7/1 Through the 1970s: 1-Hit Woodie, Ponder Swap, Bucs Baptize Sportsman, Duelin', Game Days, Bush Inked, HBD Gunner, Al, Red & Dutch

1891 - OF Fritz “Dutch” Sheeren was born in Kokomo, Indiana. Fritz’s family moved into the Pittsburgh area when he was young and opened a saloon; from those beginnings, Sheeren went on to Lafayette College, where he starred in baseball and football, and had a brief MLB career with the Pirates from 1914-15, hitting .265 in 15 games. He played through the 1916 season in the minors before getting on with his life’s work. It appeared he did remain a home boy; he died in Kittanning and is buried in Marienville outside the Allegheny National Forest.

1901 - The Bucs were blanked 1-0 by the Phillies at the Baker Bowl, the only time during the 139-game season when Pittsburgh was shut out, setting a 20th century NL record. Jack Chesbro tossed a four-hitter for Pittsburgh, while the Bucs banged nine hits off Red Donahue but couldn’t dent home.

1911 - The Pirates dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decision to the Cardinals, in part because they lost a fight with the umpire. The rhubarbs began with a tag play at second that the Pirates figured they had made; the ump begged to differ. Infielder Bill McKechnie slammed his glove in disgust and was banished; a new rule made that action an automatic ejection. Manager Fred Clarke put in his two cents worth later about St. Louis doctoring the ball and was given the thumb too. Dots Miller later joined the gang given the heave-ho for tossing his mitt. As a result, Hans Wagner ended up playing three positions as the Pirates tried to cobble together a lineup (Clarke was a player/manager, so the Pirates had three starters kicked out, and benches were short in that era). There had been a bottle-throwing incident the day before, and Clarke told the Pittsburgh Press that he believed that had influenced the umpires, who didn’t want to risk running a gauntlet of missiles launched from the Robison Field stands again. 

1913 - RHP Frank “Red” Barrett was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Frank worked during the war years of 1944-46 and tried to make a comeback in 1950 with the Pirates, going 1-2/4.15 in five outings after being purchased from New Orleans. Red had a long professional career, lasting from 1935-50 (he won 141 games in the minors), and afterward he was a farm league player/manager through 1953. He then moved back home and opened Red Barrett’s Drive In, a gas station/diner, in Leesburg, Florida, near Orlando.

Elmer Knetzer - 1914 Cracker Jacks

1915 - It was a mixed bag for the Federal League Pittsburgh Rebels against the Baltimore Terrapins at York Road Park. In the opener of a twin bill, the Pittsburgh Feds were shut out 6-0 by Jack Quinn. A little break between games did the Rebs bats a world of good and they bounced back to take the nitecap by a 13-5 tally, becoming the first big league team to score in every inning since 1894. Ed Konetchy and Jim Kelly homered to pave the road for Elmer Knetzer. It was the end of a long road trip, with the Rebels winning 11-of-18 matches after dropping 7-of-10 on a western swing (in that era, the far west was St. Louis, KC and Chicago) that opened their trek. Sadly, they were rained out in Pittsburgh upon their return and had to hop a train for four more games, splitting a set with the Chicago Whales before spending most of the summer at home, where they had 59-of-85 remaining contests booked at Exposition Park.

1916 - The Gunner, Bob Prince, was born in Los Angeles. Prince was an army brat and was always on the move; he graduated from Pittsburgh’s Schenley HS and went to Pitt, where he lettered in swimming. After gigs with WJAS and KDKA, he teamed with Rosey Rowswell in 1948 as a Bucco broadcaster and became the main announcer in 1955 when Rowswell passed away. He and partner Nellie King were let go in 1975 after a long running dispute with KDKA management. Prince returned to the booth in May, 1985, just weeks before he died of cancer.

1916 - Behind a Honus Wagner homer and Ray O’Brien’s ninth-inning single, Al Mamaux’s four-hit effort was enough to down the Cincinnati Reds and Elmer Knetzer 2-1 at Redland Field. Mamaux was pretty good with the stick, too, hitting a double and triple while scoring the winning run with two down in the ninth. Hans’ fourth-inning homer made him the oldest player, at 42 years and four months, to hit an inside the park four-bagger.

1918 - RHP Al Tate was born in Coleman, Oklahoma. Al was a minor league hurler who lost three years to WW2 and returned to baseball in 1946. The Pirates inked him then and sent him to the minors; he got two Bucco appearances (one start) and went 0-1/5.00 in his only MLB duty. He spent 1947 as a Pirates farmhand at Albany and played one more year in the Pacific Coast League before he retired.

Hal Carlson - 1921 photo George Rinhart/Getty

1920 - The Pirates played St. Louis in the Cards first game at Sportsman’s Park (also the home of the AL's St. Louis Browns; the Cards rented it off them) after the Redbirds flew the outdated Robison Field coop, which was built in 1893. The Bucs took the debut game 6-2 in 10 innings, with Hal Carlson getting the win and Babe Adams picking up the save. The Pirates 10th had a little of everything - a walk, steal, error, two singles, a pair of doubles - and they added up to a big inning to send 20,000 plus St. Louis fans home disappointed.

1921 - The Bucs sent 28-year-old RHP Elmer Ponder to the Cubs for 31-year-old OF Dave Robertson. Ponder was coming off an 11-win/2.42 campaign for Pittsburgh and Robertson posted a .300/10/75 line for Chicago in ‘20, but both were approaching the end of their MLB trails. Elmer had a 3-6/4.74 slash with the Cubs to finish the year. They traded him to the Pacific Coast League LA Angels, and he spent the next six years working in the PCL. Robertson was hot, hitting .322/6/48 for the Pirates, then held out in the spring. The Pirates released him, and he was signed by the Giants. Used mostly as a bench bat, it was his swan song in the show, and he spent the next six seasons on the farm, mostly with Norfolk of the Virginia League, serving as player/manager for four years.

1926 - The Bucs broke an eight-game losing streak by spanking the Cards at Forbes Field 7-3 as Kiki Cuyler and Pie Traynor each drove in three runs. Don Songer got the victory with Babe Adams picking up a save. In spite of that losing string, they claimed first place three weeks later before eventually fading to third with an 84-69 slate, five games out.

1926 - The Pirates signed Bullet Joe Bush, recently waived by the Washington Senators. Joe had won 107 games for three clubs from 1920-25, but the 33-year-old was in the midst of an 1-8/6.69 campaign for the Sens. The Bucs got their money’s worth as Bullet Joe went 6-6/3.01 for them the rest of the year but fell apart in ‘27 and was released in June. He would appear in just 14 more games after that and was out of the league by the summer of 1928. 

Joe Bush - Conlon Collection/TSN

1940 - The Pirates scored once in the ninth inning to tie the game and added another in the 10th frame to nose past the Chicago Cubs 4-3 at Wrigley Field. Vince DiMaggio was the Corsairs’ hitting star, going 3-for-5 with a homer, double, two RBI and two runs scored. Mace Brown, the third Buc hurler, got the win in relief after pitching scoreless ninth and 10th frames.

1960 - Speed kills, and the Bucs proved it to LA at Forbes Field when they raced to a 4-3, 10-inning victory in front of 27,312 fans. In the extra frame, Joe Christopher was on second with two outs and the Pirates down 3-2. Roberto Clemente rolled one to SS Maury Wills and it hung up in his webbing for just a tick, but that was enough to allow the Great One to beat the throw by a whisker. Meanwhile, Christopher kept flying around the bases and slid in just ahead of Gil Hodges' toss to home to tie the game. C Johnny Roseboro jawed at ump Al Barlick, but the man in blue stuck to his call that Roseboro had missed the tag. Dick Stuart then blooped a single into short right and Frank Howard was a bit leisurely getting to the Texas Leaguer. Roberto, like Joe before him, had the pedal to the metal and the surprised Howard, seeing Clemente dashing plateward, gunned his throw up the third base line allowing Arriba to score standing up. In the clubhouse, Clemente said “My foot was sore...I didn’t want to play anymore and I tried to end the game.” Mission accomplished, Roberto. Gino Cimoli drove home two runs in regulation while Fred Green earned the win in relief of Vern Law; Law tossed 9-2/3 innings with Green getting the last out of the 10th.

1966 - Rookie Woodie Fryman one-hit the Mets at Shea Stadium on the way to a 12-0 win. Fryman faced the minimum 27 batters and came within a gnat’s eyelash of perfection. Ron Hunt, who led off the game with a single, was caught stealing by C Jim Pagliaroni and Fryman mowed down the next 26 NY hitters. Jose Pagan chipped in with three runs scored, four RBI and one of the Pirates’ four homers.

7/1 From 1970: Redbeard Slammin', 7 For Bell, Boppin', Zane Maddux, Duelin', Game Days, Young Guns, Fraze, Cutch, Hanny All-Stars, Konnor Cover

1972 - Roberto Clemente’s seventh-inning homer helped the Bucs rally to take a 2-1 lead over the Chicago Cubs at TRS. After the Cubbies answered with a pair of their own to regain their edge at 3-2, Clemente homered again in the ninth inning with Milt May aboard for a walkoff 4-3 win. Both homers came off Fergie Jenkins, who lost to Dave Giusti in relief of Bob Moose.

1978 - It was a pitcher’s duel between Jim Rooker and the Mets’ Kevin Kobel at TRS. With the score 0-0 in the bottom of the eighth, Skip Lockwood took the ball for NY. An infield knock by Manny Sanguillen and two-out walk to Duffy Dyer set up Willie Stargell, who lined a single over second to chase home the Road Runner with the game winner. Rooker got the win and Kent Tekulve came in for the save. The two combined for a four-hitter to post the 1-0 victory.

1990 - LHP John Smiley came off the DL after breaking his hand in mid-May and was understandably rusty, giving up five runs in four innings against the Giants at Candlestick Park. But his teammates picked him up with homers from Barry Bonds, Jeff King, Sid Bream and Jay Bell (three of the blasts were two-run shots) as Pittsburgh rode the longball barrage to a 9-5 win against San Francisco and stayed a game up in the National League East standings. 

1992 - Zane Smith tossed a 97-pitch, five-hit, complete-game gem in a 1-0 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, walking one and fanning one (the last batter). It was the sixth of seven “Maddux'' outings of his career (complete game shutout w/fewer than 100 pitches). He had entered the contest having gone nine games without a win. St. Louis’ Mark Clark was the tough-luck loser, giving up just four knocks in his eight frames. It was the Bucs second straight shutout of the Redbirds, the only time during the campaign that Pittsburgh hurlers would put up back-to-back zeros. The pitching for both teams was brilliant; the Pirates won the series two games to one, outscoring the Cards by four-runs-to-three during the set. Gary Varsho’s single in the fourth inning plated Andy Van Slyke, who had opened the frame with a double, for the game’s only tally. The contest took just two hours and four minutes from opening pitch to the final out.

Orlando Merced - 1996 Select

1996 - During a 4-1 win over Chicago at TRS, RF Orlando Merced pulled off an unassisted DP, catching Mark Grace's liner and then beating Scott Bullett to 1B. He also started another DP, gloving a short pop and catching Doug Glanville off second with his throw to Jay Bell. Merced added a pair of hits, two RBI and a run scored to help Danny Darwin pick up the win.

2006 - The Pirates and sponsoring PNC Bank took trinkets to a new level with the “Young Guns - Doumit, Duke and Duffy” (Ryan Doumit, Zach Duke, and Chris Duffy) triple bobblehead giveaway. 37,111 fans flooded PNC Park (playing the Detroit Tigers, whose fans travel well, on a Saturday night helped the draw, too) to get theirs as the Bucs won, 9-2. Jose Bautista and Sean Casey each had three hits and Matt Capps got the win in relief of Tom Gorzelanny. One bummer: manager Jim Tracy missed the promo memo as none of the “Young Guns” played.

2012 - CF Andrew McCutchen and righty reliever Joel Hanrahan were voted to the All-Star game via the Player’s Ballot, both earning their second appearance. The game took place on 7/10 at KC’s Kaufmann Stadium and ended up in an 8-0 NL runaway. Cutch went 1-for-2 while Hanny faced one batter and K’ed him.

2014 - Down 2-0 in the ninth and held to just two hits over eight innings by Arizona’s Wade Miley, the Bucs made up for lost time at PNC Park. Neil Walker opened with a single to center, then pinch hitter Gregory Polanco dumped a knock to left. With an out, Starling Marte chased a pair of sliders, then reliever Addison Reed hung one over the plate and Marte bombed it for a two-run double off the center field wall. He scooted to third when SS Nick Ahmed's throw to the plate got away, then Andrew McCutchen was walked intentionally. Ike Davis hit for Gaby Sanchez and dropped a broken-bat jam shot into right to plate Marte as the Bucs rallied to take a 3-2 victory. Ernesto Frieri picked up his first win as a Bucco after tossing a scoreless ninth, with his bacon being saved by Josh Harrison, who threw out a runner at home from short right field.

Neal Walker - 2015 Topps

2015 - The Buccos flexed their muscles against the Tigers at Comerica Field in a 9-3 win. The Bucs banged out 21 hits, their most since 2004, and drilled four homers. Two were by Neil Walker, and three were launched in one frame by Walker, Starling Marte and Pedro Alvarez. Every Pirate starter had a knock and seven had multi-hit nights against Detroit, led by The Pittsburgh Kid and Marte with four each while Gregory Polanco added three more. AJ Burnett coasted to his seventh victory, going the distance.

2018 - 3B Colin Moran became the second Pirates player to hit two grand slams in his rookie season after a two-out, bases-juiced long fly off Tyson Ross in the fifth frame as the Bucs defeated the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, 7-5. (The first Bucco rook to hit two grannies in his debut year was Wally Westlake in 1947.) Kyle Crick earned his first MLB win as one of seven Corsair hurlers to work the contest. Corey Dickerson and Elias Diaz also homered for Pittsburgh.

2019 - The Pirates put on a fireworks show a couple of days early by bashing the Chicago Cubs, 18-5, at PNC Park; the 18 runs tied the Pirates 2005 record for most tallies at PNC Park in a game. Josh Bell, a Home Run Derby contestant at the All-Star Game, vouched for that decision by banging three homers, the first Bucco lefty since Wille Stargell against the Bravos in 1971 to loft three big flies, bringing his mid-season total to 25 dingers. He also added a personal best seven RBI. Adam Frazier had five hits, including four doubles, to tie an MLB record held by several; he’s the only Pirates player beside Paul Waner to accomplish that feat (later matched by Kevin Newman in 2021). Also drilling the ball all over the yard was Colin Moran, who also bopped out five hits, including a pair of two-baggers. The Pirates collected 23 hits, the most ever by them against the Cubbies, to allow Trevor Williams to win on a day when he didn’t have his best stuff, a flaw that was neutralized by the lumber as the Bucs set season-high marks in runs (18), hits (23), doubles (seven) and homers (five).

2020 - The Pirates reported to Spring Training 2.0 at PNC Park for a proposed starting date of July 24th, with a 40-man roster to prepare for the coronavirus-shortened season and 20 more top farmhands working out at PNG Park in Altoona (formal workouts began on the 3rd). That was the Pittsburgh organization for the year; the minor league season was canceled entirely, though the Bucs, like most of MLB, paid the farm hands under contract but without a team to play for a stipend of $400/week through July 31st. Spring training and the season had been on hold since March 24th before MLB struck a deal with the Player’s Association.

Fraze - 2021 Topps ASG

2021 - Adam Frazier was pawing at the dirt during a pitching change in the fifth inning of the Brewers match at PNC; a few seconds later he was tipping his hat to the crowd who were cheering the announcement that he was on the NL All Star team for the first time (he knew already via Shelty). The 29-year-old Frazier, a two-time Gold Glove finalist who was hitting .328, was the first Pirates 2B to earn a starting spot in the Midsummer Classic since Bill Mazeroski in 1967 and the first to win his spot through fan voting since OF Andrew McCutchen in 2014, easily beating out runner-up Ozzie Albies and third-place finisher Gavin Lux. Fame is fleeting - three weeks later, he was traded to San Diego for IF Tucipita Marcano, OF Jack Suwinski and a minor league pitcher (Fraze returned as a free agent in 2025). Adam collected a hit against Milwaukee, but the team didn’t put on an All-Star show, losing 7-2.

2022 - The Pirates hosted the Brewers at PNC Park, and ouch... The Crew won 19-2, banging five homers, five doubles, and batting around not just once, but twice. Youngster Roansy Contreras, who would go on to have a pretty good campaign, was the first pitcher Milwaukee sent nine batters against. That was the second inning, and he was sent to the showers down 7-0. The eighth inning was worse. Rookie Cam Vieaux took the hill and was to bite the bullet for the bullpen...and he sure did have plenty to chew on. He faced 13 batters, and the first 10 reached base; it took him 48 pitches to get an out and 56 to close the frame, the most since Russ Ortiz of the Giants threw 62 second-inning balls to the Cards in 1999. In lieu of an MLB mercy rule, utilityman Josh VanMeter finished it up, giving up two runs on 18 final frame flings to close the book.

2026 - Konnor Griffin became the first Bucco to make the cover of Baseball Digest since Brian Giles in 2003 when he graced the July/August issue as “The Natural.” Although he missed virtually all of June with a sore arm, he came back for the month’s last home set v Cincy, hit leadoff and sent the first pitch he saw over the wall in left.