6/22 Through the 1960s: Carey Connection, Clyde Streak, Hans #2000 + Day, Game Days, Lefty Signed, HBD Dave & Gus

1877 – RHP Gus Thompson was born in Humboldt, Iowa. The Pirates picked up the 26-year-old’s contract in August from Helena of the Pacific National League, and he slashed 2-2/3.56 in five 1903 outings (four starts) in his rookie campaign. He made the World Series roster and got into a game against Boston, giving up a run in three innings. But he only got one more shot at the show in 1906 with the St. Louis Cards and his pro career ended following the 1910 season when he tossed for the Seattle Giants of the Northwestern League.

1882 – The Reds beat the Bucs at Exposition Park, 5-2, in 14 innings, ending the game with a triple play. With runners on first and second, Cincinnati SS Chick Fulmer let a pop fly drop, then with the runners in limbo, went around the horn to close out the game. Plays like this were not uncommon as the infield fly rule wasn’t put into effect until 1885 by the NL and crafted into its current form in 1901 to make sly infielders play the game straight up.

1901 – The Pirates signed 26-year-old OF Alfonzo “Lefty” Davis as a free agent after he had a slow start as a rookie with the Brooklyn Superbas and was released. Davis hit .313 for the Pirates during the remainder of the campaign. He batted .280 over 59 games in 1902 for the Bucs, then jumped to the AL New York Highlanders for the 1903 season. After a year with them, Lefty mostly played in the American Association, with a 1907 stop in Cincinnati.

Lefty Davis – 1902 TSN

1908 – Honus Wagner smacked his 2,000th hit against Jake Weimer of the Cincinnati Reds during a 4-0 loss at Exposition Park. Back in the day, there wasn’t much ado about career milestones (nor were hits and such very accurately counted, so thus date may be taken with a healthy dash of salt) and the Pittsburgh media made nary a mention of the feat. 

1917 – The Pirates held a Honus Wagner Day at Forbes Field to honor the Bucco great, who announced (again) that this would be his last season, although this time the 43-year-old kept his word and hung ‘em up after the season. Before the game, he rode in the lead car of what was claimed to be a 500-vehicle parade from town to the Oakland ballyard along with Mayor Joe Armstrong. The fans were all given ribboned pins with the Flying Dutchman’s picture (no bobbleheads back in the day) and Wagner received an engraved silver loving cup along with a lifetime membership to his favorite club, the Carnegie Elks. Hans went 1-for-4 with a walk & a steal as the Bucs eked out a 4-3 win over the Cubs in 10 innings.

1925 – Max Carey got two hits in each the first and eighth innings (he went 4-for-5 with a walk and HBP, scoring four times) as the Pirates beat the St. Louis Cards at Sportsman’s Park, 24-6. The two-hits-in-two-innings feat wasn’t repeated again until Rennie Stennett did it against the Chicago Cubs in 1975. The Pirates smacked six homers that game, with two from George Grantham (one grannie, six RBI, four runs scored), a grand slam by Pie Traynor and more long balls from Clyde Barnhart (five RBI), Kiki Cuyler and Earl Smith, helped along by seven Cardinal errors along the way. Every Pirate starter, including the pitcher and winner Ray Kremer, had at least a hit and either scored a run, drove in a run, or both. It was the Pirates biggest run outburst of the 20th century. The Bucs were really rolling; the game before they tattooed the Brooklyn Robins 21-5, banging out four dingers, three triples and three two-baggers. Kiki Cuyler went 4-for-5 with two homers, a triple, six RBI and five runs in that one. The Bucs bopped that year; they scored 912 runs on the way to a 93-60 record, the National League title and a World Series crown.

Clyde Barnhart – 1927 American Caramel

1927 – LF Clyde Barnhart ran his hit streak to 23 games with a single in an 11-9 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Forbes Field, a string that would end the next game against the Chicago Cubs’ Charlie Root. The heroes of the day for the Bucs were Kiki Cuyler and Glenn Wright with three knocks and two RBI each, along with pitcher Carmen Hill. “Specs” spun 6-2/3 IP in relief of a gimpy Ray Kremer for the win and went 2-for-3 at the dish to spark the Buccaneers.

1949 – LHP Dave Tomlin was born in Maysville, Kentucky. Tomlin had a good run through the league, but the Bucs got him when the tank was empty. He got six outings with the Buccos in 1983 & 1985 while in his mid-thirties for five innings and a 5.40 ERA, spending most of his Pirates career in AAA Hawaii. After his tossing ended (1986 was his last MLB year) he became a pitching coach for the Montreal Expos and later the Atlanta Braves. He was later a pitching coach and minor league manager for the Boston Red Sox from 1998-2016.

1951 – A power failure at Forbes Field delayed the start of the game with the Dodgers by two hours, and rain held up play in the sixth inning by another 36 minutes, pushing the game’s end to 1:56 AM. Brooklyn’s night owls won easily, 8-4. Of the 24‚966 fans there at the start of the Friday night game, an estimated 10‚000 insomniacs made it to the end.

1964 – Beat man Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press wrote that the Pirates had a pair of deals in the fire for 1B Donn Clendenon, one with the Braves and another with the Phils. Both clubs wanted Clendenon and a reliever. The Pirates ask from Milwaukee was OF Felipe Alou and from Philadelphia, they wanted RHP Art Mahaffey and another unnamed player. Neither set of talks got close to trigger-pulling status and Donn played here through 1968.