3/8: Kris Signs, Mathias Deal, Nate's Back, Money Moves, Roberto On TV, Casey HoF, Stadia OK'ed, Feds Form; HBD Calvin, Tommy, Jim, Joel, Juan, Toby, Bill, Al, Iron Man & Coldwater Jim

• 1869 - RHP James “Coldwater Jim” Hughey was born in Wakeshma, Michigan. A journeyman, he pitched for the Pirates from 1896-97, going 12-18 with a 5.03 ERA. Coldwater (named for his first minor league outpost and eventually where he settled) is the last pitcher to lose 30 games, doing so for a historically terrible 1899 Cleveland Spider club that finished 20-134 (he did lead the club in ERA and wins). Because of poor attendance, the Spiders did some regular season barnstorming in an attempt to draw some warm bodies and played only 42 home games, resulting in them posting an untouchable record of 101 road losses! 
• 1912 - C Ray “Iron Man” Mueller was born in Pittsburg, Kansas. Iron Man played in Pittsburg (PA, not KS) from 1939-40 and again in 1950, hitting .251. He earned his nickname when he caught every game the Cincinnati Reds played (155) during the 1944 season. Mueller caught a NL-record 233 consecutive games in 1943–1944 and 1946, missing 1945 when he was in the Army. 
• 1913 - The Federal League was born as a six-team outlaw circuit with Pittsburgh (first called simply the “Feds” and later becoming the “Rebels”) among its clubs. It was a minor league during its first season, but became a third major league, along with the NL and AL, from 1914-15. It initiated a costly wage war by signing established players, but the league pockets weren’t deep enough to continue the battle. After 1915, six of the eight teams were bought or merged into the NL/AL, ending the last major league to compete against the established powers. 
• 1917 - C Bill Salkeld was born in Pocatello, Idaho. He began his career as a Pirate, batting .293 from 1945-47 as a spare catcher/pinch hitter and put in six big league campaigns with three teams. Salkeld retired from baseball in 1953 after spending some time in the minors and died young from cancer at the age of 50 in 1967. His grandson Roger, born four years after Bill passed away, was chosen by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 1989 MLB Draft, and pitched in 45 games for the Mariners and the Cincinnati Reds during the mid-nineties. 
• 1922 - OF Al Gionfriddo was born in Dysart, in Cambria County. He played four years (1944-47) as a spare OF’er and pinch hitter for the Bucs, batting .276, but made his mark after being traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He played in the World Series that year and made a famous fence-kissing catch of a Joe DiMaggio blast to rob Jolting Joe of extra bases. As Red Barber famously called it on Mutual Radio: "...back goes Gionfriddo! Back, back, back, back, back, back...he makes a one-handed catch against the bullpen! Ohhh-hooo, Doctor!” ESPN’s Chris Berman adapted the "back-back-back" call as part of his web-gem package. 

Al Gionfriddo - photo via Mainline Autographs

• 1924 - C Maurice “Toby” Atwell was born in Leesburg, Virginia. A strong glove guy, Atwell was a part-time Bucco catcher from 1953-56, batting .250. His career ended the next season; he had injured his knee in the minors and never fully recovered. Toby also answered to “Buster,” after silent film star Buster Keaton, because he spoke so little, per ex-Bucco Nellie King. Lloyd Larsen of the Milwaukee Sentinel added that the Chicago Cubs called him “Three Word” because that’s all he said - “hello” when he arrived at camp and “good-bye” when the season ended. 
• 1949 - RHP Juan Jimenez was born in La Torre, Dominican Republic. Jimenez’s MLB career consisted of four September, 1974, Bucco outings, giving up four runs (three earned) in four IP with six hits and two walks as a mop-up man. He had earned the call after going 6-9/2.66 as a swingman at AAA Charleston. Juan spent the ‘75 campaign there before tucking the ball in his back pocket. 
• 1966 - The Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee elected Casey Stengel to the Hall. He broke his hip in 1965, ending his managerial career, and the Committee waived his waiting period to make him immediately eligible for Cooperstown. (The electors, who weren’t sure The Ol’ Perfessor would last long enough to become eligible, needn't have worried - he lasted another decade, living to the ripe old age of 85). He was inducted July 25th. Stengel was a Pirate outfielder from 1918-19; his famous "sparrow under the hat" antic was performed as a Bucco. 
• 1967 - RHP Joel Johnston was born in West Chester, PA. He was a Penn State grad and highly touted KC prospect, breaking into Baseball America’s Top 100 (#59). After a poor showing with the Royals, he was traded to the Pirates in 1993 with LHP Dennis Moeller for 2B José Lind, and he rebounded with a line of 2-4-2/3.38 in 33 games. But he bombed the next year and was released in May, 1994. 
• 1968- RHP Jim Dougherty was born in Brentwood, New York. A late round Astros’ draft pick in 1990, he made 56 appearances for Houston in ‘95, then spent the next two seasons sipping cups of coffee with the ‘Stros and A’s. After spending ‘98 in the minors, he signed with the Pirates, made two not-very-effective April outings and was sent to AAA Nashville. Dougherty then tried two other organizations before closing out his career as a Bucco farmhand in 2002, splitting time between the Sounds and AA Altoona during that final pro campaign. 

Don Money - 1965 Topps Custom

• 1977 - The rumor mill was grinding out a possible Don Money deal (a player who Pittsburgh had traded out of the organization a decade before as part of the Jim Bunning package) with Milwaukee to fill a hole at the hot corner. OF Bill Robinson was holding the spot, but the Pirates were looking for a day-to-day vet to man third; they gave up on Richie Hebner after his .249/8 HR ‘76 campaign and let him sign with Philly. The Brew Crew had eyes for OF Miguel Dilone and a pitcher; Pete Peterson was said to be dangling hurlers Jim Rooker/Larry Demery and OF Tony Armas in some combo. An agreement never came together, and Money spent the remainder of his career in Milwaukee. But Pete did get his man - IF Phil Garner came over from Oakland in a huge trade a week later and Scrap Iron kept the position warm until relieved by Bill Madlock in 1979. 
• 1988 - OF Tommy Pham was born in Las Vegas. He was drafted by the Cards in 2006 and began his MLB days with them in 2014. Tommy played for nine teams in 10 campaigns (he was with the Redbirds twice) before signing with the Bucs in 2025 for one-year/$4.025M to fill a corner outfield hole. He sported a .258 career BA with not much of a batting split, and was penciled in to be an everyday guy. He got off to a slow start but picked up steam after switching to new contact lens to finish at .245 in 120 games; he’s now a free agent. 
• 1998 - The TV special “Clemente” aired nationally on Fox Sports. The 45-minute program was produced by Black Canyon, who put together the “When It Was A Game” series for HBO. The show consisted of old clips, file footage and interviews. It was well reviewed and timed to introduce one of the great players of this century to an audience that either never knew him or forgot his accomplishments. 
• 1998 - The City and County ended decades of debate when they announced plans to build two stadiums on the North Shore at a cost of $459M, with construction to begin in the summer of ‘99. PNC Park & Heinz Field both had spring groundbreakings and stayed fairly close to the budget, costing taxpayers $497M, less than a 10% overrun of the estimated cost, which was awfully close to a bullseye for government estimators. Both fields opened for play in 2001. 

Cal Mitchell - 2023 Topps

• 1999 - OF/DH Calvin Mitchell was born in San Diego, California. A second round pick of the Bucs in 2017 from Rancho Bernardo HS, Cal played all three outfield spots and his bat came around in 2021 as a 22-year-old, getting him some notice in the organization. He kept on at Indy the following season (.307/five HR/26 RBI/six SB) and the Pirates called him up to the big team in mid-May after reversing course and opting to play actual outfielders rather than recycled infielders in the pasture. Mitchell was penciled into the lineup the same day he arrived, and collected his first MLB hit and RBI during his debut. He hit .226 in 69 games, with talk of moving him to 1B. But Cal got into just two games in ‘23 and signed as a FA with the San Diego Padres after the season. He’s now playing in the Mexican League. 
• 2001 - Kris Benson signed a four-year contract worth a reported $13-14M that carried him through arbitration. Benson, 26, posted a 10-12/3.85 line in 2000. He missed all of 2001 after TJ surgery and never finished a season with an ERA under four in his remaining seven seasons. He played as a Pirate until the last year of the agreement, when he was sent to the New York Mets in the transaction that returned Jose Bautista to the Bucs after losing him in the 2003 Rule 5 draft. 
• 2007 - The Post Gazette featured a spring camp report wondering if Nate McLouth could hang on to win a bench spot after a disappointing campaign in 2006 (.233 BA). He did go north with the Bucs, joining a rotating cast in center consisting of himself, Chris Duffy, Rajai Davis and Nyjer Morgan, then took command of the pasture by putting together an All-Star season in 2008. It was Nate’s last hurrah here - he was sent to Atlanta in June of 2009 for RHP Charlie Morton, LHP Jeff Locke & OF Gorkys Hernandez to open a spot for rookie Andrew McCutchen. 
• 2023 - The Texas Rangers traded UT Mark Mathias to the Pirates for a PTBNL (RHP Ricky DeVito) after Mathias had been DFA’ed. Mathias, 28, was a third round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015 out of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and posted a .277/.365/.554 slash in 74 PA with the Rangers in 2022 after missing 2021 due to shoulder surgery. Selected for his versatility and potential offensive tools, he was called to Pittsburgh twice, appearing in 62 games. MM hit .231, was waived in July as the youngsters made their way up and is now playing for indie club Long Island.

3/7: Where's Freddy?, Olivo Joins Club, Peach Fuzz Forty, Spring Snapshots, Vic HoF, Maz Day, KBL Deal, New Rules; RIP Cool Papa & Pud, HBD Jason, Albert, Dick, Junior & Doc

• 1881 - RHP William “Doc” Scanlan was born in Syracuse. He started his career in Pittsburgh, tossing sparingly from 1903-04 before being sold to the Brooklyn Superbas. Doc was 1-4 with a 4.65 ERA here, but was steady on the slab for some bad Brooklyn teams over the next 6-1/2 years, winning 64 games with a 2.96 ERA and tossing over 1,200 innings. He made baseball history in 1905 when he became one of only a handful of National League hurlers in modern major league history to win two complete games in one day, beating St. Louis, 4-0 and 3-2, on October 3rd. Doc’s nickname was straightforward enough; he was a doctor while a player and quit baseball in his prime (he was 30) for his practice. 
• 1893 - Baseball began to take on its modern form. The NL eliminated the pitching box, a 6’ x 4’ area the pitcher could throw from, and replaced it with the pitcher's rubber, establishing both a set position for pitchers and today’s pitching distance of 60’ 6”. Also, bats had to be rounded - the semi-cricket style of one side being flat for ease of slapping/bunting was made illegal. 
• 1902 - James Pud Galvin, who had spent half of his 16 big league years pitching in Pittsburgh for the Alleghenys, Burghers and Pirates, passed away impoverished at the age of 45 of a stomach ailment. He left behind six kids and a wife in baseball’s pre-pension era; various local funders were held after his death to help the family. In his career, he tossed 6,003 innings and 646 complete games, behind only Cy Young. He was MLB's first 300-game winner in 1888 (he won 365 times), authored two no-hitters and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1965. His original ground-level memorial stone at Calvary Cemetery in Hazelwood was replaced in a ceremony as a result of SABR's 19th Century Baseball Grave Marker Project and is now a resting place befitting a HoF player. 
• 1919 - RHP James “Junior” Walsh was born in Newark. Junior made his pitching debut in 1946 for the Bucs, returning during 1948-51 and never posted an ERA lower than 5.05; during his five years in Pittsburgh, his line was 4-10-1/5.88. He spent most of his 14-year pro career in the Pirates organization, once leading the Western League in whiffs. But he missed the dish even more often than he missed bats - in his years as a pro, he fanned over 800 batters but walked 900+. 

Junior Walsh - photo via Find-A-Grave

• 1931 - C Dick Rand was born in South Gate, California. Rand got into 60 games for the Bucs in 1957, batting .219 and ending his MLB career after three years. He was part of the cattle call of catchers the Pirates rostered in 1957 after starter Jack Shepherd earned a masters degree and surprised the club by retiring to go to work for his alma mater, Stanford. Rand joined Hank Foiles, Danny Kravitz and Harding “Pete” Peterson, who would find more success in the front office (he eventually became the Pirates GM) than on the field, as Bucco backstops during the season. 
• 1958 - OF Albert Hall was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Hall spent his final MLB campaign in Pittsburgh after signing a minor league deal, closing out a yo-yo nine-year career (all but this stop as a Brave) with only two seasons spent entirely with the big club. He got into 20 September games in 1989 for the Bucs after playing with the AAA Buffalo club and hit .182. A noted base-stealer in the minors (he swiped 60+ sacks six times), Hall also was the first Atlanta Brave to hit for the cycle in late 1987; the last time a member of the Braves franchise, Bill Collins, had posted a cycle before then was in 1910 when the team was the Boston Doves. 
• 1960 - The Pirates purchased LHP Diomedes Olivo from Poza Rica of the Mexican League, also throwing in an unnamed minor league infielder. He spent most of the year at AAA Columbus, where he slashed 7-9/2.88 before getting into four late-season games with the big club. When Olivo made his debut on September 5th, 1960, at age 41, he was the oldest rookie to pitch except for Satchel Paige in the post-WW2 era. He had another solid season at Columbus in 1961 and came north in ‘62 to post a line of 5-1-7/2.77 in 62 outings. Diomedes and Dick Groat were shipped in the offseason to the Cards for Don Cardwell and Julio Gotay. Age was just a number to the Olivo clan - his baby brother Chi-Chi took his MLB bow in 1961 when he was 33 years old. 
• 1984 - It was a pretty chirpy day in camp, according to the Pittsburgh Press’ Bob Hertzel. First, John Candelaria called the Pirates “hypocrites” for not renegotiating his four-year contract, estimated to be worth $700K/year and running through 1986, after saying during the past season that the fans could “go to hell” and he wouldn’t mind a trade (and in fact, Joe Brown was talking to Toronto, Atlanta and Houston about possible deals). Later that week, he complained of a sore arm; that was legit and due to a bone chip in his elbow, which was a major stumbling block in contract and trade talk. Then Dave Parker chimed in from Cincy’s camp, complaining about his portrayal in the retired Willie Stargell’s “Out of Left Field” book; not even Pops was immune from the mud balls flying through the spring air. Chuck Tanner, as always, muffled all the noise and carried on. 

Candyman - 1984 Donruss

• 1991 - The Pirates went to Winter Haven to play a spring exhibition against the Red Sox, and it was speculated that the two teams would be swapping training facilities before the next camp opened. For the Bucs, based in Bradenton since 1969, it was a matter of growing impatient with the City-County feud over updating McKechnie Field, which dated back to 1923. But all’s well that ends well; Pittsburgh got its renovations in 1993 (those improvements were freshened up again in 2008), and have held preseason work there for the past 50 years. 
• 1991 - OF Cool Papa Bell, who spent five seasons with the Pittsburgh Crawfords and five more with the Homestead Grays (he hit .300+ in nine of those 10 campaigns; the outlier season saw him hit .291), died at age 87 in St. Louis of a heart attack. His speed was legendary; Josh Gibson made the famous observation that Bell was so fast he could flip the light switch and be in bed before the room got dark. Cool Papa played for 25 years and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974. 
• 1994 - The Pirates got their first springtime look at Michael Jordan in Bradenton as he tried to transition from roundballer to hardballer. He didn’t have much luck, fanning once and bouncing three balls to the infield, reaching once on 2B Carlo Garcia’s error. The Pirates whipped the White Sox in Grapefruit League play, 3-2, as MJ’s teammates didn’t do much with the bats either. 
• 1995 - The Veterans Committee selected RHP Vic Willis for the Hall of Fame. Willis pitched from 1906-09 with Pittsburgh, going 89-46 with a 2.08 ERA. The workhorse curveballer was inducted on July 30th with 249 career victories on his resume and eight 20+ win seasons, including all four years with the Bucs. Vic also was one of eight pitchers who tossed over 300 innings in a season without giving up a homer when he threw 322 frames in the 1906 campaign w/o yielding a long ball. 
• 1995 - C Jason Delay was born in Plano, Texas. The Pirates drafted Delay out of Vanderbilt in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. He caught for Altoona/Indy/Arizona Fall League from 2019 on (missing the Covid year of 2020) and got his first MLB call when he was activated off the travel taxi squad in 2022, starting the first game of a twin bill the following day, going 0-for-2 with a walk, then being returned to Indy between games. Delay came back in July and knocked incumbent Michael Perez out of a job with his play, even though he only hit .213. He got a longer look in ‘23 and batted .251, but dropped to a third wheel in ‘24, getting just 15 PAs in seven games with a .200 BA. JD was traded to Atlanta in ‘25 and signed with the Boston org for the 2026 campaign. 

Jason Delay - 2024 Topps Heritage

• 1996 - The Pirates and Prime Time KBL signed a three-year contract, good for 61 games/$3M per year for broadcast rights in ‘96, with Lanny Frattare and Steve Blass being the primary booth duo. It was the first multi-year deal signed between the team and KBL, and both sides were looking to jazz up the presentation by moving the announcers into the stands occasionally and using handheld cameras to involve the crowd more in the TV presentation. 
• 2001 - The day after being elected to the Hall of Fame, Bradenton declared it “Bill Mazeroski Day” and Maz threw out the first pitch for the spring game at McKechnie Field. The Pirates added their two cents worth: They named a field at Pirate City after him, then Kevin McClatchy announced that the team was going to change the Avenue of the Pirates by PNC Park to Mazeroski Way, and that Maz would have a special day at the ballyard in August after his induction. 
• 2007 - The main topic of the springtime Pirates chatter was whether or not the Bucs should keep defending National League batting champ Freddy Sanchez at second base; both the media and the team had questions about his legs being able to take the physical beating dished out to middle infielders on plays at the bag. Freddy proved tough enough. He had spent 2006-05 splitting time at 3B-SS-2B, and then closed out his career as a second sacker. His legs held up fine, but later injuries to his arm and back eventually did put an end to his MLB days. 
• 2019 - In an annual rite of spring, the Bucs signed 31 pre-arb players for 2019. 30 of the players plus RHP Dario Agrazal, who was removed from the 40-man roster during the off-season but brought to camp as a NRI, were on the 40-man so the team was carrying just 10 guys with more than three years of service time on the roster. It would be a short window; eight players would become arb-eligible in 2020. But even that club was peach-fuzzed with 27 pre-arb players.

3/6: KY Strikes Gold, Yoslan Inked, Kip Surgery, Maz & Arky HoF, Global Raid, First DH; HBD Pops, Ed, Cervy, Clint, Rev, Bert & John

• 1863 - RF/1B John Coleman was born in Saratoga Springs, NY. He was an Allegheny during the 1886-88 & 1890 campaigns. He began his career as a pitcher, tossing 65 games as a Philadelphia Quakers rookie in 1883 with a line of 12-48/4.87. By 1885, Coleman had transitioned into a position player who occasionally tossed, which considering his early mound showing was a wise career move. John could handle the bat, putting up a .266 BA in his Pittsburgh days. 
• 1878 - RHP Bert Husting was born in Mayville, Wisconsin. A two-sport star at Wisconsin-Madison, he got a two game audition with the 1900 Pirates (eight IP, five runs, 10 hits, five walks) and then jumped to the American League’s Milwaukee Brewers the following year to get a chance to pitch near home. He lasted just for two more seasons, and then got on with his life’s work as a lawyer, eventually becoming FDR’s US Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. 
• 1904 - IF Walter “Rev” Cannady was born in Lake City, Florida. Cannady played 25 years of Negro League ball for 13 different teams, with several Homestead Grays stops(1923-24, 1929, 1932, 1944) and one with the Crawfords in 1932 (the Craws were still independent and barnstorming then). He saved the best for last; he batted .356 for Homestead in 1944. A player who was noted for versatility (mostly a middle infielder, Rev played all four infield positions and even pitched) and durability, he failed in his bid to make the Hall of Fame cut in 2006. 
• 1940 - 1B/OF Wilver Dornell Stargell was born in Earlsboro, Oklahoma. Pops played his entire 21-year MLB career (1962-1982) for the Pirates. (Steel City Trivia - Willie is the only Pittsburgh athlete other than Sid Crosby to spend 20 years with his club). Captain Willie hit .282, with 2,232 hits, 423 doubles, 475 HR and 1,540 RBI. His teams captured six National League East division titles, two NL pennants and two World Series (1971, 1979). In 1979, he became the only player to win the NL MVP, the NLCS MVP and the World Series MVP in one season. He was a seven-time All Star and led the NL in homers twice. The Pirates retired Stargell’s number (1982), built him a statue (2001) and enshrined him as part of the first class of the team Hall of Fame (2022). Willie was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988. He passed away on April 9, 2001 at the age of 61, just two days after the team dedicated his statue in front of PNC Park. 

Cap'n Willie - 2023 Donruss

• 1969 - Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski and Jim Bunning confirmed that they had been contacted by the Global League, a third major league in the works that was reported to be backed by Howard Hughes (spoiler: it wasn’t). The tentative bids were for a four-year deal at $150,000 per season and a 2.5% equity stake in the league offered to 10 top MLB’ers. They wisely passed on the promises as the league itself ended up to be a house of cards, starting the year with rosters mainly of minor-leaguers, then folding in mid-May under a mountain of unpaid bills. 
• 1973 - In a spring exhibition game against the Bucs, the Twins’ Larry Hisle, in most (but not all) historians minds, became the first DH in MLB history. He did his best to sell the rule, too, hitting two HR and collecting seven RBI. It was the first year the rule was in effect, and five teams used a DH that day, which is why there’s still some debate over who took that first swing. 
• 1979 - SS Clint “Don’t Stop Believing” Barmes was born in Vincennes, Indiana. The slick fielding, stick-challenged (he hit .224 as a Bucco) infielder joined the Pirates in 2012 when he signed a two-year, $10.5M free agent contract. He returned in 2014 for $1.5M but was hurt much of the year, and during the off-season he signed with the San Diego Padres. He retired in 2016. 
• 1985 - SS Arky Vaughan was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Vaughan batted .318 with a .406 OBP over a 14-year career with the Pirates (1932-41) and Brooklyn Dodgers, hitting .300 or better in 12 of those campaigns. He was inducted on July 28th. Earlier, in 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him among the elite in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. Twenty years later, in his 2001 New Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James rated Vaughan as the second-best shortstop in MLB history, behind fellow Pirate and mentor Honus Wagner. 

Cervy - 2017 Topps

• 1986 - C Francisco Cervelli was born in Valencia, Venezuela. He joined the Bucs in November of 2014 from the Yankees in a swap for LHP Justin Wilson. Originally an infielder, they flipped him to catching, where he was considered one of the better defensive players with a solid bat, although injury prone, throughout his career. In his first year as a Buc, Cervy was healthy as a horse, playing 130 games and hitting .295. That wasn’t quite the tale in 2016, as he got behind the dish 95 times due to various injuries and hit .264. It was worse in the following campaign when Fran was again banged up and started just 75 games, batting .just 249. Fran got into 104 games in 2018, though still dinged a bit, and put up a 123 OPS+ with 12 HR and a line of .259/.378/.431, his best offensive showing as a Bucco. He was hurt through much of 2019, released, and moved on to Atlanta as a free agent in late August. Cervy then went to Miami, retiring following the 2020 campaign after suffering his seventh concussion, then coached for San Diego in 2022. 
• 1996 - OF Edward Olivares was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He was signed by Toronto as an international FA in 2014, debuted with San Diego in 2020 and came to Pittsburgh in 2023 in a trade with the KC Royals. He arrived with a career slash of .262/25/74 in 232 games and held off a solid cast of competitors (Billy McKinney, Josh Palacios) to break camp as the Bucs’ bench OF’er. He didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, batting .226, was released at year's end, signed with the Mets for six weeks and then opted to play in Japan. 
• 1999 - 1B Kevin Young signed the richest contract to date in Pirate history, a $24M, four-year deal based on anticipated revenues from the team's soon-to-be-built stadium. The deal called for a $500,000 signing bonus and salaries of $5.5M in 2000, $6M in 2001, $5.5M in 2002 and $6.5M in 2003. That agreement carried him to the end of his 12-year career, with all but one campaign spent as a Pirate. KY’s record deal didn’t last for long - Jason Kendall inked a six-year/$60M extension after the 2000 campaign. Young rejoined the team in 2015 as a special assistant of baseball operations and a part-time color man in the AT&T booth. 

Maz Made It! From 3/7/2001 Beaver County Times 

• 2001 - 2B Bill Mazeroski was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee after what seemed to be an interminable wait. He was inducted on August 5th, giving a tearful speech after discarding his notes, saying "I think you can flush these 12 pages down the drain." The Pirates retired his number, built him a statue, put him in the team Hall of Fame and every October 13th fans meet at the Forbes Field wall to celebrate his famed Game Seven longball, selected by ESPN as the “Greatest Home Run of All Time.” 
• 2006 - RHP Kip Wells had surgery to remove a blood clot from his right armpit, returning on June 19th. He was traded at the deadline to Texas, beginning a 10-team exodus that finally ended when he retired in 2013. From the surgery on, he pitched in 108 more MLB games, topping 100+ IP just once and went 14-34/5.66 over that span, while more clots were found in his hand in 2008. In the seven years before the clot was found, Kip had posted a 55-69/4.36 line. 
• 2007 - The Bucs signed Cuban righty Yoslan Herrera to a three year/$1.92M deal. He made it to the show in July, 2008, and in five starts, he went 1-1/9.82. The Pirates released him during the 2009 off-season after he split the year between Indy and Altoona, and he was out of baseball after another year. Herrera did rebound though, pitching for the Los Angeles Angels in 2014 before moving on to Japan, where he finished his career after the 2016 campaign.

3/5: Cutch, Scott & Gravedigger Sign, '17 WBC Gang Goes, Foxy In HoF; HBD Sam, Teke, Erik, Larry, Del, Al, Handsome Harry, Earl & John

• 1855 - Jack-of-all-trades John Richmond was born in Philadelphia. A journeyman who played middle infield, the hot corner, and all three outfield spots, Richmond suited up for seven teams in eight big league seasons (National League & American Association), making a stop in Pittsburgh in 1885. He mostly was used off the bench as a shortstop here, batting .206 before being released by the Alleghenys in July. He finished out in the minors, last playing in 1887.  
• 1911 - 1B/OF Earl Browne was born in Louisville. A noted minor league slugger, Brown began his MLB career in Pittsburgh, getting into 17 games from 1935-36 and hitting .273 before closing out with two more seasons with Philadelphia. Browne did enjoy a 22-year career in minor league baseball as a southpaw pitcher, outfielder and first baseman with a .304 lifetime BA; he also was a 19-game winner in the minors as an 18-year-old hurler before becoming an everyday player. 
• 1915 - RHP “Handsome Harry” Shuman (guess he was a looker) was born in Philadelphia. Shuman got his big break in 1936 when the pre-law student was a pitcher for Temple U and a friend asked him to toss batting practice to the Philadelphia Athletics. A's skipper Connie Mack was impressed by his arm and signed him to a minor league contract. He cracked the majors when got into a dozen games from 1941-43 for the Pirates, going 0-0/4.88. He spent 1944 with Philadelphia and then was traded to the Los Angeles Angels, then of the Pacific Coast League. Handsome Harry had a family in Philly and didn’t want to travel that far, so he retired rather than report to the left coast. He stayed in his hometown and worked a series of government/political jobs. 
• 1917 - Coach Al Monchak was born in Bayonne, NJ. After his playing days (he had a cup of coffee with the Phils), he was a scout, instructor and minor league manager. Then he hooked up with Chuck Tanner and coached for the White Sox, Athletics, Braves and Pirates (1977-84) as Chuck’s first base coach and infield tutor. He was named the 2009 winner of the Roland Hemond Award by Baseball America in December 2009. The award recognizes baseball figures who have made long-term contributions to scouting and player development operations. 

Al Monchak: 4-3-1980 Press Pirates Profile

• 1930 - C Del Crandall was born in Ontario, California. The long-time Braves receiver made a 1965 stop in Pittsburgh late in his 16-year career after the Pirates sent Bob Burda and Bob Priddy to the Giants for him. He was 35-years-old and got into 60 games, batting .214, before being released after the year to spend his final season in Cleveland. Del later managed the Brewers and Mariners along with a long minor league stint in the Dodger organization as a skipper, closing out his coaching book as a catching instructor for LA. Del passed away at age 91 in 2021. 
• 1938 - OF Larry Elliot was born in San Diego. Elliot was signed by the Pirates as a 20-year-old out of San Diego City College and spent four years in the Bucs' farm system before getting cups of coffee with Pittsburgh in 1962-63. He went 3-for-14 with a homer (he was a minor league masher) and then spent a pair of seasons with the New York Mets, hitting .236 with 14 long balls. He then played in the minors for three seasons, retiring after the 1969 season. 
• 1947 - RHP Kent Tekulve was born in Cincinnati. The rubber-armed reliever pitched 12 years for the Pirates (1974-85) with a slash of 70-61-158/2.68 and appeared in 90 games twice, making 722 Pittsburgh outings totaling 1,017-1/3 IP. He saved three of the four wins against the Orioles in the 1979 World Series, and Teke with Mike Marshall are the only pitchers to make 90 appearances in a season three times during their career. Tekulve is a heart transplant recipient who retired from his decade-long Pirates studio gig after the 2017 campaign with plans to finally enjoy a long overdue summer vacation. 
• 1975 - After holding out for a week, Richie Hebner struck a deal w/GM Joe Brown for approximately $75,000. The Gravedigger was ready and in camp that afternoon. But he had a miserable year, suffered through a bad back and batted a career low .246. He then played in 1976 without a contract, which made him a free agent for 1977, and skipped to the Phillies. 

Erik Bedard - 2012 Topps Update

• 1979 - LHP Erik Bedard was born in Naval, Ontario. In 2012, the often-injured lefty signed as a free agent with the Pirates for $4.5M. Bedard stayed healthy and posted a 3.12 ERA in 10 starts over the first two months. But beginning in June, the wheels fell off and Bedard slashed 7-14/5.01 before the Pirates released him on August 28th. Houston and Tampa tried to right his ship, but he tossed no better with those clubs and retired after the 2014 season. 
• 1993 - LHP Sam Howard was born in Marietta, Georgia. He was drafted out of Georgia Southern by the Rockies in 2014 and made his debut with them in 2018. He averaged 10 K per nine innings with the Rox, along with the attendant wildness, and was waived the next year. The Pirates claimed him, and though he didn’t break camp with the big club in 2020, they added him to the MLB roster on August 2nd and Sam made his Bucco debut on the same day. He impressed enough to go north with the squad the following season, working in 54 games but posting an unwieldy 5.60 ERA. Howard was waived in May, 2022, was picked up and later DFA’ed by the Tigers, and hasn’t pitched since. 
• 1996 - “Foxy” Ned Hanlon was selected to the Hall of Fame. He played and managed for the Alleghenys, Burghers and Pirates (1889-91) but his glory years were as skipper of the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn Superbas. Noted as a keen tactician (hence “Foxy”), he came up with innovations still in play today such as the hit-and-run, double steal and “Baltimore chop.” Also selected was RHP Jim Bunning, who worked for the Pirates from 1968-69 toward the back end of his career and was one of five players to throw a no-hitter in both leagues. The last local connection chosen was Negro League star LHP Willie Foster, who had stops with the Homestead Grays (1931) and Pittsburgh Crawfords (1936). They were inducted into the Hall on August 4th. 
• 2001 - LHP Scott Sauerbeck signed a three-year/$2.7M deal with the Pirates, which carried him to Boston via trade in late July of 2003. The setup man went 19-15-5/3.56 in his five Bucco seasons, making 341 appearances. He suffered shoulder and hammy injuries which cost him all of 2004 and only tossed 86-1/3 innings after being traded, with 2006 being his last campaign. 

Scott Sauerbeck - 2001 Topps

• 2012 - Andrew McCutchen signed a six-year contract worth $51.5M with a club option for 2018 worth $14.75M. The deal bought out his remaining pre-arbitration year, all three arb years, and a pair of free agent seasons with a club option for another. The breakdown: $1.25M signing bonus; 2012: $500K; ‘13: $4.5M; ‘14: $7.25M; ‘15: $10M; ‘16: $13M; ‘17: $14M; ‘18: $14.5M club option ($1M buyout) plus bonuses worth $25K each for a World Series MVP, Gold Glove, or All-Star selection and $125K for an NL-MVP ($75K for runner up, $50K for third). He almost saw it through, lasting until his 2018 option was exercised and he was traded to the SF Giants. They moved him to the Yankees before Cutch signed on with the Phils and then the Brew Crew. He returned home to play from 2023-25 but remains unsigned to date for the 2026 campaign. 
• 2017 - Four of the Pirates eight starting position players skipped to their WBC teams (Starling Marte & Gregory Polanco - Dominican Republic; Andrew McCutchen & Josh Harrison - USA) with Fran Cervelli joining the exodus the next day to report to the Italian squad. Minor league reliever Jared Lakind packed his bags on the 9th to join Team Israel while 3B Eric Woods was called to Team Canada. Also, RHP’s Ivan Nova & Luis Escobar left respectively for the DR/Colombia’s pitcher’s pool. 3B Jung Ho Kang was selected to the South Korean team, but was later dropped after his DUI episode. The rosters had been announced in February, with player adjustments toggled through early March. The USA defeated Puerto Rico for the WBC title on March 22nd.

3/4: Rip & Arky Sign, Leyland Loses It, PNC Park, Allies Speakeasy; HBD Rick Rod, Cory, The Fort, Rick, Bruce, Brian, Jax, Mel, Clyde, Dazzy & Ed

• 1888 - RHP Ed “Jeff” Pfeffer was born in Seymour, Illinois. Jeff tossed for 13 years in the show for four different teams (primarily Brooklyn), closing out his career as a 36-year-old with Pirates in 1924 after being claimed from the Cards in July. He pitched credibly, going 5-3/3.07 in 16 games (four starts) and ended his MLB career with 158 wins and a 2.77 ERA. He was called "Jeff" after his older brother, Francis "Big Jeff" Pfeffer, who tossed a no-hitter for Boston in 1907. 
• 1889 - Oh, that rowdy North Side nine! Pittsburgh Alleghenys 3B Billy Kuehne was arrested and charged with operating a gambling house at an Allegheny City billiards hall run by him and teammate Ed “Cannonball” Morris. Morris, who was out of town during the raid, told the Pittsburgh Press that “The Allegheny officers labored under a misapprehension...the boys occasionally played for cigars and soft drinks in the back room but nothing worse.” Kuehne beat the rap - when the case came to trial, the charges were dropped after the main witness failed to show. 
• 1891 - RHP Charles “Dazzy” Vance was born in Orient, Iowa. The fireballing Hall of Famer (he had over 2,000 career K) made his debut in 1915 as a 24-year-old for the Pirates after his contract was purchased from St. Joseph of the Western League. His Bucco career lasted for just one wild appearance when he walked five in 2-2/3 IP. He was suffering from a chronic achy wing, but his arm was resurrected years later by a card game. According to his Baseball Hall of Fame bio “A sore arm was blamed for cutting short his first cracks at the majors. That soreness became shooting pain after he banged his elbow on a poker table, causing him to have surgery. The procedure cleared up the pain, and also relieved the chronic soreness that had plagued him.” His career rejuvenated, he rejoined the show in 1922 as a 31-year-old and won 197 games, an MVP Award (1924) and World Series (1934) along the way, pitching through his age 44 campaign. Vance was dubbed Dazzy as an Iowa teen for his dazzling fastball. D-lightful: The 1934 St. Louis Gashouse Gang featured Dazzy, Dizzy Dean, Daffy Dean & Ducky Medwick. 

Clyde McCullough - 1953 Bowman

• 1917 - C Clyde McCullough was born in Nashville. Clyde had a long MLB career, catching for Pittsburgh on a semi-regular basis from 1949-52 and batting .258. But he was a Cub at heart - the Bucs got him from Chicago and he returned there later, spending 12 of his 16 campaigns in the Windy City. After his playing days, he coached for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, New York Mets and San Diego Padres while becoming a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. 
• 1918 - RHP Mel Queen Sr. was born in Maxwell in Fayette County, south of California University of PA. After starting with the Yankees, he worked for Pittsburgh from 1947-48, then again from 1950-52, posting a Bucco line of 19-36/5.33. His son, Mel Jr., pitched for several seasons in MLB and went on to have a long career as the Toronto Blue Jays’ pitching coach. 
• 1940 - SS Arky Vaughan reported to camp and quickly signed a new contract after a brief discussion with club president Bill Benswanger. He was one of the great shortstops (he had won six consecutive All Star berths and earned a spot on the AS team during the next three seasons, too), and immediately after inking his deal for a guesstimated $17,000, new manager Frankie Frisch appointed him the Pirates team captain to replace the traded Gus Suhr. That crossed the final “t” for the new deal, which had been held up over compensation, as the captaincy came with a $500 bonus to sweeten Arky’s pot. 
• 1943 - RHP Rip Sewell returned his signed contract to the Pirates. The salary was undisclosed, but he earned every penny of the deal. Truett was coming off a workhorse 17-15/3.41 season and getting better - in ‘43, he posted a 21-9/2.54 slash with 25 complete games and took his first All-Star bow as a 36-year-old. Rip’s stated goal for the season was more modest than his results as he just wanted to earn the Opening Day start. He got it and spun a three-hit shutout against the Cubs at Wrigley. 
• 1952 - Scout Jax Robertson was born in Milwaukee. After working for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins, he became a special assistant to the GM in 2002 under Dave Littlefield. Jax held on to that role for 19 years before retiring in 2021. He was honored as baseball’s East Coast Scout of the Year in 2015 and is a member of the Pro Baseball Scouts HoF. 

Brian Hunter - 1994 Leaf

• 1968 - 1B/OF Brian Hunter was born in Torrance, California. He was a bench guy for nine MLB campaigns, stopping off in Pittsburgh as a 26-year-old in 1994 after an off-season deal with the Braves, swapping places with Jose Delgado. The Pirates were familiar enough with him; his first inning homer in game seven of the NLCS launched the Bravos to a 4-0 win. He hit .227 with 11 homers as a Buc and then was sent to the Reds at the deadline in another minor deal for OF Micah Franklin. The FO hoped he’d be a middle-of-the-order 1B, but it wasn’t to be as seven different Buccos manned the spot in ‘94. Mark Johnson took over in ‘95 until Kevin Young was moved to first in 1997. 
• 1972 - OF Bruce Aven was born in Orange, Texas. He toiled five-years in MLB, spending part of 2000 as a Pirate after a deal with the Miami Marlins in a swap for Brant Brown. Aven hit .250 and was sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers in August. His last big league game was in 2002 with the Cleveland Indians and now he’s the baseball skipper at American Heritage School in Florida. 
• 1973 - Pirates hitting coach Rick Eckstein was born in Sanford, Florida. Eckstein replaced Jeff Branson following the 2018 campaign as hitting coach after working for the Rays, Expos, Nats, Angels, & Twins; he also served as skipper at the University of Kentucky. He played college ball at Seminole CC and the University of Florida before an injury ended his playing career. Eckstein was dismissed by the Bucs in 2021 and currently is the USA Under 18 team manager. 
• 1985 - C Mike “The Fort” McKenry was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was a back-up catcher for the Bucs from 2011-13 and was a popular player with several clutch hits on his resume. Overall, though, he hit just .226 as a Pirate and returned to his original team, the Colorado Rockies, as a free agent in 2014 before making the rounds as a depth player. He retired to become the Pirates pre-and-post game analyst in 2018 as a replacement for Teke and also serves as a rotating color man as part of the Steve Blass replacement project. McKenry earned his nickname not only because of the similarity of his name to Fort McHenry, but also for the way he tenaciously defended the plate on plays at home. 
• 1985 - LHP Cory Luebke was born in Coldwater, Ohio. He was originally drafted by the Pirates out of Marion HS but committed to Ohio State instead and was selected by the Padres as a 2007 first-rounder (63rd overall). Between 2010-12, he got into 55 games with San Diego, splitting time between starting and the pen. Cory then had a pair of TJ surgeries before inking an NRI deal with the Bucs in 2016. He made the team, pitched poorly, suffered a hammy injury and was released in June. Leubke retired in 2017 after a couple of minor league stops in Miami and Chicago. 

Cory Luebke - 2016 photo/USA Today

• 1990 - RHP Richard Rodriguez was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic. He spent nine years in the Houston and Baltimore systems, getting a brief and ineffective stint with the O’s in 2017. The Bucs brought him in as a NRI during the off-season. After a decent camp, he was stashed at Indianapolis to begin the campaign but quickly got a mid-April call to Pittsburgh when the relief corps sprung some serious mid-inning leaks. He worked his way to the back end of the bullpen by 2020 (15-12-19/2.98 as a Buc) before being traded at the 2021 deadline to Atlanta for Bryse Wilson and Ricky DeVito. Rick Rod was non-tendered at the end of the campaign by the Braves, then lost 80 games in 2022 when he was suspended for PED usage. He then signed with the Yankees, was released at the end of the year, went to Miami as an NRI and is now tossing in Mexico. 
• 1991 - In Pittsburgh’s most famous manager meltdown, Jim Leyland was caught on camera blasting Barry Bonds at camp following a BB spat with Bill Virdon. The redacted version of Leyland’s message went something like “I’ve kissed your (bleep!) for three (bleeping!) years here and I’m sick of this. If you guys don’t want to be here then get the (bleep!) out!” Bonds did get the bleep out after the 1992 season, although that decision was all about the Benjamins and had nothing to do with the spring scolding that set the stage for Jimmy Leyland’s popularity. 
• 2005 - The Pirates announced that they were replacing the Sony video board at PNC after just four years because of moisture problems that blanked out part of the display, leaving a checkerboard effect. The new board was provided by Daktronics and was expected to cost at least $1M. The Pirates said that they’d foot the bill after the Stadium Authority had ponied up for the first screen. Though the new screen worked fine, it was replaced on the team’s dime in 2007 so the Pirates could upgrade the evolving technology and add a LED ribbon display. 
• 2021 - The Pirates and PNC Bank agreed on a 10-year extension of their stadium naming rights deal without releasing the financials. The major addendum was that the old arched PNC logo design spread around the park would be updated, while youth and community collaborations continued. Pirates president Travis Williams had helped draft the original 2001 naming rights agreement, which was for 20-years/$30M, as a Reed Smith attorney working for the Pirates.

3/3 Through The 1950s: Murry Signs, Debs Comes, Pirate Lou Goes; HBD Jesse, Mike, Yo-Yo, Bill & Yaller

• 1879 - C Ed “Yaller” Phelps was born in Albany, NY. Phelps was on the 1902 and 1903 National League pennant-winning clubs and played in the 1903 World Series, forming the Pirates’ first Fall Classic battery with Deacon Phillippe. He served mainly as a back-up catcher (he started in 1903-04) during his six-year Pittsburgh career (1902-04, 1906-08), hitting .247 as a Bucco. Ed’s career claim to fame is that he caught six straight shutouts for the Pirates in 1903, still a post-1900 record. His nickname of "Yaller" referred to his sallow complexion, according to his family. 
• 1897 - 2B Lou Bierbauer was sold to the St. Louis Browns after six seasons with Pittsburgh. His 1891 signing by the Bucs, after he was left unprotected by the Philadelphia Athletics, was denounced by the A’s as “piratical,” leading to the Alleghenys evolving into the Pirates. The “king of the second baseman” had a slow start to his Steel City days, but rallied to hit .284 over his final four Bucco campaigns and his glovework was elite throughout. After a couple of years with the Browns and some minor league touring, he retired to his hometown of Erie. 
• 1910 - C Bill Brenzel was born in Oakland, California. He spent parts of three seasons in MLB, beginning in 1932 with the Pirates when he got into nine games and went 1-for-24. He earned a reputation for his good glove, bad bat (.198 lifetime BA), and per his obit, quick wit and slow feet. He spent 18 years in pro ball (he left high school to begin his playing days at age 17), then managed in the minor leagues before becoming a long-time scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Aubrey Epps - image via Diamonds In the Dusk

• 1912 - C Aubrey “Yo-Yo” Epps was born in Memphis, Tennessee. In the final game of the 1935 campaign, Epps caught for Pittsburgh after being purchased from the Birmingham Barons, where he was hitting .301, and went 3-for-4 with three RBI (and two errors, oops). The Pirates had high hopes for Epps - they had to outbid the Cleveland Indians to win him from Birmingham - but that game turned out to be his only major league appearance. He contracted a serious case of pneumonia during the off season and it cost him a chance at making the roster. Aubrey bounced around for another six seasons in the minor leagues and retired after the 1941 season at age 29. His nickname was due to his proficiency with a yo-yo. 
• 1940 - The Boston Braves sold OF Debs Garms to the Pirates. In 358 at bats for Pittsburgh he led the NL in hitting with a .355 average. At the time, there was no minimal at-bat requirement; league prez Ford Frick said the title was unofficial and 100 games, the traditional but unofficial cut-off line, was enough to qualify (Garms got into 103 contests), raising a hubbub as Cub fans thought Stan Hack's full-time .317 BA was tops. The league refused to bend, but in 1950, the NL made 2.6 AB’s per game the magic number. The veteran was sold to St. Louis after the 1941 season, where he would finish his career in 1945. Debs, btw, is not a moniker but his given name. His parents christened him in honor of early twentieth century labor activist and socialist, Eugene Debs. 
• 1948 - Mike Lange was born in Sacramento, California. Mike was a renowned award-winning announcer for the Penguins, and in 1986-87 he teamed with Steve Blass to announce the Buc games carried by cable station KBL, fulfilling a childhood wish to be a baseball announcer. He passed away in 2025. 

Mike Lange - photo via Penn State

• 1949 - RHP Jesse Jefferson was born in Midlothian, Virginia. In a nine-year career as both a starter and reliever, Jesse tossed one game for the Pirates in 1980 after the Bucs claimed him in September off the waiver wire from Toronto, where he was a member of the original expansion Jays. The outing was a strong effort by Jefferson, who beat the Cubs, 3-1, by going 6-2/3 IP of three-hit ball. It wasn’t enough to keep the 31-year-old in Pittsburgh, but it did get him a final contract with the Angels, where he finished out his MLB days after the 1981 season. 
• 1952 - RHP Murry Dickson won the battle of the counting numbers, ending a two-day holdout by signing his ‘52 contract with the Bucs. Murray led the league in hits allowed (294), earned runs surrendered (129), home runs given up (32) and posted 16 losses with a 4.02 ERA. On the other side of the coin, he appeared in 45 outings with 35 starts, worked 288-2/3 innings and won 20 games, adding a couple of saves along the way. He was looking to plump his salary from $20,000 to $30,000 and almost made his case as he agreed to a $27,000 deal.

3/3 From 1960: Kip, Mike & Bert Sign, Justin Joins, Hooks In HoF; RIP Otter & Al, HBD Matt, Trent, Ron & Neal

• 1960 - LHP Neal Heaton was born in South Ozone Park, NY. He pitched for Pittsburgh from 1989-91, making the All Star team in 1990 after a 9-1/2.87 mid-June start. Heaton, who had battled tendinitis, credited the 1990 success to a new pitch, a knuckle change. The league apparently caught on; he finished the year at 12-9. As a Pirate, his line was 21-19/3.46. Heaton now coaches at the All-Pro Academy in Bellport, NY, and worked with Marcus Stroman and Steven Matz when they were high school ballplayers. 
• 1961 - IF Ron Wotus was born in Colchester, Connecticut. Ron spent his MLB career in Pittsburgh, getting into 32 games and batting .207 between 1983-84. He played in the minors afterwards, ending his playing days in the Giant organization. Wotus remained with the G-Men as a minor league manager from 1991 to 1997. He became the Giants third base coach in 1998 under Dusty Baker and has served as bench coach since 1999 under Baker, Felipe Alou and Bruce Bochy before returning to the 3B box in 2017; now he’s San Fran’s special assistant of baseball operations. Wotus was interviewed by the Bucs for the head honcho job in 2000, losing out to Lloyd McClendon. 
• 1964 - Coach Trent Jewett was born in Dallas. Jewett was a catcher on the Pirate farm before continuing on as a coach in the organization. He managed the Triple-A Nashville Sounds from 1998 to 2000, was the Bucs third base coach from 2000-02, then returned to managing AAA Nashville and Indy until 2008 when he skipped to the Nats system. In 2013, he joined Lloyd McClendon as bench coach for Seattle, a position he held through 2015 when both Trent and Lloyd were let go.

Trent Jewett - 1994 Fleer Pro Cards

• 1977 - Former Post Gazette Sports Editor Al Abrams passed away at age 73 after a heart attack. He covered the sports beat for the PPG from 1926 until his death and served as its sports editor from April 1947 to March 1974, with his regular “Sidelights on Sports” column continuing on even after he gave up the editorship. But his greatest contribution to the local sports scene may have been when Abrams founded the Post-Gazette Dapper Dan Club in 1936, now the Dapper Dan Charities, which awards an annual local Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Award and supports the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western PA for its sports activities. 
• 1978 - Newly acquired RHP Bert Blyleven signed a new deal with the Pirates, overriding his old Texas contract (under the rules then, Bert needed to have a single contract - the Rangers had an annuity set up for him - or he would be eligible for free agency at the end of the year). The details announced by the team were fuzzy; the FO just said it was multi-year and included deferred payments, with Baseball Reference listing his 1979 salary at $500 K and the ‘80 pay at $300 K. Apparently it satisfied the Fryin’ Dutchman - he went on to post a 14-10/3.03 slash, working team-highs of 34 starts, 243-2/3 innings, 11 complete games, four shutouts and 182 whiffs. They also found time to work out a depth deal, signing 2B Mike Edwards. He was sent to Oakland in April. 
• 1978 - OF Matt Diaz was born in Portland, Oregon. In December of 2010, he signed a two-year/$4.125M free-agent contract that could reach $5M w/bonuses with the Pirates, who were looking for some platoon punch to add to their attack. Instead, he suffered a power outage and slashed .259/.303/.324 without a dinger, resulting in the Pirates trading him back to the Braves, the club he had left after a non-tender, at the deadline for Eliecer Cardenas. Matt put 11 years in the league with a .290 lifetime BA after he hung ‘em up following the 2013 campaign, appearing in just 77 more games after he left town. 

Ray Dandridge - 1992 Front Row

• 1987 - 3B Ray Dandridge was the only player elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. He spent a handful of games with the Homestead Grays in 1937 as a 23-year-old pup early during a career that spanned 22 campaigns. Dandridge was nicknamed “Hooks” because of his bowed legs, but like the similarly-statured Honus Wagner, was an elite fielder and batter, considered by many to be the Negro League’s premier hot corner guy. He missed out on an MLB shot because of his age (35), but still hit .362 in the American Association, where he was Rookie of the Year in 1949 and MVP in ‘50. Ray went on to become a Giants’ scout after his playing days. 
• 1988 - RHP Bob Kipper signed a split contract, w/$125K for the bigs and $75K for the minors, as a take-it-or-leave-it tender offer from the Bucs. Neither he nor his agent was very pleased by the deal, with the agent suggesting the Pirates trade Kip someplace he would be more appreciated, at least financially. But Kipper made it through the season with an uninterrupted MLB stay, and got $105K added to his salary next season, sticking with Pittsburgh through the 1991 campaign. 
• 2024 - Hard-nosed C Ed Ott passed away at the age of 72. The Otter played for the Bucs from 1974-80 (.267 BA/492 games), and platooned with Steve Nicosia in the Championship season of 1979, having his best year at the dish by slashing .273/7/51 in 117 games. Ott was another of the young Bucs that played musical chairs while coming up; he started in the system as a third baseman, was moved to the outfield and transitioned to catcher in ‘75, getting his big chance after Manny Sanguillen was traded in ‘76. He closed out his career with a year as a California Angel. Ott then coached or managed for Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Angels farm clubs, in the indie minor leagues for three seasons, coached for the Houston Astros, managed by ex-Bucco teammate Art Howe (1989-1993), and served as bullpen coach with the Detroit Tigers (2001-02). 
• 2025 - The Bucs claimed RH reliever Justin Lawrence, 30, off waivers from the Rockies after placing RHP Johan Oviedo on the 60-day IL following a right lat strain suffered in a bullpen session. Lawrence made 182 appearances for the Rox from 2021-24 with a line of 12-12-14/5.43, averaging nearly a K per inning but a wild child, issuing five walks per game. He only got the call 17 times here between injuries in ‘25, but slashed 1-0/0.51 with 12 K/nine IP and is ready for 2026

Weekly Report: Bucs Have Good Week (5-2), WBC Gang About To Scatter, Fulmer Back, Pirates Notes, Ex-Buc Moves

 And the games begin...

Pirates Stuff: 

• Forget the latest "who's on third" or "looking for a lefty" story line. Noah Hiles of the Post-Gazette reported (behind a paywall) that the team and Konnor Griffin are both interested in a long-term contract deal, one that could extend past his arb years but still allow for free agency by age 30. As they say, big if true.
• The Pirates signed RHP Carson Fulmer, 32, to a minor league contract as a depth piece. It's his fourth go-around in the org; he spent some time at Indy early last year before finishing the campaign with the LA Angels. He was on Pgh's MLB roster briefly in 2020, but hasn't worked for the big-league Bucs yet.

Ronny Simon - 2025 Topps Update

• IF/OF Ronny Simon, recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, will start BP shortly to be followed by field drills and is expected to be ready to take part in game rehab roughly by the start of the season. 
• The Pittsburgh Pirates will face Freddy Peralta when they open against the New York Mets on March 26, per NY manager Carlos Mendoza. Don Kelly has been mum, but we'd guess Paul Skenes is his likely choice.

Camp Stuff:

• The week started off slowly; Bubba Chandler couldn't find the strike zone and the Yankees topped the Bucs, 6-2, on Monday. On the plus side, the Pirates banged out 10 hits and Gregory Soto fanned three in two frames. The Pirates romped against the Bosox on Tuesday, taking a 16-7 football score dub. Konnor Griffin homered twice and Yordany Ramirez went deep once; seven guys had multiple hits. Griff's reward was to be bopped in the foot the next day and taken out after the inning, but he appeared in pretty fine fettle afterward so presumably it was a precautionary move. Wednesday was a 3-1 loss to the Bravos; Paul Skenes walked four in 2-1/3 IP. In Thursday's game, the Pirates beat the Twins, 6-4, thx to Shawn Ross's two-run eighth-inning homer. Back-end contender Jose Urquidy made his debut and was treated rudely, giving up three runs in 1-1/3 IP. In justice, like Skenes yesterday, the back two runs were allowed by their relievers.

Mitch Keller - 2026 image/Pirates 

• The Pirates kept rollin' to open the weekend, whipping the O's 6-1 on Friday. Mitch Keller started and K'ed four in 2-1/3 shutout IP to kick off what was basically a bullpen game for the staff. The Bucs beat the Astros, 5-2, in six innings (rain claimed the final three frames) on Saturday. Braxton Ashcraft was sharp while Bubba Chandler again struggled with control, The game's big blow was Oneil Cruz's three-run bomb. The Corsairs closed out the red-hot week with a 6-1 dub over the Cards; Griffin and Jhostynxon Garcia homered while Hunter Barco worked three strong frames.
• 3B prospect Jack Brannigan suffered a broken nose when a grounder on Sunday took a bad hop and bopped him in the face. He'll be further examined this week for orbital bone damage before treatment and a return date are determined. Brannigan was part of the 3B mix and his injury throws a snag into hot corner depth and perhaps the FO's plan to man the position internally.

Jack Brannigan - 2022 Bowman's First

• Camp's gonna be a little quieter next week as a dozen players head off to the WBC: RHP Paul Skenes (USA); IF Oneil Cruz, RHP Dennis Santana & LHP Gregory Soto (Dominican Republic); IF Nick Gonzales (Mexico); RHP Kyle Nicolas, RHP Alessandro Ercolani & LHP Joe La Sorsa (Italy); RHP Antwone Kelly (Netherlands); RHP Emmanuel Chapman (Cuba); RHP Po-Yu Chen (Chinese Taipei); and RHP Pietro Albanez (Brazil). RHP José Urquidy (Mexico) and LHP Oddanier Mosqueda (Venezuela) were picked to play for their homelands but are remaining at camp as Urquidy, back from injury, wanted to stay on track in his effort for a backend spot and Mosqueda has a sore arm. 

MLB Stuff:

• The KC Royals have agreed to a deal with OF Starling Marte, per reports, pending his physical.
• RHP Brent Honeywell Jr. was signed by the Giants. He spent a blink of the eye here in '24 before being lost on waivers to the LADs. Brent got a ring there and then was released after the Series. He sat out 2025.
• Former Pirates (2000) RHP Dan Serafini was sentenced to life w/o parole for killing his father-in-law and shooting his mother-in-law.

3/2: Ollie & Jay Nix the Dotted Line, Barkley Battle, Japanese Umps; RIP Howie, HBD Johan, Junior, Miguel, Jim, Brandon, Don, Abie, Frank, Rip, Bill & Chick

• 1879 - RHP Joe “Chick” Robitaille was born in Whitehall, New York. He spent his two year MLB career as a Pirate (1904-05), slashing 12-8/2.56 before being released in August 1905. Chick signed on with the Washington Senators the following season as a free agent, but never returned to the big leagues. 
• 1886 - The American Association met and overruled Denny McKnight, AA president and also owner of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, over who held the rights to 2B Sam Barkley, then voted to suspend Barkley for signing with Pittsburgh. The issue turned around St. Louis Browns owner Chris von der Ahe, who had sold Barkley’s rights to Pittsburgh in January; Baltimore had sent him $1,000 for Barkley’s contract after a verbal agreement but it arrived after the Steel City deal. The case was eventually resolved by allowing Barkley to play for the Alleghenys, which sent Milt Scott from Pittsburgh to Baltimore as compensation, while von der Ahe got to keep Baltimore’s check to give everyone a piece of the pie, essentially completing a three-team deal. After all that horsetrading, Barkley hit .248 in his two years with the club, splitting time between first and second base. 
• 1891 - C Bill Fischer was born in New York City. Bill spent the last two seasons of his five year career in Pittsburgh (he was traded to the Bucs by the Chicago Cubs in July 1916 as the Pirates were stockpiling catchers to spell the aging George Gibson) and hit .277 in 137 games before hangin’ the spikes up after the 1917 campaign. Fischer had a career year in 1915 playing for the pennant-winning Chicago Whales of the Federal League, when he batted .329. 
• 1898 - RHP Floyd “Rip” Wheeler was born in Marion, Kentucky. After winning 23 games in the minors, the Bucs called him up in late 1921. He gave up three earned runs in three frames and opened 1922 in the minors. He got one more inning in Pittsburgh before joining the Cubs, where he yo-yoed between the show and the farm for a couple of seasons. Rip quietly concluded his career after three more minor league years in 1928 at age 30 playing for Evansville. 

Frank Colman - 1944 photo via Find-A-Grave

• 1918 - 1B/OF/PH Frank Colman was born in London, Ontario. He played for the Bucs from 1941-46, getting just 373 PA and hitting .233. In 1947, Frank’s career ended with the Yankees when a leg injury followed by surgery finished his MLB playing days. Frank caught on as a player-manager in the minors for a while, then bought the team he started out on, the London Majors. Frank later founded the Eager Beaver baseball group for kids, and was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 as a ballplayer and ambassador of the sport. 
• 1924 - OF Cal “Abie” Abrams was born in Philadelphia. He spent 1953 in Pittsburgh as the starting RF, hitting .286 with 15 HR, and was traded early in 1954 to Baltimore for P Dick Littlefield. Abrams hit .269 over his career, but drew 304 walks to just 290 whiffs and ended up with a .386 lifetime OBP in eight seasons with the Dodgers, Reds, Pirates, Orioles and White Sox. Abie ran a college bar after retirement and then became a celebrity host for a cruise liner. 
• 1936 - RHP Don Schwall was born in Wilkes-Barre. A two-sport college star (he was All-Conference hoopster) at Oklahoma, he won the AL Rookie of the Year honors in 1961 with the Red Sox, beating out teammate Carl “Yaz” Yastrzemski. He settled into journeyman status and was converted to the bullpen later in his career by the Bucs. He was a Pirate from 1963-66, going 22-23-4 with a 3.23 ERA. Don retired to Pittsburgh’s North Hills and worked as a broker. 
• 1960 - RHP Howie Camnitz, 78, passed away in Louisville, Kentucky. He pitched nine years (1904, 1906-13) for the Pirates, with a line of 116-84-13/2.63, went to Philly briefly and returned to toss for the Federal League Pittsburgh Rebels in 1914-15, slashing 14-19-1/3.32. Camnitz was the ace of the 1909 World Series champs, and though he didn’t have a good Fall Classic, his 25-6-3/1.62 regular season was a big reason the Bucs won the flag. He threw for 235+ innings for seven straight seasons (1908-14), won 20+ games three times, and was on the same staff as his brother Harry in ‘09. Howie retired after his Rebels stint with a bum wing and became a car salesman.

Brandon Wood - 2011 Topps

• 1985 - IF Brandon Wood was born in Austin, Texas. A first round pick of the Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels in 2003 (23rd overall), he spent parts of five seasons with the Halos. The Bucs claimed him in April of 2011 off waivers and he got into 99 games that season, batting .220 with seven homers while playing all four infield positions (primarily third base). He was with four other organizations after that campaign, but ‘11 was his last season in MLB. After being cut in camp by the Padres in 2014, he played a year of indie ball before he hung up his mitt and became a minor league manager in the San Diego system. Wood now runs a training academy in Billings, Montana. 
• 1985 - 2B Jim Negrych was born in Buffalo, New York. He never made it to the show but was a local story during his career. The Pirates drafted two-time All-American Negrych out of Pitt in the sixth round of the 2006 MLB Draft as the first Panther drafted since the Bucs selected P Larry Lamonde in 1981 (Dan Marino ‘79 & Ken Macha ‘72 were prior picks). In 2008, Negrych was the Pirates minor league player of the year and was a Carolina League All-Star, then with Altoona and again with Indy he was named an MiLB.com Organizational All-Star. But he topped out at AAA and bounced around several organizations, earning upper level honors but no promotions. Jim took his game east to the Chinese League for a couple of seasons, helped coach at Pitt, managed the New England College League Keene Swamp Bats and is now a regional scout for the Cards. 
• 1995 - IF/OF/DH Miguel Andujar was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. After a breakout campaign for the Yankees in 2018 (.297/27/92) that saw him finish second in the Rookie-of-the-Year vote, he faded badly (he hit .230 with a 61 OPS+ from 2019-22) and was waived in late September of 2022 by New York. The Bucs claimed him, hoping that a change of scenery and some steady plate visits will help fill the Pirates right-handed hole at DH. Andujar was a surprise DFA before ‘23 camp, but passed through waivers and got a late season call, hitting .250 with four HRs/18 RBI in 30 games. Andújar was waived again in November, and was claimed by the Oakland Athletics. He was traded to the Reds, who let him go at year’s end, and he signed on with the San Diego Padres. 

Miguel Andujar - 2023 Topps Heritage

• 1996 - At St. Petersburg's Al Lang Field, two Japanese umpires worked the Pirates-Cards exhibition game along with two U.S. umpires as part of an exchange program that also had American umpires working games in Japan. "I thought they (the Japanese) did a good job," said Pirates manager Jim Leyland. "And even if they didn't, you couldn't argue with them." Scott Zucker of UPI added that “(Tony) LaRussa offered that his only Japanese conversation consists of shaking his head 'yes' or 'no.' Keeping LaRussa quiet should be enough to keep any umpire, no matter what his nationality, happy.” The Bucs won the contest, 11-2, behind Denny Neagle’s first spring start without any international incidents. 
• 1997 - RHP Junior Fernandez was born in Santo Domingo Centro, Dominican Republic. He was an on-and-off member of the Cards roster from 2019, going 1-1/5.15 in 50 games. He was waived in September and claimed by the Bucs, getting into three games. He only gave up a hit, but walked four (in his MLB career, he averages six free passes per game) in 3-1/3 IP with two K. Junior was released and pitched in the Yankee, Blue Jay and Nat systems. Junior went to Japan for the ‘24 campaign but had surgery, then returned to sign with Kansas City. He’s now in the Arizona Diamondbacks system. 
• 1998 - RHP Johan Oviedo was born in La Habana, Cuba. He was inked by the Cards in 2016 and made his big league debut in 2020. The Cards used him out of the pen by 2022, but he was returned to the rotation by the Bucs, who acquired him as part of the Jose Quintana deadline deal. Johan got seven outings as a Pirate, going 2-2/3.23. Johan followed with a 9-14/4.31 slash in ‘23, working 177-2/3 IP and tying Mitch Keller for the most starts with 32. But 2024 ended up a lost season after Oviedo underwent off-season TJ surgery; he came back for nine ‘25 starts, slashing 2-1/3.57. In the offseason, he was part of the deal with Boston that brought Jhostynxon Garcia to Pittsburgh. 
• 2005 - LHP Ollie Perez, 23, and OF Jason Bay, 26, symbolically refused to sign their pre-arb contracts, dissatisfied with the raises offered by the Pirates after their 2004 performances. Perez was given $381,000, a $60,000 increase (the largest pre-arb raise ever given by the Bucs) and Bay received $355,000, a $50,000 bump over 2004’s salary. Perez was coming off a 12-10/2.98 campaign while Rookie of the Year Bay batted .282 with 26 homers and 82 RBI.