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9/25 Through the 1940s: Ralph Records, Waner Double Trouble, Sweet Sweep, Moore Plz, Hans Hot Date, Game Days, Westlake Joins, HBD Dave

Friday, September 25, 2026 7:33

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1890 – Boston defeated the Alleghenys by a 4-3 score at Recreation Park in front of 240 fans, a typical attendance for the sad-sack Allies. The team was gutted before the season when most of their better players defected to the Pittsburgh Burghers of the Players League. It wasn’t enough that the team wasn’t very good. On this day, the ump called the game from behind the mound, and that positioning led him to miscall a ball hit down the line, ruling it foul when it appeared to be a game-tying two-bagger. Even Beaneaters’ manager Frank Seelye agreed, calling the win “a fluke” in the Pittsburgh Press. John “Phenomenal” Smith took the tough loss. Poor attendance accompanied the poor play, with Pittsburgh drawing just 16,604 fans during the year, an average of 236 rooters per game. That led to the squad to playing 97 of their 136 games away. They finished with a road record of 9-88, and their .093 road winning percentage is the worst in MLB history. The 1906 New Castle News wrote tongue-in-cheek (we think) that the term 23 Skidoo came about in reference to the Allies’ 23 wins.

1889 – OF Dave Robertson was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. He played nine big league seasons, stopping in Pittsburgh near the end in 1921 where he started 58 games and hit .322. The Pirates picked him up from the Cubs for RHP Elmer Ponder and then released him at the end of the year. Both were near the end of their roads – Robertson played through 1922; Ponder was done after ‘21.

1901 – The Dutchman Hans Wagner drove in six runs against Christy Mathewson at Exposition Park with a double and triple as the Pirates defeated the NY Giants for the 12th straight time during the season by a 10-5 score. The top three men in the lineup – Lefty Davis, Fred Clarke and Ginger Beaumont – banged six hits, walked four times and scored seven runs as a trio. Jesse Tannehill was touched for 13 hits but was never really threatened as Pittsburgh scored three runs in the opening frame and was up 10-1 after six to make the livin’ easy for Jesse.

1907 – Honus Wagner swiped four bases at Forbes Field, including second, third, and home in the second inning, against the New York Giants during a 14-1 victory, a deed the Flying Dutchman duplicated four times in his career. Fred Clarke scored three times and also swiped four bags; only Tony Womack would join the pair in stealing four bases in a single game for Pittsburgh. The game itself was a laugher after the Bucs put up a seven-run second inning, with Nick Maddox coasting on a six-hitter. It was the first time since 1901 that the Pirates had taken the season series from their Big Apple rivals. Umpire Bill Klem had his work cut out, though, ejecting three Giants during the game; Klem ended up giving the heave-ho to eight G-Men during the three-game set.

Jimmy Zinn – 1920 photo via tnfoto/Out Of The Ball Park

1920 – Jimmy Zinn went the distance in the Pirates 12-inning 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field. Zinn gave up six hits in just his second MLB start; before the game, he had 10 big-league innings under his belt. Zinn’s only full season came the following year, when he went 7-6 for the Pirates. He was the epitome of a AAAA player and spent 25 years hurling in the minors. Elmer Riddle wasn’t quite as sharp in the nightcap as the Cards rallied for a 3-1 win and a split.

1923 – The Pirates turned the Phillies every which way but loose in an 18-5 romp at Forbes Field. SS Eddie Moore made his MLB debut at the leadoff spot, and had three hits, drew two walks, and scored five times. Pie Traynor had chased home four runs and Johnny Rawlings went 4-for-5. Ray Steineder got the win, and chipped in with two hits, two runs, two RBI and a sac bunt.

1927 – The Pirates took a pair from the Cubs at Wrigley Field by 2-1 and 6-1 counts. It was a big sweep as the St Louis Cards, breathing down the Buccos’ necks, also claimed a doubleheader win. The Bucs lead remained at two games with the NY Giants 2-1/2 back with five games to go, and Pittsburgh would hang on to win the NL crown by a game. Vic Aldridge and Ray Kremer got the wins for Pittsburgh. Aldridge helped his own cause with an RBI in the opening squeaker while the Pirates banged out 13 hits in the second game to smooth Kremer’s road.

1932 – Paul Waner stroked a pair of two-baggers at Sportsman’s Park to set the Senior Circuit mark for doubles (62) during Pittsburgh’s 7-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a twin bill. Big Poison and Arky Vaughan each had three hits, Gus Dugas homered and Bill Harris scattered seven hits for the win. The Redbirds took the second game 7-4, overcoming the still-hot bat of Dugas who banged another long ball and added three hits during the defeat.

Elbie Fletcher – 1941 Big League

1941 – Max Butcher and Elbie Fletcher eliminated the St. Louis Cards from the NL race with a 3-1 win at Forbes Field. Butcher tossed a five-hitter and the only run he was allowed was when he surrendered a bases-loaded walk in the seventh; he came back to strike out the next two Redbirds to limit the damage. Fletcher drilled a two-run, inside-the-park homer to straight center and Billy Cox scored the other tally with a triple followed by Arky Vaughan’s sac fly.

1946 – The Pirates traded with the Pacific Coast League’s Oakland Oaks for OF Wally Westlake, sending them a PTBNL (RHP Johnny Hutchings) and $35,000. In five years with the Bucs (1947-51), Westlake slashed .281/97 HR/378 RBI in 580 games; Hutchings never tossed in the majors again.

1946 – Ralph Kiner capped a strong rookie season by banging his 23rd homer in a 6-5 win against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. It tied the Johnny Rizzo’s Bucco record for the most long balls in a season and for all intents and purposes, earned him the NL home run title as he bypassed Johnny Mize, the man he was battling for the crown, who was injured and done for the season. Ralph then obliterated the Pirate mark in 1947, swatting 51 dingers. Mr. Swat’s dinger followed Bob Elliot’s three-run shot in the eighth frame and gave the Bucs the lead, which they promptly gave back. The Bucs finally prevailed in the 16th frame, when rookie pinch-hitter Billy Cox’s RBI single plated Lee Handley with the game-winner to reward Ken Gable’s scoreless eight-inning relief stint.

1949 – Mr. Swat Ralph Kiner banged his 53rd homer of the year in the first game of a doubleheader sweep of the Reds at Cincinnati. It was his 25th of the year on the road, a new NL record, and his 15th of the month, tying another mark. He would bang out #16 on the 30th, just in time to set another record. It was his 54th, still the most dingers for a Bucco in a single season.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/09/925-through-1940s-ralph-records-waner.html

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