THE SIDELINES : Pirate Pitcher in ’27 Series Dies

Carmen P. Hill of Indianapolis, a former major league baseball pitcher and a member of the 1927 pennant-winning Pittsburgh Pirates, has died at age 94.

Hill, who also played six seasons and won 95 games for the Indianapolis Indians, faced the feared “Murderers Row” New York Yankees in the fourth--and final--game of the 1927 World Series. The Yankee lineup, called by many the greatest in baseball history, included Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Earle Combs.

Hill, who died Monday, had a 49-33 won-loss record and a 3.44 earned-run average in 148 major league games from 1915 to 1930.

Hill started the final game of the ’27 series for the Pirates and pitched six innings, surrendering a two-run homer to Ruth in the fifth inning that gave the Yanks a 3-1 lead. They went on to win 4-3. It was the last home run of a storied season for Ruth, who hit a record 60 homers in the regular season and one other in the World Series. His were the only homers of the series.