10/28: Cutch & Shark '15 All-Stars, Tim ROTY & Jim MOTY In '92, Bo Free Agent, Neal Dismissed, Milo Goes, Nixie On Dixie, RIP T-Bone, HBD Diego, Jake, Corban, Nate, Big Bob, Gair, Canena, Joe, Percy & Big Bill

1867 - C “Big” Bill Wilson was born in Hannibal, Missouri. He played pro ball for 15 years, mostly in the minors, spending 1890 with the Alleghenys, which had been hard hit by defections to the Players League (he hit .214 and caught, played 1B and some OF) and then with the 1897-98 Louisville Colonels. He was argumentative and got into several donnybrooks during his career, stepping up to the world of crime when he retired. He was alleged to have been a member of Detroit’s “Purple Gang” and served time in Leavenworth. “Baseball” Wilson, as he was known to his associates in crime & law enforcement, met a bloody end when he was knifed in a St. Paul speakeasy in 1924. 

1899 - LHP Percy Lee Jones was born in Harwood, Texas. Percy closed out his nine-year career (seven spent with the Cubs) in Pittsburgh where the 30-year-old went 0-1/6.63 in nine games in 1930 before being sent down after becoming a Pirate in an April deal with the Boston Braves for Burleigh Grimes.

1917 - LHP Joe Page was born in nearby Cherry Valley and was raised in the mining town of Springdale. He was signed by the Yankees in 1940, starting out for the Class D Butler Yankees. Joe’s career turned in 1947 when NY flipped him from a starter to reliever, and he had several strong seasons before 1951 when his arm died, including winning the 1949 World Series’ MVP. He worked in the minors to overcome the loss of his bread-and-butter heater, coming up with a sinker (and almost assuredly a spitter, too). The Bucs gave him a shot in 1954, but after a quick start he was rocked (11.17 ERA in 9-2/3 IP) and released. He returned home to Springdale and ran a pair of local watering holes. Joe was known as “Fireman,” not only because he was a reliever but because he used to sport a red FDNY tee-shirt in the clubhouse. He was also called the “Gay (as in light-hearted) Reliever” by his bud Joe DiMaggio because of his love of the night-life. 

1924 - The Pirates got $16,545 for placing third in the NL race - they finished 90-63, three games behind the NY Giants - for a bonus of $570 for the 27 players who earned a full share with a little left over for the staff and short-timers. The cash bonus was determined by World Series revenues.

1925 - OF Luis Ángel "Canena" Sánchez Márquez was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. One of the first Puerto Rican players in the MLB, he played for both the Homestead Grays (1946–1948) and briefly for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1956), going 1-for-9 with four walks as a Buc. Though he played just two MLB seasons and 68 games, he spent 14 years in the minors, with another four seasons in the Negro League. His hometown baseball stadium is named for him.

Jewel Ens - Mears Collection/TSN

1930 - The Bucs re-signed skipper Jewel Ens to a one-year deal for an undisclosed amount. He had replaced Donie Bush late in the ‘29 campaign and the Pirates fell to fifth place in 1930, the first finish out of the first division since 1917, but Pittsburgh management attributed much of the slippage to injuries, and the suits also liked the way he handled the club, which had been in turmoil during Bush’s last year. But his leash was short and he was gone after the ‘31 season, replaced by former skipper George “Mooney” Gibson. 

1931 - IF Gair Allie was born in Statesville, North Carolina. The Pirates signed Allie out of Wake Forest in 1952 where he went to school with Arnie Palmer. He got a lengthy look in 1954, but hit just .199 in 121 games, and his chance to challenge in camp the following season was dashed by a broken ankle. He played well in the Southern League after he recovered and had a solid 1956 in AAA Hollywood, then lost a year to the service. Gair never put together a strong season after his return from the military and retired in 1961.

1935 - Big lefty Bob Veale was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He pitched 10-1/2 years for the Pirates (1962-72) with a line of 116-91/3.06 and 1,652 strikeouts. Veale led the league with 250 K in 1964 and had over 200 whiffs four times in his career; his 276 punchouts in 1965 are still a club record. He also led the league in walks four times. After his retirement from pitching in 1974 after a shoulder injury, he returned to his hometown, serving a few years as a coach for the Braves and Yankees. Veale stayed connected to baseball by working as a groundskeeper at Rickwood Field, a ballyard he played on as a youth. In 2006, Veale was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

1955 - Dixie Walker, manager of minor-league Rochester, pulled his hat out of the Bucco manager’s ring, telling Joe Brown that he was happy as part of the Cardinal organization and decided to stay after earlier expressing an interest in the job. His brother, Harry “The Hat” Walker, was also a skipper in the Redbird system and would take the Pirates helm a decade later in 1965. Bobby Bragan, an early front-runner, got Fred Haney’s job and lasted just through the 1957 campaign.

1979 - Radio announcer Milo Hamilton, who replaced Bob Prince in the booth but not in the hearts of the Bucco faithful, told the media that he was leaving the Pirates after four years, as soon as his contract expired at the end of the year. He made the move official the next day by announcing a deal with the Cubs, for whom he had broadcast earlier in his career. Milo was let go there in 1984 after clashing with Harry Caray before finding a home in Houston, where he broadcast from through 2012 on the final leg of his road to a Ford Frick media award.

Nate McLouth - 2008 Topps All-Star

1981 - OF Nate McLouth was born in Muskegon, Michigan. Drafted in the 25th round of the 2000 draft, he spent his first five big league years (2005-09) with the Bucs, hitting .256 and earning an All-Star spot in 2008. McLouth was traded to the Braves for Gorkys Hernandez, Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke after his AS season when his value was high and Andrew McCutchen was ready to step in to play center field. Nate finished his 10-year career with Washington in 2014.

1988 - Utility man Corban Joseph was born in Franklin, Tennessee. The younger brother of Caleb, he had cups of coffee with four different organizations before the Pirates claimed him late in the 2019 campaign from the Giants. He only hit .169 in his MLB stops, but had a .371 BA with 13 homers while spending most of the 2019 season in the PCL. He reverted to form to bat .182 in an August/September stint with the big club and was let go in the offseason. Corban finished his career following the 2021 campaign after being released by the Washington Nats.

1991 - Bobby Bonilla became a free agent. In his six years with Pittsburgh (1986-91), Bobby Bo slashed .284/.357/.481 w/114 HR, 500 RBI, four All-Star nods and was twice a top-three finisher for the MVP. He signed with the Mets for five years/$29M, making him the highest paid player in baseball at the time. He got deferred money from that deal and more from a buy-out of his second contract that pays him $1.19M annually until 2035. A couple of other Bucs, 3B Steve Buechele and P Bob Kipper, also declared for FA. Buechele returned to the fold while Kip signed with the Minnesota Twins.

1992 - Jim Leyland was named the National League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America for the second time, receiving 20 of 24 first-place ballots to outpoll Felipe Alou of the Expos. Pittsburgh won 96 games and the division, only to be derailed by Atlanta in a seven game NLCS. Leyland would remain with the Bucs through the 1996 campaign, never winning more than 75 games after roster deconstruction began in the ‘92 offseason, then moved on to Florida, Colorado and Detroit. On the same day, RHP Tim Wakefield was named The Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year.

1996 - RHP Jake Woodford was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. A 2015 first-round draft pick of the Cards, he tossed for them through 2023 as a long man/starter. He was with SL through 2023, signed with the White Sox and was DFA’ed by them in June of 2024 with a career line of 10-9/4.57. The Pirates claimed him and sent him to Indy before calling him up at the end of July. He was DFA’ed late in the year and returned to Indy. He declared for free agency after the season and worked for Arizona; he’s now a FA again.

Diego Castillo - 2022 Topps Allen & Ginter

1997 - IF Diego Castillo was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. A Yankee prospect, the Pirates picked him in 2021 as part of the Clay Holmes trade. He spent most of that year in AA, but his performance the following spring earned him a spot on the roster when camp broke. He got into 96 games for the Bucs, hitting .206 with 11 dingers in 262 ABs while playing every IF spot and RF. After a minor league swap, Diego rejoined the Yankees’ system. He’s been on an odyssey since then and is now playing in the Latin leagues. 

2015 - CF’er Andrew McCutchen and closer Mark Melancon were named to The Sporting News' National League All-Star team. Cutch hit .292 with 23 HR and 96 RBI, making his fourth straight appearance on the list, while Mark the Shark, who set a Pirate record and led the majors with 51 saves while appearing in 78 games & posting a 2.23 ERA, was a first-time awardee. It was a big day for Melancon; he also took home the 2015 Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year award.

2018 - Pirates scout Tom “T-Bone” Baker passed away at his Huntington, WV, home at age 75. Baker had served as a regional scout for the Pirates from 1990-2013 when health issues bumped him to part-time status; he also worked as a systems engineer until retiring from that gig in 1997. He and his dog “Scout,” who attended the games with him, knew every ballyard in the area inside and out as T-Bone played for Huntington HS and Marshall University. 

2019 - The Pirates made it a clean front office sweep by dismissing GM Neal Huntington after earlier relieving manager Clint Hurdle and President Frank Coonelly. Kevan Graves, one of the Pirates' assistant GMs, served as interim GM while the Pirates conducted a search for Huntington’s position, resulting in Ben Cherington’s hire two weeks later. The other newbies brought aboard were President Travis Williams, from of all places the Penguins, who was officially named as Coonelly’s replacement starting on November 1st and Derek Shelton, who was chosen manager on the 27th.

10/27: Meyer MOTY, Grimm-Grantham & Co, Fred Out Donie In, Spud Joins, Tony Dangled, Flood Anti-Trust, Blass Back, HBD Ralph, Jon, Jason, Mike, UL, Pete, Rube & Charlie

1876 - IF Charlie Kuhns was born in Freeport. The local lad made his MLB debut in 1887 for the Bucs as a 20-year-old fill-in for one-game, going 0-for-3 with a walk. He almost lost that line (and maybe wishes he did): the game he played in was at Philly, and the Pirates were losing but threatening weather was rolling in. Warming up between innings, the ball was zinged over his head and into the crowd, and the Bucs went on a recon mission to find it. Philadelphia pleaded their case to the ump that the Pirates were playing a delay game, hoping for the storm to hit. The ump agreed, but the Pittsburgh players remained a bit leisurely despite his warning, so he called the game in favor of the Phillies. Pity - the rains came shortly after the field was cleared; the Bucs likely would have got their wish for a washout if they had played it straight. As for Kuhns, he got a cup of coffee at Boston the next season and ended up with nine minor & indie league campaigns under his belt, mostly in the Eastern League, before retiring to home. 

1918 - RHP Ed “Rube” Albosta was born in Saginaw, Michigan. The Bucs drafted Ed from the Dodgers in 1942 after he had made a couple of September starts for Brooklyn, but he entered the service afterwards and was in the military from 1942 through 1945. Albosta spent the entire 1946 season with Pittsburgh and made 17 appearances. He finished with an 0-6 record and 6.13 ERA, ending his MLB days. Although he had a strong campaign or two in the minors, he never got another call up and retired from baseball after the 1954 season. Ed returned home and was named to the Saginaw Sports Hall of Fame. 

1922 - OF Ralph Kiner was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico. He led the NL in home runs for seven straight seasons as a Buc. Mr. Swat hit 301 bombs, drove in 801 runs, and had a .971 OPS in his eight Pittsburgh seasons (1946-53) and was named an All-Star six times. Kiner played part of 1953 and all of ‘54 with the Chicago Cubs, finishing his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1955 before a back injury forced him to retire from baseball at the age of 32. Ralph was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Pirates retired his #4 in 1987.

1924 - 1B Charlie Grimm, LHP Wilbur Cooper and SS Rabbit Maranville were traded to the Chicago Cubs for RHP Vic Aldridge, 1B George Grantham and rookie 1B Al Niehaus. Cooper was nearing the end of his career, Maranville would have two more strong seasons with Boston, and Grimm played for Chicago for the next dozen years, hitting .296 with 1,079 RBI and became their player-manager. Grantham hit .300 over six seasons with Pittsburgh, Aldridge won 40 games in his three-year Bucco tenure and Niehaus, 26-years-old and a key component in the deal as a highly rated minor league infielder, split 1925 between the Pirates and Reds in his only MLB campaign.

George Grantham - TSN Collection

1926 - Barney Dreyfuss received Fred Clarke’s resignation letter and named Donie Bush, the manager of Indianapolis of the American Association, as the Bucs new skipper. The switch was the final shake of the broom that cleaned out the ABC Affair fallout. Bush would have his own reckoning  - although he won the pennant, he irked the fanbase by his benching and eventual trading away of Kiki Cuyler, and then finishing in fourth-place in ‘28. Though in second in ‘29, he was 14-1/2 games behind the Cubs in August and resigned, jumping to the White Sox.

1935 - According to Charlton’s Baseball Chronology, a touring group of American League All-Stars topped the Negro League champion Pittsburgh Crawfords, 7-2, in Mexico City in the final match of a three-game barnstorming series. Rogers Hornsby drove in three runs against Bert Hunter after having driven in three more the day before when the All-Stars won, 11-7. The first game ended in a 6-6 tie. The AL squad featured Hornsby, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Lyons and Vern Kennedy while the Crawfords roster included Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson and Cool Papa Bell.

1939 - The Pirates purchased C Spud Davis from the Phils. Spud caught 99 games in 1940, but in 1941 Al Lopez took over the Pirates starting catcher's role. The next season, Spud became a coach for the Pirates before returning to the active roster in 1944-45 due to player shortages of WW2. In his four Pirate seasons, he hit .301 and continued as a Bucco coach (he also served as the manager for a short stint after Frankie Frisch resigned in 1946) and a scout. He then played farm ball and coached for the Cubs, retiring in 1953.

1948 - Manager Billy Meyer was selected as The Sporting News MLB Manager of the Year, edging out Boston’s Billy Southworth by an 89-87 vote tally. After 22 years in the minors, he improved the hapless Pirates by 21 games to fourth place with an 83-71 record, 8-1/2 games behind Southworth’s first place Braves (and just 2-1/2 games off the pace on September 12th before a late season nosedive). The glow wore off quickly after new GM Branch Rickey dealt the vets and rebuilt; Meyer and his Pirate puppies lost 112 games in 1952 and Billy resigned. 

Billy Meyer - 1949 Eureka Sports Stamp

1952 - RHP/coach Pete Vuckovich was born in Johnstown. In his 11-year MLB career, he never tossed for the Pirates, but in 1992 he was hired by Pittsburgh as a pitching instructor. Vuckovich served as the pitching coach during the 1997–2000 seasons for Gene Lamont, then worked his way through the organization to become the Special Assistant to the General Manager until joining the Seattle organization in 2012. Pete also had a role in the movie “Major League,” uttering the snarky “How’s your wife and my kids?” line. Pete is a member of the Clarion University Sports Hall of Fame, the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.

1953 - IF UL Washington was born in Springtown, Oklahoma. He closed out his 11-year big league visit in 1986-87 with the Pirates, batting .207 off the bench. After ending his playing career, Washington coached in the minors for the Pirates (1989), Royals (1991–98), Dodgers (1999), Twins (2001–02) and the Red Sox (2003–2014). Two UL factoids: UL isn’t shorthand for anything; it’s actually his given name. Also, the toothpick he always had in his mouth was a by-product of Astroturf. UL had always played with a blade of grass in his mouth until he got to the show where there were no more grass fields, so he substituted a toothpick.

1962 - RHP Mike Dunne was born in South Bend, Indiana. The US Olympian from 1984 came to the Pirates as part of the Tony Pena trade and paid immediate dividends, going 13-6 with a 3.03 ERA in 1987 and finishing second to Benito Santiago in the Rookie-of-the-Year balloting (he won the TSN NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year award). He began to encounter arm problems and couldn’t match his first-year numbers, winning just eight more games before being traded to Seattle in 1989. His Pittsburgh slash was 21-18/3.65. Dunne’s last MLB campaign was in 1992 with the White Sox, and he left there to coach at his alma mater, Bradley University. Now he‘s involved with instructional baseball and basketball camps. 

1973 - RHP Jason Johnson was born in Santa Barbara, California. He was signed by the Pirates in 1992 out of high school and made his debut in 1997, working six innings and giving up four runs before being lost to Tampa Bay in the expansion draft. He turned into a journeyman, working 11 seasons for eight teams and spending another year in Japan. Jason played through lifelong Type 1 diabetes; he was the first MLB player to wear an insulin pump on the field. 

Jon Niese - 2016 Topps

1978 - LHP Jon Niese was born in Lima, Ohio. After working eight years as a Met, Niese was traded to Pittsburgh for Neil Walker in 2016. He was 8-6 for the Bucs, but a 4.91 ERA and 1.545 WHIP were more indicative of his performance. On August 1st, the Pirates sent him back to NY for Antonio Bastardo, a trade tree Neal Huntington would like to forget about. The Mets bought him out after the season, and he signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees but was let go in June. He didn’t have any better luck in 2018,  auditioning with the Rangers but being released in camp and ditto with the Mariners in 2019, his last hurrah. 

1986 - The Post Gazette’s Bruce Keidan wrote that C Tony Pena, who was entering the walk year of his contract, was available; Syd Thrift had already tried to get Glenn Wilson from the Phils in a deal that Philly declined. But Keidan was right that Thrift wasn’t going to sign Pena, who was nearing 30, to a long-term deal, and before camp broke in 1987, Tony was on his way to St. Louis for Andy Van Slyke, Spanky LaValliere and Mike Dunne in one of the GM’s better deals.

1998 - President Bill Clinton signed the Curt Flood legislation that overturned part of baseball's 70-year-old antitrust exemption (the reserve clause), putting baseball on a par with other professional sports on labor matters after Congress approved it unanimously earlier in the month. The new law overrode part of a 1922 Supreme Court ruling that exempted baseball from antitrust restrictions on grounds that it was not interstate commerce. The law took three sessions of Congress to pass and revoked the antitrust exemption only for labor relations, kicking the other issues down the road for another day.

2005 - Color man Steve Blass signed a one-year deal with an option while analyst John Wehner inked a straight one-year contract to broadcast with FSN Pittsburgh. They joined Lanny Frattare, Greg Brown and Bob Walk, who were already signed for the upcoming season, in the booth.

Weekly Report: Crew Up 2-0 On Rays; Pirates Minor League Awardees; MLB Notes

And onto the grand Fall Classic finale...

Pirates Stuff:

• Pirates Minor League Awards: The top two Bucco farmhands were 3B Murf Gray (.305/32/97) who was the Honus Wagner Player of the Year, and RHP Seth Hernandez (6-1/2.43, 14.4K per nine IP) who was the Bob Friend Pitcher of the Year. 
• Pittsburgh announced its Young Bucs Awards earlier - Gray was their Willie Stargell Slugger of the Year, Derek Diamond (7-0-2/2.48 in 37 outings) was the Kent Tekulve Reliever of the Year; Jesus Castillo (.996 Fielding % playing every spot other than pitcher or catcher) was the Bill Mazeroski Defender of the Year; and Yordany De Los Santos (45 steals) was the Omar Moreno Baserunner of the Year. 

Murf Gray - 2026 image/Baseball America

• Comin' Up: The Bucs started the week when it announced RHP Irwin Ramírez (1-1/3.67, 27 K in 27 IP in the FCL, but not so good at Bradenton) as their 2026 Rookie-Level Pitcher of the Year and IF Johan De Los Santos, Yordany's bro, was their 2026 Rookie-Level Player of the Year. The 18-year-old primo international signee of 2025 tore up the FCL, but like Ramirez, had his eyes opened in A Ball. Cecilio Beltre was selected as the Staff Member of the Year. Cecilio has spent the past 25 years with the organization, with the past nine years as senior advisor & mentor for the Dominican Summer League.

MLB Stuff:

• Brant Brown, a Pirates OF in 1999 (he was gotten from the Cubs for Jon Lieber) has been a hitting coach for several organizations over the past two decades. His latest gig just ended - he was let go after two years as the Cards batting mentor.
• Three skippers down so far: Joe Espada (Houston Astros), Dan Wilson (Seattle Mariners), and Kurt Suzuki (Los Angeles Angels).

World Series Stuff:

• And it's Tampa v Milwaukee, just like we all thought it would be. The winner will be a first-time champion; neither club has ever taken home the title. It's just the second time in 100 years that two teams seeking their first WS crown (Phillies vs. Royals in 1980) met in the Fall Classic per ESPN. The Brew Crew held serve, winning the first two games at American Family Field by 3-2 and 5-4 scores.

10/26: Starling TSN All-Star, Jay Bay TSN ROTY, Barry Bonds & Doug Drabek Declare FA, Syd & Doughty Sign, HBD Diomedes, Wilfredo, Frankie, Marty, Scat, Judy, Harry & Bill

1867 - RHP Bill Garfield was born in Sheffield, Ohio. The Oberlin product tossed his first big league season for the 1889 Pittsburgh Alleghenys, going 0-2/7.76 in 29 IP (two starts, four outings). He worked for the Cleveland Spiders the following year and then spent time in Bradford, Peoria and Sandusky in the minors before hangin’ up his mitt after the 1893 campaign.

1884 - RHP Harry Camnitz was born in McKinney, Kentucky. He worked once for the Pirates in 1909, going four innings and giving up a pair of runs, but that was long enough for him to become an early brother act with teammate sib Howie, who won 109 games with the Bucs. Harry did have a strong minor league career, once winning 27 games for the McKeesport Tubers.

1899 - 3B William Julius "Judy" Johnson was born in Snow Hill, Maryland (This is a consensus date; there are a couple of others floating around). The Hall-of-Famer spent the twenties as a stalwart of the legendary Philadelphia Hilldale Darby teams, then played and managed for the Homestead Grays in 1929-30. He was also with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, serving as team captain from 1932-1936. He retired after 17 seasons with a career .290 BA. The New York Times wrote that "...as a third baseman, Johnson was often compared with Pie Traynor," and the paper recalled Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack’s comment about Johnson: "If Judy were only white," Mack said, "he could name his own price." He inherited his nickname early in his career from a Philly teammate he resembled, “Judy” Gans, who incidentally was from Washington, PA. 

1919 - 3B Jack “Gabby”/”Scat” Cassini was born in Dearborn, Michigan. Jack put 12 years in the minors (he missed three full seasons after entering the Army Air Corp) as a speedy infielder with All-Star chops (he had a lifetime .304 BA on the farm) and six stolen-base titles, but his only stop in the show was in 1949 for the Pirates. He got into eight games w/o touching a bat or mitt; he was used solely as a pinch runner, and did pretty well, scoring three times. After the season, the Pirates sent him to Brooklyn for Danny O’Connell. His playing days were cut short when he was hit in the face by a pitch in 1954, suffering a broken cheekbone and blurred vision. That effectively ended his playing career, but he soldiered on for the next two decades as a scout and minor league skipper for four different organizations - the White Sox, Redlegs/Reds, Mets and Indians.

Marty McLeary - 2006 Upper Deck

1974 - RHP Marty McLeary was born in Kettering, Ohio. After getting a brief taste of the show with San Diego, McLeary got nine outings (two starts) with the Bucs in 2006-07, going 2-0/3.91, and that was the end of his MLB road. He tossed for five different organizations before retiring at age 35 after the 2010 campaign and is now a sales manager for medical devices in Nashville.

1983 - LHP Frankie Liriano was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. One of the Pirates most notable reclamation projects, the southpaw went 41-36 with a 3.67 ERA from 2013-16 for the Bucs and won the 2013 "Comeback Player of the Year" award. In the midst of a dismal 2016 campaign, Frankie was traded to Toronto at the deadline. From there, he ended up with the ‘Stros and a date at the 2017 World Series, moved on to the Tigers in 2018 and returned to the Bucs in 2019. It was his last MLB gig and he officially retired in 2022 after 14 seasons.

1987 - The Pirates announced that they and GM Syd Thrift had agreed to contract terms on October 1st, but Thrift didn’t sign the deal until this date. He insisted on a clause that gave him more trade control, and that remained a bone of contention until Board President Mac Prine resigned a few days earlier. It was a two-year deal, with the salary undisclosed but guesstimated to be in the neighborhood of $200K. Larry Doughty, the Reds scouting director, was also hired as the new Assistant to the General Manager.

1989 - RHP Wilfredo Boscan was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Wil has been in baseball since 2007, spending 11 years in the minors as a starting pitcher while wintering in the Latino leagues six times, and got his only showtime as a Pirate in 2016 when he went 1-1/6.46 in six outings lasting 15-1/3 IP. Wil worked in the Mets minors in 2017, the Venezuelan Winter League that following offseason and in the Mexican League in 2019. He’s still tossing in both Latin leagues.

Wilfredo Boscan - 2016 image/Positively Pittsburgh

1989 - LHP Diomedes Mateo was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. The Bucs were hoodwinked by Mateo, who they signed in 2009 under the false pretense that he was a 16-year old player named Yoldi Sierra instead of a 20-year-old Diomedes. The MLB fact-checkers quickly found out the ruse and suspended Mateo for two seasons. The southpaw returned in 2011 but was rusty and done in pro ball after 2012 following Low A, Rookie League and Dominican Summer League stops in the Pirates system. 

1992 - It was a dark day for Pirates fans as Barry Bonds and Doug Drabek both declared for free agency. Bonds was a two-time MVP (1990, 1992) and Drabek a Cy Young winner in 1990. Both found considerably greener pastures away from Pittsburgh: Barry signed a six-year/$43.75M deal with the Giants while Doug inked a four-year/$20M contract with the Astros.

2004 - The Sporting News selected LF Jason Bay as the Rookie of the Year. Bay hit .282 with 26 homers and 82 RBIs despite missing the first five weeks of the campaign because of shoulder surgery. He was the third Pirate to win the TSN award behind Jason Kendall (1996) and Johnny Ray (1982), but neither of them took home the big enchilada, the Baseball Writer’s RoY. Jason would become the first Buccaneer to lay claim to that honor two weeks later. 

2016 - LF Starling Marte was named to The Sporting News 2016 National League All-Star Team for the first time. Marte slashed .311/.362/456 with 34 doubles, five triples, nine HR, 71 runs, 46 RBIs, 47 stolen sacks and a 4.9 WAR. He was the only Pirates player to receive votes for AS consideration.

10/25: Garber-Rook Swap, Irishman UPI's '60 MOTY & Friend Comeback Player, Mahatma Out & Joe L In, New KDKA Deal, HBD JJ, Danny, Pete, Nanny & Schoolmaster

1893 - RHP Vic “Hoosier Schoolmaster” Aldridge was born in Crane, Indiana. He only tossed three of his nine MLB seasons for the Pirates (1925-27), but bookended those campaigns with World Series appearances. Vic, who possessed a dandy curveball, went 40-30-2/3.99 for the Pirates, starting 86 times, and went 2-1 in his four Fall Classic starts, claiming both his wins in 1925 against the Senators’ Stan Coveleski. After his retirement from baseball, he was a big man back home, serving as a state senator in the General Assembly and selected to the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. And yes, he was an Indiana schoolmaster before he became a hurler.

1918 - Utilityman Froilan “Nanny” Fernandez was born in Wilmington, California. Nanny played for Boston in 1942, went off to the service and put in a couple of more seasons with the Braves. A quiet bat got him sent back to the farm and eventually swapped into the Pirate system. Fernandez shifted to third base and made it back to the majors with Pittsburgh in 1950, playing 65 games as a backup to Stan Rojek (he played SS, 3B & OF) and batting .258. Fernandez was sent to Indianapolis in 1951 and then played from 1952-55 in the PCL.

1939 - RHP Pete Mikkelsen was born on Staten Island. He tossed for Pittsburgh from 1966-67, posting a line of 10-10-16/3.46 from the pen in 103 outings. Pete played for five different clubs over a nine-year career through 1972 despite suffering from a chronic back injury he received as a Pirate when a truck rear-ended his car in 1967. He’s also a card collector’s mystery man of sorts. Mikkelsen got into a dispute with Topps, and the company didn’t issue a card for him during the last four years of his career.

Pete Mikkelson - 1966 Topps

1955 - Hall-of-Fame executive Branch Rickey stepped down as the Pirates' general manager, replaced by Joe L. Brown. During Mahatma's five-year tenure, Pittsburgh’s “Rickey-Dinks” had three 100-loss seasons. Rickey was, however, credited with developing a solid farm system for the Pirates and stayed with the organization as an advisor. Brown filled some holes with vets via the trade route to supplement the farm and was paid off with a strong ‘58 campaign and eventually claimed the World Series title in 1960. 

1955 - RHP Danny Darwin was born in Bonham, Texas. DD tossed for 21 years and one of his nine teams for a brief spell was Pittsburgh. He signed with the Pirates in 1996 at the age of 40, and they traded him to the Astros for a second tour of duty at mid-season for Rich Loiselle after he put up a solid line of 7-9/3.02. Darwin was known as the "Bonham Bullet" as a nod to the hometown and was dubbed "Dr. Death" by Houston teammate Nolan Ryan because of his feistiness and occasional flyin’ fists. He retired after the 1998 season and coached as a member of the Reds organization. Darwin now coaches youth and clinic baseball between hunting, fishing and “chasing grandkids.” 

1960 - UPI named Danny Murtaugh the NL Manager of the Year by an 18-6 count over the Cards’ Solly Hemus. The Whistling Irishman’s charges won the 1960 World Series while Hemus brought the Redbirds home in third place. Bob Friend (18-12/3.00) took UPI’s NL Comeback Player of the Year award, outdistancing Stan “The Man” Musial, Ernie Broglio, Curt Simmons and Ed Roebuck.

Gene Garber - 1983 Topps Super Vets

1972 - Pittsburgh traded RHP Gene Garber to the KC Royals for LHP Jim Rooker. Rook pitched eight seasons for the Pirates, winning 82 games (with a huge ‘79 WS effort) with a 3.29 ERA before becoming a Buc announcer who once took a charity trek from Philly to Pittsburgh thanks to a Bucco defeat, a hopeful politico, dog trainer, children's book author...he covered a lot of ground. Garber tossed out of various bullpens until 1988, winning 96 games and saving 218 more with a 3.44 ERA. Over his 19-year career, he saved 20+ games five times, with a high water mark of 30 close-outs in 1982 for the Atlanta Braves.

1978 - OF Jerry “JJ” Davis was born in Glendora, California. A first round draft pick in 1997 (eighth overall), Davis made very little noise in the show, playing in just 53 games from 2002-04 for the Pirates and batting .163, mostly as a pinch hitter. He was competing with Jason Bay and Brian Giles for a corner outfield spot in Pittsburgh and then got into manager Lloyd McClendon’s doghouse, with both situations limiting his opportunities to crack the lineup. He spent 2005 in the Washington Nats and Colorado Rockies systems before calling it a career.

1990 - After rejecting KDKA’s offer in April, the Pirates agreed to continue flagship radio rights and a 50-game TV deal for the coming season with the broadcaster, guesstimated to be in the $2.5M range, a slight bump from last year. Neither side would say if the earlier proposal was sweeter than the one reached, but the Pirates were known to be looking for a better deal with other outlets without any luck, so KD’s deal was likely as good as it was going to get. The lineup in the booth remained unchanged with Kent Derdivanis, Lanny Frattare, Steve Blass and Jim Rooker.

10/24 Through 1954: Stretch Song, HBD Reggie, Antelope, Johnny, Ding-Dong, Cal, Pete, Heinie, Chicken, Jay, Bill & Ned

1857 - IF Ned Williamson was born in Philadelphia. Ned launched his career as a 19-year-old with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys in 1877, when the club’s first incarnation began in the minor league International Association. They were pretty good as the Alleghenys won the league title, albeit with a 13-6 record, and all 12 players on the roster eventually ended up in MLB, notably Williamson, Pud Galvin and Chick Fulmer. Ned hit .173 in 19 games for Pittsburgh and then jumped to the NL Indianapolis Blues the next year. In 1879, he began a 11-year run with the Chicago White Stockings, ending his playing days in 1890 with the Chicago Pirates after a knee injury. He also took part in Al Spalding’s famous World Tour of 1888. Ned died in 1894 at age 36 from tuberculosis.

1858 - 3B Bill Kuehne (his surname was an Ellis Island special; in Germany, it was Knelme) was born in Leipzig, Germany. He played every position but pitcher and catcher, hitting .240 in Pittsburgh (he was with the Alleghenys 1885-89 and the Burghers in 1890). His best years were with the Allies, where he batted .299 in 1887 and led the NL with 138 games played in 1888. 

1859 - 1B Jacob “Jay” Faatz was born in Weedsport, New York. He began his four-year MLB career with a 29-game audition with the 1884 Alleghenys, batting .241 and then spending the next three years in the minors before getting another big-league opportunity. Faatz was an argumentative player with a knack for sticking out an elbow or knee and getting plunked, and that fiery temperament led him to become a ringleader in the Players League movement, which put an end to his career. He retired in 1894 after spending some time in the minors and moved to Syracuse to become a sales rep. His highlight came against his old Allegheny teammates in 1889 when he smoked a grounder to third that glanced off the fielder’s foot and kicked into temporary stands along the baseline; by the time the Pittsburgh infield could recover the ball, Jay had a three-run homer (one of three career four-baggers) on a hit that never left the infield.

1870 - OF Phil “Chicken” Routcliffe was born in Frontenac, Ontario. Routcliffe got into one MLB game as an Allegheny in 1890, going 1-for-4 and HBP, scoring once, driving in a run and swiping a sack while corralling three balls in the pasture as the left fielder. Just 19 when he played (although his 1870 birthdate is questionable), he was thought to be a contender for a starting role, but was released shortly thereafter. The Alleghenys must have sensed something; he hit just .213 in the Western League and was out of baseball two years later, working as a newspaper pressman and later as a policeman before being claimed by the 1918 flu epidemic at age 47. His nickname dates back to his youth.

Heinie Smith (w/Buffalo) - 1909 Carolina Brights

1871 - 2B Heinie Smith was born in Pittsburgh. Heinie played for six MLB campaigns and spent 1899 with the Pirates, batting .283 in 15 games (a deceptive small sample; his career BA was .238). Smith had a disastrous turn as big league skipper, losing 27-of-32 games as the Giants player/manager in 1902. That didn’t deter him when his playing days ended; he was the minor league Buffalo Bisons’ manager for a decade and then coached the U of Buffalo for a couple of seasons.

1906 - PH Pete McClanahan was born in Coldspring, Texas. His only big league time came in 1931 as a 24-year-old Pirate, getting into seven games as a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner. He went 2-for-4 with two walks and scored twice, so he fit right into that role. Pete’s calling card was his stick. In six farm seasons in the Texas, Lone Star and Dixie Leagues, he hit .317 before swinging the bat for a final time after the 1933 campaign, giving up the sport at the age 26.

1908 - Edward Meeker recorded "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" for the Edison Phonograph Company, the first recorded version of the tune (it was quickly covered and popularized by Billy Murray & the Haydn Quartet on Victor Records, who turned the song into a 1908 chart-topper). The melody was written earlier in the year by Tin Pan Alley vets Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer (“Shine On, Harvest Moon”) and became a vaudeville hit. Though it remained popular and was updated lyrically in 1927, it was first played in a major league venue at the 1934 World Series and in 1976 became a big league ballyard standard per baseball lore when then-Chicago White Sox announcer Harry Caray began singing it during the stretch, accompanied by organist Nancy Faust, at the urging of Sox owner Bill Veeck. Norworth and Von Tilzer, incidentally, had never seen a ballgame before writing the song, and wouldn’t until decades later.

1927 - RHP Calvin “Cal” Hogue was born in Dayton, Ohio. His MLB career spanned 1952-54, all spent as a Bucco, with a line of 2-10/4.91 in 25 games (16 starts). He got a decent shot in his first campaign after a July call up while the next two seasons were cup of coffee stops. Cal’s issue was finding the dish - he issued 96 bases on balls in 113-2/3 innings as a Pirate. He stayed in the system through the 1957 season before retiring and going home to work as a pipefitter.

Cal Hogue - 1953 Topps Rookie

1933 - RHP Bill “Ding Dong” Bell was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Bell was one of two professional pitchers to throw three no-hitters in the same season (1952), doing the deeds  as a member of Pirates affiliate Bristol in the Class D Appalachian League. Success there didn’t translate into much of a MLB career, though. Ding Dong was given a September call up at age 18 in ‘52 and resurfaced again briefly in 1955, going 0-1/4.32 lifetime for the Bucs. The hiatus was because Bill was drafted by Uncle Sam in 1953 and lost two years to the Army. When he came back, he popped his shoulder while practicing and tried to pitch through a sore wing from that time forward. Bill died at age 28 in 1962, from injuries he had sustained in a January car wreck.

1944 - OF Johnny Jeter was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Johnny began his six-year MLB run with the Pirates, which had signed him out of Grambling, playing here between 1969-70. He hit .252 in 113 games (30 starts) and got a couple of at-bats against the Reds in the 1970 NLCS. JJ put in a pair of seasons with the Padres and played for the White Sox and Indians before he retired. 

1952 - Pirate CF Omar Moreno was born in Puerto Armuelles, Panama. “The Antelope” played eight years in Pittsburgh (1975-82) and led the league in stolen bases twice, swiping 487 sacks as a Buc. Moreno played every game of the 1979 and 1980 seasons, led the National League in at bats both years and hit .333 against the Orioles in the 1979 World Series (he also won a ring with KC in 1985). Known as “The Antelope” for his speed, both on the base paths and in center field (he set the Bucs three top seasons for swiped bags - 96 in 1980, 77 in 1979 and 71 in 1978), his bat never quite caught up to his wheels and he ended his Pirates career with a .255 BA/80 OPS+. One of the good guys of the game, he and his wife Sandra began the Omar Moreno Foundation, a youth baseball charity for underprivileged kids in Panama, and the Antelope is still active in Pirates alumni and PR work. Moreno was inducted into the Latino Hall of Fame in 2014.

1952 - OF Reggie Walton was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Reggie had a 12-year pro career in the majors, on the farm and in Mexico, finishing his big league time with the Pirates in 1982, hitting .200 in a bench role. Reggie was a good stick guy with a .291 minor league batting average, but half of his time was spent swinging in the hitter-friendly PCL and he didn’t show much plate patience (.250/.295 MLB-BA/OBP). He hung ‘em up after the 1983 campaign at age 30 after playing the season for AAA Hawaii.

10/24 From 1955: Trevor Trade, Williams Signs, Coach Maz, Nellie Croons, '06 CBA OK'ed, HBD Colin, Chase, Chris, Arthur, Rafe, Dave & Junior

1959 - C Adalberto “Junior” Ortiz was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Junior caught for the Bucs from 1982-83 (.264 BA), spent a year with the Mets, and came back again between 1985-89. In seven seasons, the reserve hit .262 during his career. We’re not sure where Junior picked up his moniker (he’s not a junior by name, but he did start stateside in the minors at age 17 and reached the Bucs as a 22 year-old, so maybe it’s just due to his youth). Ortiz embraced it; he even joked after the birth of Adalberto Jr. that he would call him “Junior Junior.” 

1959 - RHP Dave Johnson was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Dave got his first pro shot with Pittsburgh in 1987, giving up seven runs in 6-1/3 IP. He bounced back to have a couple of solid stints for Baltimore before calling it quits after five years of MLB duty following the 1993 season. His son, Steve, also worked in the show, tossing for Baltimore O’s and Seattle Mariners. 

1961 - SS Rafael Belliard was born in Pueblo Nuevo, Dominican Republic. He played his first nine seasons (1982-90) in Pittsburgh as a good glove shortstop, hitting .218 during that time but ranking first in the NL in fielding percentage in 1988. Belliard went on to play the second half of his career in Atlanta and was part of the ‘91-92 teams that beat the Bucs in the NLCS. He’s coached for the Tigers in the majors & farm, and been a minor-league coach for Atlanta. Since 2019, Rafe has worked for KC as an IF coordinator/special ass't of baseball ops.

1969 - LHP Arthur Rhodes was born in Waco, Texas. Rhodes spent 20 years in the show and pitched for nine teams. He was also a Bucco for a brief winter visit. The Pirates got him from Oakland in late November of 2004 along with Mark Redman for Jason Kendall; two weeks later he was on his way to Cleveland for Matt Lawton. His last MLB gig was in 2011 before he retired officially prior to the 2015 campaign and now coaches for the Hagerstown club of the Atlantic League.

1971 - Pitcher Nellie Briles converted from the mound to the stage as he opened an eight-day run at the Holiday House in Monroeville. His act was well received, with a set list of pop hits and, of course, “Take Me Out To the Ballgame.” He cracked wise between tunes, and dedicated the song “We Almost Made It This Time, Didn’t We?” to Earl Weaver. Briles actually was a fairly talented performer, working the local night club circuit (and Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago) for a couple of years with a song & comedy routine and even recording a novelty disk ("Hey Hank, I Know You're Gonna Do It," inspired by Henry Aaron). He then became a TV voice before passing away in 2005.

1972 - Bill Mazeroski was officially released from the Pirates after 17 seasons, becoming Bill Virdon’s third base coach. He only played 34 games and hit .188 in his final campaign as a bench infielder (.260 lifetime). The Hall-of-Famer left a legacy of 10 All-Star games, eight Golden Gloves and two World Series championships. His number #9 was retired in 1987 and his statue was erected at PNC Park in 2010. He still shows up in the spring to mingle with the boys as health allows. Also, IF Jose Pagan was released after eight years in Pittsburgh with a .263 BA in 625 games. He caught on for a final campaign with Philly and then returned to the flock as a Bucco coach until his pssing in 2026. 

1978 - RHP Chris Bootcheck was born in LaPorte, Indiana. Chris worked parts of seven big league seasons (2007 with the LAA was his only full season in the show) and made a stop in Pittsburgh in 2009, earning no decisions while putting up an 11.05 ERA in 13 outings. Bootcheck did earn a paycheck for 14 professional seasons, including a couple in Japan, before retiring after the ‘14 campaign at the age of 35. He’s coached for the Georgia State University Panthers since 2016.  

1996 - RHP Chase Shugart was born in Bridge City, Texas. He was a 12th round draft pick of Boston in 2018 and made his MLB debut in 2024. It was a brief, cup--of-coffee look and the BoSox DFA’ed him in the offseason. The Bucs swapped untested minor league RHP Matt McShane, who ended the year in High A, for Shugart. Chase started at Indy but came on to become a solid contributor to the Bucco bullpen, slashing 4-3/3.40 in 35 outings while winning his first MLB game.

Chase Shugart - 2025 Pirates image

1997 - RHP Colin Selby was born in Chesapeake, Virginia. He was drafted in the 16th round of the 2018 draft by the Bucs and worked through the system, converting from a starter to the bullpen.  Selby’s a high strikeout, high walk guy who showed well in the Arizona Fall League and was called up from Indy (0-0-6/3.86; 41 K & 22 BB in 30-1/3 IP) in early August, 2023. He slashed 2-2/9.00 in 21 outings, struggling with long ball and control issues. Colin was traded to KC in ‘24, and the Royals sold his contract to the O’s; he spent most of his time stashed in AAA as a yo-yo arm in ‘24-’25.

2005 - LHP Dave Williams avoided arbitration and signed a one-year/$1.5M deal with the Pirates. Williams had slashed 10-11/4.41 for the Bucs in ‘05 in his fourth campaign with the club, then after signing was swapped to Cincinnati for 1B Sean Casey. That was just his first move; the Reds sent him to the Mets early in the ‘06 campaign. He underwent surgery for a herniated disc in 2007, and that ended his MLB career. Dave pitched in the minors, Japan and an indie league, coached a bit for Toronto and at last check owns a Georgia pharmacy. 

2006 - The Players Association and MLB announced that they had agreed on a new CBA (two months early!) that would run for five years through the 2011 season. It jiggled some items and finances, but there were no major changes except that the winning All-Star team would host the World Series and the removal of MLB’s chief threat to the union, contraction. The players voted on and ratified the new deal in December, continuing labor peace since 1995.

2015 - The Miami Marlins traded RHP Trevor Williams to the Pirates for Rookie League hurler Richard Mitchell. The Fish had earlier hired Pirates pitching assistant Jim Benedict, and it was thought that swapping a potential MLB back-ender for a long shot prospect was de facto compensation for the signing. Willy made 109 Bucco outings (94 starts) with a line of 31-37/4.43. His last couple of seasons were rough and he signed with the Cubs as a FA in 2021. He was traded to the Mets the following year, and is now tossing for the Nats. The 20-year-old Mitchell never advanced past Rookie League ball.