Taking advantage of clumsy defensive work by the Pirates, Terry Moore achieved an unusual feat for the Cardinals.
On Aug. 16, 1939, Moore hit two inside-the-park home runs in one game, driving in all four runs in a 4-3 Cardinals victory over the Pirates at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
Moore was the first player to hit two inside-the-park home runs in one game at Forbes Field, according to the Pittsburgh Press.
First homer
In the opener of the Wednesday afternoon doubleheader at Pittsburgh, Bob Klinger, a second-year right-hander, held the Cardinals scoreless for six innings and the Pirates led, 2-0.
In the seventh, Pepper Martin led off for the Cardinals and reached base when his grounder was fumbled by shortstop Arky Vaughan for an error.
Moore followed with a drive to the gap in left-center. Running hard and trying for a triple, Moore took advantage of what the St. Louis Globe-Democrat described as “a disconnected relay throw” by the Pirates and motored safely to the plate behind Martin with a two-run, inside-the-park home run, tying the score at 2-2.
The Pirates regained the lead, 3-2, in the bottom of the seventh with an unearned run against Cardinals starter Bob Weiland.
Second homer
In the top of the ninth, after Martin singled with one out, Moore drilled a pitch from Klinger to deep left. The ball struck the scoreboard, about halfway up.
Left fielder Johnny Rizzo, a former Cardinals prospect best known for his hitting, “went one way and the ball caromed another,” according to the St. Louis Star-Times.
As Rizzo looked around left-center for the baseball, it rolled toward the left-field foul line, the Globe-Democrat reported.
When he finally spotted the ball, Rizzo “frantically chased” it, the Pittsburgh Press reported. Moore tore around the bases and scored behind Martin with his second two-run, inside-the-park home run of the game, giving the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.
More drama
The Pirates threatened against reliever Bob Bowman in the bottom of the ninth. Pep Young led off with a double and advanced to third on Ray Mueller’s sacrifice bunt. Left-hander Clyde Shoun relieved Bowman and struck out Paul Waner, who was batting for Klinger.
Lloyd Waner, who had entered the game in the top half of the ninth as a defensive replacement in center for rookie Fern Bell, was due up next. Lloyd Waner, like his brother Paul, was destined for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame and was batting .285 for the season. However, he batted left-handed, and Pirates manager Pie Traynor apparently wanted a right-handed batter to face Shoun with two outs and the potential tying run at third.
Traynor sent Jim Tobin, a pitcher, to bat for Lloyd Waner. Tobin, who was batting .265 for the season, grounded out to first, ending the game. Boxscore
Moore finished the 1939 season with 17 home runs, second on the club to Johnny Mize, who slugged 28.
In 11 seasons with the Cardinals, Moore hit 80 home runs. He hit three inside-the-park home runs, all at Forbes Field. The first occurred on Sept. 7, 1936, leading off the game against Waite Hoyt of the Pirates. Boxscore
RetroSimba 
This was probably a very good game to see. It was also one of those unique games in that Terry had nearly half the Cardinal hits and a hand in all four runs. The Pirates 2nd baseman Pep Young had half of his teams hits and scored all three of their runs. For Terry, Forbes Field was his home away from home. Life time he hit .321 in that ball park. During the 1939 season, at Forbes Field, he hit .369.
Thanks for the astute observations and for sharing those pertinent stats on Terry Moore at Forbes Field.