4/21 Through the 1970s: GVH - McCormack, Opener & Game Tales, Pop Bops, Roberto Rambles, 9 HRs, Rip & Ray Rule, B-2-B-2-B, Moses #1; HBD Jack, Kip & Rabbit
- 1887 – The Alleghenies picked up RHP Jim McCormick in a trade with the Chicago White Stockings, sending them $2,000 and rookie George Van Haltren (he would return to the Pittsburgh fold in 1892), who was later quite successfully converted from pitcher to outfielder. He became the third starter in a three-man rotation, joining James “Jeems” Galvin and Ed “Cannonball” Morris. It was a big deal for the Allegheny club; McCormick was one of baseball’s early dominators (he ended his career with 265 wins), but age and wear on his arm finally caught up to him. The 30-year old was in his 10th and final big league campaign and slashed 13-23/4.30. He started 36 games and went the distance for every one, amassing 322-1/3 IP during the year. And he did fit in with the team ethos; he was known as a man who would tip a few and after a contract squabble for his return after the season hit a wall, he retired to run a local bar.
- 1913 – The Pirates banged out eight straight hits plus a sac fly to score seven times in the sixth inning and rally past the St. Louis Cards, 8-5. Babe Adams went the distance for the win at Robison Field. Hans Wagner & Solly Hofman led the attack with three knocks apiece. The victory moved Pittsburgh briefly to the top of the pack; they finished fourth in a year the NY Giants ran away from the NL field.
- 1919 – SS Stan Rojek was born in North Tonawanda, New York. He played for the Pirates from 1948-51, starting the first two seasons and hitting .266 during his Pittsburgh years. The Bucs got him from Brooklyn, where he was a backup infielder behind Pee Wee Reese. He hit .290 his first Bucco season as the starter but after a beaning that sent him to the hospital, his bat was never quite the same and he was traded to the Cardinals in May of 1951. The Pirates gave him a couple of nicknames, per Edward Veit of SABR. “Initially Rojek’s Pirates teammates called him ‘Reject’ because he had been dumped by the Dodgers. He also was called ‘The Happy Rabbit’ because of…his attitude, and his quickness in scurrying around shortstop.” Fortunately for Stan, the “Rabbit” name stuck.
- 1921 – Moses “Chief” Yellowhorse won his first MLB game and the first ever by a full-blooded Native American (he was Pawnee) by working 3-1/3 innings in Pittsburgh’s 8-7 win over the Reds at Forbes Field in the season’s home lidlifter. Rabbit Maranville led the attack with three hits, including a triple, two runs scored and three RBI. Chief Yellowhorse relieved Elmer Ponder, who had come on after Babe Adams stumbled against Cincinnati in the third inning.
- 1927 – In their Home Opener at Forbes Field, Pirates ace Ray Kremer did it all. He tossed a complete game four-hitter while blasting a two-run home run off Reds starter Eppa Rixey to lead the Bucs to a 3-2 victory in front of 33,439 fans, a fitting start for the ‘27 NL pennant winners..
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| Ray Kremer – Baseball Heroes Deck |
- 1933 – The Bucs won their Home Opener at Forbes Field, 5-1, rallying in their last at-bat to break up a pitcher’s duel. The Pirates Bill Swift was locked up with Si Johnson of the Reds going into the bottom of the eighth with Cincy up 1-0; Swift had surrendered just two hits, but one was a homer. Manager George Gibson started the eighth frame off with pinch hitter Woody Jensen (per beatman Volney Walsh of the Pittsburgh Press: “Mr. Jensen was enjoying his usual afternoon siesta on the bench when Gibby summoned him…”) and Woody lit the fuse – he singled to start a parade of knocks; the Bucs scored five runs behind a two-RBI double by Pie Traynor, Gus Suhr’s triple to chase home two more runs and Tony Piet’s knock to send the final tally plateward. Bill Harris worked the ninth to tuck the game away for Swift. The Pirates were in the midst of a 10-3 April record and finished second in the Nation League with 87 wins, five games off the pace of the NY Giants.
- 1943 – Rip Sewell ruined the Cubs Home & Season Opener at Wrigley Field as he tossed a three-hit, 6-0, shutout, backed by the three hits of Frank Colman & Al Lopez, with a pair of runs chased home by Vince DiMaggio in the eighth keying the win. Sewell had the Cubbies’ number and won five more contests from them during the campaign. He wasn’t the only ace on this date – there were four games played around the league and they all ended in shutouts, a MLB record.
- 1957 – In the first game of a doubleheader at Ebbets Field, Frank Thomas, Paul Smith, and Dick Groat hit consecutive home runs in the third inning off Brooklyn’s Don Newcombe to lead Pittsburgh to a 6-3 victory. Bob Skinner also went yard while Roberto Clemente collected three hits. Bob Purkey got the win for the Pirates with an ElRoy Face save. Don Drysdale evened things up by winning the nightcap, 7-4, for the Dodgers, as Don Zimmer homered and drove in three runs.
- 1964 – Home run or no count: The Bucs beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-5, at Wrigley Field. Nine different players went long, as the wind was blowing out. Roberto Clemente, Ducky Schofield, Jim Pagliaroni, and Gene Freese (who hit a three-run bomb in the ninth to win it as a pinch-hitter for Willie Stargell, swatting the only blast that wasn’t a solo shot) went yard for Pittsburgh while the Cubs added five singletaries, tying a record. ElRoy Face got the win after Vern Law started. The game had a little of everything going on; another record was tied when Robert Clemente was walked intentionally three times, and Face helped himself by turning an unassisted double play.
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| Roberto Clemente – 1966 photo UPI |
- 1968 – Roberto Clemente hit one inside-the-park homer after being thrown out at home the inning prior against San Francisco. The four-bagger was a Forbes Field special when a hard-hit single took a giant bounce off the hard turf and over G-Man outfielder Ty Cline’s head; by the time he caught up to the ball and got it in, The Great One had a stand-up dinger. In his previous at-bat, he had drilled a ball off the batting cage in center field 457’ away. Clemente admitted he cost himself that homer by cruising around the bases, assuming he had a stand-up triple, until he saw third base coach Alex Grammas wave him around at third, and a perfect relay cut him down at the plate. The run was fortunately meaningless in a 10-0 Al McBean win. Willie Stargell went long the traditional way while the Pirates banged out 16 hits, with every starter, including McBean, banging out a hit.
- 1971 – Pops Stargell hit three long balls for the second time in 11 days to lead Pittsburgh to a 10-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. It was the fourth time he had three homers in a game, tying him with Ralph Kiner for the team record. Captain Willie collected five RBI and scored three times at TRS as four other Buccos banged out a pair of knocks. Dock Ellis tossed a five-hitter to calm the Bravo bats.
- 1977 – RHP Kip Wells was born in Houston. The righty came to Pittsburgh in the 2001 off season as part of the Todd Ritchie deal with the White Sox and tossed for five Bucco campaigns (2002-06), winning 36 times. The Texan started off well with ERAs of 3.58 and 3.28 in 2002-03 but faded and was sent to the Rangers for Jesse Chavez. Kip played through 2009, went through a couple of years when he couldn’t land an MLB job, and closed out his career in 2012 as a Padre.
- 1978 · LHP Jack Taschner was born in Milwaukee. After working for the Giants and Phils, the reliever joined the Bucs as an NRI in 2010. He went north with the squad and made 17 outings, going 1-0/6.41 before being released in June. The Dodgers claimed him, and he finished the year (and his MLB career) with them. Jack became a cop in Appleton, Wisconsin after his playing days.
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2025/04/421-through-1970s-gvh-mccormack-opener.html
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