April 17, 1960: Pirates score 6 in 9th to complete Easter Sunday doubleheader sweep

“He has that old stroke back and he’s swinging a fast bat again.” — Pittsburgh Pirates batting coach George Sisler on Bob Skinner during spring training in 1960.1

A new decade of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball dawned in 1960. One couldn’t blame the team for bidding a fond farewell to the 1950s. From 1950 to 1957, Pittsburgh finished in seventh or eighth place in the eight-team National League. In 1958 the Pirates jumped all the way to second place, their 84-70 record trailing the pennant-winning Milwaukee Braves (92-62) by eight games. It was Pittsburgh’s first winning season since 1948.

The Pirates closed out the decade finishing fourth in 1959. Expectations were similar for 1960. Before the season The Sporting News published a poll of 11 New York beat writers. None of the scribes picked Pittsburgh to finish higher than fourth place. Five chose Pittsburgh to finish fifth, and two chose the Pirates to hold down sixth place.2

Danny Murtaugh was in his third full season as the Pirates’ manager, having replaced Bobby Bragan in August 1957. The former NL infielder had the Pirates trending in the right direction, finishing in the top half of the league two years in a row. While most prognosticators favored the Braves, who had won the pennant in 1957 and 1958, the youthful San Francisco Giants, or the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Murtaugh would say only “[W]e have a chance” when asked about his team’s chances.3

General manager Joe L. Brown offered a bit more insight than his skipper, but his comments were hardly revolutionary: “We have a good defense, fine speed, and adequate power. If we can keep our starting lineup free from injuries, we’re going to please a lot of fans at Forbes Field this summer with our showing.”4

The Pirates opened the 1960 season on April 12 at Milwaukee. Blanked for seven innings by Warren Spahn, they tied the game with two eighth-inning runs against Spahn and Don McMahon. But fireman Elroy Face, who had won 18 of 19 decisions in 1959, surrendered a two-run homer to Joe Adcock in the bottom of the eighth, and the Braves held on for a 4-3 win.

The Pirates arrived in Pittsburgh to start their home season with a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds beginning on April 14. In the opener, Pittsburgh hit six doubles and Vern Law hurled a seven-hit shutout in a 13-0 pasting of the Reds. After a Good Friday offday, the visitors evened matters on Saturday, defeating Pittsburgh, 11-3.

April 17 was Easter Sunday. A cloudy day was forecast. Although temperatures were predicted to reach the low 70s, the threat of rain and thunderstorms may have dampened outdoor plans. And that included those who may have considered attending a doubleheader at Forbes Field. A crowd of 16,191 showed for the twin bill.

In the first game, Bob Friend was masterful. The right-hander pitched a four-hit shutout, striking out six and walking three. Roberto Clemente and Dick Stuart each drove in two runs to lead the offensive attack in Pittsburgh’s 5-0 win.

In the nightcap, the starting pitcher for the Reds was Don Newcombe. The 1956 Cy Young Award winner and NL MVP was making his initial start of the season. Newcombe had started 29 games for the Reds in 1959, his first full season in Cincinnati after a June 1958 trade from the Los Angeles Dodgers, going 13-8 with a 3.16 ERA and 17 complete games.

Bennie Daniels started for Pittsburgh. Daniels was also making his first start of the season. He started 12 of his 34 games for Pittsburgh in 1959, going 7-9 with a 5.45 ERA.

The Reds wasted little time in scoring the game’s first run. With one down in the first, consecutive singles by Vada Pinson and Gus Bell were followed by a sacrifice fly off the bat of Frank Robinson that plated Pinson and gave Cincinnati a 1-0 advantage.

Two more Reds runs crossed the plate in the third inning. Again, the top of the batting order did the damage. Pinson led off with a walk. Bell singled him to second base and Pinson scored on a single to left by Robinson. Lee Walls singled to score Bell, making it a 3-0 game. That was the end of the day for Daniels. Murtaugh replaced him with southpaw Fred Green.

The Reds added two runs in the top of the fifth inning, both scoring with two down. After Green walked Walls, Murtaugh went to his bullpen again and summoned former Red Don Gross. Ed Bailey’s double to right field drove in Walls, and Billy Martin, traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Reds during the 1959-60 offseason, singled to left field to knock in Bailey. Cincinnati’s lead was up to 5-0.

Meanwhile, Newcombe was coasting along, as he set the Pirates down in order in the third and fourth innings. Leading off the fifth, however, Bill Virdon sent a line drive back through the box. The baseball struck Newcombe’s right wrist, and he was removed from the game. Ice packs were applied to the injured area and x-rays were negative.5

Raúl Sánchez was called into action by Cincinnati manager Fred Hutchinson. The Cuban native, in the majors for the first time since 1957, matched Newcombe, hurling four scoreless frames. With a 5-0 Reds lead through 8½ innings, it was beginning to look as if the Pirates would have to settle for a split of the doubleheader as well as a split of the series.

The bottom of the ninth approached, and Hutchinson replaced Sánchez with lefty Bill Henry. The Reds had acquired Henry from the Chicago Cubs in the offseason; in 1959 he had led the NL with 65 appearances, all in relief. He was making his second appearance of 1960. In his first outing, on April 12 against the Philadelphia Phillies, he also came in in the ninth inning with the Reds ahead by five runs and pitched a one-two-three inning. Could he do it again?

Clemente started the ninth by grounding out to the pitcher. Then Smoky Burgess, Virdon, and Bill Mazeroski singled. Joe Christopher, running for Burgess, scored on Mazeroski’s hit, putting the Pirates on the scoreboard.

Pittsburgh had runners on first and second base with one down, and Murtaugh went to his bench again. Relief pitcher Joe Gibbon was due up. He had pitched the last two innings for the Pirates. Murtaugh selected Hal Smith to bat for Gibbon. Smith, acquired from Kansas City in the offseason, was a capable pinch-hitter. In three seasons with the Athletics, Smith batted .345 in that role.

On Opening Day in Milwaukee, Smith, who started at catcher in that game, had spearheaded Pittsburgh’s rally by doubling and scoring in the eighth, then hitting an RBI double in the ninth. Here, he deposited Henry’s first offering over the left-center-field wall for a three-run homer. The Reds’ lead had dwindled to one run.

Hutchinson pulled Henry from the game and inserted Ted Wieand, making the third of six lifetime major-league appearances. The new pitcher seemed to restore order when Don Hoak grounded out to third base for the second out. But Dick Groat stepped to the place and laced a single to center field.

Bob Skinner was due up. The Pirates left fielder did not disappoint the home fans. He rifled a 1-and-2 pitch from Wieand into the right-field stands, delivering two runs and a 6-5 Pirates win.

“They tell me there were only 16,196 fans at the game yesterday,” wrote Reds pitcher Bob Purkey, a Pittsburgh native and former Pirate, “but after Bob Skinner hit that homer, it looked as if there were a million. Seemed as if people just bounced out of the ground. We had quite a job getting to the clubhouse.”6

“All I did was hit the ball and when it went into the seats, I knew the game was over,” said Skinner. “I put my head down and ran and when I looked up all I saw was kids. They seemed to come from all directions and converged on home plate. They just about carried Dick Groat and me into the dugout. Or maybe I was just walking on air.”7

Gibbon, who was making his major-league debut, was credited with the improbable win. The loss went to Wieand; it was his only major-league decision.

Nobody could predict what was in store for the Pirates in 1960. Six months later they won their third World Series, the first since 1925. All the hoopla and joy that came to the Pirates fans after Skinner’s winning blast would pale in comparison to Bill Mazeroski’s round-tripper to win the World Series on October 13, 1960.

But for now, the Pirates were content. “That sure was a thriller, a great one to win,” Murtaugh said.8

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Mark Richard and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Trading Card DB.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the Baseball-Reference.com, Stathead.com, and Retrosheet.org websites for pertinent materials and the box scores.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT196004172.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1960/B04172PIT1960.htm

Notes

1 Les Biederman, “Skinner’s Beefy Bat Triggers Wide Grins Among Buccos Brass,” The Sporting News, March 16, 1960: 12.

2 Dan Daniel, “Five Out of 11 N.Y. Scribes Pick Yanks,” The Sporting News, April 13, 1960: 13.

3 Jack Hernon, “Pirates Open Season Against Milwaukee,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 12, 1960: 18.

4 Joe L. Brown, “Brown Sees Close Battle in National League,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 12, 1960: S4.

5 Earl Lawson, “Newk Won’t Miss a Turn,” Cincinnati Post and Times, April 18, 1960: 11.

6 Bob Purkey, “Happy Easter Becomes Sad,” Cincinnati Post and Times, April 18, 1960: 11.

7 Lester J. Biederman, “Skinner Carried Away in Twin-Bill Sweep,” Pittsburgh Press, April 18, 1960: 26.

8 “Bob’s Homer Described: ‘That Ball She Bent Bar,’” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 1960: 23.