5/31 Through 1964: Game Tales - Clemente Launches v Koufax, Vic's Debut, Satch Visit, 2B Trouble, 1-0 Sweep, Babe Takes 2, Rallies; HBD Joe & Russ
- 1888 – The Alleghenys forfeited a game to the New York Giants when they failed to show up at the Polo Grounds while it was raining, staying high and dry in their hotel. The Pittsburgh Press wrote “Manager Phillips claimed that he had word that there would be no game and that it rained from 3:30 to 4 (the game’s starting time). President Nimick will protest the game.” He did but the league didn’t buy the alibi and Pittsburgh forfeited the rain-day match.
- 1905 – The Pirates and Cardinals proved that no lead is insurmountable in baseball. The Bucs entered the eighth frame seemingly up safely, 6-1, at Exposition Park before Patsy Flaherty faded badly on the hill. The Redbirds made it 6-5 after eight and kept pushing. By the time reliever Deacon Phillippe put out a second fire in the ninth, the home nine were on the wrong end of a 9-6 count. But they had a rally left in them, too – two singles and a walk came in via an error, bunt single and sac fly to knot the score, then Fred Clarke became the hero with a two-out triple to cap the Pirates wild 10-9 win. 2B Claude Richey had four hits and RF Otis Clymer added three more. Wee Tommy Leach hit the first homer of the season in Expo Park when his drive got past the Cards CF’er and rolled almost to the flagpole 450’ away in center. In an era of rare long balls, local rooters gifted him a gold watch and other sundries the next day for his feat. Somehow, Flaherty, who was charged with eight of the runs, was awarded the win while Phillippe was credited with a save (took awhile, tho – the save wasn’t recognized until 1952 and didn’t become an official MLB stat until 1969).
- 1909 – Babe Adams won both ends of a doubleheader at Exposition Park against the St. Louis Cardinals. He worked the final two frames of a 5-4 triumph in the opener, then tossed a complete game, 4-2, victory in the second match. Dots Miller had five hits during the twin bill with Hans Wagner adding three more knocks. The two games drew 20,633 rooters to the North Side.
- 1915 – The Pirates swept the first place Cubs by identical 1-0 scores at Forbes Field in front of 15,000 fans as Wilbur Cooper (three hits, eight K) and Al Mamaux (five hits, five K) hurled complete game whitewashes. The Pirates won the first game when RF Bill Hinchman was plunked with the bases loaded to force home C George Gibson (they wouldn’t win another 1-0 game via HBP again until 2017) and the second on a wild pitch that allowed Hinchman to plate from third. As Ralph Davis of the Pittsburgh Press noted, “This was getting the breaks…it was the luck of the Buccaneers to profit twice from slips made by Chicago twirlers.”
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| Joe Harris – 1927 photo George Rinhart/Detroit Public Library |
- 1927 – The Pirates overcame a 6-1, sixth-inning deficit by scoring nine times in the final four frames to nip the Cubs, 10-9, at Forbes Field. 1B Joe Harris was on fire, going 5-for-5 with two triples, a double, four RBI and two runs scored. Carmen Hill, Pittsburgh’s fourth pitcher, got the win after fanning a pair while posting a quiet ninth to close the game out.
- 1930 – Umpire Russ Goetz was born in McKeesport. After 13 seasons of honing his craft in the minors, he worked as an AL umpire from 1968 to 1983. Goetz was part of the blue crew for two All Star Games, four AL playoff series, and two World Series, including the Bucs 1979 battle against the Baltimore Orioles. Russ went into umpiring after serving in the Navy during the Korean War with deployments in Korea and China. He started his sporting days as a basketball player for the McKeesport Tigers and remained in Tube City after he retired.
- 1932 – Paul “Big Poison” Waner banged out his 20th double of the month at Forbes Field in the fifth inning against Cincinnati’s Red Lucas to set the MLB record. The Pirates won the game, 4-1, as Waner went 3-for-4 with a run, two RBI and a stolen sack to back Larry French’s mound work. Big Poison collected 43 hits in May – 21 singles, 20 doubles and two triples.
- 1937 – The Reds beat the Pirates, 8-3, in the opener of a doubleheader at Crosley Field. It was the only game Cincinnati won against the Pirates that season. Starting with a 7-5 loss in the nightcap – Pep Young’s three-run homer was the big blow – Cincy lost the next 17 straight to the Buccos, and dropped 21 of 22 games‚ tying the MLB record set by the Cubs over the Braves in 1909 and the Yankees over the Browns in 1927. The Reds would drop the first three to open 1938 for a 20-game losing streak against Pittsburgh, another MLB record.
- 1942 – Satchel Paige rejoined his old Crawfords teammates when they played against the Dizzy Dean All-Stars in an exhibition game at Washington’s Griffith Park. The match drew 22,000 fans (the major league Senators averaged just 5-6,000 per game) and the Satchels beat the Dizzys, 8-1. Clark Griffith, the Sens’ owner, told Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard after the game that he was going to “break up your league” and sign black ball players, but like several other owners who made similar vows to integrate, he never made good on the promise.
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| Elmer Riddle – 1949 Eureka Sports Stamps |
- 1948 – At Wrigley Field, the Cubs set a paid attendance record when 46‚965 fans passed through the turnstiles during a doubleheader split with the Pirates on Memorial Day. The Bucs lost the opener, 4-3, after Chicago scored in the ninth off Kirby Higbe. Pittsburgh rallied in the nightcap behind Elmer Riddle to win, 4-2. Danny Murtaugh chased home a pair of runs and scored once to provide Riddle with some working room to break even on the day.
- 1953 – Vic Janowicz became the first Heisman Trophy winner to play MLB when he appeared as a pinch runner for the Pirates in the opening game of a doubleheader v the Dodgers. He was a better gridder than ballplayer; he hit .214 in his 1953-54 MLB stint with the Buccos. He went on to play a little NFL ball, but a car accident in 1956 ended his pro sports days.
- 1961 – Pittsburgh bashed out nine doubles (two by Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski, with one each from Joe Gibbon, Dick Groat, Hal Smith, Gino Cimoli and Dick Stuart) in a 9-1 laugher at Forbes Field against the Milwaukee Braves. Joe Gibbon tossed a six-hitter with 10 strikeouts and cruised to the win.
- 1962 – Joe Orsulak was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. A sixth round pick of the Pirates in the 1980 draft, he was seen as the Bucs’ future lead-off man and center fielder. In his time with Pittsburgh (1983-86), he couldn’t beat out Marvel Wynne before Barry Bonds came along, though he did hit .272. He lasted 14 years in the show, hitting .273 lifetime mainly as a bench/platoon outfielder while playing with the Pirates, Orioles, Mets, Marlins, and Expos.
- 1964 – Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pirates, 6-4, at Forbes Field, but had to survive a towering blast by Roberto Clemente to do it. The Great One hit a ball halfway up the light tower 450’ away in center field. Post Gazette writer Jack Hernon estimated the ball would have traveled 500’ if the light standard hadn’t been in its way; the Dodgers beat man Frank Finch of the LA Times was also a witness and agreed with Hernon.
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2025/05/531-through-1964-game-tales-clemente.html
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