By Bobster

Saturday, September 10, 1960---The magic number for the Pirates was 13 as the Bucs (84-52) beat the Cubs 4-1 while the Cardinals were losing to the Phillies to fall into a tie with the Braves 7 games back. Bob Friend was aided by 5 double plays, and Bill Mazeroski (naturally) was involved in all five. Dick Stuart gave Friend a 1-0 lead in the second with his 19th HR of the season. In the fourth, Clemente led off by reaching on an Ernie Banks error and Stuart followed with a single. Clemente advanced to third on a fly out by Burgess and scored on a single by Hoak.

By Bobster

Friday, September 9, 1960---With lefty Dick Ellsworth on the mound for the Cubs and Groat injured, Danny Murtaugh inserted Gino Cimoli in the two-hole in the batting order for the first time all season. Shortstop Dick Schofield hit eighth with Hoak and Mazeroski moving up to the 6 and 7 spots, respectively. The lineup worked, as Vinegar Bend Mizell (10-4) and Elroy Face combined to beat the Cubs 4-3. Mizell retired the first 2 batters in the second inning before Al Heist, Bob Will and Moe Thacker hit consecutive singles to give Dick Ellsworth (6-12) a 1-0 lead.

By Bobster

Thursday, September 8, 1960---The Pirates were off as they awaited the Chicago Cubs. With Groat injured, Dick Barone, the shortstop for the AAA Columbus Jets, was added to the roster. The Pirates also had Gene Alley at Columbus. But he had spent most of the year at a lower minor league level and had played third base all season. So Barone got the call. Barone had batted only .204 at AAA during the season. He was a month shy of 28 years old and had never hit well in the minors. He would serve as a back-up for Schofield at shortstop. He would get into 2 games in September, starting one. These would be the only 2 major league games of Barone’s career.

By Bobster

Wednesday, September 7, 1960---The second-place Cardinals (75-57) came to Forbes Field for one game in an odd scheduling quirk. The Cardinals played a Friday through Monday series in Chicago with a travel day on Tuesday to go to Pittsburgh, where they would play one game and then having another travel day on Thursday to head to Philadelphia for a 3-game series with the Phillies. The Cardinals managed to narrow the gap to 6 games behind with a 2-1 win over the Pirates (82-52). Vern Law (19-7) was again unsuccessful in getting his 20th win, having now lost 3-2 and 2-1 since picking up his 19th win on august 29th.

By Bobster

Tuesday, September 6, 1960---The second-place Braves came into Pittsburgh for a 3-game series hoping to do some damage. And although the Pirates (82-51) won 2 of the 3, the Braves did indeed do some damage. Braves starter Lew Burdette hit Dick Groat on the left wrist with a first inning pitch. Groat remained in the game but by the third inning, the wrist had swollen enough that he was forced out of the game. Reserve infielder Dick Schofield batted for Groat in the third and singled. Skinner followed with an RBI-double and Skinner scored on a single by Stuart to put Pittsburgh ahead 2-0.

By Bobster

Monday, September 5, 1960---The second-place Braves came into Pittsburgh needing a sweep. But the teams split a Labor Day doubleheader to keep the Braves 6½ games behind. The first game matched Warren Spahn against Bob Friend. The Braves led 3-0 after their first 3 batters in the top of the first after Spangler walked, Crandall singled and Mathews went deep. The Bucs got 1 in the second when Smith tripled and Hoak singled to make it 4-1. When the Braves began the fourth inning with a triple by Bruton and a single by Logan to taker a 5-1 lead, Fred Green relieved Friend.

By Bobster

Sunday, September 4, 1960---A Pirate win over Philadelphia, combined with a Braves loss gave the Bucs (80-50) a 6½ game lead. The Pirates threatened in the first inning but didn’t score. Virdon led off with a walk and took third on a single by Groat. After Skinner fouled out to the catcher, Nelson was hit on the leg by a Jim Owens pitch. But Clemente struck out and Burgess popped out to end the threat.

By Bobster

Saturday, September 3, 1960---Phillies rookie Art Mahaffey (5-0) outdueled Vernon Law (19-6) and kept Law from winning his 20th. The Phillies won 3-2. Philadelphia got 2 unearned runs in the first inning after a Hoak error. But the Pirated made it 2-1 in the second on doubles by Burgess and Hoak. The Phillies added a run in the fourth to make it a 3-1 game. Dick Stuart struck out for Law in the sixth and Elroy Face pitched the final 3 scoreless innings of relief, yielding just 1 hit and striking out 5. The Bucs got a run in the eighth to make it 3-2 when Nelson and Clemente singled and Burgess hit a sac fly.

By Bobster

Friday, September 2, 1960---The Pirates were off on a Friday as they traveled back to Pittsburgh to host the Phillies. The Pirates led the Braves by 6½ games. First base coach Mickey Vernon was now activated for the September stretch run. Vernon, 42, had retired after the 1959 season after 19 years in the big leagues. He was a career .286 hitter who had spent most of his career with the Washington Senators. Vernon, a firstbaseman, was the A.L. batting champion in 1946 (.353) and 1953 (.337).

By Bobster

Thursday, September 1, 1960---Roberto Clemente homered for the third straight day as the Pirates (79-49) beat SF 6-1. Clemente hit a 3-run shot (his 13th) with Skinner (single) and Nelson (double) aboard in the first inning off Georges Maranda (1-3). The Giants got one back in the bottom of the first when Andre Rodgers tripled and scored on a Willie Mays single. The Giants were constantly threatening. Harvey Haddix struck out Willie Kirkland with 2 men aboard to end both the first and third innings.