On this date in 1925 the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Washington Senators by a 9-7 score at Forbes Field in game seven of the World Series to win their second championship. To win the series they had to defeat the great Walter Johnson, who had already won games one and four of the series. The lineups for this game included seven total future Hall of Famers. The Senators had Johnson, Goose Goslin, Sam Rice and Bucky Harris while the Pirates had Kiki Cuyler, Pie Traynor and Max Carey.
Vic Aldridge started the game for the Pirates, he won games two and five over another future Hall of Famer, Stan Coveleski. On this day however, he did not have his best stuff. He lasted just six batters and four of them would score putting the Pirates in an early hole. Johnny Morrison relieved him to finish out the first inning. The Pirates got on the board in the 3rd inning when Morrison scored on an Eddie Moore double. Moore would score the second run on a Max Carey single and Carey would score two batters later on a Clyde Barnhart single to make it 4-3 after three innings.
The Senators scored two runs in the 4th to chase Morrison and take a three run lead. The Pirates then went to Ray Kremer, who had won game six just two days earlier and the move paid off. Pittsburgh would score a solo run in the 5th inning when Cuyler drove home Carey with their fourth run of the game to pull them within two. The score would stay 6-4 until the bottom of the 7th inning. Eddie Moore reached on an error and was driven home by a double from Carey to make it a one run game. With two outs, Pie Traynor came to the plate and hit a ball into right field that got away from the fielder, Joe Harris. Carey scored to tie the game but Traynor was cut down at home plate to keep the score tied going into the 8th inning.
In the top of the 8th inning with one out, Senators shortstop, Roger Peckinpaugh hit a solo home run to left field to put his team up by one. Despite struggling, the Senators stuck with their ace to try to shut down the Pirates for just two more innings but Pittsburgh had other ideas. The first two batters were retired before catcher Earl Smith hit a double. Emil Yde pinch ran for him and Carson Bigbee batted for Kremer. Bigbee hit a double to tie the game. Johnson walked the next batter and then got a groundball to Peckinpaugh who botched the throw to 2B for the force and gave the Pirates a chance with the bases loaded and Kiki Cuyler up at bat. Cuyler sent a long drive to RF which went for a ground rule double and put the Pirates up by two. Red Oldham came in for the 9th inning and retired three Hall of Famers in a row, Rice, Harris and Goslin to end the game and give Pittsburgh their second World Series title
Born on this date in 1903 was Mule Haas who played for those 1925 Pirates very briefly. He made his major league debut on August 15th of that 1925 season and got two at-bats, which was one more than he got the rest of the year. He played just four games and did not record a hit although he did score a run. He picked the wrong time to try to play outfield in Pittsburgh, not only were Max Carey and Kiki Cuyler already there but the 1926 season saw the beginning of the Paul Waner era followed one year later by the first season from his brother Lloyd, all four of them future Hall of Famers in one crowded outfield.
Haas had a nice career starting in 1928 with the Philadelphia Athletics, followed by a stop in Chicago for the White Sox before returning to the A’s to finish his career. He batted .292 in 1168 games and was one of the best bunters of his era, six times leading the league in sacrifice hits.
Bill Henry (1927) Pitcher for the 1968 Pirates. He was a lefty reliever for 16 years in the majors, pitching a total of 527 games for six different teams. Henry joined the Pirates in the middle of the 1968 season, coming over from the San Francisco Giants in June. He pitched ten games for Pittsburgh, throwing a total of 16.2 innings. He had an 8.10 ERA and no record. Henry was released in early August and played just three more major league games. At the time, he was the oldest player in the National League. Henry finished his career with a 46-50, 3.26 record and 90 saves. His best season came in 1959 when he had a 3.27 ERA over 134.1 innings for the Chicago Cubs. He led the NL with 65 games pitched that year. In 1960, while with the Cincinnati Reds, he was selected to both All-Star games back when they played two games per year. He pitched twice during the 1961 World Series. Henry was involved in a 1959 trade that also included Lee Walls and Frank Thomas, both of whom played for the Pirates earlier in their career.
Bob Harmon (1887) Pitcher for the 1914-16 and 1918 Pirates. He came to the Pirates from the St Louis Cardinals as part of an eight player deal in December of 1914. Harmon had a 68-81, 3.78 record in five seasons for the St Louis Cardinals. He had won 23 games in 1911, but in 1913, he went 8-21 and lead the league in hits allowed. Harmon had his best season in his first year with Pittsburgh, posting a 2.53 ERA, though that came with a 13-17 record. He was just as good the next year with a 2.50 ERA and again, he finished under .500, this time going 16-17 in 32 starts and five relief appearances. He also threw five shutouts. In 1916, Harmon split his time between starting and the bullpen, going 8-11, 2.81 in 172.2 innings. After sitting out the 1917 season, he pitched one more year for the Pirates before retiring. Harmon was 39-52, 2.60 in 88 starts and 33 relief appearances for the Pirates.
Finally, also born on this date in 1967 was Carlos Garcia who played for the Pirates from 1990-1996. He was the Pirates first base coach in 2010 and this past season he managed the Bradenton Marauders, the Pirates minor league affiliate in the Florida State League. While in Pittsburgh, the second baseman hit .278 with 60 stolen bases over 482 games and was named to the 1994 all-star game. He hit .294 with a career high 50 RBI’s in 1995. Following the 1996 season, Garcia was traded to the Blue Jays as part of a 9 player deal that brought six players back to Pittsburgh. He played until 1999 in the majors and spent the 2000-01 seasons in the minors before retiring to coach.
