The Pittsburgh Pirates (1887-) - 2013 Record: 94-68, Finishing 2nd in the NL Central Division

[DonRocks]

Here's a historically important video of Game 7 of the 1971 World Series, in which the Pittsburgh Pirates (affectionally known as "The Lumber Company") defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1.

I could only watch the first inning because there's too much memory of a ten-year-old's anguish, knowing what happened, but even watching the first inning alone is of historical importance - you get to see three hall-of-famers in action: Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, and Roberto Clemente. Willie Stargell played, of course, but didn't see any action in the first inning.

Can any old-timer from Pittsburgh tell me why Billy Meyer's number was retired?

It takes an aficionado for this to mean much, but Pittsburgh's retired numbers from the infield (Mazeroski at 2B, Wagner at SS, Traynor at 3B) are probably as fine as anyone's in baseball, especially Wagner (.328 career BA) and Traynor (.320 career BA) - you could justifiably place both of these two men on a major-league all-time roster by position, and be taken seriously.

[JPW]

Basically, Meyer was well-liked as a manager.

Stargell was one of my heroes as a kid. I used to imitate his bat circles when I played little league (so did half the other kids in Pittsburgh).

Home plate from Forbes Field (named because it was on Forbes Ave) is on display in its original position in the lobby of the Univ. of Pittsburgh Law School.

And I still can't believe that Barry Bonds couldn't throw that cripple Sid Bream out at home plate.

[DaveO]

Geez:   that is a 2 hour video.   Oh my, I lived in walking distance to Memorial Stadium at that time.  But as a college student then WS tickets were way too pricey.   Regular season games were a treat, and in September it was cool to watch the end of the season back then, especially as the Orioles of that time were regularly playoff contenders with great teams.

Painful loss from my perspective....though those 2 teams were apt representatives of fervent blue collar cities.  Also, while the Orioles had a starting pitching staff with 4 20 game winners, the Pirates had a starting pitching staff that included Doc Ellis, the guy that threw a no hitter while on LSD.     That alone might be the most unbelievable sporting accomplishment in the history of competition.

[DonRocks]

And I still can't believe that Barry Bonds couldn't throw that cripple Sid Bream out at home plate.

Neither can anybody else (*) - it's painful to watch (it wasn't even a good slide - if Bream's brain was activated (and I'm sure he was running (literally) on sheer adrenaline at the moment), he would have slid towards the outside of home plate).

1992 NLCS, Game 7, Final Play

(To anyone getting the advertisement before the video: I seriously doubt that Carlos Beltran got to where he is by downing those vile little vials of energy drink that you see at 7-11.)

A few years ago, Matt and I did an amusement park vacation (4 parks in 5 days!). We stayed in Pittsburgh the night before we went to Kennywood, staying at this Adams Family-ish B&B on the Mexican War Streets. The Pirates were playing that night, we were only about a half-mile from PNC Park, and so we walked to the game.

At some point in the middle of the game, a 1940s-style group of singers came over the sound system, singing this to the tune of "Let's All Go To The Lobby"

It's time to shoot some hot dogs!

It's time to shoot some hot dogs!

It's time to shoot some hot dogs!

And catch yourself some meat!

(Really! (**))

Then, at about three or four points around the stadium, near the front row of fans, workers with pneumatic bazookas starting shooting into the crowd (these were powerful enough for the ammo to reach the upper deck). But instead of shooting t-shirts (which I always thought was kind of a fun idea), they were shooting *hot dogs* wrapped in aluminum foil, and fans were diving after them as if they were gold coins. Matt must have been only about ten at the time, but even he recognized how gross this concept was.

(*) I got this off of Wikipedia - it it's true, then ouch! "Belinda's first two pitches were balls. On the third pitch, Cabrera hit a line drive foul down the left field line. Seeing this, Andy Van Slyke in center field tried to signal to Barry Bonds in left to play shallower in order to cut off the potential tying run scoring from second. Bonds responded by flipping the bird at Van Slyke, years later Van Slyke confirmed this on MLB Network's 20 greatest games."

(**) However, one of the commenters in that video says he caught one once, and along with the soggy hot dog was a coupon for a free one at the concession stand, so it's not quite as horrific as it seems. And I have a vague recollection that I posted this story once before here, so my apologies if you've heard it before.

[JPW]

Anybody who wants a short course on why Andrew McCutchen won the MVP last year needs to watch highlights of last night's game (just ignore his little oopsie at 3rd base)

[DonRocks]

Anybody who wants a short course on why Andrew McCutchen won the MVP last year needs to watch highlights of last night's game (just ignore his little oopsie at 3rd base)

In general, he's having a reasonably good June.