Early agate
ON THIS DATE
Sept. 7
1939 – The Washington Red Birds beat the Butler Yankees, 14-0, and sweep the best-of-five championship series of the Class D Pennsylvania State Association. The Redbirds’ Ray “Bananas” Bartolucci hits an inside-the-park home run and Orval Cott smacks two doubles.
1955 – Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend pitches a one-hit shutout and also drives in a run as the Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0, at Wrigley Field. The Cubs’ lone hit is Frankie Baumholtz’s infield single with two outs in the fourth inning.
1956 – Johnny Freeman takes a handoff on a reverse and runs 77 yards for a touchdown on the football season’s first play from scrimmage and Washington goes on to defeat Canonsburg, 36-14, before 6,500 fans at Wash High Stadium.
1973 – Carmichaels High School’s John Menhart runs for 201 yards and scores on runs of eight and one yards as the Mikes defeat visiting Mapletown 12-0.
1979 – Dan Koscheck scores the game’s only touchdown on a five-yard run in the third quarter and West Greene defeats California 6-0 in the first night game played at West Greene.
1991 – Seven different Penn State players combine to score 11 touchdowns as the Nittany Lions roll to an 81-0 victory over visiting Cincinnati. It’s the most points scored by a Penn State football team since 1926.
1993 – Mark Whiten of the St. Louis Cardinals has one of the greatest games at the plate in major league history in the nightcap of a doubleheader against Cincinnati. Whiten hits four home runs and drives in 12 runs in the 15-2 win, becoming the only player to accomplish both feats in one game.
2002 – Starter Curt Moenter and reliever Matt Schweitzer combine on a three-hitter and the Richmond Roosters defeat the Washington Wild Things, 6-1, in Game 4 to win the best-of-five Frontier League championship series.
2002 – Two illegal shift penalties against Pitt lead to a missed extra-point kick and prove to be the difference as Texas A&M edges the Panthers, 14-12, at Heinz Field.