Wednesday, December 11, 2013

12/11: Busy Day

Glenn Wright, O'Brien Twins, Fred Haney, Jay Bell, Doc for Dock, Tim Foli, Steve Buechele, Arthur Rhodes, Eric Bedard...

  • 1928 - SS Glenn “Buckshot” Wright was sent to the Brooklyn Robins for LHP Jesse “The Silver Fox” Petty and IF Harry Riconda. Wright, one of the top SS of the era, suffered a major shoulder injury in 1929 which affected his play in the field, but didn’t hang up the spikes until 1935 with a lifetime .294 BA after 11 big league seasons. Petty was workmanlike in 1929, but the wheels fell off in 1930, his final MLB season. 
  • 1930 - The O’Brien twins, Eddie and Johnny, were born in South Amboy, New Jersey. Utility man Eddie - he played SS, 3B, OF and even pitched 16 innings - spent five years (1952, 1954-57) with the Bucs, hit .236 and had a 3.31 ERA with a 1-0 record. Johnny was a Pirate for five years (1953, 1955-58) and was a middle infielder/pitcher. He put up a .260 BA and went 1-3 with a 5.61 ERA. The O'Briens were the first twins in major league history to play for the same team in the same game. On a side note, the brothers were also strong basketball players at Seattle University, and scored 84 points between them when SU beat the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters in 1952. 

 Topps 1954

  • 1952 - Fred Haney was named as manager, replacing Billy Meyer. The Bucs finished in last place each season under Haney’s three year reign, compiling a 163-299 (.353) record. 
  • 1965 - SS Jay Bell was born at Eglin AFB (Pensacola), Florida. Jay played SS for Pittsburgh from 1989-96, hitting .269, anchoring the infield of Jim Leyland’s 1990-92 division championship clubs and earning an All-Star spot in 1993. Bell won a Gold Glove in 1993, breaking a string of thirteen straight NL Gold Gloves by SS Ozzie Smith. It was the first GG by a Pirate SS since Gene Alley's back-to-back honors in 1966 and 1967. 
  • 1975 - The Yankees acquired RHP Dock Ellis, LHP Ken Brett and 2B Willie Randolph from the Pirates for RHP Doc Medich. Randolph suited up for 17 more seasons, was named to six All-Star teams and played in four World Series, but was blocked in Pittsburgh by Rennie Stennett. 
  • 1981 - SS Tim Foli was traded to the California Angels for Brian Harper. Foli was on the downside of his career while Harper spent three years in Pittsburgh as a utilityman. 
  • 1991 - The Pirates signed 3B Steve Buechele, a free agent they had traded for late in the season, to a four year/$11M contract. He played 80 games in Pittsburgh before being sent to the Cubs in a 1992 deadline deal for LHP Danny Jackson, who in turn was lost to the Marlins in the following off season during the expansion draft. 
  •  2004 - The Pirates swapped out LHP Arthur Rhodes to the Indians for OF Matt Lawton less than a month after they had acquired him. 
  • 2011 - The Pirates signed LHP Erik Bedard to a one year deal for $4.5M. He was released in late August after going 7-14 with a 5.01 ERA.

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