7/6 Through the 1960s: Skinner Slam, B-2-B-2-B, Big 3, Game Tales; ASGs & Bucs 1st AS Hit, Ump Shows; HBD Omar, Willie, JT, Cy & Ed

• 1896 - The Pittsburgh Press described the game, played in the rain at Washington’s Boundary Park, as “...a farce. But it was not without excitement, however, for Umpire Tim Hurst threatened to whip half a dozen players.” Hurst reportedly socked Pirates Jake Stenzel and Pink Hawley in the jaw for the guff they had given him during the game. They accepted their fate like men according to the New York Clipper as "neither player resented the attack." The Pirates not only lost the fights with Mother Nature and Hurst, but also the game to the Sens, 6-2. 
•   1879 - SS Ed Holly was born in Chicago. Ed had a yo-yo career - he spent eight years in the minors, then two seasons with the National League Cardinals. After that taste, he built up a rep on the farm as a defensive whiz over the next half dozen years and in 1914, at age 34, joined the Pittsburgh Rebels, hitting .246 in 100 games and then batting .262 in a bench role behind Marty Berghammer, who had jumped leagues the following campaign. After that, he did some minor league managing and was a long-time scout. As a recognition of his days in the bushes, Ed was selected as a member of the International League Hall of Fame in 1949. 
• 1901 - New York manager George Davis said he would pull his team off the Polo Grounds rather than allow ump Harry Colgan to call the game, and he got his wish. Colgan avoided the drama by not showing up, and under the threat of a forfeit and fine by the league if the blustering Giants didn’t play the match, the two teams each selected a player - Giants infielder Charlie Buelow and Pirates catcher Jack O'Connor - to ump the contest. Davis might have been better off with Colgan as his club lost, 6-2, but at least there weren’t any rhubarbs. There were only two bang-bang plays during the match, and sportsman O’Connor called them both in favor of the Giants. The Pittsburgh Press gloated that “The delusion of manager Davis that the umpires were the cause of the New York’s club failure to take first place away from Pittsburg was dispelled…” Jack Chesbro got the win while Ginger Beaumont led the attack with two hits, including a homer. 

Cy Blanton - 1936 World-Wide Gum

• 1908 - RHP Darrell Elijah “Cy” Blanton was born in Waurika, Oklahoma. He twirled for Pittsburgh from 1934-39, going 58-51-4/3.28 and earning an All Star spot in 1937 with a dazzling array of breaking pitches. In 1935, his 2.58 ERA was the lowest in MLB, besting Lefty Grove. But his promising career was shortened by a steady stream of elbow injuries and physical woes, aggravated by alcoholism, and he died at the age of 37. Throwing the curve and screwball was the likely cause of his arm issues (some believe his chronically aching arm may have driven him to the bottle), and as SABR’s Gregory Wolf posted, the pitch-until-you-drop ethos of the era didn’t help. “Ranking among the most dubious decisions in big-league history, (Pirates manager Pie) Traynor permitted Blanton, coming off an injury-riddled season, to pitch a nine-inning no-hitter in a pointless exhibition game... just days before the regular season. Blanton subsequently tore ligaments in his elbow in his third start of the season, effectively ruining his career.” 
• 1933 - CF Paul Waner and 3B Pie Traynor represented the Bucs in the first-ever All-Star Game held at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, won by the American League, 4-2. Pie delivered a pinch-hit double in the seventh inning off Lefty Grove to become the first Pirate to collect an ASG knock while Big Poison appeared in the final frame of the Classic, playing right field. 
• 1938 - The Bucs sent P Mace Brown, SS Arky Vaughan and CF Lloyd Waner to the All-Star Game at Crosley Field. Brown was the only one to take the field; he worked three innings, giving up a run on five hits with two strikeouts, and was credited with a save in the 4-1 NL win. 
• 1940 - Arky Vaughan, Elbie Fletcher and Maurice Van Robays each homered and combined as a duo for 10 RBI and six runs as the Bucs romped over the Cards, 15-8, in the lidlifter of a Sportsman’s Park doubleheader. Bob Klinger got the win with Johnny Lanning mopping up at the finish. Pittsburgh took the second match from St. Louis by a 4-3 count, pushing across a 10th inning run on a Frank Gustine knock for the overtime win. Van Robays had a two-run homer and Mace Brown, who pitched five innings of one hit, shutout relief, earned the victory. 

Bob Elliott - 1942 Play Ball

• 1942 - 3B Bob Elliott was the sole Bucco invited to the All-Star Game at the Polo Grounds. He singled in his only at-bat during a 3-1 loss to the AL’s top guns. 
• 1945 - A doubleheader couldn’t begin any better as Pete Coscarart and Jim Russell smoked back-to-back leadoff homers for the first time in franchise history (it wouldn’t happen again until 1982). But Boston regained its composure and swept the Buccos, 13-5 and 14-8, at Braves Field. 
• 1954 - 1B Jason Thompson was born in Hollywood. He played for the Pirates for five years (1981-85) and hit .253 with 93 HR, with a particularly sharp eye that led to a .376 OBP. Thompson was an All-Star in 1982, batting .284/31/101, and spent 11 years with four clubs in MLB before knee injuries ended his playing days. In his early career while with Detroit, Thompson earned the nickname "Roof Top" due to his knack of hitting balls to the top of Tiger Stadium’s right field roof. JT now operates the Jason Thompson Baseball Academy in Auburn Hills, Michigan. 
• 1954 - Willie Randolph was born in Holly Hill, South Carolina. The Pirates selected him in the seventh round of the 1972 draft straight out of high school. He made his major league debut in 1975 at age 21, getting in 30 games and batting .164. He was traded in that off-season with Ken Brett and Dock Ellis to the Yankees for Doc Medich, as the Pirates had the 24-year-old 2B Rennie Stennett blocking him. All Willie did after that deal was play 17 more years, win two World Series rings with the Yankees, appear in six All-Star games, bang out 2,210 hits (.276 lifetime BA, .373 OBP) and gain a rep as a solid glove and great pivot man. After he hung up the spikes, he managed the Mets and coached, mostly for the Yankees, then gigged as an ESPN talking head. 

Willie Randolph - 1975 SSPC

• 1955 - Jerry Lynch, Frank Thomas and Dale Long hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the sixth inning against the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Carl Erskine during a 10-5 loss of a doubleheader lidlifter at Forbes Field. The Bucs didn’t homer in the nitecap, but won, 4-1, behind Vern Law. The game was knotted in the eighth when the Pirates scored three times, keyed by Gene Freese’s triple and The Deacon’s two-out double. The second game was the first MLB start by Sandy Koufax. He went 4-2/3 innings and fanned four Bucs. The Hall of Fame lefty gave up a run on three hits despite eight walks; the Pirates stranded eight runners and hit into two DPs. 
• 1960 - Ex-Bucco Bob Purkey had his former mates eating out of his hand for seven innings, spinning a two-hit shutout and hanging on to a 1-0 lead at Crosley Field. But the bane of all knuckleballers, the walk, bit him and the Reds in the eighth. Three free passes with a single mixed in tied the game, and then unlikely speedster Bob Skinner iced the game when his sinking liner to left off reliever Bill Henry eluded Wally Post’s dive and bounded to the fence for a stand-up, inside-the-park grand slam. Paul Geil worked the eighth inning and into the ninth, giving up a homer and bringing up the tying run with two outs. No problem; Danny Murtaugh waved to the bullpen for ElRoy Face and the Baron coaxed a grounder to save the win for Tom Cheney. 
• 1967 - RHP Omar Olivares was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Omar closed out his eight-team, 12-year big league run as a Pirate in 2001 with a 6-9-1/6.55 line, dealt for as a starter but ending up in the pen by early June. The 33-year-old had a good run at the beginning of his career and in the late nineties, but he finished with back-to-back 6+ ERA campaigns.