9/21 Through the 1960s: Boss Baker, 10 Straight Kiki, Game Tales, Connie Goes; HBD Ben, Jason, Rene, Danny, Sudden Sam, Max, Del, Gil & Tom
- 1860 – OF Tom Brown was born in Liverpool, England. Brown played from 1885-87 for the Alleghenys, hitting .287 and posting a 0-0/4.30 line as an emergency pitcher (three games, eight IP) over that span. He came over to the North Side club when it purchased the entire Columbus team after the 1884 season and became the first English-born player for Pittsburgh. After a 17-year MLB career, Brown turned to the dark side and became an umpire.
- 1891 – SS Gil Britton was born in Parsons, Kansas. His MLB career was a three-game stand with Pittsburgh in 1913, with an 0-for-12 batting line and three errors. He spent from 1909-17 in the minors, mostly the Texas, Western and Central Kansas leagues. Gil hung ‘em up young at age 25 and returned to his hometown, where he remained until his death at age 91.
- 1896 – Manager Connie Mack (given name: Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy) announced that he was leaving Pittsburgh to guide the Milwaukee club of the Western League; the Pirates finished in sixth place with a 66-63 slate during his last campaign. Patsy Donovan took over the reins in 1897. Connie’s claim to fame was managing the Philadelphia Athletics for the club’s first 50 seasons of play, starting in 1901, and he became a Hall-of-Famer in 1937.
- 1899 – RHP Del Lundgren was born in Lindsborg, Kansas. He started his brief three-year career (he pitched for Boston in 1926-27) with the Pirates in 1924, pitching eight games with an 0-1/6.48 line. Del tossed pro ball from 1922-30 before retiring with a sore arm. He got a job in a flour mill in Topeka and then retired to live the life of an outdoorsman in Lindsborg.
- 1910 – RHP Max Butcher was born in Holden, West Virginia. He went 67-60/3.34 for the Bucs in seven seasons (1939-45), and had an ERA over 3.43 just once as a Pirate. His best year was 1941, when he went 17-12 with a 3.03 ERA. Though he was a big guy at 6’2” and 220 pounds, he wasn’t an overpowering hurler, averaging only 2.5 K/nine in Pittsburgh.
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| Max Butcher – 1940 Play Ball |
- 1925 – In a 9-7 win over the Phillies at Forbes Field, Kiki Cuyler singled off Roy Crumpler in the second inning to run his consecutive hit streak to 10, a team record that still stands today. Cuyler began his streak against Boston’s Skinny Graham, and the hits fell in conjunction with a nine-game winning string for Pittsburgh, which won 95 games, the NL pennant and the 1925 World Series against the Washington Senators. Kiki went 4-for-4 in the next day’s game with two homers, making him 14-of-16 during his streak, in a 14-4 Bucco victory in the second game of the series. Johnny Morrison won the first game and Ray Kremer took the honors the next day.
- 1940 – OF Deb Garms went 5-for-6 in the second game of a twin bill split against the Cincinnati Reds to push his batting average to .379. He doubled, scored three times and drove in a pair in the 8-7 win during the second game after going 0-for-4 in a 8-1 loss in the opener at Forbes Field. Though he wore an 0-for-23 collar over the remainder of the season, his .355 BA won the National League batting crown. He played just 103 games (100 games played was the accepted, although unwritten, standard then) with 385 PA and was awarded the title, causing some grumbling by those who believed that a full-time player should be the recognized awardee. His title eventually led to the adoption of minimum plate appearances to qualify for the batting championship.
- 1942 – LHP Sudden Sam McDowell was born in Pittsburgh. Though he pitched only briefly for the hometown Pirates in 1975 (2-1/2.86 in 14 games), he may be the most dominating hurler the area ever produced. Sam went directly to the majors out of Central Catholic HS, signing with Cleveland. He played from 1961-75 with the Indians, Giants, Yankees and Bucs. McDowell struck out 2,453 batters in that span with a blazing fastball. His career was infamously short circuited by booze, and he was said to be the inspiration for Cheers bartender Sam Malone. He beat his demons after retiring and became a MLB drug and alcohol counselor. His nickname was bestowed on him by Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Bob Dolgan during Sam’s first camp in 1961.
- 1947 – The Bucs were a part of Queen City broadcast history when their nightcap game against Cincinnati was broadcast on TV by W8XCT (WLWT), the first time a Reds game was shown on the tube. An estimated home audience of 10,000 viewers watched the Redlegs lose, 11-7, at Crosley Field. Elbie Fletcher, Jimmy Bloodworth and Clyd Kluttz each had three RBI; Gene Woodling had the other pair. The opening game of the doubleheader wasn’t shown (we think). The Redlegs won, 3-1, as Ewell Blackwell bested Kirby Higbe.
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| Danny Cox – 1993 Fleer |
- 1959 – RHP Danny Cox was born in Northampton, England. The Brit hurler spent 11 years in the league and managed to squeeze in 16 games as a Bucco in 1992, going 3-1-3/3.33 as a starter converted to back-end bullpen work. He was picked up from the Phils off waivers in June and at the end of the year signed with the Blue Jays, spending the final three seasons of his career in Toronto.
- 1962 – Scout Rene Gayo was born in Miami of immigrant Cuban parents and raised in Chicago. In 1989, Cam Bonifay hired Gayo as a part-time scout for the Pirates, then he went off to work for the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians. In 2004, the Pirates hired Gayo to lead their Latin American scouting system, filling a position inexplicably left vacant for five years under Bonifay and Dave Littlefield. He reeled in players like Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco and Elias Diaz along with moved-on prospects Alen Hanson, Dilson Herrera, Harold Ramirez and Joely Rodriguez. He was dismissed in 2017 after being caught in a messy financial deal while signing pitcher Luis Heredia.
- 1963 – In the top of the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium, the Bucs left the bases loaded after losing a bang-bang play at first that was close enough to get manager Danny Murtaugh and coach Frank Oceak ejected after questioning ump Doug Harvey’s eyesight. That set the stage for coach Gene Baker to take the reins, becoming MLB’s first black manager. It wasn’t an auspicious start, as Baker entrusted Tommy Sisk with a 3-2 ninth inning lead that evaporated four batters later after Willie Davis belted a three-run, walk-off homer. Still, it was just another day at the office for Gene. He was the first rostered black player for the Cubs in 1953, and in 1961 became the first black manager in pro baseball when the Pirates named him skipper of their Batavia farm club. Baker had four campaigns with the Bucs as a player and was part of the 1960 squad. After coaching and managing in the organization, he became a long time Pirates scout.
- 1969 – LHP Jason Christiansen was born in Omaha. The reliever worked six seasons (1995-2000) for the Pirates with a 14-20-10/4.13 line before being traded to the Cards at the 2000 deadline for SS Jack Wilson. He must have enjoyed working under the lights; after his 11-year MLB career ended in 2005, he became a co-owner and CEO of an LED company.
- 1969 – OF/1B Ben Shelton was born in Chicago. Shelton was drafted by the Pirates in the second round of the 1987 draft out of high school. He got his only shot at the majors in 1993 with the Bucs and hit .250 (6-for-24, including two homers and a double), but that showing wasn’t enough (his minor league BA was .233). His pro career ended in 1995 after playing on the Twins and Red Sox farms
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2024/09/921-through-1960s-boss-baker-10.html
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