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8/22 Through the 1960s: Big 3, Hammerin' Hans, Swatfest, Tom & Vic Gems, Game Days, 50/50, Long Series, K-City, HBD Doug, Lyle, Swats, Howie & Ned

Saturday, August 22, 2026 7:33

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1857 – CF and manager Ned Hanlon was born in Montville, Connecticut. He played in 1889 and 1891 for the Pirates, hitting .252 with a year in between spent as a Pittsburgh Burgher in the Players League where he hit .278. He was a player/manager all three years, and “Foxy Ned” was credited with coming up with tactics such as the hit-and-run and the Baltimore chop. Hanlon was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans’ Committee in 1996.

1881 – RHP Howie Camnitz was born in Covington, Kentucky. The curveballer pitched nine seasons for Pittsburgh (1904-13), going 116-84 with a 2.63 ERA and posting three 20-win seasons. Camnitz was a member of the 1909 World Series club and spun 240+ innings for seven consecutive years. He finished his career by pitching a couple of years in the upstart Federal League for the Pittsburgh Rebels, earning his release in 1915 after a hotel fight (and a fading arm). Howie factoids: He was called “Rosebud” as a kid because of his red hair, tossed a curfew-shortened five inning no-hitter in 1907, was an early Bucco brother act with his sib Harry in 1909 and finally, became a car salesman after he retired.

1881 – 1B Harry “Swats” Swacina was born in St. Louis. Harry played the first two years (1907-08) of his four-year career (he played a couple of seasons in the Federal League) with Pittsburgh as a bench guy, batting .210 but earning a rep as a gold-glove defender. Per Brian McKenna’s book “Early Exits,” it wasn’t Swacina’s weak bat that ended his big league stay; it was a nasty letter to owner Barney Dreyfuss complaining about club practices that in effect got him blackballed. Swacina did carve out a long pro ball career from 1901-23 before he finally hung up the spikes. We assume his nickname is the shorthand form of his last name.

1893 – RHP Lyle Bigbee was born in Waterloo, Oregon. A farm boy with an imposing build, Lyle was a three-sports star at Oregon. Then he worked in the shipyards and the service before beginning his brief MLB career. In 1920, he worked for the Philadelphia A’s and the next year the Pirates brought him up from the minors where he joined his brother, Carson. The curveball whiz worked just eight IP for the Bucs, albeit with a 1.13 ERA, and was cast loose. His control was always an issue (he walked 29 hitters in 53 big league innings) and never made it back to the majors. He retired at age 30, playing semi-pro ball (he was a decent hitter & played some OF) while working as a farmer, watchman and in the shipyards for his daily bread.

Lyle Bigbee – 1922 American Caramel

1903 – The Pirates beat the last place Phillies 7-4 in the second game of a doubleheader sweep at Philadelphia. With that win, the Pirates had 1,409 wins and 1,409 losses since playing MLB in 1882, originally as the Alleghenys of the major league American Association (one of a couple of recognized-by-some Pittsburgh baseball birthdays). Even with several storm-tossed decades of losing ball, since the opener of that twin bill the Bucco franchise hadn’t dipped below .500 overall until 2025 and yo-yos back & forth now.

1906 – Vic Willis edged the New York Giants’ Christy Mathewson 2-1 in a duel at Exposition Park. After falling behind in the first inning, the Pirates evened the score in the fifth on two errors followed by two walks, then took the marbles in the ninth when Claude Ritchey walked, was bunted to second, and scored with two down on Fred Clarke’s double to right center.

1907 – As the Pittsburgh Press reported “It was a regular swatfest from start to finish, the Buccaneers having no mercy…but hammering the ball to all corners of the lot” in a 20-5 win over the NY Giants at the Polo Grounds. George Gibson, Ed Abbaticchio and Alan Storke had four hits each while Tommy Leach and Fred Clarke had three. Lefty Leifield cruised to the win.

1910 – Honus Wagner led the Bucs to a 6-2 & 8-4 doubleheader sweep against the Philadelphia Phillies at Forbes Field, going 7-for-7 with two homers, three doubles and a sac fly. The Bucs set a record in the second game by being the first MLB team to hit three homers in an inning when pitcher Howie Camnitz (on his b-day), Vin Campbell and Hans connected. It was Camnitz’s only MLB home run, and some credit the outburst to the debut of the new cork-center NL ball.

Honus Wagner – 199 Brunner’s Bread

1912 – Hans Wagner hit for the cycle in an 8-6 loss to the NY Giants at Forbes Field in the nightcap of a Forbes Field doubleheader played in front of 27,000 fans, a sell out. At the time, Hans was the oldest player in the league at age 40. In the twin bill’s opener, Howie Camnitz out pitched Christy Mathewson for a 3-2 victory, with Hans going 3-for-4. On the day, the Dutchman had seven hits, scored five runs, plated four Buccos, and swiped two sacks.

1917 – The Pirates lost the longest game (by innings) that they ever played 6-5 in 22 frames to the Brooklyn Robins at Ebbets Field despite Carson Bigbee’s six hits (Bigbee set the MLB record with 11 at-bats in a single game). The game was the longest in National League history to that point. Poor Elmer Jacobs tossed 16-2/3 innings, giving up one run – and lost. The teams only used two pitchers each, and it took four hours and 19 minutes to complete the contest. The match was, as fate would have it, the opener of a double header; the second game went two innings before being called for darkness. It was the fourth straight extra-inning game for Pittsburgh, and third against Brooklyn. The Pirates set an overtime record by playing a total of 59 innings in those four games.

1925 – Pittsburgh swept a doubleheader from the second place NY Giants by 8-1 and 2-1 scores at the Polo Grounds behind the pitching of Lee Meadows and Vic Aldridge to take a five game lead in the NL race. Kiki Cuyler had three hits, including a homer, three RBI and two runs scored in the opener, while Glenn Wright’s two-run homer in the seventh was the difference in the nitecap. The Pirates pulled away from the Giants and won the pennant by 8-1/2 games.

1928 – The Bucs big three of Paul Waner, Lloyd Waner and Pie Traynor led Pittsburgh to a 10-3 win over the Boston Braves at Forbes Field. Big Poison and Pie had three hits and three RBI apiece while the Waner brothers each scored three runs. Erv Brame tossed a six-hitter for the win.

Doug Bair – 1990 Homers

1949 – RHP Doug Bair was born in Defiance, Ohio. Doug was a second round pick of the Bucs in 1971 out of Bowling Green University, beginning and finishing his 15-year career in Pittsburgh. The middle reliever tossed here for a minute in 1976 as a rookie and closed out his 15-year career in 1989-90 with the Pirates, posting a Bucco line of 2-3-1/3.12 in 70 outings.

1952 – Ralph Kiner found a letter threatening his life unless $6,200 was stashed in a cab the next evening. Ralph called the police and then went out and hit his 27th homer of the year. He was under police guard for a while, and though the authorities suspected and questioned a taxi driver who they believed cooked up the plot, no one was ever charged and the case went cold.

1962 – Tom Sturdivant’s knuckler fluttered its way past the Colt .45 bats for eight whiffs as he tossed a three-hit, complete game whitewash against Houston at Forbes Field, winning 3-0. Bob Skinner’s two-run triple followed by Roberto Clemente’s sac fly in the third provided all the Bucco runs. Clemente preserved Snake’s shutout (he also had an outstanding curveball) by making a wall-crashing grab of Jim Pendleton’s ninth-inning drive with a runner on second.

1969 – Dock Ellis became the third straight Bucco starter to strike out 10 or more hitters in a game for the first time in club history when he K’ed 10 in a 8-2 win over Cincinnati at Forbes Field in front of 28,184 rooters, the biggest baseball crowd in Oakland since Opening Day. Roberto Clemente tripled and had four RBI while Al Oliver added a homer. The streak started when Luke Walker whiffed 11 in a 5-1 win against Houston on the 19th, followed by Bob Veale winning a 1-0 decision with 10 punch outs the next day against Denny Lemaster and the Astros, with both performances also tossed at Forbes Field. The whiff run ended in the second game of a twilight doubleheader when Steve Blass and Bruce Dal Canton came close but only could punch out nine, though the result was still good – the Bucs swept the twin bill by a 5-3 score on rookie Oliver’s two-run, ninth-inning walk off homer to extend their winning streak to six games.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/08/822-through-1960s-big-3-hammerin-hans.html

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