5/31: Jose' HR String, BB's 1st, Whoa Nellie, Doublin' Down, 1-0 Sweep, Babe Wins Twice; Bounce-Backs, Game Tales; Clemente Day, Coke Court, Vic's Bow, Satch Match, Rain Day; HBD Kenny, Joe & Russ

• 1888 - The Alleghenys forfeited a game to the New York Giants when they failed to show up at the Polo Grounds while it was raining, staying high and dry in their hotel. The Pittsburgh Press wrote “Manager Phillips claimed that he had word that there would be no game and that it rained from 3:30 to 4 (the game’s starting time). President Nimick will protest the game.” He did but the league didn’t buy the alibi and Pittsburgh forfeited the rain-day match. 
• 1905 - The Pirates and Cardinals proved that no lead is insurmountable in baseball. The Bucs entered the eighth frame seemingly up safely, 6-1, at Exposition Park before Patsy Flaherty faded badly on the hill. The Redbirds made it 6-5 after eight and kept pushing. By the time reliever Deacon Phillippe put out a second fire in the ninth, the home nine were on the wrong end of a 9-6 count. But they had a rally left in them, too - two singles and a walk came in via an error, bunt single and sac fly to knot the score, then Fred Clarke became the hero with a two-out triple to cap the Pirates wild 10-9 win. 2B Claude Richey had four hits and RF Otis Clymer added three more. Wee Tommy Leach hit the first homer of the season in Expo Park when his drive got past the Cards CF’er and rolled almost to the flagpole 450’ away in center. In an era of rare long balls, local rooters gifted him a gold watch and other sundries the next day for his feat. Somehow, Flaherty, who was charged with eight of the runs, was awarded the win while Phillippe was credited with a save (took awhile, tho - the save wasn’t recognized until 1952 and didn’t become an official MLB stat until 1969). 
• 1909 - Babe Adams won both ends of a doubleheader at Exposition Park against the St. Louis Cardinals. He worked the final two frames of a 5-4 triumph in the opener, then tossed a complete game, 4-2, victory in the second match. Dots Miller had five hits during the twin bill with Hans Wagner adding three more knocks. The two games drew 20,633 rooters to the North Side. 

Bill Hinchman - 1991 Conlon/TSN Collection

• 1915 - The Pirates swept the first place Cubs by identical 1-0 scores at Forbes Field in front of 15,000 fans as Wilbur Cooper (three hits, eight K) and Al Mamaux (five hits, five K) hurled complete game whitewashes. The Pirates won the first game when RF Bill Hinchman was plunked with the bases loaded to force home C George Gibson (they wouldn’t win another 1-0 game via HBP again until 2017) and the second on a wild pitch that allowed Hinchman to plate from third. As Ralph Davis of the Pittsburgh Press noted, “This was getting the breaks...it was the luck of the Buccaneers to profit twice from slips made by Chicago twirlers.” 
• 1927 - The Pirates overcame a 6-1, sixth-inning deficit by scoring nine times in the final four frames to nip the Cubs, 10-9, at Forbes Field. 1B Joe Harris was on fire, going 5-for-5 with two triples, a double, four RBI and two runs scored. Carmen Hill, Pittsburgh’s fourth pitcher, got the win after fanning a pair while posting a quiet ninth to close the game out. 
• 1930 - Umpire Russ Goetz was born in McKeesport. After 13 seasons of honing his craft in the minors, he worked as an AL umpire from 1968 to 1983. Goetz was part of the blue crew for two All Star Games, four AL playoff series, and two World Series, including the Bucs 1979 battle against the Baltimore Orioles. Russ went into umpiring after serving in the Navy during the Korean War with deployments in Korea and China. He started his sporting days as a basketball player for the McKeesport Tigers and remained in Tube City after he retired. 
• 1932 - Paul “Big Poison” Waner banged out his 20th double of the month at Forbes Field in the fifth inning against Cincinnati’s Red Lucas to set the MLB record. The Pirates won the game, 4-1, as Waner went 3-for-4 with a run, two RBI and a stolen sack to back Larry French’s mound work. Big Poison collected 43 hits in May - 21 singles, 20 doubles and two triples. 
• 1937 - The Reds beat the Pirates, 8-3, in the opener of a doubleheader at Crosley Field. It was the only game Cincinnati won against the Pirates that season. Starting with a 7-5 loss in the nightcap - Pep Young’s three-run homer was the big blow - Cincy lost the next 17 straight to the Buccos, and dropped 21 of 22 games‚ tying the MLB record set by the Cubs over the Braves in 1909 and the Yankees over the Browns in 1927. The Reds would drop the first three to open 1938 for a 20-game losing streak against Pittsburgh, another MLB record. 

Satch Paige/Josh Gibson - Helmar Big League Brew

• 1942 - Satchel Paige rejoined his old Grays’ teammates when they played against the Dizzy Dean All-Stars in an exhibition game at Washington’s Griffith Park. The match drew 22,000 fans (the major league Senators averaged just 5-6,000 per game) and the Satchels beat the Dizzys, 8-1. Clark Griffith, the Sens’ owner, told Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard after the game that he was going to “break up your league” and sign black ball players, but like several other owners who made similar vows to integrate, he never made good on the promise. 
• 1948 - At Wrigley Field, the Cubs set a paid attendance record when 46‚965 fans passed through the turnstiles during a doubleheader split with the Pirates on Memorial Day. The Bucs lost the opener, 4-3, after Chicago scored in the ninth off Kirby Higbe. Pittsburgh rallied in the nightcap behind Elmer Riddle to win, 4-2. Danny Murtaugh chased home a pair of runs and scored once to provide Riddle with some working room to break even on the day. 
• 1953 - Vic Janowicz became the first Heisman Trophy winner to play MLB when he appeared as a pinch runner for the Pirates in the opening game of a doubleheader v the Dodgers. He was a better gridder than ballplayer; he hit .214 in his 1953-54 MLB stint with the Buccos. He went on to play a little NFL ball, but a car accident in 1956 ended his pro sports days. 
• 1961 - Pittsburgh bashed out nine doubles (two by Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski, with one each from Joe Gibbon, Dick Groat, Hal Smith, Gino Cimoli and Dick Stuart) in a 9-1 laugher at Forbes Field against the Milwaukee Braves. Joe Gibbon tossed a six-hitter with 10 strikeouts and cruised to the win. 
• 1962 - Joe Orsulak was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. A sixth round pick of the Pirates in the 1980 draft, he was seen as the Bucs’ future lead-off man and center fielder. In his time with Pittsburgh (1983-86), he couldn’t beat out Marvel Wynne before Barry Bonds came along, though he did hit .272. He lasted 14 years in the show, hitting .273 lifetime mainly as a bench/platoon outfielder while playing with the Pirates, Orioles, Mets, Marlins, and Expos. 

Joe Orsulak - 1986 Donruss

• 1964 - Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pirates, 6-4, at Forbes Field, but had to survive a towering blast by Roberto Clemente to do it. The Great One hit a ball halfway up the light tower 450’ away in center field. Post Gazette writer Jack Hernon estimated the ball would have traveled 500’ if the light standard hadn’t been in its way; the Dodgers beat man Frank Finch of the LA Times was also a witness and agreed with Hernon. 
• 1967 - OF Kenny Lofton was born in East Chicago, Indiana. The Bucs signed him as a free agent for $1.025M and he had a nice year in 2003, hitting .277 with 18 swiped sacks while posting a 26-game hitting streak. He was lost in an epic Bucco salary dump when he was traded to the Cubs at the deadline with Aramis Ramirez for Bobby Hill, Jose Hernandez and Matt Bruback; Lofton and A-Ram helped Chicago to the 2003 National League Central title. Kenny played until he was 40-years-old, retiring after the 2007 campaign with 17 seasons, 11 playoff years and six All-Star berths on his resume. After Lofton left baseball, he remained an entertainer, moving from stadia to studios by getting into film and television, his major at the U of Arizona, as both a producer and actor. 
• 1973 - The Bucs topped the Atlanta Braves, 3-1, backing up Nellie Briles three-hitter with Willie Stargell’s three-run blast in the eighth at TRS. Stargell’s ball went 468’ and landed in the upper deck. Of the 12 shots that carried into the cheap seats in Three Rivers Stadium history, Pops launched the most; this was his fourth and final second-tier homer. It broke up a gem by Gary Gentry; he had a shutout going into the eighth when a one-out infield single and 3-2 walk that raised the hackles of Bravo manager Eddie Matthews was followed by Willie’s blast. Briles went the distance for the win, sending Atlanta to their seventh straight loss. 
• 1985 - A Federal grand jury indicted seven for cocaine distribution and sales in baseball, none of which were Pirates (the players that testified were granted immunity). GM Joe Brown hoped the indictments would “...remove the shadow that has existed over the Pirates…” but his hope was in vain. The coke trials tainted the team’s freewheeling clubhouse culture and several Bucs, notably Dave Parker and Rod Scurry, in the eyes of the fans. 
• 1986 - Barry Bonds collected his first MLB hit, a first-inning double off Rick Honeycutt, as the Bucs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0, at PNC Park. Bonds must have been excited; he was picked off second base a batter later. Bonds had debuted a day earlier, but went 0-fer. Bill Almon’s two-run homer and Bob Kipper’s seven shutout innings keyed the win. Kip earned the victory and Pat Clements picked up the save by getting the final five outs. 

Barry Bonds - 1986 Topps

• 1988 - Not only did the Braves turn off the lights on the Pirates in an 11-1 thumping at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, but the Bucs were further left in the dark in the bottom of the eighth when the ballyard lights went out for 15 minutes. The game was already decided well before the blackout as the Bravos jumped ahead, 8-0, after two frames, and as Barry Bonds noted of the blown fuse: “It just prolonged the agony.” It also once again proved that baseball is a funny game; Pittsburgh was the thumper the night before, winning the match by a 14-2 count. 
• 1992 - The Pirates and Giants had a true throwback game - the Bucs wore their 1939 uniforms with red lettering and blue piping while the Giants wore their 1939 pinstripes with “New York” emblazoned across their chests. The old-timey G-Men beat the Bucs, 5-3, scoring three unearned runs off Zane Smith. It marked the first month since April, 1990, that the Pirates didn’t lead the division. Jimmy Leyland made no excuses: “We’re not in first place because we haven’t played like a first place team...” the skipper said of his 11-17 charges. That changed in a hurry - a sizzling finish put the Pirates comfortably atop the division by the time the smoke cleared, with 96 victories and a nine-game pad over the Nats. 
• 1994 - It wasn’t a good day to be a Pirate pitcher. San Diego scored 13 runs in the second inning on the way to a 15-5 whipping of the Bucs at Jack Murphy Stadium. Steve Cooke and John Hope were the hapless hurlers in that unlucky frame. The Bucs showed some spunk as Jay Bell spanked a grand slam and Brian Hunter added a solo shot, but to no avail. 
• 2006 - Jose Castillo homered in his fifth straight game as the Pirates defeated Milwaukee, 6-1, at PNC Park. Castillo hit a two-run shot off Chris Capuano in the second inning to continue a streak that began on the 26th against Houston’s Taylor Bucholtz, the third longest in franchise history behind Dale Long’s eight game streak and Jason Bay’s six-gamer (which had ended the day before). Ian Snell and three relievers combined on a three-hitter against the Brew Crew. 
• 2008 - SS Luis Rivas had four RBI, two runs scored, a homer and double as the Bucs pounded St. Louis, 14-4, at Busch Stadium to ruin Tony LaRussa’s 2,000th game as St. Louis skipper. Ronny Paulino added three RBI with three hits and a homer of his own while Jose Bautista chipped in with four raps. Xavier Nady and Freddie Sanchez chipped in three hits. 

Luis Rivas - 2008 photo John Grieshop/Getty

• 2016 - Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that this date would be Roberto Clemente Day throughout MLB. The highlight of the celebration was to be a game between the Pirates and Miami Marlins at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Unfortunately, the game was moved to Miami after a Zika outbreak on the island, and his special day was pushed back. His day of remembrance began in 2002, and starting in 2009 was marked by pre-game ceremonies around MLB with the teams presenting their Roberto Clemente Award to its nominee, with the overall winner announced after the World Series. In 2020, MLB made the date September 15th permanently to align with Hispanic Heritage Month. 
• 2023 - The Pirates whipped the Giants, 9-4, at Oracle Park. Andrew McCutchen, Connor Joe and Ji Hwan Bae combined for eight hits, two walks and seven runs while Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes chased home five teammates. Mitch Keller ran his record to 7-1, with four relievers working the final three frames to shut the gate. For the Bucs, it was a big sigh of relief; it was the first series they had won in May. For Kell, it was another red letter day in his breakout start. He became the first pitcher in franchise history to put up 90+ whiffs before June 1st when he fanned eight to run his season total to 93, topping AJ Burnett’s mark of 89 Ks in 2013. He also added to his record skein of striking out 8+ batters, running it up to seven consecutive contests after passing up Ollie Perez's 2004 five-game streak, the previous high water mark, in his prior outing.