Early agate
ON THIS DATE
July 22
1964 – Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell hits for the cycle, driving in three runs and scoring four times in the Pirates’ 13-2 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals.
2005 – The Pittsburgh Penguins win the NHL’s draft lottery. The Penguins immediately say they will draft 17-year-old Sidney Crosby with the first pick in the July 30 draft.
2007 – Tulsa Drillers first-base coach Mike Coolbaugh instantly dies when struck in the head by a line drive in the top of the ninth inning at Dickey-Stephens Field in North Little Rock, home of the minor league Arkansas Travelers. The 35 year-old dad, who leaves behind a pregnant wife and two small sons, becomes the second on-the-field fatality in professional baseball history.
2013 – Andrew McCutcheon homers in the first and third innings, powering the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 victory over Washington Nationals.
July 23
1930 – Third baseman Pie Traynor goes 6-for-11 with five runs, five RBI and two game-winning home runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates sweep a doubleheader from Philadelphia, 2-1 and 16-15 in 12 innings.
1954 – The Monongahela School Board announces the hiring of Al Cree, head athletic coach at Cumberland Township High School in Carmichaels, as its head football and basketball coach. Cree had been at Cumberland Township since 1940 and his football team was undefeated in 1953, running its winning streak to 18 games, tops in the WPIAL.
1956 – Washington & Jefferson College hires Edward A. (Ed) Chupa as its head football coach. Chupa spent the last two years as head coach at Hiram College.
1959 – Thomas Davies Jr., a former basketball and baseball standout at Waynesburg College, is hired as head basketball coach at Trinity High School. He replaces Lloyd Gilmore.
1974 – Los Angeles outfielder Reggie Smith homers and Pittsburgh’s Ken Brett is the winning pitcher as the National League defeats the American League, 7-2, at Three Rivers Stadium. Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey, a write-in selection as a starter, is the game’s Most Valuable Player. It’s the National League’s 11th all-star win in 12 games.
1975 – At Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh’s Frank Taveras is picked off first base in an unusual play. After getting a big lead, to get a good jump on a sacrifice bunt, the Pirates shortstop is picked off when the catcher throws the ball to first base with Phillies right fielder Jay Johnstone covering the base to complete the rare 2-9 putout.
1976 – The last NFL all-star game is held and shortened when thunderstorms hit Chicago’s Solider Field. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the All-Stars, 24-0. Fans stormed onto the field in the pouring rain, sliding across the soggy astroturf, tearing down the goal posts and causing general mayhem.
1986 – The Pittsburgh Pirates trade pitcher Jose DeLeon to the Chicago White Sox for infielder Bobby Bonilla.
1995 – John Daly wins the British Open at St. Andrews by four strokes in a four-hole playoff with Italy’s Constantino Rocca. Rocca forces the playoff by making a 65-foot putt on the 18th hole.
2003 – The Pittsburgh Pirates trade third baseman Aramis Ramirez and outfielder Kenny Lofton to the Chicago Cubs for infielder Jose Hernandez, pitcher Matt Bruback and a player to be named (Bobby Hill).
2012 – Penn State is punished for its role in the scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The NCAA imposes an unprecedented $60 million fine, a four-year ban from postseason play and a cut in the number of football scholarships it can award.