- 1870 - RHP Tom Colcolough was born in Charleston. He pitched for the Pirates from 1893-95 with a line of 10-8/6.55 in 38 games, 23 as a starter. Tom spent the remainder of his career in the minors, with a brief 1899 stop with the New York Giants. When Colcolough’s baseball days were done, he returned to Charleston, where he became an alderman before passing away in 1919.
- 1886 - The Alleghenys’ LHP Ed “Cannonball” Morris whitewashed the New York Metropolitans, 9-0, at Recreation Park. It was his 12th shutout, which is still a franchise record. Cannonball posted a record of 41-20 that year with a 2.45 ERA over 555-1/3 innings, striking out 327 batters.
- 1887 - Owen “Donie” Bush was born in Indianapolis. He was a hometown hero (Donie was a manager, president and part-owner of the Indy club who was known as “Mr Baseball” around town) and until 1996, the Indy ballyard was called Bush Field before a new downtown park (Victory Field) opened. After a 16 year playing career, mostly with Detroit, the infielder managed the Bucs briefly from 1927-29, taking them to a World Series in 1927 against the Yankees’ “Murderers’ Row” club (and the Pirates got murdered in four straight). But he’s probably best remembered for his feud with Hall-of-Fame OF Kiki Cuyler, whom he benched and then traded to the Cubs. Donie managed four big league clubs, three top minor league franchises and did some scouting. He was given the title "King of Baseball" (a minor league honor) during Major League Baseball's 1963 winter meetings and was an inaugural inductee of the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame. His nickname “Donie” (pronounced like Tony) was a one-off of his original nickname, Ownie.
- 1903 - Game Six was a rematch between Boston's Bill Dinneen and Pittsburgh's Sam Leever at Exposition Park. Both went the distance, with Boston coming out on top, 6-3, to tie the best-of-nine series at three games. Ginger Beaumont went 4-for-5 with a pair of stolen bases while Jimmy Sebring and Fred Clarke added two hits for the Bucs. Boston's "Royal Rooters", 200 strong, traveled to Pittsburgh with a brass band and sang their theme song "Tessie" to distract the opposing players, especially trying to get under the skin of Buccaneer big guy Honus Wagner. Boston won three out of the four games at Pittsburgh to keep their Rooters rockin’.
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| Hans - 1905 photo/National Police Gazette |
- 1905 - Cincinnati CF Cy Seymour and Pittsburgh SS Honus Wagner faced one another in a doubleheader on the season’s final day as the pair would finish the year one-two in the race for the batting title. Seymour was well ahead going into the games and collected four hits to Hans’ two to finish as the runaway winner at .377 while The Dutchman clocked in at .363 at the end of the day. A newspaper account of the twinbill stated "...10,000 were more interested in the batting achievements of Wagner and Seymour than the games...cheer upon cheers greeted the mighty batsmen upon each appearance at the plate..." The Reds swept the Bucs at the Palace of the Fans by 3-1 and 4-1 scores.
- 1909 - After walking two of the first three batters and giving up a first-inning run, Babe Adams settled down and pitched the Pirates to a 4-1 win over the Detroit Tigers in the opening game of the World Series at Forbes Field. Pittsburgh only had five hits off Motown starter George Mullin, including a homer by Fred Clarke, but four different Tigers committed errors that led to three unearned runs. This series was the first head-to-head matchup of league batting winners with MLB’s biggest draws, Honus Wagner (.339) and Ty Cobb (.377), squaring off.
- 1917 - Danny Murtaugh was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He was a Bucco infielder from 1948-51, with a lifetime batting average of .256 and a stolen base crown in 1941 while with the Phils. The Irishman won a couple of World Series as the skipper in 1960 and 1971, managing the club from 1957–64, 1967, 1970–71, and finally in 1973–76. He guided five playoff squads and had a record of 1115-950 while at the helm. He was known as "The Whistling Irishman" (it's even the title of his biography) because he used to whistle while playing the infield.
- 1920 - 1B/OF George “Catfish” Metkovich was born in Angels Camp, California. George was signed by the Tigers and declared a free agent in 1940 in a wholesale release of Detroit players, the penalty for illegally restricting their movement (Johnny Sain of the Braves was another freed by this decree). That launched Catfish on a 10-year career, with a 1951-53 stop at Pittsburgh. He had a line of .276 with lots of playing time, but in May of 1953 left as part of the Ralph Kiner deal with the Cubs. George played through 1954, spent three years in the PCL, then took some minor-league managing and scouting work before retiring to open a restaurant with his brothers. He got his nickname because one day when he was fishing during training camp in Florida, he caught a catfish and accidently stepped on it; a fin penetrated his shoe and foot that had to be removed at a hospital. His manager at the time, Casey Stengel, then of the Boston Bees, spread the story and George became “Catfish” or just plain ol’ “Cat.”
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| Catfish - 1950 Bowman |
- 1925 - After a pre-game ceremony to honor Christy Matthewson, who had passed away the day before, the Bucs evened their World Series count against Washington at a game each with a 3-2 win at Forbes Field in front of 43,364 fans. The only dent against the Senators’ Stan Coveleski was a Glenn Wright homer until the bottom of the eighth when Kiki Cuyler’s two-run blast put Pittsburgh up 3-1. The DC nine pushed across a ninth-inning run to provide some late drama, but Vic Aldridge survived, going the distance for the win.
- 1927 - The NL Champion Pirates lost, 4-3, and were swept in four games by the NY Yankees, led by their "Murderers Row" lineup featuring Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The Pirates had tied it in the seventh on RBIs from Clyde Barnhart and Paul Waner, but lost it in the ninth at the House That Ruth Built. Pirates RHP Johnny Miljus loaded the bases with no outs, then struck out Lou Gehrig and Bob Meusel. But with Tony Lazzeri up, he misfired on an 0-1 delivery to allow the winning run to score, the only World Series to end on a wild pitch. It was the first ever sweep of an NL team by an AL club. The Bambino, Babe Ruth, and Pirates rookie Lloyd "Little Poison" Waner each hit .400 during the series.
- 1944 - Utilityman Ed “Spanky” Kirkpatrick was born in Spokane, Washington. He played 16 years in the majors (he suited up for just three teams - the LA/California Angels, Kansas City Royals and Pirates - during his first 15 years but played for another three clubs - Pittsburgh, Texas and Milwaukee - in his last campaign) and was a Bucco from 1974-77, batting .236 while playing the infield corners, all three outfield spots and pinch-hitting. He got his nickname while with the California Angels because he looked like Spanky of the “Little Rascals” TV show.
- 1946 - The Jackie Robinson All-Stars beat the Major League All-Stars (a sort of pick-up club with Pirates Frankie Gustine, Lee Handley and Al Gionfriddo part of the lineup), 6-4, at Forbes Field. Jackie led both teams in hits, collecting three, and won the respect of a local old-timer who was at the game, Honus Wagner. Robinson would become MLB’s first black player the next year, and Post Gazette writer Al Abrams asked him if he caught much grief from the fans while a minor-leaguer or touring. Jackie replied, “No more than when I played college ball...I didn’t let it bother me. I just went about my business and made the fans like me whenever I could. The players were grand.”
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| Post Gazette 10/9/1946 |
- 1960 - The New York nine returned home in style, ripping off six first-inning runs and burying the Bucs, 10-0, at Yankee Stadium to take a two games to one lead in the World Series. Whitey Ford tossed a four-hitter and only allowed two Pirates to reach second base; no Bucco touched third. Bobby Richardson belted a grand slam (he had one regular season homer) and had six RBI. It took three Pirates pitchers (Vinegar Bend Mizell, Clem Labine and Fred Green) just to get out of the opening frame and that told the tale of the game.
- 1970 - It was announced that birthday boy Danny Murtaugh was selected as Manager of the Year in a poll of the current managers. He won eight votes to top the Yankees’ Ralph Houk, who had five, and the Reds Sparky Anderson, who was named on four ballots. It was an unofficial honor, but still considered prestigious because of the selection committee of peers.
- 1972 - The Reds scored four times in the first inning off Bob Moose (he didn’t retire a batter, giving up five straight hits) and then hung on to take a 5-3 win at TRS and knot the NLCS at a game each. Roberto Clemente, Milt May and Dave Cash each drove in runs to make it 4-3 after six innings, but Joe Morgan’s eighth inning homer took the wind out of the Pirate sails while Tom Hall retired six of the last seven batters to preserve the Cincinnati win.
- 1974 - The Pirates scored five times in the first inning and never looked back as they defeated Los Angeles, 7-0, at Dodger Stadium. Bruce Kison and Ramon Hernandez combined on a four-hitter to cut the Pittsburgh deficit in the NLCS to two games to one and stave off elimination (for a night). Willie Stargell swatted a three-run homer and Richie Hebner added a two-run shot off Doug Rau in the opening frame to get the Bucs off and running.
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| Willie Stargell - 1974 Kelloggs |
- 1990 - LHP Robbie Erlin was born in Oakland, California. Erlin had five years with San Diego as a starter and long man before the Pirates signed the 29-year-old to a $1.5M contract as a free agent in 2020. He made the 40-man roster as a reliever and was called up in late July by the Bucs, but was waived in early August after just two outings. Robbie was claimed by the Braves, who used him as a starter without a lot of luck; they waived him in September. He spent the 2021 campaign in Japan and last pitched in the Dodgers system in ‘23.
- 1990 - Cincinnati took a two-games-to-one lead in the NLCS by whipping the Bucs, 6-3, at Three Rivers Stadium. Zane Smith surrendered a three-run homer to Mariano Duncan and a two-run shot to Billy Hatcher to give the Reds’ Danny Jackson and the “Nasty Boys” in the bullpen working room. Bobby Bonilla, Carmelo Martinez and Jose Lind had the Buccos' RBIs.
- 1995 - RHP Colin Holderman was born in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The Pirates traded for the rookie reliever by shipping DH Daniel Vogelbach to the Mets in July, 2022. Holderman slashed 4-0/2.04 in 15 outings for NY and was a strikeout per inning guy, although a bit on the wild side, averaging four walks per nine. He got into nine Bucco games (1-0/6.75, seven walks, four HBP and six K in 10-2/3 IP) before hitting the IL with a shoulder impingement, ending his 2022 campaign. Colin bounced back to claim the set-up role in ‘23, with 58 outings, a slash of 0-3-2/3.58 and an immaculate inning. His ERA sat at a sturdy 2.87 in mid-September until two brutal appearances led to a year-ending trip to the IL with a thumb injury. Colin had a 3-6/3.16 slash with 21 holds in 2024 but was more up-and-down than the numbers indicate, missing a month with a wrist sprain
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