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9/19 Through the 1970s: Bad Backs Back, Big Bob 1-Hitter, Maz Muscle, Danny's 26-Gamer, 50 For Ralph, Rip's 21st, Strandfest, Game Days, HBD Stuffy, Glinn & Yank

Saturday, September 19, 2026 7:33

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1859 – IF William “Yank” Robinson was born in Philadelphia. Yank had his heyday from 1885-89 with the American Association’s St Louis Browns. He could play just about anywhere and was patient at the plate: from 1887-90, Robinson drew 472 free rides (427 walks w/45 HBPs) and 400 hits for an OBP of .412. Yank got into a beef with the Browns’ owner in 1889 triggered by a pair of tight pants and jumped to the Pittsburgh Burghers the following season, keeping up his old tricks. During the season, Robinson had just 70 hits for a .229 BA, but his 101 bases on balls jacked up his OBP to .434, fourth highest in the Players’ League in his only Pittsburgh term. He also played the field bare handed and could throw ambidextrously; that combo made him an erratic fielder who could either turn a difficult play or boot a routine two-hopper. It’s thought that his nickname dates back from childhood as he was born just prior to the Civil War.

1860 – OF Ed Glenn (Glinn) was born in Richmond, Virginia. Ed played every other year in the majors, making stops in 1884-86-88, with the Alleghenys being his team in the middle. He hit .191 (his rep was as a gloveman), spent a year in the minors and split time in the NL in 1888. He lost his chance to repeat his two-year cycle when he injured himself badly crashing into another player while chasing down a fly while on the farm at Sioux City. He finished out the season, then sat out 1891 before passing away from consumption (tuberculosis) at 31.

1882 – Rookie Guy Hecker of the American Association Louisville Eclipse (aka Colonels) tossed a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, winning 3-1 at Eclipse Park, falling just a week short from tossing the first AA no-no. He would join the Pirates in 1890, albeit for his final MLB season.

1890 – 1B Jack “Stuffy” McInnis was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Stuffy, a solid contact hitter and glove man, spent the tail end of his 17-year career as a Pirate in 1925-26. McInnis still had his stick working, hitting .337 over that span and .286 in four games of the 1925 World Series against the Washington Senators before retiring after the 1927 campaign. He picked up his nickname as a youngster playing sandlot ball in Boston, where his feats on the field brought shouts from the stands of “that’s the stuff, kid.”

Stuffy McInnis – 1925 TSN/Conlan Collection/Getty

1901 – The Pirates game with the Phils at Exposition Park was postponed by order of NL President NE Young (it was a league-wide day of mourning) to honor the burial day of assassinated President William McKinley. Pittsburgh was a hotbed of McKinley enthusiasts; a South Hills Park and street were renamed for him. The clubs played two the next day to make up the date, with a Pirates sweep putting them 9-1/2 games up in the standings. The team finished the year 90-49, winning the pennant by 7-1/2 games to earn the franchise’s first title.

1908 – Ralph Davis of the Pittsburgh Press wrote “In the presence of a grand out-pouring of more than 25,000 fans and in one of the most stubbornly fought battles ever waged at the Polo Grounds, the Pirates defeated the New York Giants by the score of 6-2 after ten innings of strenuous work.” The better part of that battle was fought by Lefty Liefield, who went the distance to outlast Red Ames and Doc Crandall. Ed “Batty” Abbaticchio knocked home a pair of runs in the 10th, and an error followed by Chief Wilson’s hit brought in the final two tallies.

1925 – The Pirates edged the Braves 2-1 at Forbes Field as Kiki Cuyler had four hits and Pie Traynor added three more. The two teams combined for 23 hits and drew seven walks but managed to strand 23 runners, hit into two DPs and have three runners thrown out trying to steal, keeping all the bases but home busy during the match. The Bucs took nine innings to finally get it together – Pittsburgh left the bases loaded with one away in the eighth and needed a two-out, bases-packed single by Glenn Wright in the ninth to walkoff the win for Vic Aldridge.

1943 – Rip Sewell whipped the Reds 10–3 for his 21st win, which topped the MLB chart that season. Rip also stole a base to finish the year with seven swipes (he only stole three more sacks in the following six campaigns). Elbie Fletcher had three hits and two RBI; Bob Elliott added two hits and three RBI. For 37-year-old Rip, it would earn him and his trusty eephus pitch his first All Star appearance. The Pirates swept the twin bill 2-1 as three Pirate pitchers (Xavier Rescigno, Hank Gornicki & Max Butcher, who got the W) outlasted Johnny Vander Meer. Pittsburgh was its own worst enemy in the nightcap, hitting into a DP, going 0-for-2 in stolen bases and getting a runner tossed out at home before scoring twice in the ninth on singles by Vince DiMaggio and Elliott.

Rip Sewell – 1943 Play Ball

1949 – In a 6-4 loss to the NY Giants at Forbes Field, Ralph Kiner hit his 50th home run (he finished the year with 54). With that blast, the 26-year-old outfielder became the first NL’er to hit 50+ bombs in two different seasons. It would take until 1965 for Willie Mays to match Kiner’s mark.

1953 – Danny O’Connell hit safely in his 26th consecutive game, a 4-1 loss to the NY Giants at the Polo Grounds. The streak ended later in the day as the Bucs won the back end of the twin bill by a 6-5 tally while Danny went 0-for-5. The streak was the second longest in Pirate history, trailing only Jimmy Williams’ 27-game streak of 1899 (Williams had a 26-game streak earlier in 1899 and Kenny Lofton also put together a 26-game hit parade in 2003).

1959 – Bill Mazeroski, who homered earlier, drilled a two-run triple in the 12th as the Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 at Forbes Field. Elroy Face gave up a run in the top of the 12th but got the win. Face’s record was 18-1, including eight straight games won in extra innings. He ended the year with the top winning percentage (.947) of any pitcher with 15 decisions or more, and his dazzling performance launched a string of three straight All Star appearances.

1965 – Bob Veale allowed one hit, a two-out, sixth-inning single by Tony Taylor, and struck out 12 to earn a 10-inning 1-0 win over the Phillies at Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente’s two-out single off Philadelphia reliever Jack Baldschun that scored Bob Bailey was the game winner; Veale had been thrown out at home the batter before, trying to score on Manny Mota’s hit.

Roberto Clemente – 1985 TCMA (1966 MVP)

1966 – The Bucs took an 11-inning victory from the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park by a 6-1 score. Roberto Clemente, leading off and in an 0-for-13 funk, triggered the win when he ignored manager Harry “The Hat” Walker’s small-ball sign to bunt for a hit and instead swung away, drilling a two-run homer. Bob Bailey added the sugar on top when he smacked a grand slam to close out the frame, giving Pete Mikkelsen the win in relief of Bob Veale.

1970 – Roberto Clemente, out of action for 14 games with a bad back, returned to score one run and chase home another with a key double in Pittsburgh’s 2-1 victory over New York, keeping a 1-1/2 game lead over Chicago. The Bucco D turned four DPs to help Luke Walker to the win, with the final four frames closed down by the bullpen. With Roberto back, the club would go 12-5 to win the division by five games, but were stopped by the Big Red Machine in the NLCS.

1974 – Pittsburgh put up a five-spot in the seventh inning to take an 8-6 win from the first-place St. Louis Cards at TRS. The big blows in the frame were Richie Hebner’s two-out, three-run homer and Willie Stargell’s two-run two-bagger, giving Ramon Hernandez the win with Dave Giusti, making his first appearance in two weeks due to a balky back, credited with the save of the contest started by Bruce Kison. The win moved the Bucs within 1/2 game of first place, and they won the pennant over the Cards by sweeping the Cubs in the last series of the season.

1978 – In one of Pittsburgh’s lighter moments, 38-year-old Willie Stargell attempted to swipe 2B against Chicago (he did have three steals that year) quite unsuccessfully. As Cubs’ SS Ivan DeJesus waited at the bag with the ball, Stargell slid in five feet short of the base, stood up and called for time-out. The Bucs won despite Pops’ baserunning antics and blowing a 10-2 lead, finally taking the victory by a 12-11 tally. Dave Parker’s homer in the 11th inning off Bruce Sutter, his second long ball of the day, gave the Bucs their seventh straight win and 30th in their last 38 games. Parker and Bill Robinson, who also homered twice, combined for eight hits, seven RBI and five runs scored. John Candelaria started, giving up two runs in six frames but evened that out with a hit, walk, and two runs scored himself. Odell Jones, the sixth Pirates hurler, got the win.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/09/919-through-1970s-bad-backs-back-big.html

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