7/5: Kip, Big Bob Gems, Cole Train Rolls, Woody-0, Ben, Wil, Ralph Go Boom, Fred-Niner, Game Tales; 10 Straight, Bobby & Son; HBD Felipe, Goose, David, Ward & Harvey

• 1877 - P Harvey Cushman was born in Rockland, Maine.The 1902 Pirates were banged up towards the end of the 1902 campaign, and Harvey, a 24-year-old amateur hurler who pitched for the U of Maine and was currently twirling for the local Millvale nine, was added to the Bucco roster in late August to help hold the fort. In a two-week span, he got four outings with a slash of 0-4/7.36, while managing to walk 31 batters in 25-2/3 IP. That ended Harvey’s big league career, and he finished his pro days in 1906, playing with the Braddock Infants of the Class C Ohio-Pennsylvania-Maryland League. He developed roots in the area and died in 1920 in Emsworth. 
• 1884 - OF Ward Miller was born in Mount Carroll, Illinois. He began his eight-year, five-team career in the show as a 25-year-old with the Pirates in 1909, batting .143 before he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds along with cash for Kid Durbin. Ward did find his eye and finished his MLB days with a .278 BA. After 15 years of pro ball, Miller retired to Dixon, Illinois, to serve in law enforcement. The city placed a monument dedicated to Ward on the lawn of the Lee County Courthouse to commemorate both his law and baseball careers. Bill Johnson of the SABR Biography Project wrote “It was from his football exploits (Miller was a running back for a local amateur club) he earned one of his two lifelong nicknames, Windy. Local reporters, in describing his running speed as an offensive end, tacked the sobriquet on him. His other nickname, Grumpy (or Grump), reputedly came from teammates in Chicago because of his reportedly gruff personality.” 
• 1886 - The Pittsburgh Alleghenys swept a DH from the Baltimore Orioles, 15-1 and 13-2, at Recreation Park, led by Fred Carroll, who banged out an American Association/big league record nine hits, later matched by eight players. The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette wrote “The visitors were at the mercy of the home terrors from the start...” but didn’t give many game details because “...it would be too tedious to describe how each run was made.” They added that the results were to be expected “...where nine very bad ballplayers contest against nine good ones.” Pud Galvin and Cannonball Morris were the winners, with the crowd estimated at 14,000 fans (note: the twin bill required separate admissions for each game; the opener drew 6-7,000, the nightcap 7-8,000). The Alleghenys finished the year in second and the Orioles were last. 

Fred Carroll - 1887 Goodwin/Old Judge

• 1886 - OF David Beals (the name he answered to) Becker was born in El Dorado, Kansas. He began an eight-year MLB run in 1908 with the Pirates as a 22-year-old, batting .154. Despite that start, Becker hung around as a platoon guy (he was a LH hitter) with a rep as a big banger of the deadball era, finishing up his career with a .275 BA and 45 home runs. Beals played 21 years of organized ball before retiring after the 1925 campaign at age 38. 
• 1948 - Ralph Kiner hit three HRs with five RBI in the opener of a twinbill split against the Reds at Forbes Field, backing Vic Lombardi’s pitching in the 10-3 win. Stan Rojek added his first MLB dinger to the pot; he would hit one more during his career. Ralph was shut down in the second game, a 6-4 loss that Cincinnati took by scoring three times in the ninth. 
• 1951 - RHP Rich “Goose” Gossage was born in Colorado Springs. He was only here for one of his 22 MLB years, but the Goose made the most of it, putting together an 11-9-26/1.62 slash for the 1977 Bucs and earning an All-Star spot, working 133 IP and amassing 151 punchouts. The Pirates never made a serious bid to keep him after the season, and he parlayed his Pittsburgh campaign into a six-year, $3.6M contract with George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees. Although some euphony surely helped, Bruce Markusen of The Hardball Times posted “Gossage’s nickname was not a play on his last name. The nickname came from his White Sox roommate, fellow pitcher Tom Bradley. Shortly after he joined the Sox, Bradley took note of Gossage’s unusual delivery and mechanics. Bradley told Gossage that he looked like a goose when he threw the ball. The Chicago media latched on to Bradley’s observation, quickly tagging Gossage ‘Goose.’” 
• 1953 - At Forbes Field, the Phils' Robin Roberts shutout the Pirates, 2-0, in 10 innings for his 28th consecutive complete game, outlasting Murry Dickson. The Bucs had 10 hits off Roberts but stranded 11 runners. It was also his 13th straight win over Pittsburgh going back to August 26th, 1950 (the string would reach 15). The Bucs did win the nitecap of the DH by a 7-4 tally. The Corsairs managed just eight hits in that contest, but collected five of them in the opening frame, along with a couple of walks, to run away and hide by scoring five times. Jim Waugh got the win with help from Lefty LaPalme, who got the closing call after Waugh walked three batters in the ninth. 

Bob Skinner - 1960 Topps

• 1960 - The Bucs and Milwaukee Braves played a dramatic, see-saw game at County Stadium with the Pirates hanging on for a 5-4, 10-inning, win. Down 2-0 in the top of the ninth, Rocky Nelson and Don Hoak homered to give the Bucs a 3-2 lead. The Braves Del Crandall’s two-out, bases-loaded single off Paul Giel tied the game, with Bob Skinner cutting down the winning run at the plate to extend the match. With two gone in the 10th, an infield knock by Skinner was followed by Nelson’s second homer to make it 5-3. Bob Friend, a starter by trade, was called in and was nicked for a run, but closed it out for his only save of the campaign. 
• 1963 - Roberto Clemente, always a bit touchy about guys throwing at him, clobbered a pitch that Met’s pitcher Tracy Stallard tossed under his chin with two strikes and two outs in the eighth inning, lining it into the seats to break a 1-1 tie and give the Bucs a 3-1 win at the Polo Grounds. Stallard told Maury Allen of the New York Post that "'I was trying to waste a pitch. I figured maybe I could get him to swing again at a pitch around his head.” He did. Don Cardwell got the win, with Alvin McBean picking up the save. It was the eighth straight loss for NY. 
• 1966 - Woodie Fryman tossed his third straight shutout, a 6-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The rookie lefty surrendered just seven hits combined in the three complete game wins. Donn Clendenon smacked a two-run bomb and Jose Pagan added a pair of RBI. They were his only three whitewashes of the campaign as he finished the year at 12-9/3.81. 
• 1968 - The Bucs rode one big offensive outburst and a super start by Bob Veale to a 4-0 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Pirates plated all their runs in the fifth inning when six of their first seven runners reached base, with the key blow being Bill Mazeroski’s two-run double. Veale gave up just two hits, both infield singles, with a walk and five strikeouts to tame the Cubbies. The Windy City nine never had a runner reach second base against the big Bucco lefty in his complete game win. Bob only won 13 games but through little fault of his own: his ERA in the Year of the Pitcher was 2.05. 

Johnny Ray - 1982 Donruss

• 1982 - Pittsburgh's first two hitters of the game, Omar Moreno and Johnny Ray, homered off Houston's Joe Niekro at TRS, but Niekro ended up with the last laugh in a 6-4 Astro win capped by Phil Garner’s three-run blast (Ray and Garner had been swapped for one another at the 1981 deadline). It gave the ‘Stros a six-game winning streak against the Bucs, a string that ended the next day when Larry McWilliams' five-hitter carried the club to a 1-0 victory. 
• 1985 - Not only is the season a marathon, but sometimes even the games are. The Pirates and Padres went through three rain delays and 12 innings of play at TRS in a game that ended at 1:41 AM. After giving up two runs in the top of the 12th, the Bucs scored three times in their half to take a 5-4 win from the Friars. San Diego tied it in the ninth, 2-2, to take it into extras and pulled ahead on Tony Gywnn’s two-out, two-run knock. The Pirates came right back; two singles and a walk juiced the sacks and Bill Madlock’s two-bagger knotted the score again. An out later, Johnny Ray’s sac fly put it to bed, giving Rick Reuschel the blown save/win duo. Mad Dog had three hits and three RBI while Marvell Wynne also posted three knocks and crossed the plate twice. 
• 1988 - Andy Van Slyke, Sid Bream, Jim Gott, Spanky LaValliere and Bobby Bonilla held a players-only meeting before playing San Diego at Jack Murphy Stadium after losing three in a row to fall 7-1/2 games off the lead. They preached a team vs an individual approach and then went out and won that night, 3-2, as AVS backed his talk when he homered and stole a base. The big play came with an out in the ninth when C Junior Ortiz withstood a runaway John Kruk collision at home to keep the tying run from scoring. Bob Walk got the win with Barry Jones earning the save. The meeting didn’t help long term; the Mets took the crown by winning 100 games to the Bucs’ 85 victories. 
• 1989 - Barry Bonds homered in Pirates' 6-4 loss to the SF Giants at Three Rivers Stadium, giving him and his dad Bobby the MLB father-and-son home run record with 408. The Bells (Gus & Buddy) and the Berras (Yogi & Dale) formerly shared the record of 407. Gus and Dale both played for the Bucs, so the Pirates had a claim on all three slugging "Killer B" families. 

Barry Bonds - 1989 Topps Super Star sticker

• 1991 - LHP Felipe Vazquez (formerly Rivero) was born in San Felipe, Venezuela. The lefty joined the Bucs from the Nats in 2016 as part of the Mark Melancon deal and established himself as a solid setup man. The following year, the Pirates traded closer Tony Watson and Vasquez stepped into his role, featuring a 100 MPH fastball, slider and changeup combo. His career circled the drain when he was arrested for child pornography and sexual assault charges in 2019. 
• 2000 - Wil Cordero drove in six runs with a pair of long balls to lead the Bucs to a 9-6 win against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Aramis Ramirez also added a homer. Jimmy Anderson went five innings for the win and Scott Sauerbeck, Jason Christiansen & Mike Williams brought it home. 
• 2004 - Pittsburgh won its 10th straight game, 3-1, over the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium as Kip Wells outdueled Josh Beckett. Wells gave up four hits and K’ed eight in a scoreless eight-inning outing and then had to sweat out a shaky Jose Silva save. Abraham Nunez homered in the win. The streak, which was the highlight of an 89-loss season, ended the next day. The Pirates actually played well through July and were just two games under .500 on the 27th, but the dog days of August and September wilted the record of Lloyd McClendon’s charges. 
• 2005 - Kip Wells scattered four hits and punched out a dozen Phils as he went wire-to-wire for a 3-0 victory at PNC Park. The shutout was the second (and last) complete-game whitewash of his 12-year career. Jason Bay had three hits and provided the big blow with a two-run blast in the fifth while Matt Lawton’s double plated the other score to topple Philadelphia. 

Kip Wells - 2005 Leaf Century

• 2015 - The Bucs used a big inning to take a 5-3 win over the Cleveland Indians at PNC Park. The Pirates trailed, 3-0, entering the fifth frame before plating five runs off Danny Salazar on a two-run homer from Pedro Alvarez, a run-scoring single from Neil Walker and a two-run double from Andrew McCutchen. The Pittsburgh Kid and Cutch banged their game-tying and game-winning hits with two away. Gerrit Cole earned his league-leading 12th win by tossing eight innings of five-hit ball and striking out five. Cole tied Ken Brett (1974), ElRoy Face (1959) and Rip Sewell (1943) for the second-most dubs prior to the All-Star break in Pirates history behind only Dock Ellis’ 14-win start in 1971. Mark Melancon earned his 27th save by tossing a 1-2-3 ninth inning. 
• 2021 - The Bucs had a big night, beating Atlanta at PNC Park by an 11-1 count. They were led by some unlikely suspects. Chase De Jong won his first MLB game since 2018, escaping a testy 36-pitch first-inning by allowing just a run and then following with four shutout frames. OF Ben Gamel was big with three hits, including two homers, three runs scored and a career-high six runs chased home. John Nogowski, just bought from the Cards and hitting .096, had two hits, a walk, three tallies and his first MLB RBI. The Bucs first six batters each had multiple hits.