PREFACE<br > I became a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates the day my father first<br > took me to a game at Forbes Field. I can t say I recall any<br > particulars--just that he stood up at one point， barehanded a foul<br > pop and calmly handed me the ball. His ho-hum demeanor after<br > the catch contrasted with my wide-eyed expression.<br > Yes， I became a fan of the Pirates that day and I ve been a<br > student of the team ever since. Much of the knowledge I ve<br > accumulated in the years since has been poured into Pirates<br > Treasures. This is no ordinary trivia book， focused solely on<br > records and statistics. 1 favor the offbeat， the colorful， the<br > humorous， even the bizarre. You ll read about the doubleheader<br > completed underwater; the indoor game that was rained out; the<br > player who died after drinking seawater; and the rookie who<br > struck out while sitting on the bench. You ll read about the<br > publicity director who "won" the Bucs a game; the outfielders<br >whose pursuit of a batted bali was interrupted by a gun-toting<br > Cincinnati fan; the throng of 50，000 that jammed downtown<br >streets for a Pirates game that wasn t even piayed in Pittsburgh;<br >the loyal fan who vowed he wouldn t shave until the Bucs won the<br >pennant; and the tipsy Pirates pitcher who fell asleep during a<br >game at Ebbets Field--inside the tarp.<br > I cover every facet of the team s history in Pirates Treasures:<br >the players， managers， coaches， owners， P.A. announcers，<br >mascots， trainers， ballparks， broadcasters， organists . . . even<br >angels (the ones who intervened to help the lowly Pirates win a<br >pennant in a classic 1951 movie). You ll learn which Pittsburgh<br >broadcaster succeeded a future United States president; why a<br >sparrow flew from beneath Casey Stengel s cap during a 1918<br >game; what prompted a Pirates center fielder to turn his back on<br >baseball and become the Billy Graham of his day; and how a<br >Pittsburgh outfielder "caught" his own home run ball.<br > In a sense， the inspiration for Pirates Treasures was a long-<br >ago afternoon at Forbes Field when a father introduced his son to<br >the Bucs and even caught a foul ball to mark the occasion. I still<br >