11/20: Stu - Pags, Vern & Maz All-Stars, Big Daddy CoY, Ed, Jim & Joe Inked, JR Names 1st Staff, Hamey Goes, Bucs For Sale, Players Shuffled, Pie Dined; HBD Jeff, John & Pinch

• 1880 - SS George “Pinch” McBride was born in Milwaukee. McBride put together a 16-year career, mainly with the Senators, but one of his early stopping points was in Pittsburgh in 1905, where as Honus Wagner’s sub, he hit .218 in 27 games (also his lifetime BA; George was a good field, bad hit SS) before being sent to St Louis for Dave Brain in July. Despite that sickly average, he earned his nickname because of his perceived talent to hit in a pinch. McBride spent his final couple of years in Washington as a player/coach and was rewarded with the skipper’s job in 1921, but only lasted one season due to an odd injury - he was conked by a ball thrown by an OF’er during warm-ups and suffered dizzy spells the rest of the year. He resigned and left baseball until 1925, coached for a while and then retired for good, living to the ripe old age of 92. 
• 1887 - RHP John Scheneberg was born in Guyandotte, West Virginia. John got his only MLB start in 1913, going six innings for the Bucs and giving up four earned runs (five overall) on 10 hits to take the loss. He got one more big league outing as a St. Louis Browns reliever in 1920, getting shelled for seven runs in two frames. John nevertheless had a long pro career, working from 1910-21 on the farm, with time off during the war. He went 12-0 in 14 games for Class D Paris (Kentucky) in 1911 and won 19 games for Joplin of the Western League in 1920. 
• 1948 - The Pirates purchased righty reliever/spot starter Bob Muncrief from the World Champion Cleveland Indians. He was solid for the St. Louis Browns during the war years of 1941-45, slashing 58-49-5/3.21 and appearing in the 1944 World Series, but following a couple of subpar seasons after the baseball warriors returned from duty, they traded him to the Tribe. He bounced back there, going 5-4/3.98, and the Bucs bought his contract for $20K. If the Pirates thought the 32-year-old was catching a second wind, his line of 1-5-3/6.31 brought them back to earth and he was waived in June. He pitched for four teams from 1946-49 and went 44-41-5/4.83. Two comeback outings in 1951 with the New York Yankees marked the end of Bob’s MLB trail. 
• 1950 - Pirates GM Roy Hamey resigned and was replaced by Branch Rickey. He was under contract until 1952, but with Branch Rickey on board and a chance to go to Gotham, he decided the iron was hot. Hamey had been a New York Yankee baseball exec for a dozen years who got his first GM gig in Pittsburgh in 1946. He hired Billy Meyer to manage and added players Tiny Bonham, Bob Chesnes and Hank Greenberg to go with holdover Ralph Kiner. What he didn’t develop was a farm system to stock a team lacking in depth, Rickey’s forte. Hamey landed on his feet, returning to the Yankees as GM George Weiss’ assistant, and was in various exec suites until 1970. Rickey would falter in restoring the Bucco sheen too, but his minor league spadework helped his 1955 replacement, Joe Brown, build the successful late-fifties & sixties Pirates. 

Joe Brown - 1985 photo George Gojkovich/Getty

• 1956 - 38-year-old GM Joe Brown was given a new contract after he had generated a bit of a buzz both on the field and at the gate for the Pirates in his first campaign behind the wheel. Terms of the agreement weren’t leaked, but Brown told reporters “I’ll be around for awhile” when quizzed on the length of the deal. He sure enough was; Joe lasted as GM from 1956-76 and came back in 1985 to help transition a battered and embattled franchise. 
• 1960 - RHP Vern Law and 2B Bill Mazeroski were named to The Sporting News MLB All-Star team, selected by the Baseball Writers of America Association. Law went 20-9/3.08 and won the Cy Young while Maz hit .273 and earned a Golden Glove; both were also mid-season All Stars. The NL continued to be well represented by winning eight of the team’s 11 spots. 
• 1962 - The Pirates traded 1B Dick Stuart and RHP Jack Lamabe to the Boston Red Sox for RHP Don Schwall and C Jim Pagliaroni. Pags appeared in 490 games over the next five years for the Bucs, batting .254 while Schwall became a multi-role pitcher, tossing four years for Pittsburgh with a 22-23-4/3.24 ERA. Stu hit 103 homers in the next three seasons and then faded away, while Lamabe lasted six more seasons in the show, with strong campaigns in 1966-67. 
• 1971 - Pie Traynor, the first third baseman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, was honored by the Baseball Writers with a dinner program at the William Penn Hotel ballroom, MC’ed by another Pirates HOF player and Mets broadcaster, Ralph Kiner. Guests included Lloyd “Little Poison” Waner, Frankie Frisch, Stan “The Man” Musial, “Bullet” Bob Feller, Joe “Ducky” Medwick and Edd Roush. 
• 1984 - Dan Galbreath announced his decision to sell the Pirates, saying that his family didn’t want to unload the team but as a family ownership group, the drain on their assets was more than they could handle. He added that the team was to remain in Pittsburgh as he considered the agreement to play at TRS through 2011 to be unbreakable (though he would quickly change his mind). It was the first step in what was to prove a long, strange trip... 

Big Daddy - 1985 Fleer

• 1985 - 36-year-old Rick Reuschel was named the NL’s Major League Comeback Player of the Year by United Press International. Big Daddy went 14-8/2.27, starting the year with Hawaii in the Pacific Coast League after signing as a free agent with Pittsburgh in February. Rick went on to win 71 more games in the next five seasons with the Bucs and Giants before leaving the slab in 1991. 
• 1985 - Syd Thrift hired Jim Leyland to manage the Pirates, replacing Chuck Tanner after a 57-104 finish in ‘85. During his Pirate era of 1986 to 1996, Leyland won two Manager of the Year awards (1990 & 1992), finished as runner-up in 1988 and 1991, and led the team to three divisional titles (1990-92) before taking the reins in Florida, Colorado and then Detroit. 
• 1987 - LHP Jeff Locke was born in North Conway, New Hampshire. He joined the Bucs in 2009 as part of Nate McLouth’s trade, and the Redstone Rocket (nicknamed by a local paper, Redstone is his home 'hood, Jeff had a mean HS fastball, and that was added to the association of NASA’s moon-launch from a Redstone Rocket) made his MLB debut in 2011, joining the rotation full time in 2013 and earning an All-Star berth. He was DFA’ed in 2016, tossed for Miami, sat out nearly two seasons after a shoulder injury and never returned to MLB. 
• 1995 - The Pirates lost OF Micah Franklin and reliever Jeff McCurry to the Tigers via waiver claims and DFA’ed pitchers Rick White, Dennis Konuszewski and Gary Wilson to AAA Calgary. They added C Jason Kendall, OF’s Jermaine Allenworth, Trey Beamon and Charles Peterson to the 40-man. Later, they re-signed White, but he had arm surgery and missed the year. As it ended up, Kendall was the only true keeper; he debuted in April, got into 130 games and batted .300. 
• 1996 - The Bucs made a flurry of moves to set their 40-man roster. They added nine guys: OFs Adrian Brown, Jose Guillen & TJ Staton; IFs Jeff Cromer & Lou Collier and Ps Kane Davis, John Dillinger, Jeff Kelly & Jose Pett, none of whom ever stood out for Pittsburgh although Guillen would later blossom. There was also some addition by subtraction: IF Nelson Liriano was taken by the Dodgers (which had also snagged John Wehner a month earlier) and P Marc Pisciotta, who was lost to the Cubs after being waived. Also in the air: rumors were flying that Jeff King and Jay Bell were being dangled (the Indians and O’s were early frontrunners), and though the teams involved were off, the rumors weren’t as both were dealt to the Kansas City Royals in December. 

Adrian Brown - 1997 Best

• 2001 - The Pirates hired Ed Creech away from the Dodgers (he also worked for the Expos and Cards) and made him their new scouting director, taking over for Mickey White. He held that role until October of 2007, when the Pirates under Neil Huntington began to make their housekeeping changes (he was replaced by Greg Smith) and Ed moved on to the Giants. 
• 2003 - Pittsburgh added pitchers Sean Burnett, Mike Johnston, John Van Benschoten and Ian Oquendo (Ian Snell), their minor league Pitcher of the Year, to their 40-man roster after losing pitchers Duaner Sanchez and Matt Guerrier, along w/OF Walter Young, on waivers. They were good choices; all four appeared for the big team in 2004. The shuffling left the roster at 37 players. 
• 2007 - Newly hired manager John Russell started to put together his staff, naming Tony Beasley third base coach, Gary Varsho bench coach and Luis Dorante bullpen coach. He later added Jeff Andrews as pitching coach, Don Long as batting coach and Lou Frazier as the first base coach to complete his first staff. It was new management but the same ol’ results - the team went from 68 wins in ‘07 to 67 in ‘08 and finished in sixth place again in the NL Central 
• 2018 - The Pirates sent RHP Tanner Anderson to Oakland for a PTBNL (RHP Wilkin Ramos). Anderson, 25, was a Harvard grad and had a six-game audition with the Pirates in 2018, going 1-0/6.35, with solid farm stats and a 60% ground ball rate. He was considered a potential mid-inning arm for the pen, but was caught in a 40-man roster churn and moved to the A’s. He didn’t impress in Oakland and was DFA’ed in late 2019; he pitched some indie ball in 2020 and returned to the A’s system in ‘21. He then rejoined the Pittsburgh fold briefly before being DFA’ed at the end of the year; since then, he’s pitched in several foreign leagues and is now a free agent. Ramos was a teen lotto ticket, having pitched in the Dominican but not yet stateside. He tossed very little in 2019, trying to work through a bum elbow, was a non-camp minor leaguer in 2020 and saw action in the Rookie GCL in ‘21 as a 20-year-old. He’s now in the Mets system. 
• 2019 - The Pirates added 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes, SS Oneil Cruz, 1B/OF Will Craig, and RHP's Blake Cederlind & Cody Ponce to the 40-man roster, DFA'ing P’s Dario Agrazal, Montana DuRapau, Luis Escobar and Williams Jerez. There was a lot of churn; the Pirates still had eight players on the 60-day IL to restore (RHP Chris Archer, RHP Nick Burdi, RHP Kyle Crick, RHP Chad Kuhl, OF Jason Martin, OF Gregory Polanco, RHP Edgar Santana, RHP Jameson Taillon), and so prior to these moves, they let LHP Frankie Liriano, OF Melky Cabrera & OF/3B Lonnie Chisenhall walk, outrighted RHP James Marvel, RHP Alex McRae, RHP Yefry Ramirez, LHP Wei-Chung Wang, C Steven Baron, IF/OF Jake Elmore & IF Corban Joseph and sold RHP Parker Markel to the Angels.

11/19: Groat - Cardwell, Lind Deal, Bonds MVP, 40-Man Flippin', Non-Profit Bucs, Pops Good Guy, Mickey Moves; HBD Jonathan, Bobby, Manny, Stu, Elmer, Billy Z, Billy S, Denny & Uncle Al

• 1847 - Albert "Uncle Al" Pratt was born in Allegheny City, now the North Side. Pratt was a pitcher who played for three top flight Pittsburgh indy teams, the Enterprise Club, The Allegheny Club and the Xanthus. The Civil War vet also tossed a couple of years for the professional Cleveland Forest Citys and then umpired afterward, but is best remembered locally as the skipper of the first major league club in Pittsburgh, the Allegheny, which joined the American Association in 1882. Uncle Al managed the club from 1882-83, going 51-56. He was also an organizer of the Union Association, and a part owner of the National League Pittsburgh club in 1890 during the Players League revolt. Uncle Al's biggest moment came on May 4th, 1871, when in front of 200 fans, Pratt pitched in the first contest of the National Association, baseball's initial pro circuit. His Forest City nine lost, 2-0, to Fort Wayne. He got his nickname, per Frederick Lieb, author of 1948's "The Pittsburgh Pirates," because of the affection the Pirates' rooters had for him. 
• 1855 - LHP Denny Driscoll was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He tossed for four big league campaigns with a pair of seasons as an Allegheny sandwiched in the middle. He led the American Association with a 1.21 ERA in 1882 for Pittsburgh and was the opening day starter in ‘83. But after spinning over 530 innings for the North Siders, the wear showed and he worked barely 100 frames, making just 13 starts for Louisville the next year. He didn’t pitch in 1885 and there would be no comeback as he passed away at the age of 30 from consumption in ‘86. 
• 1862 - OF Billy Sunday was born in Ames, Iowa. Sunday spent three seasons (1888-90) with the Alleghenys before being traded for two players and $1,100 as an early salary dump because the team was broke. He was a flashy outfielder and speedster, supposedly the fastest player of his era, but hit just .243 for Pittsburgh. His true calling was as an evangelical preacher, and from the turn of the century until his death in 1935 he was renown for preaching non-denominational Christianity across the country. He used his reputation as a ballplayer to promote his tent revivals during his early years of spreading the Good Word. 
• 1895 - OF Billy Zitzmann was born in Long Island City (Queens County, New York). He began his six-year MLB run with 11 games for the Bucs in 1919, going 5-for-26 (.192). Billy last appeared in the show in 1929 for the Reds, the only other big league he played for over the rest of his career. He didn’t get the game out of his system until 1937, retiring at the age of 41 as a minor league player/manager, though he did take a couple of lengthy breaks in between campaigns. 

Elmer Tutwiler - 1928 photo from Conlon Collection/Getty

• 1904 - RHP Elmer Tutwiler was born in Carbon Hill, Alabama. Elmer’s MLB resume consists of two games with the 1928 Pirates, during which he gave up a pair of runs in 3-2/3 IP. The 23-year-old was sent to the Southeastern League, and then spun his final four campaigns for Omaha and St. Josephs in the Western League before stepping off the rubber for good after the 1932 campaign. 
• 1912 - IF Stu Martin was born in Rich Square, North Carolina. He got his start with the Cardinals, earning an All-Star spot, and was sold to the Pirates for the 1941-42 campaigns after his stick began to wear down. He bounced back to hit .305, but struggled in ‘42, was sent to the minors and played his last season for the Cubs. He missed 1944-45 as a member of the Navy and like many guys who went to the service, Stu never made it back to the show but spent the rest of his ball-playing days in the minors. Martin retired after the 1948 season after three years as a player/manager. The decision was easy after he was beaned by Whitey Ford, who was a Class D pitcher at the time, costing him six weeks of his final campaign. 
• 1938 - OF Manny Jimenez was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Manny was a solid minor league hitter and in parts of seven big league campaigns hit a respectable .272, but had a tough big-league row to hoe as a corner OF’er with an average glove and little power. He played for the Pirates in 1967-68, hitting .279, and dealt to the Cubs for RHP Chuck Hartenstein. 
• 1945 - OF Bobby Tolan was born in Los Angeles. Bobby spent 13 years in the show and made a brief stop near the end of his big league trail in Pittsburgh, hitting .203 in 49 games during the 1977 season after being released in June by Philadelphia. He spent 1978 in Japan and came back for 25 games with San Diego in ‘79 before hangin’ up the spikes. 

Bobby Tolan - 1977 Steiner Sports photo

• 1960 - Mickey Vernon was plucked from Danny Murtaugh’s staff to become coach of the expansion Washington Senators. It was a homecoming for Mickey, who had played 14 years in DC and won a pair of batting crowns as a Senator. He managed there from 1961-63, with a career record of 135–227. He returned to the Pirates’ staff in 1964 and was a baseball nomad afterward, coaching for St. Louis, Los Angeles, Montreal and the Yankees. The former 1B managed at the AAA and AA levels of the minor leagues and served as a batting instructor in the KC Royals and NY Yankees' farm systems before retiring in 1988 as a NY scout. 
• 1962 - Dick Groat was traded with LHP Diomedes Olivo to the St. Louis Cardinals for RHP Don Cardwell and IF Julio Gotay. Groat played five more years, making two All-Star teams, finishing second in the MVP vote in 1963, and won another World Series. Traded as part of a Joe Brown youth movement, Groat anticipated the deal, but wasn’t happy about it - he was born in Wilkinsburg - and didn’t associate with the team again until a 1990 reunion of the ‘60 champs. Cardwell went 33-33-1/3.28 in four Pirates seasons while Gotay, who was hoped to challenge Ducky Schofield at SS, got into seven games in two years here. 
• 1979 - Willie Stargell was recognized as a “Good Guy” at a luncheon in the Hilton by Gordon’s Gin Company, which presented him with a $10,000 check to fight Sickle Cell Anemia and sponsored a 12-city tour to raise funds and awareness to battle the disease. Among the speakers at his soiree were Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and Pittsburgh Mayor Dick Caligiuri. Willie had his wife Delores with him; that seemed only fair, as it was their 13th wedding anniversary. 
• 1982 - LHP Jonathan Sanchez was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The lefty was a non-roster invite to camp in 2013 but when the team headed north, he had landed the #4 spot in the rotation. But what happened in Florida stayed in Florida in his case - he was rocked for seven HR in 13-2/3 IP (0-3/11.85) and after his appeal of a six-day suspension for hitting Allen Craig was denied in late April, he was done in Pittsburgh and MLB. Sanchez had a strong 2010 campaign for the Giants but couldn’t follow up during his final three seasons, giving up 124 ERs in 180 IP on 187 hits, of which 27 left the yard, and 127 walks. He signed minor league deals with the Dodgers, Cubs, Reds and Royals, last tossing in the US in 2014, with his final pitch spun in 2019 in the Puerto Rican League. 

Jonathan Sanchez - 2013 photo/MLB.com

• 1986 - Pirates president Malcolm Prine refused to divulge how much the Pirates had lost during the year, just saying that it was “...less than in the prior period...” when the Galbreaths owned the club, citing an ongoing audit. However, the Pirates reportedly lost $8M in 1985 and $10M in 1986, which was a big deal. The Bucs were under their first year of public-private ownership and started the year with $24M to play with from the investors; if the team burned through that before five years were up, the TRS lease could be invalidated and the team would be free to move on to greener pastures. Spoiler alert: they would somehow muddle through. 
• 1990 - LF Barry Bonds won the National League MVP in a runaway by taking the top spot on 23 of the 24 ballots cast to best teammate and runner-up Bobby Bonilla (.280/32/120). Bonds hit .301 with 23 HR, 114 RBI, and 52 stolen bases. The All-Star duo led the Pirates to 95 wins and a first place finish in the NL East, but Pittsburgh lost to the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS. His victory gave the Pirates a clean sweep of the top NL individual honors, though, with MVP Bonds, Cy Young winner Doug Drabek and Manager of the Year Jimmy Leyland. 
• 1992 - The Pirates traded 2B Jose Lind to the Kansas City Royals for LHP Dennis Moeller and RHP Joel Johnston. Chico was beset with personal problems and was out of baseball after the 1995 season. Johnston, once the Royals top prospect, had a solid 1993 season (2-4-2/3.38) but quickly faded and tossed his final MLB game in 1995; Moeller made 10 appearances for Pittsburgh (1-0/9.92) and those were his last big league outings. 
• 2004 - The Pirates waived vet IF Abraham Nunez along with OF JJ Davis (who was eventually traded to Washington), OF Tony Alvarez and 1B Carlos Garcia. They added seven youngsters to the 40-man: OF’s Nate McLouth, Rajai Davis & Chris Duffy; P’s Jeff Miller, Leo Nunez and Matt Peterson, and 1B Brad “Big Country” Eldred. They had earlier released pitcher Nelson Figueroa and allowed hurlers Jason Boyd, Mark Corey, Jim Mann & Pat Mahomes to become FAs. 

Zach Duke - 2010 Topps National Chickle

• 2010 - The Pirates DFA’ed LHP Zach Duke, 3B Andy LaRoche and IF Delwin Young to clear 40-man roster space for pitchers Michael Crotta, Jeff Locke, Kyle McPherson, Tony Watson and Daniel Moskos. Watson was the keeper, tossing for 11 seasons and earning an All-Star outing. 
• 2021 - Ya do need a scorecard! The Pirates added SS Liover Peguero and OFs Canaan Smith-Njigba, Jack Suwinski and Travis Swaggerty to the 40-man roster. They DFA'ed C Michael Perez to clear a final spot after releasing RHP Tanner Anderson, C Taylor Davis and INF/OF Phillip Evans earlier. Before that, the Bucs had outrighted IF Wilmer Difo, LHP Chasen Shreve and RHPs Chase De Jong, Connor Overton, Kyle Keller, Enyel De Los Santos and Shea Spitzbarth to AAA to create space for six pitchers returning from the 60-day IL - LHPs Steven Brault & Dillon Peters and RHPs Blake Cederlind, Jose Soriano, Duane Underwood Jr. & Bryse Wilson. The Pirates later added IF Diego Castillo to their 40-man and DFA'ed Soriano. RHPs Shelby Miller and Trevor Cahill, along with 1B/OF Yoshi Tsutsugo, became free agents after the World Series. All that movement left OF Cal Mitchell, 1B Mason Martin, LHP Omar Cruz and righties Cody Bolton, Tahnaj Thomas & Eddie Yean among the prospects who were left available for the Rule 5 draft, which ended up canceled after all that.

11/18 Through the 1960s: Murtaugh Trade, Allies To NL, Reserve Ruling; HBD Mark, Jim, Curt, Gene, Rocky, Roy & Bill

• 1882 - The case of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys versus C Charlie Bennett was decided OTD. Prior to the 1882 season, Allegheny gave Bennett $100 to sign an agreement binding him to a future 1883 contract with the club. Instead, Bennett re-signed with the Detroit Wolverines, triggering the proceedings. The Western Pennsylvania District Court ruled in Bennett’s favor for several reasons, including restraint of trade and the lack of a concrete ‘83 contract agreed to by the parties. His case later was cited during the fight over the reserve rule during the 1889-1890 Players League battle. He played for the Wolverines for eight seasons, and they named their stadium after him. Charlie is also credited with the first chest protector; his was a cork-lined vest he wore under his jersey. Sadly, Bennett lost a foot on one leg and the other was amputated below the knee in 1894 when he was run over by a train. He ran a cigar store afterward and Motown still loved him; Charlie caught the first pitch on Opening Day for 30 straight years. 
• 1886 - The Alleghenys officially joined the National League, becoming the first franchise to make the jump from the American Association. The club made a reported profit of $160,000 in 1886 (per Wikipedia) and finished second in the AA, making the decision a no-brainer for the NL, which had a pair of franchises to replace. The 1887 Pittsburgh Alleghenys finished sixth in their first NL campaign with a 55-69 record. They played at Recreation Park that year and became unofficially known as the Pirates a few seasons later in 1891. (In 1890, they were referred to as the “Innocents” because in the eyes of the local media, they played as if they were children who had never had seen a baseball, but Lou Bierbauer’s “piracy” changed that tag quickly enough). The Bucs, btw, date their history from the Alleghenys entrance into the NL, although the the franchise formed in 1882 and played in the American Association, a rival that was considered to be major league at the time, with the two league champions playing each other in the postseason from 1884-90 in loosely organized, albeit unofficial title bouts. 

Alleghenys Join NL - Pgh Daily Post 11/18/1886

• 1896 - RHP Bill Hughes was born in Philadelphia. Bill got to toss just two MLB frames, working as a Bucco on September 15th, 1921 and giving up a run with two whiffs. But Hughes made his living as a mound workhorse despite his lack of big league time. He pitched for 20 minor league seasons for 11 teams from 1920-39, winning 302 games while taking the bump for 761 outings and 4,803-2/3 IP. Bill won 20 games or more twice and notched double-digit wins in 18 of his 20 farm campaigns before retiring at the age of 42. 
• 1923 - RHP Roy Wise was born in Springfield, Illinois. The 20-year-old Wise worked three innings in two outings on back-to-back days in May with the Bucs in 1944. He gave up three runs on four hits with three walks and a whiff as his big league stat line. Wise was sent to Albany and appears to have continued his career in the Minnesota semi-pro leagues, a pretty active scene for local town-and-company baseball in the late 40’s and 50’s. 
• 1924 - 1B Glenn “Rocky” Nelson was born in Portsmouth, Ohio. He got a cup of coffee with Pittsburgh in 1951, left and then later returned to platoon with Dick Stuart from 1959-61. He hit .270 as a Pirate, and in the 1960 World Series went 3-for-9 with a Game Seven homer and two RBI. Rocky may have been a MLB journeyman, but he was a minor league terror. In 1958, Nelson was voted the International League’s MVP after winning the triple crown while with the Toronto Maple Leaf club. He was inducted into the IL Hall of Fame and later into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He earned his nickname the hard way according to SABR: while in the St. Louis Cardinals training camp, Whitey Kurowski bounced a ball off Nelson's noggin during a pepper game without apparent effect and then added insult to injury by anointing him Rocky after the misadventure. 
• 1925 - Gene Mauch, long time MLB manager, was born in Salina, Kansas. He made a brief stop in Pittsburgh in 1947 as a 21-year-old infielder, batting .300 in 16 games after serving in the military for two years and spending another season in the Dodger farm system. His claim to fame was as a big league skipper/small ball advocate who won over 1,900 games (he lost over 2,000 times, too), though never claiming a pennant - his clubs finished one game shy of the flag three times during his four-team managing career that lasted from 1960-87. 

Curt Raydon - 1960 Topps

• 1933 - RHP Curt Raydon was born in Bloomington, Indiana. Raydon had a strong 8-4/3.62 line in his 1958 rookie season, but never pitched in the show again. He came up with a sore arm after the campaign and was only able to toss 15 AAA games in 1959. In spring training of the following season, his arm pain continued, so Curt gave up baseball and became a policeman. 
• 1943 - LHP Jim Shellenback was born in Riverside, California. He was a seldom used reliever for the Pirates from 1966-67 and 1969, slashing 1-1-2/3.35 in 16 outings. He put together a nine-year career with some solid seasons for the Washington Senators, and afterward became a long-time minor league pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins organization. 
• 1947 - The Bucs traded for 1B Johnny Hopp and 2B Danny Murtaugh, sending the Boston Braves C Bill Salkeld, RHP Al Lyons, and OF Jim Russell. Hopp played three years for the Pirates, hitting .310 but providing little power as a first baseman. Murtaugh’s career was stronger as a manager than player, though the key unintended consequence to this trade was bringing the Irishman into the Bucco fold. He started full-time around the infield in 1948, hitting .290, then finishing his playing career as a Bucco reserve in 1951 before taking on his skipper duties on the farm and ultimately Pittsburgh. Russell spent four more MLB seasons with Boston and Brooklyn, Salkeld hit .248 in two Braves campaigns, and 1948 would be Lyons’ last big league season. 
• 1949 - Despite hitting .310 with a league-leading 54 HR and 127 RBI, Ralph Kiner finished fourth in the NL MVP balloting. Jackie Robinson, Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter won, placed and showed as Ralph was running in some fast company. 
• 1965 - RHP Mark Petkovsek was born in Beaumont, Texas. A 1987 first-round pick of the Texas Rangers in 1987, he came to the Bucs as a free agent in 1992. He spent a year at Indianapolis, then got a shot at the big club in 1993. Petko went 3-0 in 26 outings from the pen (he had been used as a starter prior to the call-up) but posted a 6.96 ERA/1.608 WHIP and was released after the year. Petkovsek came back with the St. Louis Cards in ‘95 and tossed through the 2001 campaign, closing out his career where it began in Texas.

11/18 From 1980: Rincon - Giles, Newman - Mauri, Ben Hired, Jay & Gonzo All-Rookie, Russ Goes, Clint & Josh Honors, Roster Rumbas; HBD Jameson

• 1988 - It was the last day to set the roster before the minor league draft, and the Pirates filled their 40-man list to the brim by adding minor league pitchers Stan Belinda, Brett Gideon, Willie Smith & Mike Walker, OF’s Moise Alou & Jeff Cook and 3B Jeff King. Then they released IF Al Pedrique & RHP Dave Johnson and sent RHP Vicente Palacios, who had August rotator cuff surgery, to AAA Buffalo. Also vacating the roster were recently declared free agents RHP Bob Walk, OF Gary Redus and LHP Dave LaPoint. Additionally, the club named Cam Bonifay as the Director of Scouting; in five years, he would end up as General Manager. 
• 1991 - RHP Jameson Taillon was born in Lakeland, Florida. The high school righty was the second pick of the 2010 draft behind Bryce Harper after the Pirates FO debated on whether to select him or Manny Machado. JT zoomed through the minors and was slated for a 2014 debut. Instead, he had TJ surgery, followed by a sports hernia operation. Despite missing all of 2014-15, he arrived in Pittsburgh on June 8th, 2016, and claimed a spot in the rotation. 2017 continued his rocky physical road as he fought off cancer, but still put together a line of 8-7/4.44 in 25 starts. He broke out in 2018 after a jerky early season performance, going 14-10/3.20 with a streak of 22 starts giving up three earned runs or fewer starting on May 27th and running through the end of the year. But he got off to a slow start in 2019, and with good reason - he required another TJ surgery, and missed 2020. He was traded to the Yankees in 2021 for four youngsters: pitchers Roansy Contreras and Miguel Yajure, OF Canaan Smith-Njigba and IF Maikol Escotto. In 2022, he left Gotham and signed a four-year deal with the Chicago Cubs. 
• 1992 - The Pirates began to clean up their 40-man roster and chop salaries in a three-day frenzy. The first to be set free were RHP Vicente Palacios, who joined the Padres, and OF Gary Varsho, who inked a deal with the Reds. The Bucs then released OF Cecil Espy (Cincy took him, too) and RHP Roger Mason, who signed with the Mets. On the next day, LHP Bob Patterson was given the Friday heave-ho, landing with the Rangers. They were among the dozen 1992 Buccos who found a new roster address via the expansion draft, free agency, trade or release. 
• 1997 - The Pirates lost RHP Jason Johnson to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays while RHP Clint Sodowsky and 3B Joe “The Joker” Randa went to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the expansion draft. Randa returned to the Pirate fold for his last MLB season in 2006, while rookie Johnson tossed 10 MLB seasons (albeit only one with an ERA south of 4.00) and Sodowsky worked one full campaign and three games in 1999 to finish his stay in the show. 

Joe Randa - 1997 Donruss

• 1998 - The Bucs sent LHP Ricardo Rincon to the Tribe for OF Brian Giles. In five campaigns with the Pirates, Giles would put up a line of .308/.426/.591 with 165 HR and 426 RBI and was twice named to the All-Star team. That deal began a chain reaction of swaps that eventually led to the Pirates acquiring Jason Bay, Ollie Perez, Xavier Nady, Jose Tabata, Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf, Daniel McCutchen and Bryan Morris; the trade tree grew when Connor Joe, who was selected as a draft pick obtained by Morris’ trade, was sent to Tampa for Sean Rodriguez. And it keeps on - Connor Joe was traded back to the Bucs in 2022. 
• 1999 - The Pirates shuffled the 40-man roster, adding RHP Bronson Arroyo, C Humberto Cota, OF Tike Redman and IF Rico Washington to the list and DFA’ing pitchers Greg Hansell & Javier Martinez along w/OF Ray Montgomery. 
• 2004 - OF Jason Bay and LHP Mike Gonzalez were named to the manager-selected Topps MLB Rookie Team. Bay was on a roll; he had already won the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award after hitting .282 with 26 homers despite missing the early weeks of the season with a bad shoulder. Gonzo went 3-1-1/1.25 with 55 whiffs in 43-1/3 IP, appearing in 47 Bucco games after a late May call up from AAA Nashville and working his way from middle-man to back-ender. 
• 2011 - The Pirates added a half-dozen ball players to their 40-man roster. OF Starling Marte & SS Jordy Mercer became starters while LHPs Justin Wilson & Rudy Owens were rostered and eventually flipped to other clubs for C Francisco Cervelli and LHP Wandy Rodriguez. Two lesser lights moved to the list were RHP Duke Welker, who was part of the 1B Justin Morneau trade, and Matt Hague, who was waived following the 2014 season after hitting .222 as a Bucco. Duke tossed for the Giants AAA club in 2016 in his last stop while Hague closed out his career after playing in the Nats’ organization in 2018. 

Jordy Mercer - 2012 Topps

• 2014 - Free agent C Russ Martin officially signed a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays after spending two playoff years behind the dish for the Bucs. Born in Toronto, it was a homecoming for the 31-year-old Martin, made all that sweeter by a five-year, $82M contract. He played for the LA Dodgers in 2019 to finish his career. 
• 2014 - Manager Clint Hurdle was given the Brooks Robinson Community Service Award and All-Star Josh Harrison was named the MLB recipient of the Heart and Hustle Award at the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) 15th annual Legends for Youth Dinner. Hurdle was recognized for his work with the Prader-Willi Association, which deals with a genetic disorder, while Harrison’s award was given to “an active player who demonstrates a passion for the game and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of baseball.” 
• 2019 - Ben Cherington, whose appointment had been leaked earlier as Neil Huntington’s replacement, was officially named as the Pirates GM at a press conference. Cherington told the media “I have always appreciated the passion of Pittsburgh sports fans...Pittsburgh is the ideal opportunity for me, and the only one I was interested in exploring. The four pillars that will drive our success are elite talent identification, acquisition, development and deployment.” And so started the second chapter of the Bob Nutting era, this one driven by Cherington/Travis Williams, after the original 2007 Huntington/Frank Coonelly tandem had faltered.
• 2022 - At the arb tender deadline, the Bucs swapped IF Kevin Newman to the Reds (he’s now w/the Angels) for 26-year-old righty bridge reliever Dauri Moreto (5-2-1/3.72 in 55 outings in ‘23 and missed ‘24 due to injury). Newman hit .280 in ‘22 and played both shortstop/second base, but the logjam of young middle infielders arriving in Pittsburgh made him redundant. The California native was a first round draft pick (#19 overall) in 2015 out of Arizona and debuted for the Bucs in 2018. He was the longest-tenured Bucco remaining on the Ben Cherington era roster and left Oneil Cruz, with 81 games, as the roster’s most veteran SS. K-Man hit .260 as a Corsair but w/o much impact; his OPS+ was 79. Dauri was establishing himself as a back-end bullpen bridge before having TJ surgery and is expected back sometime during 2025.

Notes: Strom, Hague Hired; Skenes In The News; AFL Year Done; Pittsburgh Clips & Snips

Let the wheelin' & dealin' begin...plz.

Pirates Stuff:

• Matt Hague is leaving the Blue Jays to take the Pirates hitting coach job, replacing Andy Haines. The Hit Collector, 39, was Pittsburgh's ninth-round draft pick in 2008 and played for the Bucs briefly in 2012 & '14. He was Toronto's ass't hitting coach last year after a stint as their minor league HC, and was said to be a popular guy with the players. The Pirates then hired Brent Strom as an assistant pitching coach. He was the D-backs’ pitching coach the past three years and before that  the PC for the Astros from 2014-2021 and pretty highly regarded.

Matt Hague, the Hit Collector - 2012 Topps Chrome

• Ho hum...Paul Skenes is a finalist for the NL Cy Young award, with the winner to be announced November 20. The other guys in the running are the Bravos Chris Sale and the Phils Zack Wheeler, with Sale being the early frontrunner. Paul is also a finalist for the Jackie Robinson NL Rookie of the Year, along with Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio and San Diego's Jackson Merrill. That award winner will be announced on November 18. He stayed in the news as Topps released its Rookie Patch series and the Pirates offered the cardholder of Skenes 1/1 card a treasure boat of goodies for the card to display at PNC Park.
• Bryan Reynolds was up for the NL Silver Slugger award at the utility spot, but the prize went to LA's Mookie Betts, who actually played three positions.
• Jake Mailhot at Fangraphs has the first 2025 team projections and the Bucs are a 78-win team in it. He says the pitching core is there and its time to trade for a couple of bats (duh!).
• The Bucs AFL club, Scottsdale, ended the season hot by winning its last seven games and earned a one-game playoff spot for a finals spot after the to-the-wire race. They were one-and-done after a 13-4 loss to the Surprise Saguaros. The guys did well: Scottsdale AFL stats
• Temarr Johnson's Team USA squad will travel to Tokyo after qualifying for the Premier12 Super Round beginning on November 20. 

Termarr Johnson - 2023 Donruss Double Whammy

• Al "Scoops" Oliver had a street named after him (Al Oliver Way) on Saturday in his hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio. He was a basketball & baseball star at PHS; his seven All-Star selections verify he picked the right sport to focus on.
• WalletHub selected Pittsburgh as the third best city for sports in the US. Broken down by sport, the Pirates fans still rank 10th, pretty respectable considering the teams performance.

Other Stuff:

• The deadline for players to be added to the 40-man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 draft is Tuesday at 6 PM. 
• The Boston Red Sox and LHP Justin Wilson reached agreement on a one-year/$2.25M deal.
• SS Kevin Newman and the LA Angels agreed to a one-year/$2.75M contract with a club option.

11/17: Groat MVP, Bay & Kendall Sign Deals, Como - Red, '23 Roster Reckoning, '92 Draft Losses, Mike, Brian & George Added, Collins Leads 'Stros, KD Back; HBD Hunter, JT, Eli, Ty, Jim, Tom, Orlando & Don

• 1892 - OF Don Flinn was born in Bluff Dale, Texas. Flinn played pro ball for a decade from 1914-26 with a couple of breaks, but his only big league time came with the Pirates in 1917 when he hit .297 in 14 games. He was a good hitter, amassing a .330 BA in a variety of southern leagues (five seasons in the Texas League) but still only got two part-time shots at the Class A and MLB level before racking the bat for the last time at age 33 in 1926. 
• 1933 - The Pirates traded OF Adam Comorosky and 2B Tony Piet to the Reds for RHP Red Lucas and OF Wally Roettger. Lucas was the key player. He lasted five seasons in Pittsburgh, going 47-32/3.77 and making 96 starts. After the trade, Lucas never lost a game against his old Cincinnati mates, going 14-0 against them during the remainder of his career. Red went 15-4 in 1936 with a 3.18 ERA in his top Bucco campaign and was also handy off the bench with a stick (he started his minor league career in the OF), posting a career .281 BA. Red’s nickname, "The Nashville Narcissus," was coined by Colonel Bob Newhall, a reporter for the old Cincinnati Tribune, who thought the young pitcher who was raised in Nashville was a blooming baseball beauty per SABR. 
• 1933 - RHP Orlando Pena was born in Victoria de Las Tunas, Cuba. He tossed for parts of 14 big league seasons, getting into 23 games and posting a 2-1-2/4.78 slash as a 36-year-old for the Pirates in 1970. When Pittsburgh picked him up, he was the KC Royals BP pitcher and had been out of the majors since 1967. But he had a big-time angel: Roberto Clemente had seen him play in the Caribbean Series and liked his stuff; in the spring, The Great One recommended him to Joe Brown. Orlando was eventually released in August and picked up by Baltimore; he hung around through the 1975 campaign, tossing for three teams with a line of 10-10-11/2.70 in that span. He scouted for the Tigers and the White Sox through the 1990s and is a member of the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame. 
• 1947 - RHP Tom Dettore was born in Canonsburg, graduated from Canon-McMillan HS and then went on to Juniata College. Tom tossed one year for the Bucs in 1973, putting up an 0-1/5.96 line, then pitched the next three seasons for the Cubs and closed out his career in Italy. After his playing days, Dettore was a pitching coach in the Pirates farm system (1988-95) before becoming the Pirates minor league pitching coordinator through 1998, later working for Seattle. 

George Strickland - 1952 Bowman

• 1949 - The Pirates selected SS George Strickland from Birmingham of the Southern Association in the MLB minor league draft, somewhat akin to today’s Rule 5 draft. The Bucs traded the light hitting, good glove infielder (.224 lifetime BA) to Cleveland in 1952. Playing for the Tribe until 1960, Strickland started for four years and was part of their 111-win 1954 club that took the AL flag. He later managed the Indians for a couple of seasons. 
• 1960 - NL batting champ (.325) Dick Groat was named NL MVP, beating out teammate Don Hoak 276-162. Also trailing him in the race were Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks, all who had big years. Groat won despite losing the last three weeks of the season to a bad wrist, injured by a Lew Burdette pitch. Vern Law, Roberto Clemente, Roy Face and Smoky Burgess also received votes to place six Pirates among the Top Twenty finishers. 
• 1974 - RHP Jim Mann was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. He got into 25 MLB games in four seasons. His last two outings were as a Bucco in 2003, giving up two runs in 1-2/3 IP. Afterward, he was stashed away as a AAA depth guy for Pittsburgh, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox before finishing up his final three seasons (2005-07) twirling in the indie leagues. 
• 1982 - RHP Ty Taubenheim was born in Bellingham, Washington. The Bucs picked Ty up from Toronto in the 2007 off season; he got one start in 2008, his last in the majors, and it was a good outing. He didn’t get the decision, but went six innings of two-run ball in an eventual 4-3 win over Tampa. The Bucs released him in early September, and he continued through 2010 in the minors and a Mexican Winter League stint before stepping off the rubber for the last time. 
• 1990 - C Elias Diaz was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He debuted with Pittsburgh in 2015 and was up briefly in 2016, but an elbow injury and later a case of cellulitis derailed the season. He was considered a strong defensive catcher though an iffy hitter, and saw more action in 2017 when Francisco Cervelli was injured. He showed the ability to handle the stick in 2018 after a slow campaign the previous two seasons, batting .286 with 10 homers but backtracked in 2019 both with the glove and lumber. The Bucs cut him loose and he was picked up by the Rockies. They released him in '24 and he's now on San Diego's 40-man roster.

Elias Diaz - 2016 Topps Sparkle

• 1992 - The Pirates lost OF Alex Cole (the Pirates hoped that offseason shoulder surgery would let him slip through) to the Colorado Rockies in the expansion draft, along with LHP Danny Jackson and SS Ramon Martinez, who went to the Florida Marlins. The Fish flipped Jackson to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he won 26 games in 1993-94 and earned an All-Star nod. 
• 1993 - Pittsburgh picked up 1B/OF Brian Hunter from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for a PTBNL (minor league utilityman Jose Delgado, who never advanced past AA ball). The Pirates were after some right-handed power, and Hunter did show some punch, hitting 11 homers in 252 PA, but his .227 BA was a counter, and he was flipped to the Reds at the deadline for another PTBNL (farm OF’er Micah Franklin, who was waived after a year at AAA Calgary). Hunter played through 2000, and saw time with six teams over a nine-year career. 
• 1993 - The Pirates lost a bullpen coach and the Astros gained a manager when Houston hired Terry Collins away from the Bucs. The move launched Terry on a 13-year voyage as skipper of the ‘Stros, Angels and the Mets, which he guided to a pennant in 2015 and still serves as a special assistant to the GM. Collins had honed his managerial skills when he led the Bucs’ AAA Buffalo Bisons for three years before joining the big club. Terry was replaced on Jim Leyland’s staff by Spin Williams who worked here for 12 seasons and four Pirates managers. 
• 1993 - RHP JT (Jonathan Trey) Brubaker was born in Springfield, Ohio. A sixth round draft pick in 2015 from Akron, he was the Pirates Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2018. Brubaker was the sixth starter and sent to Indy to stay sharp in 2019; instead he hurt his elbow and it cost him nearly the entire season. JT broke camp with the club in 2020 and made his first start in early August. In 2021, he was part of the rotation and went 5-13/5.31 in 24 starts. He was 3-12/4.69 in ‘22 with some hard luck as his FIP was a respectable 3.92, then missed the 2023 campaign after TJ surgery, with a return expected in mid-2024. 
• 1996 - RHP Hunter Stratton was born in Bristol, Tennessee. A 16th round draft pick of the Bucs in 2017 from Walters State CC (TN), he worked through the ranks. In 168 upper-level IP over three (2021-23) seasons, he whiffed 226 batters, but walked 95. The big righty was called up in September of 2023 (eight outings/2.25 in 12 IP w/10K) to help bolster the Pirates opener, pitch-by-committee approach. Hunter became a free agent during the off season, re-signed with Pittsburgh and broke camp with the big team in ‘24. He went 2-1-1/3.58 in 36 outings for the Bucs, but had knee surgery in August and will miss the start of the '25 season.

Mike Benjamin - 2000 Stadium Club

• 1998 - The Bucs signed free agent IF Mike Benjamin to a two-year contract worth $924K. Benjy was brought in to challenge Tony Womack at 2B and won the job before camp started; Tony was traded to Arizona in February. But in a bit of a twist, Mike didn’t replace Womack (Warren Morris did) but instead claimed an unsettled SS position. Benjamin later signed a two-year extension worth $1.4M and played for Pittsburgh through the 2002 campaign after missing ‘01 due to injury. He hit .239 while manning all four infield positions in his last big league campaign. 
• 1999 - The Pirates announced a continuation of their radio contract with KDKA-AM, which was already at 44 straight seasons, inking a seven-year deal with the financials undisclosed. KD promised to include its FM family of WDSY, WBZZ & WZPT in year-round Pirates promotions, and the station was allowed to build and operate its own radio studio at PNC Park when it opened. One thing that didn’t change, though, was the broadcast team of Lanny Frattare, Steve Blass, Bob Walk and Greg Brown, which returned intact to work the 2000 campaign. 
• 2000 - C Jason Kendall signed the richest contract in team history (since surpassed by Ke’Bryan Hayes eight year/$70M deal in 2022). The $60M, six-year contract extension w/$4M signing bonus had a base salary of $6M in 2002 and peaked at $13M in 2007. To this point from his rookie year of 1996, Kendall had hit .300 or better every season except 1997, when he hit .294. He became the second highest paid active catcher in baseball, behind only Mike Piazza. He was traded to the Oakland A’s in 2004 before his back-loaded salary kicked in. 
• 2005 - Jason Bay agreed to an $18.25M, four-year contract that ran through his arbitration-eligible seasons after making $355K in 2005. He hit .296 with 58 HR and 183 RBI in 2004-05 and won the NL Rookie of the Year award. The main sticking point was including a fifth year that would have covered Bay’s first free agent season; his side wanted a four-year deal so he could step right into free agency. The Pirates gave in and accepted a four-year agreement. Jay Bay was traded to Boston in 2008, before the contract ran out, and he had a couple of solid years with the Red Sox before moving on to the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners, where injuries effectively derailed his career. 
• 2023 - It was the deadline to tender arb/pre-arb players. LHP Ryan Borucki was signed for a reported $1.6M, pre-arb pitchers Osvaldo Bido (lost to Oakland) & Hunter Stratton (on his b-day yet!) were non-tendered, and the remaining guys (there were 34 in all) got offers. The arb-eligible players were Borucki (year 3), RHPs Mitch Keller & JT Brubaker (year 2), and closer Dave Bednar & 1B/OF Connor Joe (year 1). The prior moves: prospects RHP Braxton Ashcraft & INF Tsung-Che Chung were added to the 40-man while SS Oneil Cruz & RHP JT Brubaker were moved from the IL to the 40-man. OF/DH Andrew McCutchen, RHP Vince Velasquez and LHP Jarlin Garcia became free agents. Waived earlier were RHP Wil Crowe (he signed a deal to play in Korea), OF Miguel Andujar (to Oakland), LHP Angel Perdomo (to Milwaukee), RHP Yerry De Los Santos (to NY Yankees), IF Tucupita Marcano (to San Diego), 1B/OF Alfonso Rivas (to Cleveland), IF Vinny Capra (to Milwaukee) and OF Cal Mitchell (to San Diego). RHP Cody Bolton’s contract was sold to Seattle.

11/16: Arriba MVP, Jay Tops Ozzie For GG, Craig All-Rookie, Buster Goes, Catfish Joins, Bucs Sell HoF'ers, Al Booted, Roberta & Vera Drive; RIP Bucky, HBD Will, Brandon, Tim, Mark, Hector & Joe

• 1852 - IF Joe Quest was born in New Castle. Joe spent nine years in the show with a whistle stop with the Alleghenys in 1884, batting .209 in a dozen games for the North Side nine. Quest was a good glove, bad stick guy but he did leave a legacy: by some accounts, he coined the athletic malady called a charley horse. There are several versions; all include a gimpy-legged horse named Charley. The most widely cited tale is from The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, (tale attributed to OF Hugh Nichol): In 1906, Quest and some other members of the White Stockings spent an off day at the track where the players had gotten a tip that a horse named Charley was a "sure thing" in one of the races. All of the players except Quest placed bets on Charley. The horse had the lead in the race but pulled up lame around the final turn. Quest, who had been ribbed for not betting on the horse, retorted "Look at your Charley horse now." The next day, while running to second base, Chicago outfielder George Gore pulled up with a strain, much as the horse had done. The incident prompted Quest to note "There's your old Charley horse." From that time forward, the players began using the phrase to refer to a sudden leg cramp or spasm. 
• 1893 - OF George Van Haltren was sold by the Pirates to the New York Giants for $2,500 after coming to the Steel City the year before from Baltimore in return for future Hall of Famer OF/1B Joe Kelley, then a 20-year-old young gun, and $2,000. We’d guess that was probably a deal the Bucs would like to redo - GVH was coming off a .338 season in Pittsburgh and would put up a .321 BA over the next decade for the Giants. But he had gone through two seasons of lackadaisical play in 1891-92, and like most hitters of the era, his average rocketed after the mound was moved to 60’6” in ‘92, so the Pirates thought him expendable. Still, it was a penny-wise, pound-foolish pair of moves, losing the duo for $500. 
• 1894 - Manager Al Buckenberger of the Pirates was expelled briefly from the National League for being part of a group that attempted, without success, to revive the old American Association. Al was a major league manager for 10 years for Columbus, Pittsburgh, St. Louis & Boston, and also served as club president for the Bucs. The league suspension ended his Pirates association and he was replaced at the helm by player/manager Connie Mack in 1895. 

Catfish Metkovich - 1951 Bowman

• 1950 - The Pirates selected 1B/OF George “Catfish” Metkovich from Oakland of the Pacific Coast League in the Rule 5 draft. The 29 year-old had six seasons of MLB ball under his belt, but had spent the 1950 season with the Seals. He had a decent run with Pittsburgh, hitting .276 in two seasons and some change before being flipped in 1953 as part of the Ralph Kiner trade. The lefty earned his nickname when he stepped on a catfish during a fishing trip and cut his foot, causing him to miss several games. The Bucs also selected 1B Dale Long, but released him after a handful of ‘51 games. He spent the next three years in the minors, putting together an MVP season in the Pacific Coast League in 1953. He rejoined the show in 1955, and entered the record books a year later by homering in eight straight games. Like Catfish, he lasted into his third campaign before being flipped with Lee Walls as part of the 1957 Dee Fondy/Gene Baker deal. 
• 1966 - RF Roberto Clemente won the National League MVP, finishing ahead of LA Dodger ace Sandy Koufax (27-9/1.73 ERA/317 Ks) by a slim 218-208 count. Clemente had a slash of .317/29 HR/119 RBI and his strong play kept the Pirates in the hunt until the next-to-last day of the season. The Great One finished the year fourth in batting, 10th in home runs and second in runs batted in while The Left Arm of God had to find solace in taking home the Cy Young award. Matty Alou finished ninth in the tally while Gene Alley and Willie Stargell were among the top 20 vote getters; Bill Mazeroski also received some down-ballot love. 
• 1970 - RHP Hector Fajardo was born in Michoacan, Mexico. Fajardo was purchased by the Pirates from the Mexico City Red Devils in 1989 and worked his way through the system. He showed swing-and-miss stuff and he struck out eight batters in his 6-1/3 innings when the Bucs called him up in 1991. Unfortunately, he also walked seven, gave up 10 hits and was traded to the Texas Rangers in September as part of the Steve Buechele package. Afterward, nagged by injuries, he bounced back and forth between the show and the farm. He finished his pro career in 1998 in the Mexican League, where he coaches now. Fajardo was nicknamed "Senor Lluvia" or "Mr. Rain" because of the freaky number of games he was scheduled to start that were rained out. 
• 1974 - RHP Mark Corey was born in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. Corey tossed the final two years of a four-season run in the show at Pittsburgh in 2003-04, posting a line of 2-4/4.91 from the bullpen. He saved 112 games in 12 minor league campaigns, but never could close out a game in the majors, blowing his only big league save opportunity in July of 2004 and never getting another chance. 

Buster - 1978 Topps

• 1979 - RHP Bruce Kison, 29, left the Pirates and signed a five-year/$2,465,000 contract with the California Angels. Kison had spent nine years with the Bucs and was one of three players (Willie Stargell and Manny Sanguillen were the others) left from both the ‘71 and ‘79 World Series clubs. He told the media he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh, but “the door was closing” and he chose the Halos’ offer over that of the NY Yankees. It ended up a tough transition; Buster had surgery in 1980 and ‘82 as an Angel for different physical issues. He went to Boston in 1985 and closed out his career that season at the age of 35. 
• 1982 - RHP Tim Wood was born in Tucson. After two years with Florida, Wood took a twisted trail that revolved around Pittsburgh. For 2011, he signed as a FA with Washington, was released, and inked a deal with the Bucs. He spent most of his time at Indy, was called up for 13 Pirates games with a line of 0-3/5.63 and then was sold to Texas. They released him at the end of the year and he re-signed with Pittsburgh, spending 2012 with Indianapolis. He was in the Twin system in 2013 and had late-season shoulder surgery, finishing his career. 
• 1988 - RHP Brandon Cumpton was born in Augusta, Georgia. A depth starter, the Georgia Tech grad saw action as an injury replacement in 2013-14, going 5-5 with a 4.02 ERA. He was the ninth round pick of the Pirates in the 2010 draft, but his career was put on hold after various injuries starting with 2015 TJ surgery. He came back to work briefly in the minors in 2017 and then moved on to Toronto; he worked 2018-19 in the indie and Latin leagues. 
• 1993 - SS Jay Bell broke Ozzie Smith's 13-year Gold Glove reign by winning the Gold Glove; Dave Concepcion of Cincinnati in 1979 was the last senior circuit shortstop other than Smith to take the award. Bell won after leading MLB shortstops in fielding percentage (.986) and total chances (793) while making just 11 errors to Smith's 19 during the season. Barry Bonds, in his first year away from Pittsburgh, won his fourth straight Golden Glove with the Giants. 

Will Craig - 2021Topps Gypsy Queen

• 1994 - 1B Will Craig was born in Johnson City, Tennessee. He was the 2016 ACC Player of the Year for Wake Forest and drafted by the Bucs in that year’s first round (22nd overall). Will was a man without a settled position for a while before he settled in at first base, where he became a good glove man who showed 20-HR flashes of power at the plate. Craig got his first taste of the show in 2020 and was called up again the following season. He hit .217, made a Sports Center fielding gaffe chasing a runner and was later released, catching on in the Korean League. Craig spent 2022 at Wake Forest, working on his degree and coaching. 
• 2001 - After hitting .310 with 13 homers and tying a pinch hit record with seven long balls, the Pirates Craig Wilson was selected to the Topps All-Rookie team at first base, as voted on by the managers. It was a pretty solid squad - the pitchers were CC Sabathia & Roy Oswalt, the other infielders were Albert Pujols, Jimmy Rollins & Alfonso Siriano, and the outfield featured Suzuki. The honor was hard-won, as Wilson only got into 88 games with just 35 starts; he served time at first, both corner OF spots, catcher and DH. He followed the trail blazed by 2B Warren Morris, who made the rookie all-star team in 1999. 
• 2009 - Bucky Williams, who played black Pittsburgh baseball at virtually every level, passed away in Penn Hills at the age of 102. He took the field for the Keystone Juniors, Monarchs, Edgar Thompson, the Grays and the Crawfords along with many local sandlot teams, spending 22 years in the black major/minors. The infielder posted a .340 BA over the different pro levels, and when his ball playing days finally wound down, he switched lanes and umpired in the East End Little League, managing all that while employed at US Steel as a ladle liner.
• 2021 - Pittsburgh City Council, at the request of the Clemente family, renamed Oakland’s Roberto Clemente Drive (it winds past the old Forbes Field wall) to Roberto and Vera Clemente Drive. It was a recognition of the work of Roberto’s late wife who carried on the family philanthropy, serving as chairwoman of the Roberto Clemente Foundation and representing MLB as a Goodwill Ambassador. Vera passed away in November, 2019, at the age of 78.

11/15: Ben & Clint Hired, Redus Signed, Rene Axed, '22 Shake & Bake, PA-HOF Trio, Branch Makes His Mark, Rigas Bid; HBD Craig, Randy, Gus, MVR & Joe

• 1893 - IF Joe Leonard was born in West Chicago, Illinois (some sources have his b-day on the 14th, sera, sera). Leonard got parts of five MLB seasons in, starting with the Pirates in 1914, batting just .198 that year. He was highly rated as a youngster, although his bat never proved big-league consistent. When Pittsburgh purchased the 19-year-old from the Des Moines Boosters of the Western League for $3,080 in 1913, he became the highest priced minor league player sold to the majors at the time. Joe died while still an active player in May, 1920, at the age of 26 of appendicitis/pneumonia while a member of the Senators; Washington owner Clark Griffith and several teammates were at his bedside when he passed away. 
• 1914 - OF Maurice Van Robays was born in Detroit. Van Robays replaced RF Lloyd Waner late in 1939 and finished third in the NL with 116 RBI and received a smattering of MVP votes the next season. "Bomber" (his nickname after he hit 11 HR in 1940) also had a strong 1941. MVR developed vision problems the following year that required him to wear glasses, and it took him another season to rediscover his batting stroke. Then he missed the war years of 1944-45 while serving with the 1st Infantry Division, and played one last season in Pittsburgh in 1946. Van Robays is credited with naming teammate Truett "Rip" Sewell's famous "eephus" pitch. After seeing it delivered, Van Robays commented that the pitch was eephus, using the Hebrew term for "nothing." 
• 1928 - OF David “Gus” Bell was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He came up with the Pirates, and between 1950-52 hit .270 with 40 homers. He was traded to the Reds after getting into Branch Rickey’s doghouse - Bell wanted his wife and kids with him on road trips and Rickey apparently didn’t like the precedent; he went on to win four All-Star berths with Cincy. He was called "Gus" by a cousin whose favorite player was a catcher, Gus Mancuso, and the name stuck. Family Ties: Gus is Buddy’s father and the grandpa of David and Michael. David Bell hit for the cycle in 2004, joining Gus, who cycled in '51 for the Bucs, to become the only grampa & grandkid duo in MLB history to accomplish that batting feat. 

• 1950 - Branch Rickey was featured in a Willard Mullin cartoon on the front page of The Sporting News for the story “Treasure Island,” shown plotting future Pirate moves on an X-marks-the-spot map. Unfortunately, the Bucs ran aground rebuilding during the Mahatma’s 1950-55 reign, although he is often credited with the minor-league spadework that fed the strong sixties clubs. 
• 1955 - LHP Randy Niemann was born in Scotia, California. Drafted by the Yankees in 1975, the southpaw middle man tossed parts of eight big league seasons. Randy was in Pittsburgh briefly from 1982-83, getting into 28 games and going 1-2-1/6.24. He retired and immediately joined the coaching circuit with the NY Mets, Boston Red Sox and currently the Saint Louis Cardinals, primarily as a pitching mentor who’s taught at every level from Class A to the majors. 
• 1970 - Josh Gibson, Ralph Kiner and Elroy Face were inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, with the presentation ceremonies held at the Penn-Sheraton in Philadelphia. The Museum is based in Franklin Park.
• 1972 - Roberto Clemente won his 12th straight Rawlings Golden Glove award, a string of recognition dating back to 1961. He and “Say Hey” Willie Mays are tied for the most GG’s earned by an outfielder with a dozen apiece. In his 2,433 games career, Roberto handled 5,102 chances with a .973 fielding %, threw out 266 runners and put fear of the Lord into countless others. He was such a versatile fielder that in 1956 he actually subbed at third base for a game and at second for two more. Clemente also played center field 63 times. 
• 1983 - RHP Craig Hansen was born in Glen Cove, New York. A first round draft pick of Boston from St. John’s U, the closer prospect was traded to Pittsburgh as part of the Jason Bay package. He only appeared in five games for the Pirates before being diagnosed with Parsonage-Turner Syndrome, a condition that disrupts nerve signals between muscles. As a result, he lost his fastball and was released by Pittsburgh in 2011. He last tossed MLB briefly in 2012 while in the Mets system; now he’s a trader and real estate developer in New York. 

Craig Hansen - 2008 Topps

• 1988 - The Pirates signed OF/1B Gary Redus as a free agent for two years at $500K per campaign. Redus spent five seasons with the Buccos as a solid contributor to the nineties pennant-winning clubs. He batted .255 during his Pirates time (.279 in 15 NLCS games) and served as a platoon/pinch hit bench bat who saw time at first base, the corner outfield spots, and center in a pinch. 
• 1994 - Mayor Tom Murphy announced that John Rigas, owner of Adelphia Cable, had reached an $85M agreement to buy the Pirates that would keep the team in Pittsburgh. But MLB rejected Rigas' offer to buy the Bucs in June because the bid didn't include enough up-front cash; the suits felt that too much debt assumption was involved (it was good lookin’ out - Adelphia itself went bankrupt in 2002). So the City went to plan B, and Kevin McClatchy’s group ended up with the club in 1996 for $95M before Bob Nutting became the principal owner in 2007. 
• 2010 - Clint Hurdle, former Colorado manager and current Rangers hitting coach, became the Pirates sixth field boss since 1996, replacing John Russell. Clint became the first skipper to guide the team to a playoff spot since Jim Leyland in 1992 when his club earned a wild card berth in 2013 while also snapping a North American major sports record-setting 20-season losing streak, and was in the playoffs for three straight years until the string was snapped in 2016. He held the skipper’s post until the end of the 2019 campaign. Tom Prince managed the last game, and eventually the Pirates hired Derek Shelton for the post. Hurdle is now a minor league mentor for the Colorado Rockies, teaching young players the fundamentals of the game and how to win in both baseball & life. 
• 2017 - The Pirates informed Rene Gayo, their Latin scouting director, that they would not renew his contract in 2018 after an MLB investigation found that he had taken money from a Mexican team while a Bucco birddog. Rene had been in hot water before as part of the Miguel Sano 2009 age and signing controversy. The Latin coordinator since 2004, he brought in players like Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Elias Diaz and Edgar Santana for the Pirates. 

Ben Cherington - 2019 image MLB Network

• 2019 - Ben Cherington, 45, accepted the Pirates offer to become the new GM, replacing Neil Huntington, and was introduced formally a couple of days later in Pittsburgh. Cherington had worked for Boston and Toronto, and came with a mixed rep in the FA market but a solid record for developing players. On the same day, the Pirates continued with its housecleaning by announcing that ass’t GM Kyle Stark had been let go; he had held the AGM position since 2007. 
• 2022 - The Pirates continued to reshape the roster at the Rule 5 40-man deadline by adding RHPs Mike Burrows & Colin Selby, C Endy Rodriguez and 3B Jared Triolo. To clear space, the Bucs DFA’ed C Tyler Heineman, RHPs Jeremy Beasley & Junior Fernandez and LHP Manny Banuelos. The move left the Pirates with just Rodriguez and Ali Sanchez as rostered catchers and with no left-handed pitchers at all on the 40-man. Among the riskier omissions were C Blake Sabol and 1B Malcom Nunez (Sabol was claimed by the Giants; Nunez was unclaimed). Pittsburgh had seven arb-eligible players at the tender deadline three days later: DH Miguel Andújar, RHP JT Brubaker, 1B Ji-Man Choi, RHP Mitch Keller, IF Kevin Newman, RHP Robert Stephenson, and RHP Duane Underwood Jr. K-Man was traded to the Reds for bridge reliever Dauri Moreto, Andujar agreed to a $1.525M deal and the others were tendered contract offers.

11/14: DD Wins Cy, Cobra MVP, Garcia/Merced - Wilson/Silva, Gonzalez Deal, AJ & Steve Sign, RJ Goes, FA Draft, Youth Served, Rojek & Stevens Join, Muse Retires; HBD X-Man, Paul, Claude, Jim, Fred, Sam & Otto

• 1864 - 1B/OF Otto Schomberg (Shambrick) was born in Milwaukee. Otto played three big league seasons, beginning with the Allegheny in 1886, hitting .272 in 72 games. After the campaign, the Alleghenys traded Schomberg with $400 to the St. Louis Maroons for Alex McKinnon. Schomberg was a one-trick pony; his fielding was subpar and he slumped in 1888 for Indianapolis. Added to the mix was an injury and a mild bout with malaria. After that, he was delegated to minor-league and semi pro clubs, even umpiring, but did pretty well for himself after baseball. He was a successful lumberman and parlayed profits from that business into other investments. Otto prospered and was a delegate to the Republican convention. 
• 1867 - IF Sam Gillen (Gilleland) was born in Allegheny City (North Side). He broke out as a 25-year-old at Macon of the Southern Association in 1893, batting .343, and got a brief look by the Pirates during that campaign, going 0-for-6 with some shaky glovework - his hit tool was his calling card - in three games. Sammy went back to the minors for three years and kept raking, getting a call from the Phils in 1897, hitting .259 with a .353 OBP. It wasn’t enough to impress, though, and in August he found himself back in the minors. He played on the farm through the 1899 campaign before hanging up the spikes. Sam died young in 1905 at age 37 and was buried in Union Dale Cemetery. 
• 1881 - C/1B Fred Carisch was born in Fountain City, Wisconsin. Playing between 1903-06, the reserve hit .229 for the Pirates. Fred became the center of a storm in 1923, when as a Tigers' coach and non-rostered, he was forced to catch when his team's final receiver was ejected. A protest was filed, but the Cleveland Indians rallied to win in the 10th, making the point moot. 
• 1881 - OF Jim Wallace was born in Boston. He played seven MLB games for the Pirates in 1905 as a right fielder and batted .207 in his brief career, going 6-for-29. Jim never got another shot; he spent seven seasons in the minors after his Bucco stint and batted above .250 just once. 

Weeping Willie - 1931 photo/Baseball Birthdays

• 1898 - RHP Claude “Weeping Willie” Willoughby was born in Buffalo, Kansas. Willie closed out his seven year career in Pittsburgh, going 0-2/6.31, in nine outings. We assume the Weeping Willie moniker came about because of his performance - he had an ERA of 4.99 or higher in his final six campaigns, though he did have winning records (6-5, 15-14) in 1928-29. He was also known as “Flunky” for reasons we couldn’t uncover. 
• 1947 - The Bucs bought SS Stan Rojek, 29, from the Dodgers with plans to make him the starter in Pittsburgh; he was available as he was blocked by Pee Wee Reese in Brooklyn. He played 156 games and hit .290 in 1948, but his bat faded after that season, he became a backup in 1950 and was traded to the Cardinals in 1951. They also purchased 1B Big Ed Stevens from the Brooklyn Dodgers, who played here from 1948-50 and hit .253 as a Pirate. 
• 1967 - RHP Paul Wagner was born in Milwaukee. A 12th round draft pick in 1989, he pitched for the Pirates for six campaigns from 1992-97, mainly as a starter, and went 26-40/4.58 during that span. Wagner came close to capturing a little magic - in 1995, he had a no-hitter broken up against the Colorado Rockies with two out in the ninth on an Andrés Galarraga single. He pitched through the 2003 season and now runs a training camp in Wisconsin, Paul Wagner Power Pitching. 
• 1968 - The Pirates were in the midst of a youth movement that would set their core for years, allowing Donn Clendenon, Manny Mota, Maury Wills and Al McBean (all 30-years-old or more) to go in the expansion draft. Manager Larry Shepard, in a Pittsburgh Press chat with sports’ editor Les Biederman, had rave reviews about youngsters Richie Hebner (20), Bob Robertson (21) & Manny Sanguillen (24), while withholding judgment on 21-year-old Al Oliver. He was equally excited about the young starting pitchers - Steve Blass (26), Dock Ellis (23) and Bob Moose (20). Add to the mix Jerry May (24), Dave Cash (20) and Freddie Patek (23), and you had a crew who by 1971 took a World Championship and would fuel a strong competitive run throughout the 70’s as the “Lumber Company.” 

Freddie Patek - 1969 Topps

• 1978 - RF Dave "The Cobra" Parker won the NL MVP, topping runner-up Steve Garvey of the LA Dodgers 320-194 in the vote parade. Parker had 30 HR with 117 RBI and led the league with a .334 batting average, a .585 slugging percentage, and 340 total bases. That was despite the fact that he missed two weeks after breaking his jaw in a home plate collision with the Mets' John Stearns and returned wearing a hockey, later switched to football-style, facemask, thought to be the first time such a contraption was worn in an MLB game. It was a good day for collecting hardware; Willie Stargell won TSN’s Comeback Player of the Year Award with a batting line of .295/28 HR/97 RBI. 
• 1978 - OF Xavier Nady was born in Salinas, California. Nady played for the Bucs from 2006-08, hitting .301 as a Pirate. He had been on Pittsburgh’s radar for awhile - GM Dave Littlefield tried to pry him from the Padres in 2003, and settled on Jason Bay instead when SD wouldn’t deal Nady. The Friars were equally high on him - Nady went straight to the majors without playing minor league ball in 2000, though the stay didn’t last long, as he was sent to the farm after one game. The Bucs finally landed him in 2006 from the Mets for Ollie Perez and Roberto Hernandez. He’s been known as “X” or the “X-Man” since his days with NY. 
• 1980 - In the final Free Agent Re-Entry Draft, the Bucs John Milner opted out of contract to test the waters, but the Pirates managed to bring him back via a new deal (they had kept a retainer on his rights). The Bucs claimed bidding rights on a dozen players including Dave Winfield and Don Sutton, and signed none. But they did eventually get 1B/OF Willie Montanez, who they had on their list as a potential replacement if they had lost Milner. Willie signed with the Expos, but joined the Pirates in August when they traded The Hammer to Montreal. 
• 1988 - Charlie Muse publicly announced his retirement from the Pirates in a Pittsburgh Press piece written by Bob Hertzel. Muse, 71, a jack of all baseball trades known as “The Colonel” in Bucco circles, had worked for the Pirates since 1950 as a scout, ticket-office boss, Director of Operations for Three Rivers Stadium (1974-76) and finally as Travelling Secretary. Before that, he had managed Duquesne University’s nine, skippered in the minors, served in the Army twice, and was a driving force in the final design and in the players’ acceptance of the batting helmet. He retired to Florida, where he passed away in 2005. 

Charlie Muse - 1989 Post-Gazette

• 1990 - RHP Doug Drabek, who posted a 22-6 record and a 2.76 ERA, was named the NL Cy Young winner and became the first Pirate since Vern Law in 1960 to take home the award. He received 23 of 24 first-place votes and 118 of a possible 120 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Left in the dust were Ramon Martinez of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who was second with the other first-place vote and 70 points, and Frank Viola of the New York Mets was third with 19 points. No other Bucco hurler has won the honor since. 
• 1990 - After his walk year, OF RJ Reynolds was seeking a three-year/$4M deal to re-sign with Pittsburgh; the Pirates countered with a two-year/$1.5M offer, a pretty big gap. The impasse was resolved by a third option when RJ signed a $1.3M contract with Yokohama of the Japanese League. It worked out OK for Reynolds; he got his three seasons, albeit all in Japan, then spent his final 1994 campaign in Mexico before retiring at age 35. 
• 1991 - 3B Steve Buechele, coming off a season hitting .262 w/22 HR & 85 RBI, rejected the Pirates contract offer for four-years/$10M after earning $775K during the ‘91 campaign. It was a career year for him, although most of his numbers were put up at Texas, as he hit .246 in 31 games as a Bucco after a deadline deal. But it worked out relatively well for him - he eventually signed for four-years/$11M. It didn’t prolong his Pittsburgh stay by much, though - he batted .249 in 80 games in 1992 and was shipped to the Cubs for LHP Danny Jackson in July. 
• 1996 - The Pirates sent 2B Carlos Garcia, 1B/OF Orlando Merced and P Dan Plesac to the Toronto Blue Jays for P Jose Silva, IF Abraham Nunez, and OF Craig Wilson plus prospects SS Brandon Cromer, P Jose Pett and P Mike Halperin. Merced had four good seasons left, Plesac played through 2003 and Garcia, who was the Jays main target, ended up as an AL bench guy and lasted three more years in the show. Silva spent five years as a Buc, but his line during that span was 24-28-4/5.44, while Wilson (2001-06/.268 BA/94 HR) and Nunez (1997-2004/.238 BA) were in and out of the lineup during their Pittsburgh stays. The prospect players never advanced past the minor league level. 

Jose Silva - 1998 Donruss Rookie

• 2014 - RHP AJ Burnett returned to the Pirate flock, signing a one-year contract valued at $8.5M after a dismal season (8-18/4.59) in Philadelphia. He told the media that “This is where I want to finish my career, playing for this team and for this city. I want to win a ring, and I want to do it in Pittsburgh.” Burnett left $4.25M on the table for the reunion by turning down a player option worth $12.75M with Philadelphia to become a FA, and had his agent negotiate solely with the Pirates. AJ had pitched in 2012-13 for the Bucs, winning 26 games with a 3.41 ERA before moving across the state. The 38-year-old finished with another solid season, going 9-7/3.18, though slowed down by a late year injury, and was named to his first All-Star team after 17 seasons. 
• 2018 - The Pirates sent OF Jordan Luplow and IF Max Moroff to the Cleveland Indians for IF Erik González and RHP’s Tahnaj Thomas and Dante Mendoza. Luplow, 25, a third-round pick in 2014 and Minor League PoY in 2017, had a chance to break camp with the Bucs in 2019 with Gregory Polanco injured while Moroff, also 25 & a 16th-round high school pick in 2012, had been bypassed on the Pirates depth chart. Both had auditioned with the big club. J-Lo hit .194 in 64 games in 2017-18 while Maxie batted .193 in 84 games played from 2016-18. Gonzalez (.263 lifetime BA) was out of options and expected to stick as a utility man who had played six positions for the Tribe, while the two pitchers were 19-year-old lotto tickets. Gonzalez had a solid September in a year mostly lost to injury and became a semi-regular SS/3B in 2020, but a subpar 2021 saw him sent to Indy and then to the Miami organization; he spent ‘24 in the Cincy system. Luplow made six MLB stops as a strong platoon guy who was last in the Philly minors while Moroff remained mainly in the minors as depth; he hasn’t played since suffering a bum shoulder in ‘21. RHP Tahnaj Thomas was converted to the pen and showed some promise; he tossed in an affiliated league last year. Mendoza is a free agent who didn’t pitch pro ball last season.