The last time the Yankees walked off the field during a game in Pittsburgh, they had to plow through a sea of Pirates fans reveling in a world championship, thanks to Bill Mazeroski's series-clinching homer in Game 7 of the 1960 Fall Classic. New York had a much easier time heading to the clubhouse last night as the Pirates beat the Yankees for the second consecutive time--separated, of course, by nearly 48 years--with a 12-5 win at PNC Park. Local hero and Hall of Famer Mazeroski threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.
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This shortstop homered in his first big-league at-bat in July 1964, then doubled in his second and homered in his third--all off Twins left-hander Jim Kaat. He drove in three of his team's four runs in a 4-3 win.
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The Mets and Mariners have little in common on the field this year, but off the field they can feel each other's pain all the way to their interim managers' offices. As disappointing as the Mets have been so far, you can bet the Mariners would love to be within two games of .500 like New York is this morning. Seattle now enjoys a very modest two-game winning streak thanks to its 11-0 whitewashing of the Mets at Shea Stadium Tuesday night. R.A. Dickey threw seven strong innings, yielding six hits and two walks while striking out five. Raul Ibanez and much-maligned slugger Richie Sexson each drove in three runs for Seattle.

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                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Diamondbacks    0  1  3   0  0  0   0  0  0    4  7  0
Red Sox         1  0  0   0  0  0   0  4  X    5 11  1

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Giants          0  1  0   0  0  0   0  1  1    3  6  0
Indians         1  0  0   0  0  0   0  0  1    2  7  2

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Cardinals       0  0  1   0  1  3   3  0  0    8 14  0
Tigers          0  0  1   1  0  0   2  0  0    4  9  1

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Rockies         0  0  0   0  1  2   0  0  0    3 10  2
Royals          0  0  0   1  3  1   2  0  X    7  8  1

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Phillies        0  0  0   1  0  0   0  1  0    2  6  0
Athletics       0  0  0   0  0  0   3  2  X    5  6  0

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Reds            0  1  0   0  0  0   0  0  0    1  4  0
Blue Jays       6  5  0   0  1  1   1  0  X   14 22  0

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Brewers         2  1  0   1  0  0   0  0  0    4  7  1
Braves          0  0  0   0  0  0   1  0  2    3  7  4

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Orioles         0  0  0   2  2  3   0  0  0    7 11  0
Cubs            0  0  0   1  0  0   3  1  0    5 11  1

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Rays            0  0  2   0  0  0   0  2  2    6  9  1
Marlins         1  0  0   1  0  0   1  0  1    4  8  0

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Rangers         1  0  0   0  0  0   0  0  2    3  7  0
Astros          0  2  0   0  0  0   0  2  X    4  8  0

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
White Sox       1  1  0   0  0  0   0  4  0    6 11  1
Dodgers         0  0  0   0  1  0   0  0  0    1  6  0

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Mariners        1  2  2   0  1  4   0  0  1   11 15  1
Mets            0  0  0   0  0  0   0  0  0    0  8  1

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Yankees         0  0  0   1  0  2   0  0  2    5  8  1
Pirates         2  0  1   2  2  0   2  3  X   12 19  1

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Twins           1  0  0   0  0  0   0  0  2    3  8  0
Padres          0  0  0   0  0  0   1  0  0    1  7  1

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Angels          6  0  2   0  0  0   0  0  0    8 11  0
Nationals       0  0  1   1  1  0   0  0  0    3  6  4

A six-time All-Star, he only once hit more than eight home runs in a single season. He slammed 22 round-trippers in 1970, more than a quarter of his career total.
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For some, interleague play may be losing its appeal, but whether you like it or loathe it, there remain intriguing matchups. Look no further than last night's games featuring teams that have--or, at least, had--one thing in common.

In Atlanta, the Braves and Brewers, the once and current residents of Milwaukee, squared off in the only intraleague series of the night. Tuesday night's game featured two teams headed in opposite directions, at least for now. Milwaukee has won eight of 10, while Atlanta is 4-6 in its past 10. Despite the Brewers' 4-3 win last night, the Braves hold a head-to-head advantage of 45-28.

Meanwhile in Oakland, the A's--once inhabitants of Philadelphia--welcomed the Phillies for a three-game series at McAfee Coliseum. With Oakland's 5-2 win in the opener, they have a 4-3 interleague advantage. According to the Athletics' media game notes, the A's and Phillies faced off 240 times when both teams were in Philadelphia. The A's went 123-115-2 in those games, which included spring training and exhibition contests.

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Signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent, this Cuban-born infielder was a cousin of Jose Cardenal. He played for 19 seasons, all in the American League. In 1965, he became the first player ever to play all nine positions in a single game.
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If you've ever wondered about the unwritten rules of baseball--from brushback pitches to bunting during a no-hitter--pick up a copy of Ross Bernstein's latest book The Code: Baseball's Unwritten Rules and Its Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct. It was published this spring by Triump Books; you can order the book from the publisher's Web site,from Amazon.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

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Enjoying some coffee while reading the Early Bird? Let's double your pleasure by giving a nod to these former major leaguers who enjoyed a one-game cup of coffee of their own in the bigs. Better yet, let's salute a few of the guys who enjoyed their cuppa java on this date in history.

Fred Fagin, 1895: A catcher, Fagin went 1-for-3 in his debut and knocked in two runs for St. Louis.
Bert Sincock, 1908: A native of Barkerville, British Columbia, Sincock pitched four innings of three-hit ball for the Reds against the Cubs in a 7-0 loss.

Bill Cramer, 1912: The 21-year-old appeared in two innings for the Reds and allowed six hits and six unearned runs.

John Mercer, 1912: In a doubleheader against the Pirates, this Cardinals first baseman went 0-for-1. What we don't know which game he played in.

Chuck Tompkins, 1912: How's this for coincidence? Arkansas-native Tompkins pitched in the same game as teammate and fellow one-gamer Bill Cramer. Tompkins pitched three innings, gave up five hits and one earned run. He singled in his only at-bat.

Tom McNamara, 1922: What we know is that McNamara attended Princeton and had one hitless at-bat. End of story.

Dutch Fehring, 1934: The White Sox' backstop fanned in his only at bat, but the Purdue University alumnus had two putouts behind the plate.

Rafael Quirico, 1996: In his combination debut/swan song for the Phillies, Quirico couldn't get past the second inning, coughing up four hits, one strikeout, five walks and seven earned runs while getting only five outs and allowing a home run to Bret Boone.

Seventy-eight years ago today, a player from the Baseball-Reference.com's Cup of Coffee page was born: Memo Luna. He made his debut for the Cardinals on April 20, 1954 at Busch Stadium. The lefty started against the Reds but lasted just two-thirds of an inning. In fact, twos were wild that day for Luna: two hits, two runs (two earned), and two walks. The Reds rolled, 13-6.

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While teammates Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, and Blue Moon Odom garnered much of the attention devoted to the Swingin' A's of the early 1970s, shortstop Bert Campaneris was a steady contributor to the green-and-gold's three world championship teams in Oakland.

Born on March 9, 1942 in Pueblo Nuevo, Cuba, Dagoberto (Blanco) Campaneris debuted for Kansas City in 1964. "Campy" played infield and outfield during his first two seasons before settling in as a shortstop in 1966.

In 1970, Campaneris had his finest season with the bat: a .279 average, 22 homers, and 64 RBI. He played 13 seasons for the Kansas City/Oakland franchise and is the A's all-time leader in games played (1,795), hits (1,882) and at-bats (7,180).

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