9/13 Through 1974: Pops Tops, Busy Baron, Kiner Krunch, Maddox Debut; Game Tales, Can Of Corn; HBD Armando, Denny, Tom & Dan

• 1907 - Nick Maddox made his MLB debut, and according to the Pittsburgh Press headline, the “Pirates New Twirler Was An Enigma To The Cardinals” as he tossed a five-hit, 4-0, shutout at Exposition Park. Maddox struck out 11 and walked a pair. He was backed by another rookie making his big league launch, 1B Harry “Swasy” Swacina, who drove in a pair of runs. Maddux had a pair of strong seasons with the Bucs, but his arm died and after four years, he was in the minors, then managed some, and played sandlot & semi-pro ball. 
• 1913 - OF Dan Wilson was born in St. Louis. Per BR Bullpen, Wilson debuted in 1937 with the Pittsburgh Crawfords as a right fielder and second baseman and hit .259. He was a bench player for Pittsburgh in 1938 and moved on to St. Louis where he earned the first of three Negro League All-Star berths. The 11-year vet played locally for one more year, suiting up for the Homestead Grays in 1946. After baseball, Wilson's life headed downhill and he died homeless at the age of 73. 
• 1922 - The Pirates swept a twinbill from the Braves, winning, 8-1 and 6-1, behind Wilbur Cooper and Johnny Morrison. The wins got them within five games of the first place NY Giants and they cut the lead to 3-1/2 games a week later. Though the Bucs ended up a respectable 85-69, they finished third after fading badly by losing seven of their final eight contests. 
• 1939 - RHP Tom Parsons was born in Lakeville, Connecticut. The 6’ 7” Parsons was signed by the Pirates in 1957 as a 17-year-old. He made his major league debut in 1963 as a September call-up after toiling on the farm for seven years. Parsons made one start, giving up four runs on seven hits in 4-1/3 IP, and began the next campaign back in the minors. The following September he was sold to the Mets, where he played in 64-65 and earned his only save, as karma would have it against his old Buc mateys. Tom spent his last four pro seasons in the minors. 
• 1949 - For the third time in his career, Ralph Kiner hit four consecutive homers. His first pair came in a 7-3 win against the Cubs on Sunday, then after an off day, he added two more against the Phils in an 11-6 victory. Both games were played at Forbes Field. Ralph collected 10 RBI in the two games to lead the attack for Murry Dickson and Cliff Chambers victories. 

David "Gus" Bell - 1951 Topps Red Back

• 1950 - Giants' RHP Sal Maglie's consecutive scoreless inning streak ended at 45 frames after Gus Bell popped a 257’ fly that barely cleared the RF wall at the shoe-box shaped Polo Grounds for a cheap homer. All it hurt, though, was The Barber’s pride as the G-Men beat the Bucs 3-1. 
• 1956 - ElRoy Face set a MLB record (later tied) when he appeared in his ninth consecutive game, giving up a run in a 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Forbes Field. He had gone 3-0-1 in the prior eight matches covering 15-1/3 innings. Danny Murtaugh finally relented and gave him the next game off, sending Dick Hall and Howie Pollet out to cover the last two frames. 
• 1963 - Willie Stargell provided the muscle as the Pirates knocked off the SF Giants at Forbes Field, 5-4, in 13 innings. The sparse crowd of 6,100 saw Pops bang a three-run blast in the third inning, only to have the G-Men rally to tie it with two outs and the bases empty in the ninth thanks to two walks and a Jesus Alou single against Joe Gibbon and Harvey Haddix. Captain Willie put the game in the win column with a walkoff triple (Ripley's fact: he hit 55 three-baggers during his career) in the 13th to score Ducky Schofield, who had walked. Bob Friend was the Pirates sixth pitcher and got the win with an inning’s work, his 17th victory of the campaign and his only outing that season from the bullpen (indeed, he wouldn’t appear in a relief role again until 1966). 
• 1967 - Roberto Clemente told the media that the players were to blame for the Pirates dismal showing (they were 72-74 at the time), reiterating statements he had made in a June players-only meeting and recently to Puerto Rican radio/newspaper media. Then he put his money where his mouth was, banging out five hits, with a homer, double, four RBI and two runs scored, to lead his mates to an 11-3 victory over the Reds at Crosley Field. Matty Alou and Manny Sanguillen added three knocks each while Maury Wills tallied three times. Tommy Sisk got the win; although he was tapped for 11 hits, the attack allowed him to go wire-to-wire. 

Roberto Clemente - 1967 Dexter Press

• 1968 - Denny Neagle was born in Gambrills, Maryland. The lefty spent four plus seasons (1992-96) with Pittsburgh, going 43-35 with a 4.02 ERA. An All-Star in 1995 with a 13-8 record, he was traded to Atlanta the following season as a cost-cutting measure and won 60 games between 1997-2000, mostly with the Braves. Neagle finished 124-92/4.24 during his 13-year career. 
• 1970 - The famous “can of corn” call was made by The Gunner Bob Prince after Willie Smith hit a routine fly to Matty Alou with the Bucs up 2-1, two outs and the bases empty in the ninth. He dropped it as the Wrigley wind was blowing in, and the Cubs went on to rally for the win. Despite cutting the Buc lead in the NL East to 1/2 game, the Pirates suffered no hangover effect from the tough loss. They finished out the rest of the month at 12-5 and took the title running away, finishing with a five game cushion over the Cubbies in the NL East. 
• 1971 - OF Armando Rios was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. A member of LSU’s College World Series winners, he played four seasons for the Giants before coming to Pittsburgh at the 2001 deadline along with Ryan Vogelsong in exchange for Jason Schmidt and John Vander Wal. Rios was hurt at the time of the deal and played two games for Pittsburgh; in 2002 he hit .264 in 76 games with no pop and was released at the end of the year. He played one more season in the show and then went to the Latin leagues. He was one of the witnesses in the 2003 BALCO case and was associated with PED use, perhaps understandably after undergoing surgeries on his knee, elbow, and shoulder. 
• 1972 - Roberto Clemente hit his last homer, a two-run, two-out blast off Fergie Jenkins at Wrigley Field in the seventh inning to lead the Bucs to a 6-4 win at Wrigley Field. It was his 10th long ball of the season and 240th career homer, fourth-most in Pittsburgh franchise history. Clemente also tripled and scored three times to support winner Nellie Briles.