5/26 Through the 1950s: Harvey Makes History, Dale Keeps On, Josh Jet, Brown Cycle, Max Larceny, Game Days, Fan Fracas; HBD Dann, Chuck & Jack
- 1874 – RHP Jack Cronin was born in West New Brighton, New York. He tossed four games for the Pirates as a 24-year-old, slashing 2-2/3.54 after being purchased from Fall River of the New England League in July of 1898. He was released and ended up with the Reds the following year. Jack had a long pro career lasting from 1895 until he tossed his last inning for Reading of the United States Baseball League in 1912, including seven years in MLB, although he was only part of a regular big-league rotation twice in that span and appeared a dozen or fewer times in the other five campaigns.
- 1890 – Rumors regarding the sale of the Pirates (or in this case, the Alleghenys) are as old as the franchise. The Press published an article regarding the possible sale of the franchise, or at least William Nimick’s 25% share, to an unnamed New York interest. Nimick was noncommittal regarding the report, but hung on until the end of the 1891 season, when he sold his share to William Chase Temple, who remained an owner until 1894. The ownership didn’t stabilize until 1899 when Barney Dreyfuss maneuvered himself into a controlling interest of the club.
- 1894 – The Pirates were thumping Cleveland 12-3 in the top of the ninth inning when the crowd of 6,200 at League Park began to run amok after being taunted by the 500 rooters who had made the trip from Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Press wrote “A more disgraceful affair never occurred upon a ball field…when the disappointed Forest City fans, unable to endure the disgrace of defeat, attacked the Pittsburg club, the rivalry at white heat…In a second, cushions and pop bottles were flying in all directions…the crowd swarmed out of the stands…” and the frustrated hometown fans rushed the field. The two teams had traded accusations of dirty play the day before and after today’s donnybrook, 50 ready-to-rumble ‘Burghers escorted the Pittsburgh club to its train as some added Steel City muscle. Red Ehret got the win, backed by an 18-hit Bucco attack.
- 1908 – The Pirates beat the Boston Doves 8-1 at Forbes Field behind Vic Willis, who scattered seven hits, and a balanced 10-hit attack. But all was not well in Pittsburgh; the Bucs were sputtering at 15-12, and 34-year-old team rock Hans Wagner, who had held out and missed all of spring training, was hitting just .268. Fortunately, the Dutchman was about to turn it around and carried the club with him. Honus batted .369 over the remaining 127 games of the season with 10 homers, 89 runs, 83 RBI and 47 swiped sacks; the Pirates piled up an 83-44 mark with Wagner back in the swing. The Buccos finished a game out of first, but Honus ended up on top once again – after the smoke had cleared, he won his third straight batting crown with a .354 BA.
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| Max Carey – 1925 photo Bain/Library of Congress |
- 1925 – Max Carey walked and then swiped second, third, and home (he had 46 swipes for the campaign and led the league in steals 10 times; Max stole home 33 times in his career) during the Bucs 7-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. Kiki Cuyler added a two-run homer and Al Neihaus drove in two more scores as Ray Kremer coasted to the win at Forbes Field.
- 1933 – The Homestead Grays right fielder Ray Brown hit for the cycle vs. House of David in a 19-4 win. Brown had five hits on the day while Homestead posted 24 knocks (eight of the nine Grays had multiple hits against HoD) in a barnstorming match played in Clarion. They met again two days later at Greenlee Field and that match was a barnburner, with Homestead squeaking by, 2-1, with the game-winner being Terrible Ted Page’s eighth-inning solo homer.
- 1942 – RHP Chuck Hartenstein was born in Seguin, Texas. After three years with the Cubs, he came to Pittsburgh in a minor deal and worked from the pen in 1969, slashing 5-4-10/3.95. He got off to a rough start in 1970 and was released, playing for the Cards and later the Red Sox during the campaign. Chuck spent from 1971-76 in AAA before making a brief comeback in 1977 with the expansion Blue Jays. He coached and scouted afterward, finally leaving the game in 1995. The 5’ 11”, 150 lb. Hartenstein went by the nickname “Twiggy” for fairly obvious reasons, with the moniker bestowed on him by the Cubs’ Billy Williams.
- 1946 – Josh Gibson launched another long blast, this one 440’ into the Yankee Stadium bleachers, as the Homestead Grays whipped the NY Black Yankees, 11-8. It was the Grays’ fourth straight win and propelled them into first place in the Negro National League. It was familiar territory as the Grays won the league title nine times, although this season the Newark Eagles took the crown.
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| Josh Gibson – Helmars Big League Brew |
- 1952 – The Pirates were a pretty poor excuse for a baseball team this season, but they were feisty. Bucco pitcher Ron Kline whizzed one over Cincy catcher Andy Seminick’s noodle in the second inning of the game at Forbes Field, which led to words between the backstop and Pirates coach Bill Posedel. They were close to blows and a crowd gathered, but peace was restored. Kline batted in the second and escaped without wearing a baseball, but Seminick and Posedel kept at it, started brawling, and both gangs joined the dance. George “Catfish” Metkovich was exchanging love taps with various Reds when he was wrestled to the ground by Cincinnati trainer Dr. Wayne Anderson (it ends up they were old buds and the doc was trying to keep his friend out of harm’s way, per Catfish). The doc, Metkovich, Seminick and Posedel were all shown to the door. The Bucs won 6-3 with the win going to Bob Friend in relief of Kline. Ralph Kiner paid a price, getting ticked by pitches twice after the melee, but he had the last laugh with a homer.
- 1956 – Dale Long became the first player to go deep in seven straight games when he took the Phillies’ Ben Flowers deep in the eighth inning during his final at-bat as the Bucs dropped Philadelphia 6-2 at Connie Mack Stadium. Frank Thomas and Hank Foiles also homered to give Vern Law the complete game win. Dale also doubled, and still wasn’t quite done with his historic home run streak.
- 1959 – In baseball’s ultimate pitching performance, Harvey Haddix threw 12 perfect innings against the Braves in Milwaukee’s County Stadium, only to lose the game 1-0 in the 13th on a Dick Hoak error, sacrifice bunt, intentional walk and double that was a homer. (NL prez Warren Giles ruled that the final score should be 1-0, as runners Henry Aaron and Joe Adcock were ruled out, Aaron for leaving the field‚ and Adcock for passing him on the basepath. Adcock was credited with a double and not a HR.) In 1993‚ Bob Buhl admitted that the Braves pitchers were stealing the signs from C Smoky Burgess‚ who could not crouch down all the way because of his achy knees, and signaled the coming pitch, making Haddix’s effort even more remarkable. The only player who wasn’t impressed was Haddix, who told the Post Gazette afterward “My main aim all night long was to win. The perfect game would have meant something to me then. It’s just another loss.” Lew Burdette went the distance for the win, giving up twelve singles. The Pirates hit into three double plays with only two runners advancing past first, both after two outs.
- 1959 – C Dann Bilardello was born in Santa Cruz, California. He spent most of his Pirates time at AAA Buffalo, hitting just .171 for Pittsburgh in 52 games between 1989-90. Dann got some more MLB time at San Diego in 1991-92 and played out his time in pro ball at indie Winnipeg in 1994.
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/05/526-through-1950s-harvey-makes-history.html
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