11/7 Through the 1970s: '72 MVP Race, Ross St. Friend, RIP Fred, HBD Kris, Todd, Dave, Andy, Stu, Bill, Ed & The Only

1857 - RHP Ed “The Only” Nolan was born in either Canada or Patterson, New Jersey; no one is quite sure. Nolan was a two-fisted drinker who made a brief stop with Allegheny in 1883. The following is per the Baseball Reference Bullpen page: He lost the seven games he pitched, and then, after he was fined $10 for misbehaving, went on a drinking spree and put it on the team's tab. He was fined an extra $100 and suspended for the rest of the season. One fan even sold a line of T-shirts featuring Nolan, Buttercup Dickerson and the 1883 Allegheny as “The Hardest Drinking Team of All Time." There are several theories regarding his nickname. One claimed it was because he would demand to be the only pitcher employed by the teams on which he played. Others believe that it was lifted from a burlesque actor named "The Only Leon." Another explanation is that "The Only" was a commonly used term during Nolan's time, applied to anyone who excelled at something, and so Nolan took the moniker to feed his ego. Guy Smith, who wrote “Heroes of Baseball,” followed that line of thought, writing that he got the nickname as a minor league pitcher after he started and won 11 straight games, six by shutout, for Indianapolis. And in a bit of irony, our mischievous lad Nolan became a cop after he returned to life after baseball.

1885 - SS/OF Ed Mensor was born in Woodville, Oregon. He played three years for Pittsburgh (1912-14) and hit .221 from the bench. Baseball players weren’t exactly noted for politically correctness back in the day; the 5’6” Mensor’s nickname was “The Midget.” Mensor mention: Ed was the first Jewish switch-hitter in major league history per the Jewish Baseball Museum. 

1904 - C Fred Carroll died in San Rafael, California at the age of 40 after a heart attack. He was one of the top hitting catchers of his era, with a .284 BA, and had his hand in all the Pittsburgh franchises, playing for the Allegheny, Burghers and Pirates for seven (1885-91) of his eight big-league years. He was a complete player - he also spent some time in the OF, corner IF and short while stealing 137 bases during his career and even umped a game in ‘87. Fred had nine hits during an 1886 twin bill and was the first Pittsburgh player to hit for the cycle (twice as an Allegheny) in 1887. He’ll always be a part of local baseball lore for allegedly burying his pet monkey and team mascot under home plate at old Recreation Park before a game. He left baseball early at age 26, partly because of a sub-par year at the dish with the Pirates (he hit .218) and partly because the Sacramento native wanted to return to the west coast.

1910 - 3B Bill Brubaker was born in Cleveland. He played nine years for the Bucs, from 1932-40, and batted .264 as a Pirate, earning most of his starts in 1936-37 (he was super in ‘36, hitting .289 w/101 RBI). After a couple of years in the service, he ended his career in 1943 with the Boston Braves. His grandson, Dennis Rasmussen, also played in the major leagues, putting together a 12-year career as a starting pitcher in the early 80s-to-mid 90s.

Bill Brubaker - 1951 Berger 'toon/Press

1932 - 1B Dick Stuart was born in San Francisco. “Dr. Strangeglove” played in Pittsburgh from 1958-62, hitting .273 with 117 bombs as a Bucco, and was a 1961 All-Star after losing 35 baseballs. The slugger’s inability to field was legendary; he was once hit in the back when Roberto Clemente threw behind a runner, and received an ovation for spearing a hot dog wrapper as it blew past him at Forbes Field. He led the league in errors a record seven years in a row (1958-64), drove a car with the vanity plate "E3" and his 29 muffs at first base in 1963 remain the MLB record for the position. He said “As long as you drive in more than you let in, you get to play.” Oddly enough, stick-first Stu was the first 1B to record three assists in one inning; go figure. Stuart also mashed 66 home runs for the Lincoln club of the Class A Western League in 1956, proving that his glove wasn’t the main reason he got a paycheck. The apt nickname for the poor-fielding 1B was adapted from the movie “Doctor Strangelove,” and at 6’4”, he was also known as Big Stu. Per Wikipedia, other less well known but equally unflattering nicknames included "Iron Glove" and "The Ancient Mariner," a literary-flipped-to-sports reference, harkening to the opening line of the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”: "It is an ancient mariner, And he stoppeth one of three."

1966 - OF Andy Tomberlin was born in Monroe, North Carolina. The strong-armed and fleet Tomberlin spent parts of six seasons as a big league bench outfielder after being converted from a pitcher, beginning in Pittsburgh in 1993, where he hit .286. Tomberlin spent most of his career in the bush leagues from 1986 through 2000, playing for eight different organizations. After his playing days ended, Andy scouted and coached in the minors for the Brewers and White Sox.

1967 - Bob Friend made the transition from Sennett to Ross Street seamlessly by winning his first political outing, running as the Republican candidate for County Controller. He defeated the incumbent, James Knox, in a horse race. Those ‘60 Pirates pitchers were quite the political powerhouse: Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell would become a North Carolina congressman, Ronnie Kline became the mayor of Callery, PA after he retired and Diomedes Olivo wasn’t elected to office but was appointed as Director of the Ministry of Sports by the Dominican President.

1967 - RHP Dave Wainhouse was born in Toronto, Ontario. The Montreal Expos selected Wainhouse with their first-round pick of the 1988 draft, making him the first Canadian-born player picked in the first round. He put in seven years as a middle reliever, spending 1996-97 with the Bucs, going 1-1/6.97 in 42 outings. He’s now affiliated with the Next Level baseball academy staff and is now a private pitching coach after a stint with the Seattle University Redhawks.

Todd Ritchie - 2001 MLB Showdown

1971 - RHP Todd Ritchie was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. Ritchie went 35-32/4.29 for the Bucs from 1999-2001, winning 15 games in ‘99, and threw the first pitch of the first regular season game played at PNC Park on April 9, 2001. During 2001’s off season, he was traded to the White Sox for Kip Wells, Josh Fogg and Sean Lowe. Derailed by a bum shoulder, he signed again with Pittsburgh in 2005, but retired during camp. Todd’s final comeback effort was in 2008 with the Rockies; he lasted through five minor-league starts before leaving the slab.

1972 - Willie Stargell came in third in the NL-MVP race, finishing behind winner Johnny Bench of the Reds and runner up Billy Williams of the Cubs. Bench had 263 vote count, Williams 211 and Pops 201. The Bucs had a gang of players finish in the Top 20 - Al Oliver (7th), Roberto Clemente (13th), Manny Sanguillen (17th), Steve Blass (18th) and Gene Clines (20th).

1973 - Some of baseball’s biggest names took their shot at throwing a strike at Willie Stargell’s Celebrity Bowling Tournament at the North Versailles Bowl, with the proceeds going to the Black Athletes Foundation to fight sickle cell anemia. Those attending included Henry Aaron, Reggie Jackson, Billy Williams, Brooks Robinson, Joe Morgan, Sparky Lyle, Jim Palmer, Satchel Paige and Joe Morgan, along with a small army of Pirates and Steelers (the Penguins were AWOL; they had a game that night); in all, over 50 athletes showed up for Pop’s event.

1974 - RHP Kris Benson was born in Kennesaw, Georgia. The first overall selection of the 1996 draft, the Clemson grad pitched for the Pirates from 1999-2004 (missing 2001 after TJ surgery) with a line of 43-49/4.26. His antics with wife Anna were sports page fodder throughout his career, culminating in a 2013 divorce. On the flip side, he and Anna also fronted many charitable causes and fundraised an estimated $750K during his nine-year big league career.

11/7 From 1980: Diaz & Cordova Sign, Jake GG, '83 FA Class, Syd In & Out, Not For Sale, HBD Rafael & Roansy

1983 - Dave Parker, Jim Bibby, Kent Tekulve, Richie Hebner, Miguel Dilone and Dave Tomlin became free agents and entered the convoluted compensation draft; only Teke (three years + option/$1M per year) and Tomlin (who spent two years at AAA Hawaii) returned to the Pirates. Parker went to Cincinnati, Bibby to Texas, Hebner to the Chicago Cubs and Dilone to Montreal.

1985 - Syd Thrift was officially hired to replace the retiring Joe Brown as GM, signing a two-year deal. (Joe was on interim status, holding the seat after Pete Peterson was dismissed. He helped make Syd’s selection after turning down an offer to make his job full-time). Thrift’s last baseball job had been in 1976, and he was working in real estate in Virginia when he got the call, still highly regarded in baseball as a talent evaluator despite the hiatus.

1988 - After a month-long search, the Pirates replaced Syd Thrift with Larry Doughty as GM, three years to the day after they officially announced Syd’s hiring. Doughty had been hired from the Reds and became the Pittsburgh assistant GM in 1987, served a brief apprenticeship as the acting GM and was passed the torch. His forte was in player evaluation; with Cincinnati, he had been the head of their scouting department. The Pirates won division titles in ‘90 and ‘91, but Doughty caught flak for his handling of young talent, losing top prospects like Wes Chamberlain on a waiver snafu and Moisés Alou via trade. In 1992, the club's new president, Mark Sauer, replaced Doughty with Ted Simmons.

Francisco Cordova - 1997 Circa

1997 - The Pirates reached agreement with RHP Francisco Cordova on a three-year/$4.1M contract with an option year. Cordova went 11-8/3.63 with a nine-inning no-hitter during the season. Overall, he went 27-32 over the three guaranteed seasons of the deal, but his ERA zoomed each year, from 3.31 to 4.43 to 5.21 as arm troubles limited his effectiveness. After his MLB days, the lefty went home to toss in his native Mexico from 2002 through 2011.

1999 - RHP Roansy Contreras was born in Peralvillo, Monte Plata, Dominican Republic. Signed by the Yankees in 2017 as an international FA, he had a strong 2019 Class A campaign with Charleston before the minor-league 2020 season was scrubbed and then became part of the package sent to Pittsburgh for Jameson Taillon. An early season forearm injury limited him to 60 IP, mainly at Altoona, but he showed enough to get the call during the Bucs final 2021 homestand and an off season assignment to the Arizona Fall League. The Pirates were careful with his innings in 2022, when he went 5-5/3.79. He slid downhill in ‘23, going 3-7/6.59 with a loss of velocity, and was demoted from the rotation in late May. The Bucs sent him to Florida to tinker with his mechanics, then sent him to Indy (4.69 in 32-1/3 IP) before shutting him down in late September. He was ho-hum in ‘24 and sold to the Angels; they cut him and several teams later, he’s a free agent.

2000 - C/1B Rafael Flores was born in Anaheim, California. Flores was named the Minor League Player of the Year for the New York Yankees by Baseball America in 2024 when he hit .279/21 HRs/68 RBIs in 124 games after signing with the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He was the main piece of the 2025 David Bednar deal with NYY, had a brief but productive stint at Indy and was called up in September, playing both 1B and C as the Pirates gave him a quick peek. Rafe started 2026 at Indy and joined the big club in June when the Buc backstop ranks were growing thin. He only got into two games before the spot returned to normal, but looked at home, going 2-for-3 with a homer. Flores was optioned back but returned in July, finishing with a solid line of .264/11/25.

Rafael Flores Jr - 2026 Topps Allen & Ginter

2005 - Owner Kevin McClatchy denied rumors that the Pirates had been sold to Dallas Maverick owner/Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban. McClatchy told Paul Meyer of the Post Gazette bluntly that “..the team was not for sale.” But the ownership deck was being shuffled: by January 2007, shareholder Bob Nutting had taken over as the principal owner of the club. 

2008 - Scout Rene Gayo signed 18-year-old C Elias Diaz out of Venezuela. Eli developed slowly but steadily, outpunching first-round prospects Tony Sanchez and Reese McGuire. Baseball America named him the best defensive catcher in the minors in 2014. After being injury-bitten and sputtering in his early MLB calls, Diaz broke out in 2018 and became Fran Cervelli’s heir apparent, shaking his earlier backup rep, but then backtracked in the 2019 campaign. He was released in the offseason, went to Colorado and then San Diego; he’s an FA now.

2021 - C Jake Stallings won a Rawlings Golden Glove award, beating out Yadi Molina and JT Realmuto. He was the first Pirates catcher to win the award since 1987 when Spanky LaValliere took the gold mitt. The only other Bucco backstop to ever earn a GG was Tony Pena, who took the prize twice, in 1983 and ‘85. Pittsburgh also had two other Golden Glove finalists who were in the race but fell short, CF Bryan Reynolds and SS Kevin Newman.

2024 - Rolls in, rolls in, how the honors roll in...Paul Skenes was selected as Baseball Digest’s Rookie of the Year. Skenes was the fifth Pirate pup to be named NL Rookie of the Year by BD, joining Johnny Ray (1982), Jason Kendall (1996), Warren Morris (1999) and Jason Bay (2004).

11/6: Bartell-Thevenow, Cutch Silver Slugger, '21 Roster Trimming, Branch GM, Rene Hired, HBD Adam, Don, Candyman, Bob

1905 - The Pirates signed a hot shot prospect, San Francisco Seals 1B Jim (aka Joe, his middle name) Nealon, for a reported $6,500 in a bidding battle with the Cincinnati Reds (the New York Highlanders, Boston Americans, St. Louis Browns and Chicago Cubs were also on his scent). Manager Fred Clarke spent a week by the Bay working on Nealon and his father, with the Reds rep arriving too late on the scene. Signing Nealon allowed the Pirates to include 1B Dave Brain as part of a package to the Boston Beaneaters that added Vic Willis to their staff a month later without losing any firepower. Joe led the NL in RBI in 1906, but reported to camp in 1907 overweight and with a bad hand, the result of a fracture suffered in the off-season. He also fell out of favor with management; as a son of a wealthy family, they felt he didn’t have his focus on baseball but on business. Nealon then retired - the Pirates were already auditioning replacements - and returned to the coast to play in the California State League. Joe didn’t have time to leave his mark in either the sports or business world as he died at 25 of typhoid fever.

1925 - OF Bob Addis was born in Mineral Springs, Ohio. He closed out his four-year MLB career with Pittsburgh, going 0-for-3 with a pair of whiffs and one pinch-running assignment. Bob finished his pro career that season with Toronto of the International League. Addis later became a successful baseball coach/Athletic Director at Euclid (Ohio) HS, and was inducted into the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1975.

1930 - SS Dick Bartell was traded by the Pirates to the Phillies for SS Tommy Thevenow and P Claude Willoughby. Defensive whiz Thevenow spent six seasons with the Bucs and hit .251 while Willoughby went 0-2 in his final MLB season. But the club sold short as Bartell played 14 more seasons, made a couple of All-Star teams and ended up with a .281 lifetime BA. But the one-sided swap of SS’s worked out OK for the Pirates - Thevenow hurt his leg in 1931, and in 1932 was replaced in the lineup by Hall-of-Famer Arky Vaughan. Tommy trivia: he didn't homer in his final 3,347 at-bats, the most consecutive at bats without a home run in MLB history. He had two swats in his career, both in 1926 with the Cards.

1950 - Branch Rickey signed a five-year contract with the Pirates to become the team executive vice president/GM, replacing Roy Hamey. His son, Branch Jr. was named Pittsburgh's VP and farm system director. Branch plowed the field for future success by developing a productive farm system, but the Bucs put together just a 269-501 record (.349) during his tenure as GM.

John Candelaria - Pirates HoF 2026

1953 - LHP John Candelaria was born in New York. The Bucs selected the LaSalle  Academy (Brooklyn) star in the second round of the 1972 draft. In 12 years (1975-85, 1993) with the Pirates, his line was 124-87-16/3.17, with a 1-1/3.91 ERA slash in his four post-season starts. The Candy Man tossed a no-hitter, led the MLB in ERA once, earned an All-Star nod and won a World Series ring while a Bucco. Overall, he had a well-traveled 19-year MLB career, twirling for the Pirates, California Angels, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

1969 - RHP Don Wengert was born in Sioux City, Iowa. Don had spent 1996-97 full-time with Oakland and got a look after the Pirates signed him as a FA in 2001. The 32-year-old got four starts in May, went 0-2/12.38, and spent the rest of the year back on the farm. That ended his MLB days; he tossed one more year for the Boston system before retiring back to Iowa.

1972 - RHP Matt Skrmetta was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. Matt got to toss briefly in the bigs during 2000, first getting into a half-dozen games with the Expos and finishing with eight outings and an 0-2/9.26 line with Pittsburgh. Matt was a determined hurler: he played for 25 teams, believed to be a record, and 13 organizations, including a couple of seasons in Japan and an indie campaign. He’s now a scout for Softbank in the Japanese League.

1972 - While home in Ponce, Roberto Clemente proved to be a better ball player than prognosticator. In an interview with the Associated Press, The Great One said that the Pirates were negotiating to either trade for or buy the contract of Philly’s ‘72 Cy Young winner, Steve Carlton. But Roberto was either misinformed or the Bucs were short of assets (it would have been quite a blockbuster deal) as Lefty not only stayed put in 1973 but tossed for the Phils into the 1986 campaign.

Jim Sadowski - 1974 Pirates photo card

1976 - In a swap of 22-year-old righties, the Bucs traded Jim Sadowski to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Tom Carroll. The deal ended up a wash; neither Sadowski nor Carroll ended up pitching in the majors again.

1979 - 1B Adam LaRoche was born in Orange County, California. He played for the Bucs from 2007-09, hitting .265 with 58 HR. During his last Pirate season, he got to play with his brother Andy (their pop was former MLB reliever P Dave LaRoche) and also became the first player in major league history to lose a home run to video review. He left baseball in 2016 after a curious but messy clubhouse beef about him bringing his teen-aged son into the Chicago White Sox clubhouse too often. A devout family man and Christian, LaRoche quietly retired from the Sox rather than concede his routine, passing on a $13M contract for the season.

1981 - Dave Anderson of the NY Times wrote that the Bucs and Yankees were discussing a deal for RF Dave Parker with the departure of Reggie Jackson on the horizon. The Pirates originally wanted five pitchers; the Yankees countered with an offer of hurlers Ron Davis and Gene Nelson along with SS Andre Rodgers. There were two sticking points: Pittsburgh wanted lefty Dave Righetti, whom New York considered an untouchable, and the Gotham gang wanted Parker to agree to a playing weight of 210 pounds, which the Cobra ho-ho-ho’ed off. No match was made and Parker played as a Pirate for two more seasons, then signed as a free agent with his hometown Cincinnati Reds.

2003 - Rene Gayo was hired as the Bucs’ full-time Latin scout, a position that Pittsburgh had inexplicably left vacant for five years. Rene was actually making a homecoming; he had started in Pittsburgh in 1989 when Cam Bonifay hired him as a part-time area scout. He later worked for the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians, for whom he became scouting director for the Indians in Latin America in 1999. Among others, he signed Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Jose Osuna, Alen Hanson, Elias Diaz, Willy Garcia, Tito Polo, and Harold Ramirez; among his failures were Luis Heredia and Miguel Sano. Gayo was let go in 2017 following a scandal involving kickbacks for recommending lesser players for top-shelf bonuses.

Cutch - 2014 Topps Shelf

2014 - CF Andrew McCutchen won his third consecutive NL Silver Slugger award and 2B Neil Walker took home his first. Cutch became the first Pittsburgh outfielder to earn three consecutive Silver Sluggers since Barry Bonds in 1990-92 while Walker was the first Pirate second baseman to earn the honor since Johnny Ray was the 1983 winner. Andrew and SS Ian Desmond of the Washington Nationals were the only NL repeat members of the squad.

2021 - The housecleaning began: the Bucs 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. LHP Chasen Shreve became a free agent. Difo was on the bubble as the victim of too many young middle infielders who needed 40-man consideration while Shreve's peripherals didn't support his 3.20 ERA. The Buccos needed the space to move six pitchers off the 60-day IL and back onto the 40-man: LHPs Steven Brault & Dillon Peters and RHPs Blake Cederlind, Jose Soriano, Duane Underwood Jr. & Bryse Wilson. Soriano didn't last long; the Pirates added IF Diego Castillo to their 40-man and DFA'ed Jose. If the FO had not placed Castillo on the 40-man, he could have declared for free agency while Soriano, who had a second TJ-related surgery in May, was iffy physically to be ready to pitch in 2022. The churn started earlier in the week when RHPs Shelby Miller and Trevor Cahill, along with 1B/OF Yoshi Tsutsugo, became free agents.

2024 - Andrew McCutchen got an unexpected bit of national TV exposure when he became part of the quiz game Jeopardy’s topic board. Under the category of Catch - 22, the question posed was what position did Cutch play in 2012 when he won a Gold Glove? The contestant was up on his hardball, adding a few hundred bucks to his pot with his “centerfield” answer.

11/5 Through the 1970s: Manny-Chuck, Groat Signs, Jim Sr & Sure Shot In, Gunner Parade, HBD Gunboat, Lefty, Jack, Mac, John & Tommy

1877 - 3B Tommy Sheehan was born in Sacramento, CA; some sources say his BD is on the 6th, c’est la vie. He went by the monikers “Little” or “Midget” per Chris Betsch’s SABR Bio thanks to his 5’6” stature. Sheehan was a Rule 5 pick from Tacoma of the PCL in 1905 and spent the next two seasons with the Pirates before being sold to Brooklyn in 1908, where he finished his career. In his 170-game Bucco stint, he batted .253 and hit his only MLB home run while sharing hot corner duties and playing a bit at shortstop. He played a lot more ball near his west coast home, though - he put in 11 years of minor league sweat at Sacramento, Portland, Tacoma, Oakland and Stockton. Tommy later played and managed in the Canal Zone circuit in Panama, and remained there until he passed on in 1959. And make sure to keep your Sheehan’s straight. He was followed years later by Tommy Sheehan, a pitcher who tossed for the Bucs from 1925-26.

1877 - 2B Fred “Sure Shot” Dunlap was purchased by the Pittsburgh Alleghenys from the Detroit Wolverines for $4000-5000 (the final figure is up for debate); he also got $2K personally to agree to the deal. Sure Shot remained a slick fielder, but his batting eye disappeared after he hit .266 in 1888, stroking the ball at a .235 clip the following season and hitting just .172 in 1890 after 17 games before being released (carrying a low average, a big salary and occupying manager Guy Hecker’s doghouse made him expendable) and he was claimed by the NY Giants. His career ended the next year with Washington after he broke his leg sliding in April. Dunlap, who had amassed a considerable nest egg as a player, was bankrupt a decade later. Some say his frittered finances were due to poor stock market decisions and others blamed horse-racing debts. Either way, the arguably top second baseman of his era passed away penniless in 1902 of consumption.

1888 - Umpire John Mullin was born in Pittsburgh and lived in Brookline. John umpired in the NL in 1909, the AL in 1911-12 and the Federal League in 1915, spending most of his arbitrator time in the minors with the American Association, although he also wore the blue in six other farm leagues. John was just as quick tempered as the early baseball players who he joined on the field. In one of his first major league gigs, two days after he had been called up from the bushes in 1909, he threw out three players during an argument and after they refused to leave, he waited the allotted one-minute of grace time they had been given and forfeited the game. 

1895 - OF Tom McNamara was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. His MLB stay consisted of one June pinch-hitting appearance in 1922 for the Buccos, resulting in a ground out. The 26-year-old Princeton grad was sent to Flint for the rest of the year, hitting .313 and dropped off baseball’s radar.

Jack Wisner - photo via Find-A-Grave

1899 - RHP “Big Jack” (he was 6’3”) Wisner was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Jack’s first two major league campaigns consisted of 21 outings for the Bucs from 1919-20 and he was solid, going 2-3/2.70. He got four years off after that, tossing for Rochester, before getting the call to serve 1925-26 as a NY Giant. Big Jack was sent down during the ‘26 season, tossed in the minors through 1929 and hung ‘em up to work as a minor league coach.

1908 - LHP Ralph “Lefty” Birkofer was born in Cincinnati. Lefty worked for the Bucs from 1933-36 and slashed 31-26-2/4.04, splitting time between starting & the pen, then finishing his career in 1937 as a Brooklyn Dodger.

1909 - RHP Harry “Gunboat” Gumbert was born in Elizabeth. Harry tossed for 15 big league seasons (and that’s with missing a year, 1945, while in the service), closing out his run in his hometown in 1949-50 (1-4-3/5.83) before retiring at age 40. Gunboat joined his great-uncles Ad and Billy Gumbert (also pitchers) as Pittsburgh hurlers. During his career, he slashed 143-113/3.68 with 235 starts (94 CGs), 13 shutouts and 48 saves, working 200+ IP in a season five times before transitioning into a reliever. His nickname doesn’t have much of a backstory behind it; Harry said it came about because a sportswriter thought ”Gunboat Gumbert” sounded good together and ran with it. 

1922 - RHP Jim Bagby Sr. was claimed by the Pirates after being waived by the Indians. Bagby won 31 games for Cleveland in 1920 and 122 games for the Tribe over the last six years, but at age 33, he was done. He finished 3-2/5.24 in 23 appearances for Pittsburgh in his final MLB bow, spending the next seven years toiling in the minors. His son, RHP Jim Bagby Jr., also played for the Pirates with a slash of 5-4/4.67 in his final big league hurrah at age 30 in 1947.

Dick Groat signs - 11/6/1955 Press Les Biederman

1955 - Dick Groat became the second Buc to agree to his 1956 contract, joining Frank Thomas, who had signed a week earlier, as Joe Brown began locking up his core players. Groat signed for a reported $17,500 after hitting .267 following a two-year hitch in the Army at Fort Belvoir.

1975 - After KDKA fired Pirate announcers Bob Prince and Nellie King days earlier, rival station WEEP organized a downtown parade in their honor that drew thousands of fans and featured both Pirates & City politicos as supporters. While the parade was a success, it didn’t move the station or team off their position. The Gunner wouldn’t broadcast a Bucco game again until 1985, after he had been diagnosed with throat cancer, and he died a few days later. 

1976 - The Pirates sent catcher Manny Sanguillen and $100,000 to Oakland to land manager Chuck Tanner. It was the second player-for-skipper deal in MLB history (excluding player/managers), the first being in 1967 when the Mets sent RHP Bill Denehy and cash to the Washington Senators in exchange for manager Gil Hodges. Chuck, who was signed, sealed and announced as skipper in an evening presser, had a good run in Pittsburgh. During his nine-year tenure, he posted a 711-685 (.509) record and won a World Championship in 1979. Manny returned home after a year in exile in a trade, spending his last three campaigns in Pittsburgh. On the same day, the Bucs sold IF Tommy Helms to Oakland; the A’s sent him back to the Pirates in March as part of the nine-player Phil Garner deal. He got 15 PAs and was released in June. Boston claimed him and after 21 more games, the 36-year-old’s MLB days were done.

11/5 From 1980: Russ COTY, Frankie TSN Comebacker, Ke-Corey & Nate GGs, JR Named, '90 FAs, Syd Hired, A-Ram Retires, RRI Loses

1985 - The news was leaked that the Pirates hired Syd Thrift as their GM, replacing Harding Peterson (They held the official team press conference two days later). Syd, who enjoyed hardball politics as much as strategy, lasted until 1988 after a contentious relationship with the owners, but laid the groundwork for the powerhouse early-ninety clubs. Thrift traded for Doug Drabek, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Mike LaValliere, then hired Jim Leyland to run the show.

1990 - Whole lotta shakin’ going on as the following Bucs became free agents after the season: IF Wally Backman, RHP Doug Bair, SS Rafe Belliard, 1B Sid Bream, RHP Ted Power, OF Gary Redus, LHP Jerry Reuss, OF RJ Reynolds, C Don Slaught & LHP Zane Smith. Redus, Sluggo and Smith rejoined the team while the others moved on: Belliard & Bream to Atlanta, Backman to Philly, Bair spent two years on minor league deals and was done, Power to Cincy, Reuss retired, and Reynolds went to Japan for three years with a final season in Mexico. 

1997 - The Regional Renaissance Initiative was soundly defeated at the polls. A funding mechanism for a new stadium, its defeat cast doubts as to whether Kevin McClatchy’s Pirates team could remain in Pittsburgh. Some later political twists and turns eventually led to the selling of the team and the building of PNC Park to save the franchise for the City.

2007 - The Pirates named third base coach John Russell as manager, replacing Jim Tracy. The Bucs' new skipper was the 2006 International League Manager of the Year at Scranton. He was never given much to work with, and in 2010 was fired as the Pirates manager after a 105 loss season and an overall record of 186-299. He was later replaced by Clint Hurdle.

Nate McLouth - 2008 Topps

2008 - CF Nate McLouth won his first Golden Glove award, the first Bucco to take home the trophy since SS Jay Bell in 1993. Nate the Great committed one error during the season (a wayward throw in September), getting himself on the radar not only with his leather but by his hitting line of .276 BA/26 HR/46 2B/94 RBI/113 RS/26 SB. He also made the 2008 All-Star team.

2013 - LHP Francisco Liriano was named the Baseball Writer’s “Comeback Player of the Year.” It was the second time the southpaw took home the honor, having earlier won the same recognition from The Sporting News after 26 starts with a line of 16-8/3.02/9.1K per game posted after 26 starts.

2014 - C Russ Martin was named the Wilson Major League Defensive Catcher of the Year after losing the Golden Glove award to Yadier Molina the day before. Russell threw out 39% of the base-stealers who challenged him (league average - 28%), allowed just three passed balls and had a .994 fielding average while starting 106 regular season games behind the dish.

2015 - 3B Aramis Ramirez retired after 18 years in the show. A-Ram, 37, hit .283/.341/.492 with 386 home runs. He made his debut with the Pirates in 1998 and played here for parts of six years before being traded to the Chicago Cubs in a salary dump that still rankles. He returned as a stretch run rental from the Brewers in 2015, hitting .245 with six long balls. Ramirez played 17 seasons as a third baseman, never taking the field at another position other than DH, until that September when he manned 1B for the Bucs five times in his final go-round.

Corey Dickerson - 2018 Rawlings

2018 - Corey Dickerson belied his rep as a meh gloveman with his work in PNC Park’s massive left field and took home his first Golden Glove award. He ranked first among NL left fielders with a .996 fielding percentage while making just one error in 263 chances and setting career highs with seven assists in 122 starts. Corey posted 16 defensive runs saved and recorded 10 outs above average to join Barry Bonds and Starling Marte as Bucco LF’s to win a GG.

2023 - Ke’Bryan Hayes won his first Rawlings Golden Glove, ending the 10-year reign of the Card’s Nolan Arenado and becoming the first Bucco hot cornerman to win a GG. There were many who thought he deserved the honor in 2022, when he outperformed Arenado in several key defensive metrics. Key led the MLB with 24 Defensive Runs Saved and all third basemen with +18 Outs Above Average. He claimed his second GG in ‘25, his last year as a Bucco before being traded to the Reds at the deadline.

2025 - The Pirates began its annual fall hosecleaning. During the postseason, OFs Andrew McCutchen and Tommy Pham became FAs. OTD, the FO placed OF Ji Hwan Bae, IF Liover Peguero and RHP Jack Little on waivers.The Mets claimed Bae, the Tigers took Little and Peguero became a free agent. The next day, RHPs Michael Darrel-Hicks and Dugan Darnell were DFA'ed. They needed the space as RHP Jared Jones, C/1B Endy Rodriguez, OF Ronny Simon and IF Enmanuel Valdez were reinstated from the IL to the 40-man. The club also added hard-throwing Indy RHP Ryan Harbin to the 40-man to keep him from FA to bring the roster to 39 players. Minor league guys who became FAs were C Brett Sullivan, 3B Nick Solak, OF Nelson Velazquez, RHP Beau Burrows and RHP Ryder Ryan; Sullivan, Solak and Ryan all got cups of coffee in Pgh during the ‘25 campaign.

11/4: Russ & Frankie First QO's, '24 Moves, Dunne #2, '77-78 Reentry Drafts, Deac PC, Overdue Visits, Maury Busted, Pie Quizzed, HBD Chris, John, Logan, Dick, Spook, Fiddler & Wee Tommy

1877 - 3B/OF “Wee Tommy” Leach was born in French Creek, NY. The 5'6" Leach hit 63 career homers; 49 were inside-the-park, which is still a NL record. Leach joins Willie Stargell, Ralph Kiner and Pedro Alvarez as the only Pirates to lead the league in long balls. During Leach's years in Pittsburgh (1900-12), the Pirates won the NL flag four times and were World Series champions once. His 1903 Fall Classic triple is the first World Series hit. Leach is still in the top 100 all-time in stolen bases (361) and runs scored (1,355), and for the Pirates, he's ninth in games played (1,574), at-bats (5,910), runs (1,009) & singles (1,229), sixth in stolen bases (271) and seventh in triples (139).

1922 - 2B Eddie “The Fiddler” Basinski was born in Buffalo, New York. Eddie was a Mr. Peepers look-alike, thin and with wire-rim glasses, who earned his nickname as a violinist who played for the U of Buffalo Symphony (and he was a good one, becoming concertmaster). He went straight from the sandlots to Brooklyn, mainly as an audition so the Dodgers could determine what minor-league level to start him at, and the sweet-fielding SS ended up in AA after a hot big league start. Eddie put in 13 minor league years mostly in the PCL (he moved to Portland and even, to his later regret, turned down a 1948 call to the Yankees to stay on his beloved West Coast). Aside from parts of two seasons with Brooklyn (Pee Wee Reese blocked him at SS and converted him to 2B) his only other showtime was with Pittsburgh in 1947, where he hit a paltry .199 in 56 games. Eddie’s glove made him a hit -  in 1984, he was named to the all-time PCL All-Star team, then inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame in 2006. Beside “The Fiddler,” Basinski was also known as “Bazooka,” laid on him by Leo Durocher due to his strong arm. 

1925 - 2B Forrest “Spook” Jacobs was born in Cheswold, Delaware. Spook spent 17 years in baseball (he wintered in the Cuban, Panamanian and Puerto Rican leagues) with three in the majors. His last season in the show was 1956, when the Bucs got him from the KC Athletics and he hit .162. He was selected into the Cuban and Delaware Sports Hall of Fames, along with a handful of smaller HoFs. His nickname came about because of his “spooky” knack for dropping Texas-League bloopers over the infield for hits. 

1930 - SS Dick Groat was born in Wilkinsburg. The Swissvale Golden Flash HS star was a two sport ace and was twice named an All-America at Duke in basketball. He was selected as the Helms National Player of the Year in 1952 after averaging 25.2 points per game and played one season in the NBA. But he made a more permanent mark in baseball. As a Bucco bonus baby, he never played in the minors. He was the NL-MVP during the 1960 World Series campaign, and in his Pirate era (1952-62, with two years out for the service), he hit .286 and was a three-time All-Star. A Pitt basketball announcer, in 2011 Groat was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first man ever inducted into both the college basketball and baseball Halls of Fame.

Dick Groat - 2003 Topps Heritage Grandstand Glory

1949 - The Pirates purchased IF Hank Schentz from the Brooklyn Dodgers. Hank put in a season plus with the Bucs, and marked the end of a frenzied bit of dealing between the two clubs. As noted by John Dreker of Pirates Prospects “Between October 2nd, 1946 and November 4th, 1949, the Pirates and Dodgers completed 12 transactions with each other. The two franchises then went over 17 years before making another deal, which was the Maury Wills trade.” Over that span, the Pirates got Eddie Basinski, Hank Behrman, Monte Basgall, Nanny Fernandez, Hal Gregg, Art Herring, Kirbe Higbe, Dixie Howell, Vic Lombardi, Gene Mauch, Cal McLish, Steve Nagy, Danny O’Connell, Marv Rackley, Stan Rojek, Schentz, Ed Stevens & Dixie Walker. The Bucs gave up Ed Bahr, Vic Barnhart, Hank Behrman (he went from Brooklyn to Pittsburgh back to Brooklyn), Jimmy Bloodworth, Jack Cassini, Billy Cox, Al Gerheauser, Al Gionfriddo, Johnny Hopp, Gene Mauch (he also went back and forth), Preacher Roe & Grady Wilson. Hopp and Rackley were returned to the Pirates and Dodgers respectively after their trade was voided. In all, 30 players were moved. The Pittsburgh GM trade master was Fred Hamey; Branch Rickey was the Dodger exec...and the flood gates slammed once Rickey became Bucco GM after the 1950 campaign.  

1959 - Shortly after the highly-rated “$64,000 Question” TV quiz show scandal broke due to the leaking of the quiz answers to the winner, former Pirate Pie Traynor disclosed that he had been asked to participate in the show, but declined because he was told the category for his proposed session would be music. “I don’t know a thing about music. (But) I suppose that wouldn’t have mattered. I would have gotten the answers,” he suggested in hindsight with tongue-in-cheek.

1961 - RHP Logan Easley was born in Salt Lake City. He got into 27 games for the Bucs in 1987 and 1989, posting a 2-1-2/5.12, line. He came to the Bucs via Gotham: Easley was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 20th round of the 1981 draft and was traded to the Pirates in November of 1986 along with Brian Fisher and Doug Drabek for Pat Clements, Cecilio Guante and Rick Rhoden. Logan, btw, did more than pitch when he went to college. After retiring from baseball, he returned to his alma mater and put his degree to good use as part of the geology faculty at the College of Southern Idaho.

1966 - Maury Wills left the Los Angeles Dodgers team touring in Japan, griping about his injured right knee. He was granted his wish to go home for treatment, but a few days later, he was spotted on a Hawaiian beach jamming with Don Ho by vacationing Dodger GM Buzzie Bavasi. Wills had a deserved rep as hard to handle, and that was the last straw for the Los Angeles suits. On December 1st, he was traded to the Pirates for Bob Bailey and Gene Michael.

Maury Wills - 1967 Dexter Press

1967 - Bucco Cy Young winner Vernon Law was named pitching coach for the Pirates for new manager Larry Shephard. Law coached here from 1968-69, then became an assistant at Brigham Young University from 1969 to 1979. Vern also worked in Japan with the Seibu Lions from 1979-81 before managing in the White Sox organization at Denver in the American Association in 1984. 

1976 - Richie Hebner, the Pirates only free agent, was claimed by eight teams (including Pittsburgh, which retained his rights) in the first Free Agent Re-Entry Draft. The Gravedigger could only deal with the teams that chose him, and he reached a deal with the Phillies six weeks later for three years & a tad over $600K; the Pirates had reportedly offered $270K over the same span. The Bucs selected 10 players for their wish list of free agents, including Rollie Fingers, Sal Bando and Reggie Jackson. Gene Tenace was the only one of the 10 wish-listers who ever ended up a Pirate, and that wasn’t until 1983, his final season.

1977 - Pirates Goose Gossage and Terry Forster were two of the eight players claimed (both drew the interest of 13 clubs) during the Free Agent Re-Entry Draft; Bobby Tolan didn’t get enough suitors (three or more were required), allowing him to play the field. The Goose went to the New York Yankees, Forster to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tolan took his game to Japan. The Pirates selected seven players to chase, with reliever Rawly Eastwick being their prime target. They didn’t sign any, with Eastwick nixing the Bucs and inking a deal with the NYY.

1978 - The Pirates had two of their free agents claimed, Duffy Dyer (who signed with Montreal) and Dave Hamilton (who went with Oakland) during the Free Agent Re-Entry Draft. Two other players, Steve Brye and Cito Gaston, drew no takers and saw their careers end after the ‘78 campaign. Pittsburgh chased 13 players, including ex-Bucco Wilbur Wood, Pete Rose, Tommy John and Mike Marshall. For the first time since the draft began three years ago, they actually signed a FA they claimed - OF Lee Lacy, who inked a six-year deal for a reported $1.05M. They took a twisty route to land RHP Dave Roberts. They picked him, but he signed with the Giants. Persistence pays; the Bucs kept an eye on him and eventually reeled him in as part of the Bill Madlock trade in June.

1978 - LHP John Grabow was born in Arcadia, California. Grabow, a third round draft pick in 1997, pitched from 2003-09 for the Bucs until traded to the Cubs. In 390 Pirate appearances, he went 20-15-6/4.09. In 2009, Grabow pitched for the US in the World Baseball Classic, the first Bucco to be named to the US squad. His last MLB season was 2011 with the Cubs.

John Grabow - 2006 Upper Deck

1982 - RHP Chris Resop was born in Naples, Florida. Resop tossed for the Pirates from 2010-12 after being claimed off waivers from the Braves and posted a line of 6-8-2/3.88 in 159 appearances, mainly as the Bucs bullpen bridge guy. He was heavily involved in civic/charity work while a Bucco and was voted the Pirates Roberto Clemente Award honoree in 2012. Chris retired during the 2014 season after eight years in the MLB and returned to his hometown.

1987 - Padres catcher Benito Santiago was the unanimous selection as the NL Rookie of the Year, while Pirate RHP Mike Dunne (13-6/3.03 ERA) finished second. Santiago closed out his career as a Corsair, playing six games in 2005 before being released. Dunne was steady in ‘88, then traded to Seattle in 1989, battled a host of injuries, and 1992 was his last MLB hurrah.

2004 - The league released the Pirates schedule, and it featured a trio of road trips that were long overdue. For the first time in team history, the Buccos were scheduled for a series against Boston at Fenway Park, which opened its gates in 1912; their last trip to Beantown was in 1903 for the World Series at the Huntington Grounds. They were also slated for Yankee Stadium, a field that Pittsburgh hadn’t visited since the 1960 Fall Classic. In a final reunion, they matched up with the relocated Washington Nationals (formerly the Montreal Expos) at RFK Stadium, the first time the Bucs played in DC since the 1925 World Series against the Senators in 1925 at Griffith Stadium.

2014 - C Russell Martin and LHP Francisco Liriano became the first two Pirate free agents ever to be tendered qualifying offers ($15.3M) to retain their services. Both, as expected, rejected the offer. Russ did well, signing with Toronto for $82M over five years while Frankie eventually came to terms with the Bucs on a three-year/$39M deal when he found the grass wasn’t always greener...

2024 - The Pirates made a flurry of offseason moves: First, they reinstated pitchers Hunter Stratton, Dauri Moreta, and Johan Oviedo, along with C Endy Rodriguez, from the 60-day IL. To clear 40-man roster space, the club removed pitchers Ben Heller, Daulton Jefferies, and Isaac Mattson. All three relievers cleared waivers and became free agents. The Bucs also declined the $15M club option on lefty Marco Gonzales and claimed OF Trey Cabbage off waivers (Cabbage was released in December to allow him to play in the Japanese League).

11/3: Deacon Wins Cy, Jesse-Aki Swap, Tri Gold Glove, Cutch, Ivan & Thompson Sign, Big Poison Waner #2, Japanese Tour, Rules Tweaked, Senate Victors, RIP Matty & Mike, HBD Meow, Homer, Ed, John, Harry & Jim

1856 - RHP Jim McCormick was born in Thornliebank, Scotland. He ripped off eight consecutive 20+ win seasons (including years with 45, 40, 36 & 31 wins) before he closed out his career with the Alleghenys in 1887 following a trade with the White Stockings that sent George Van Haltren and $2,000 to Chicago. He was sadly over the hill when he got here, posting a 13-23/4.30 line, the first time in his decade of MLB that his ERA was north of 2.80 (he still ended his career with 265 victories). He retired after the year at the age of 30 to enter the business world. As a rookie for the NL Indianapolis Blues, he became the first native Scot to get into a big league game in 1878. McCormick was one of the forgotten dominators of the deadball era; Baseball Reference compares his career to that of Pittsburgh ace Pud Galvin among early mound stars.

1866 - RHP Harry Staley was born in Jacksonville, Illinois. Staley pitched in Pittsburgh from 1888-91, tossing for the Alleghenys, Burghers and Pirates. His overall Steel City record was 51-58 with a 3.21 ERA. He was a workmanlike pitcher, and one who knew his way around the batter’s box. On June 1st, 1893, Staley (then a Boston Beaneater) had nine runs batted in, hitting two three-run homers off Louisville’s Billy Rhines. It set the record for most RBIs in a game by a pitcher, equaled by Atlanta Braves pitcher Tony Cloninger in 1966.

1871 - P (apparently no one noticed which hand he used) Fred “John” Hayner was born in Janesville, Wisconsin. As a Chicago prepster in 1890, 18-year-old Fred had an in-game tryout with the floundering Pittsburgh Alleghenys, in town to play the Colts at West Side Park. Fred fizzled as he tossed four innings and was lit up for nine runs (six earned) and that was the extent of his big league career. He eventually ended up a sports writer for the Chicago Daily News, and in 1901, along with George Rice, began using the name “Cubs” for the Chicago ball club, supposedly because of the team’s youth. It was officially adopted a few years later and is still Chicago’s by-line. So if you ever want to win a free beer by betting that a Pittsburgh pitcher had a big hand in naming the Cubs... 

1883 - 3B James “Ed” (middle name Edgar) Lennox was born in Camden, New Jersey. After a four year MLB career, Ed played for the Pittsburgh Rebels from 1914-15, batting .311. While a Rebel in 1914, Lennox hit for the cycle to become the only Federal League player to pull off that feat. He also swatted pinch-hit home runs in consecutive games the same season, a deed that was unmatched until Victor Martinez of the Detroit Tigers repeated it in 2016.

1898 - OF Homer Summa was born in Gentry, Missouri. He began a 10-year MLB career in 1920 with the Pirates, going 7-for-22 (.318) in 10 games. He later served as a platoon outfielder with a lifetime BA of .302, playing for the Cleveland Indians before closing out his run with two years in Philadelphia with the A’s. His parents were a little over optimistic when they named him Homer; he only hit 18 round-trippers during his decade of playing in the big leagues.

Homer Summa - 1920 James Elder Post Card

1917 - RHP Len “Meow” Gilmore was born in Fairview Park, Indiana. Gilmore pitched 11 minor league seasons between 1938-52 for nine teams, going 128–94/3.66 in 332 outings after starting out at Indiana State Teachers College. The Bucs gave him his MLB taste when he started the second game of a twinbill against the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park on the last day of the 1944 season. Gilmore allowed seven earned runs on 13 hits, with no walks or strikeouts in eight innings of work, but more importantly, got to add the title of major league pitcher to his resume. Following his days on the slab, Gilmore worked for the Oklahoma City Fire Department, retiring as a captain. Per “Indiana-born MLB Players,” Len got his nickname from a West Coast service station franchise named Gilmore that had a lion as its logo. Somehow its tagline “Roar with Gilmore” morphed into a meow. He did use all nine of his lives, though, surviving to the ripe ol’ age of 93.

1934 - Dizzy Dean, with a 30-7 record, was selected as the NL Most Valuable Player, with Pirates outfielder Paul Waner finishing a distant second despite a .362/14/90 slash. It was part of a six-year run (1932-37) that saw Big Poison earn MVP votes five times, including three Top Five finishes.

1945 - P/OF Elmer “Mike” Smith passed away at age 77 and was buried at Union Dale Cemetery in the North Side. He was born in old Allegheny City and spent half his career (1892-97, 1901) in Pittsburgh. Smith started out with the Reds, where he was a pitcher known for his heater, but by the time he became a Pirate in ‘92, his pitching arm was shot. No diff; Pittsburgh wanted him as an outfielder, using him in just 17 games on the hill (he’d only toss once more as a Pirate afterward) but spending 124 contests in the pasture. It was a good positional switch; Elmer could hit, and finished with a .325 BA/.415 OBP during his Bucco years. Mike played for four teams in his 14-year career, but kept his permanent home on the North Side on Madison Avenue. After leaving baseball in 1906, Smith worked as an inspector for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Highways.

1954 - The rules committee, meeting in New York City, was busy: After the absence of a dozen years, the sac fly was restored, laminated bats were approved, a ban was placed on leaving gloves and other equipment on the field between innings and a move to reinstate the spitter was beaten back.

Vern Law - Helmar This Great Game

1960 - Vern Law, who finished 20-9 with 18 complete games and a 3.08 ERA, was voted the Cy Young Award winner, easily outdistancing runner-up Warren Spahn. It was a year of big wins to remember for The Deacon - he was an All-Star, earning the victory for one of the two Midsummer Classics in ‘60, and was also the winning pitcher for two of the Bucs’ World Series victories.

1971 - PA senators Hugh Scott and Richard Schweiker, winners of a bet made on the 1971 Fall Classic between them and Maryland senators Charles Mathias Jr. and J. Glenn Beall, Jr., rode elephants in front of the Capitol. The losers toted peanuts for snacks and shovels to clean the street behind the paraders.

1982 - 1B Jason Thompson agreed to a five-year/$5.5M contract with the Pirates ($200K/year in bonuses, $1.2M deferred). The 28-year-old followed with three seasons in which he failed to hit .260 or 20 HR, and was traded to Montreal after the 1985 campaign for a minor league player. The change of scenery didn’t help and the Expos released him in June after 30 games while the Pittsburgh/Montreal FOs ate the final year of his deal as he couldn’t catch on with anyone else. 

1979 - An MLB All-Star team embarked on an 18-day tour of Japan. The squad was split into NL & AL sides, with seven of the nine scheduled exhibitions being between the leagues with two more games against All Star Japanese nines. The World Champ Bucs were well represented, with Dave Parker, Bill Madlock, John Candelaria, Jim Bibby and Bert Blyleven on board along with former Pirate Craig Reynolds and Chuck Tanner serving as one of skipper Tommy LaSorda’s coaches. It was the largest contingent of MLB players to take a foreign trip.

2009 - The Pirates sent RHP Jesse Chavez to Tampa Bay for 2B Akinori Iwamura, who at $4.85M became the Pirates’ highest paid player. Iwamura was gimpy, out of shape and benched in June with a .172 average. Iwamura was replaced rather handily by Neil Walker, a converted minor league 3B/C, then released in mid-September. After 10 games with Oakland, Aki was out of MLB. Jesse kept on keepin’ on with his last gig with the Atlanta Braves from 2022-25 until he was DFA’ed in July, 2025, and finally hung ‘em up. Neil played for Miami and the Phils before retiring after the 2020 campaign.

Matty Alou - 1968 Topps Poster

2011 - Matty Alou passed away in Santo Domingo at the age of 72 of diabetes complications. He was the middle man of one of the top MLB brother acts, between Felipe and Jesus. He came to the Bucs in 1965 from the Giants, and under the tutelage of Harry “The Hat” Walker and the prodding of Roberto Clemente, he turned into one of the great slap hitters of the era. In his first year as a Pirate, he led the NL with a .342 average as his hermano Felipe came in second at .327, the only time in baseball history that brothers finished 1-2 for the batting title. He hit .338 in 1967 (third in the NL), .332 in 1968 (second in the circuit) and .331 in 1969, leading the league with 231 hits and 41 doubles. He made two All-Star teams during that span, before being dealt to the Cards. In a 15-year big league career, his BA was .307. Following the 1974 season, he played three years in Japan and managed in the Dominican Winter League. In 2007, the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame inducted Matty.

2016 - RHP Neftali Feliz, OF Matt Joyce, RHP Ivan Nova, LHP Zach Phillips, UT Sean Rodriguez and RHP Ryan Vogelsong were non-tendered by the Bucs after the season and became free agents, along with LHP Kelvin Marte, RHP Justin Masterson and OF Danny Ortiz, who were let go a few days later. Only Nova remained with Pittsburgh by signing a three-year/$26M deal, although Clint Hurdle’s security blanket, S-Rod, would return to the fold via trade in August.

2017 - There wasn’t much contract churn for the Pirates after the season. They exercised their team option on CF Andrew McCutchen and bought out the options on C Chris Stewart (younger torch-bearer C Elias Diaz was out of options) and LHP Wade LeBlanc (who was outrighted to Indy and faced a crowded field of lefty relievers) while 1B/OF John Jaso and RHP Joaquin Benoit had already declared for free agency. Cutch was the only starter in the mix and the other losses were expected. Andrew’s 2018 contract of $14.75M was the largest single-year deal that the Pirates have ever been entirely committed to; AJ Burnett’s contract for $16.5M from 2012-13 was primarily paid for by the NYY. The club tendered their small though costly arb-eligible gang of RHP Gerrit Cole, SS Jordy Mercer, RHP Felipe Rivero and RHP George Kontos. Jordy & Felipe were the only ones of the option/arb posse to make it through the season with the Pirates.

2024 - Pirates utilityman Jared Triolo won the Rawlings Golden Glove for Utility Players. Big Tri played all four infield positions (mainly third and second) with a taste in right field and saved eight defensive runs during the year. His leather was well reputed, but his lumber still had a way to go - although he hit a solid .253 in September, during the year his BA was just .216.