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6/5: Game Tales - Nicky Knocks, Streak Stoppers, Robby Rocks, Pops Tops, Stu Swat, Vern, Lefty & Ed Zips, Jay & Arriba POTM; HBD Andrew, Ray, Gene & Happy Jack

Thursday, June 5, 2025 7:01

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1874 – RHP Jack Chesbro (nee John D. Cheesbro) was born in Houghtonville, Massachusetts. The righty spent the first four years (1899-1902) of his career as a Pirate, going 70-38/2.83 with a pair of 20+ win seasons. He jumped from the NL Pirates to the AL New York Highlanders in 1903, and won 41 games in 55 appearances (41-12/1.82 with 14 consecutive wins) in 1904, a record that will never be overtaken. The Old Timers’ Committee voted him into the Hall of Fame in 1946 on the strength of that superb season. Chesbro became “Happy Jack” while working at the Middleton, NY, state mental hospital (he was playing amateur ball for the house team, The “Asylums”) after a patient noted his cheery disposition and friendly grin, per SABR’s Wayne McElreavy.
1890 – UT/PH Gene Madden was born in Elm Grove (now Wheeling), West Virginia. Gene hit .312 at Galveston in 1915, earning a Pirates contract for the next season. He played well in camp and made the Opening Day roster, but after a handful of games was told the Bucs wanted him to play regularly in the minors. Hans Wagner (manager Nixey Hallahan was ejected, leaving Honus in charge) sent him up to pinch-hit on his last day in Pittsburgh, and Madden grounded out. It would be his only MLB game and at bat. He played one more year in the bushes before joining the Marines, and after his discharge, he played for Newark and Syracuse before retiring after the 1921 season. By then, his family was growing (he ended up with seven kids) and Gene eventually opened his own business.
1895 – OF Ray Rohwer was born in Dixon, California. Ray’s MLB career lasted from 1921-22 with the Bucs as a back-up outfielder, hitting .284 over that span. Ray was a west coast kinda guy, playing college ball at the U of California at Berkeley before serving in the Army during WW1. After the Pirates, Rohwer spent nine seasons in the Pacific Coast League, playing for the Seattle Indians, Portland Beavers and Sacramento Senators, where he compiled a career .299 BA. Following his retirement, he stayed in California.
1903 – The Pirates banged out 17 hits against Boston at Exposition Park to run away with a 9-0 victory while spinning Pittsburgh’s fourth straight shutout behind Ed Doheny, setting a new MLB record. Fred Clarke went 5-for-5 and Ginger Beaumont 4-for-5 to lead the attack. The Buc pitchers would run their shutout streak to six games before finally yielding a run.

Lefty LaPalme – 1952 Topps

1951 – Buc rookie knuckler Paul “Lefty” LaPalme hurled a 8-0 shutout against Boston at Braves Field in his first major league start. It was his only win of the year, but he lasted seven MLB seasons, four with the Pirates, with a 24-45/4.42 line.
1959 – Dick Stuart banged a ball over the 457’ mark of Forbes Field center field wall, considered the longest homer hit in the ballpark’s history, flying between 475-500’ by various estimates. Dr. Strangeglove’s blast came in the first off Glen Hobbie during the Pirates’ 10-5 loss to Chicago, and the local papers claimed it was the first ball hit over the center field wall. That may have been true of MLB players (although Rogers Hornsby once hit the flagpole, and Roberto Clemente later hit a light tower) but Josh Gibson lore claimed that he launched balls over the fence in center at least twice during his Negro League career.
1964 – The Colt .45’s were countin’ their chickens, holding a 3-1 lead at Forbes Field with two away in the ninth and the bases empty. But there’s a reason you get 27 outs, and Pittsburgh ripped off five straight hits to stun Houston, 4-3. Jim Pagliaroni started the rally with a double, then Donn Clendenon singled off Hal Woodeshick’s glove into center to plate Pags. Ducky Schofield kept it alive, and Manny Mota’s pinch-hit single knotted the score. The Texans beckoned Gordon Jones to the mound to face Roberto Clemente, described by the Pittsburgh Press as “a man on a mission” after he had failed at a sac bunt effort in the eighth. He didn’t fail this time, lining a knock into right center to make a winner of Bob Priddy. The Bucs’ first run came on Willie Stargell’s solo shot.
1965 – The Pirates jumped on the Mets for six first-inning runs, triggered by Willie Stargell’s three-run double and capped by Jim Pagliaroni’s two-out, three-run homer, to cruise to a 9-0 win at Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente added three hits as Vern Law went the distance and shut down New York on two hits. The Deacon was only 3-5 after the victory though sporting a 1.95 ERA, and he finished the year strong with a line of 17-9/2.15 in his last dominant campaign.
1966 – In a 10-5 Bucs win over Houston at Forbes Field, Willie Stargell went 5-for-5 with two homers, a double and four RBI, ringing up nine straight hits in two days against the ‘Stros. Roberto Clemente put a ball in orbit off Turk Farrell, flying over the 436’ mark and landing in Plaza Field, a little league diamond tucked behind the ballyard’s right center field wall. Starter Bob Veale struck out 11 batters in his six frames of work, but Pete Mikkelsen was credited with the win in relief of Big Bob, pitching one-run ball over the final three innings.

Roberto Clemente – 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter Greats

1967 – Roberto Clemente was announced as the NL’s Player of the Month. Roberto batted .403 with 29 RBI during the month and went on to win the batting title with a .357 BA to earn an eighth straight All-Star berth.
1968 – The Bucs lost a tough one when Zoilo Versalles slid home, was called out and then a second later ruled safe as plate ump Bill Jackowski reversed himself to give the LA Dodgers a 2-1 win. The umpire said he saw the ball loose on Zoilo’s leg after the tag; catcher Jerry May claimed it was in his glove all the time. Versalles didn’t hang around for the argument but sprinted straight into the Dodger dugout after the reversal, later explaining “…the umpire not sure, he says out and I yell ‘No, no, safe.’ The ump says ‘Oh, he drop ball, you safe.’” Afterward, Larry Shepard darkly told the media that “This ballpark seems to do something to an umpire,” referring to the number of calls that seemed to go in favor of the hometown nine at Dodger Stadium. LA’s Bill Singer was probably more to blame for the loss than Jackowski as he tossed a six-hit gem against the Bucs with 12 K. Roberto Clemente was the sole Pirate who could solve him with three hits while Alvin McBean, who also tossed a six-hitter, took the hard-luck loss.
1976 – McKeesport’s Bill Robinson hit three homers and drove home four runs, but the Pirates lost in 15 innings to the San Diego Padres at Three Rivers Stadium, 11-9. Pittsburgh scored three times in the ninth, the rally built around Dave Parker’s triple, to send the game into overtime. The Bucs had 18 hits – Robby had four, Rennie Stennett three, and Parker, Al Oliver, Willie Stargell & Frank Taveras each added a pair. Ramon Hernandez took the loss.
1987 – RHP Mike Dunne, 24, made his major league debut against the New York Mets and Dwight Gooden at Shea Stadium. Mike joined the club as part of the April 1 Tony Pena trade with St. Louis when the Pirates reportedly chose him as the pitching piece over LHP Joe McGrane. He took the loss in a so-so-opener, but the rest of the year was an eye-opener as Dunne’s line was 13–6/3.03. He finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting to Benito Santiago and won The Sporting News NL Pitching ROTY award. But after that blazing start, injuries haunted him for much of the rest of his career. He was dealt to the Seattle Mariners in ‘89, later pitching for the San Diego Padres and then the White Sox. His last big league game was in 1992 with Chicago.

Andrew Heaney – 2025 image/Pirates

1991 – LHP Andrew Heaney was born in Oklahoma City. He was a first round pick out of Oklahoma State in 2012 by Miami, and the veteran back end starter (he worked for the Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Texas Rangers) signed with the Bucs shortly before camp in 2025. In 12 MLB campaigns, he posted a 51-62/4.44/95 ERA+ line and was plugged into the rotation.
1992 – With two gone in the 10th of a 4-4 game at TRS against New York, Jay Bell tripled on a 3-2 pitch by going oppo and kissing the right field line, Andy Van Slyke was worked around, and Barry Bonds was walked intentionally to fill the bases with the pitcher’s spot due up. Jimmy Leyland sent up skipper-to-be Lloyd McClendon to swing, and his liner to left off John Franco walked off a 5-4 Bucco win over their New York nemesis in front of 23,957 fans. Stan Belinda got the win in a game that Zane Smith started, and Zane was a big part of the win, with his two-run double off David Cone being the Pirates biggest hit of the night. It was a clutch dub, with Pittsburgh gaining distance from both the Cards (2-1/2 games back) and the Mets (down three games).
2001 – The Pirates snapped a lot of streaks in their 5-2 win over the Marlins at Pro Player Stadium. First, it ended a five-game losing skid with a rare win on the road, where they had the worst record in the majors (7-22 going into the game). Next, it broke a streak of 17 games without a loss by the game’s starter, Florida’s Brad Penny. Finally, Kevin Young ended his six-week home run drought with a sixth-inning grand slam that gave starter and winner Jason Schmidt, followed by Jose Manzanillo and Mike Williams, who earned the save, some wriggle room to work with. One streak that stayed alive was Jason Kendall’s hitting spree, which reached 12 straight games.
2005 – OF Matt Lawton had reached base six straight times without scoring. As Dejan Kovacevich of the Post Gazette wrote “He took it upon himself to get the job done in the most emphatic way he could: Send it for a swim.” Matt cleared the roof in right field, the ball landed on the grassy slope and merrily bounded into the Allegheny during a 5-2 win over the Braves at PNC Park. The big blow was Rob Mackowiak’s two-run homer in the sixth frame to break a tie and put the Pirates up by a pair. Lawton and Mack led the attack with three hits. Ollie Perez, who gave up four hits and fanned seven in seven frames, got the win with a Jose Mesa save.
2006 – Jason Bay was named the NL Player of the Month and Jose Castillo the Player of the Week. Bay banged away at a .321 clip with 12 HR and 35 RBI while Castillo hit .478 with four homers and 15 RBI and posted an impressive .366 average through May. Jason kept up the good work all season, winning his second straight All-Star berth with a .286 BA, 35 dingers and 109 RBI. Jose, not so much – he finished the year batting .253 with 14 home runs.

Starling Marte – 2015 Topps Tier One

2015 – Starling Marte went deep with three RBI/three runs scored, Neil Walker swatted a three-run homer, and Fran Cervelli matched his career-high with four hits as Pittsburgh outslugged Atlanta, 10-8, at Turner Field for their fourth straight win. Despite a 14-hit attack, the Pirates had to beat off a game Braves club that also banged out 14 hits off six Corsair pitchers. The Bucs fielders also helped the Bravos stay alive, committing four errors that led to a pair of unearned runs, but the bats overcame the gloves to allow starter Charlie Morton to run his record to 3-0 after Mark Melancon finally closed the contest for save #17.
2023 – The Pirates were on a five-game winning streak while the visiting Oakland A’s had the worst record in baseball and were on a 14-game road losing streak, but hidden vigorish quickly reared its ugly head as Pittsburgh fell behind, 3-0. With the score 3-1 in the sixth, the Bucs rallied to take the lead with a single followed by four straight walks and capped with a sac fly to go up, 4-3. The A’s tied it in the eighth, but Andrew McCutchen answered in the Corsair half with a sac fly to the right field track that scored Ji Hwan Bae with what became the game-winning tally. Colin Holderman was called on to seal the deal (regular closer David Bednar was on a rest day) and gave up three straight hits, but thanks to Austin Hedges throwing out an Oakland larcenist, he escaped with his first MLB save to post Angel Perdomo’s first Pirates victory. The Buccos only had six hits, but ten Oakland walks kept the basepaths occupied. Cutch had a pair of RBI with just one official at-bat; he walked three times with a sac fly. Mark Mathias scored twice with just one knock but two free passes. The win moved the Pirates into first place in the Central Division for the next ten days. And as for the hidden vigorish – it finally kicked in as Oakland won the next two matches.
2024 – The Pirates piled up seven runs in the second-inning against the Dodgers at PNC Park, and rookie top gun Paul Skenes ran his record to 3-0 as the Bucs took a 10-6 batfest dub in front of 29,716 Wednesday night fans. The Bucs were nothing if not efficient; they only had nine hits, but stranded just four runners over the evening as Nick Gonzales continued to swing a clutch stick with four RBI to help hand James Paxton his first loss of the year. Skenes used 93 pitches in his five frames, giving up three runs on six hits with a walk and eight whiffs; it took five Pittsburgh relievers to get the final dozen outs. It was a U-turn from the previous evening’s series opener when Jared Jones and the pen won a 1-0 gem. The Pirates have taken care of their star rookie; the club had scored 10 runs+ four times so far during the year, and three were during Skenes starts.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2025/06/65-game-tales-nicky-knocks-streak.html

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