12/8 Through the Fifties: Barney's Big Deal, HBD Pags &Tim, Pitching Trades

• 1899 - Barney Dreyfuss traded a dozen players from the Louisville Colonels to Pittsburgh (Jack Chesbro, George Fox, Art Madison, John O'Brien and $25,000 went to Louisville for Fred Clarke, Bert Cunningham, Mike Kelley, Tacks Latimer, Tommy Leach, Tom Messitt, Deacon Phillippe, Claude Ritchey, Rube Waddell, Jack Wadsworth, Honus Wagner and Chief Zimmer, with Chesbro being assigned back to Pittsburgh for the 1900 season). He then took over the Pirates after the deal, in effect transferring the core of his old team to his new one. They became one of the powerhouse clubs of the early 1900's thanks to the greatest deal ever swung by the Buccos.

Barney raided the Colonels (2012 Ars Longa Diamond Head card)

• 1937 - C Jim Pagliaroni was born in Dearborn. “Pags” caught for the Bucs from 1963-67, sometimes starting and sometimes in platoon. He hit .254 during his Pittsburgh time and still has the record for most homers hit by a Pirate catcher in a season at 17, set in 1965. Injuries and reports that he wanted to be traded - he was playing in a rotation with Jerry May and Jesse Gonder - resulted in his contract being sold to Oakland in 1967.
• 1939 - RHP Bill Swift was traded, along with cash, to the Boston Bees for RHP Danny MacFayden. Swift had won 91 games for the Bucs in eight years and MacFayden 124 in his career, but both were at the end of the road and the deal ended up a wash.
• 1947 - In a what-were-they-thinking move, the Pirates traded IF Billy Cox, IF Gene Mauch and P Preacher Roe to the Brooklyn Dodgers for P Hal Gregg, P Vic Lombardi and OF Dixie Walker. None of the former Dodgers lasted past 1950 in Pittsburgh, while Cox and Roe would become mainstays in Brooklyn. Dixie was the key to the deal, but he played just one year, hitting .318, and then retired. The rumor mill at the time had Wally Westlake as the Dodger’s main target, but the outfielder remained a Pirate until 1951. He played for six teams during his career but never did suit up for Brooklyn.

Cliff Chambers 1951 Bowman

• 1948 - The Bucs traded IF Frankie Gustine and RHP Cal McLish to the Chicago Cubs for LHP Cliff Chambers and C Clyde McCullough. Gustine was a three-time All-Star for Pittsburgh at the end of his career; he would later open an Oakland restaurant on Forbes Avenue a few steps from Forbes Field. McLish would go on to win 92 games in the next 11 years, including 19 for Cleveland in 1959. The Pirates unloaded Chambers the following year, while McCullough spent four years in Pittsburgh, batting .258.
• 1950 - IF Tim Foli was born in Culver City, California. He joined the Bucs in 1979 from the Mets after the Frank Taveras deal and his glove solidified the World Championship infield. He added some lumber in the ‘79 WS, collecting hits in six of the seven games against the O’s. Foli played four seasons in all for Pittsburgh (1979-81, 1985) with a .269 BA. His career stretched on for 16 years with a .251 BA. He played for six teams, and made two stops with the Bucs and Mets. Foli was known as “Crazy Horse,” wearing the tag thanks to a fiery temper that led him to butt heads with umps, opponents, and his teammates.