275, but his power numbers took a nosedive. He rebounded in 2018 with a 20 HR/30 SB campaign, joining Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke in that club, followed by a strong 2019 campaign (.295/23/82 in 132 games) before he was traded to Arizona for prospects in the offseason. Marte has since played for the Miami Marlins, the Oakland A’s and the New York Mets, his current club. 
• 1990 - The Pirates fell behind three games-to-one in the NLCS by dropping a 5-3 decision to the Reds before 50,61 fans at TRS as Jose Rijo topped Bob Walk. Paul O’Neill & Chris Sabo homered for Cincinnati while Jay Bell went long for Pittsburgh with Chico Lind adding a pair of hits. 
• 1991 - Doug Drabek and Bob Walk combined on a five-hitter, allowing just one runner to reach second, as the Bucs won the opening game of the NLCS, 5-1, against the Atlanta Braves and Tom Glavine at Three Rivers Stadium with 57,347 attending. Andy Van Slyke had two hits, two runs, and two RBI with a homer and double; Bobby Bonilla also had two knocks, scoring and plating a run. 

AVS - 1991 Donruss

• 1992 - Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield pitched Pittsburgh to a 3-2 victory over the Braves at TRS with 56,610 rooters on hand, giving the Pirates their first win in three tries during the NLCS. Wakefield was the first rookie to start a National League playoff game since Philly's Charles Hudson in 1983 and showed well, allowing five hits in a complete game outing. The Bravo runs were solo shots by Sid Bream and Ron Gant. Gary Redus went 3-for-3 with a double, triple and walk while Don Slaught added a homer to carry the Bucs. 
• 2002 - After spending 36 years as a Pirates scout, starting as a regional guy and climbing to special assistant to the GM, Lenny Yochim resigned. Dave Littlefield had asked the 74-year-old to become a part-time staffer, and Lenny refused the demotion. Yochim explained to Beaver County Times beat guy John Perrotto that “My pride won’t let me take a smaller role and pay cut.” It was his last MLB job before he passed away at age 84 in his hometown, New Orleans, in 2013. 
• 2013 - The Pirate playoff run ended, 6-1, at Busch Stadium as two-run homers by David Freese and Matt Adams gave Adam Wainwright all the tallies he needed to take the fifth and deciding game of the NLDS. Gerrit Cole pitched well, but after he was pulled for a pinch hitter in the sixth, the Cards scored four times off the Bucco bullpen. Pedro Alvarez singled home the lone Pirates score, giving him a MLB record for chasing home a run in each of his first six postseason contests. The Redbirds made it to the World Series, where Boston bested them in six games.