World Firsts
- Minor League: 1877 with the formation of the International League.
- Two sport players: 1903 Fred Crolius and Christy Matthewson for the Pittsburgh Stars and Pittsburgh Pirates.
- Standing ovation: May 28, 1956 Pirate slugger Dale Long gets a five minute standing ovation at Forbes Field after hitting his 8th home run in 8 games against the Brooklyn Dodgers, the first curtain call in sports history.
- African-American manager: June 21, 1961 Gene Baker became the first African-American manager in Organized Baseball when the Pirates named him skipper of their Batavia Pirates farm club in the New York-Penn League.
- Family in the Hall of Fame: July 24, 1967 Pirates' great Lloyd Waner joins his brother, and fellow Pirate, Paul Waner in the Hall of Fame becoming the first brothers in any sports hall of fames.
- Hall of Fame waiver: March 20, 1973 Roberto Clemente became the first player to enter a major sports hall of fame, waiving the mandatory five year waiting period.
- Back-to-back Hall of Fame broadcasters: April 10, 1976 Milo Hamilton announced his first Pirates game taking over for fellow hall-of-famer Bob Prince, making the Pirates the first major league team to have back-to-back hall of fame broadcasters. During this same season both hall of famers Myron Cope and Mike Lange also announced for the Steelers and Penguins respectively.
- Million Dollar Contract: January 26, 1979 Dave Parker of the Pirates became the first $1 million/year player in sports.
- Uniform uniforms: January 30, 1980 Pittsburgh became the first, and still only city, to have all it's major professional teams don the same colors, when the Penguins completed the process.
- White House Double visit: February 22, 1980 President Jimmy Carter hosted both the Steelers and Pirates in a single ceremony to celebrate their respective championship wins in Super Bowl XIV and the 1979 World Series.
- Drug trials: 1985 The Pittsburgh drug trials took place and were the first investigation in sports doping and drug use.
Read more about this topic: Pittsburgh Sports Lore
Famous quotes containing the word world:
“Children belong in families, which, ideally, serve as a sanctuary and a cushion from the world at large. Parents belong to society and are a part of that greater world. Sometimes parents are a channel to the larger society, sometimes they are a shield from it. Ideally they act as filters, guiding their children and teaching them to avoid the tempting trash.”
—Louise Hart (20th century)