8/19: Redus, May & Byrne Deals, Red Signs, Mad Dog POTW; K-Mans #401, OT Win, Duels, Cutch & Rook Shows, Stu Shot, Game Tales, Frankie Follies; HBD Swags, Britt, Terry & Ike

• 1891 - SS Ike McAuley was born in Wichita. In his three years in Pittsburgh (1914-16) he had just 50 PA and hit .149, yo-yo’ing between the show and the farm. He did have a moment in the sun, though - when he made his debut, the Bucs started him at SS and played Hans Wagner at 3B. He also had stints with the Cubs and Cards. Ike spent 15 years playing pro ball, retiring after the 1927 campaign at age 35 and then scouting for the Detroit Tigers. 
• 1901 - The Pirates chased the Cards’ 21-game winner Jack Harper in a 9-5 win at Robison Field. The Bucs used a five-run third inning to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, using four hits and a pair of Redbird errors to pile up the points. Ed Doheny got the win with help from Deacon Phillippe. Lefty Davis left the Pittsburgh attack with four hits; Hans Wagner and Kitty Bransfield added three more knocks each. The Bucco sticks were en fuego - they banged out 17 hits as “the batting fever was still hot upon them” per the Pittsburgh Press. 
• 1902 - In a see-saw game at Exposition Park, the NY Giants went ahead of Pittsburgh 4-3 with a ninth-inning run off Jack Chesbro on a single that went off Honus Wagner’s glove. But in the Bucco half, the Dutchman atoned when he spanked a two-out, two-strike single through the left side to score Deacon Phillippe and Ginger Beaumont to give the Bucs a 5-4 win. 
• 1909 - The Pirates traded 3B Jap Barbeau, 2B Alan Storke, and cash to the Cardinals for 3B Bobby Byrne. Storke died young (he was 25-years-old) in the next year from the flu, while Barbeau lasted two more seasons. Byrne held down the hot corner for the next five seasons, hitting .277 in 590 games. He had the best hitting line of his 11-year MLB career as a Buc, playing through the 1913 season and hitting .277 while helping the Pirates to the 1909 World Series title. 

Bobby Byrne - 1909 photo Conlon Collection/Detroit Public Library

• 1910 - The Pirates signed RHP Urban Clarence “Red” Faber from Dubuque the day after he tossed a perfect game against Davenport. After finishing the campaign with the Dubs, he broke camp with the club in 1911, but the sidearm fastballer was sold to the minor league Minneapolis Millers in late May without appearing in a game. He had a mediocre farm season due to a sore arm, but with a big silver lining: he learned to toss the wet one to compensate. That combined with his fastball made for a deadly combo, and at Des Moines he won 41 games and led the Western League in strikeouts in 1912-13. The White Sox inked him and he threw for 20 years, winning 254 games for Chicago, the only MLB team he ever pitched for, and entered the Hall of Fame in 1964. 
• 1936 - The Pirates had squandered away a 4-1 lead after six innings - they stranded 15 runners during the afternoon to prevent a runaway - and went into the ninth frame at Forbes Field tied with the Cubs, 4-4. Bill Brubaker started the Bucs off with his third hit of the afternoon and was bunted up. Lloyd Waner was called off of the bench to pinch hit, and with first base open, was intentionally walked. Pitcher Bill Werle, who came on in relief of Jim Weaver, stepped up and stroked the first pitch into center to walk-off his own win. Chicago came into town 2-1/2 games off the lead after entering August in first place; the Pirates took 3-of-4 to knock the Cubs 4-1/2 games off the pace. Chi-town never recovered from the widened gap, finishing five games behind the New York Giants. 
• 1941 - Manager Frankie Frisch was ejected by ump Jocko Conlan and fined $50 during the second game of a twin bill when he appeared on the field with an umbrella to protest the damp playing conditions at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field and becoming the basis of a Norman Rockwell painting. Da Bums won the day, winning 9-0 and 6-2 as they hung out the Pirates to dry. 
• 1950 - The Pirates outpointed the Cubs, 13-9, at Wrigley Field for their sixth win in seven games, led by Ralph Kiner’s pair of bombs and three RBI. Johnny Hopp added a homer and a pair of doubles, driving in a pair and scoring twice. Pittsburgh plated six times in the final two frames to rally for the comeback, earning Murry Dickson the win with Bill Werle finishing up. 

Terry Harper - 1988 Fleer

• 1955 - OF Terry Harper was born in Douglasville, Georgia. The Bucs traded for the then 32-year-old Harper from the Tigers in June of 1987, and it was the last hurrah for the eight-year vet. He hit .288 here and then played out his final campaign in Japan and then coached some in the Braves organization. Terry’s now a private hitting instructor, coaches various youth teams and operates a nonprofit, International Sports Connection. His hometown even named a field after him. 
• 1958 - The Pirates held off the Chicago Cubs, 4-3, at Wrigley Field on the strength of two-run blasts by Bill Mazeroski in the second frame and Dick Stuart in the sixth (Stu’s went 450’ and touched down on Waveland Avenue), both off starter Taylor Phillips. Curt Raydon worked six innings for the win, with Bob Porterfield tossing three shutout frames to save the decision. A key factor in the victory was Roberto Clemente’s play in the field; he made a pair of highlight grabs and threw out a runner at third. The win was the Pirates’ twentieth of twenty-eight games and kept them in second place, 6-1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Braves. 
• 1973 - Jim Rooker was a one-man wrecking crew, spinning a five hitter and going 3-for-3 at the dish (he hit .245 during the campaign, not too shabby for a hurler) as the Pirates beat San Francisco and Juan Marichal, 5-0, at Three Rivers Stadium. Richie Hebner also smacked three hits. He and Al Oliver went back-to-back with long balls in the first frame to grab a quick lead for Rook, and Manny Sanguillen iced the cake with a two-run double in the sixth inning. 
• 1973 - RHP Britt Reames was born in Seneca, South Carolina. Britt spent parts of six years in the show with his final campaign as a Bucco in 2006, getting into five games and putting up a 9.82 ERA. He became the pitching coach for Furman and moved on to his alma mater, The Citadel, where he’s a member of the Bulldogs Hall of Fame. Reames is now head coach of Oceanside (SC) Collegiate Academy. 

Richie Zisk - 1976 Topps

• 1976 - Two red-hot Pirates led the Buccos to a 1-0 win over the Giants at Candlestick Park. John Candelaria went the distance for the win, giving up nine hits but rarely in hot water while picking up his eighth straight victory. Candy scored the game’s only run when Richie Zisk plated him in the fifth to post his eighth RBI in the past four games. Candelaria, 22, in his second season, went 10-2/2.94 from June first through August and finished the year with a 16-7/3.15 slate. Zisk, in his final Bucco year, ended the campaign with a .289/21/89 line. 
• 1983 - The Pirates traded Steve Nicosia to the Giants for Milt May and cash in a swap of backup catchers. May retired after the 1984 season and Nicosia, who was unhappy playing behind Tony Pena, played a bench role for three teams before giving up the tools of ignorance after the 1985 campaign. 
• 1988 - The Pirates swapped 1B/OF Mike Diaz, sending him to the Chicago White Sox for OF Gary Redus. Rambo ended the year with the Windy City before heading to Japan to finish his career. Redus played first and some outfield for the Bucs through 1992, hitting .255 with 24 homers, 96 RBI, 157 runs scored and 69 stolen bases, although hampered by injuries following the 1988 campaign. He spent his last two seasons with Texas before he retired. 
• 1985 - Bill Madlock was named the NL Player of the Week after going 9-for-22 (.409) and banging out four homers; he was the first Bucco to win the award this season. Unfortunately for the team, he was pretty much a one-man show on the field as the club went 2-5 over the week. 
• 1997 - OF Travis Swaggerty was born in Covington, Louisiana. A 2018 first rounder (#10) of the Bucs taken from the U of South Alabama, he got his first (and so far only) taste of the majors in 2022, going 1-for-9 in five games before being returned to Indy. Swags was a speedster who could steal a base and played excellent outfielder, but carried a .250 BA in five injury and illness plagued minor league campaigns. The Pirates cut him loose in midseason of 2023, and he’s now playing in the American Association, an MLB-affiliated minor league. 

Travis Swaggerty - Topps Autograph

• 1999 - Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh, 1-0, at Cinergy Field, as Pete Harnisch and Scott Williamson combined for a one-hitter while whiffing 13 Bucs; Harnisch surrendered just a seventh inning single to Mike Benjamin. Kris Benson pitched a dandy of his own, scattering seven hits and punching out eight. He had a shutout going until one out in the eighth, when Sean Casey, in the midst of his breakout year, homered for the game’s only run. 
• 2012 - The Bucs outlasted the Cards at Busch Stadium to take home a 19-inning victory, 6-3. The teams ran through 16 pitchers before it was decided on a Pedro Alvarez homer; El Toro became the first player in Pirates history to hit a home run in the 19th inning or later. Usual starter Wandy Rodriguez was called on to work the last two frames and notched the win after both teams swapped runs in the 17th to keep the game rolling. It was the first Pittsburgh road win of 19 innings or more since beating San Diego in 1979, and the first time the Pirates put up three runs or more in the 19th or beyond since 1912 against the Boston Braves. 
• 2018 - The Pirates salvaged a hard-earned four-game split against the Cubs with a 2-1, 11-inning victory at PNC Park. Jameson Taillon (he struck out eight in six innings) and Carlos Quintana left it up to the bullpens to battle out a 1-1 draw. Both sides ducked some bullets and blundered on the basepaths. The Bucs were especially egregious, having two runners thrown out at home and going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. After Richard Rodriguez left the bases full in the 11th, Brandon Kintzler got two easy outs before falling behind Adam Frazier 3-0; he grooved a fastball and Fraze wasn’t taking but hunting. He blasted the ball 413’, completely out of the park and onto the Riverwalk, for his second career walk-off homer. The Pirates had lost the first two games 1-0, then took the last pair by 3-1 & 2-1 tallies. Chicago set a quirky MLB record; all four of their runs came on solo homers, neatly meted out at one per game. 

Adam Frazier - 2018 Topps Gold

• 2022 - Kevin Newman played his 400th game as a Buc the day before, but he partied on by going 2-for-4, scoring twice (including both the first and the winning runs) and driving home a pair (the second being the game-tying tally) to lead the Corsairs to a 5-4, walk-off victory over the Reds at PNC Park. Cincy jumped ahead 3-0, with Pittsburgh knotting the score in the seventh. The Bucs gave up an unearned run in the eighth, setting up the ninth inning heroics. Bligh Madris singled, was bunted up and Newman doubled him in. An intentional walk and bopped batter juiced the sacks before a single to left by Michael Chavis ended it; his hit gave the Pirates the lead for the first time in the game. Ben Gamel added three hits to help Wil Crowe to the victory, following Bryse Wilson, who went seven innings, and Duane Underwood Jr. on the bump. 
• 2023 - After the Pirates went 1-for-14 w/RISP to lose the series opener against the Minnesota Twins, Andrew McCutchen made sure there wasn’t a repeat. His two-out, two-strike, two-run single in the sixth inning plated a pair to tie the game and his three-run, 438’ blast into the second deck of Target Field (his first long ball since June 30th) in the final frame iced the 7-4 victory. The Pirates had been no-hit for five innings by Sonny Gray, but Mitch Keller hung with him, fanning 12 Twinkies and holding the Twin Cities to two runs through six frames. It was Kell’s 10th win; he only had 12 career dubs over four years coming into the campaign. And thanks to a clutch Cutch, the Bucs reversed course and batted 5-for-11 w/RISP.