9/26 Through the 1960s: Cricket Chirps, F&F, Lefty Short No-No, Game Tales, Shep Axed, Grays In WS; HBD Brian, Steve, Glenn, Bobby, Al, Joe & Bob

• 1890 - C Bob Coleman was born in Huntingburg, Indiana. The back-up catcher played for Pittsburgh from 1913-14, hitting .245 in 200 ABs. He got one more taste of the majors in 1916 with the Cleveland Indians but would spend most of his innings on various farm clubs. He played until 1927 when he retired after the season at the age of 36 and continued on the road of a minor-league lifer. He skippered for 35 seasons (20 at Evansville), and Coleman's teams won 2,496 games. Bob also coached for the Tigers and managed the Boston Braves. 
• 1901 - The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-3, at Exposition Park, guaranteeing at least a tie for the 1901 NL pennant with Philadelphia. Jack Chesbro got the win and added an RBI. The other scores were driven in by Honus Wagner, Kitty Bransfield and Lefty Davis as the Pirates put together a four-run sixth inning for the win. They clinched the next day to take their first NL flag. 
• 1906 - Lefty Leifield hurled a six-inning no-hitter, the first in franchise history, although the no-no isn’t considered official as it didn’t go nine frames. He walked two and fanned six as the Bucs defeated Philadelphia at the Baker Bowl, 8-0, (per the Pgh Press, the Pirates were in “a swatting mood”) in the back end of a doubleheader that was shortened because of darkness. Pittsburgh won the opener by a shutout, too, taking a 5-0 win behind Vic Willis. The day’s hitting hero was OF Bob Ganley, who collected five hits and swiped a pair of sacks during the twin bill. 
• 1910 - LHP Joe Sullivan was born in Mason City, Illinois. Joe closed out his five-year major league career with Pittsburgh in 1941, going 4-1-1/2.97 in 16 games (four starts). Though manager Frankie Frisch was said to like him as a guy he could use in any situation, Joe had control problems, and in camp the following spring, he came down with an untimely case of tonsillitis. He was sent to the farm and never made it back to the majors. Joe retired to the Pacific Northwest (he spent several years in the Pacific Coast/Western Leagues after his MLB career) and worked in the Naval Shipyard. 

Al Helfer - photo via W&J College

• 1911 - Announcer Al Helfer was born in Elrama, in Washington County. Al played football and basketball at W & J College, taking his first job as a sports reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette while also calling football games for the Pittsburgh Pirates, back in the days before they were known as the Steelers (1940), and Pitt Panthers for WWSW. He started broadcasting Pirates games off ticker updates in 1933, launching a career as “Mr. Radio Baseball.” Helfer also called the action for the Reds, Dodgers, Phils, Colt 45s, A’s, Mutual Broadcasting and the gridiron Broncos during his career. He was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award for Excellence in Baseball Broadcasting from the Hall of Fame posthumously in 2018 after passing away in 1975 at age 65. 
• 1920 - Babe Adams was pummeled, 8-0, by the Reds in the season finale, but it was a nice season for the 38-year-old who finished 17-13/2.16 and tossed 263 innings (he’d pitch through 1926). Babe set a MLB record by walking just 18 batters in his 35 games, averaging 0.6 walks per nine innings or just one free pass for every 14-2/3 IP. That set a single-season control record that stood until 2005 when Jose Silva walked 0.43 per nine frames in 188 IP for the Twins. 
• 1925 - LHP Bobby Shantz was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Bobby worked 16 years in the show for seven clubs, stopping in Pittsburgh for the 1961 season. He went 6-3-2/3.32, making 43 appearances (six starts) as a Buccaneer. The little lefty was a three-time All-Star and won eight Gold Gloves before he retired to run a restaurant and bowling alley back home. 
• 1937 - The Pirates scored in just three innings (in a row) of a twin bill, but it was enough to win two games: The Bucs rallied to take the first game against Cincinnati, 5-4, after the Reds led 4-0 in the eighth. The Pirates answered three times that frame and twice more in the ninth for the victory. Jim Tobin not only went the distance, but had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run. Then Pittsburgh scored twice in the first frame of the nitecap and held on to claim a 2-1 win and sweep at Crosley Field. Gus Suhr doubled home Woody Jensen and Lloyd Waner to provide Bill Swift, who tossed a complete game eight-hitter, with the win. 

Willie Pope - via NLBPA

• 1948 - The Homestead Grays won the opening game of the Negro World Series, 3-2, over the Birmingham Black Barons at Blues Stadium in Kansas City. The Grays did all the scoring in the second inning, with Willie Pope banging a two-run triple and coming home after Luis Marquez’s two-out single. Ted Alexander scattered eight hits for the Homestead/Washington victory. 
• 1960 - Pirates coach Glenn Sherlock was born in Nahant, Massachusetts. His job focus was on coaching catchers and run prevention while also assisting with game prep and in-game management. He worked with the Yankees, D-Backs (19 seasons) and Mets (3 years), serving as a minor league manager/coach, bullpen coach, bench coach, catching coach, first base coach and third base coach during his 30-year career. Glenn coached in Pittsburgh from 2020-21, then left to become the Mets bench coach, returning to a club he had coached for from 2017-19. 
• 1961 - IF Steve Buechele was born in Lancaster, California. He spent parts of 1991-92 with the Bucs, coming as part of one deadline deal and leaving as part of another, playing 3B and hitting .248. After 11 years in MLB, Steve now works in the front office of the Texas Rangers. 
• 1962 - Earl Francis surrendered two hits in 10 frames to beat the Reds and Jim Maloney, 1-0. Bob Friend pitched the 11th frame to earn his only save of the year (he came in from the pen three times during the season), after Bill Mazeroski and Willie Stargell doubles produced the game’s only run. 

Earl Francis - 1963 Topps

• 1968 - LHP Brian Shouse was born in Effingham, Illinois. A 13th-round, 1990 draft pick of the Pirates from Bradley, the sidewinder got the call in 1993 for six games and four innings. He was sent to the farm, popping up again in 1998 with Boston before another stint in the minors. That one lasted until 2002, when KC gave him the ball. But he finally broke through after that; he joined the bullpen full-time in Texas in 2003 at the age of 34 and worked through 2009. His last MLB gig was as a pitching coach in the Rangers system, which lasted through the 2019 season. 
• 1969 - Dock Ellis spun a complete game five-hitter to tame the Cubs and 21-game winner Fergie Jenkins at Forbes Field by a 2-0 score. The runs were the result of a two-run homer by the least likely of suspects, Freddie Patek, who banged his fifth long ball in the third inning with Jose Pagan aboard. The Docktor took care of the rest as Chicago never got a runner past second base. 
• 1969 - Larry Shepard was fired as manager even though Pittsburgh had an 84-73 record. Coach Alex Grammas took over the club for the remaining week of the season before the Bucs returned to old faithful, Danny Murtaugh, for his third go-around as Pirates field boss. It was a good choice; the Whistlin’ Irishman won 89 games in 1970 and the World Series in 1971.