7/29: Jordan, Freddy, Otto, Dutch Dealt; Renegade Night, 11 K Frankie, In-Clines, Duelin', Hans Slam, Game Tales; Frankie 21-Gamer; RIP Bill & Harry; HBD Jack, Mike, Tommy, Dave, Erv & Cutty

• 1886 - 2B George Cutshaw was born in Wilmington, Illinois. He came to the Bucs in exchange for Burleigh Grimes and manned second base for four seasons (1918-21). Cutty hit .275 as a Pirate, with his best year being his last, when he hit .340. But he was injured in August, and the 35-year-old was sold to the Detroit Tigers, where he spent his last two MLB years. 
• 1903 - LHP Ed Doheny, it was announced in the Pittsburgh Press, “..had left the team under a mental hallucination (he believed detectives were tailing him) and returned home.” His mental state had slowly unraveled as the season went on, made worse by a lingering arm injury, and owner Barney Dreyfuss told the paper “If it is true that Doheny is mentally deranged, I am certainly sorry to hear of it. (Manager) Fred Clarke told me that there was something wrong with the pitcher before the team started West, but I laughed at him. Now it seems that Fred was right.” Ed was wrestling with real demons. After resting at home, he returned to the Pirates briefly before being escorted home again by his brother in September. After some violent episodes there, he was declared insane and sent to the Danvers State Asylum, where he died in 1906. 
• 1909 - Harry Pulliam committed suicide in New York City. A writer in Louisville, he joined Barney Dreyfuss in Pittsburgh as the team president, akin to today’s general manager title. In 1903, he was elected president of the National League. He made the ruling to support umpire Hank O’Day’s call in the famous “Merkle” misadventure, which eventually cost the New York Giants the championship in a playoff against the Chicago Cubs. He took several months off following that episode after having a nervous breakdown. He never really recovered - the following year, he took his life, with the suicide blamed by many as a result of depression caused by the pressures of the president’s office. 

Harry Pulliam - Helmar Cabinet II

• 1915 - Honus Wagner hit a grand slam in the eighth inning off Brooklyn Dodger Jeff Pfeffer (It was “a dandy drive” per the Pittsburgh Press) during the Pirates 8-2 victory at Forbes Field. The inside-the-park round tripper made the 41-year old infielder the second oldest player ever to hit a homer with the bases juiced, a record set by 42-year old Cap Anson in 1894. (Cap's mark stood until 1985 when 44-year-old Tony Perez of the Reds claimed the graybeard honor.) Erving Kantlehner scattered nine hits while going the distance for the win, helped by an unassisted DP when RF Bill Hinchman snared a short line drive and then raced to first base to double off Pfeffer. 
• 1916 - The Pirates sent 2B Otto Knabe and C Art “Dutch” Wilson to the Chicago Cubs for OF Frank Schulte and C Bill Fischer. Schulte batted .239 during his Bucco stint and was waived to the Philadelphia Phillies in mid-season 1917; 1918 would be his final major league season. Fisher hit .274 in 1916-17 but couldn’t beat out Walter Schmidt behind the dish, and hung on by playing off-and-on in the minors until he was 38. Otto was approaching the end of his road and finished out the year, ending his MLB days. Wilson lasted until 1921, playing as a reserve, before ending a 14-year MLB stay. 
• 1920 - Jack of all trades Erv “Four Sack” (a nickname picked up after hitting a game-winning homer in the minors) Dusak was born in Chicago. He joined the Bucs in 1951 from the St. Louis Cardinals along with Rocky Nelson and the utility guy played six positions, including pitcher, until he was released by the club in June of 1952, hitting .273 in 41 games. He spent the next three campaigns on the farm and retired from pro ball in 1955 at the age of 34. 
• 1922 - Max Carey (2), Reb Russell, Cotton Tierney and pitcher Wilbur Cooper all homered at the Polo Grounds as the Pirates whipped the league-leading New York Giants, 8-3. Cooper went the distance for the win. Charlie Grimm had four hits while Carey & Russell banged out three knocks. It was a sweet victory over their heated rivals, but at the final bell, the G-Men took the National League flag while Pittsburgh finished in third place, eight games off the pace.

Charlie Grimm - 1923 photo Bains/Library of Congress

• 1940 - The Bucs scored six times in their final at-bat, with the lead run thrown out at the plate as Frank Gustine tried to score from first on Vince DiMaggio’s single. It was a pivotal play; the Dodgers pushed across a two-out run in the bottom half to down the Pirates, 7-6, at Ebbets Field. The game was marked by a ninth inning brawl that started when Brooklyn’s Babe Phelps (who joined the Bucs in 1942) spiked Mace Brown at first. Bucco manager Frankie Frisch was fined $100 and ejected while three of his players were hit with $25 fines for their actions. 
• 1947 - Frank Gustine went 4-for-5 against the Boston Braves to lead Pittsburgh to a 6-5 win at Forbes Field, running his hitting streak to 21 games before it was snapped the next day. Tiny Bonham went the distance for the win behind a balanced offense - six Pirates scored and six posted RBI while eight of the nine starters, including Tiny, collected at least a hit against the Braves. 
• 1959 - LHP Dave LaPoint was born in Glen Falls, New York. The 12-year veteran spent part of 1988 with the Pirates, coming over from the Chicago White Sox in August for reliever Barry Jones. He made eight starts for the Bucs, slashed 4-2/2.77 and signed with the New York Yankees in the off-season, almost doubling his salary from $425K to $800K. He’s bounced around several baseball-themed activities since his retirement after the 1991 campaign, coaching minor & indie league ball, hosting a talk show and running baseball academies. Dave now describes himself, tongue-in-cheek, on twitter as a “Former MLB Pitcher with a face made for radio and a body made for bowling” 
• 1963 - OF Tommy Gregg was born in Boone, North Carolina. A seventh-round pick of the Pirates in the 1985 draft from Wake Forest, Gregg spent the first two years of his nine-season career with the Buccos in 1987-88. He hit .217 in as a seldom-used bench guy before being shipped to the Atlanta Braves as part of the Ken Oberkfell deal. Tommy spent several seasons as a reserve for the Bravos, then made stops in Florida and Cincinnati, playing through 1997. Tommy later coached in the Kansas City and Miami systems and is now an indie league batting coach. 

Tommy Gregg - 1988 Donruss

• 1968 - Henry Aaron was caught red-faced thanks to some smoke and mirrors trickery by the Bucs. On a hit-and-run, Gene Alley and Bill Mazeroski decoyed Hammerin’ Hank into believing Joe Torre had hit a grounder between them; the reality was he had lifted a fly to Roberto Clemente in right. When Aaron stopped at second to try to find the ball, it was way too late; it was already on its way to first for the double play. It wasn’t one of his better days on the bases as he was also picked off first base in the Pirates 3-2 win at Forbes Field. In addition to his Emmy performance, Maz also homered to help Bob Veale to the win. Henry wasn’t the only guy with happy feet; the Bucs' Maury Wills misread a fly he thought was dropping and was doubled up off second base. 
• 1968 - RHP Mike Williams was born in Radford, Virginia. In six seasons (1998-2003), he went 15-23 and saved 140 games for Pittsburgh with a 3.78 ERA. His mark of 46 saves in 2002 set a team standard (topped in 2015 by Mark Melancon with 51), but fame is fleeting - his 12-year baseball career closed after the 2003 season following a trade to the Philadelphia Phillies. 
• 1983 - John Candelaria and Tom Seaver exchanged four-hitters at Shea Stadium, with the Candy Man prevailing over Tom Terrific, 2-1. Two of the hits off Seaver were solo shots by Mike Easler and Tony Pena; Candelaria gave up a run in the first inning followed by goose eggs. Cecilio Guante finished up with a seven-up, seven-down performance to save the game for Candy. 
• 1971 - Gene Clines was the hero of the Pirates 8-5 win over Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. His three-run homer was the big blow in a six-run sixth inning, and the center fielder went 4-for-4 with four RBI and a pair of runs. Bob Robertson and Willie Stargell also went yard in the win that was cemented by 5-2/3 scoreless frames tossed by the Bucco bullpen. 

Gene Clines - 1972 Topps

• 1988 - There were nearly 50,000 fans packed into Shea Stadium, and they got their money’s worth as John Smiley and Bob Ojeda traded three-hitters, with the hometown nine taking the game, 1-0, on a Kevin Elster solo shot in the eighth inning; in another decade, he would be a Buc. The Pirates never threatened; they had three runners reach second, all three with two outs. 
• 1998 - OF Jack Suwinski was born in Chicago. The Pirates got him from San Diego in 2021 as part of the Adam Frazier return. He cracked the lineup in 2022 and flexed for the Pirates with 19 homers in 372 at bats. He developed into the Pirates top power source in 2023, with his splits about even and a strong OBP, though his low BA and high K rate make his outings inconsistent. 
• 2000 - Brian Giles went 5-for-5 with a pair of doubles while Warren Morris and Emil Brown homered as the Bucs ran up a 10-2 count against the San Diego Padres at TRS. Francisco Cordova got the win as three Buc pitchers scattered six hits in front of a Saturday night crowd of 30,118. 
• 2007 - Bucco outfielder Bill Robinson passed away in Las Vegas. The local boy (he was from McKeesport and went to Elizabeth-Forward HS) spent eight years as a Pirate from 1975-82, hitting .276 with 109 homers. He played five positions as a Pirate (1B/3B, every OF spot) and while a regular for only one year, he got into 100+ games six times in his eight seasons here. 
• 2009 - 2B Freddy Sanchez was traded to the San Francisco Giants for RHP Tim Alderson. The Bucs also traded RHP Ian Snell and SS Jack Wilson to the Mariners for RHP Aaron Pribanic, RHP Brett Lorin, 1B Nathan Adcock, SS Ronny Cedeno and 1B Jeff Clement. Snell was out of baseball by 2010 while Freddy & Jack were snake-bitten by injury. Most of the new gang failed their auditions as Pirates; the only regular contributor was Cedeno, and he wore out his welcome after 2011. 

Frankie - 2014 Topps Heritage

• 2014 - The Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-1, at AT&T Park behind Francisco Liriano’s 11 whiffs and homers by Travis Snider and Josh Harrison. It was the third straight game that Harrison and Snider went long. After an April-May slump that saw them fall nine games behind in the National League Central Division race and eight games below .500, the Bucs pulled within a game of first and even up in the loss column while moving into the second wild card spot. 
• 2019 - The Bucs sent RHP Jordan Lyles to the Brewers for AA RHP Cody Ponce. Lyles, a free agent signing from the off season, had a Jekyll and Hyde stay with Pittsburgh, posting a 4-1/1.97 mark in mid-May, then crashing to a 1-6/9.57 slash from that time forward. He slashed 7-1/2.45 with the Brew Crew to continue his roller coaster campaign, and is now with the KC Royals. Ponce, a second-round draft pick, played for the USl Team and at one point was on the Bucs 40-man roster, but since 2022 has been tossing in Japan for the Ham Fighters. 
• 2023 - A sold-out PNC Park was rockin’ on this Saturday night. Outside on Federal Street was a Yinzerpalooza pregame party, everybody coming through the yard’s gates got a David Bednar bobblehead (and music box; it played “Renegade”) and a large bloc of Philly fans made the trip only to be trolled by the park video scoreboard operator. The 38,483 rooters got an impromptu fireworks show thrown in as the Bucs outlasted the Phils, 7-6. Philadelphia got to Quinn Priester for four runs in the third; the Pirates answered with a pair of tallies in their half and then four more in the fourth. The Brotherly Love nine pulled within a run in the eighth, and it was time for David Bednar, who came on to earn a five-out close on his give-away night for his 21st save of the campaign. The young Bucs were big boys against the Phils; Endy Rodriguez doubled in a run, then banged a bases-loaded triple while Liover Peguera added some slick mittwork to go with three hits, including a homer, to chase home a pair of teammates and Alika Williams posted his first MLB knock to drive in a run. Priester rode the bats and bullpen to his second win in three decisions