9/5 From 1960 Through the 1970’s: Cover Boys; Diomedes Debut; Game Stories; HBD Rod, Andy & Chris

• 1960 - At the age of 41, LHP Diomedes Olivo made his MLB debut, pitching in relief of Harvey Haddix for the Pirates. The oldest rookie in NL history other than Satchel Paige tossed two goose eggs against Milwaukee at Forbes Field, giving up a hit to Eddie Matthews and a pair of walks. The Bucs lost 7-1, splitting a doubleheader with the Braves after chasing Warren Spahn in a 9-7 win earlier in the day. Diomedes was in the show until 1963 between the Pirates and Cardinals; his brother, Chi-Chi, also tossed in the big leagues. 

Diomedes Olivo 1962 - photo Ted Russell/Getty

• 1960 - LHP Chris Green was born in Los Angeles. The Bucs’ 1979 fourth-round pick, his MLB stay consisted of four games with the 1984 Pirates, giving up two runs in three frames. The Kentucky pitcher had a problem with the bottle, and he was sent from 1985 spring training into rehab, then to AAA Hawaii. He spent 1986 in the Angels system and his last pro year in ‘87 was with the Oriole organization. 
• 1964 - Roberto Clemente was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Confidant Corsair.” Though the Pirates were a disappointing 80-82, Roberto led the NL with 211 hits and a .339 BA. 
• 1966 - Harry “The Hat” Walker’s mug graced the cover of Sports Illustrated for the story “Pittsburgh Pirates: Very Good to Excellent,” teased as “The High Price of a Pennant.” It ended up they were just very good; they finished 92-70, three games behind the LA Dodgers. 
• 1969 - Steve Blass beat the Cubs 9-2. Blass helped his own cause with his only MLB homer‚ a three-run blast off Ken Holtzman‚ and three singles. His kryptonite was Billy Williams, who had all four Chicago hits, including two homers. The win was Pittsburgh's first at Wrigley since July 5th‚ 1968‚ ending a string of 13 straight losses at the yard. 
• 1971 - The Pirates flexed their muscles in an 8-2 win over the Expos at TRS. Rennie Stennett was a triple shy of the cycle, Pops had a homer and two-bagger among his three hits, Milt May had a long ball and Richie Hebner doubled and tripled. Billy Maz celebrated his B-Day with a pinch hit rap as Bruce Kison rolled to his fifth win with Ramon Hernandez mopping up. There were a combined 20 hits and seven walks, yet the game was done in 2:20. 
• 1974 - Coach Andy Barkett was born in Miami. The former 1B had a major league career of one month, spent in Pittsburgh (he did hit .305) in 2001. After a long tour of duty in the minors, Andy started coaching in the Marlins system in 2010, moved on to Detroit and then became the minor league hitting coach for the Pirates in 2016. He got the manager’s job at Indy when Dean Treanor left to become the Marlins bullpen coach in 2017. 

Andy Barkett 2001 - photo Rick Stewart/Allsport

• 1975 - Montreal used a record 15 pinch hitters in their doubleheader split with the Pirates at Parc Jarry. The Expos claimed the opener 4-3 in 10 innings when Kent Tekuluve walked in the winning run (he had a tough inning with two walks, two more intentional passes, a wild pitch and passed ball). Pittsburgh won the nitecap 5-2 behind Richie Hebner’s two RBI, Willie Randolph’s two runs scored and a Captain Willie homer. Les Expos used six pinch-hitters in the first game (but none in the decisive 10th frame) and nine in the second contest. The Bucs burned four bench bats during the twin bill, all in the first match. 
• 1975 - C Rod Barajas was born in Ontario, California. Rod played for a dozen seasons, closing out his career in 2012 in Pittsburgh. He hit .206 in 104 games and surrendered 93 stolen sacks in 99 tries after signing a $4M FA contract at age 36. Hot Rod was released by Arizona in camp the following season, took a year off and has been managing in the Padres system since. 
• 1978 - Jerry Reuss extended his scoreless streak to 21-1/3 IP, the bottom four in the Bucco order generated the attack, and the Pirates won their 10th game in a row (and 22-of-25) by an 8-0 count over the Mets at TRS. Reuss tossed a complete-game four-hitter while the 5-8 hitters (Phil Garner, Manny Sanguillen, Dale Berra & Duffy Dyer) combined for seven hits, six RBI and three runs scored as the Bucs got within 1/2-game of the first place Phillies. Dan Donovan of the Pittsburgh Press called the Pirates current hot streak their “Resurrection stretch.”

9/5 From 1990: Sophie's Stadium; Maz Statue; Hans Card; Game Stories; HBD Pablo & Jason

• 1990 - The Pirates beat the Mets 1-0 and 3-1 at TRS to open a four-game lead over New York in the NL East. Zane Smith pitched a one-hitter in the twilight twin bill opener for the Bucs and Neal Heaton won the nitecap. Barry Bonds drove in the first game’s only run in the ninth, singling home Gary Redus. Jeff King homered twice in the nightcap to account for all three Bucco runs. Pittsburgh swept all five of its doubleheaders that season. 

Zane Smith - 1991 Score

• 1991 - While presenting her Six-Year Development Plan address, Mayor Sophie Masloff said that the City would like to build a 44,000 seat baseball stadium “...so we will finish the job of securing the Pirates’ future in this City.” She planned to locate it on the North Shore, to be ready by the turn of the century, and wanted to call it Clemente Field. She may not have got all the details right, but became the prime mover, often against stiff opposition, for the eventual building of PNC Park, pushed through by her successor, Mayor Tom Murphy. 
• 1992 - The Pirates won for the ninth time in 10 games behind Bob Walk’s six-hitter to defeat the LA Dodgers 6-1 at TRS. Barry Bonds did the heavy lifting with a three-run homer in the third to give Walkie all the runs he’d need. 
• 1993 - Utilityman Pablo Reyes was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. After batting .289 at Indianapolis in 2018, he was among the first wave of call-ups. He’s one of the Swiss Army knife-type players the Pirates value, having played both middle infield positions and the outfield for the Tribe. He got his first MLB start on September 4th, one day shy of his 25th birthday, and collected two hits, including his first MLB knock. 
• 1995 - OF Jason Martin was born in Corona, California. He was an eighth-round draft pick of Houston in 2013, selected straight from high school, and joined the Pirates in 2018 as part of the Gerrit Cole trade. He was called up on April 5th, 2019, and got into 17 games, batting .229, before being returned to Indy (he was recalled in September). He was brought up before his time due to injuries; he only had 60 AAA & 68 AA games under his belt as a 23-year-old before he was promoted. 
• 2003 - Reggie Sanders became just the sixth right-handed hitting Pirate to homer 30 or more times in a season with his solo homer in the seventh inning in the first game of a doubleheader at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium. Sanders joined Ralph Kiner (six times), Frank Thomas (twice), and one-timers Dick Stuart, Jeff King and Aramis Ramirez to accomplish the feat. His long fly tied the opener against the Bravos, which the Bucs eventually lost 3-2 in 10 innings. The Pirates won the nightcap 5-3 behind Craig Wilson’s three-run homer and Jeff Reboulet’s solo shot. Mark Corey split even on the day, losing the first game and winning the second.

Ohlie - 2009 Upper Deck

• 2009 - In the seventh inning of the Pirates' 2-1 loss to St. Louis at PNC Park, Ross Ohlendorf tossed the Bucs’ second-ever “immaculate inning,” striking out the side on nine pitches. He fanned Kevin Greene, Julio Logo and Jason LaRue, all who were thrown out at first after swinging at pitches in the dirt. Jeff Robinson first turned the feat for the Bucs in 1987 against the Cubs Leon Durham, Andre Dawson and Rafael Palmeiro. Juan Nicasio became the third Pirate to toss an immaculate inning in 2016. As for the game, Ohlie’s effort went for naught when Albert Pujols bopped a 10th-inning pinch-hit homer off Matt Capps. 
• 2007 - A 1909 T206 American Tobacco baseball card of Honus Wagner was sold for a record $2.8M to an anonymous buyer. The card is such a rarity because Wagner refused to license his image to the tobacco company, and only between 50-200 of the cards were ever printed. 
• 2010 - Bill Mazeroski’s statue was dedicated at PNC Park outside the RF gate, located on Mazeroski Way (it was the former Avenue of the Pirates, renamed in Maz’s honor in 2001) and unveiled on his 74th birthday. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the lineup that afternoon and the Bucs were whipped by the Nats. Pittsburgh sculptor Susan Wagner shaped the likeness of Maz on his 1960 home run trot. Susan also created the Clemente and Stargell monuments for PNC Park.

Better Late Than Never: B-Rey Walks It Off As Bucs Break Out in Ninth To Hook Fish 6-5

After two routine outs, the Marlins banged back-to-back doubles to wrest the early lead from Trevor Williams. The Bucs game-opening streak of homers ended at three when Fraze lined out to center, just short of the track, off Robert Dugger. B-Rey reached on a boot, Colin got bopped, and J-Bell dropped an RBI flare to plate a run before Joey O hit into a DP to kill the frame. The Fish led off the second with a rap; Magneuris Sierra baited Osuna to throw behind him and continued to second. Two K's and a tapper kept him there. Malky & Tuck singled to start the Bucs before Jake rolled into another DP and Willy bounced out. Miami had a pair of two-down singles in the third but Willy left them on the pond. Fraze got plunked and Reynolds doubled. Colin K'ed and J-Bell was walked intentionally, and the sacks stayed packed after a pop and liner. It was a clean fourth for Trevor. Stalls walked with one gone; Willy couldn't bunt him up, but no diff as Fraze tripled off the Clemente Wall. J-Bell booted a ball in the fifth, and it cost the lead when Starlin Castro went deep. The Pirates went down 1-2-3.

Fraze is staying hot - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

The sixth was quiet for the Marlins. Melky singled for the Bucs, Tuck hit into a force and then scored on Pablo's two-out, two-bagger to knot the game. Kyle Crick gave it back and more with two outs in the seventh, when he was smoked for a double and Garrett Cooper dinger. After a walk, Yacksel Rios came in to get the last out. Adam Conley put the Pirates down without breaking a sweat. Rios started the eighth and used just eight pitches, with a pair of whiffs, to get through it. Ryne Stanek took the bump and the Pirates again went down in order. Wei-Chung Wang got the ninth; Castro stayed hot with another double, sandwiched around three grounders and causing no problems. Jose Urena, and Eli said "hello" with a homer to cut the gap to one. Kevin Kramer drew a full-count walk and Erik Gonzalez came in to run. Fraze doubled to put Bucs at second and third with no outs. B-Rey ended the party when his well-placed, double-clutched pop plated the pair; walk it off and raise the Jolly Roger.

Great baseball it ain't, but it the series so far has gone down to the wire. It looks like it's gonna be a scorecard kinda month as Clint is getting everybody in, so bone up on those bench names.

Notes:

• Fraze, Melky and B-Rey had two hits; J-Bell had a knock and a walk.
• Tonight was Bryan Reynolds first MLB walk off.
• This is the third straight game that Kyle Crick has allowed a homer. He's given up 10 long balls in his last 28-1/3IP.
• Starling Castro and Garrett Cooper had seven hits (of 10 total), all five RBI and four of the five Miami runs tonight.
• Kevin Kramer wasn't the Bucs red-haired stepchild after all; he was called up today to take the spot of Jason Martin, who is done with a dislocated shoulder. In addition to the infield, KK also played both corner OF spots at Indy, so he can step into the fifth OF'er role.
• There were 9,043 tickets sold for tonight; a lot were not used.
• The Reds Michael Lorenzen became the first player to earn a win, play the field, and homer in the same game since Babe Ruth (6/13/1921) tonight, per MLB Stats.

Willy v Robert Dugger, Lineup & Notes

Game: Game two begins at 7:05 and will be aired by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Bryan Reynolds CF, Colin Moran 3B, Josh Bell 1B, Jose Osuna RF, Melky Cabrera LF, Cole Tucker SS, Jake Stallings C, Trevor Williams P. No Newman, no Starling (Iron Man gets a day off). Should be an interesting night for fly balls.Tuck gets a start at SS.

Tuck gets his first start since June 6th - photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams (7-6/5.26) takes on RHP Robert Dugger (0-1/4.50). Willy has been shaping up the past couple of games, giving up three runs on 10 hits over 13 IP and winning both times. He hasn't seen Miami since 2017. Dugger is making his third MLB start; he was part of the prospect package from Seattle for Dee Gordon. He features four & two seam fastballs, a slider and a curve, and is coming off a solid outing against the Reds. He'll be facing Pittsburgh for the first time.

Notes:

• Kevin Newman has a hip issue; he may or may not be available off the bench tonight.
• Jason Martin has a dislocated shoulder and is done for the year, although he won't need surgery. Mitch was playing catch before the game, so it looks like the Bucs dodged a bullet with him. In not-so-hot news, Gregory Polanco will have series of PRP injections in shoulder.
• Yesterday's win ended a 15-game losing drought on the road for Miami.
• IF Dylan Busby of Bradenton has been named POTW by the Florida State League.
• Jason Mackey of the Post Gazette reports the Bucs brought a handful of young Latino prospects north, both to get them away from Hurricane Dorian and to give the kids a peek at the bigs.

9/4 Through the 1960’s: Brother Bombers; Deacon on TSN; Game Stories; HBD Herky Jerky & Jackrabbit

• 1869 - RHP Elmer “Herky Jerky” Horton was born in Hamilton, Ohio. He made three MLB starts to fill his big league resume, two with the 1896 Pirates. He went 0-2, giving up 16 runs in 15 innings, with the second game coming after two days rest (he also lost his final start in 1898 12-3 as a member of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms). Herky got his start in 1894 with the Winfield nine and played through 1905, spending his last few seasons with New York-based teams, near his home. His nickname came from his herky-jerky pitching delivery. 
• 1875 - OF Jack “Jackrabbit” Gilbert was born in Rhinecliff, New York. The small and speedy (5-8, 145 lbs, hence his moniker) Jackrabbit played three games in 1898 between the Senators and Giants. Gilbert went to the minors where he swiped 182 bases between 1897-1900 (records are incomplete beyond that). He got one more call to the majors in 1904, appearing in 25 games for Pittsburgh as a left fielder. It wasn’t exactly the fast track to job security; the Pirates had future Hall of Famer Fred Clarke starting in left, and Fred was also the manager of the team. Jack didn’t return (hitting .241 with three steals in six tries didn’t help his cause) and played in the minors afterward, hanging on through 1910 when he was 34. 

Billy Gumbert - photo 1887 Zanesville via Out Of the Ballpark Development

• 1890 - The Pittsburgh Alleghenys snapped a 23-game losing streak and a stretch where the club lost 33-of-34 games with a 6-2 win over the Cleveland Spiders at Recreation Park. 2B Sam LaRoque had a pair of knocks and Dave Anderson notched the win. It didn’t do much to turn the season around; they dropped 20 of the last 23 games to finish 23-113. From July 3rd (when they had their final winning streak of the year of three in a row), they were 6-66. Local hurler Billy Gumbert (his brother Ad also pitched later for Pittsburgh) led the staff with four wins. 
• 1908 - With two outs and the Pirates-Cubs in a scoreless 10th-inning tie at Exposition Park, Chief Wilson singled to center with the bases juiced, scoring Fred Clarke with the winning run for Vic Willis, who tossed a four-hitter. Doc Gill, on first base, saw Clarke score, and pulled a u-turn toward the clubhouse before touching second (which, while lazy, was a common enough practice by the players). The Cubs' Johnny Evers then ran over and tagged second base to claim (properly) a run-preventing force out on Gill. But the lone umpire, Hank O'Day, had already left the field and Chi-town protested the game to no avail. Charley Murphy, the Cubs president, told Pirates beat man Ralph Davis of the Pittsburgh Press that “I do not expect the protest will be allowed, but it certainly is a strong one and should prove a strong argument in favor of the double-umpire system” instead of the single arbitrator currently in use. Three weeks later on September 23rd, Evers did get a force call in roughly the same situation against the NY Giants’ Fred Merkle, and that play, which impacted the pennant race, became forever known as “Merkle’s Boner.” Ironically, O’Day was the ump for that game, too. 
• 1916 - The Pirates swept the Cards at Forbes Field behind some stellar pitching. Frank Miller threw a four-hit whitewash in the opener, winning 7-0 as the Redbirds shot themselves in the foot with four errors leading to three unearned runs. Wilbur Cooper followed with his own four-hit shutout, taking a 2-0 decision. Carson Bigbee went 3-for-4 with an RBI, double and stolen base while Cooper drove in the other run. 
• 1927 - Lloyd and Paul Waner became MLB’s first brothers to hit home runs in the same game. They pulled off the feat in the same inning when Lloyd led off the fifth frame with his second home run of the season, and an out later Paul followed with his ninth dinger, both off the Reds’ Dolf Luque. Neither long ball would have counted today as each cleared the fence on a hop, then considered a home run but now a ground-rule double as Pittsburgh defeated Cincinnati at Redland Field, 8-4. The Waners were among six Bucs to have two or more hits, with Johnny Gooch’s three hits and RBIs leading the way for Vic Aldridge’s complete game win. The win gave the Bucs a two-game lead in the NL race, and they would go on to win the flag, although they were swept by the Yankees “Murderers’ Row” in the World Series.

Big & Little Poison - photo via 90 Feet of Perfection

• 1948 - With an off date during a Labor Day week home stand, the Pirates added to the Allegheny County Fair festivities by playing an exhibition against the Second Army club at the South Park Fairgrounds. Both papers reported a Bucco victory though neither gave a score. 
• 1964 - Bill Mazeroski and Donn Clendenon led a 16-hit Bucco attack as the Pirates downed the Houston Colt .45s, 10-2, at Forbes Field. The dynamic duo went 6-for-9, combining for seven RBI and three runs scored. Bill Virdon also had three knocks, with Bob Bailey and Roberto Clemente chipping in with a pair each. Bob Veale went the distance to breeze his way to his 15th victory. 
• 1965 - Vernon Law was featured on the cover of The Sporting News. He won the NL Comeback Player of the Year award that season with a 17-9/2.15 slash in 29 games at age 35. The Deacon won 12 more games in 1966, but faded in ‘67, his final campaign. 
• 1967 - The Pirates pounded out 32 hits in sweeping a Busch Stadium twinbill from the Cards by 10-8 and 9-3 scores. Manny Mota led the parade with five hits, four runs and five RBI during the day; Willie Stargell also collected five knocks. Billy Mazeroski had four hits (two 2Bs and a HR) and four RBI while Maury Wills added four more hits and plated three runs. Dennis Ribant won the first game in relief of Bob Veale with Juan Pizarro getting the save; Steve Blass got the win in the nightcap with Pizarro collecting his second save of the day.

9/4 From 1970: Kitten Loses Perfecto; Lee's First Win; Bootball; Game Stories

• 1971 - The Bucs mishandled five balls, but still won 7-6 over the Montreal Expos in 11 innings at TRS. The Expos clanked four themselves as six of the game’s 13 runs were unearned. Pittsburgh won on an oddball rally. Rennie Stennett singled and went to second when Gene Clines was HBP by Mike Marshall. Marshall picked Stennett off second, and during the same at-bat, had Clines picked off first, but Ron Fairly mishandled the throw. Instead of being out, Clines ended up on second where he scored the winning run on Vic Davalillo’s knock.

Omar Moreno - 1977 Topps

• 1976 - The Pirates put up three runs in the ninth, then held off the Expos 5-3 at Parc Jarry for their 10th straight win. The Bucs ninth inning was sparked by a two-run hit from Omar Moreno, who later scored on a wild pitch. Kent Tekulve gave up a score in the ninth and faced the tying run in Larry Parrish, but retired the slugger on a fly to center to pick up a save for Dave Giusti. Montreal had 13 hits, but were thwarted by four DP balls. 
• 1978 - In his first major league at-bat, Dorian “Doe” Boyland struck out while sitting on the bench. The Pirate rookie was yanked with a 1-2 count after the Mets made a pitching change in the seventh frame, replacing Skip Lockwood with Kip Kobel. Pinch hitter Rennie Stennett took Boyland’s place in the box as Chuck Tanner played the match-up game, and completed the K by watching strike three during the first game of a Bucco 7-4, 7-0 doubleheader sweep at TRS. The victories put the Bucs one game out of first. They would finish the year in second, 1-½ games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. 
• 1982 - Lee Tunnell got his first MLB start as a replacement for John Candelaria (his shoulder was tight), and took full advantage. Tunnell out-pitched Fernando Valenzuela in a 1-0 win over Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium when Lee Lacy’s first inning homer stood as the game’s only score. Tunnell left in the eighth with a blister; Rod Scurry and Kent Tekulve finished up. 
• 1991 - The Bucs won their eighth of nine games by defeating the SF Giants 8-3 at Candlestick Park. John Smiley won his 17th as Steve Buechele and Andy Van Slyke homered while Don Slaught went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles to increase their divisional lead to nine games. 
• 1991 - The MLB Committee For Statistical Accuracy deleted Harvey Haddix’s 12-inning perfect game from the list of perfectos while removing the asterisk from Roger Maris’ 61 homer year. In The Kitten’s case, the committee ruled that a pitcher had to “complete the game” to get credit, no matter how many innings. Haddix's response, according to Albert Chen of Sports Illustrated, was "It's OK; I know what I did." 

The Kitten Knows - 1992  Action Packed

• 1992 - Pittsburgh rallied for a 6-5 win against the LA Dodgers at TRS. Randy Tomlin allowed one unearned run in eight innings, turning over a 3-1 lead to Roger Mason in the ninth; he and Bob Patterson, who gave up a two-out grand salami to Todd Benzinger, couldn’t hold it. But the Bucs answered with three runs of their own in their half off three LA pitchers, winning the game on Don Slaught’s pinch-hit walk off single off Jay Howell that scored Orlando Merced. Andy Van Slyke stroked three doubles while Jay Bell homered to lead the attack.

Bucs An Out Away, But Marlin Mashes Carry Fish To 5-4, 10-Inning Win

Mitch Keller started off strong with a pair of whiffs. And holy moly, the leadoff homers - Fraze swatted Sandy Alcantara's fourth pitch over the CF wall. In the second, Garrett Cooper lined one up the middle with an out; it hit Mitch in the wrist. He managed to hang on to the ball, but left the game without even trying to throw, sheesh, it continues even in September. Clay Holmes took over, gave up a walk, of course (he averages 6.5/nine IP), and a double, then collected the third out. The Pirates went down quietly. A single and two walks loaded the bases with two gone in the third; a grounder to Redbeard should have ended it, but he threw the ball askew, allowing two Fish upstream. J-Bell got his feet tangled up trying to corral the off-line toss and couldn't tag the runner, followed by a weak throw home, so both ends of the play contributed. It was 1-2-3 for the Bucs again. The fourth began with a walk *sigh* and two outs later, Geoff Hartlieb answered the bell for the final out as Holmes was already at 55 tosses. It was nada for the Buccos. Miami got a run in the fifth with all two-out action - walk, balk, double, wild pitch, and so far all three Marlin runs were scored by guys who walked.

Fraze didn't miss the thin air - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

With two away in the Pirates half, a walk and knock was had by Stalls and Erik Gonzalez. Melky drew another free pass pinch hitting, and Fraze tied the score with a rap before being caught taking a too wide turn at first. Michael Feliz fanned the side in the sixth and the Pirates made nary a peep. Ric Rod did nearly as well in the seventh with a pair of K and a squib in front of the plate while Alcantara continued his Cy Young performance. Frankie Liriano took the eighth. The Pittsburgh Kid legged out a single, then was erased on a DP. Isan Diaz, hitting .153, walked and then a batter was bopped, but a liner to Starling kept the free runners at bay. Jason Martin pinch hit and drew a 3-2 walk and was balked up; Tuck grabbed a bat and walked, too. That brought in Jarlin Garcia. Fraze has two hits and three RBI, so Clint had him bunt the guys up. B-Rey was caught looking (and he could have been rung up a pitch sooner), then Starling was given an intentional pass to turn J-Bell around to the right side. A wild pitch brought home a run, with Martin banging up his shoulder in a tangle at home, and Josh was intentionally walked. Redbeard bounced out.

Felipe took the ball for the ninth, and with two outs gave up a homer to Miguel Rojas, who drilled a 100 MPH heater over the CF wall. Tyler Kinney walked Pablo with two gone, and then lost Tuck. Lefty Adam Conley came on to face Fraze. He beat out an infield knock, but for no purpose; Reyes tried to score from second on a ball to short, waved on his suicide mission by Joey Cora, and so it's on to bonus baseball. Parker Markel gave up a homer to Garrett Cooper, who clocked it over The Notch, and Jose Urena tucked the Bucs away. Goodnight.

Michael Feliz was in the groove - photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates

If this is how September is going to play out, God bless us every one. It's gonna make for a long month if the walks and little league base running continue.

Notes:

• Fraze had three hits; the Pirates had four.
• Mitch Keller has a wrist contusion, per the Pirates. He's day-to-day.
• The Pirates are the third team in MLB history to hit a leadoff homer in three or more straight games, along with the Orioles in April, 1996 (four in-a-row by Brady Anderson) & the Braves in August, 2018 (three consecutive by Ronald Acuna Jr.) per Stats by STATS.
• Felipe has given up 22 homers in his career; Rojas is the first batter to have two against him.
• Marlins 1B and ex-Bucco Neil Walker was presented the 2019 American Legion Baseball Graduate of the Year Award in a pregame ceremony.
• There were 9,169 announced at the park tonight.

Mitch v Sandy Alcantara, Lineup & Notes - Call Ups, Mike Ryan Gone

Game: The set starts at 7:05 and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. It's Pup Night at the Park.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Bryan Reynolds LF, Starling Marte CF, Josh Bell 1B, Colin Moran 3B, Jose Osuna RF, Jake Stallings C, Erik Gonzalez SS, Mitch Keller P. K-Man's down tonight (whole lotta SS's on the roster now) and no pups in the lineup.

Pitchers: RHP Mitch Keller (1-3/8.62) opens against RHP Sandy Alcantara (4-12/4.22). Mitch continues his bumpy intro to the bigs. This will be his first outing against the Fish. Alcantara was 0-2 in August, but pitching well, with a 3.03 ERA and .179 OBA. The youngster (he'll be 24 on the 7th) gave up three runs on eight hits over six innings against the Buccos earlier in the year, getting a no-decision in an eventual 5-4 Marlin loss.

Mitch goes tonight - 2019 Bowman Prospect

Call-Ups: SS Cole Tucker, OF Jason Martin, C Steve Baron, RHP Yacksel Rios, and LHP Wei-Chung Wang. All are on the 40-man except for Baron, and there was an opening for him. The most notable exclusions are RHP Dovy Neverauskas and IF Kevin Kramer, which doesn't bode well for the pair heading into the off season.

Notes:

• Felipe Vazquez has been named the NL Reliever of the Month for August. He was 3-0-3/0.87 with 11K in 10-1/3 IP and an opponent BA of .125.
• Redbeard comes into tonight with a 12-game hitting streak and Starling with an 11-gamer.
• The Bucs took two of three June matches against Miami in Florida, winning a blowout and splitting a pair of one-run decisions.
• Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald has a piece on Neil Walker's homecoming tonight.
• Colin Moran's big bro, LHP Brian Moran, was called up by the Marlins today.
• The final Eastern League POTW was LHP Domingo Robles, who went 1-0, giving up a run on eight hits with a walk and 11 K in 14 innings for Altoona. The 21-year-old went 4-6/4.02 with 18 starts for the Curve after being called up from Bradenton.
• In a surprise move, the Pirates fired Curve manager Mike Ryan, who was both popular and successful. Must be a backstory as the FO cited him for not instilling "Pirates culture"in his charges. He was offered a suit position, but is looking for other managing opportunities.

9/3 Through The 1920’s: Connie In Command; Ironclad Contract; Game Stories; HBD Ed & Harry

• 1864 - C Harry Decker was born in Lockport, Illinois. Harry spent most of his fourth and final MLB season (1890) with the Pirates, hitting .274. Decker was all-around; he also played 1B, 2B, SS and OF for Pittsburgh. Per SABR, Decker is on the short list as an inventor of the modern catcher's mitt, winning a patent in 1906. Harry’s later years are a mystery - in the 1910s, he was serving time at San Quentin prison under the name Earl Henry Davenport (and playing ball for the prison team, which is how he was outed by The Sporting Life). His criminal ways involved forgery, larceny and bigamy (he was also said to be a womanizer) while several of his crimes victimized other ballplayers. The string of aliases he used made documenting his life beyond baseball impossible; baseball historians lost track of him after 1915 when he was released from The Q and don’t even know his place/date of death. 

Koney - 1915 Cracker Jack

• 1885 - 1B Ed Konetchy was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He stopped in Pittsburgh in the middle of his 15-year career, hitting .249 for the Pirates in 1914 and .314 for the Federation League’s Pittsburgh Rebels in the ensuing campaign. Konetchy was noted for his speed, consistency with the stick (.281 career BA) and solid defensive play along with his friendly demeanor (His SABR bio noted that “He was the kind of player that even the umpire liked.") Ed had a million monikers: the Candy Kid (his first job was in a candy factory), Big Ed (he was 6-2, 195 lb), the LaCrosse Lulu (hometown), the Big Bohemian (he was Czech), Edward the Mighty (600+ career extra-base hits) and he was listed in box scores simply as Koney. He was posthumously inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1961. 
• 1890 - Pittsburgh played the Cleveland Spiders in Altoona, one of four regular season home games in the Alleghenys/Pirates history that wasn’t played in Pittsburgh (Wheeling and two at Williamsport were the others). The Alleghenys lost to a 23-year-old rookie named Cy Young 10-6. Pittsburgh self-destructed during the game by committing 10 errors, leaving the Altoona fans “somewhat disappointed” per the Pittsburgh Press. The game raised some controversy among later baseball historians, who can’t quite figure out if it was a make-up of a rainout or a fund-raising exhibition; such was the state of record-keeping back in the day. The Press called it a “championship” game - ie, the result counted towards determining the league champion - and we’ll leave it at that. 
• 1894 - Replacing fired skipper Al Buckenberger, Connie Mack took the helm to lead the Pirates to a 22-1 win (“...the Pittsburgs were in brave form against the visiting Senators” said the Pittsburgh Press) over his former Washington team at Exposition Park. Mack was a player/manager with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1894 to 1896, compiling an 149–134 (.527) record. Mack (real name: Cornelius McGillicuddy) later went on to a Hall-of-Fame career as the long-time skipper of the Philadelphia Athletics. 
• 1905 - Deacon Phillippe and Chicago's Bob Wicker hooked up in a 10-inning scoreless duel, each allowing three hits, before the Colts scored an unearned run in the 11th following a triple. That runner scored a batter later when with the infield in, 1B Del Howard threw the ball away going for the out at home. In the nitecap, Paul “Lefty” Leifield made his MLB debut and whitewashed Chicago 1-0 on a three-hitter in a game stopped after six innings at West Side Park because both teams had to catch a train to their next series. The Buc run scored in the final frame when Fred Clarke doubled to lead off and scored on a pair of groundouts. In a bit of an oddity, all four pitchers threw three-hitters. The opening loss broke an 11-game winning streak by the Bucs. They went on to win 8-of-9 afterward on the way to a 96-win, second-place finish. 

Deacon Phillippe - 1904 Fan Craze card

• 1914 - In a rare early example of a guaranteed contract being upheld, Pittsburgh Rebel Harry Gessler reached a final settlement with the Federal League club after he was fired as player/manager two weeks into the season. He rebuffed the ownership’s proffered settlement and hired an attorney to collect his pay and a separation bonus, as stipulated in his “ironclad” contract. Gessler, from Indiana and Greensburg HS, then left baseball and went to medical school, picking up the moniker “Doc.” 
• 1914 - The Pirates had a big day in an otherwise dismal season when they swept the Cards 11-6 and 10-3 at Forbes Field. Wilbur Cooper won the opener with relief help from “Hickory Bob” Harmon while Erv “Kanty” Kantlehner went the distance in the nitecap. The offensive hero was Max Carey, who scored five times in the opener. The Bucs swept a four-game set from St. Louis without the injured Honus Wagner. Pittsburgh ended the season with a 69-85 slate, finishing in seventh place, 25-1⁄2 games off the pace of the Boston Braves, as their roster was badly deflated by defections to the upstart Federal League. 
• 1925 - The Pirates won their ninth in a row with a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field. Glenn Wright went 3-for-4 with two RBI to back Ray Kremer’s pitching. Pittsburgh upped their league lead to nine games. The gap would never drop below seven games as they won the crown by 8-½ games and whipped the Senators in the World Series. 
• 1927 - The Pirates bombed the Cards 14-0 at Forbes Field. George Grantham went 4-for-4 while Paul Waner and Pie Traynor each went 3-for-4. Carmen Hill tossed a five-hit winner as the Pirates began to pull away from the Cards and NY Giants, taking a two game lead in the NL race that they would never surrender. 

Lloyd Waner - 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter

• 1928 - The Bucs broke out the bats at Forbes Field, clobbering the Chicago Cubs 16-1 in the opener of a Forbes Field twin bill and taking the nitecap 6-3. Five Pirates had multiple RBI in the first game as Lloyd Waner led the 19-hit outburst with four knocks behind Erv Brame’s five hitter. Paul Waner, Adam Comorosky and Dick Bertell added three hits each. Big Poison homered and had a pair of RBI to back Ray Kremer in the finale. Comorosky was a busy boy; he tied an NL record for right fielders with nine putouts in the second contest.

9/3 From 1930 Through the 1970’s: Deans Dropped; Bad Day for Cards; Starg Sight; Game Stories; HBD Dave

• 1934 - The Pirates beat the Dean brothers, Daffy (Paul) and Dizzy (Jay), by 12-2 and 6-5 scores during a Forbes Field doubleheader. Freddie Lindstrom had four hits in the lid lifter, Pie Traynor and Gus Suhr knocked in three runs each and Larry French cruised to the victory. The Bucs put it away with their biggest inning of the season, an eight-run third. The second game had its action in the ninth. The Cards scored three times to take a 5-3 lead; the Pirates came back with a three spot of their own in the bottom half, ripping three hits off reliever Dizzy Dean and claiming the win when Pie Traynor singled into right to score Lindstrom, who had seven hits during the day. Howie Meine got the win after coming in to relieve Waite Hoyt in the final frame. Volney Walsh of the Pittsburgh Press wrote “the customers had come to see Dizzy pitch, no doubt about it, but when he left the mound, thousands stood and gave a tremendous ‘boo’ that could be heard for blocks. Even the Carnegie Museum seemed to rock from that razzberry.” 

Dizzy & Daffy weren't so smiley after a double defeat - 1934 photo via Robert Edwards Auctions

• 1944 - The Pirates took both ends of a twinbill from the Cardinals‚ 6-5 and 8-2, to sweep the four-game set from St. Louis. The brooming ended the Cards’ amazing MLB record of 132 consecutive series without a sweep. Rip Sewell and Jumbo Strincevich were the complete game winners, putting on a show for the largest Forbes Field crowd of the season of 34‚927. 
• 1945 - The Bucs took a double dipper from St. Louis‚ 6-5 and 6-2. The Bucs banged four homers in the opener, two by C Bill Salkeld. Ted Wilks took the loss; he wouldn’t lose again until 1948, after 77 more appearances. In the nitecap, Preacher Roe scattered seven hits while fanning 11, and his battery mate Al Lopez caught his 1‚793rd game‚ a then-MLB record for catchers, slipping past the old Cub Gabby Hartnett, who set the mark in 1941. 
• 1950 - The Pirates gave up a pair of runs in the 10th to the Cards, then rallied to score three in their half to beat St. Louis 12-11 at Forbes Field. Bob Dillinger and pinch hitter Pete Castiglione hit back-to-back homers off Harry Breechen to tie the game. After Breechen walked Ralph Kiner intentionally with two outs, Gus Bell doubled home the game winner. 
• 1962 - OF Dave Clark was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. He played for the Pirates for five seasons (1992-96) as a reserve OF’er and bench bat. Clark’s Pittsburgh line was .278/35/158 with an OPS+ of 111 in 940 AB. He went on to coach in Pittsburgh, Houston (where he served as interim manager) and Detroit. Dave also managed several seasons for Licey in the Dominican League. 
• 1968 - Willie Stargell took off the glasses he had been wearing for 10 days (he was 1-for-25 with 11 K while wearing them) and returned to his normal ball-banging self, hitting a solo homer in the sixth that was the game winner in a 3-2 win over the Astros at Forbes Field. His play wasn’t the big one, though - Larry Dierker, who limited the Bucs to four hits, walked the bases loaded in the second inning, and Jose Herrera booted a DP ball that should have ended the inning. Instead, Stargell scored on the error and Bill Mazeroski came in a batter later on a short Freddie Patek sac fly. Dock Ellis got the win - he was in almost constant hot water, giving up 11 hits, but for the most part dodged the raindrops - finished off by Luke Walker, who struck out the final four ‘Stros. The crowd was a dismal 3,003 as the Pirates sat in sixth place, 21 games off the lead. 

Willie lost the goggles, and the ball - 1968 Topps

• 1972 - It took the Pirates 10 innings, but they held off the San Francisco Giants at TRS by a 2-1 score. Bob Moose carried a 1-0 lead into the ninth, but Gary Maddux’s two-out knock knotted the game. Maddux was also key in the Pirates comeback; with Bob Robertson at first base, Ken Henderson tried to make a shoe-string grab of Richie Hebner’s sinking liner and missed, the ball scooted past him and Maddux failed to back up, allowing Big Red to come all the way around with the winning run to hand Dave Giusti the win in relief. Giants reliever Jerry Johnson took it hard - on his way back to the clubhouse, “fuming and cursing” per Post Gazette beat man Charley Feeney, he kicked the water cooler, tore the thermostat off the wall, scattered the bats and splintered a stool. Giant manager Charlie Fox read the riot act to his troops after the game, no doubt frustrated after his gang had outhit the Bucs for the third straight game - they had 13 hits and stranded 13 on this day - yet were swept. The Bucco room was notably more lighthearted as they had just won their sixth straight and were 12 games up in the pennant race with 29 contests to go (they took the crown with an 11-game cushion). 
• 1978 - Dale Berra’s three-run, walk-off homer off Gene Garber in the ninth gave the Pirates a 6-3 win over the Braves at TRS. Atlanta manager Bobby Cox had intentionally walked Bill Robinson to get to Berra. Phil Garner tied the game in the seventh with a two-out, three-run bomb, the same frame that Willie Stargell collected his 2,000th hit. Kent Tekulve got the win in relief of Bert Blyleven. The win was their 19th in 22 games and put them just two games behind the first-place Phils, but they finished second, 1-1/2 games short of Philadelphia.