Weekly Report: Quiet Time: Lowe Gets QO, Baddoo Claimed, Mattson Goes To Seattle, Top 40 Prospects, Salary Cap Pushed Back To '28

Time to pave the road for '27...

Pirates Stuff:

• The Pirates made a qualifying offer worth $23.15M to Brandon Lowe, who has until Nov. 17 to say yes or no. It's only good for a year, so we expect a nay, but it does get the Bucs a compensatory draft pick if he leaves. In more Lowe-down news, Brandon was selected as a Silver Slugger finalist; winners will be announced Nov. 17.
• The Pirates claimed OF Akil Baddoo from the Brewers; the 28-year-old lefty batter hit .252 for AAA Nashville last year after spending 2021-25 with the Tigers (.228 BA/88 OPS+).
• The Mariners claimed RHP Isaac Mattson off waivers. He had a 5.35 ERA in 38 2026 outings after a pretty solid campaign (3-3/2.45) in '25.

Wyatt Sanford - AFL All-Star 2026 MLB Pipeline

• MLB Pipeline picked their Top 40 Prospects by their long-term value. Number one was SS Konnor Griffin, with RHP Bubba Chandler at #14 and OF Esmerlyn Valdez checking in at #33.
• Slated to play at PNC Park on Aug. 6 and 7, the Savannah Bananas scheduled a third game v the Indianapolis Clowns for Sunday, Aug. 8. A lottery for tickets has already closed, but you can sign up to get on a waiting list if you're into Banana-rama.
• The Arizona Fall Stars Game played Sunday had one Pirates rep, IF Wyatt Sanford. He's batting .283 w/two HR for Glendale. Sanford got into the Arizona Fall Ball All-Star Game in the seventh inning; he went 0-for-2 with a flyout and K. The NL Prospects beat back the AL pups by a 6-4 final tally.

MLB Stuff:

• RHP Kyle Nicolas was DFA'ed by the Nats. In three years with the Bucs (2023-25) his line was 3-4/4.68, averaging nine K per nine innings but also issuing five walks in the same frame.
• Tampa Bay added OF Jack Suwinski to its 40-man roster. He hit .199 w/57 HR for the Bucs from 2022-25.

Jack Suwinski - 2025 Topps

• RHP Cody Ponce, who worked for the Bucs from 2020-21 before going to Japan, was flipped from Toronto's IR to its 40-man.
• The NYY tendered a qualifying offer to the Renegade, Dave Bednar.
• Lefty Josh Fleming, who worked 25 outings for Pittsburgh in 2024 (1-1-1/4.02), signed a minor league deal with the Cards.

CBA Stuff:

• MLB pushed back its salary cap ask until the 2028 season, saying it's messing with free agency too much to implement for '27. The league is proposing a $180.2M floor and $258.2M cap. The MLBPA released a statement saying they weren't impressed.

11/9: Bo Gold Tour, Willie #2, Sport v Biz, Sacman Signs, Moose Dealt, Ozzie PC, Viva l'Italia, HBD Andrew, Scott, Red, Jerry, Fred, Johnny, Nick, Blue Goose & Cyclone

1868 - RHP “Cyclone” Bill Phillips was born in Allenport in Washington County, between Charleroi and Brownsville. Phillips broke into the big leagues in 1890 at age 21, throwing 10 games for the Alleghenys with an 0-1/7.57 line (he was first a member of the Washington Nationals, but never got into a game and joined Pittsburgh when the DC club folded). He pitched for seven seasons in the majors, the last six with the Reds, and managed for a couple more. Bill died at age 72 in Charleroi and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Fayette City. He picked up his “Cyclone” moniker while with the Nats; it was a popular honorific for young fireballers. He was also known as “Whoa Bill” which was said to be the result of Phillips’, who was a miner before he became a ballplayer, futile attempt to tame a bronco. Many sites list him as “Silver Bill,” but we think that’s a crossed wire as that was the nickname of 1B Bill Phillips who played a decade earlier, although it’s possibly a hand-me-down legacy to our Bill. Phillips not-so-fun factoid: the righty was the first pitcher to allow two grand slams in the same inning during an 18-5 loss to the Chicago Colts while tossing for the Alleghenys.

1885 - LHP Gene “Blue Goose” Moore was born in Lancaster, Texas. He tossed for parts of three MLB seasons with his first two years as a Pirate (1909-10; he didn’t make the World Series roster), posting a line of 2-1/4.66 in five outings. We can’t vouch 100% for his nickname, but he spent his entire 11-year minor league career in the Texas League, and while playing for Galveston (he spent five campaigns there) was known to frequent a tavern near the ballyard called The Blue Goose. His son, Gene Jr, had more success as a ballplayer and was an All-Star OF’er who played for six big league teams from 1931-45.

1886 - RHP Nick Maddox was born in Govanstown, Maryland (he has a couple of birthdays floating around, not uncommon for the old timers, and the 9th appears to be the consensus). Nick’s birth surname was Duffy, but as a youngster, he was raised by the Maddox family and went by that name during his career. He tossed for four years (1907-10) for Pittsburgh, his entire MLB career, with a 43-20/2.29 line. He threw a no-hitter as a rookie, won 23 games in 1908, and in 1909 claimed a World Series victory while earning the first Pirates victory at their brand-new Oakland playground, Forbes Field. Maddox won his first four starts, something no other Bucco would match until Gerrit Cole did the deed in 2013. After his career ended due to arm problems, Nick kept his home in the city, raising nine kids in Millvale while holding down a job as a maintenance man at the Fort Pitt Brewery. He passed away in 1954 from tuberculosis.

1897 - C Johnny Gooch was born in Smyrna, Tennessee. He caught eight years (1921-28) for the Pirates, hitting .286 in a part-time role and was a member of the 1925 and 1927 World Series clubs. Per Greg Tucker of the Rutherford County (TN) Historical Society, the fans liked Johnny in part because he had a “fun name.” When Johnny was introduced at the ballpark, the announcer would bellow “Johnny Gooooooch” and the fans would echo the “ooooo.” A lifelong friend of Pie Traynor, his minor league teammate, Gooch was a Pirate pitching coach and scout from 1937-42. Afterward, Johnny opened a factory making baseball bats in 1943 and was the exclusive supplier to the major leagues until 1947.

Johnny Gooch - 1939/Conlon series 1991

1906 - OF Fred Brickell was born in Saffordville, Kansas. Brickell played for Pittsburgh from 1926-30, hitting .312 as a reserve outfielder. Fred’s minor & major league career went from 1925-36 with Brickell elected into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951. His son Fritz also played in the major leagues for the Dodgers and Angels from 1958 to 1961.

1909 - CF Jerry Benjamin was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He played in the Negro Leagues from 1931-48, spending the majority of his days with the Homestead Grays (1935-47) where he hit .300+ three times, played on eight pennant winning squads, four Negro League World Series clubs (the Grays won two titles) and was named an All Star three times. 

1916 - Manager Jimmy “Nixey” Callahan made the trip from Chicago to Pittsburgh to meet with owner Barney Dreyfuss and brainstorm over the coming campaign. Callahan was upbeat and told Pittsburgh Press beatman Ralph Davis that the team was set in the outfield and mound, with his middle infield the only soft spot with Hans Wagner moving to first base (although the only off-season move to improve it was to claim Greenfield Jimmy Smith off waivers), and to “emphatically” deny rumors that he was leaving to skipper another squad. Jimmy wasn’t a very good prognosticator - the Pirates started off 20-40 and he was fired. Hans Wagner briefly took the reins, followed by Hugo Bezdek, but it didn’t stop the bleeding. The Bucs finished 51-103 in 1917, in eighth (and last) place, 47 games behind the champion New York Giants. Nixey should have jumped if he had winter job offers; his seven-year managerial career (he spent five earlier seasons with the White Sox and started his Pittsburgh gig in 1916) ended when he was axed.

1931 - RHP George “Red” Witt was born in Long Beach, California. Red tossed for the Bucs from 1957-61, going 10-13/3.93 as a starter/long man, and worked three games in relief against the Yankees in the 1960 World Series without surrendering a run. Witt went 11-16 with a 4.32 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 66 career games after spending 1962 with Houston and the Los Angeles Angels. He looked like a breakout candidate after a strong 1958 season, but though he soldiered on for another four seasons, arm woes derailed his career.

Red Witt - 1960 Topps

1953 - The Supreme Court confirmed by a 7-2 decision (Toolson v New York Yankees) that baseball is a sport, not a business, and therefore wasn’t subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act in a case brought before it by a minor league player who litigated his demotion from AAA to AA.

1971 - Willie Stargell (.295/48/125) was MVP runner-up to Joe Torre, who led the NL in RBI (137) and batting (.363) while hitting 24 HR. Torre received 318 points to Stargell's 222. It was still a pretty good campaign for the Pirates slugger; Willie won a World Series and the MLB home run title. It started a frustrating three-year run when Pops finished second, third and second again in the MVP vote. He finally finished on top in 1979 - and just as a co-winner (W/Keith Hernandez) then!

1971 - LHP Scott Sauerbeck was born in Cincinnati. The lefty spent the first five years (1999-2003) of his MLB career with Pittsburgh after being selected as a Rule 5 pick from the Mets. He went 19-15-5/3.56 in his Pirates time. The southpaw retired in 2008 after seven big league campaigns.

1978 - Don Osborn was appointed to his fourth stint as Bucco pitching coach by Chuck Tanner. He replaced Larry Sherry, who had replaced him in 1977. But Don didn’t last long; Osborn was 70, and poor health forced him to resign a few weeks later (Harvey Haddix took over). He died in Torrance, California, during spring training in March 1979. He was first named pitching coach of the Pirates in 1963, and served in that role in 1963–64, 1970–72, and 1974–76 while also spending 15 years managing in the minors with a couple of more seasons as a scout. During most of that time, he worked under Danny Murtaugh, and Don earned a World Series ring in 1971.

1988 - 1B Randy Milligan was traded to the Orioles for a PTBNL (RHP Pete Blohm, who never got past AAA) as first base was getting a little jammed - Sid Bream held the fort in 1988, and the Pirates were considering moving Bobby Bonilla there after he added 20 pounds and committed 32 errors at third during the past season. But the anticipated shuffle ended up the same ol’ - Bream came back but had surgery on his knee, leaving first to Gary Redus, platooning with Benny Distefano and Jeff King while Bobby Bo started 156 games at the hot corner. 

Moose Milligan - 1989 Upper Deck

1991 - Bobby Bo turned down the Pirates four-year/$18.5M contract offer with a fifth, $5M option season added in, and began what the local media dubbed the “Bobby Bonilla Solid Gold Tour ‘91.” The following week, he started visiting other clubs, beginning with Philadelphia and New York, with later stops on the gravy train scheduled for St. Louis, the White Sox and Angels. He could have saved the plane fare - the second team he talked to, the Mets, inked him to a guaranteed package for five years/$29M in early December, bringing the Bronx-raised Bonilla back home as the highest paid player in pro sports at the time.

1991 - C Andrew Knapp was born in Roseville, California. He spent five years as the Phillies reserve backstop before signing with the Reds after the 2021 campaign. They released him late in camp and the Pirates, thin in catching after the Jake Stallings deal, picked him up. “Knapp Time” had a .218 career BA and a 19% throw-out rate from behind the dish, yet was penciled in as Roberto Perez's backup. In May, he was waived to Seattle. Knapp moved around several times since then, playing for four other organizations before retiring early in 2025.

1994 - After two years with the Cubs, veteran LHP Dan Plesac, 32, inked a two-year deal with the Pirates. The deal earned him $2.2M over its span as he tossed 131 games for the Bucs in 1995-96, with a 10-9-14/3.86 slash. He was part of a big, nine-player, 1996 postseason deal with Toronto that landed Craig Wilson and Abraham Nunez for the Pirates. Dan went on to pitch in 18 big league seasons and is now a color man for the White Sox and occasional host on the MLB Network.

2007 - The Italian nine defeated Team USA, 6-2, in the 2007 Baseball World Cup. Italy had not beaten the US for 21 years and had never before won against an American team with pro players. Pirate farmhands were complicit in the defeat - SS Brian Bixler committed a pair of errors (plus he was picked off) while Andy LaRoche mishandled a pick-off try while playing first, the pair combining to allow five unearned runs to the Italian club. Still, it was just a bump in the road as it was the USA’s only loss on their road to the crown. US mates RHP Jeff Karstens, 1B Steve Pearce and 2B Delwyn Young would also later suit up for the Pirates.

11/8: Jay Bay BBWAA ROTY, Starling Wins 2nd Gold Glove, JHK Signed, RIP Claude, HBD Mike, Nick, Rex, Wally & Bill

1870 - RHP Bill Hoffer was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Bill started out on fire, winning 78 games for the Orioles from 1895-97 before the bottom fell out. He worked for Pittsburgh from 1889-90, going 11-10/3.33, but was near the end of his career, pitching MLB ball again in 1901 as his swan song. He also played some outfield, but put up a measly .186 BA. Bill retired back to Iowa and became an engineer/conductor on the interurban railway between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City and was later named to the Des Moines Register Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.

1920 - OF Wally Westlake was born in Gridley, California. He played 4-1/2 seasons for the Pirates (1947-51) and hit .281 with 97 HR in that span as an everyday player. Wally was an All-Star in 1951, the season he split between the Pirates and Cardinals, and played through the 1956 season. Wally retired and returned to the coast as a labor foreman and avid outdoorsman.

1937 - PH Rex Johnston was born in Colton, California. Rex was signed for $40K but only played briefly for the Bucs, going hitless in seven at-bats in 1964. In 1960, the former two-sport Southern Cal star played as a kick returner for the Steelers (he was behind John Henry Johnson & Tom “The Bomb” Tracy in the backfield) during the minor league off-season and thus became the only athlete to date who suited up for both the Bucs and the Steelers. Rex retired after the 1966 season and went back home to California to run the family painting business. 

Rex Johnston - image via Steelers.com

1951 - Claude “Little All Right” Ritchey passed away; the hard-drinking player fell victim to cirrhosis of the liver at age 78. Ritchey manned the middle of the Pittsburgh infield for seven seasons (1900-06) at the turn of the century, a solid defender who hit .277 in 977 games. He was part of the big trade that sent most of the Louisville Colonels roster to the Pirates before being sent to Boston as part of the Ed Abbaticchio deal. He spent his retirement (1912 was his last comeback effort) in his hometown of Emlenton (Venango county), where he worked a variety of jobs, mainly in the oil industry. His nickname, per teammate and oftentimes roomie Hans Wagner, came about because "Claude was never a great hitter except in a pinch. But then is when you could bet on him. That is why the fans gave him the name of Little All Right.” 

1991 - RHP Nick Kingham was born in Houston, Texas. Kingham was drafted by the Pirates in the fourth round of the 2010 draft out of high school and was put on the 40-man in 2014. The next year, he was about to get the call when his arm gave out and he had TJ surgery. Pittsburgh petitioned the league for an extra option year and got it. Good thing, too - he made his MLB debut in 2018 and took a perfect game through 6-2/3 innings to earn his first win as a Bucco. The rest of the campaign didn’t go as smoothly, and he continued to have problems in 2019 (9.87 ERA), was sold to Toronto and released by the Jays in late August. He went to Korea in 2020 and didn’t have much luck there, either, as he was released in early July by the SK Wyverns. He picked up his game after that and has since tossed for the Hanwha Eagles. The Eagles released Nick after he was derailed by an arm injury, and after comeback tours in Mexico & China, he retired in 2023.

1999 - RHP Mike Burrows was born in Waterford, Connecticut. The Bucs drafted him in the 11th round of the 2018 draft as a prepster. By 2022, he was at Indy despite losing the 2020 Covid-cut season, spent time in the Arizona Fall league and was a member of the Futures squad. Then he had TJ surgery, losing 2023. Mike returned in 2024, pitched in Florida and was recalled back to Indy. From there, the Bucs brought him up for a brief September audition in the last series of the year against New York, and he made his MLB debut at Yankee Stadium v the Bronx Bombers. He worked three innings plus of a bullpen game to earn his first MLB victory in his only '24 appearance. Mike started ‘25 at Indy but was recalled to the big team in May and given a rotation role. His line was 2-4/3.94 in 23 outings/96 IP with 19 starts, averaging a strikeout per inning. In December, he was part of a deal that landed the Bucs Bradon Lowe, Mike Montgomery and Jake Mangum. His ‘26 line was 4-9/5.99 and Houston sent him to AAA.

Mike Burrows - 2025 image Sportsnet.Pgh

2004 - Jason Bay, who hit .282 with 26 HRs and 82 RBI, became the first Pirate (and Canadian) player to win the Baseball Writer’s NL Rookie of the Year Award (Johnny Ray won The Sporting News ROY award in 1982) after earlier claiming the Players Choice (MLBPA) and TSN RoY honors. Although he didn't begin his year until May while recovering from shoulder surgery, Jay led all NL rookies with a .550 slugging percentage, 54 extra base hits and 226 total bases. Bay had earlier taken home ROTY honors from TSN and the Players Association. He had a pretty good week; he married his college sweetie Kristen two days before winning the award. Bobby Crosby won the American League honors; he would become a Bucco in 2010 before being dealt at the deadline. 

2016 - Starling Marte became the ninth Pirate to win multiple Golden Gloves as he was selected for his second straight Rawlings GG award. He was the first Bucco since Andy Van Slyke (1988-92) and Barry Bonds (1990-92) to win consecutive Gold Gloves. Starling threw out 17 runners - 16 without the help of a relay man - topping his previous gun-out best of 16 assists. 

2018 - The Pirates signed 3B Jung Ho Kang to a one-year/$3M contract w/$2.5M available in bonuses. It was a restructuring of his option year, which was for $5.5M. The Bucs non-tendered JHK, who had just returned to the US for the 2018 campaign after sitting out due to DUI issues that kept him from leaving Korea, but he missed most of his rehab campaign with a wrist injury and ended up with just six Pittsburgh at bats in September. The Pirates were banking on him returning to form, teaming with Colin Moran as a third base platoon and adding some pop to the lineup in 2019. It didn’t happen; JHK hit just .169 and was released in August.

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.