SHOPPING » Look for Forbes Field books at BN.com » Look for Forbes Field books at Amazon.com Your purchases keep BaseballLibrary.com online. Thank you!

RELATED LINKS » 1920: Teams Play Tripleheader » 1962: The Mets' First Win Book Excerpts » 1960: The Last Pure Season by Kerry Keene Submissions » Owen Wilson's Record Year by Charles Therminy Ask The Experts » Can you tell me a bit about Babe Ruth's final home run? Around the Web » Fretting Over a Payroll Gap Doesn't Pay from nytimes.com (3/4/05) » Jim Nelson from historicbaseball.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

Forbes Field was named for a British general of the French and Indian War, and most of its 35,000 seats were in a covered grandstand that extended from third base around home plate and into right field, while unfortunate fans in the upper left corner of the bleachers along the left field line could not see the batter. The park featured a huge foul territory behind home plate, an extremely hard infield, and spacious left and center fields contained by an ivy covered brick wall. Lights were added in 1940, and during WWII a 32-foot-high Marine towered over the left field wall. Left field bullpens were added briefly to reduce the handicap facing Pirate sluggers Hank Greenberg and Ralph Kiner, and the area became known as both Greenberg Gardens and Kiner's Korner. No no-hitters were pitched at Forbes Field in 68 seasons, but it was the scene of Bill Mazeroski's Game Seven home run in the 1960 WS, and on May 25, 1935 Babe Ruth's final career home run was the first ball ever to clear the right field roof. The field is now the site of a University of Pittsburgh library and dorms, but home plate remains on display in its final location. (SCL)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » April 18, 1909: The Tigers announce plans to build a new concrete and steel stadium. The Pirates name their million-dollar ballpark Forbes Field in honor of the English general who founded Pittsburgh. » June 29, 1909: Playing their last game in Exposition Park, the Pirates score four runs in the first inning off Mordecai Brown and sail to an 8-1 win over Chicago. Lefty Leifield is the winner. Tomorrow, the Pirates will move to Forbes Field, named after British General John Forbes, who captured Ft. Duquesne during the French and Indian Wars. » June 30, 1909: Chicago's Ed Reulbach spoils Pittsburgh's dedication of Forbes Field before 30,338, allowing three hits and beating Vic Willis, 3-2. A parade of old-time players precedes the game. The Pirates will draw 98,000 fans, including 41,000 on July 5, in their first five home games. » August 16, 1909: New York and Pittsburgh play to a 2-2 tie, stopped after eight innings because of a drenching downpour. Off Christy Mathewson, Ham Hyatt hits his 3rd pinch triple of the year, a record that won't be matched till 1970. Outfielder Red Murray prevents a loss for Matty with one of the greatest catches ever seen at Forbes Field. With two outs and two on, Dots Miller belts a long line drive off Matty into the growing darkness. With everyone straining to follow the ball, a bolt of lightening flashes and Murray is seen making a bare-handed grab on the dead run to end the inning. Bill Klem then calls the game. » September 18, 1909: In Pittsburgh, Vic Willis stops Brooklyn on just one hit, a topped roller in the 3rd inning by Zack Wheat. It will be the closest ever to a no-hitter by any pitcher at Forbes Field. » August 22, 1910: At Forbes Field, the Pirates beat up on the new cork-center ball. Three home runs are hit, by Howie Camnitz, Vin Campbell, and Honus Wagner, against the Phillies in the first inning of game two. Camnitz's pop is the only one of his career. Old pro Wagner is 7-for-7, with two homers, during the doubleheader sweep, including three doubles to go with his homer in the nitecap. » June 9, 1911: At Forbes Field, the Giants keep their hold on 1st place with a 6–3 win against Pittsburgh's Lefty Leifield. Christy Mathewson is the winner. » September 16, 1911: At Forbes Field, Marquard, with relief from Christy Mathewson, beats the Pirates, 6–2. Before the game the Giants mascot, Victory Faust, strikes out Honus Wagner on three pitches, to the delight of the 20,000 fans. » August 22, 1912: Before a sellout crowd of 27,000 at Forbes Field, the Pirates sweep two from the Giants, winning 3–2 and 8–6. Howie Camnitz outpitches Christy Mathewson in the opener, and Rube Marquard taking the loss in the nitecap. The Bucs are led by Honus Wagner who goes 3-for-4 in the first game, and hits for the cycle in the nitecap. Honus' seven hits total 14 bases, he scores five runs, drives in four and swipes two bases. Wagner will hit seven homers this season, with three coming off Rube. » June 14, 1913: At Forbes Field, Christy Mathewson allows seven hits, including a homer by Owen Wilson, but holds on to beat the Bucs, 6–5. Hank Robinson takes the loss. The Giants sweep the 3-game series. » May 15, 1914: At Forbes Field, Christy Mathewson outpitches George McQuillan to give the Giants a 5–3 win over the Pirates. » July 17, 1914: At Forbes Field, Rube Marquard and Babe Adams each go a marathon 21 innings before Larry Doyle's 2-run home run gives the Giants a 3–1 win over the Pirates. Adams yields no walks and 12 hits, the longest non-walk game in ML history. Marquard walks two (one intentional) and yields 15 hits. In the 6th, Honus Wagner goes from first to 3B on a hit by Jim Viox. When New York CF Bob Bescher throws to 3B Milt Stock, the ball bounces out of his hands and disappears. Wagner scores before it's discovered that the ball bounced up under his arm and stayed there as he ran home. Wagner is called out for interference, and the Bucs protest. Manager Clarke is then ejected by umpire Bill "Lord" Byron. In a fitting ending to this unusual game, Giants OF Red Murray is knocked unconscious by a bolt of lightning after catching a fly ball for the final out. Murray is uninjured. Marquard's win is his last in 1914. He will lose 10 straight on his way to a 12–22 record. » August 12, 1915: At Forbes Field, young Al Mamaux yields just three hits in beating Giants starter Jeff Tesreau, 3–0. » May 30, 1925: Between games today, Rogers Hornsby is named manager of the Cardinals by Sam Breadon, replacing Branch Rickey, who remains as general manager. An angry Rickey will sell his shares in the team to Hornsby. St. Louis, in last place, drops two games to Pittsburgh, losing 4–1 in the morning and 15–5 in the P.M. contest, despite two homers by the new manager. Playing in front of an overflow crowd at spacious Forbes Field, the Pirates sets a modern National League record by stroking eight triples in the 2nd game; the Cards tally one for a combined record-tying nine triples. The normal rules about balls hit into the crowds being ground-rule doubles is expanded to make them triples today: eight of the three-baggers are ground-rule triples. » June 3, 1927: Paul Waner of Pittsburgh homers off Claude Willoughby of the Phils in a 11–1 rout at Forbes Field. Wright and Grantham also homer as Vic Aldridge allows the visitors just one hit till the 9th inning. For Waner, his homer is the start of a National League record 14 straight games in which he'll have at least one long hit (12 doubles, five triples, three home run). » September 22, 1931: In a 13-inning game at Forbes Field, Hal Finney, Pirates C, has no putouts in a 3–2 win over Philadelphia. Paul Waner draws five walks, and 20 runners are left on base, as Heine Meine wins his 19th game to tie for the lead in the NL. » May 7, 1932: A rare dual league doubleheader takes place at Forbes Field. In the first game the Pirates play the Phillies, losing 5–3. In the nitecap, the local Negro League Homestead Grays take on the Philadelphia Hilldales. » June 30, 1934: On 25th anniversary of Forbes Field, a granite monument to Braney Dreyfuss to the left of the exit gate before the start of the Cubs-Pirates match. The Windy City squad wins, 4–2, behind Bill Lee, the 8th straight win for the Cubs. » May 25, 1935: Babe Ruth has a last hurrah, hitting three home runs at Pittsburgh. The first shot is hit off Red Lucas, while the last two homers come off veteran Guy Bush. The final one, the last of his 714 career home runs, is the first to clear the RF grandstand at Forbes Field and is measured at 600 feet. With that, Ruth sits down in the dugout—Pittsburgh's—next to rookie Mace Brown. Ruth, who hit three homers in a game just once in the American League (May 21, 1930), is the first player to turn this hat trick in both leagues. Ruth lifts himself in the 7th inning, finishing the day at 4-for-4 and six RBIs. But Ruth's old teammate Waite Hoyt, in relief of Bush, is the winner as Pittsburgh defeats the hapless Braves, 11–7. » July 10, 1936: Philadelphia's Chuck Klein hits four home runs in five at bats in a 10-inning game at Forbes Field. His final home run, on the first pitch in the 10th, helps beat the Pirates 9–6, and makes a winner out of Bucky Walters. Except for his three-run homer off Jim Weaver in the 1st, all of homers are solo flights. At 36, Klein is the oldest player ever to hit four homers in a game, and the first National Leaguer in the 20th century to do so. » June 4, 1940: The Pirates rout the Boston Bees 14–2 in the first night game at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field. 20,319 Pirate fans look on. » July 21, 1942: At Forbes Field, the Monarchs (Negro League) Satchel Paige performs one of his legendary feats. Years earlier, Paige told Josh Gibson that one day he would strike him out with the bases loaded. With a man on, two outs, and Gibson third up, Paige walks the next two Grays to bring Gibson up. Satchel tells the crowd what is going to happen. "Three fastballs, Josh," Paige tells him, then proceeds to strike him out. » September 13, 1949: For the 2nd time in his career, Ralph Kiner hits HRs in 4 consecutive at bats, over 2 games. He performed the same feat in 1947. The 2 HRs today are numbers 33 and 34. Kiner's 1949 total will include 25 on the road, 29 at Forbes Field, 14 of them in the bullpen enclosure still known as Greenberg Gardens. » August 16, 1950: At the Polo Grounds, Henry Thompson of the Giants hits two HRs, both inside-the-park, as the Giants pummel the Dodgers, 16–7. Thompson is the first to do this since Terry Moore hit two for the Cardinals at Forbes Field on this same date in 1939. Don Mueller adds a grand slam. The Giants jump on Erskine in the first inning as 13 of the first 14 batters reach first safely. Sal Maglie is the winner despite giving up two homers, good for six runs, to Gil Hodges. The win leaves the Dodgers in third place, seven games out and the Giants in fifth, 10 games in back of the Phils. » June 22, 1951: A power failure at Forbes Field delays the start of the game with Dodgers by two hours. Rain holds up play in the sixth inning by another 36 minutes, pushing the ending to 1:56 a.m., the latest game played to date. Brooklyn has no power problems as Jackie Robinson's homer helps Da Bums to an 8–4 win. Of the 24,966 on hand at the start, 10,000 are still on hand at the end. » June 26, 1951: Fresh from a doubleheader loss on the 24th at Forbes Field, the Dodgers get further bad news at the Polo Grounds. Sal Maglie shuts out Brooklyn on three hits, and Preacher Roe takes his first loss after ten wins. Eddie Stanky and Whitey Lockman hit homers. » May 25, 1953: Ralph Kiner becomes just the 12th player to hit 300 home runs with a blast at Forbes Field against the Giants. He has played only seven 1/3 seasons. The Giants win anyway, 6–3. » May 28, 1956: Dale Long of the Pirates connects against the Dodgers Carl Erskine at Forbes Field for his 8th home run in eight games, a record that will stand until the Yankees Don Mattingly equals it in 1987. Pittsburgh wins, 3–2, behind Bob Friend's 2-hitter. » September 23, 1956: Pittsburgh and Brooklyn draw the largest crowd, 44,932, in Forbes Field history. Curfew stops the game with 2 outs in the 9th and Brooklyn leading 8-3. The postponement leaves Milwaukee 1Ž2 game ahead of the Dodgers. » November 14, 1956: The Pittsburgh Pirates say the franchise may have to move unless a new municipal stadium is built to replace Forbes Field. » July 18, 1957: Ernie Banks and Chuck Tanner of the Cubs both hit inside-the-park homers at spacious Forbes Field. The Cubs nip Pittsburgh 6-5. » December 10, 1958: The University of Pittsburgh agrees to buy Forbes Field from the Pirates and lease it to them for five years, or until a new municipal stadium is built. » July 7, 1959: The National League defeats the American League 5–4 in the All-Star Game at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Willie Mays knocks in Henry Aaron with the deciding run. Don Drysdale pitches perfect ball the first three innings. » May 28, 1960: At Forbes Field in the 8th inning, Roberto Clemente is on 3B and Hal Smith on 1B with two outs, when Bill Mazeroski fans on a ball that hits in the front of the plate. The ball then hits umpire Al Barlick on the right knee and bounces back toward Phillies pitcher, Jim Owens. Maz doesn't move as Smith jogs to 2B. Clemente races in from 3B then stops. Owens fields the ball and goes after Clemente ignoring pleas from the Phils' bench to simply throw to 1B. In the run-down, Clemente knocks the ball out of Jim Coker's glove and scores the tying run on the catcher's error (the photo has been widely published). The Pirates win, 4–2 in the 13th on Don Hoak's 2-run home run. » June 26, 1960: At Forbes Field, Cubs rookie Ron Santo, making his ML debut, leads Chicago to a sweep of the first place Pirates. Santo is 3-for-7 and drives in five runs as the Cubs win 7–5 and 7–6. » June 30, 1960: Dick Stuart blasts three consecutive home runs, as the Pirates split with the Giants. Stuart drives in seven runs and joins Ralph Kiner as the 2nd Pirate to hit three home runs in a game at Forbes Field. Jack Sanford pitches a 3-hit shutout to give the Giants an 11–0 first-game win. With the 11–6 nitecap victory, Pittsburgh is three ahead of the 2nd-place Braves. » October 6, 1960: Mickey Mantle's two home runs highlight New York's 16–3 victory at Forbes Field, evening the World Series. A 7-run 6th inning overwhelms Pittsburgh. » August 9, 1963: The longest game in 12 years, again at Forbes Field, takes place between the Colt 45's and the Pirates. Rain delays the start of the two games by an hour, then Houston outlasts the Bucs, 7–6, in 15 innings. The 2nd game is another struggle, this time the Pirates winning, 7–6, in 11 innings, on a bases loaded single by Clemente. Only 300 fans are on hand when the curtain comes down at 2:30 a.m. » October 3, 1965: The Cubs tie a major-league record with their 3rd triple play of the season -- 1B Ernie Banks to SS Don Kessinger -- but Pittsburgh wins 6–3 at Forbes Field. Bill Faul is on the mound during each triple play. Submariner Ted Abernathy suffers the loss to Roy Face, but concludes a record season for appearances (84) and consecutive errorless games (84) for a pitcher. He has 31 saves. » April 15, 1966: Bob Gibson's 9–2 win at Forbes Field is the 18th straight for St. Louis in Pittsburgh. St. Louis ties the major-league record set by the Dodgers against the Phillies in 1945-46 for consecutive road wins against one club. » July 9, 1967: In the bottom of the 9th inning, Willie Stargell breaks a 1–1 tie by slamming a Jim Maloney pitch over the RF roof at Forbes Field. The Bucs top the Reds, 2–1. » September 25, 1967: At Forbes Field, the Reds Jim Maloney pitches a 2-hitter to beat the Pirates, 3–0. All the scores come on solo homers—2 by Mack Jones and one by Lee May. » April 20, 1970: Willie Stargell belts a tremendous home run, off Jim Bouton, over the RF roof at Forbes Field to lead the Pirates to a 3–1 win over Houston. » June 28, 1970: The Pirates sweep the Cubs in a doubleheader 3–2 and 4–1 in the final games at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.