11/5: Manny - Chuck, JR & Syd Hired, Glovely - Key, Corey, Russ & Nate, Frankie Honor, Gunner Parade, Dick & Jim Sign, '90 FA's, A-Ram Retires, Sure Shot Joins, RRI Down; HBD Gunboat, Lefty, Jack, John & Tom

• 1877 - 2B Fred “Sure Shot” Dunlap was purchased by the Pittsburgh Alleghenys from the Detroit Wolverines for $4000-5000 (the final figure is up for debate); he also got $2K personally to agree to the deal. Sure Shot remained a slick fielder, but his batting eye disappeared after he hit .266 in 1888, stroking the ball at a .235 clip the following season and hitting just .172 in 1890 after 17 games before being released (carrying a low average, a big salary and occupying manager Guy Hecker’s doghouse made him expendable) and he was claimed by the NY Giants. His career ended the next year with Washington after he broke his leg sliding in April. Dunlap, who had amassed a considerable nest egg as a player, was bankrupt a decade later. Some say his frittered finances were due to poor stock market decisions and others blamed horse-racing debts. Either way, the arguably top second baseman of his era passed away penniless in 1902 of consumption. 
• 1888 - Umpire John Mullin was born in Pittsburgh and lived in Brookline. John umpired in the NL in 1909, the AL in 1911-12 and the Federal League in 1915, spending most of his arbitrator time in the minors with the American Association, although he also wore the blue in six other farm leagues. John was just as quick tempered as the early baseball players who he joined on the field. In one of his first major league gigs, two days after he had been called up from the bushes in 1909, he threw out three players during an argument and after they refused to leave, he waited the allotted one-minute of grace time they had and forfeited the game. 
• 1895 - OF Tom McNamara was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. His MLB stay consisted of one June pinch-hitting appearance in 1922 for the Buccos, resulting in a ground out. The 26-year-old Princeton grad was sent to Flint for the rest of the year, hitting .313 and dropped off baseball’s radar. 
• 1899 - RHP “Big Jack” (he was 6’3”) Wisner was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Jack’s first two major league campaigns consisted of 21 outings for the Bucs from 1919-20 and he was solid, going 2-3/2.70. He got four years off after that, tossing for Rochester, before getting the call to serve 1925-26 as a NY Giant. Big Jack was sent down during the ‘26 season, worked in the minors through 1929 and hung ‘em up to work as a minor league coach. 

Lefty Birkofer - 1936 National Chickle

• 1908 - LHP Ralph “Lefty” Birkofer was born in Cincinnati. Lefty worked for the Bucs from 1933-36 and slashed 31-26-2/4.04, splitting time between starting & the pen, then finishing his career in 1937 as a Dodger, going to Brooklyn after a trade. 
• 1909 - RHP Harry “Gunboat” Gumbert was born in Elizabeth. Harry tossed for 15 big league seasons (and that’s with missing a year, 1945, while in the service), closing out his run in his hometown in 1949-50 (1-4-3/5.83) before retiring at age 40. Gunboat joined his great-uncles Ad and Billy Gumbert (also pitchers) as Pittsburgh hurlers. During his career, he slashed 143-113/3.68 with 235 starts (94 CGs), 13 shutouts and 48 saves, working 200+ IP in a season five times before transitioning into a reliever. His nickname doesn’t have much of a backstory behind it; Harry said it came about because a sportswriter thought ”Gunboat Gumbert” sounded good together and ran with it. 
• 1922 - RHP Jim Bagby Sr. was claimed by the Pirates after being waived by the Indians. Bagby won 31 games for Cleveland in 1920 and 122 games for the Tribe over the last six years, but at age 33, he was done. He finished 3-2/5.24 in 23 appearances for Pittsburgh in his final MLB bow, spending the next seven years toiling in the minors. His son, RHP Jim Bagby Jr., also played for the Pirates with a slash of 5-4/4.67 in his final big league hurrah at age 30 in 1947. 
• 1955 - Dick Groat became the second Buc to agree to his 1956 contract, joining Frank Thomas, who had signed a week earlier, as Joe Brown began locking up his core players. Groat signed for a reported $17,500 after hitting .267 following a two-year hitch in the Army at Fort Belvoir. 
• 1975 - After KDKA fired Pirate announcers Bob Prince and Nellie King days earlier, rival station WEEP organized a downtown parade in their honor that drew thousands of fans and featured both Pirates & City politicos as supporters. While the parade was a success, it didn’t move the station or team off their position. The Gunner wouldn’t broadcast a Bucco game again until 1985, after he had been diagnosed with throat cancer, and he died a few days later. 

Manny - 1976 Kelloggs

• 1976 - The Pirates sent catcher Manny Sanguillen and $100,000 to Oakland to land manager Chuck Tanner. It was the second player-for-skipper deal in MLB history (excluding player/managers), the first being in 1967 when the Mets sent RHP Bill Denehy and cash to the Washington Senators in exchange for manager Gil Hodges. Chuck, who was signed, sealed and announced as skipper in an evening presser, had a good run in Pittsburgh. During his nine-year tenure, he posted a 711-685 (.509) record and won a World Championship in 1979. Manny returned home after a year in exile in a trade, spending his last three campaigns in Pittsburgh. On the same day, the Bucs sold IF Tommy Helms to Oakland; the A’s sent him back to the Pirates in March as part of the nine-player Phil Garner deal. He got 15 PAs and was released in June. Boston claimed him and after 21 more games, the 36-year-old’s MLB days were done. 
• 1985 - The news was leaked that the Pirates hired Syd Thrift as their GM, replacing Harding Peterson (They held the official team press conference two days later). Syd, who enjoyed hardball politics as much as strategy, lasted until 1988 after a contentious relationship with the owners, but laid the groundwork for the powerhouse early-ninety clubs. Thrift traded for Doug Drabek, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Mike LaValliere, then hired Jim Leyland to run the show. 
• 1990 - Whole lotta shakin’ going on as the following Bucs became free agents after the season: IF Wally Backman, RHP Doug Bair, SS Rafe Belliard, 1B Sid Bream, RHP Ted Power, OF Gary Redus, LHP Jerry Reuss, OF RJ Reynolds, C Don Slaught & LHP Zane Smith. Redus, Sluggo and Smith rejoined the team while the others moved on: Belliard & Bream to Atlanta, Backman to Philly, Bair spent two years on minor league deals and was done, Power to Cincy, Reuss retired, and Reynolds went to Japan for three years with a final season in Mexico. 

Gary Redus - 1990 Topps

• 1997 - The Regional Renaissance Initiative was soundly defeated at the polls. A funding mechanism for a new stadium, its defeat cast doubts as to whether Kevin McClatchy’s Pirates team could remain in Pittsburgh. Some later political twists and turns eventually led to the selling of the team and the building of PNC Park to save the franchise for the City. 
• 2007 - The Pirates named third base coach John Russell as manager, replacing Jim Tracy. The Bucs' new skipper was the 2006 International League Manager of the Year at Scranton. He was never given much to work with, and in 2010 was fired as the Pirates manager after a 105 loss season and an overall record of 186-299. He was later replaced by Clint Hurdle. 
• 2008 - CF Nate McLouth won his first Golden Glove award, the first Bucco to take home the trophy since SS Jay Bell in 1993. Nate the Great committed one error during the season (a wayward throw in September), getting himself on the radar not only with his leather but by his hitting line of .276 BA/26 HR/46 2B/94 RBI/113 RS/26 SB. He also made the 2008 All-Star team. 
• 2013 - LHP Francisco Liriano was named the Baseball Writer’s “Comeback Player of the Year.” It was the second time the southpaw took home the honor, having earlier won the same recognition from The Sporting News after 26 starts with a line of 16-8/3.02/9.1K per game posted after 26 starts. 

Russ Martin - 2014 Topps Heritage

• 2014 - C Russ Martin was named the Wilson Major League Defensive Catcher of the Year after losing the Golden Glove award to Yadier Molina the day before. Russell threw out 39% of the base-stealers who challenged him (league average - 28%), allowed just three passed balls and had a .994 fielding average while starting 106 regular season games behind the dish. 
• 2015 - 3B Aramis Ramirez retired after 18 years in the show. A-Ram, 37, hit .283/.341/.492 with 386 home runs. He made his debut with the Pirates in 1998 and played here for parts of six years before being traded to the Chicago Cubs in a salary dump that still rankles. He returned as a stretch run rental from the Brewers in 2015, hitting .245 with six long balls. Ramirez played his first 17 seasons as a third baseman, never taking the field at another position other than DH, until that September; he manned 1B for the Bucs five times in his final go-round. 
• 2018 - Corey Dickerson belied his rep as a meh gloveman with his work in PNC Park’s massive left field and took home his first Golden Glove award. He ranked first among NL left fielders with a .996 fielding percentage while making just one error in 263 chances and setting career highs with seven assists in 122 starts. Corey posted 16 defensive runs saved and recorded 10 outs above average to join Barry Bonds and Starling Marte as Bucco LF’s to win a GG. 
• 2023 - Ke’Bryan Hayes won his first Rawlings Golden Glove, ending the 10-year reign of the Card’s Nolan Arenado and becoming the first Bucco hot cornerman to win a GG. There were many who thought he deserved the honor in 2022, when he outperformed Arenado in several key defensive metrics. Key led the MLB with 24 Defensive Runs Saved and all third basemen with +18 Outs Above Average.

Notes: Dodgers Champs, Tri Wins Golden Glove, Buc FA's, Moves & News

HOPE YOU HAD A 🎃🎃 WEEK & the Fall Classic envelope, please...

Pirates Stuff: 

• Pirates who declared for free agency after the World Series: OF Andrew McCutchen, C Yasmani Grandal and pitchers Aroldis Chapman, Ryan Borucki & Jalen Beeks. 
• 1B/3B Malcom Nuñez, 23, re-signed with the Pirates on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. He hit .250 w/11 HR for Indy last year, playing 87 games at the hot corner, 40 at first and a handful as DH.
• Hey, another infielder who was on layaway: The Pirates claimed IF Tristan Gray, 28, off waivers from the A's. The Pirates drafted Gray in 2017 and traded him, along with Daniel Hudson, to the Rays for Corey Dickerson in 2018. He's been an insurance minor league piece with 17 MLB games in the past two seasons. Gray isn't a big BA guy but has some pop and may be worked at 1B when he joins Indy.

World Series Stuff:

• LA went to Yankee Stadium and took their third straight game, 4-2, behind the arm of Walker Buehler and the bat of Freddie Freeman, who in three games has three homers. Shohei Ohtani gave the Dodger fans a scare by banging his shoulder on Saturday, but was back as DH for Game #3. Freeman set the Fall Classic mark with another dinger in Game #4; that's six straight WS games that he's gone long in. But it was far from enough; sparked by Anthony Volpe's grand slam, the Bronx bats woke up to stay alive with a runaway 11-4 dub. In Game Six, the Yankees wasted an impressive display of muscle and a 5-0 lead before an inning of little league glove/brain work let LA tie the score and eventually claim the crown, 7-6. Freeman was the MVP.

MLB.com graphic

Other Stuff: 

• Jared Triolo won the Golden Glove as a utility player. He played every infield position, mainly the unsettled third and second base spots.
• 2023 Pirates 1B and current Twins first-sacker, Carlos Santana, won a Gold Glove. Slamtana, at 38, is the oldest first-time non-pitcher to earn the award.
• Royal's C Salvador Perez won this year's Roberto Clemente Award.
• Inspired by basketball and soccer, plans are afoot to start a Women's Pro Baseball League (WPBL), which hopes to begin play during the summer of 2026.
• Yankees RHP Gerrit Cole, 34, opted out of his contract. The club could either void the option by adding one year/$36M to his current deal or allow him free agency.
• The Rangers claimed RHP Roansy Contreras off waivers from the Angels, where his line was 1-4-2/4.13 after LA bought his contract from the Pirates (1-0/4.41) in May. He’s controllable for another four seasons but has no minor league options.
• Plum HS RHP Scott McGough, 35, had his option declined by Arizona. He pitched a bit for Miami, went to Japan for four years and returned in '23 with the D-Backs.
• RHP Daniel Hudson, 37, who pitched for Pittsburgh in 2018 before being traded, retired from the LA Dodgers with a World Series ring, his second (he got his first in '19 with the Nats) after 15 years in the show.

11/4: Russ & Frankie - 1st Buc QO's, Mike #2 Rookie, Deacon - PC, Overdue Stops, FA Frolics, Brooklyn Bridge; HBD Chris, John, Logan, Dick, Spook, Fiddler & Wee Tommy

• 1877 - 3B/OF “Wee Tommy” Leach was born in French Creek, NY. The 5'6" Leach hit 63 career homers; 49 were inside-the-park, which is still a NL record. Leach joins Willie Stargell, Ralph Kiner and Pedro Alvarez as the only Pirates to lead the league in long balls. During Leach's years in Pittsburgh (1900-12), the Pirates won the NL flag four times and were World Series champions once. His 1903 Fall Classic triple is the first World Series hit. Leach is still in the top 100 all-time in stolen bases (361) and runs scored (1,355), and for the Pirates, he's ninth in games played (1,548), at-bats (5,909), runs (1,007) & singles (1,229), sixth in stolen bases (246) and seventh in triples (137). 
• 1922 - 2B Eddie “The Fiddler” Basinski was born in Buffalo, New York. Eddie was a Mr. Peepers look-alike, thin and with wire-rim glasses, who earned his nickname as a violinist who played for the U of Buffalo Symphony (and he was a good one, becoming concertmaster). He went straight from the sandlots to Brooklyn, mainly as an audition so the Dodgers could determine what minor-league level to start him at, and the sweet-fielding SS ended up in AA after a hot big league start. Eddie put in 13 minor league years mostly in the PCL (he moved to Portland and even, to his later regret, turned down a 1948 call to the Yankees to stay on his beloved West Coast). Aside from parts of two seasons with Brooklyn (Pee Wee Reese blocked him at SS and converted him to 2B) his only other showtime was with Pittsburgh in 1947, where he hit a paltry .199 in 56 games. Eddie’s glove made him a hit - in 1984, he was named to the all-time PCL All-Star team, then inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame in 2006. Beside “The Fiddler,” Basinski was also known as “Bazooka,” laid on him by Leo Durocher due to his strong arm. 
• 1925 - 2B Forrest “Spook” Jacobs was born in Cheswold, Delaware. Spook spent 17 years in baseball (he wintered in the Cuban, Panamanian and Puerto Rican leagues) with three in the majors. His last season in the show was 1956, when the Bucs got him from the KC Athletics and he hit .162. He was selected into the Cuban and Delaware Sports Hall of Fames, along with a handful of smaller HoFs. His nickname came about because of the “spooky” way he could drop Texas-League bloopers over the infield for hits. 

Dick Groat - 2003 Topps Heritage Grandstand Glory

• 1930 - SS Dick Groat was born in Wilkinsburg. The Swissvale Golden Flash HS star was a two sport ace and was twice named an All-America at Duke in basketball. He was selected as the Helms National Player of the Year in 1952 after averaging 25.2 points per game and played one season in the NBA. But he made a more permanent mark in baseball. As a Bucco bonus baby, he never played in the minors. He was the NL-MVP during the 1960 World Series campaign, and in his Pirate era (1952-62, with two years out for the service), he hit .286 and was a three-time All-Star. A Pitt basketball announcer, in 2011 Groat was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first man ever inducted into both the college basketball and baseball Halls of Fame. 
• 1949 - The Pirates purchased IF Hank Schentz from the Brooklyn Dodgers. Hank put in a season plus with the Bucs, and marked the end of a frenzied bit of dealing between the two clubs. As noted by @JohnDreker of Pirates Prospects “Between October 2nd, 1946 and November 4th, 1949, the Pirates and Dodgers completed 12 transactions with each other. The two franchises then went over 17 years before making another deal, which was the Maury Wills trade.” Over that span, the Pirates got Eddie Basinski, Hank Behrman, Monte Basgall, Nanny Fernandez, Hal Gregg, Art Herring, Kirbe Higbe, Dixie Howell, Vic Lombardi, Gene Mauch, Cal McLish, Steve Nagy, Danny O’Connell, Marv Rackley, Stan Rojek, Schentz, Ed Stevens & Dixie Walker. The Bucs gave up Ed Bahr, Vic Barnhart, Hank Behrman (he went from Brooklyn to Pittsburgh back to Brooklyn), Jimmy Bloodworth, Jack Cassini, Billy Cox, Al Gerheauser, Al Gionfriddo, Johnny Hopp, Gene Mauch (he also went back and forth), Preacher Roe & Grady Wilson. Hopp and Rackley were returned to the Pirates and Dodgers respectively after their trade was voided. In all, 30 players were moved. The Pittsburgh GM trade master was Fred Hamey; Branch Rickey was the Dodger exec...and the flood gates slammed once Rickey became Bucco GM after the 1950 campaign. 
• 1959 - Shortly after the highly-rated “$64,000 Question” TV quiz show scandal broke due to the leaking of the quiz answers to the winner, former Pirate Pie Traynor disclosed that he had been asked to participate in the show, but declined because he was told the category for his proposed session would be music. “I don’t know a thing about music. (But) I suppose that wouldn’t have mattered. I would have gotten the answers,” he suggested in hindsight with tongue-in-cheek. 

Logan Easley - photo via Steiner Sports Memorabilia

• 1961 - RHP Logan Easley was born in Salt Lake City. He got into 27 games for the Bucs in 1987 and 1989, posting a 2-1-2/5.12, line. He came to the Bucs via Gotham: Easley was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 20th round of the 1981 draft and was traded to the Pirates in November of 1986 along with Brian Fisher and Doug Drabek for Pat Clements, Cecilio Guante and Rick Rhoden. Logan, btw, did more than pitch when he went to college. After retiring from baseball, he returned to his alma mater and put his degree to good use as part of the geology faculty at the College of Southern Idaho. 
• 1966 - Maury Wills left the Los Angeles Dodgers team touring in Japan, griping about his injured right knee. He was granted his wish to go home for treatment, but a few days later, he was spotted on a Hawaiian beach jamming with Don Ho by vacationing Dodger GM Buzzie Bavasi. Wills had a deserved rep as hard to handle, and that was the last straw for the Los Angeles suits. On December 1st, he was traded to the Pirates for Bob Bailey and Gene Michael. 
• 1967 - Bucco Cy Young winner Vernon Law was named pitching coach for the Pirates for new manager Larry Shephard. Law coached here from 1968-69, then became an assistant at Brigham Young University from 1969 to 1979. Vern also worked in Japan with the Seibu Lions from 1979-81 before managing in the White Sox organization at Denver in the American Association in 1984. 
• 1976 - Richie Hebner, the Pirates only free agent, was claimed by eight teams (including Pittsburgh, which retained his rights) in the first Free Agent Re-Entry Draft. The Gravedigger could only deal with the teams that chose him, and he reached a deal with the Phillies six weeks later for three years & a tad over $600K; the Pirates had reportedly offered $270K over the same span. The Bucs selected 10 players for their wish list of free agents, including Rollie Fingers, Sal Bando and Reggie Jackson. Gene Tenace was the only one of the 10 wish-listers who ever ended up in a Pirates uniform, and that wasn’t until 1983, his final season. 

Richie Hebner - 1976 Topps

• 1977 - Pirates Goose Gossage and Terry Forster were two of the eight players claimed (both drew the interest of 13 clubs) during the Free Agent Re-Entry Draft; Bobby Tolan didn’t get enough suitors (three or more were required), allowing him to play the field. The Goose went to the New York Yankees, Forster to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tolan took his game to Japan. The Pirates selected seven players to chase, with reliever Rawly Eastwick being their prime target. They didn’t sign any, with Eastwick nixing the Bucs and inking a deal with the Bronx Bombers. 
• 1978 - The Pirates had two of their free agents claimed, Duffy Dyer (who signed with Montreal) and Dave Hamilton (who went with Oakland) during the Free Agent Re-Entry Draft. Two other players, Steve Brye and Cito Gaston, drew no takers and saw their careers end after the ‘78 campaign. Pittsburgh chased 13 players, including ex-Bucco Wilbur Wood, Pete Rose, Tommy John and Mike Marshall. For the first time since the draft began three years ago, they actually signed a FA they claimed - OF Lee Lacy, who inked a six-year deal for a reported $1.05M. They took a twisty route to land RHP Dave Roberts. They picked him, but he signed with the Giants. Persistence pays; the Bucs kept an eye on him and eventually reeled him in as part of the Bill Madlock trade in June. 
• 1978 - LHP John Grabow was born in Arcadia, California. Grabow, a third round draft pick in 1997, pitched from 2003-09 for the Bucs until traded to the Cubs. In 390 Pirate appearances, he went 20-15-6/4.09. In 2009, Grabow pitched for the US in the World Baseball Classic, the first Bucco to be named to the US squad. His last MLB season was 2011 with the Cubs. 
• 1982 - RHP Chris Resop was born in Naples, Florida. Resop tossed for the Pirates from 2010-12 after being claimed off waivers from the Braves and posted a line of 6-8-2/3.88 in 159 appearances, mainly as the Bucs bullpen bridge guy. He was heavily involved in civic/charity work while a Bucco and was voted the Pirates Roberto Clemente Award honoree in 2012. Chris retired during the 2014 season after eight years in the MLB and returned to his hometown. 

Chris Resop - 2012 Topps

• 1987 - Padres catcher Benito Santiago was the unanimous selection as the NL Rookie of the Year, while Pirate RHP Mike Dunne (13-6/3.03 ERA) finished second. Santiago closed out his career as a Corsair, playing six games in 2005 before being released. Dunne was steady in ‘88, then traded to Seattle in 1989, battled a host of injuries, and 1992 was his last MLB hurrah. 
• 2004 - The league released the Pirates schedule, and it featured a trio of road trips that were long overdue. For the first time in team history, the Buccos were scheduled for a series against Boston at Fenway Park, which opened its gates in 1912; their last trip to Beantown was in 1903 for the World Series at the Huntington Grounds. They were also slated at Yankee Stadium, a field that Pittsburgh hadn’t visited since the 1960 Fall Classic. In a final reunion, they matched up with the relocated Washington Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos) at RFK Stadium, the first time the Bucs played in DC since the 1925 World Series against the Senators in 1925 at Griffith Stadium. 
• 2014 - C Russell Martin and LHP Francisco Liriano became the first two Pirate free agents ever to be tendered qualifying offers ($15.3M) to retain their services. Both, as expected, rejected the offer. Russ did well, signing with Toronto for $82M over five years while Frankie eventually came to terms with the Bucs on a three-year/$39M deal when he found the grass wasn’t always greener...

11/3: Deacon Wins '60 Cy, Jesse - Aki, JT Signs, Player Shuffles; Japanese Tour, DC Bets, Rules Tweaked, Waner #2; RIP Matty & Mike, HBD Meow, Homer, Ed, John, Harry & Jim

• 1856 - RHP Jim McCormick was born in Thornliebank, Scotland. He ripped off eight consecutive 20+ win seasons (including years with 45, 40, 36 & 31 wins) before he closed out his career with the Alleghenys in 1887 following a trade with the White Stockings that sent George Van Haltren and $2,000 to Chicago. He was sadly over the hill when he got here, posting a 13-23/4.30 line, the first time in his decade of MLB that his ERA was north of 2.80, though he still ended his career with 265 victories. He retired after the year at the age of 30 to become a businessman. As a rookie for the NL Indianapolis Blues, he became the first native Scot to get into a big league game in 1878. McCormick was one of the forgotten dominators of the deadball era; Baseball Reference compares his career to that of Pittsburgh ace Pud Galvin among early mound stars. 
• 1866 - RHP Harry Staley was born in Jacksonville, Illinois. Staley pitched in Pittsburgh from 1888-91, tossing for the Alleghenys, Burghers and Pirates. His overall Steel City record was 51-58 with a 3.21 ERA. He was a workmanlike pitcher, and one who knew his way around the batter’s box. On June 1st, 1893, Staley (then a Boston Beaneater) had nine runs batted in, hitting two three-run homers off Louisville’s Billy Rhines. It set the record for most RBIs in a game by a pitcher, equaled by Atlanta Braves pitcher Tony Cloninger in 1966.
• 1871 - P (no one noticed which hand he used) Fred “John” Hayner was born in Janesville, Wisconsin. As a Chicago prepster in 1890, 18-year-old Fred had an in-game tryout with the floundering Pittsburgh Alleghenys, in town to play the Colts at West Side Park. Fred fizzled as he tossed four innings and was lit up for nine runs (six earned) and that was the extent of his big league career. He eventually ended up a sports writer for the Chicago Daily News, and in 1901, along with George Rice, began using the name “Cubs” for the Chicago ball club, supposedly because of the team’s youth. It was officially adopted a few years later and is still Chicago’s by-line. So if you ever want to win a free beer by betting that a Pittsburgh pitcher had a big hand in naming the Cubs... 
• 1883 - 3B James “Ed” (middle name Edgar) Lennox was born in Camden, New Jersey. After a four year MLB career, Ed played for the Pittsburgh Rebels from 1914-15, batting .311. While a Rebel in 1914, Lennox hit for the cycle to become the only Federal League player to pull off that feat. He also swatted pinch-hit home runs in consecutive games the same season, a deed that was unmatched until Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers repeated it in 2016. 

Homer Summa - James Elder Post Card

• 1898 - OF Homer Summa was born in Gentry, Missouri. He began a 10-year MLB career in 1920 with the Pirates, going 7-for-22 (.318) in 10 games. He later served as a platoon outfielder with a lifetime BA of .302, playing for the Cleveland Indians before closing out his run with two years in Philadelphia with the A’s. His parents were a little over optimistic when they named him Homer; he only hit 18 round-trippers during his decade of playing in the big leagues. 
• 1917 - RHP Len “Meow” Gilmore was born in Fairview Park, Indiana. Gilmore pitched 11 minor league seasons between 1938-52 for nine teams, going 128–94/3.66 in 332 outings after starting out at Indiana State Teachers College. The Bucs gave him his MLB taste when he started the second game of a twinbill against the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park on the last day of the 1944 season. Gilmore allowed seven earned runs on 13 hits, with no walks or strikeouts in eight innings of work, but more importantly, got to add the title of major league pitcher to his resume. Following his days on the slab, Gilmore worked for the Oklahoma City Fire Department, retiring as a captain. Per “Indiana-born MLB Players,” Len got his nickname from a West Coast service station franchise named Gilmore that had a lion as its logo. Somehow its tagline “Roar with Gilmore” morphed into a meow. He did use all nine of his lives, thought, surviving to the ripe ol’ age of 93. 
• 1934 - Dizzy Dean, with a 30-7 record, was selected as the NL Most Valuable Player, with  Pirates outfielder Paul Waner finishing a distant second despite a .362/14/90 slash. It was part of a six-year run (1932-37) that saw Big Poison earn MVP votes five times, including three Top Five finishes. 
• 1945 - P/OF Elmer “Mike” Smith passed away at age 77 and was buried at Union Dale Cemetery in the North Side. He was born in old Allegheny City and spent half his career (1892-97, 1901) in Pittsburgh. Smith started out with the Reds, where he was a pitcher known for his heater, but by the time he became a Pirate in ‘92, his pitching arm was shot. No diff; Pittsburgh wanted him as an outfielder, using him in just 17 games on the hill (he’d only toss once more as a Pirate afterward) but spending 124 contests in the pasture. It was a good positional switch; Elmer could hit, and finished with a .325 BA/.415 OBP during his Bucco years. Mike played for four teams in his 14-year career, but kept his permanent home on the North Side on 510 Madison Avenue. After leaving baseball in 1906, Smith worked as an inspector for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Highways. 

Mike Smith - Ars Longa Art Card

• 1954 - The rules committee, meeting in New York City, was busy: After the absence of a dozen years, the sac fly was restored, laminated bats were approved, a ban was placed on leaving gloves and other equipment on the field between innings and a move to reinstate the spitter was beaten back. 
• 1960 - Vern Law, who finished 20-9 with 18 complete games and a 3.08 ERA, was voted the Cy Young Award winner, easily outdistancing runner-up Warren Spahn. It was a year of big wins to remember for The Deacon - he was an All-Star, earning the victory for one of the two Midsummer Classics in ‘60, and was also the winning pitcher for two of the Bucs’ World Series victories. 
• 1971 - PA senators Hugh Scott and Richard Schweiker, winners of a bet made on the 1971 Fall Classic between them and Maryland senators Charles Mathias Jr. and J. Glenn Beall, Jr., rode elephants in front of the Capitol. The losers toted peanuts for snacks and shovels to clean the street behind the paraders. 
• 1982 - 1B Jason Thompson agreed to a five-year/$5.5M contract with the Pirates ($200K/year in bonuses, $1.2M deferred). The 28-year-old followed with three seasons in which he failed to hit .260 or 20 HR, and was traded to Montreal after the 1985 campaign for a minor league player. The change of scenery didn’t help and the Expos released him in June after 30 games while the Pittsburgh/Montreal FOs ate the final year of his deal as he couldn’t catch on with anyone else. 
• 1979 - An MLB All Star team embarked on an 18-day tour of Japan. The squad was split into NL & AL sides, with seven of the nine scheduled exhibitions being between the leagues with two more games against All Star Japanese nines. The World Champ Bucs were well represented, with Dave Parker, Bill Madlock, John Candelaria, Jim Bibby and Bert Blyleven on board along with former Pirate Craig Reynolds and Chuck Tanner serving as one of skipper Tommy LaSorda’s coaches. It was the largest contingent of MLB players to take a foreign trip. 

Jesse Chavez - 2009 Topps Heritage Rookie

• 2009 - The Pirates sent RHP Jesse Chavez to Tampa Bay for 2B Akinori Iwamura, who at $4.85M became the Pirates’ highest paid player. Iwamura was gimpy, out of shape and benched in June with a .172 average. Iwamura was replaced rather handily by Neil Walker, a converted minor league 3B/C, then released in mid-September. After 10 games with Oakland, Aki was out of MLB. Jesse is still around and tossed for the Atlanta Braves from 2022-24 (he’s a free agent now) while Neil played for Miami and the Phils before retiring after the 2020 campaign. 
• 2011 - Matty Alou passed away in Santo Domingo at the age of 72 of diabetes complications. He was the middle man of one of the top MLB brother acts, between Felipe and Jesus. He came to the Bucs in 1965 from the Giants, and under the tutelage of Harry “The Hat” Walker and the prodding of Roberto Clemente, he turned into one of the great slap hitters of the era. In his first year as a Pirate, he led the NL with a .342 average as his hermano Felipe came in second at .327, the only time in baseball history that brothers finished 1-2 for the batting title. He hit .338 in 1967 (third in the NL), .332 in 1968 (second in the circuit) and .331 in 1969, leading the league with 231 hits and 41 doubles. He made two All-Star teams during that span, before being dealt to the Cards. In a 15-year big league career, his BA was .307. Following the 1974 season, he played three years in Japan and managed in the Dominican Winter League. In 2007, the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame inducted Matty. 
• 2016 - RHP Neftali Feliz, OF Matt Joyce, RHP Ivan Nova, LHP Zach Phillips, UT Sean Rodriguez and RHP Ryan Vogelsong were non-tendered by the Bucs after the season and became free agents, along with LHP Kelvin Marte, RHP Justin Masterson and OF Danny Ortiz, who were let go a few days later. Only Nova remained with Pittsburgh by signing a three-year/$26M deal, although Clint Hurdle’s security blanket, S-Rod, would return to the fold via trade in August. 
• 2017 - There wasn’t much contract churn for the Pirates after the season. They exercised their team option on CF Andrew McCutchen and bought out the options on C Chris Stewart (younger torch-bearer C Elias Diaz was out of options) and LHP Wade LeBlanc (who was outrighted to Indy and faced a crowded field of lefty relievers) while 1B/OF John Jaso and RHP Joaquin Benoit had already declared for free agency. Cutch was the only starter in the mix and the other losses were expected. Andrew’s 2018 contract of $14.75M was the largest single-year deal that the Pirates have ever been entirely committed to; AJ Burnett’s contract for $16.5M from 2012-13 was primarily paid for by the NYY. The club tendered their small though costly arb-eligible gang of RHP Gerrit Cole, SS Jordy Mercer, RHP Felipe Rivero and RHP George Kontos. Jordy & Felipe were the only ones of the option/arb posse to make it through the season with the Pirates.

11/2: Housekeeping Shuffle; Redman Back, AVS - POTY, '79 FA Jockeying, Pops Comeback, Alley Goes, Bragan Hired, Preacher & Rube Rule 5, Friend Night, Early AS, AA Forms; HBD Orlando, Gary & Frenchy

• 1866 - Utilityman Frank “Frenchy” Genins was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Frank’s biggest workload in a three-year big league career came with the 1895 Pirates. He played all the infield & outfield spots (in fact, he was the only other Bucco to play the OF that year other than the starting trio of Patsy Donovan, Jake Starzel and Mike Smith), hitting .250 in 73 games. Genins may not have dented very many major league lineups, but he played his way through much of the midwest in the minors from 1887-1909, with his latter years spent as a player/manager. 
• 1881 - The American Association was founded. The initial members were the Brooklyn Atlantics (replaced by the Baltimore Orioles), Cincinnati Red Stockings, Louisville Cardinals, Philadelphia Athletics, Pittsburgh Alleghenys, and St. Louis Brown Stockings. The AA was considered a major league organization, though the Alleghenys bolted to the NL after the 1886 campaign and the league folded after the 1891 season. Denny McKnight, the Alleghenys owner, was elected its first president, with his term running from 1882-85. 
• 1927 - Although the first All-Star Game wouldn’t be played until 1933, that didn’t stop papers from picking a squad of its own, usually combining leagues. The Brooklyn Eagle’s Hall of Fame baseball writer Thomas Holmes released his 1927 lineup which featured 3B Pie Traynor and OF Paul Waner on the first team. Lloyd Waner was named to the second team. 
• 1942 - The Pirates selected LHP Wally “Preacher” Hebert and RHP Ed “Rube” Albosta in the Rule 5 draft. Preacher toiled for nine minor league seasons (he was picked from San Diego of the PCL) following three MLB years (1931-33) with the St. Louis Browns. He was strong here with a line of 10-11/2.98 in 184 innings for the 1943 club, but despite his numbers and a Pittsburgh contract offer, the 35-year-old retired in the off season. Albosta missed three years due to WWII, not taking the hill for the Bucs until 1946. Plucked from International League Montreal, Albosta went 0-6/6.13 in 17 outings (six starts and 11 relief calls), and that was the end of his MLB tour that started in 1941 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he went 0-2 in his two prior big league starts. He finished with two years in the PCL and two more in the Central League before retiring. 

Wally Hebert - 1943 photo via Out Of The Ballpark

• 1951 - Bob Friend had a night honoring him in hometown of Lafayette, Indiana, and left with more gifts from his homies that he needed help getting them home. He was recognized at his former HS for breaking into the majors, and paid it back. He stayed for the Penn State-Purdue football game and said “Tell my Pennsylvania friends to pardon me, but I’ll have to be rooting for the Boilermakers.” He chose right; Purdue easily handled the Nittany Lions, 28-0. 
• 1955 - Bobby Bragan was named the new Bucco field manager, signing a one-year deal to replace Fred Haney. The fiery Bragan didn’t last long, getting the ax in early August of 1957 after compiling a 102-155 record. His spot was taken by Danny Murtaugh, making the first of his four Pirates managerial stints. Bobby went on to manage the Cleveland Indians (1958) and Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1963-66), compiling an overall 443-478 record. 
• 1956 - IF Gary Hargis was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was drafted out of high school (Cabrillo HS, California) in 1974 in the second round by the Bucs. His MLB resume is slim; as a September call up, he made it into one game for the 1979 Buccos as a pinch runner, earning a $250 World Series share for his effort. Hargis was injury-plagued on the farm, and he was moved to the OF in 1980 because his arm wasn't considered MLB caliber for short and they were priming him for a utility role. He got married in ‘81 and that was his last pro season. 
• 1966 - OF/1B Orlando Merced was born in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. Merced played from 1990-96 for the Bucs with a .283 BA, coming in second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1991. After a solid 13-year MLB career (he played for seven teams w/.278 lifetime BA), he now operates the Orlando Merced Baseball Center. 
• 1973 - Two-time All-Star Gene Alley, 32, announced his retirement. In 1966-67, he was at the top of his game both with the glove (he and Maz set the DP record in ‘66 w/215 twin killings) and with the bat (.293 BA during those two years), but an arm injury suffered in ‘68 followed by a bum knee brought him back to earth. He never hit above .250 afterward and was a bench player in his final year. His Bucco career spanned 1963-73 and he hit .254 over that time. 

Gene Alley - 1971 Pirate Picture Pack

• 1978 - Willie Stargell was named the United Press’ “Comeback Player of the Year” after hitting .295/28 HR/97 RBI. He was coming off a 1977 campaign in which he only got into 63 games, going on the DL twice with a bum elbow, and ending his streak of 15 straight seasons with 20> homers. He ran away in the vote from pitchers Vida Blue (SF), Gaylord Perry (SD) and Jim Bouton (ATL). 
• 1979 - In MLB’s Free Agent Re-Entry Draft, the Bucs’ Bruce Kison was claimed by the Indians and Rennie Stennett by the Mets after the Pirates signed Grant Jackson to a new contract the day before to keep him out of the process. The Bucs claimed bidding rights on Dave Goltz of the Twins, John Curtis of San Francisco, Nolan Ryan of California, Milt May of the White Sox, Al Hrabosky of KC, Don Stanhouse of Baltimore and Rick Wise of Cleveland. The purpose of the draft was to lessen the financial impact of free agency for the bidders; FA’s could only sign with a team that selected them. The clubs could only select a limited number of players, and there was also a limit to the number of teams that could select a single player. But there was a loophole for the lesser-sought players and the champagne guys: unless selected by three or more teams, they were available to all. The draft lasted from 1976-80 when a new agreement that eliminated the re-entry procedure went into effect after the ‘81 strike. Thanks to the three-team rule, Kison signed with the Angels and Stennett with the Giants as both could negotiate league-wide. The Bucs inked none of their selections, although they did eventually land ex-Pirate May once again in a 1983 trade. Since they couldn’t sign any of the big name arms, they instead inked Andy Hassler to a six-year, $750 K contract. He lasted until June, when he was sold to the California Angels. 
• 1988 - Andy Van Slyke joined some pretty good company in Ralph Kiner (1950), Dick Groat (1960), Roberto Clemente (1966) and Dave Parker (1978) as Bucs who won The Sporting News NL Player of the Year Award (Barry Bonds would take the award in 1990 and ‘91). The 28-year-old hit .288 w/25 homers, 101 runs, 100 RBI, and 30 stolen bases. Teammates Bobby Bonilla and Mike LaValliere, along with AVS, were named to the TSN All-Star team. And in a very good day for Bucco awardees, Jim Leyland and Dodger skipper Tommy LaSorda tied each other in first place votes for NL Manager of the Year (the first time TSN had a tie for that honor) in a race that was decided by a gnat’s eyelash by overall points in Jim's favor. Leyland and LaSorda earned four first-place votes each while the Mets Davey Johnson came in with three. Leyland was the third Pirates field general to win the award, along with Danny Murtaugh (1960, 1970) and Billy Meyer (1948). 

Mark Redman - 2005 Topps Total

• 2005 - LHP Mark Redman exercised his $4.95M player option for the 2006 season. Acquired as part of the Jason Kendall deal, he went 5-15/4.90 in 2005 for the Bucs. He didn’t make it to camp, though, as the Bucs swapped him to Kansas City for RHP Jonah Bayliss a month later. 
• 2015 - The Pirates had eight free agents after the season: pitchers Antonio Bastardo, Joe Blanton, AJ Burnett, JA Happ & Joakim Soria, 1B Corey Hart, UT Sean Rodriguez, and 3B Aramis Ramirez. S-Rod was the only one of the gang that the team re-signed as AJ and A-Ram retired while the others found new homes as part of the winter marketplace. Bastardo had a homecoming when the Pirates traded to get him back at the 2016 deadline. Rodiguez left the flock after ‘16, but not for long; the Pirates got him back on the roster later in the next campaign. Several other bubble guys were released soon afterward: RHP Radhames Liz, LHP Jeremy Bleich, OF John Bowker, C Wilkin Castillo, RHP Brad Lincoln, RHP Blake Wood and 1B/OF Andrew Lambo. 
• 2023 - The Bucs wasted little time housekeeping after the WS. First, RHP Cody Bolton's contract was sold to Seattle after slashing 1-0/6.33 in 16 outings during the 25-year-old’s rookie campaign. Claimed off waivers: INF Vinny Capra, 27, by Milwaukee. Vinny went 3-for-18 (.167 BA) as a Bucco depth guy. 1B/OF Alfonso Rivas by Cleveland; the 26-year-old hit .237 with three homers in his 40-game Pirates audition; The Padres claimed IF Tucupita Marcano even though the 24-year-old wasn't expected to be ready for the season as he had ACL surgery in August. He hit .233 in 75 games last year before being injured. Waived: RHP Yerry De Los Santos, 25, who was 1-4-3/4.14 during the 2022-23 campaigns in 48 outings, is now with the NYY. OF Miguel Andujar, 28, (.250/4/18 in 40 games), is currently with Oakland and LHP Angel Perdomo, 29, (3-2/3.72 in 30 outings) is in the Atlanta system. Angel missed the end of the season with an elbow injury.

11/1: Miceli Dealt, Ben Picked, Robby ROTY, Pops & Arriba AS's, Roberto, Maz & Alley - GG's, '20 Moves; HBD Eddie, Gary, Miguel, Howie, Larry, Clarence, Earl, Ham & Mike

• 1872 - C Mike Hopkins was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He’s one of only eight native Scotsmen to play MLB, and for him it was just for one game. His family crossed the pond and took up residence in Chartiers (now Carnegie); his dad was a miner and Mike became a railroader. He also played semi-pro ball for Chartiers and his neighbor, Honus Wagner, talked the team into taking him on a road trip in 1902, a year when the Pirates were waltzing away with the pennant. He got into a blowout game at Cincinnati’s Palace of the Fans and went 2-for-2. That was his career; he was married with a child on the way and had a regular day job, so a baseball gig didn’t ring his bell. Mike worked on the RR into the 1940s, played a little sandlot ball, and raised nine children who gave him and the missus 18 grandchildren and two great-grandkids before he passed away at the age of 79. 
• 1884 - PH Robert Hamilton “Ham” Hyatt was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Nominally a 1B/OF but used mainly as a pinch-hitter, Hyatt played for the Bucs from 1910-11, went to the minors for a season and returned from 1912-14, hitting .267 for Pittsburgh. Ham spent a couple of more years in the show and finished off his career with a PCL stint. 
• 1892 - C Earl Blackburn was born in Leesville, Ohio. Earl played for parts of five big league seasons, batting .262, but you can be excused if you missed him in Pittsburgh. He played one game as a 19-year old in 1912, but never made it to bat before moving on to the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves and Chicago Cubs. Blackburn then put in one more season with Kansas City in the American Association before spending 1920 with Bethlehem of the Bethlehem Steel League, an industrial league that raided MLB players, before his horsehide trail turns cold. 
• 1894 - RF Clarence Berger was born in East Cleveland, Ohio. His MLB resume consists of six games for the 1914 Pirates with a 1-for-13 batting line after a late September call up from the Richmond Colts, from which the Bucs had bought Berger’s contract for $2,500. He was released the following year before camp broke, played the season in the minors and got on with his life’s work. 

Larry French - 1934 Goudey

• 1907 - LHP Larry French was born in Visalia, California. He started his 14-year career in Pittsburgh (1929-34) and had a line of 87-83-9/3.50, winning 15 or more games four times with the Pirates. French won 197 games before he hung ‘em up and was an All-Star for the Cubs in 1940. He’s still noted for his 1933 “Soap Game.” With the Bucs up 8-0 in the ninth, French ducked out of the bullpen to get to the hot water first. But the pesky Boston Braves tied the game, and French was summoned to the mound with soap still dripping down his face. It didn’t hurt his performance; he tossed 1-2/3 squeaky-clean innings and got the win in 10 frames. 
• 1934 - OF Howie Goss was born in Wewoka, Oklahoma. Howie spent nine years in the minors before the Bucs called him up in 1962 after he put together a .299/27/100 slash line in the PCL. In 89 games (25 starts) Goss hit .243. As the 1963 camp broke, Goss was traded to the Colt .45s for OF Manny Mota. Goss became Houston's regular CF’er, but hit only .209 in what was his last MLB year. Manny spent six seasons as a Pirate with a .297 BA and went on to become an all-time great as a pinch hitter with the Los Angeles Dodgers. 
• 1945 - OF/3B Ben Guintini was the Pirates selection in the Rule 5 draft. He had hit .283 for the San Francisco Seals in the PCL, but went 0-for-3 as a Buc in 1946 and returned to the Seals, closing out his MLB career with three more games with Philadelphia in 1949, never managing to collect a big league hit. Ben did have a long career in the minors, playing 1,000+ games and once hitting 32 homers. He became a Cadillac salesman after he retired. 
• 1948 - The Pirates hosted the annual farm directors conference at the Hotel Schenley in Oakland, across the street from Forbes Field. Apparently there wasn’t much on the minor league agenda; the meeting lasted just one day with an evening banquet following. The Pittsburgh hosts were Pirates GM Roy Hamey, Farm Director Ray Kennedy and Assistant Director Fred Hering. 

Miguel Dilone - 1977 Topps

• 1954 - OF Miguel Dilone was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic. He played parts of five seasons for Pittsburgh, from 1974-77 and again in 1983, but mustered just 75 PA and a .145 BA over that span and was utilized primarily as a pinch runner, finishing with 23 swipes as a Bucco and 267 lifetime steals. Dilone carved out a 12-year MLB career and had a .265 lifetime BA while playing for seven teams. The speedster was known in the Dominican as the "Saeta Cibaeña" (the Cibao Dart; Cibao is the region where Santiago is located) because of his baserunning chops. He lost an eye in 2009 to a foul ball while he was on the field, distracted while helping coach young players. 
• 1956 - 1B/OF Gary Redus was born in Tanner, Alabama. He was a minor league phenom who hit .462 while playing 68 games for the Pioneer League Billings Mustangs’ in 1978, setting a record for pro baseball that still stands, across all levels and all leagues. Redus played off the bench as a platoon bat for five years (1988-92) and was on three division-winning teams as a Pirate, hitting .255 in 398 Buc games. His biggest day as a Buc was on August 25th, 1989 when he hit for the cycle in a 12–3 victory over the Reds. Redus retired from playing in 1994, coached baseball for six years at Calhoun Community College in Tanner, Alabama, and was an outfield instructor for Pittsburgh and Houston before retiring for good. 
• 1964 - 1B Eddie Williams was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Williams had put in eight MLB years (and another in Japan) playing baseball’s corners when the Pirates added him to their bench at the 1997 deadline, where the 1983 first-rounder (4th overall) hit .247. He got a cup of coffee with San Diego after that and finished his career in Mexico, Korea and the indie leagues. 
• 1967 - 2B Bill Mazeroski, RF Roberto Clemente and SS Gene Alley were named to The Sporting News 1967 NL Gold Glove Team. It was Maz’s eighth GG, Roberto’s seventh and Alley’s second. It would be the last one for the infielders while Clemente still had four more to collect. 

Roberto Clemente - 2022 graphic/MLB

• 1972 - Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente were selected as members of The Sporting News NL All Star team, as selected by the players. Another honor was bestowed on the Bucs when club president Dan Galbreath was selected as the Variety Club’s Sportsman of the Year and was recognized with other awardees at the VC’s annual dinner on November 26th. Dan’s family owned both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Darby Dan stables and produced champions from both. 
• 1978 - RHP Don Robinson was announced as The Sporting News’ Rookie Pitcher of the Year. Used almost solely as a starter, he put together a 14-6/3.47 line and came in third in the NL Rookie of the Year poll as well as finishing among the Top Ten vote getters for the Cy Young Award. Robby finished strong, going 9-1 in 13 starts from August onward with five complete games. 
• 1996 - The Pirates traded RHP Dan Miceli to the Detroit Tigers for RHP Clint Sodowsky. Miceli started out as Pirate and in four years went 8-15-24/5.41. The Bucs gave him nine starts in ‘96 (his only year that he was used as a starter), and he spent the rest of his 14-year career primarily as a set-up guy. Sodowsky went 2-2/3.62 (his FIP was 4.67 and WHIP 1.6) in his only Bucco campaign and he was out of the bigs after tossing three games in 1999 for the Cards. 
• 2020 - After making a boatload of player moves two days before, the Bucs finalized their 40-man roster by removing CF Anthony Alford, RHP Jameson Taillon, IF Phil Evans, RHP Michael Feliz and RHP Clay Holmes from the IL and protecting them on the roster. They had to jettison a couple of more guys to clear space: The Pirates turned down RHP Chris Archer’s $11M option for 2021, making him a FA, RHP Nick Burdi was removed from the IL and DFA'ed after he had his second Tommy John surgery in mid-October while RHP Dovy Neverauskas was waived.

10/31: HAVE A SPOOKY SANHAIM! Six Skip In '11, JR Hired, Leyland MOTY, Heaton & Gott FA's, Cobra Cut, Reuss - May, Thomas Signs; HBD Yamaico, Dee, Ray, Harry & Hardie

• 1862 - RHP James “Hardie” (his middle name was Harding) Henderson was born in Philadelphia. He tossed for six MLB campaigns, his last stint being a five-game swan song with the Alleghenys in 1888, posting a 1-3/5.35 line (he did hit .278; Hardie also played some outfield and a smidgen of infield during his career). Hardie had a good arm but forgot the zip code in his final three seasons, issuing 134 walks in 271 IP. He umpired for a while after that before meeting his Maker at age 40 when he was run down by a trolley in Philadelphia. 
• 1874 - C Harry Smith was born in Yorkshire, England. He was a reserve catcher from 1902-07, hitting just .202 as a Bucco after joining the club as a highly touted youngster following his rookie season with the Philadelphia A’s. When the Bucs signed him, the Pittsburgh Press gushed “Clever Harry Smith...is the catcher pronounced by all the writers who are in sympathy with the National League as being the greatest young backstop in the country.” He didn’t blossom quite as advertised: Harry spent nine years in the NL and hit .209 w/-0.6 WAR. Smith was a player and manager for the Boston Doves briefly and went on to become a minor-league skipper after his playing days ended.
• 1894 - OF Ray O’Brien was born in St. Louis. Ray was a lifetime minor league guy, playing from 1913-32 on various farm clubs, but he did get a taste of the show in 1916 with the Pirates when he hit .211 in 57 AB/16 games. After his Bucco trial, he put together his longest stretch with one club at Denver of the Western League, spending nine seasons with the Bears. 
• 1924 - 1B Dee Fondy was born in Slaton, Texas. Dee joined the Bucs in 1957 from the Cubs after being dealt for Dale Long and Lee Walls, hitting .313 in 95 games. As a Bucco, he was the last player to bat at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn before the Dodgers switched coasts, grounding out. Fondy was a big guy but a contact hitter, and in the off season, the Bucs dealt him to Cincinnati for the more muscular Ted Kluszewski. Following his playing career he worked as a scout and in the FO for the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers, where he signed Paul Molitor. 

Frank Thomas - 1955 Redman All Star

• 1955 - The Pirates signed Frank Thomas to an estimated $18,000 contract after an All-Star season when he belted 25 homers - he had a streak of six straight seasons in Pittsburgh with 23 or more dingers - though batting just .245. It was a good deal; he hit .284 with 83 homers and 278 RBI over the next three campaigns before being traded to Cincy as the centerpiece of a swap that landed Harvey Haddix, Don Hoak and Smoky Burgess for the 1959 Buccos. 
• 1973 - The Astros traded LHP Jerry Reuss to the Pirates for 22-year-old C Milt May. Reuss ended up 61-46-2 with a 3.52 ERA as a Buc and was a rotation mainstay for five seasons. The lefty worked six campaigns in Pittsburgh (1974-78, 1990) and spent his last MLB season as a Pirate. He did get around; Reuss was on the roster of eight different clubs at one time or another and won 220 games in a 22-year career. Milt had a quite respectable shelf life too, playing 11 more seasons, with the final two years (1983-84) a reunion gig with the Pirates. In his 15 campaigns, May hit .263 lifetime (.261 in his six Bucco years).
• 1980 - Dave Parker underwent knee surgery by Michigan Dr. Lanny Johnson to remove loose cartilage. The doc was recommended by Willie Stargell, who was also dealing from knee woes. The Cobra had been hobbled by the injury and a variety of other dings since after the All-Star Game. His knees survived the next season, but he had a series of other injuries (thumb, wrist, Achilles) during the remainder of his contract, exacerbated by weight issues, and signed with his hometown Cincinnati Reds as a free agent in 1984. 
• 1987 - IF Yamaico Navarro was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Navarro got into 79 MLB games over four seasons; 29 were with the Pirates in 2012 after the Bucs sent RHP Brooks Pounders to KC for him. He hit .160 with an OPS+ of 27, then got a short look at Baltimore the next season after an off season deal, and that gig that ended his big league stay. Navarro has spent the last decade playing ball in Korea, Japan, the Dominican and Mexico. 

Yamaico Navarro - 2012 photo Charles LeClair/USA Today Sports

• 1989 - Pitchers Neal Heaton and Jim Gott joined Doug Bair as free agents. Heaton negotiated a solid contract for three years/$2.7M and immediately paid dividends, earning his first All Star berth in ‘90 with a 12-9/3.45 line. The lefty wasn’t as sharp during the next campaign and was sent to KC before camp broke in 1992. Bair also reupped, but at age 40, his tank was empty and 1990 was his last campaign, split between the show and farm. Gott was coming off elbow surgery and the Bucs were unsure how he'd rebound from the injury. He ended up with the Los Angeles Dodgers for four years at the Blue’s back end (14-19-36/2.64 in 235 outings) before ending his career as a Pittsburgh Pirate in 1995. 
• 1990 - Jim Leyland was selected as the National League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He guided the Bucs to 95 wins and a division title, winning the first Pirates flag since 1979 and easily outdistancing the Cincinnati Reds’ Lou Piniella in the field manager polling.
• 2002 - The Pirates hired John Russell away from the Twins. He was a highly-touted minor league coach in the Minnesota organization but was happy to land a gig in the majors when the Bucs brought him aboard to be the third base/catcher coach. He was let go in 2005 with Lloyd McClendon and his staff and moved on to the Phils system, but returned in 2007 as Jim Tracy’s replacement as Bucco manager. He lasted until a 105-loss season cost him his job in 2010 and then went to work for the Baltimore Orioles until 2018; since that time, JR’ been involved as an instructor with Florida’s IMG Academy. 
• 2011 - The line forms at the right: the Pirates lost C Ryan Doumit, C Chris Snyder, SS Ronny Cedeno and LHP Paul Maholm to free agency the day after deadline rentals OF Ryan Ludwick and 1B Derrek Lee had declared themselves FAs. Dewey went to the Twins, Snyder to the ‘Stros, Cedeno to the Mets, Maholm to the Cubs, Ludwick to the Reds and Lee retired.

10/30: Gunner Gone, Roster Wiggles, Lloyd Takes Josh & Cutch Wins Roberto Award, Bull Signs, BB, AVS - '92 AS, Mark-For-Carl, Fireman Dave, Danny Signs; HBD Ian, Lee, Houston, Mosquito, Bobby, Lefty & Pete

• 1866 - RHP Pete Conway was born in Burmont, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philly. For Pete, it was a matter of too much, too soon. He broke into the majors at age 18 in 1885, and by his 1888 campaign made 46 starts, with 43 complete games and 391 IP on the way to a 30-14/2.26 year for the Detroit Wolverines. After Motown disbanded, Conway signed with the Alleghenys for two years at $3500 per year and then worked all of three games even though his arm was shot (the Boston Daily Globe reported that he had “snapped a cord in his arm”; later researchers believed he had a rotator cuff injury) and Pittsburgh suspended him - without pay, of course - for not being in baseball condition. He became a cause celebre with the Players Brotherhood as they tried to get his contract enforced (Pete even reported to the team daily) but to no avail; the injury was deemed to have a “natural cause.” He tried to pitch for a couple of more years, then went to Michigan to get a law degree. He coached the Maize & Blue nine for two years, but wasn’t allotted much time for either career, passing away at age 36 of a heart ailment. His older brother Jim was also a big league pitcher and his career ended because of arm troubles, too. 
• 1884 - Financially troubled despite finishing second to New York in the American Association, the Columbus Colts sold its players to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys for $8‚000 and disbanded. The Alleghenys needed all the help they could get; they finished the 1884 season 30-78 and 45-1/2 games behind the AA champion NY Metropolitans. The deal bolstered the Pittsburgh fortunes: 10 of Columbus’ players stuck on the Alleghenys 1885 roster, and five became core players for years - C Fred Carroll, OF Tom Brown, 2B Pop Smith, 3B Bill Kuehne and P Ed Morris. 
• 1914 - LHP Aldon “Lefty” Wilkie was born in Zealandia, Saskatchewan. Lefty worked three years in the majors, all for Pittsburgh (1941-42, 1946), posting a line of 8-11-3/4.59. He lost 1943-45 to the war as he was sent to Europe by the Army, and he never regained his pitching touch after his return. Lefty worked in the minors through 1951, then retired to Oregon. 
• 1917 - Manager Bobby Bragan was born in Birmingham, Alabama. The former big league infielder managed the Bucs in 1956-57, just before they turned the corner, slating a record of 102-155 (.397) and earning a showman’s rep before Danny Murtaugh took the reins. Bobby moved on to Cleveland and after a break managed the Braves from 1963-66. He went on to become president of the Texas League and chairman of the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation. 

Bobby Bragan & Joe E Brown - Hall of Fame

• 1918 - SS Tony “Mosquito” Ordenana was born in Guanabacoa, Cuba. Ordenana spent from 1942 to 1954 in pro ball, playing in 11 leagues with 14 teams. After appearing in one big league game with the Pirates in 1943, going 2-for-4 w/three RBI while handling seven chances at short, he spent the rest of his pro career in the minor leagues. Mosquito (so called because of his quickness) hurt his MLB cause by batting just .250 without ever swatting a homer on the farm. 
• 1957 - IF Houston Jimenez was born in Mexico City. Jimenez got parts of four seasons in the show, with most of his playing time as a Twin. He went 0-for-6 with a walk as a Bucco, getting into five games in 1987 before moving on to the Indians for a final cup of coffee the following campaign. Houston finished out his career playing winter ball and in the Mexican League, taking his last at bat in 2001 as a 43-year-old. He’s managed below the border since and was recognized in 2013 when he was selected into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame. 
• 1959 - Danny Murtaugh was inked to a one-year contract, per the Pirates policy, for an undisclosed amount, another FO standard. Bill Burwell, Frank Oceak, Sam Narron, Lenny Levy and George Detore all stayed on as members of his coaching staff. Murtaugh, 42, had led the Buccos to 162 wins during back-to-back campaigns after the dark ages of the early-to-mid 50’s, with the best to come. 
• 1960 - RHP Byron Lee Tunnell was born in Tyler, Texas. The Baylor righty was the Bucs’ second pick in the 1981 draft. He arrived in Pittsburgh the following September and then went 11-6/3.85 in 1983, but his four year run (1982-85) produced just a 17-24-1/4.06 line overall. Lee went on to toss for St. Louis and Minnesota. He later pitched in the Japanese League for three seasons, then coached in the minor leagues for the Rangers and Reds. Tunnell joined the Milwaukee Brewers in 2009 as a minor league pitching coordinator and became the Brew Crew bullpen coach in 2012. 

Lee Tunnell - 1989 Fleer Super Star

• 1971 - Dave Giusti was named The Sporting News Fireman of the Year by posting a line of 5-6-30/2.93 during the season after being the runner up in ‘70 to the Reds’ Wayne Granger. Though postseason stats weren’t considered for the point-based award, he was brilliant in the NLCS v the Giants and the World Series against the Orioles, giving up just four hits and no runs in 10-2/3 innings (seven outings) while earning three saves. Guisti was the last Pirate to win the award before it was renamed after the 2010 campaign; Roy Face (1962) and Al McBean (1964) were previous awardees. Also, the TSN issued on this date featured Roberto Clemente as the cover boy on its World Series Wrap Up issue, fittingly subtitled the “Corsair Cannon” for the ‘71 World Series MVP. 
• 1975 - Westinghouse Broadcasting stunned Pirate fans by announcing that Bob “The Gunner” Prince and sidekick Nellie King were getting the ax. At the time, no major league broadcaster had ever spent more years (29) with one team than Prince had with the Pirates. The reasons given were that the pair didn’t do enough to promote the team and went off-topic too often (guilty of the latter, but not the former). Despite public outrage and a parade in his support that drew 10,000 fans, the duo were replaced by Milo Hamilton, formerly of the Atlanta Braves booth, and Lanny Frattare, the voice of the Pirates AAA Charleston club. 
• 1981 - RHP Ian Snell was born in Dover, Delaware. He spent parts of six seasons (2004-09) as a Pirate starter, showing promise but never quite getting over the hump with a line of 33-46/4.75. Ian was demoted to Indy in 2009, at his own request, and traded to Seattle a month later. He bombed there and was DFA’ed in June of 2010, ending his MLB career, despite a couple of comeback efforts. 
• 1991 - Mark Sauer was named club president/CEO after Carl Barger left for the Florida Marlins to deal with upcoming big-name free agency and negotiations to cut Pirates expenses at TRS without much financial ammunition. Sauer oversaw the cost-cutting that gutted the Pirates' 1990-92 powerhouse teams as per the orders of the Pirates' public-private ownership to reduce payroll, losing players like Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds, Doug Drabek and Andy Van Slyke. He was eased out of action by the Kevin McClatchy group and resigned in the summer of 1996; McClatchy slid into Sauers' CEO/President title. 

BB & AVS - 1992 Upper Deck

• 1992 - Outfielders Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke were named to the Associated Press All-Star team. Bonds’ line was .311 BA/34 HR/103 RBI and he would later be named the NL-MVP. AVS hit .324 and scored 103 times. But the eminent early-1990s club was coming apart. BB was an FA and signed with the Giants in December. AVS went on to have an All-Star year in ‘93, only to be curtailed by a broken collarbone just before the break, and then had a subpar ‘94 during the strike-shortened season. After that campaign, he moved on to Baltimore. 
• 2002 - The Pirates signed the first overall pick of the draft, RHP Bryan Bullington, to a $4M deal, the most they had ever paid a draftee. The 22-year-old from Ball State was expected to be a power arm but never panned out; labrum surgery cost him the 2006 season and he was never the same pitcher afterwards. The Pirates cut him in 2007 after just three starts and six games in the show, and he failed to stick in later stints with Cleveland, Toronto and Kansas City. 
• 2003 - The Pirates announced price cuts for their 2004 tickets, slicing $3/ducat off full season ticket plans, a dollar off for partial fans and a sliding discount scale for single-game tickets. “We still haven’t delivered anything that we’re supposed to deliver,” Kevin McClatchy told Robert Dvorchak of the Post Gazette. “We have to do better on the field.” The move was estimated to require an extra 100,000 fans to break even, but McClatchy figured the cuts would boost the gate. 
• 2015 - Andrew McCutchen became just the second Pirate to win the MLB’s Roberto Clemente community service award, following Willie Stargell, who took the honor in 1974. Cutch was presented the trophy during pre-game ceremonies before the third game of the World Series between the Mets and Royals at Citi Field. Andrew won the Pirate’s RC Award a record four straight times (2012-15), and holds the club mark of five in all, also taking the prize in 2009. Among his causes were the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, the Homeless Children's Education Fund, the Light of Life Rescue Mission and Habitat for Humanity. He also started the local “Cutch’s Crew” for at-risk inner-city kids. Even after he was traded, McCutchen returned to Pittsburgh to sponsor a week of community projects. 

Cutch wins Clemente award - 2015 Sports Illustrated

• 2019 - LHP Sam Howard was claimed by the Bucs from the Rockies. He was prone to the occasional meltdown outing; while he averaged better than a K per inning, he was bitten by walks and homers that blew up his ERA. Still, the lefty mostly provided the Pirates with some solid mid-game work in 2020-21. He was waived to Detroit in 2022 and is now a free agent. 
• 2020 - In a short season that still saw 11 players end up on the 60-day IL, the Pirates had to make more moves than Salome to straighten out their postseason 40-man roster. They added C Michael Perez from Tampa Bay, then outrighted holdover backstops Luke Maile and John Ryan Murphy to make Perez the early backup to Jake Stallings. They also lost LHP Brandon Waddel to the Twins and RHP Nick Tropeano was claimed by the Mets off waivers. IF Kevin Kramer, RHP Yacksel Ríos and OF Jason Martin were returned from the injured list and outrighted off the 40-man roster. Before the cuts were made, pitchers Keone Kela and Derek Holland had declared free agency to start the culling of the herd. 
• 2021 - Former Pirates player, coach and manager Lloyd McClendon received the 2021 Josh Gibson Legacy Award at a celebration held at the Wyndham Grand hotel. The Gary, Indiana native’s career began as “Legendary Lloyd” as a little leaguer and included playing eight years for three MLB teams, coaching for two more, and managing three others. Mac was also the first full time African American manager/head coach of any of Pittsburgh’s three major sports teams.