Monday, July 28, 2014

1976 Kellogg's

1976 Kellogg's Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates put together a solid 92-70 season, but finish nine games behind their Keystone State rival Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East.


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1976 Kellogg's - PIRATES
15 Dave Parker
22 Willie Stargell
42 Manny Sanguillen
43 Jerry Reuss




Sunday, July 27, 2014

1961 Post Cereal

1961 Post Cereal Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates follow up their surprise World Championship with a disappointing 75-79 record that lands them in sixth Place.


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1961 Post Cereal - Pirates
125 Bob Friend
126 Vern Law
127 Dick Stuart
128 Bill Mazeroski
129 Dick Groat
130 Don Hoak
131 Bob Skinner
132 Roberto Clemente
133 Roy Face
134 Harvey Haddix
135 Bill Virdon
136 Gino Cimoli
137 Rocky Nelson
138 Smoky Burgess
139 Hal Smith
140 Wilmer Mizell



This Week in Pittsburgh Pirates History - July 27-August 2

This week in Pittsburgh Pirates history -


Tony Womack
July 27

1998      Tony Womack of the Pirates establishes a new major league mark by not grounding out into a double play in 888 consecutive at-bats breaking the record previously established by Dodger outfielder Pete Reiser in 1946.

2011      At approximately 2:30 a.m. ET, the Pirates filed a formal complaint with the Commissioner's Office expressing their extreme disappointment by the way its 19-inning game against the Braves ended earlier this morning. The statement shares the organization's dismay of umpire Jerry Meals not seeing the tag made by Michael McKenry three feet in front of home plate that resulted in Atlanta's 4-3 victory at Turner Field.
                                  

July 28

1890     Beating Pittsburgh, 4-2, Giants hurler Mickey Welch joins Pud Galvin and Tim Keefe in becoming baseball's third hurler to record his 300th victory. The 31-year old Brooklyn native will win only seven more games before ending his 13-year career next season.

2001     With two outs in the ninth inning at PNC Park, Brian Giles erases a three-run deficit with a walk-off grand slam defeating an astounded Astros squad, 9-8. The Pittsburgh's left-fielder's 'sayonara slam' is hit off Houston's all-star closer, Billy Wagner.



July 29

1915      Pirates' third baseman Honus Wagner reaches Robins' (Dodgers) hurler Jeff Pfeffer for a grand slam in the eighth inning helping Pittsburgh beat Brooklyn at Forbes Field, 8-2. The inside-the-park round tripper makes the 41-year old infielder the oldest player ever to hit a home run with the bases full, a record which will last until 1985.

2009      The Pirates spend a busy day on the trading block sending 2006 batting champ Freddy Sanchez to the Giants for 20-year-old former first-round draft pick Tim Alderson, a right-hander with excellent control. The Bucs also deal shortstop Jack Wilson and pitcher Ian Snell to the Mariners for shortstop Ronny Cedeno and four minor leaguers, including triple-A catcher-first baseman Jeff Clement.


July 30

2004      In separate deals with the Pirates and Devil Rays, the Mets gamble with their future giving up top prospects to acquire major league pitchers who can immediately step into the rotation. Free agent eligible Kris Benson and infielder Jeff Keppinger are obtained from the Pirates for infielder Ty Wigginton, pitcher Matt Peterson and infielder Jose Bautista.

2011      The Orioles trade Derrek Lee to the Pirates in exchange for minor-leaguer Aaron Baker, who will be assigned to Class A Frederick. The Bucs hope their new good-fielding first baseman can provide some pop to the lineup as the team tries to stay in contention in the competitive NL Central Division race.
                     

July 31

1971     In a game that sees at least one team score in every inning until the ninth, the Giants beat Pittsburgh at Candlestick Park, 15-11. San Francisco's rookie first baseman Dave Kingman's seventh-inning grand slam proves to be the difference.

2008      In a three-team swap, the much anticipated departure of Manny Ramirez from Beantown is finally accomplished with the unhappy outfielder being traded to the Dodgers. Former Pirates player Jason Bay will now roam left field for the Red Sox, with Pittsburgh receiving outfielder Brandon Moss and pitcher Craig Hansen from Boston as well as getting third baseman Andy LaRoche and right-hander Bryan Morris from Los Angeles to complete the last-minute trading deadline deal.
                      

August 1

1906      After pitching 10.2 innings of no-hit ball, Harry McIntire yields a single to Pirates second baseman Claude Ritchey. The Dodgers and McIntire lose the game in the 13th on an unearned run, 1-0.

1918      Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 2-0, in 21 innings.

1970      At Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Pittsburgh left fielder Willie Stargell accumulates 14 total bases with three doubles and two home runs. The outfielder's five extra-base hits power the Pirates past the Braves, 20-10.




Friday, July 25, 2014

1955 Bowman

1955 Bowman Pittsburgh Pirates

On April 17th Roberto Clemente, a 20-year-old rookie from Puerto Rico makes his Major League debut in right field at Forbes Field. The Pirates would go on to finish in last place again, but ends a three-year string of 100-loss seasons with a 60-94 record.


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1955 BOWMAN PIRATES
27 Preston Ward
28 Dick Cole
57 Bob Friend
58 Frank Thomas
82 Lee Walls
83 Max Surkont
84 George Freese
113 Bob Hall
114 Vic Janowicz
115 Roger Bowman
163 Sid Gordon
164 Toby Atwell
199 Vernon Law
200 Dick Littlefield
288 Dick Smith



Sunday, July 20, 2014

This Week in Pittsburgh Pirates History - July 19-July 26

This week in Pittsburgh Pirates history -


July 19

1956      With the Reds' 4-3 loss to the Pirates at Crosley Field, Brooks Lawrence's 13-game winning streak comes to an end. Roberto Clemente’s three-run homer in the ninth inning proves to be the decisive hit.

1972      At Three Rivers Stadium, Luke Walker singles off Cecil Upshaw to break an 0-for-39 drought at the plate. The Pirates' southpaw pitches three innings of one-hit shutout baseball to pick up a save in the 8-3 victory over the Braves.


July 20

2009      With an 8-5 victory over Milwaukee at PNC Park, the Pirates snap their 17-game losing streak against the Brewers, the longest skid against a single opponent in 39 years. During the 1969-70 seasons, the Royals dropped 23 decisions to the Orioles to establish the major league mark.


July 21

1963      Pirates outfielder Jerry Lynch pinch hits a three-run home run off Chicago's Lindy McDaniel in the ninth-inning to tie the Forbes Field contest at five, a game the Bucs will evenually win in 14 innings, 6-5. The heroic homer is the left-handed hitter's 14th career round-tripper off the bench, tying a major league mark established by former Cincinnati teammate, George Crowe.

1982      Willie Stargell hits his club record 475th home run, an eighth-inning, game-winning, pinch-hit solo shot at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium.

2007      Paul Waner’s uniform jersey #11 is officially retired by the Pirates.


July 23

1930      Pirates third baseman Pie Traynor hits game-winning homers in both ends of a doubleheader. The future Hall Famer's ninth inning home run wins the opener and he ends the nightcap when he connects in the 13th.

1975      At Three Rivers Stadium, Frank Taveras is picked off first base in an unusual play. After getting a big lead, to get a good jump on a sac bunt, the Pirates shortstop is picked off when the catcher throws the ball to first base with the Phillies right fielder Jay Johnstone covering the base to complete the 2-9 play.


July 24

1909      Brooklyn Dodger, Nap Rucker strikes out 16 Pittsburgh Pirates.

1951     At cavernous Forbes Field, Giants' outfielder Willie Mays, unable to reach across his body to make a catch with his glove of Rocky Nelson's sinking 457-foot blast to deep center, sticks out his bare right hand and grabs the ball on a full gallop to make the incredible final out of the inning. Venerable Branch Rickey, Pittsburgh's general manager, sends a note to the New York dugout during the game to tell the 20-year rookie, "That was the finest catch I have ever seen, and the finest I ever expect to see".

2011      Former Blue Jays, Orioles, Mariners and Phillies general manager Pat Gillick, lifetime .300 hitter Roberto Alomar, and Burt Blyleven, ninth on the all-time list with 60 shutouts, are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Gillick won two World Series rings (1992-93) in Toronto with Alomar as his second baseman, and Blyleven helped the Twins win the 1987 Fall Classic as well as playing for the Pirates team that won it all in 1979.



July 25

1924     Pirates left-hander Emil Yde's double ties the score in the ninth inning. Five innings later, the Pittsburgh reliever's triple in the 14th beats the Cubs at Forbes Field, 8-7.

1956      At Forbes Field, Roberto Clemente's inside-the-park walk-off grand slam off Jim Bronson gives the Pirates a dramatic come-from-behind 9-8 victory over the Cubs. Chicago, scoring seven runs in the eighth and another in the ninth, had rallied from a four-run deficit to take the lead late into the game.

2011      With their 4-0 victory of Houston combined with the 6-5 St. Louis loss to Cincinnati and Milwaukee's 4-0 loss to Colorado, the Pirates find themselves in sole possession of first place. This is the latest point in the season the Bucs have been on top of the standings since mid-july of the 1997 season.



July 26

1984      In a 5-4 win over the Pirates, Expo Pete Rose singles for the 3,052nd time tying him Ty Cobb on the all-time career single list.

2011      The 19-inning, 6-hour and 39-minute game between the Pirates and Braves at Turner Field ends in a 4-3 Atlanta victory when Jerry Meals makes one of the worst calls in baseball history. The home plate umpire rules that Michael McKenry had missed Julio Lugo, although it was evident to everyone in ballpark that the base runner was tagged out three feet in front of the dish.



2012      Starling Marte becomes the 28th player in history to homer on the first pitch he sees in the major leagues when he goes yard to deep left-center field at Minute Maid Park off Houston's Dallas Keuchel. The 23 year-old left fielder is the first Pirates player to hit a home run in his first big league at-bat since Don Leppert accomplished the feat in 1961.


Saturday, July 19, 2014

1910 E96 Philadelphia Caramel

1910 E96 Philadelphia Caramel Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates follow up their 1909 World Championship with a solid but unrewarding third Place 86-67 season.

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1910 Philadelphia Caramel E96
Babe Adams
Fred Clarke
George Gibson



1889 E.R. Williams Card Game

1889 E.R. Williams Card Game Pittsburgh Alleghenys

Originally sold in the 19th century as the “Egerton R. Williams Popular Indoor Base Ball Game,” this unique set was produced as 52 playing cards, with 19 of the cards featuring players (with two players per card). Each piece measures 2-7/16” by 3-1/2” and features color drawings of players – one at the top and one at the bottom – separated by a sepia-tone crossed bat motif. The “non-player” cards are simple game cards that specify a move. Each card has a green-tinted design featuring a player at bat. 



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1889 E.R. Williams Card Game
17 Pud Galvin and Dave Orr


Sunday, July 13, 2014

This Week in Pittsburgh Pirates History - July 12-July 18

This week in Pittsburgh Pirates history -


July 12

1994      The largest crowd in Pittsburgh baseball history, 59,568, turns out as Three Rivers Stadium plays host to baseball's 65th All-Star Game. In a Midsummer Classic that is truly a classic Tony Gwynn leads off the 10th with a single and comes around to score the game-winning run in dramatic fashion on a double by Moises Alou as the National League posts an 8-7 victory.  Fred McGriff is named MVP, earning the honor with his dramatic two-run home run off Lee Smith that tied the game in the bottom of the ninth.

1997      In front of a sellout crowd at Three Rivers Stadium on Jackie Robinson Night, two Pirates' pitchers throw the first extra-inning combined no-hitter in major league history. Ricardo Rincon takes over in the tenth inning to preserve starter Francisco Cordova's effort and gets the win when Mark Smith pinch hits a three-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the inning.


July 13

1943      Thanks to a three-run home run by Red Sox second baseman Bobby Doerr, the American League defeats the National League in the first night All Star game, 5-3. In a game broadcast to GIs via shortwave radio, Pirates' outfielder Vince DiMaggio shines for the Senior Circuit hitting a single, triple and home run.


1983      With the Pirates down to their final out, back-to-back home runs by Johnny Ray and Mike Easler in the top of the ninth inning lifted the Bucs to a 7-6 win over the Giants at Candlestick Park.

July 14

1962      In the seventh inning of the nightcap of a twin bill split with the Pirates at Forbes Field, Cardinal left fielder Stan Musial establishes a new National League record with his 10,428th time at bat. 'Stan the Man' who will finish his 22-year career with 10,972 plate appearances, surpasses Honus Wagner's mark set in 1917. (Two more at-bats will be credited to the The Flying Dutchman upon further research)

1967      Cardinals' pitcher Bob Gibson's right fibula is fractured by a Roberto Clemente line drive during a 6-3 loss to the Pirates. The injury will sideline the Redbird right-hander until Labor Day, but he will recover well enough to allow only three earned runs in three complete World Series game victories over the Red Sox.

1974      Attempting to avert a doubleheader loss, a five-game series sweep at Three Rivers Stadium, and a descent into the National League East cellar—the Pirates engaged the Reds in an intense bench-clearing brawl in the second game of a Sunday twinbill. The fight and resulting 2-1 victory over their sparring partners suggested a turning point for the Bucco campaign.

2000      The American Tobacco Company's near-mint condition 1909 Honus Wagner card goes for $1.1 million in an eBay online auction. The high bidder will pay $1.265 million including a 15 percent buyer's premium for the 91-year old card of the Hall of Fame Pirate shortstop.

July 15

1971      Three times within two outs of losing to the Padres, the first-place Pirates tied the game in the ninth, thirteenth and sixteenth innings, before Roberto Clemente’s seventeenth-inning home run gave the Bucs a 4-3 victory at Three Rivers Stadium.

1975      The only time this has ever occurred, two players share the All star game MVP: Bill Madlock (Pittsburgh Pirates) and John Matlock (NY Mets).

July 16

1920      After pitching 16 scoreless frames, Earl Hamilton and the Pirates lose to the Giants in the 17th at Forbes Field, 7-0. New York starter Rube Benton tosses 17 shutout innings to get the victory.

1970      On precisely the same spot as Exposition Park, the home of the Pirates from 1891-1909, Three Rivers Stadium makes its debut. Cincinnati’s first baseman Tony Perez hits the park's first home run as the Pirates lose to the Reds, 3-2.  In this first game at Three Rivers Stadium, the Pirates took the field in revolutionary double knit uniforms.

2006      Chipper Jones ties a major league record by collecting an extra-base hit in his 14th straight game. The Braves third baseman's fourth-innng home run equals the mark established in 1927 by Pirates outfielder Paul Waner.
                    
July 17

1890     For the first time in baseball history, two 300-game winners are opponents as Tim Keefe of the Giants faces Pittsburgh's Jim 'Pud' Galvin in a Players League match-up. New York beats the Burghers, 8-2, in the first of four historic confrontations between the two future member of the Hall of Fame.

1914      Against the Giants, control artist Babe Adams of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches an entire 21-inning game without issuing a single walk. The contest, which is the longest game in big league history without a base-on-balls, is decided by Larry Doyle's home run in the top of the frame giving Rube Marquard, who also goes the distance, the 3-1 victory.

1979      Dave Parker was named the All-Star game MVP.

This Week in Pittsburgh Pirates History - July 6-July 11

This week in Pittsburgh Pirates history -


July 6

2002      Daryle Ward becomes the first player in the brief history of Pittsburgh's PNC Park to hit the Allegheny River on the fly. His fifth inning towering grand slam, which is estimated to travel 479 feet, helps the Astros to rout the Pirates, 10-2.


July 8

1941      At Detroit's Briggs Stadium, Pittsburgh's Arky Vaughan becomes the first player to hit two home runs in an All-Star Game, cracking a pair of two-run homers in the National League's 7-5 loss.

1950      In the bottom of the ninth inning at Forbes Field, Jack Phillips, pinch-hitting for Murry Dickson, erases a three-run deficit with a walk-off grand slam off Harry Brecheen. The 28 year-old utility infielder, who will go deep only nine times in 892 major league at-bats, gives the Pirates a dramatic 7-6 victory over the Cardinals.

1991      Pittsburgh Pirate President, Carl Barger becomes the first president of the Florida Marlins.


July 10

1929      The Pirates rout the Phillies 15-9 at the Baker Bowl in a game which features one homer hit in each inning. Pittsburgh goes deep five times with Philadelphia adding four more.


July 11

2006      Prior to the start of the fifth inning of the All-Star game played in Pittsburgh's PNC Park, Vera Clemente is escorted onto the field by 1960 World Series hero Bill Mazeroski to accept the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award on behalf of her late husband. With the scoreboard showing replays of Roberto, tears flowing from AL skipper Ozzie Guillen, and the heartfelt ovation from the crowd, the ceremony honoring the Pirates' Hall of Famer becomes a truly memorable moment in the history of the Midsummer Classic.