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.
 |
| Hans - 1902 photo/Carl Horner |
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.
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 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 Swift, who came on in relief of Jim Weaver, stepped up and stroked the first pitch into center to walkoff 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.
 |
| Frankie Frisch - 1940 Play Ball |
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 inspiration for a later 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.
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 later 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 out of twenty-eight games and kept them in second place, 6-1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Braves.
No comments:
Post a Comment