1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000
This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.

2
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:22,120
Hi there everybody, I'm Bob Brents, the voice of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and we're turning

3
00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:26,400
back the years so that you can recapture the most exciting moments in Pittsburgh baseball

4
00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:32,400
just as they happen.

5
00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:51,440
It's the seventh and deciding game of the 1925 World Series. Darkness, rain, and tension

6
00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:55,440
by the turn at Forbes Field. Last of the eighth, the bases are loaded with Bucks and Kai Kai

7
00:00:55,440 --> 00:01:00,440
Kyders at bat. Two out, Kyders hits the drive down the right field line. Two runs score,

8
00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:22,440
and the Pirates win nine-seven. Oh, how sweet it was.

9
00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:27,440
1925 Pirates, only team in baseball ever to win the series after being down three games

10
00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:32,440
to one. Impossible? Sure, they're the impossible Pirates, and they played it that way for 60

11
00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:38,440
incredible years. They won four National League pennants in nine years from 1901 to 1909 under

12
00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:42,440
Barney Dreyfus, led by a manager Fred Clark, sparked by Honus Wagner, everybody's all-time

13
00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:47,440
shortstop, Babe Adams, and other greats. They played Boston in the very first World Series

14
00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:53,440
in 1903, dropping that one five games to three. Then they won the series in 1909, beating

15
00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:58,440
Detroit four games to three. And this is how J. Honus Wagner in the twilight of his career

16
00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:04,440
as a pirate coach compared baseball as it was played in those days to the game of today.

17
00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:10,440
Well, it's quite a difference now than seeing the players right now. They've got a great

18
00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:16,440
system. Everybody knows his unions. In other words, team works down, put it back. And

19
00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:23,440
the players today, I think, in the minor leagues, one thing is you don't get what they used to

20
00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:28,440
get in the minor leagues. All the minor league managers now want players to hit home runs,

21
00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:34,440
and the fans want a home run hitter. So they decided, the managers in the minor leagues

22
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:40,440
decided that they'd pick up young fellows who could hit a long ball. In the old days,

23
00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:45,440
they had speed, and they'd done it a whole lot, and they sacrificed a whole lot. And being

24
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:50,440
a dead ball, of course, the outfielders didn't place a deal. And they could throw you out

25
00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:55,440
the place, and they should have got a good start. And the base run, of course, is a lot

26
00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:01,440
of starts. There are a few good base runners now. They run a card as long as a hit ball.

27
00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:06,440
And the manager figured, well, we won't send them down here. We've got two long ball hitters

28
00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,440
at the back of them coming up and so forth.

29
00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,440
It was a long time as baseball was measured before the pirates were to win another pennant

30
00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:16,440
after their World Series triumph over Ty Cobb and the Tigers in 1909.

31
00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,440
Sixteen years, to be exact. Meanwhile, the cries were,

32
00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,440
loki, loki, loki, can't get them over, and put in yellow horse.

33
00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,440
Yes, Paul Long, old buddy, and we weren't old enough to worry about it. But the first

34
00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,440
long dry spell entered in 1925 under manager Bill McKechnie.

35
00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:44,440
The Dean of Sports, Editors Chet Smith, covered that 1925 series, and this is how he saw it.

36
00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,440
Walter Johnson, the big train they called him, threw a five-hitter at the Pirates, and Washington

37
00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:54,440
won the first game 4-1. Vic Aldridge then evened it 3-2. Washington took the third game 4-3,

38
00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:58,440
and when Johnson came back with a six-hit shutout to win 4-0, it looked like the Pirates were

39
00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,440
dead. They were down three games to one, and no team had ever gone on to win the series

40
00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:07,440
under those odds. But the Bucks did the impossible. Vic Aldridge won the fifth game 6-4, and Ray

41
00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:12,440
Kramer chucked a six-hitter in the sixth for a tight 3-2 decision to tie the series at

42
00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:18,440
three apiece. The seventh game was played in horrible weather, rained by the buckets

43
00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:24,440
full. Aldridge, Johnny Morrison, Kramer, and Ru Goldin pitching for the Bucks, Johnson for

44
00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:29,440
Washington. The Pirates tied it up at 5-5 with two runs in the seventh. Roger Peckenpah,

45
00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,440
the most valuable player in the American League that year, dropped Eddie Moore's pop

46
00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:38,440
fly. Moore then scored on Max Carey's third double of the game. Carey, the Pirate captain,

47
00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:43,440
batted a thumping 4-5-8 for the series. Pi trained her triple to right to score Carey

48
00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:48,440
with the equalizer, and Pi was thrown out at home. Washington scored a run in the top

49
00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,440
of the eighth. It was Peckenpah's home run to go ahead 7-6. Now it was right up to the

50
00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,440
Pirates. In the last of the eighth, Glenn Wright, a foul to Joe Judge. With stuffy

51
00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:01,440
Guinness up and the rain still coming down, Johnson asked for sawdust on the mound. He

52
00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:06,440
got it. McGinnis flied to Sam Rice with two downs, Smith doubled to right. Amel Eady ran

53
00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,440
for him and then Carson Bigby batting for Kramer, doubled to left, scoring Edie with

54
00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,440
the tying run. Moore walked. Carey grounded to Peckenpah, who committed his eighth error,

55
00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:18,440
a World Series record, which prompted the famous baseball writer to select Peckenpah

56
00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:23,440
as the National League's most valuable player. With the bases loaded, Kyler came up. The

57
00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:27,440
game was delayed until more sawdust could be brought out. After falling off three pitches,

58
00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:32,440
Kyler, with a full count, sliced a drive to right. Three runners came across, but the

59
00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,440
ball had lodged in a canvas that was used to cover the infield as it had been rolled

60
00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:40,440
across the right field line. So it was a ground rule two-base hit and Carey had to go back

61
00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:45,440
to third. Pooch Barnhart flied to Harris and the inning was over. Then Oldham came in to

62
00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,440
pitch for the Pirates in the ninth. He struck out Rice, got Bucky Harris, the Washington

63
00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:54,440
manager to line out to Moore, and Goose Gosling was called out on strikes. Five thousand fans

64
00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:59,440
waited outside for Kyler, crowded him on their shoulders to his home half a mile from the

65
00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,440
ballpark. John Heidler, the National League president, summed it up this way.

66
00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:07,440
The Pirates are the greatest club I've seen in all of my years of baseball, the game-est

67
00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:12,440
of all clubs. Just too bad, Old John wasn't around to see the 1960s.

68
00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:31,440
Yes, the impossible 1925 Pirates, down three games to one and the first team to come on

69
00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:36,440
to win the series after being that far out of it. Comedian, sportsman Joe E. Brown later

70
00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:41,440
told an inside story about that sensational but soggy finish in the rain. He had been criticized

71
00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:46,440
by a good friend, J.G. Taylor Spink, in the sporting news for his part in the movie, Elmer

72
00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:51,440
the Great. Spink claimed it was just too fantastic to imagine a baseball game being played in

73
00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,440
a driving rain. This was Joe Brown's explanation and story. He told baseball commissioner,

74
00:06:55,440 --> 00:07:00,440
Ford Frick, some years later. We got the idea for the game and for the conditions in that

75
00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:05,440
game from a game played in the 1925 World Series between Pittsburgh and Washington in

76
00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:12,440
Pittsburgh. Very interesting part about that Ford was that I was talking to the trainer

77
00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:17,440
of the Pittsburgh club, a man who was a trainer at that time or rather the groundkeeper out

78
00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:23,440
here, and a few when they were up at San Bernardino a few years ago. And I said, I remember the

79
00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:28,440
game so very well. And I remember that in the game there was so much water on the infield.

80
00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,440
As a matter of fact, they had to turn the lights on under the sand to get the crowd

81
00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,440
out. You know, it was late. You remember, I know you covered.

82
00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,440
That's right. That's what I'm just going to speak about. I told him, I said, I remember

83
00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,440
when Walter Johnson was out there for five times during the ball game, they came out

84
00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:44,440
with a wheelbarrow full of sawdust and put it on the mound so he could stand up. The

85
00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,440
water was around the mound. And he said, yes, and I might call your attention, it's something

86
00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:54,440
you don't know, that every time before I took that wheelbarrow full of sawdust out to the

87
00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:56,440
mound, I run the hose on it good.

88
00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:58,440
I didn't know that.

89
00:07:58,440 --> 00:07:59,440
Yeah.

90
00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,440
Well, you could ask your trainer on that one Joe too. You know, funny part of it is if

91
00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,440
we hadn't played that game in the rain, that final game of the World Series in 25, had

92
00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,440
we not played it in the rain that day, they couldn't have played again for 17 days.

93
00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:11,440
We wouldn't have played. I remember it very well. Yes, sir.

94
00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:15,440
On top of the world, in the third, the next year, torn manager Bill McKechnie walked

95
00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:17,440
the plank when the team failed to repeat.

96
00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,440
Donnie Bush took over as manager and the Pirates climbed back to the top of the

97
00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:23,440
National League again in 1927.

98
00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:40,440
That was the year Charles A. Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight across the ocean.

99
00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:45,440
And the United States sent the Marines to Nicaragua and China. Pirate fans wished the

100
00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,440
New York Yankees had been sent there too because that's who the Pirates had to play in the

101
00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:50,440
27th series.

102
00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,440
As the Pirate hopes were high before that series, the Wainer Act, baseball's greatest

103
00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:58,440
brother act, was rolling in high gear. Paul Wainer, big poison, led the league with 380.

104
00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:01,440
And brother Lloyd, little poison, hit 355.

105
00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,440
Pitcher Carl Hubbell, the giant meal ticket, later moaned, every time you pitch to the

106
00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:09,440
Pirates, you got one Wainer on base and another at bat.

107
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,440
Chet Smith, you covered that 1927 series. What happened there?

108
00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:17,440
Well, the Yankees that year had a team that was known as Murderers Row.

109
00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,440
Ruth, Gary, Musel, and Tony Lozare.

110
00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,440
They set a league record with 110 victories.

111
00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:27,440
The Babe hit 3-5-6 and set the all-time record for home runs, 60.

112
00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,440
In my book, it was the greatest baseball team of all time.

113
00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,440
But actually, it was Yankee pitching that won the series.

114
00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:38,440
The Yankees swept the first three games, and the fourth game has been replayed over and over.

115
00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,440
With the score tied 3-3 in the last of the ninth, Combs walked.

116
00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,440
Mark Koenig butted safely down the third base line.

117
00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:49,440
With Ruth up, John Milges let loose a wild pitch, advancing the runners.

118
00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,440
Then Ruth was passed intentionally filling the bases.

119
00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:54,440
Blue Gary examined and so did Musel.

120
00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:56,440
The crowd cheered Milges.

121
00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,440
But then with Lozare up, another wild pitch by Milges, and it was all over.

122
00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:05,440
But Johnny Gooch, the catcher that day, always said that it wasn't a wild pitch.

123
00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,440
It was a passed ball that lost the series for the Pirates.

124
00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:18,440
The Pirates were murdered four straight.

125
00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:24,440
And then it was 33 long and sometimes tortuous years before the Pirates were to get back on top of the National League again.

126
00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:29,440
They managed to hang in there in the First Division for 12 straight years and were mighty respectable,

127
00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:34,440
finishing in the money 23 of 28 years until the roof caved in after World War II.

128
00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:39,440
But before the Pirates hit bottom, there was a moment of near gold and glory in 1938

129
00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,440
when Pye Trainer pulled a near miracle as player manager.

130
00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:44,440
This is the way Chet Smith saw it.

131
00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:50,440
We didn't have a good Pirate team in 1938, just a bunch of try guys who fought their way into first place on July 12th,

132
00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:55,440
held a five-game lead as late as September 8th, and almost stole the pennant.

133
00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:59,440
The winner act was fading. We had no outstandingly farman Mace Brown,

134
00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,440
one of the first presidents, Bill Benzwenger, felt so confident we would win the pennant

135
00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:06,440
and invested almost $40,000 in a new press box.

136
00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:10,440
Then came that fateful afternoon of September 29th, and I'll never forget it.

137
00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:15,440
With first place at stake and the score tied 5-5 with the Cubs in Wrigley Field in Chicago,

138
00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:18,440
Gabby Hartnett came to bat in the last of the night.

139
00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,440
Brown was pitching. There were two out, none off.

140
00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:23,440
The count was two strikes, no balls.

141
00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:28,440
Brown delivered the third pitch, a letter high ball that didn't break down in the way as Brown wanted it to do.

142
00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:33,440
Gabby swung the ball, sailed out of Wrigley Field like a trophy looking for a museum.

143
00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:35,440
You just felt it rather than saw it.

144
00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:40,440
The Cubs won the game 6-5 and then went on to win the pennant by two games.

145
00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:57,240
[♪music playing on guitar and guitar playing on guitar with a

146
00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:46,440
soft, soft horn playing on the piano.

147
00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,440
Suffering catfish, that was a heartbreaker.

148
00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:52,440
And then some years later, Joey Brown and baseball commissioner Ford C. Frick

149
00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:56,440
were discussing the 1938 season and talking about the great batting stars.

150
00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,440
Those two little fellows that were with this ball club, the Wainers were great ball,

151
00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,440
greater ball players and a lot of people appreciate they were ball players, ball players.

152
00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:08,440
They could do everything and seem, seemingly, I see those two fellows up at the plate,

153
00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,440
both of them had habits of one who put that bat almost down his back.

154
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,440
Now standing up there and he looked as though he'd be the, but he was ready for that ball when it was pitched.

155
00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:21,440
They lost a pretty tough chance to get into a World Series when that big guy came up there

156
00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,440
and he told me himself he never saw that ball as it crossed the plate.

157
00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:30,440
He started across the plate, never did get across, but he hit that ball actually blind.

158
00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,440
You know the funny part of it was, Joe, that if Hartnett doesn't hit that ball,

159
00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:35,440
we've got to call that ball game that day.

160
00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,440
I was out there and I thought the umpires carried a little too long anyhow

161
00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,440
and another hitter couldn't possibly have come up.

162
00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:41,440
They'd had to call that ball game.

163
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,440
Fritz Berg hates to hear you say you thought they carried a little too long.

164
00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,440
We had that Forbes field all set for that World Series.

165
00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:48,440
Yeah, I know.

166
00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:49,440
Pickups were printed, weren't they?

167
00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:50,440
Oh, yeah.

168
00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,440
You're still looking for a World Series button from that, Joe?

169
00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:53,440
That's right, that's right.

170
00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,440
Well, I had them when you had one and now, well, I was going to send one,

171
00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,440
but I can't get it away from Roswell.

172
00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:01,440
Oh, my aching back was a familiar sound.

173
00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,440
And things got so tough for the bucks of Rosie Roswell,

174
00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:07,440
then the voice of the Pirates, that he even talked about some other ball clubs.

175
00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:12,440
This was one of Rosie's favorite stories, told as only he, Rosie, could tell it.

176
00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:14,440
Thanks a lot, Mr. Hello, you good friends of the air.

177
00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:17,440
One of the wise pages of another day one time said,

178
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,440
there's a reason for everything, but everything is not reason.

179
00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:22,440
How right, how right.

180
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,440
Let's get to an odd baseball story.

181
00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,440
You baseball fans who have patiently listened to my ramblings for so many years

182
00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,440
may have wondered why I keep constantly playing the hunches.

183
00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:35,440
As the Piggins come and hover around my broadcasting booth out of Forbes field,

184
00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,440
well, there's a story behind it.

185
00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:40,440
And I have to roll the curtain back about 14 years to pick up the connecting link

186
00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,440
between the Piggins and my good luck omen.

187
00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:48,440
The World Series in 1933 was played between the Washington Senators and the New York Giants.

188
00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,440
The Giants caught the first two games at the Polar Grounds and then moved over to Washington.

189
00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,440
The Senators took the first game in the National Capital,

190
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,440
but the Giants took the next two and became world champions.

191
00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:59,440
Now let me get back to the Piggins.

192
00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:03,440
It was a chilly October day when they played that first game in Washington,

193
00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:08,440
but pecking away at the saw directly back of shortstop was a slate-colored Piggins that they came to move,

194
00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:13,440
despite the appeals of Joe Cronin, the Senator shortstop, and Bronte Ryan, the Giants shortstop.

195
00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:19,440
At the beginning of each inning, one or the other of those two defensive players would give the bird the bum's rice.

196
00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,440
But just as soon as the pitcher would kill the rubber again,

197
00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,440
back would come Mr. Pigeon and start grubbing for work.

198
00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:29,440
The first day, the second day, the third day, that Pigeon was there.

199
00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:35,440
Finally, the umpire and the ball players all gave up and refused to even try to chase our young feathered friends.

200
00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:40,440
But I'll say this, outside of watching the ball strike, hit, and error,

201
00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:46,440
there never was as much competition in the World Series game as that Pigeon furnished for three days in Washington.

202
00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:53,440
A changing time at every inning, the fans would fasten their attention upon the Pigeon playing in the back of the position at shortstop.

203
00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:58,440
And the only time that bird would move a wing would be when a ground ball would hit past it,

204
00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,440
or when the shortstop would back up to take a little blooper.

205
00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:08,440
Then and then only would it lift itself along, only to return again as soon as play had resumed.

206
00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,440
The Seekers? Yes, of course there's a Seeker.

207
00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,440
Let me run over her needed players of the scoring in the final game.

208
00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,440
Al Schumacher had started for the Giants and Crowder was throwing in for the Senators.

209
00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:27,440
In the second inning, the Giants picked up two tallies when Schumacher drove out a single to send Travis Jackson and Gus Mantiso over to Happy Gum.

210
00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:32,440
They picked up another one in the sixth on a pair of doubles, but the Senators went to work in the last half of the sixth and tied it up.

211
00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,440
The game moved into the pinning.

212
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:38,440
When the three men away, Little Maloc came up, got ahold of a fast pitch,

213
00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:42,440
and drove it out of the lap to win the ball game in the World Championship for the Giants.

214
00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,440
Oh yes, what about the Pidges?

215
00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:50,440
Well, when the last put out was made, Blondie Ryan, the Giant shortstop, reached beneath the pocket,

216
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,440
threw it out a handful of corn and dropped it on the ground.

217
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,440
The Pidges came in a little closer to the infield. Blondie peeked over, picked it up, and carried it into the Giants' clubhouse as a good luck starter at the 1933

218
00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:13,440
Playoffs. There, he held out a super-duper clock, and so I come baseball broadcast.

219
00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:20,440
This is Rosie Roswell saying goodbye and wishing you well all along the way.

220
00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:26,440
In 1948, the Pirates made a spasmodic lurch into the First Division, finishing fourth, eight and one half lengths back.

221
00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,440
Billy Meyer was named manager of the year and richly deserved it.

222
00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:35,440
And that was the year the most famous play-by-play announcer in the history of baseball made his debut.

223
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:41,440
Bing Crosby, Pirate stockholder, did it this way under the tutelage of Rosie Roswell in April of 1948.

224
00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:48,440
Now Ralph Kiner standing by down there waiting for Doyle Laid, who's just taking over the pitching choice for the Chicago Club.

225
00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,440
He's a right-hander, and Ralph Kiner will be the first man to face him.

226
00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:56,440
Laid last year was in there with an 11 and 10 record, 11 wins and 10 losses.

227
00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,440
Billy, but doing a grand job, I don't dare trust myself for this from right back in there.

228
00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:02,440
Don't you think this is out of my monotony?

229
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,440
No, I'm never going to get a left-hander. I know that.

230
00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:09,440
Well, I'd like to see Ralph improve a little off his showing so far this afternoon against Rush.

231
00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:16,440
He couldn't do much, although he hit a hard smash to the left field with his second by Faberson, facing Doyle Laid.

232
00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:17,440
Now maybe do a little better.

233
00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:22,440
And he does. He's got a little bit of a raise going there.

234
00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:24,440
Over the scoreboard.

235
00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:29,440
Over in the Chidley Park, a roundtripper for Ralph Kiner, he's first of the 1928 teams.

236
00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,440
Let's hope that it's the first of 61.

237
00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:39,440
And that'll bring a gallon of field test ice cream in a month to some shut-in here in Pittsburgh.

238
00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:40,440
Ralph is deaning.

239
00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:47,440
We'll be sending a card along for that, his first home run of the 1948 team. Put the buckos in there.

240
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:52,440
Three to 11. I just had to take that and bring because we got a little corner on here.

241
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:53,440
He's home run.

242
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:59,440
Ralph is really deaning. The first pitch that Doyle laid through to him, he hit it right over the fence, the scoreboard,

243
00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:05,440
the clock, about 20 foot to the right of the clock, and about the same height as the top of the clock.

244
00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,440
I said the fastball hit a hard smash here yesterday for the home run.

245
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,440
May I tell you something? It was a swinging bunch.

246
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,440
And had to let Ralph just hit.

247
00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:17,440
The wind is blowing against us this afternoon when you hit the left field.

248
00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,440
The hardest smash I've seen in this park.

249
00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,440
I guess he hit a few last year just as hard as some of the others.

250
00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:24,440
When he hit that, I know it was a home run. No question.

251
00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:26,440
That was what they call a first.

252
00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:27,440
A real hard hit ball.

253
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:32,440
First pitch Doyle laid through to him. He combed right over the left field, over the clock, over others.

254
00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,440
And that was the only time anyone ever took a mic away from Bing Crosby.

255
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:41,440
By the way, there was a second baseman in that game, and this is what Bing had to say about him.

256
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:43,440
The ground ball to Danny Murtaugh. He takes it on the big hop.

257
00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:48,440
That's all. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for putting up with my announcing.

258
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:50,440
I know it's not much good.

259
00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,440
Let's run out to grab Riddle and give him a big hug and a kiss.

260
00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,440
It's a beautifully two-hits, two-hit game.

261
00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:02,440
Rip Tool gets up out of the dugout and goes over to Elmer Riddle and puts his arms around him and gives him a big hug.

262
00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,440
Wonderful pitch game. Lots of control. Lots of stuff on the ball.

263
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:07,440
Confident all the time. Handled beautifully by Clutson.

264
00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,440
Some wonderful plays in back of him, particularly by Roe Jack and Gus Keene.

265
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,440
And Danny Murtaugh, who drove in the first run.

266
00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:18,440
Friends, it's been a real pleasure to appear here on this broadcast with Rosie and Bob Prince.

267
00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:23,440
Going east, I hope to get back to some of their home games, which start the 1st of May.

268
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,440
I hope to be able to see you then and talk to you over this microphone.

269
00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:31,440
I know you'll excuse my deficiencies as a radio broadcaster for baseball, but Rosie seems to think I bring them luck out there.

270
00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:37,440
And if I do, I'm only too willing to appear and contribute whatever I can to the fellow out here at Ford's Field.

271
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,440
In 1949, the Pirates fell back into the 2nd Division and finished 6.

272
00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:43,440
There were some changes made in the five-year program.

273
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,440
The rookie tryout camp was launched in 1950.

274
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,440
Here's how Frank McKinney explained the changes.

275
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:54,440
Well, as we indicated when we first took over the Pittsburgh ball club three years ago,

276
00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:59,440
we launched into what we thought would be a five-year program.

277
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:03,440
At that time, as you recall, Pittsburgh had little or no farm system.

278
00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,440
This is a game whereby you've got to develop your own talent.

279
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,440
Certainly you can't buy star ball players.

280
00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,440
Nobody will sell you their stars.

281
00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:16,440
All you can hope to get is, shall I say, cast-offs.

282
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:24,440
We immediately launched into the development of a farm system, which under normal circumstances would take four or five years.

283
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:30,440
This year, we took the cream of our crop, so to speak, from our 13 farm clubs and had them out here

284
00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:38,440
in the hopes that by schooling them, they could advance for perhaps one classification in their development program.

285
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:45,440
There were about 70 ball players in camp, and I was agreeably surprised to learn to see that most of them

286
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:50,440
had grown at least two or three inches in height since a year ago.

287
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:57,440
In my opinion, there are about at least six or seven that will be ready for Pittsburgh within the next year to 18 months.

288
00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:04,440
Well, now, Frank, of course, everybody in Pittsburgh has been tremendously interested in this bonus pitcher, young lefty Pettit.

289
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:09,440
When you met him, I presume you shook hands with him gingerly for fear you would damage him in some way,

290
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:15,440
and I heard a remark that you said that if he didn't look good to you when you got there, you probably would shoot a couple of Scots.

291
00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,440
At least I thought you might have been quoted that way, whether that was correct or not, I don't know.

292
00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:23,440
I bet it impressed you, Frank. Pettit has all the earmarks of being a major league pitcher.

293
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:27,440
He has the poise, he has the physical ability, he has the stamina.

294
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,440
In my opinion, the only thing he lacks is experience.

295
00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:36,440
I saw him pitch three innings Sunday, and with the possible exception of being a little stage fright,

296
00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:41,440
he had all the earmarks of being a left-handed feller, in my opinion.

297
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:46,440
I think we're in for one of the most interesting years that we've had thus far.

298
00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:52,440
By that I don't mean, and I'm not claiming to win any pennants, but I think definitely we're a first division ball club.

299
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:58,440
I still will stand by my statement of asking the fans of Pittsburgh to bear with us for five years.

300
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:05,440
At the end of five years or within the next two years, I'm definitely sure that we will have a one, two, three ball club.

301
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:12,440
By that I don't mean this coming year, but again, at the end of our five-year probationary period, so to speak,

302
00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,440
I think we will be able to give a good accounting of ourselves.

303
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:25,440
But the luck of the Pirates was running all bad at that point.

304
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,440
Paul Pettit came up with a sore arm and $100,000 went down the drain.

305
00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,440
The Pirates finished last that year, for the first time since the First World War.

306
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:40,440
Late in 1950, John Galbraith took over and brought in Branch Rickey Sr., the creator of the farm system, as general manager.

307
00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:45,440
But for eight agonizing years, the Bucks finished last or next to last.

308
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:51,440
They tried everything from the youth movement to midget short stops and even left-handed catchers.

309
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:56,440
Ralph Keiner's home runs weren't enough to stem the tide of losses, even though he led the National League seven times,

310
00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:03,440
hit a pirate high of 54 in 1949, and racked up an all-time pirate career total of 301.

311
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:08,440
Joey Brown provided some comic relief during the dark days with this advice to the home run champion.

312
00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,440
I've got to help that boy. That boy needs help.

313
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:16,440
Come here, Mr. Keiner, if you don't mind, old boy, come here. I've got to, I want to help you. I want to help you with your hitting.

314
00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:20,440
You've got to pay more attention to Brown from now on. You've got to watch that first ball.

315
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:24,440
Don't stare at the pitcher a little bit more. You're not staring him enough.

316
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:28,440
Now, do you see what the St. Louis Browns are doing? You've got to do that too. I could do that with you.

317
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,440
Do you mind if I mesmerize you slightly? Are you going to, are you going to go in today?

318
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:32,440
I will if you can give me that.

319
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:33,440
Are you going? No, I could give you.

320
00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:34,440
I can't play today.

321
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:39,440
Well, never mind the swollen wrist. Let's get a swollen batting average. I mean something, forget about this kind of thing.

322
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,440
I can do it to you, you see, if you just pay attention. Look me right in the eye.

323
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:47,440
Yes, you see, now we've got it. No, no, no, no, don't laugh. No, no, no. Let's go back again. This time don't laugh.

324
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:53,440
Look me right in the eye. Good. I've got you. I've got you. It's 61 this year. Really it is.

325
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:58,440
No, no, if you just pay attention, keep your mind on it. We'll do it. Don't just relax all the time, completely.

326
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:02,440
I'm letting you ladies and gentlemen listening to this. You're very lucky. They're fortunate people, you know.

327
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:03,440
Yes, they are.

328
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,440
Here's a, I'm taking this boy now and you pay attention to me, Ralph.

329
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:35,440
Oh, let's not fiddle around. Look me smack dabba. You've got it.

330
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:51,440
And along about the same time during this period of fitful transition, there was a fellow whose career was to take a different turn.

331
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:56,440
Danny Murtaugh, second baseman, double play and double talk artist and manager to be.

332
00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:01,440
Here's Murtaugh doing a play by play of a pirate game in the twilight of his playing career.

333
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:06,440
Here comes Ralph Keiner up to the plate. Needless to tell you folks that he's our home run hitter.

334
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:10,440
Here comes the first pitch and as usual it's high and wide where Ralph can't get to it.

335
00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:12,440
You put it again, Dan.

336
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,440
Marty's just sticking his nose in again. Go ahead, Dan.

337
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:22,440
My guy, Ralph, was telling me yesterday he felt a little nervous walking up to that plate and I asked him how do you think that pitcher felt.

338
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:26,440
There's another pitch coming down there and Ralph's out of behind the plate.

339
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:33,440
I might say that Ralph's been hitting that ball real good this spring. He's hit about two dozen over that left field wall and it's 350.

340
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:38,440
I just assumed he'd not hit too many in spring training. Remember every time he does and he has a good season with home runs?

341
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:42,440
Here comes the next pitch up, Bob, and it's a curve ball on the outside corner of the plate.

342
00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:45,440
But it was too low I believe and he called it a ball.

343
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:47,440
Lon's a pretty good umpire. You know that?

344
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:48,440
Mornin' came behind that plate.

345
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,440
Gee, if he doesn't know balls and strikes after all those years of pitching, nobody will, huh?

346
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:57,440
My guy, he should know. There's another pitch high and inside. It's three and one. I don't think the fans like it.

347
00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,440
No, it doesn't sound like they like it in that background, does it?

348
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:06,440
Hear him yelling? My guy. I'll tell you one thing. Here's the only man in baseball hitting and he's got seven outfielders.

349
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:10,440
Look at that infield, how they play him. They're all back in the grass.

350
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:18,440
Uh-oh. He fouled that one off for strike two. His count is now three balls and two strikes and the pitcher's still sweating pretty good out there.

351
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:22,440
Well, he won't give him anything good to hitch. He can bet that.

352
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,440
Here comes the pitch right now. Let's see what he's going to do. Uh-oh.

353
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:32,440
Now, face hit, line drive, pass short, stop. Left fielder, center fielder come up for the ball and they had him as single.

354
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,440
Well, now that's a masterful bit of description, Daniel.

355
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:36,440
I thought so.

356
00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:41,440
Danny Murtaugh was a mighty, versatile man as time was to prove.

357
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:47,440
One day in the dark days we asked Mr. Branchwicky Sr. what he looked for in a young ball player and this was his reply.

358
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:55,440
That's a whale of a question. I might tell you that I have a very competent scout, a boy I've known for many years.

359
00:26:55,440 --> 00:27:02,440
He is not versed at all in the technique of positions or instruction to players on the skillful little pleasing plays.

360
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:07,440
Not at all, but he is a productive scout and he asks himself three questions.

361
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:14,440
Can they prospect? The chap here in front of him. Can he throw hard, he calls it.

362
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:19,440
And can he run fast? And third, can he hit the ball off for a piece, he calls it.

363
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:28,440
Now, if a boy can do those things, if he can run fast and throw hard and has great power at the plate, whether he strikes out or not,

364
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:34,440
those three things it seems to him to qualify him and he's produced some very great players over a period of many years.

365
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:41,440
Sometimes he adds another one in conversation and that is he asks himself, does he like to play?

366
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:47,440
And that is a significant addition. It is the incomparable thing of wanting to win.

367
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:57,440
It makes men devote themselves to their weaknesses and it makes men do more than they can consciously.

368
00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:05,440
They are completely obsessed by a desire to excel and when you get 25 men like that, when nothing matters except victory,

369
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:12,440
they sacrifice whatever it takes in the way of diversions and indulgences of themselves.

370
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:19,440
Everything is subordinated, made secondary to the whole objective course, namely to win, to have a great winning team.

371
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:28,440
Those men are not satisfied with mediocrity. They are not having their eyes glued upon fourth place or third or second.

372
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:33,440
It's a whole lot better to have a youngster who is coming along with the direction of his play that leads to a pennant,

373
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:39,440
although this year he may be only able to put us in fourth place or fifth or what have you,

374
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:46,440
than it is to have players of greater ability just now who will not crystallize into a final club that can win a pennant.

375
00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,440
They will always keep you in a lower position.

376
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:56,440
Our objective in Pittsburgh is to get boys who are going to come at one time into a pennant winning aggregation.

377
00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:01,440
During those painful rebuilding years, there was one event that propelled Pittsburgh into the national spotlight.

378
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:21,440
First baseman Dale Long hit home runs in eight consecutive games for an all-time record,

379
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:25,440
a feat that Ruth, Gary, Greenberg, and the other greats never accomplished.

380
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:33,440
The year was 1956 and the dates May 19th through May 28th. That will be remembered for a long time.

381
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:41,440
Almost forgotten is Ralph Keiner's feat of hitting eight home runs in four consecutive games from September 10th through September 12th, 1947.

382
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:48,440
In 1958, the Pirates jumped from eighth to second, made a good run at the Milwaukee Pennant Express in September.

383
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,440
Some experts picked the Pirates to win the pennant in 1959,

384
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:56,440
but that was the year of disappointment, injuries, slumps, and temporary decline and fall to fourth place.

385
00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:02,440
Little Roy Face gave the fans their biggest moments, hanging up all-time pitching records of 17 consecutive games won

386
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:10,440
and the highest winning percentage of 947 with 18 wins and one loss, all in relief to stamp him as the greatest all-time reliever.

387
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:15,440
And here is the matter-of-fact way L. Roy Face explained his phenomenal success.

388
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:19,440
Well, Bob, I don't think that every pitcher can pitch the guy the same.

389
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:24,440
I mean, each guy has to learn to pitch his own way to each hitter because Verne Law might throw a fastball

390
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:26,440
or Bob Friend might get a guy out on a fastball.

391
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:31,440
And if I throw the fastball, he might hit it out of the ballpark because my delivery is different than theirs.

392
00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:36,440
The fastball might not be the same as theirs and you can't go by that. You have to go learn your own way.

393
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:44,440
Another Pirate who gave the fans a tremendous moment in that otherwise unhappy 1959 campaign was small-statured Harvey Hattick.

394
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:49,440
All he did was pitch 12 perfect innings of baseball, something no other pitcher ever accomplished.

395
00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:55,440
He did it against the champion Milwaukee Braves and once again with the impossible Pirate ending.

396
00:30:55,440 --> 00:31:03,440
Anything that Jim and I have witnessed in this season absolutely at this moment pales into insignificance.

397
00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:08,440
And we've had some thumpers. Here's the windup and the one-two pitch to Berdette.

398
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:15,440
Foul off to the right out of play and Berdette has shortened up the grip on that bat and is trying to really hang in there.

399
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:19,440
And don't forget he also is quite a threat at the long ball.

400
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:28,440
Two men down. Last half of the ninth inning, no score. I can't repeat it enough.

401
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:35,440
The one-two pitch. Stuck him out swinging. Hattick's pitch is a perfect nine inning, no hit, no run game.

402
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:50,440
Outstanding ovation.

403
00:31:50,440 --> 00:32:00,440
Ladies and gentlemen, Harvey Hattick has just become the seventh pitcher in the history of all baseball to pitch a perfect, no hit, no run, nine inning ball game.

404
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:05,440
Going into the last of the 13th, Bob Prince summed up what happened to that point.

405
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:19,440
For the final out of the ninth inning was a strikeout on Luberdette. It was the eighth turned in by Hattick and at that moment he became the eighth pitcher in all the history of baseball to pitch a perfect, no hit, no run game.

406
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:28,440
He then went on to get him in the tenth and the eleventh and the twelfth, retiring 36 in a row and counting the final two outs he had against the Cardinals in his last victory at Forbes Field.

407
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:33,440
He retired 38 men in order before a man got aboard and then only on an arrow.

408
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:46,440
One out, batter Adcock takes high ball run.

409
00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:48,440
One ball, no strikes.

410
00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:52,440
There isn't anybody right now sicker at this moment than Don Hook, I guarantee you that. He's crushed over this.

411
00:32:52,440 --> 00:33:03,440
Here's the pitch, there's a flat ball deep right center. That ball may be on through and over everything. It is, no, no runs.

412
00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:04,440
Absolutely fantastic.

413
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:12,440
Pandemonium rain. Here's what the umpires eventually decided. Adcock hit the ball over the fence in right center. Mantia scored.

414
00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:17,440
After passing second, Aaron took the shortcut across the pitcher's mound and Adcock passed him on the base pass.

415
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:22,440
Umpire Dascoli ruled that Adcock was out for passing Aaron between second and third.

416
00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:30,440
Adcock was given a double, Aaron was returned to second, and Mantia's run was the only one needed to make the score one to nothing and end the game.

417
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,440
If you tried to write the pirate story of 1960 before it happened, nobody would have believed it.

418
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:38,440
And it would have been rejected by any Hollywood producer as too fantastic.

419
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:47,440
Utterly impossible. All the hopes and dreams of 35 years and considerably more came true to a degree that defied description and analysis.

420
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:52,440
The only way I know how to say it is how sweet it is, and we had them all away.

421
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:59,440
You could single out the trades by General Manager Joe L. Brown or the perfect handling of players in judgment of Manager Danny Murtaugh,

422
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:04,440
or the dedicated performance of many players to surpass anything they had ever done before.

423
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:08,440
Dick Groat, the captain, beating far more formidable hitters for the National League batting title.

424
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:12,440
Vernon Law, winning 20 games for the first time in his career.

425
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,440
Don Hope, the Tiger, and his driving will to win.

426
00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:20,440
Bob Clemente's fielding and running. Bob Skinner's bombing. Bill Maszorowski's wizardry at second base.

427
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:25,440
Bob Frim's comeback. Elroy Faces' coldly calculated relief pitching.

428
00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:29,440
The ability of almost anyone to climb off the bench and win a game.

429
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:33,440
Every game produced a different hero. And how about the fans?

430
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:40,440
Well, they plastered beat-em-bucks stickers on their cars, stores everywhere. And then there was a song.

431
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:45,440
Yes sir, Mr. Prince, there was a song. And I know you're not Bob Hope, and I'm certainly not Bing Crosby,

432
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:49,440
but I think we may be able to give the folks a brief idea. It went like this.

433
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:58,440
Oh, the Bucks are going all the way, all the way, all the way. The Bucks are going all the way, all the way this year.

434
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,440
Beat-em-bucks! Beat-em-bucks!

435
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:06,440
Beat-em-bucks is right. Well, the fans never gave up and neither did those pirates.

436
00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:09,440
The later the inning, the more likely they were to bomb you.

437
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,440
They seesawed in and out of first place until July 25th.

438
00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:17,440
Then Bob Frim pitched them into the lead to stay, a 4-2 victory over the Cardinals in St. Louis.

439
00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:21,440
Finally on September the 25th, ironically in a losing game in Milwaukee,

440
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:26,440
their first pennant in 33 years as the Cubs knocked off the runner-up cards 5-0.

441
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:29,440
This was the way Paul Long described the clincher.

442
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:37,440
1-0, the Pirates lead on the strength of a home run by Bill Masurowski back in the fifth inning.

443
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:43,440
Otherwise, it's been a real pitching duel between the great left-hander Warren Spahn

444
00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:48,440
and the great left-hander also Harvey Haddix.

445
00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:52,440
Right now, it's 1-0, the Pirates lead.

446
00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:55,440
It's just light. It's all over. They've got the report down there, Paul. The Pirates win it.

447
00:35:55,440 --> 00:36:02,440
The Pirates have won the National League pennant on the basis of the Cardinals

448
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:06,440
losing to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. It's all over.

449
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:09,440
And this crowd here knows it. A lot of transistor radios here.

450
00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:15,440
The applause has gone up. Clemente has just singled into center field. He's on first.

451
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:21,440
The come-out, this 35,000 crowd, now they're making the announcement on the loudspeaker.

452
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:26,440
The Cubs have beaten the Cardinals, and the Pirates have won the National League pennant.

453
00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,440
A deeply relieved fellow was President John Galbraith.

454
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:36,440
Well, it has been a long time, and it's been a rough road, but I feel a little bit that we've paid back

455
00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:41,440
a little of the debt for the tremendous, tremendous support we've had for 14 years.

456
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:45,440
And that's not now. That's back when we had a very ordinary ball game.

457
00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:48,440
They've been great, and I hope they're as happy about tonight as we are.

458
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:52,440
It was clear Vice President Tom Johnson will always remember.

459
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:56,440
It's been great. It's the greatest year I've ever had in baseball, as you can well imagine,

460
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:59,440
and it's just a real thrill, and I know the whole city's thrill.

461
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:04,440
And Captain Dick Groth, sidelined with a broken wrist, was worried that he might miss the series.

462
00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:08,440
Something I've always wanted to do is play on a pennant winner, and I've said all winter,

463
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:11,440
and I've said over and over again, I want to play on a pennant winner in Pittsburgh.

464
00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:12,440
I only hope I can play in the World Series.

465
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:16,440
The city of Pittsburgh celebrated the Pirates' pennant victory with a gigantic torchlight parade

466
00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:22,440
through the Golden Triangle at midnight, sponsored by KDKA-TV and radio and the Chamber of Commerce.

467
00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:25,440
The World Series should have been anticlimactic, but it wasn't.

468
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,440
Meanwhile, at a Gus Van Club luncheon in the Pittsburgh Press Club,

469
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:31,440
manager Danny Murtaugh received the first of many awards.

470
00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:33,440
He was inducted into their Hall of Fame.

471
00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:36,440
Murtaugh, in accepting the award, told this story.

472
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:39,440
It's got to be one of these knockdown battles.

473
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:44,440
So finally, I'm talking to one of my pitchers who had me pitching at the ball game that day.

474
00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:49,440
I said, look son, when this other pitcher comes up here, I want you to knock him right out.

475
00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,440
I want you to knock him down.

476
00:37:52,440 --> 00:38:03,440
And this pitcher might have been one of these fellows that is quite well versed in the Bible,

477
00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:08,440
and he turned around and he said, remember Skip, turn the other cheek.

478
00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:10,440
So I looked at him and I said, all right, me.

479
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:11,440
I said, I'll turn the other cheek.

480
00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:16,440
I said, but if this guy don't get down, is it going to cost you a hundred bucks?

481
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:26,440
So he looked at me and he says, if they don't live by the sword, they'll perish by the sword.

482
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:30,440
And gentlemen, you know I don't fabricate, and that's a true story.

483
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:34,440
And general manager Joe L. Brown paid this tribute to the pirates and Murtaugh.

484
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:40,440
The 1960 pirates have not been successful because we have the greatest collection of all-stars ever assembled.

485
00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:50,440
I think that there are a number of reasons that have been made public on certainly more than one occasion by many people

486
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:57,440
that have made this club a successful team to this date, and I know they will continue to be successful.

487
00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:02,440
Chet mentioned that I've been on tender hooks, that I'm an ulcer case.

488
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:06,440
Well, I don't have ulcers, but I have a few hooks sticking in me around.

489
00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:11,440
But of course I think that that's easily understandable.

490
00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:17,440
The winning of a pennant has been my lifetime dream, if you don't mind a personal touch here.

491
00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:24,440
And of course to see a dream come almost to its fruition is something that believe that it just can't happen.

492
00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:35,440
But these various qualities that have been attributed to our ballpark have been team spirit, desire, ambition, aggressiveness, intelligence.

493
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:41,440
Those of you who have seen Dan, who saw Danny as a player and who have seen him as a manager,

494
00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:46,440
I think will recognize that those very same qualities are inherent in him.

495
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:55,440
And I think those things in a ball club, while perhaps they are somewhat innate in the individual player,

496
00:39:55,440 --> 00:40:02,440
are instilled more than anything else by the manager.

497
00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:09,440
I think Danny Murtaugh is not only one of the game's outstanding managers, if not the best, but the most underrated.

498
00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:16,440
One loyal fan, the most loyal of them all, who deserved to see the great day when the pennant arrived was the late Rosie Rosewell.

499
00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:19,440
He, in a sense, represented the spirit that carried the Pirates through.

500
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:25,440
And this is how he expressed it one day, back in 1950, when he was honored at Forbes Field.

501
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:36,440
The only thing I can say is that my love for Pittsburgh will always be an abiding thing in my heart.

502
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:48,440
And my Buccos will always be my ballpark, whether they're up in Perth or Lamp.

503
00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:54,440
They'll be talking about the World Series of 1960 until Doomsday, the most impossible pirate team of all.

504
00:40:54,440 --> 00:41:01,440
Three times the Pirates won the World Series in 1909, 1925, and 1960, each time in seven games,

505
00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:04,440
but never in such fashion as the 1960 crew.

506
00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:09,440
Newsweek magazine ran pictures of Danny Murtaugh with the heading, Wanted for Piracy.

507
00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:13,440
The New York Times' Arthur Daly termed the Pirates, Destinies' darlings.

508
00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:19,440
The New York World Telegram and Sun said, If ever a World Series was stolen, this was the one.

509
00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:25,440
The 1960 Yankees hit more home runs than any previous American League team, more than the Yankees' famed Murderers Row,

510
00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:28,440
who clobbered the Pirates four straight in the 27th Series.

511
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:35,440
They humiliated the Pirates 16 to 3, 10 to nothing, and 12 nothing, worse in dignities than any team ever suffered in the Series.

512
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:42,440
The Yankees set new series records with 55 runs scored to the Pirates' 27, 91 hits to the Buccos' 60,

513
00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:48,440
but the Pirates had them even at the end of 6, and finally whipped the Yankees with their favorite weapon, the home run.

514
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:55,440
And here's what happened in the seventh and payoff game.

515
00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:59,440
The Pirates got off to a quick two-run lead on Rocky Nelson's Homer in the first inning.

516
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:04,440
They grabbed two more in the second inning. The Yankees came to life in the fifth with Moose Gowron's home run.

517
00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,440
Then they piled up four runs in the sixth to lead 5 to 4.

518
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:12,440
Yogi Berra's home run off the Baron of the Bullpen, Roy Face, was the big blast, scoring three runs.

519
00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:16,440
The Yankees teed off on Face for two more in the eighth, and it seemed to be all over.

520
00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:19,440
But in the last of the eighth, pinch-hitter Gino Somoli singled.

521
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:25,440
Verdon got an infield hit. The ball took a bad hop and struck shortstop Tony Kubek on the Adam's apple.

522
00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:27,440
He clutched his throat and collapsed.

523
00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:30,440
Then Grote singled a left, scoring Somoli and making the score 7 to 5.

524
00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:33,440
Skinner was thrown out on an attempted sacrifice bunt.

525
00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:38,440
Now listen to Chuck Thompson, NBC's radio voice during the Series, who described it this way.

526
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:44,440
In typical World Series fashion, this one appears to be going right down to the wire.

527
00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:48,440
Now Blanchard pumping out the sign to Coates, who wigwags with that glove just a little bit.

528
00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:50,440
He wants to see that sign again.

529
00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:53,440
Now Coates is into the move, the one-two to Clannetti.

530
00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:56,440
He swings the ground ball, slowly hit off the first base side, charging at Skowron.

531
00:42:56,440 --> 00:42:58,440
He makes the pick up, there'll be no play on the right side.

532
00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:14,440
Clannetti hit a full roller down first base way, wide of the bag at first, about 10 or 12 feet to the right or to the second base side.

533
00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:21,440
Skowron came charging in, made the pick up on the ball, had no chance of a play at the plate because Verdon broke with the crack of the bat.

534
00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:24,440
And then realized that he couldn't get over there in time to get Clannetti at first base,

535
00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:29,440
so the infield hit by Clannetti has driven in the sixth Pirate run.

536
00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:36,440
Down to third base goes Grove, two out, hits the Yankee, seven, the Pirate, six, and the batter will be catcher Hal Smith.

537
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:42,440
Smith steps in with two down, a Pirate run at the first and third, and this ballpark is going crazy.

538
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:49,440
Coates into the set, he throws, Smith takes a strike right down the pipe, and Smith was giving it a good look.

539
00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:52,440
One strike, the right hand batting Hal Smith.

540
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:57,440
Clannetti hit a little dribbler off the first base side, right of the bag at first, and legged out into a base hit.

541
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:02,440
And of course, Verdon was able to score the sixth run.

542
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:04,440
Down to one strike, this coming to Smith.

543
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:13,440
It's high and a ball, one ball, one strike.

544
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:21,440
Now the Pirate opportunity in this inning came about on a ban hop that hit Kubek and McCote and knocked him out of the ballgame.

545
00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:23,440
Now the one-one pitch coming down to Hal Smith.

546
00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:28,440
There it is, swing and a miss, right to, and he really pulled the trigger.

547
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:32,440
One ball, two strikes to Hal Smith, who gave it the big ripple, the Sunday punch.

548
00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:36,440
I couldn't find it.

549
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:39,440
The tying run is that third base and the person of Dick Grove.

550
00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:42,440
The go-ahead run is out there at first and the person of Roberto Clannetti.

551
00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:44,440
And now the set, the one-two pitch coming to Hal Smith.

552
00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:48,440
Coates throws, he started a swing and held back, and it's taken high for a ball.

553
00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:52,440
A check swing and a ball, too. Two and two now.

554
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:59,440
And for just a split second, every move in the Pirate dugout came to a stop on that call up there at the plate.

555
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:02,440
But it was a high pitch and Smith held back on the swing.

556
00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:05,440
So the count is two and two.

557
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:07,440
And Coates into the stretch.

558
00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:09,440
He sets, down the two-two to Smith.

559
00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:12,440
He swings a long drive ball, he's to let's see if, I don't know, it might go out of here.

560
00:45:12,440 --> 00:45:22,440
It is going, going, going.

561
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:27,440
Hortfield is at this moment an outdoor insane asylum.

562
00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:31,440
We have seen and shared in one of baseball's great moments.

563
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:33,440
In the top of the ninth, the Yanks tied it up at nine-nine.

564
00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:38,440
They had scored two runs, KOing Bob Friend, the hard luck pitcher of the series, in a hurry.

565
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:40,440
And Harvey Haddix had trouble putting out the fire.

566
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:47,440
And then, the last of the night. And again, Chuck Thompson.

567
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:50,440
The last half of the ninth inning.

568
00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:54,440
Changes made by the Yankees. McGoogle goes to third base.

569
00:45:54,440 --> 00:46:02,440
Cletus Boyer moves over to play shortstop.

570
00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:06,440
And Ralph Terry, of course, on the mound, will be facing Masurowski.

571
00:46:06,440 --> 00:46:11,440
And to go over that, Barra play once again. It was a hard hit drive down the first base side.

572
00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:15,440
The Nelson fielded on the first hop and tagged the bag. At first, that eliminated Barra.

573
00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:18,440
He was out. And then, Mantle could have been in a run down, but it was not the case.

574
00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:20,440
He dove back safely to first base.

575
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:24,440
Here's a ball on, too high down to Masurowski.

576
00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:29,440
And the Yankees have tied the game.

577
00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:33,440
In the top of the ninth inning.

578
00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:43,440
Well, a little while ago, when we mentioned that this one, in typical fashion, was going right to the wire, little did we know.

579
00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:45,440
Mark Ditbar throws. Here's a swing and a high five.

580
00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:48,440
Barra going deep to let the state do it.

581
00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:50,440
Back to the wall goes Barra. It is.

582
00:46:50,440 --> 00:47:04,440
And that's home run, the final spin.

583
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:35,440
Ladies and gentlemen, Masurowski has hit a one-nothing pitch over the left field fence at Ford Field to win the 1960 World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of 10 to nothing.

584
00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:38,440
Once again, that final score.

585
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:45,440
The Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1960 World Champions, defeat the New York Yankees, the Pirates 10, and the Yankees 9.

586
00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:48,440
In the Pirate Clubhouse, Bob Prince conducted the locker room interviews.

587
00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:53,440
Beat the Bucs. Can't beat the Bucs. Can they? No, sir. Can't beat the bad Bucs. I'll tell you that.

588
00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:54,440
That's for sure.

589
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:55,440
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

590
00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:59,440
We got them. We got them. They broke all the records and we won the game. I'll tell you that.

591
00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:01,440
There's a going. They broke all the records and we won the game.

592
00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:02,440
We won the game. Right here.

593
00:48:02,440 --> 00:48:07,440
Yeah, that's it. Here's the president of the ball club, Mr. John Galbraith. And, Mr. Galbraith.

594
00:48:07,440 --> 00:48:13,440
I just want to ask you one question. You ask me. Have we paid our debt to the city, the people of Pittsburgh?

595
00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:16,440
I think you have it. You've given your voice to it, too, haven't you?

596
00:48:16,440 --> 00:48:20,440
Because everything got gone. You wouldn't trade a Kentucky Derby victory for this, John.

597
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:22,440
You're trying to get me when I'm vulnerable.

598
00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:25,440
And the commissioner of baseball, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Ford Frick.

599
00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:28,440
Commissioner, without question, one of the most exciting World Series in all time.

600
00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:32,440
This is my 39th, and I never saw a finish like that one, Bob. Never.

601
00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:35,440
Here's Danny Mertai. You Irishman, you did it.

602
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:41,440
By golly, Bob, what a finish. But we've been doing that all year, and I think the fans are looking forward to it.

603
00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:46,440
Well, thank you very much, Dan, John Galbraith. And I'll just say thank you to everybody.

604
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:51,440
I hope you fans have enjoyed hearing from the very happy world champion, Pittsburgh Pirates.

605
00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:55,440
The headline in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette read, We had them all the way.

606
00:48:55,440 --> 00:49:00,440
And the Pittsburgh press told it this way. City of champs flips lid.

607
00:49:00,440 --> 00:49:04,440
There was never anything like the all-night celebration staged in the streets of Pittsburgh.

608
00:49:04,440 --> 00:49:09,440
It was VE and VJ Day. The Mardi Gras and New Year's Eve all rolled into one.

609
00:49:09,440 --> 00:49:12,440
The celebrations extended to Addis Ababa and Timbuktu.

610
00:49:12,440 --> 00:49:18,440
Those crazy 1960 pirates were indeed the most impossible pirates of them all.

611
00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:41,440
The Mardi Gras and New Year's Eve all rolled into one.

612
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:50,440
You