The history of the Pittsburgh Pirates has as many tales of unexpected, unsung heroes as it does of star players. As we marvel over the achievements of the superstars, we also take delight in the surprise heroics of the Everyman. It’s one of many reasons why baseball is so endearing. Here are the stories of four players who rose to the occasion when answering the call during a pennant race.
Pirates Unsung Heroes Have Delivered the Unexpected
The Duck
Spring training, 1959: Photographer Jimmy Klingensmith thought he had a cute idea. He had a “No Vacancy” sign printed. He wanted Dick Schofield, a 24-year-old utility infielder, to hold the sign and pose alongside the Pirates’ star double-play combo of Bill Mazeroski and Dick Groat. Schofield bristled at the suggestion and refused to participate in the gag. He thought he could play with anybody if given the chance.
September 6, 1960: The Pirates were in first place in the National League, trying to fend off challenges from the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Braves, when shortstop Groat cracked his wrist after being hit by a pitch from the Braves’ Lew Burdette. Groat was hitting .325 and would win the National League batting title and Most Valuable Player Award. Schofield, who was hitting .200/.333/.200, entered the game in his place. The switch-hitter known as “The Duck” went 3-for-3, raising his average to .263.
It was an omen. Starting in Groat’s place for the remainder of the regular season, Schofield hit .375/.460/.469 during that time. He finished the season hitting a career-best .333/.429/.392. In the field, he handled 109 chances and made six errors. Groat returned to shortstop in time for the World Series. The Pirates went on to win the Series against the New York Yankees, thanks to another pair of unexpected heroes named Hal Smith and “Maz.” Schofield was a major leaguer for 19 years, finishing his career with a stat line of .227/.317/.297.
“Old Days”Jim Gillam hangs in against Dick Schofield to complete DP in 1963 Pirates-Dodgers game at Forbes Field.#Dodgers #MLB #LosAngeles #Pirates #Pittsburgh #1960s pic.twitter.com/Q8KRVup5J5
— Tom’s Old Days (@sigg20) May 11, 2019
The Rock
John Wehner was born and raised in Pittsburgh’s Carrick section, where the Little League field, Volunteers Field, is situated at the bottom of Newett Street, a frightening steep hill that we nicknamed “Plummet Street” when my boys played Fall Ball there. Wehner, a right-handed hitting third baseman, lived a boyhood dream when the Pirates drafted him in the seventh round of the 1988 June Amateur Draft. Today he’s one of a rotating cast of analysts on Pirates broadcasts. He likes to tell the story of sitting in the stands at old Three Rivers Stadium when he suddenly saw himself on the scoreboard as the Pirates were touting their new local draftee. He was shirtless, drinking a beer at the time.
On July 16, 1991, the Pirates were in first place in the NL East Division, 4 ½ games ahead of the New York Mets. The Pirates’ regular third baseman, Jeff King, was suffering from back issues. The next day they called up the 24-year-old Wehner, nicknamed “The Rock,” from Triple-A Buffalo, where he was hitting .304/.375/.446. Pirates manager Jim Leyland didn’t seem to know his newest player. “The reports say he’s a hard-nosed, very aggressive, gets-his-pants-dirty kind of kid,” he told David Fink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In Wehner’s fifth game, at home against the Atlanta Braves, he went 5-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI in a 12-3 victory. He was now 8-for-15 to start his career. “Wehnermania” had officially begun in Pittsburgh.
Wehner continued to deliver the unexpected for the Pirates until this latest of folk heroes was sidelined with back problems of his own on August 28. He finished the season hitting .340/.381/.406. It was a career-best season for Wehner. It was enough to help the Pirates repeat as division champions. He played in the majors for 11 years, hitting .249/.311/.315 for his career, seldom going north with a team out of spring training.
The Grocer
He was a 30th-round draft choice in 1992. He wasn’t considered a prospect in 1997. The Pirates didn’t even invite him to the major league spring training camp. While in the minor league camp, he supplemented his baseball salary by working in the produce department at the Bradenton Cash ‘N’ Carry and selling shoes at Robbie’s Shoe Outlet. But 26-year-old Kevin Polcovich decided to give baseball one more shot.
Luckily for the Pirates, one might add. The 1997 Pirates had been gutted of many of 1996’s regulars and were operating with a $9 million payroll. However, thanks to a weaker East Division and a handful of wildly improbable wins (including a combined, 10-inning no-hitter), they were in the thick of the race until the season’s final four days. When shortstop Kevin Elster went down with a wrist injury on May 16, Polcovich was called up from Triple-A Calgary. Polcovich joined a cast of heroes who delivered unexpected victories for the Pirates. He finished the season hitting .273/.350/.396, 4 HR, and 21 RBI. He delivered his biggest hit on July 21 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The score was tied 2-2 in the top of the seventh inning at Veterans Stadium. With Phillies ace Curt Schilling, a borderline Hall of Fame candidate, on the mound and the Pirates’ Keith Osik on third base, manager Gene Lamont called for the suicide squeeze. Schilling’s pitch was outside. Polcovich lunged and missed it, and Osik was an easy out at the plate. Polcovich lined Schilling’s next pitch down the left field line, over the wall for a game-winning home run. “Sometimes you find out how dumb you are,” Lamont told Paul Meyer of the Post-Gazette.
An ankle injury ended Polcovich’s season on August 29. The next season, he was tried as a utility infielder and failed, hitting .189 and ending his major league career.
The Fort
The large color photo atop the July 9, 2011 sports section of the Post-Gazette showed a grinning Michael McKenry high-fiving Lyle Overbay and an obscured teammate after hitting his first major league home run, a three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning at PNC Park. It was the margin of victory in a 7-4 win against the Chicago Cubs. But it was McKenry’s work behind the plate that was earning him praise.
Under new manager Clint Hurdle, the 2011 Pirates were a surprise entry in the NL Central Division title race. Catcher Ryan Doumit went down with an injury on May 29. Then, catcher Chris Snyder suffered an injury on June 8. The Pirates tried five catchers from their minor league system to fill the two vacancies. None were cutting it. Finally, on June 12, they purchased the unknown 26-year-old McKenry from the Boston Red Sox. McKenry was with Triple-A Pawtucket, hitting .274/.369/.421 as a reserve catcher. The news didn’t cause Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to schedule a parade.
Before too long, “The Fort,” so nicknamed after Fort McHenry, was impressing with his game-planning and pitch-calling skills, particularly in light of how quickly he learned the Pirates pitchers and opposing NL hitters. Along with rookie third basemen Josh Harrison and Chase d’Arnaud, who together replaced a struggling Pedro Álvarez, McKenry was one of the Pirates’ unsung heroes who had them in unexpected territory, in first place on July 25 with a 53-47 record.
The Collapse
Then Hurdle outsmarted himself. Álvarez was returned from the minors and slotted back into his third base position. Doumit returned to reclaim the catcher’s job on August 3. Together with their teammates, they presided over an epic collapse that saw the Pirates finish in fourth place at 72-90. Doumit hit .328/.368/.504 after his return but never worked with the pitching staff like McKenry had. Doumit’s Catcher’s ERA was 4.78, more than one run worse than McKenry’s 3.73. The season, however, laid the groundwork for the 2013-15 Pirates Wild Card teams.
McKenry played in the majors through 2016 but was never again a regular. However, he found a home in Pittsburgh. Today he’s a fixture on the Pirates television pre- and postgame shows.
Photo Credit: © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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