4/25 TRS-PNC Park Era: Starg & Kip Go Long, ASV Cap-er, Pedro 2-Fer, HBD Trevor, Big Three Fall, 26th Man

• 1970 - Willie Stargell homered over the RF roof at Forbes Field off Hoyt Wilhelm‚ the second time he'd done it in a week‚ as the Pirates edged the Braves‚ 8-7. Eighteen balls carried over the Oakland yard’s roof, with seven launched by Stargell. No one else hit more than a pair. Roberto Clemente had three hits (two were doubles) and four RBI as he shared some of the offensive thunder with Cap’n Willie.

Willie Stargell 1970 Topps

• 1992 - In the Pirates 1-0 win over the host Cubs‚ the Bucs were helped by a wayward hat. With Kirk Gibson on first‚ Jay Bell hit a potential DP grounder that struck Gibson's helmet which had flown off as he headed to second, and the Cubs had to settle for a force. Andy Van Slyke noted‚ “the play goes 7-1/2 to 4 to 5 to 6" on your scorecard. Bell then scored when Van Slyke followed with a double for the game’s only run. Randy Tomlin was the winner over Greg Maddux.
• 1992 - RHP Trevor Williams was born in San Diego. His brief initial cruise in 2016 wasn’t all that smooth; after mowing down hitters in AAA, he went 1-1/7.83 for the Pirates in a handful of outings. In 2017, he broke camp with the team as a multi-role bullpen arm after a strong spring. He was a second round draft pick of the Marlins in 2013 and came to Pittsburgh for a career minor-league player, Richard Mitchell. Many thought the seemingly one-sided deal was actually compensation for the Fish signing the Pirates pitching assistant Jim Benedict earlier.
• 2003 - Kip Wells became the second player and first pitcher to homer into the batter’s eye at PNC Park with a third inning, 457’ blast off the Dodgers Odalis Perez. LA had the last laugh when they rallied for five ninth inning runs off Wells and Mike Williams to take a 5-2 victory.

Kip hit better than he tossed - 2003 Fleer Hardball

• 2012 - Pedro Alvarez homered in both games of Pittsburgh’s doubleheader split against Colorado at PNC Park, becoming the second Pittsburgh player in the last 22 seasons to hit home runs for the Pirates in two games played on the same day. El Toro joined Rob Mackowiak, who also went long twice in a DH on 5/28/04 against the Cubs on the memorable day his wife gave birth to their first child.
• 2012 -The Pirates and the Rockies became the first teams in MLB history to add an extra player to the roster for their twin bill at PNC Park. The new CBA permitted teams to carry 26 on the active roster for doubleheaders to save the paper shuffling that calling up an extra pitcher entailed. The Bucs brought up Jared Hughes, who had started the season with Pittsburgh but was sent down when AJ Burnett came of the DL.
• 2013 - The Bucs beat the Phillies for the third straight time at Citizen’s Bank Park by a 6-4 score. It was the first time in the eighteen outings that Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee threw back-to-back-to-back games that the Phils lost all three matches. The Pirates lost the first outing of the four game set, beaten 3-2 by an unheralded Jonathan Pettibone who was making his first MLB start.

4/25 Expo Park-Forbes Field Era: HBD Tom, Dutch, Fred, Jimmy, Ed & Bob; Wally, Roberto, Hans Come Up Big

• 1864 - C Tom Quinn was born in Annapolis, Maryland. He played three years in the show, getting a cup of coffee with the Alleghenys in 1886 (0-for-11) and finishing with the outlaw Pittsburgh Burghers (.213) in 1890. Tom got a job with the state after he was done with baseball and lived in Swissvale the remainder of his days.
• 1868 - 3B Fred “Dutch” Hartman was born in Allegheny City (Northside). He began his career as a Pirate in 1894 and hit a strong .319. After a couple of years of seasoning, he returned to the big leagues in 1897 after a trade to the Browns, where he was considered a highly touted addition to the club. He never took off and Dutch ended up pretty much a league-average player, hitting .278 during a six-year career. After baseball, he remained in the area, living in McKeesport.

Fred Haney w/owner John Galbreath & GM Branch Rickey
(photo April 13, 1954 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

• 1896 - Fred Haney was born in Albuquerque. He managed the Bucs as a favor to Branch Rickey from from 1953-1955. His record reflects the fact that he was brought in during the early stages of a youth movement, losing 104, 101 and 94 games for a 163-299 (.353) slate, although he was used to the drill after managing the sad-sack St. Louis Browns from 1939-41. But he delivered when finally given some players. He moved on to Milwaukee and won back-to-back NL titles and the 1956 World Series. Later, he was the LA Angels first GM.
• 1899 - In a sign of things to come, Pittsburgh lost to Louisville 2-1 at Eclipse Park as future Bucco SS Honus Wagner went 4-for-4 with 2 HRs‚ the second being a ninth-inning game winner. The Colonels were managed by future Pirate skipper (and player) Fred Clarke. The following season, most of Louisville’s top players followed owner Barney Dreyfuss to Pittsburgh.
• 1910 - IF Jimmy Brown was born in Jamesville, North Carolina. A seven-year major league vet with an All-Star game under his belt, he was signed by the Bucs in 1946 after a two-year hiatus in the Army Air Force. He played three infield spots and hit .241 off the bench in his last hurrah. In 1947 he became a manager in the Pirates farm system at Indianapolis and New Orleans before returning to the NL as a coach for the Boston Braves in 1949. After leaving Beantown in 1952, he managed minor league teams for the Cardinals, Braves and Reds.

A dapper Ed Vargo (photo via Ancestry.com)

• 1930 - Umpire Ed Vargo was born in Butler. He was a NL ump from 1960-1983 and the umpire supervisor from 1984-1997. Vargo worked the first night World Series game in 1971, two of Sandy Koufax's no-hitters, the last games at Forbes Field/the Polo Grounds, four All-Star Games, four NLCS, four World Series, the first game at Candlestick Park and the game in which Hank Aaron tied Babe Ruth's career home run record. Ed was inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame in 1966 and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame 1994. (bio via Baseball Reference)
• 1943 - RHP Bob Johnson was born in Aurora, Illinois. He pitched for the Bucs from 1971-73, beginning as a starter and ending in the bullpen. He went 17-16-7/3.34 as a Pirate and appeared in a pair of NLCS and in the 1971 World Series.
• 1948 - Wally Westlake homered, doubled, and drove in six runs while Ed Stevens added five more RBI to lead the Bucs to a 13-10 win over the Reds in the second game of a twinbill at Crosley Field. Pittsburgh lost the opener 7-6 in the ninth.

Roberto Clemente 1958 Topps Classic

• 1958 - Roberto Clemente was in fine form as he led the Bucs to a 4-3 win against Cincinnati at Crosley Field. He scored in the sixth after a leadoff double and then smacked his first long ball of the year, a two-out, three-run shot in the seventh that stood as the game-winner. Vern Law claimed the win after an ElRoy Face save while future Bucco Harvey Haddix took the loss.

At Least It Was Over Quick...Bucs KO'ed Early In 14-3 Thumping

Ah, Buccos. Chad got two outs, then issued a walk. That was followed in order by a stolen base (Anthony Rizzo broke while Kuhl was set and would have been an easy pickoff, but no one on the field - ahem, Fran & J-Bell - alerted Chad), another walk, a single, and a dropped tag by Amore at home (Jose Osuna's throw had the runner) to make it 1-0. Next came a Jason Heyward homer and a double and it was quickly 4-0.  Cutch drew a two-out walk from Brett Anderson and so did Gregory. Freeser singled home a run but the party ended on Fran's liner to second.

Chad was bad tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The next frame flamed up with one out with a single, double, walk (intentional after falling behind Rizzo 2-0) ahead of Ben Zobrist knocking a changeup to the wall in right. Osuna had the ball hop out of his glove; the ruling was a base-clearing double. A couple of more walks, a couple of more knocks and Trevor Williams came in on the short end of a 9-1 count to get the last out. It was double, walk, force-out bunt, 6-4-3 DP for the Bucs. The contest mercifully settled into playing it out; the Bucs emptied their bench in top of the fifth. Trevor carried it two outs into the sixth when Antonio Bastardo took over. ESPN's telecast had given up on the game by then and derailed into a steroid debate. Between that and the score, this was not a good night for the Pirates PR people.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh got a pair back, with Osuna's triple behind an error and ahead of J-Bell's single being the linchpin. With two outs and the bases empty in the seventh, AB filled the sacks and a wild pitch added another brick to the wall. Dovydas Neverauskas worked the eighth. After an early double and single chased his butterflies, he traded a DP ball for a run and closed with a whiff, then tossed a clean ninth. The Cub bullpen held the Buc bats at bay over the last three frames, and 14-3 was entered in the books. Well, it looked a lot like yesterday with shoddy fielding and a couple of DP balls, but without the great mound work. They were 3-for-8 with RISP, tho, but Chicago bested them there too, going 9-for-18. Gerrit Cole will try to right the ship tomorrow against Kyle Hendricks, a Wrigley Field rematch from earlier in the month.

Dovydas had a memorable - and frantic - debut (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Notes:

• The Pirates placed Adam Frazier on the 10-day DL and called up reliever Dovydas Neverauskas from Indy. Fraze has a left hammy sprain with the DL stint retroactive to yesterday, and Dovydas was called up to augment a bullpen that's carrying an ineffective Antonio Bastardo. Dovy hopped a plane, reported to the Pirate bullpen during the game and was warming up by the seventh frame. With his appearance in the eighth inning, he became the first born-and-raised Lithuanian (Joe Zapustas was Lithuanian and played in 1933, but he was born in Latvia and raised in Boston) to play MLB.
• Jose Osuna finished a homer short of the cycle and had three of the Pirates seven hits. J-Hay had a knock and two (!) walks; J-Bell singled and walked. 

Jose's stick was smokin' but his glove was icy (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

• Adam Berry of MLB.com noted "Chad Kuhl has made 18 starts in the Majors. He's allowed three or fewer runs in 15 of them. The other three have all been against the Cubs."
• 13,445 bought tickets for the game and not that many showed up. Smart people.
• Curious who plays the deepest CF after all the ado about postioning last year in Buccoland? Here's Statcast's average depth played by MLB center fielders, with Starling and Andrew just about at the same jump-off point in the middle of the pack. Carlos Gomez plays the deepest if you were curious; Billy Hamilton plays furthest in.

Monday: Cubs Come to Town, Kuhl v Brett Anderson, Lineup, Notes

Tonight: The Cubs come to town after being swept in the first meeting at Wrigley. The game starts at 7:05 and will be carried by Root Sports, ESPN, and 93.7 The Fan. Interesting race in the Central - the Cubs are first at 10-8, the Bucs last at 8-10. The five teams are separated by two games as mediocrity seems to be the April MO.

Lefty on the hill, Jordy at leadoff (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Lineup: Jordy Mercer SS, J-Hay 2B, Cutch CF, Gregory Polanco LF, David Freese 3B, Fran Cervelli C, Jose Osuna RF, J-Bell, 1B and Chad Kuhl P. Lefty up, Fraze down. Seems like the Bucs want to give Osuna a good look; he's only hitting .100 with 10 at-bats but has been making fairly solid contact, so he's not overmatched...we'll see after the league has a book on him.

Pitchers: Chad Kuhl (1-1, 2.60) opens against Brett Anderson (1-0, 4.40). The 24-year-old Kuhl is coming off a 2-1 loss to the Cards, but has been eye-opening effective during April. He'll be making his fourth start of the season and the 18th of his nascent MLB career. Caveat emptor: the Cubs treated him rudely last year when Cool Chad slashed 0-2/10.45 in two starts. Anderson, a 29-year-old FA signed by the Cubs, had a couple of good starts to open the season and then suffered a beatdown by the Brew Crew. Same trend against the Pirates: he shut them down in two 2014 starts, then was clocked in his outing against them as a Dodger last year (albeit after a long layoff due to disc surgery). Still, he's a lefty and the Bucs have had problems squaring them up so far this season.

Chad's been up to the task so far (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes: 

• Ken Davidoff of the NY Post has a piece on how Ivan Nova has found a comfort zone in Pittsburgh that was missing in the Big Apple.
• Odd weekend - Saturday was the first game that the Pirates lost when scoring four or more runs; Sunday was the first they won when scoring fewer than four.
• More odd stuff - Ivan Nova's 154-batter string of not issuing a walk ended when he ran the count full before losing an AL rookie pitcher in his first MLB at-bat. In fact, Yankee puppy Jordan Montgomery never even drew a minor-league free pass because he never had a plate appearance (in the upper minors, only NL-affiliated clubs playing one another bat their pitchers; lower levels use a DH). Not too surprisingly, Jordan never offered at a pitch. He K'ed on four pitches the next time he was up.
• Allegheny Andrew: Cutch is the all-time leader in homers (84) and RBI (321) at PNC Park.
• Road trip: Beginning Friday against Miami, the Bucs are scheduled to play 14-of-17 games on the road.

JaCoby dodged a bullet over the weekend (photo MLB.com)

• Detroit OF'er JaCoby Jones, an ex-Bucco traded to the Tigers for Joachim Soria, was placed on the 10-day DL with a left lip laceration after being hit in the face by a fastball Saturday. He had concussion/fracture worries, but escaped with nine stitches, his teeth, and a king-size headache.

4/24: Allen No-No; Chris Cranked; Firsts For Fred & Paul, Chase Field Shootout, HBD Dixie, Hans, Gashouse Gang Falls

• 1891 - Fred Carroll hit the first home run by a Pirate in Exposition Park (they played the year prior in nearby Recreation Park as the Alleghenys) as the Bucs defeated the Chicago Colts 11-8 for their first victory ever in Pittsburgh. They had become the Pirates in the off season, when they “pirated” Lou Bierbauer from the Philadelphia A’s.

Fred Carroll 1887-90 Old Judge

• 1903 - Honus Wagner was having a bad day in the field, booting three balls that helped the Cardinals head into the ninth with a 7-6 lead at Exposition Park, but his bat helped erase the deficit. He tripled in the ninth and scored the tying run on a Kitty Bransfield single. Then with two away in the eleventh, the Flying Dutchman walked, stole second and came around with the game winner on another Bransfield knock. Wagner collected four hits including two triples along with two runs scored, four RBI‚ and three stolen bases.
• 1915 - Pittsburgh Rebel southpaw Frank Allen tossed a 2-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Terriers at Handlan Park in the last year of the Federal League, the short-lived (1913-15) major league “outlaw” option to the National and American Leagues. Allen went on to pitch a couple more seasons for the NL Boston Braves. The Federal League was absorbed by the NL & AL, and a suit the FL filed eventually led to the still existent ruling that exempted baseball from antitrust laws.
• 1920 - C Dixie Howell was born in Louisville. The journeyman backstop began his MLB career as a Pirate in 1947 after being part of the Kirby Higbe deal and hit .276, but was lost to the Cincinnati Reds as a Rule 5 pick after the camapign. He spent 1949-56 as a back-up catcher for the Reds and later the Dodgers.

Fred Lindstrom 1934 (photo Conlon Collection/TSN)

• 1934 - The Bucs rallied to defeat the Gashouse Gang from St. Louis 5-4 at Forbes Field in their home opener. Behind 4-2 going into the ninth, Freddie Lindstrom homered over the LF wall with two aboard and his walk-off gave the Pirates the win over the future NL champs.
• 2007 - Paul Maholm tossed his first major league complete game after allowing three hits and throwing 99 pitches in the 3-0 shutout victory over the Astros at PNC Park. The game took just 1 hour and 57 minutes to complete. Jason Bay had three hits and drove in a pair while Ronny Paulino added a solo shot.
• 2010 - In the first inning of his first appearance of the year, Chris Jakubauskas was struck in the head by a liner off the bat of Houston's Lance Berkman. The 31-year old right-hander left the field on a stretcher, but was later diagnosed with just a concussion and not a fracture as first feared. Jaku wouldn’t pitch for the Bucs any more that year, but tossed for Baltimore the following season. The Pirates lost the game 5-2.

Jaku had one of the Bucs scarier moments in 2010 (photo Bob Levey/Getty)

• 2016 - The Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks took advantage of hitter-friendly Chase Field and after the smoke cleared, the Bucs hung on for dear life to take a 12-10, 13 inning victory. Pittsburgh got ahead early, leading 8-4 after four frames (every Pirate starter had scored or chased home a run by that time) but blew two run leads in both the ninth and 12th frames to a unrelenting D-Back attack. Both benches were shot by the end; pitchers Zack Grienke and Patrick Corbin of the Snakes along with Jon Niese for the Buccos had to pinch hit (Greinke and Niese singled; Niese had an RBI) while Arizona hurler Shelby Miller manned left field and batted. Neftali Feliz was credited with the blown save/win combo after Arquimedes Caminero ended the game, striking out a pair of pitchers. Starling Marte had four hits; David Freese and Gregory Polanco had three each while eight different Pirates scored; 10 had RBI.

Can't RISP? Can't Catch? Good Thing You Can Pitch - Bucs Take Series 2-1 Behind Nova & Clutch Bullpen

Ivan Nova had a smooth first inning; the Bucs had a chance to run away early. A Jordy walk followed by J-Hay and Cutch knocks bode well, but the plate was dented only a sac fly by Freeser; Gregory's K hurt bigly. It was a quiet second for NY; the Pirates were treated to a rarity with a Stew triple with one out; he too was left aboard. Spot a trend yet? No NY damage in the third. The Pittsburgh side cashed in. Cutch drew a one-out walk and Gregory went up the line for a two-bagger. Andrew ran through Joey Cora's stop sign to score, and his aggressive but accurate read on the play would prove eventually to be a game-winner. Nova got into his first jam in the fourth following back-to-back one-out knocks, but he got Aaron Judge to roll one to Jordy for a 6-4-3 inning-ending DP. The Bucs went with barely a peep themselves, chipping in their own DP ball.

Ivan Nova was the man again (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Both sides collected singles in the fifth; NY stranded their runner while the Bucs hit into another DP. The Pinstripers went down quietly in the sixth; the Pirates - hey, how about a third DP in three innings? This one was triggered by Jose Osuna's liner that trapped El Coffee off first. Jacoby Ellsbury homered off Nova in the seventh to halve the lead. Bryan Mitchell got the ball and a single sandwiched between two walks with no outs got him into instant hot water. But a Jordy pop to left, a J-Hay liner and a Cutch K left three more runners. Huddy took over for the Bucs in the eighth (Ivan gave up a run on four hits, *gasp* a walk and seven K in seven IP, using 87 pitches). With one gone, a walk and single put him in the red zone. A short two-out wild pitch put the tying run 90' away, but Daniel coolly K'ed Starlin Castro with high heat. Three up, three down for Pittsburgh.

Of course the drama wasn't over. Tony Watson looked to close and started with an out that was followed by a knock and a walk. But he looked like he got out of it with a tailor-made DP ball to J-Hay, who muffed the play and loaded the sacks. Tony is used to the Fat Lady waiting out his inevitable pickle and struck out Aaron Hicks, then served up a harmless game-ending grounder to coax her on stage to sing while the Jolly Roger was hoisted.

Tony's usual drama wasn't all self-inflicted today (image Positively Pgh.)

Another 1-for-10 RISP day, three DPs and blowing the game-ending DP, so what else is new? Ivan was dominant as usual and the pen had the right stuff again, so strong pitching overcame missing fundamentals elsewhere. The Cubs roll into town for a three-game set tomorrow with Chad Kuhl and Brett Anderson to open the series.

Notes:

• Stew's triple was the first in his career, covering 1,184 PAs. He had two hits today as did J-Hay and Gregory. Cutch had a single and walk.
• This was Tony Watson's eighth appearance. None have been clean and in 6-of-8, he's faced five or six batters.
• 27,840 spun the turnstiles for the game.
• The Pirates have, surprise, been looking for an OF'er. The consensus seems to be, with a weak roster of available FAs and only Danny Ortiz & Austin Meadows available at Indy, that the FO is scouring the DFA list or perhaps in minor-deal mood for a fourth outfielder type.
• Jamie Romak, 31, who came to Pittsburgh back in 2007 as part of the Adam LaRouche deal, is still around. He's hitting .345 with nine HR (the most in pro baseball) for San Diego's AAA El Paso club in the PCL. Jamie did get some showtime in 2014-15 with the Angels and D-Backs.

Sunday: Rubber Match Finale, Nova v Jordan Montgomery, Lineup, Notes

Today: The game starts at 1:35 and will be on Root Sports, the MLB Network for out-of-market viewers and 93.7 The Fan. Kids 14-and-under get a Bucco water bottle.

Lineup: Jordy SS, Josh Harrison 3B, Cutch CF, Gregory Polanco LF, David Freese 1B, Jose Osuna RF, Phil Gosselin 2B, Stew C & Ivan Nova P. A lefty on the hill has scrubbed Fraze and J-Bell from the lineup, and we are a little surprised that Goose continues to get the spot starts instead of Alen Hanson. Fran is off thx to day-following-night game. He did jog out a grounder in yesterday's game, but no word on whether it was his pride or bod that was hurt (EDIT: Clint said it was just "game fatigue" so a day off seems right on time). And yah, lineups like this seem to beg for defensive implosions, but Clint doesn't have a lot of good options when a southpaw takes the hill.

Freeser shifts to first today (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: Ivan Nova (1-2, 2.25) goes against Jordan Montgomery (1-0, 4.22). Ivan has put together three nice starts but hasn't had much support by the bats yet; hopefully that will even out as the season goes on. His calling card as a Bucco remains the same - throw strikes and make them hit your pitch. In three games he's only K'ed eight but has yet to issue a walk. Today marks a family reunion for Nova. He spent seven seasons in pinstripes and this will be his first appearance against his former teammates. 24-year-old rookie Montgomery, a 2014 fourth round pick out of South Carolina, has being a 6'6" lefty with a good downhill delivery going for him. Also in his favor is a four-pitch mix - fastball, curveball, cutter, and changeup. A lot depends on his command - he's walked four in his 10-2/3 IP and also fanned 11.

Nova goes against his home boys (photo Joe Guzy/Pirates)

Notes:

• Josh Bell has hit safely in six straight games, going 7-for-21 with two homers.
• Freeser has hit safely in four straight games and reached base safely in 15-of-16 contests. He ranks sixth in the NL with a .443 OBP. Cutch is also feelin' it with hits in 11-of-12 games.
• Speaking of OBP, leadoff has not been an Achilles heel so far for the Bucs - the #1 hitters have reached at a .367 OBP clip. That's mostly due to Fraze, who is getting aboard at a .412 rate in his seven games at leadoff. The Bucco issues against lefties can partially be explained by topping the order with Jordy, who in six games has a .296 OBP. J-Hay has been the man twice and has a .375 OBP, so that's why you see him there; it's not a case of Clintsanity.
• Gregory is 0-for-13 since returning full-time from his groin/shoulder injuries.
• BTW, yesterday's misjudged ball by Cutch and Gregory was called by both, so they obviously need some more time together to mesh. The near collision and ensuing error resulted when Polanco lost the ball in the sun a step or two away from the catch after Andrew had peeled off the ball.

4/23 From the 30s Forward: Happy Jack & Rube HoF, Babe Sold, HBD Blackie, Streaks Stop & Go, Rally Time

• 1935 - RHP Ron “Blackie” Blackburn was born in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. His MLB career lasted two years, from 1958-59, both spent with the Bucs where Blackie slashed 3-2-4/3.50. Blackburn spent 11 campaigns in the minors, the last for Asheville from which he retired after the 1964 season to became a teacher and baseball coach at Western Carolina University before becoming the rec director at the Western Correction Center in North Carolina.

Happy Jack 2011 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions

• 1946 - RHP “Happy Jack” (he was an upbeat guy) Chesbro was elected to the Hall of Fame. A spitballer who won 41 games in 1904 for the NY Highlanders, he tossed for the Pirates at the beginning of his career from 1899-1902 with a line of 70-38/2.89. Also selected was Rube Waddell, a colorful hurler who began his career with Pittsburgh in 1900-01. They were inducted on June 12th.
• 1946 - The Bucs sold 1B Ellsworth “Babe” Dahlgren to the St. Louis Browns. Dahlgren hit .271 with 176 RBI in his two year stint with the Bucs, but faded badly with the Browns as a 34-year-old and ‘46 was his last season in the show. He’s famous as the man who replaced Lou Gehrig in 1939 while with the Yankees.
• 1947 - The Pirates were out of the gate in a hurry, winning their sixth of the first seven games of the season by an 8-5 count over the Cards at Sportsman’s Park. Billy Cox and Eddie Basinski each homered and combined for seven RBI. Ed Bahr tossed 6-1/3 shutout innings, giving up just three hits, to win in relief.

Billy Cox (Associated Press photo)

• 1962 - The Bucs record setting ten game, season-opening winning streak was derailed by the Mets and Jay Hook at Forbes Field. It was the first regular season victory ever for NY as they won 9-1 behind Hook’s five-hitter and it started the Pirates on a spiral of losing 13-of-17 games.
• 1966 - The Pirates scored three times in the ninth inning to pull out a 5-4 win against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Pittsburgh trailed 4-2 heading into the ninth before Bob Bailey, Jim Pagliaroni, and Jose Pagan each hit solo homers off Dennis Aust and Hal Woodeshick to power the Bucs past the Cards.

4/23 Through the 20s: Sparse Crowd; Bad Bet; Cotton Hot; HBD Bob, Iron Man & Genie; Duel

• 1875 - OF Bob Ganley was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. Bob started his five-year MLB run with the Pirates in 1910-11, hitting .270 off the bench as a rookie and then as a starting outfielder in his second year. Bob’s last MLB campaign was in 1909 with the Philadelphia Athletics and he was out of baseball after spending the 1912 season with Atlanta of the Southern Association. Per BR Bullpen, he moved around so much as a player that he was called "the globetrotter of organized baseball." He played for Pittsburgh, Washington and Philadelphia as a big leaguer and for New Haven, Albany, Brockton, Columbus, Toledo, Marion, Schenectady, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Oakland, Johnstown, Des Moines, Newark and Atlanta as a farm hand. Bob also managed the Fredericton Pets in 1913 and the Perth Amboy Pacers in 1914.
• 1890 - The Pittsburgh Alleghenys beat the Cleveland Spiders 20-12 at Recreation Park in front of a crowd of 17 (with six paid) in a yard that held 17,000. The Alleghenys set another franchise record that day; five batters were beaned by the Spiders. Don’t fault the fans for the low turnout - the team finished last in the NL with a record of 23–113, 66-1/2 games behind the first place Brooklyn Bridegrooms. According to Wikipedia, Recreation Park was also known as Union Park and later, the Allegheny Athletic Association Grounds. It was tucked between Allegheny Ave, Pennsylvania Ave, Galveston Ave and Behan St in Allegheny West. No pictures of it as a baseball field are known to exist, though there are a couple of newspaper shots of Pitt playing football there. The baseball team left for Exposition Park in 1891 and Pitt followed suit in 1904.

This was not a group to bet against (photo via Boston Library)

• 1902 - St. Louis Cardinals owner Frank Robison put up a $10‚000 challenge that the Pirates wouldn’t repeat as NL champions. Pittsburgh players pooled their money to meet the bet and then collected easily as they won the pennant by 27-1/2 games. St Louis finished sixth, 44-1/2 games off the Pirates’ pace.
• 1906 - RHP Ray “Iron Man” Starr was born in Nowatka, Oklahoma. Ray tossed for the Bucs during the second half of his career between 1944-45 in his age 38-39 seasons with a line of 6-7-3, 5.33. He was a product of wartime baseball; after tossing for three years in the show, he spent from 1934-40 in the minors (in all, he spent 15 years on various farm clubs) before he was called back up by the Reds in 1941. Ray picked up his nickname because he was said to have tossed both ends of more than 40 double-headers while in the minor leagues.
• 1913 - The Pirates were held to three hits by St Louis hurler Bill Steel and lost 3-1 despite Claude Hendrix’s two-hitter (six walks hurt) at Robison Field. The runs were hard earned; the Cardinals scored on a bases loaded walk, steal of home and sac fly while the Bucco run came on an error. The bright spot of the Pirates’ day was a nifty triple play. With the bases loaded, Hendrix speared a comebacker and went home to catcher Billy Kelly for a force; his relay to Dots Miller at first beat the batter and Miller’s return throw home nailed the Card runner who started from second, trying to steal a score during the exchange.

Gene "Genie" Smith (photo via Kansas State University)

• 1917 - RHP Gene “Genie” Smith was born in Ashley, Louisiana. He pitched for the the Homestead Grays between 1946–1947. During his career, he threw three no-hitters, played in the East-West All Star game and in the Negro World Series, although not with Homestead. He joined them after spending three years in the service and never had another big season afterward, retiring after the 1951 campaign.
• 1922 - Second baseman Cotton Tierney collected a career-high five hits, doubled three times, and knocked in a game-high four runs in Pittsburgh’s 14-3 rout of the Cubs in Chicago. The Bucs broke the game open with an eight run second inning and then added two more runs an inning later to make it 10-0. It was Pittsburgh’s sixth straight win after beginning the season with losses in each of the first three games. Hal Carlson took the win at Wrigley.

Pitchers, Fielders Take Their Lumps; Yankees Drop Pirates 11-5

JT started it off well with a 1-2-3, nine-pitch first frame. It looked like Michael Pineda was going to match, but a two-out slider to Cutch found its way over the center-field wall into the bullpen to make it 1-0. The second was rocking-chair easy, with a walk erased around-the-horn by the Bucs and Pineda cruising. It was a quiet third for the Bronx Boys; Buc fielding has been uncharacteristically sharp so far. The Pirates got a pair on after two were away on a Fraze walk and J-Bell knock, but Pineda kept his slider this at-bat to punch out Andrew swinging. A quick alarm bell sounded between innings when JT landed awkwardly on his ankle during warmups, but he carried on.

JT didn't have his usual command this afternoon (photo Ted Vuich/AP)

A walk and a steal set up NY with two gone in the fourth but set no fire. Freeser caught a fastball and sent it into the right-center seats; boy, dingers are a nice thing to have in your arsenal occasionally. The Yanks got their first hit with two out in the fifth when Austin Romine got a reprieve on a check-swing strike three and then lined a pitch just past Jordy. A ground ball knock followed, but Pineda K'ed to calm the waters. JT and Fraze singled with an out and Bell walked to juice the sacks. Cutch lifted a heater to right and the sac fly made it 3-0.

Good thing as the Yanks roared back in the sixth. A soft infield single deflected by JT and a walk were both chased home by Starlin Castro's first pitch bomb; that was followed by an Aaron Judge double. That brought Juan Nicasio in, and he caught the next hitter on the back foot with a 1-2 chase pitch, followed by a bloop. Jaso misplayed a ball hit in front of him into a double that brought home two more. An out later Wade LeBlanc entered to end the action. Jonathan Holder got the wave for NY. Amore doubled with two away and scampered home on Jordy's dink, bringing Tyler Clippard into the game. He bopped Jose Osuna and it cost him as Fraze followed with an RBI knock. Bell was caught looking but it's tied again. Felipe Rivero took his turn; the last two nights have been brutal on the bullpens.

Antonio Bastardo is a lost soul right now (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Felipe tossed a clean seventh. Andrew opened with a walk and stole second. A hard grounder moved him up a station; the Yanks had Gregory shifted perfectly. Dellin Betances took the ball as Freeser stepped into the box; Betances won the battle, getting a short fly to ice Cutch and a grounder to keep it knotted. With two gone in the eighth, a Fraze boot and single put Rivero in hot water. It was boiling when Chris Carter pinch hit and launched a no-doubt three-run shot. Then Cutch missed a fly (he called off Polanco, whose ball it appeared to be) to put a runner at third, bringing Antonio Bastardo in from the deep freeze. His wild pitch brought in another tally, tho the ground rule double following would have worked just as well. Another two-bagger made it 10-5 before the third out came.

Bryan Mitchell took the bump and tucked the Bucs away. Aaron Judge hit a ball halfway to the moon off AB and for some reason Aroldis Chapman came in, for the work we suppose. He didn't plunk Cutch as is his MO, tho he did walk him. No diff; 11-5 was how it ended. Not catching the ball usually bites ya; so does giving up four doubles and three homers, so it was a bad day all around at the ranch. At least the sweep thingie has run its course; now a series win would be sweet.

Notes:

• Fraze reached three times with two hits and a walk; Cutch also, with one dinger and two free passes. J-Bell had a knock and a walk. We'd suggest the Bucs make up their mind about Frazier; he has 37 starts at second and 63 in the outfield across all levels of pro ball; doesn't seem like they're doing him or the team any favors by plopping him all over the field.

Find the kid a spot already (photo via MLB Pipeline)

• Good crowd for a fifty-ish afternoon - 36,140 filled the yard.
• The Pirates got into Earth Day by partnering its "Let's Go Bucs. Let's Go Green" program with the Western PA Conservancy to provide funding for a season-long tree-planting program. The Bucs will donate $250 for each home run hit at PNC Park by the team throughout the season to the cause, providing some long green for leafy green.