10/18: Cash-Brett, DC Cashin' In, Dominican Tour, Groat Day, Elbows Blowin' Up, RIP Anne, HBD Osvaldo, Garrett, Andy, Joggin' George, Phil, Frenchy, Hans & Cliff

1859 - OF Cliff Carroll was born in Clay Grove, Iowa. Cliff closed out the first half of his career in 1888 with Pittsburgh, playing in five games and going 0-for-20. He was playing through some health issues and missed a season after a brief retirement to his farm. He played for four more campaigns, three quite solidly, before retiring with 11 years in the show. Cliff also influenced the design of baseball jerseys. In his day, the shirts had a pocket, and he had a ball that took a bad hop and got stuck in his. It caused him a bit of embarrassment on the field and his owner fined him over the misplay, leading to some bitterness between the club and Carroll. The quirky incident led his squad, the St. Louis Browns, to eliminate the pocket from their uniforms and the rest of the league followed suit. It wasn’t his only moment - earlier in his career, Carroll had been shot at by a fan he had squirted with a hose during pregame warmups (apparently a case of heckling repaid with horseplay). The retaliatory bullet missed him and grazed SS Joe Mulvey, who was fortunately just scratched by the slug. 

1881 - IF John “Hans” Lobert was born in Wilmington, Delaware. His family moved to Pittsburgh (Lobert went to Carnegie Tech) and he played for the semi-pro Pittsburgh Athletic Association nine, but went unnoticed until the PAA was playing in Atlantic City at the same time Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss was vacationing there. He signed Lobert for a September 1903 audition when the team was running away with the pennant. He played everywhere, but the biggest impression he made was on Honus Wagner, who dubbed Lobert “Hans Number Two” with the pair remaining tight friends throughout their lives. Lobert went to the minors for a year of seasoning, then spent the next 13 campaigns in the show with four different clubs, hitting .274 with 361 stolen bases. He was especially noted for his fleet feet; he once defeated Jim Thorpe in a 100-yard dash. Hans #2 retired at the age of 35 in 1917, led West Point baseball for eight years, coached & managed the Phils for a season and then scouted until he passed away at 86.

1886 - RHP George “Frenchy” LeClaire was born in Milton, Vermont. He spent his career largely with the Pittsburgh Rebels of the outlaw Federal League from 1914-15, posting a line of 6-4/3.81 in 36 games, 10 as a starter. After starting 1915 with the Rebels, he finished the campaign pitching for Buffalo and Baltimore. When the league folded, Frenchy’s major league career came to an end. He died young at the age of 31, a victim of the 1918 flu pandemic.

1894 - RHP Phil Morrison was born in Rockport, Indiana. His MLB career consisted of one appearance lasting two-thirds of an inning (it was scoreless) for the Pirates in 1921, but with that outing he became one of the early Pirate family acts, joining his brother, pitcher “Jughandle Johnny” Morrison, on that season’s stat sheet. Phil was considered a top prospect with a good curve like his brother, but the Buc staff was loaded and he was an odd man out though he posted some strong minor league numbers. Suffering from rheumatism for several years, he retired after a comeback of sorts in 1926 and with his wife and family lived in Kentucky while tossing semi-pro ball. 

Sports Headline - Pgh Commercial Gazette 10/19/1900

1900 - The Brooklyn Superbas won the best-of-five Chronicle-Telegraph Cup three games to one with a 4-1 victory at Exposition Park as Iron Joe McGinnity bested Sam Leever. The series was a challenge match sponsored by the Pittsburgh Chronicle-Telegraph (bought by the Pittsburgh Press in 1924) between the top two National League teams in an era before post-season games. It was a fruitful learning experience for the runner-up Pirates, which went on to win the next three Senior Circuit pennants and played in the first World Series in 1903. The Brooklyn club couldn’t build off its ‘00 success - they didn't win another playoff set until 1955, when they claimed the World Series title as the Dodgers.

1946 - The Pirates bought 40-year-old righty reliever/spot starter Art Herring from the Brooklyn Dodgers for an undisclosed cash amount. Manager Billy Herman, who had played alongside him, thought the vet would help solidify the bullpen after slashing 17-10-8/3.43 from 1944-46. Alas, age and the return to action of WW2’s soldier ballplayers limited him to 10-1/3 innings of work and an 8.44 ERA, earning Art a June release that ended his big league career.

1949 - OF George Hendrick was born in Los Angeles. The Pirates got him as part of the John Tudor deal with the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1984 off season, but Hendrick hit just .230 with two homers in ‘85 and was sent to the California Angels at the deadline. He was nicknamed "Silent George" because he rarely spoke to the media and “Jogging George” for his sometimes  leisurely outfield play. After his 18-year, six teams career ended, he landed coaching gigs with the Saint Louis Cards, LA Dodgers, AnaheimAngels and Tampa Bay Rays, where he worked as a coach/advisor to the GM before retiring in 2015.

1951 - LHP Andy Hassler was born in Texas City, Texas. The veteran Hassler signed a six-year/$750K contract with the Bucs in 1979. Andy lasted for six outings and a 3.86 ERA before he was sold to California in June, where he strung together three solid campaigns with the Haloes. He mostly struggled his last final seasons with the Angels and Cards, retiring after his agreement expired after the 1985 campaign to end a 14-year career and he became a rancher in Arizona.

Andy Hassler - 1980 Topps Update

1960 - Cause and effect: a little blowback from Maz’s home run took place when New York let go of manager Casey Stengel, supposedly because he had passed the newly mandated Yankee mandatory retirement age of 65. He was replaced by Ralph Houk. The Ol’ Perfesser, who amassed a 1149-696 (.623) record while capturing 10 AL pennants and seven World Series Championships in his 12 years at the Big Apple helm, said "Resigned, fired, quit, discharged, use whatever you damn please. I'll never make the mistake of being seventy again." His Fall Classic counterpart, Danny Murtaugh (The Whistling Irishman was just 42 years old), still had 11 seasons to go as bossman (with a couple of service breaks) and another World Series title yet to be added to his Pirates resume.

1967 - The Pirates began a five-game goodwill tour of the Dominican Republic against a team of barnstorming major leaguers, with youth baseball clinics scheduled between the matches. And it was purely a goodwill tour - the players received daily expenses but no salary, and all the game proceeds went to the Dominican Development Foundation, which were matched by the Pan-American Foundation, to help fund building projects like schools in the DR.

1973 - The Pirates shipped 2B Dave Cash to Philadelphia in exchange for LHP Ken Brett. Cash was being phased out for Rennie Stennett, but still had seven years and three All-Star games left in him. Brett went 22-14/3.32 for Pittsburgh in two seasons and made an All-Star team before an elbow injury slowed him down, and like Cash, Ken still had a long shelf life. He pitched for seven more seasons after leaving the Pirates, although he wasn’t really effective again after 1976.

1979 - Chuck Tanner returned to hometown New Castle 12 hours after the Pirates had won the World Series in Baltimore to bury his mom. She had passed away before Game 5 with the Pirates down three games to one, and Chuck told his players in the hushed locker room before the contest that "My mother is a great Pirates fan. She knows we're in trouble, so she went upstairs to get some help." Tanner was close to his mom, but he insisted on managing through the series because he knew she would have wanted him to see it through. 

Post Gazette/AP article 10-19-1979

1979 - Congressman Doug Walgren ate high off the hog thanks to the Pirates World Series win. Maryland congresswoman Barbara Mikulski paid off her losing Baltimore bet with crabs, sausage and pastries while Ohio rep Tom Luken brought in some Cincinnati chili dogs after being dunned for the Reds NLCS defeat. Walgren sported a Pirates cap all day, and his phone’s background music played “We Are Fam-A-Lee.” Senator Richard Schweiker also got in on the gambling action and his winning bet was rewarded with a regional delicacy, Maryland beaten biscuits, by Terp lawmaker Charles Mathias.

1983 - LHP Garrett Olson was born in Fresno, California. He tossed for Pittsburgh in 2011 after being claimed from Seattle and in 4-1/3 IP allowed just a run. It wasn’t enough to help his cause; he was sent down to Indy, where they stretched him back into a starter (he was in the rotation for Baltimore, his original club before being sent to the pen by the Mariners). Garrett got one more MLB appearance with the Mets in 2012, spent the following year in Korea and hung ‘em up at 29. He’s now a mechanical engineer, his major at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. 

1995 - RHP Osvaldo Bido was born in Los Hidalgos, Dominican Republic. He was signed in 2017 and was a solid starter in the lower levels, but took his lumps in Altoona and Indy. Bido pitched for the 2021 Dominican national team in the Olympic qualifiers, but didn’t go to the games, instead returning to the minors. He was called up in 2023 when injuries thinned the Pirates staff. Osvaldo was a starter/bulk innings arm, posting a 2-5/5.86 line (w/a 4.10 FIP) in 16 outings. He went to Oakland as a free agent in ‘24, starting out in AAA before getting a June callup and breaking into the rotation before an injury laid him up in September. He’s pitched for the A’s and White Sox since and finished ‘26 in Japan.

Osvaldo Bido - Topps 2024

2001 - Bad news for Bucco pitchers continued to pile up as RHP Bobby Bradley, the Pirates #1 pick (8th overall) in the 1999 draft, had surgery for a torn elbow ligament. He joined big league hurlers Kris Benson, Ryan Vogelsong and Francisco Cordova on the DL as guys who needed reconstructive elbow surgeries. Bradley missed the 2002 season and never tossed in the majors while Benson returned in May, and though he lasted six more big league seasons, he never posted an ERA under 4.00. Vogelsong sat out 2002, then pitched four more years with Pittsburgh, posting a 5.87 ERA before going to Japan and later, the Giants. Francisco never appeared in the major leagues again.

2009 - IF coach Perry Hill and the Pirates couldn’t reach a contract deal, and the respected infield tutor left, reappearing in 2011 with Miami and then coaching Seattle’s basemen through 2026. On the same day, longtime Pirates minor league pitching coach Ray Searage was promoted to assistant pitching coach of the big team, working in tandem with main man Joe Kerrigan. He was named to Kerrigan’s position in 2010 when Clint Hurdle replaced John Russell. Searage lasted through 2019, when he was given the heave-ho along with skipper Hurdle and replaced by Derek Shelton’s choice, Oscar Marin from the Texas Rangers staff; Searage then moved on to Seattle.

2019 - The Westmoreland County Commissioners declared it “Dick Groat Day.” They celebrated at Totteridge Golf Club in Hempfield, following the round with the proclamation presentation and then a feed of the Pitt-Syracuse football game to incorporate two of the 88-year-old’s favorites, Pitt (w/Pitt-Greensburg as a prominent sponsor of the event) and golf.

10/17: Starg, Blass & Bucs Top O's In '71 & '79, Cup Win, Pud Party, Jim, Cam & Waners Sign, Banny Goes, RIP Skeeter, HBD Scoops, Chris, Mark, Ravelo, Pete, Mike, Red, Bert, Pop & Kid

1870 - LHP George “Kid” Nicol was born in Barry, Illinois. George was called up from the semi-pro ranks to pitch for St Louis (he was 19 years old at the time, hence “Kid”) of the American Association, and he began his career with a no-hitter (seven innings, nine walks) in his first outing and a one-hitter over five frames in the next. With the demise of the Player’s League that season, there were more players than roster spots around baseball so the Kid went to the minors despite his hot start. He got a couple of more shots in the majors, with Pittsburgh giving him the ball eight times (five starts) in 1894, but Nicol didn’t impress, going 3-4/6.50 and giving up 57 hits and 33 walks in 44-1/3 IP. Control issues bit him, as he issued eight free passes every nine innings. To boot, it was suspected that his performance with the Pirates was the opening round of arm problems; the Kid returned to the minors and converted to the outfield. He played on farm clubs until 1906, retiring to the life of a hubby, father and machinist in Milwaukee.

1873 - 1B Frank “Pop” Dillon was born in Normal (now North Bloomington), Illinois. Pop spent the first two campaigns of his five-year MLB career in Pittsburgh (1899-1900) and he hit .237 as a bench guy. He lost out the following year after the franchise was reinforced when Barney Dreyfuss’ bought in the Louisville roster, but found a new home on the coast.  He became a player and manager for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League from 1902-15, taking the LAA to PCL pennants four times. It was also there that he earned his nickname; after his decade plus of service with the Angels, his hair had gone gray and so he became “Pop.” He went on to work for the Association of Professional Ball Players of America (a charity that assisted pro ball players, including minor leaguers) after the Angels gig and was inducted into the PCL Hall of Fame.

1886 - RHP James ”Bert” (his middle name was Albert) Maxwell was born in Texarkana, Texas. Bert worked 21 games over four MLB seasons, with his debut being one start for the Pirates in 1906. He gave up six runs (five earned) in eight innings. He spent seven years tossing baseballs, mostly in the Sally League, and went on to manage in the minors afterward.

1892 - After 35-year-old Pud Galvin retired following the ‘92 season, which was split between Pittsburgh and St. Louis after the Cards had traded for him in June, he returned home, and the Pittsburgh club and some local pro players got together for a benefit exhibition at Exposition Park to raise a few bucks for Galvin. Some of the Pirates and a squad called the “Picked Nine” of Pittsburgh-area players met, with the NL club taking a 7-6 decision in a mound battle between “Papa” (the newspaper’s nickname) Galvin and Ed “Cannonball” Morris, who had retired a couple of years earlier. The game drew about 1,200 fans who came to say goodbye to the popular Galvin and raised an estimated $3,000 as a going-away gift, a pretty hefty sum for back in the day. 

Pud Galvin - 2012 Upper Deck Goodwin Champion

1892 - C Frank “Red” Madden was born in Pittsburgh. He got a sip of the bigs by getting into two games for the 1914 Pittsburgh Rebels of the Federal League, going one-for-two. Not much info on Mr. Madden; he was apparently brought in for depth from the Class D Ohio State League, where he played minor league ball, but there’s no baseball trail after his stint with the Rebels. Red passed away in the ‘Burgh in 1952 and was buried in Hazelwood’s Calvary Cemetery.

1900 - Pittsburgh avoided being swept in the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup series by nickel-and-diming Brooklyn Superba hurler Harry Howell for 13 singles and a 10-0 victory. Tommy Leach reached base five times and scored four runs. Ginger Beaumont had three hits, and Claude Ritchey, Honus Wagner and Bones Ely added a pair. Deacon Phillippe threw a six-hit shutout for the win at Exposition Park, although the Pirates still trailed the best-of-five series two games to one.

1915 - C Mike Sandlock was born in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. He played for parts of five years in the majors, with his last campaign as a Bucco in 1953, getting into 64 games with a .231 BA as a 37-year-old. He had a six-year hiatus between MLB gigs; the Pirates brought him up with knuckleballer Johnny Lindell from the PCL Hollywood Stars as Sandlock was used to catching the floater. Nevertheless, Mike allowed 15 passed balls and Lindell tossed 11 wild pitches, both league-leading numbers. Even more embarrassing, Johnny outhit Sandlock with a .286 BA. Mike ended his career in the Phils system after 16 pro years.

1929 - Pirate catcher and GM Harding “Pete” Peterson was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He appeared in 65 games over four seasons (1955; 1957–59) for Pittsburgh and batted .273 in limited service, due to a two-year stint in Korea. His playing career was effectively ended as the result of a broken arm suffered in a home plate collision at Wrigley Field in early 1959. Pete coached and headed the scouting department for the Bucs afterward, and took Joe L. Brown’s spot as GM in 1976. He fielded strong teams in the late seventies with a championship club in 1979. Peterson lasted until 1985 before he was done in by some poor veteran acquisitions, the cocaine trials and ownership churn. He then worked for the New York Yankees front office and served as the club's general manager in 1990. Pete was let go after that gig and spent the rest of his career as a consultant/major league scout for the Padres and Blue Jays before retiring in 1995.

Pete Peterson - 5-24-1985 Press article

1929 - After being pre-season holdouts the year before, the Waner brothers were among the first to submit signed contracts for the 1930 season per team Treasurer Sam Dreyfuss. Neither salary agreement was released, but Paul (who was rumored to be on the trade market) probably inked a deal in the ballpark of $13K while lil’ bro’ Lloyd likely settled for a grand less.

1963 - LHP Ravelo Manzanillo was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Ravello tossed for three years in the show, spending two campaigns with Pittsburgh (4-2-1/4.19 in 51 outings between 1994-95). He also tossed pro ball from 1981–2005, with stints in the minors, Korea, Taiwan, Mexico and indie baseball while also playing winter ball in the Venezuelan and Dominican Leagues. His younger brother, Josias, pitched for Pittsburgh, too, from 2000-02.

1964 - OF Carson “Skeeter” Bigbee passed away in Portland, Oregon, dying in his sleep at the age of 69. He spent his 11-year MLB career entirely with the Bucs (1916-26), hitting .287 lifetime, with a personal best .350 BA in 1922 to finish fourth in the NL (Rogers Hornsby hit .401). He even got to play a year (1921) with his brother Lyle. Skeeter left the team after the “ABC” affair (he was the “B”) when he, Babe Adams and Max Carey staged a short-lived protest over management overkill. After a couple of seasons in the PCL, he worked as a salesman, farmer and shipyard worker, while squeezing in a couple of campaigns managing in the All-American Girls Pro League.

1967 - 1B Mark Johnson was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Mark was a good glove, power-hitting guy who made his MLB debut at the advanced age of 27. His .239 BA in three years (1995-97) with the Pirates didn’t cut it as he lost his job to Kevin Young. Johnson was an effective pinch hitter and closed out his career with the New York Mets, playing until 2002. He did pretty well after baseball, using his Dartmouth degree to become a Wall Street trader.

1969 - C Chris Tremie was born in Houston. Chris got four wham-bams in the majors; his stop in Pittsburgh was in 1999 when he got into nine games and went 1-for-14 in a year that the Pirates rostered six different catchers (Tremie, Jason Kendall, Keith Osik, Joe Oliver, Tim Laker and Yamid Haad). Baseball has been Chris’ career - he spent 14 seasons in the minors and was a manager in the Indians system before becoming the Reds Minor League Field Coordinator. He put together a pretty shiny resume for a kid who was drafted by the White Sox in the 39th round (#1,100 overall) in 1992.

Roberto Clemente - 1972 Fleer

1971 - Steve Blass hurled a four-hitter and Roberto Clemente homered as the Pirates won Game Seven of the World Series 2-1 at Baltimore, earning Pittsburgh its fourth World Championship. The winning run scored in the eighth inning, when Jose Pagan doubled home Willie Stargell. Clemente hit safely in all seven games of the series, a feat he also accomplished in 1960 against the Yankees, extending his consecutive Fall Classic hitting streak to 14 contests. He also became the first Latino player to earn World Series MVP honors after batting .414. It wasn’t the day’s only big event: Bruce Kison and his best man Bob Moose were taken from Memorial Stadium by helicopter to a waiting Lear Jet to get to his wedding at Pittsburgh’s Churchill Valley CC (even so, the groom arrived 33 minutes late). And though it was a bright moment for the club, it wasn’t for some rowdy partiers. After the game, 40‚000 people ran wild in downtown Pittsburgh; many were arrested and at least 100 were hurt in one of the City’s not-so-shining moments.
 
1979  - In Game Seven at Baltimore, President Jimmy Carter opened the game with a ceremonial pitch (his only opening pitch while prez) and Willie Stargell finished it by going 3-for-4 with his third World Series homer, lifting the Pirates to a 4-1 win and their fifth World Championship. Captain Willie gave the Bucs a 2-1 lead in the sixth with his two-run blast. Kent Tekulve worked out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth and Pittsburgh tacked on a pair of ninth inning insurance runs to take a 4-1 victory, with Grant Jackson earning the win. Pops was named Series MVP after the Pirates erased a three-games-to-one deficit to rally past the Orioles to become the first player ever to win the regular-season, LCS and World Series MVP awards in the same year. 60,000 fans greeted the team at the airport when they arrived home at 3AM, with thousands more lining the parkway. Baltimore, which planned a victory parade two games prior, still held one the next day and drew 125,000 for their beloved but bedraggled Birds. The game attracted an estimated 80 million people, then the largest TV audience in the history of the World Series, to tune in.

1991 - In Game Seven of the NLCS, the Bravos jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning off John Smiley, keyed by Brian Hunter's two-run shot, and it was all John Smoltz needed as he tossed a 4-0, six-hit whitewash against the Bucs at Three Rivers Stadium. Atlanta won their first National League pennant since their move from Milwaukee in 1966 as the Pirates failed to score in the last 22 innings of the series. The Braves lost the World Series to the Minnesota Twins four games to three in one of the most dramatic championships in the MLB annals, with four games going into extra innings. The Fall Classic was a match up of two teams that had finished last in their respective divisions the season before, proving the “wait til next year” theory carried some weight.

Jim Leyland - 1995 Kodak

1995 - The Pirates signed manager Jim Leyland and GM Cam Bonifay to contract extensions. Leyland’s deal was for five years/$5M, running through 2000, while Bonifay’s was a two-year/$600K agreement carrying him through 1998. Leyland bailed out after the 1996 season, unwilling to go through another rebuild, and jumped to the Florida Marlins, with Gene Lamont taking over as the Bucs’ field general. Bonifay won the Executive of the Year Award in 1997 and kept his position until 2001 when team owner Kevin McClatchy let him go. He was replaced in the front office by Dave Littlefield.

1996 - OF Al Martin signed a two-year extension valued at $5.3M per Baseball Reference to carry him through the 1999 season with performance bonuses to sweeten his $2.4M salary in 1997. He hit .260 with 36 HR in those two years before being traded to the San Diego Padres as a part of the John Vander Wal deal. Al played through the 2003 campaign.

2014 - After a 29-year affiliation with the Pirates, starting as a player and spending the last five as the Bucs bench coach, Jeff “Banny” Banister left the organization to become the 18th manager of the Texas Rangers. It was, in a way, a delayed PTBNL deal involving coaches turned skippers; the Pirates took their manager, Clint Hurdle, from Texas in 2011. The Rangers won the AL West title during Banny’s first two seasons but lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS both times. His next two campaigns finished south of .500 and he was let go with a year remaining on his contract, returning to Pittsburgh as a special assistant. The job didn’t last very long; he was released in June, 2020, as part of a FO staff reduction. He’s now the Arizona D-Backs bench coach.

2025 - Pirates ace Paul Skenes and gymnast/podcaster Livvy Dunne made their first USO tour aboard the Mediterranean-based USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS Mahan, roaming the ships and having-meet-and-greet sessions with 1,300 sailors during their two-day visit. Skenes spent two years at the Air Force Academy before transferring to LSU and is a strong supporter of military support groups.

10/16 Through the 1920s: Pirates '09 Champs, Long Toss, HBD Lenny, Ed, Boom Boom, Bill, Leaping Mike, Tomatoes, Fred & George

1856 - 2B/OF George Strief was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Strief played in the majors for five years with a stop with the American Association Alleghenys in 1882; he batted .199 and moved along. George, who walloped five homers during his career, posted his claim to fame when he became the first Pittsburgh major league batter to go deep when he went yard against Will White of the Cincinnati Red Stockings on May 3rd, 1882, during a 7-3 loss at Exposition Park.

1866 - C Fred “The Baseball Tourist” Lake was born in Cornwallis Township, Nova Scotia. Fred spent bits and pieces of time in MLB for five seasons, playing for the Pirates in 1898 and going 1-for-13. He also put in 13 minor-league years with 15 teams, hence his nickname. Lake managed the Boston Beaneaters and Doves, scouted for St. Louis and managed several farm teams and college nines.

1888 - C Jake “Tomatoes” Kafora was born in Chicago. Tomatoes tore up the minors but in a two-year stint with the Pirates, he batted .125 in 22 games and discovered he couldn’t hit the curve. Jake went back to Chicago after spending a couple of years in the minors and became a local star in bowling circles, a sport he excelled at during the offseason doldrums. His nickname dates back to his youth when he would get behind the plate, give a target and exhort his pitchers to “put the ol’ tomato in the big mitt.” Jake passed away in Chicago at age 28.

1894 - OF “Leaping Mike” Menosky was born in Glen Campbell in Indiana County and attended State Normal College (now IUP). He started his career in the Federal League for the Pittsburgh Rebels from 1914-15, hitting .242, and went on to play for the Washington Senators and Boston Red Sox until 1930 with a .280 BA in the American League. Leaping Mike is famous as the guy who replaced Babe Ruth in left field after the Bambino was sold to the New York Yankees. His nickname was bestowed because of his speed and acrobatic catches in the pasture.

Mike Menosky - Jim Dandie Ars Longa Art 

1895 - OF Bill Skiff was born in New Rochelle, New York. Skiff only played two MLB seasons - he hit .289 in 16 games with the Pirates in 1921 and sipped a cup of coffee with the Yankees five years later - but he was a baseball lifer. Skiff served 19 seasons as a player or player/manager on farm teams and another 14 campaigns as a minor league manager, mostly for the New York Yankees organization. Bill passed away on Christmas Day, 1976, at age 81.

1898 - According to Charlton’s Baseball Chronology and vouched for by Reach's Official Base Ball Guide of 1899, Honus Wagner hurled a baseball 403 feet 8 inches in a throwing contest at Louisville's League Park (teams often featured races, batting contests and long-toss exhibitions back in the day) to beat the record of 400' 7-1/2" set by the Brooklyn Mutuals' John Hatfield in 1872. Wagner's distance throw was, in some histories, topped by Larry LeJeune’s toss of 435 feet on October 3rd, 1907, although that measurement is not universally accepted.

1900 - The Bucs committed six errors against the Brooklyn Superbas at Exposition Park during the Chronicle-Telegraph Challenge series and lost, 4-2, as Fred Kitson got the better of Sam Leever. Pittsburgh was held to four hits, with Honus Wagner’s double leading to one run and Jack O’Connor driving in Tom O’Brien for the other tally. The CTC Cup was an unofficial postseason playoff series (the Bucs were runner-up to Brooklyn) and a World Series precursor.

1904 - RHP Walter “Boom-Boom'' Beck was born in Decatur, Illinois. He tossed for 12 years in the show, closing out his career in Pittsburgh in 1945 with a line of 6-1/2.14 in a strong final campaign at the end of the war years. He only won 38 games during his big league career. To the best of our knowledge he’s the only “Boom Boom” to play for the Pirates. His moniker dates back to when he pitched a game for Casey Stengel’s Brooklyn Dodgers against the Phillies at the Baker Bowl, which had a tin outfield fence. Philadelphia had been drilling balls off that wall all afternoon, and the “boom-boom” sound of the ball ricocheting off the tin that day gave Beck a nickname he never shook. According to baseball lore, the barrage wore out OF Hack Wilson and eventually brought on the Ol’ Perfessor to yank Beck, who didn’t approve and instead of handing the ball to the manager, spun around and fired it off the fence. Wilson, daydreaming while the mound switch was going on, was startled and thought another ball had been lined over his head and off the wall, so he chased down the carom and threw the ball to second. 

Ty & Hans - 10/17/1909 Pgh. Press photo

1909 - In a World Series showdown between two of baseball's premier players, Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb, the Pirates downed the hometown Detroit Tigers 8-0 in game seven to become World Champions for the first time. The real star of the Series, though, was rookie pitcher Babe Adams, who notched three victories, including the decisive seventh game six-hit shutout. The Pirates were helped by Tiger wildness; the Bucs banged out just seven hits, but the 10 walks were the killers for Motown (Fred Clarke got zero official at bats; he walked four times and scored twice). Honus Wagner and Dots Miller had a pair of RBI, while Clarke and Tommy Leach scored twice. It was the first World Series to go seven games. The Flying Dutchman, battling injuries in his first World Series in 1903, bounced back this time around. Hans hit .333, with seven RBIs and six stolen bases to outshine Ty Cobb, who hit .231 with six runs driven home and two steals.

1919 - RHP Ed Bahr was born in Rouleau, Saskatchewan. His career lasted from 1946-47, with Bahr going 11–11/3.73 with 69 strikeouts in 46 appearances (25 starts, eight complete games) and 219 innings tossed. But ominously, his ERA went up by two runs per game from his rookie year to his sophomore season and he failed to make the team in 1948. He was traded to Brooklyn in 1949 and never returned to the show, working in the minors through 1950.

1928 - LHP and later scout Lenny Yochim was born in New Orleans. He had a brief career pitching with the Pirates (1951, 1954, 1-2/7.62 ERA), but a long and fairly shiny tenure in the minors, mainly with the New Orleans Pelicans. He even tossed a no-hitter while playing winter ball for Caracas in 1955. After his playing days, Yochim rejoined the Pirates in 1966 as part of their baseball operations department. He held various scouting positions before moving into the front office in 1994, where he worked as a senior adviser for player personnel through 2002, winning the Pride of the Pirates Award in 1996. Lenny left the club after the FO wanted to reduce him to a part-time scout, and passed away in 2013 at the age of 84 after retiring to NOLA, where he became a member of several local HoFs.

1929 - The Bucs finished in second after the season, 10-1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics, but were still awarded $29,106.50 to divvy up as runner-ups, with a full share worth $995.05. The players were pretty generous, giving out various-sized slices of the pie to coaches, trainers, groundskeepers, clubhouse attendants and part-time players.

10/16 From 1950: Bucs & O's Split '71 & '79 WS Matches, Dr. Hardy Deal, Madlock Signs, Cutch ROTY, HBD Edgar, Matt, Josias, Billy & Brian

1952 - Pittsburgh sent IF George Strickland and RHP Ted Wilks to the Cleveland Indians for IF Johnny Berardino, a PTBNL (RHP Charles Sipple) and $50,000. Strickland played eight years for the Tribe, but the light-hitting infielder batted just .233 over that time. Wilks was at the end of his playing days and made 11 Indians appearances before retiring. Berardino was making a return trip to Pittsburgh, but his .143 BA and a bum leg turned him into a full-time actor (a much better career choice, as it ended up) after 56 at bats. Sipple never made it out of the minor leagues.

1959 - C/OF Brian Harper was born in Los Angeles. Brian was a utilityman for the Bucs from 1982-84 before being traded to St. Louis; he didn’t really blossom until the 1988 season with Twins, who played him full time and kept him behind the dish. He started there for five seasons through the age of 33 before he slowed down. Harper retired in 1996 and did some high school coaching before returning to the majors to ride the minor-league coaching carousel for several clubs, later returning to admin work and coaching youth players for Trosky Arizona Baseball.

1961 - RHP Billy Taylor was born in Monticello, Florida. Billy had a seven-year career, mostly with Oakland, that ended with an appearance with the Bucs in 2001 that lasted two innings, giving up a run. Taylor was a late bloomer; he made his MLB debut in 1994 at the age of 32, 14 years after he was drafted, and went on to save 100 games for the A’s through 1999.

1967 - RHP Josias Manzanillo was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. He tossed for 11 years in the MLB, serving 2000-02 with the Bucco staff. His first two campaigns were good as he went 5-4-2/3.39 in 114 appearances, but he lost it in the following campaign with his ERA shooting up to 7.62. He struggled along with the Reds in 2003 and the Fish in 2004, retiring when he didn’t make it out of camp with Boston in 2005. He’s famous for two things: one was when his family jewels were blown up thanks to a liner in the groin, requiring reconstructive surgery. The second was just as ugly as he was named as a player who shot up steroids in the 2007 Mitchell report. Josias and his people denied it, saying he admitted to buying PEDs but was afraid to actually use them. His older brother, Ravelo, also pitched for the Pirates between 1994-95.

Matt Ruebel - 1996 Bowman's Best

1969 - LHP Matt Ruebel was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was drafted by the Pirates in the 3rd round of the 1991 draft out of Oklahoma and pitched parts of three seasons for Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. He made 70 appearances slashing 4-3-1/5.49 for the Bucs in 1996-97 and went to Tampa the following season, his last in MLB. He’s since been a scout for the Bucs, Nats and Yankees. 

1971 - The Baltimore Orioles came back from a 2-0 hole to take a 10-inning 3-2 win from the Bucs at Memorial Stadium and force the World Series to a seventh game. The Pirates left the bases loaded in the 10th; Baltimore didn’t. Brooks Robinson’s short sac fly to center off Bob Miller barely brought in Frank Robinson; Al Oliver had been removed in a double switch just that inning, putting the weaker-armed Vic Davalillo in center. Robinson paid a price; he injured his hamstring and aggravated an old Achilles injury, limiting him severely in the ensuing decisive game. Roberto Clemente had a homer for Pittsburgh and also made a highlight throw in the bottom of the ninth, a one-hop strike home that froze Mark Belanger, who represented the winning run, sitting at third after Don Buford’s two-out double. Bob Moose became the Bucs sixth different Fall Classic starter when he took the hill in the first, as the scheduled pitcher Dock Ellis was scratched with an injury.

1979 - With Baltimore papers filled with anticipatory stories of the Orioles’ World Series victory parade, the Bucs rode the arms of starter and winner John Candelaria and Kent Tekulve, with the save, to a 4-0 win at Memorial Stadium to square the series at three games each. The top of the order (Omar Moreno & Tim Foli) and the bottom (Ed Ott & Phil Garner) combined for nine hits and scored all four runs in a late breakthrough, scoring a pair in the seventh and eighth frames. The Birds got seven singles off the Buc duo, but with no gift runners via walks or errors and two DP balls, the base paths stayed relatively clean as only two Orioles advanced as far as second base.

Candy Man - Game Six 10/17/1979 photo Press/AP

1981 - 3B Bill Madlock signed a six-year/$5.4M contract. The 30-year-old had a .316 lifetime BA and three batting crowns on his resume, winning the third in ‘81 with a .341 mark to outdo Pete Rose. Mad Dog gave the Bucs two strong seasons (he won a batting title and an All-Star berth) before stumbling in 1984-85, hitting in the .250 range before being moved to the Dodgers in August for Sid Bream, RJ Reynolds and Cecil Espy. Bill played through the 1987 campaign with Detroit.

1991 - For the second time in the series, the Bucs were 1-0 losers to the Atlanta Braves to send the NLCS to a seventh game. The Pirates were held to four hits by Steve Avery and Alejandro Pena at TRS. The game’s only tally came with two outs in the ninth when Greg Olsen doubled home Ron Gant to hand Doug Drabek the defeat. The Pirates tried to rally in the bottom half, but left Gary Varsho, who had opened with a single, stranded on third. Pre-game, Barry Bonds was announced as the only Buc to earn a spot on AP’s MLB All-Star team.

1991 - RHP Edgar Santana was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. He was green as a youth and Pirates scout Juan Mercado signed him as a project just before his 22nd birthday. Santana picked up a slider to go with his four seamer in the DSL and took off. He zipped through the system and landed in Pittsburgh in 2017, getting into 19 games and posting a 3.50 ERA with 20 K in 18 IP. He made the roster the following year and became a solid middle inning bridge guy, going 3-4/3.26 in 69 outings. Unfortunately, in late September he encountered arm tightness requiring TJ surgery, and missed the entire 2019 campaign. Ditto for 2020; he was suspended 80 games (of a 60-game season) for using a PED. He was DFA’ed and spent 2021 with Atlanta as his last MLB stop. Santana then tossed in the Latin leagues through 2025.

2009 - Andrew McCutchen was named the Baseball America Rookie of the Year for 2009, and finished fourth in the NL ROY balloting. He joined the team in June, replacing Nate McLouth, and finished his rookie season with a .286 BA, 12 HR, 54 RBI, and 22 stolen bases in 108 games. Cutch singled off the Mets’ Mike Pelfrey in his first MLB at-bat to get his career off to a flying start.

10/15 : Kiki Leads Way In '25, Chronicle Cup, Allies Back, Kent Sent Packing, Waner Wonders, Forbes Field Demo Derby, HBD Juan, Mendy, Carlos, Mitchell, Red, Gail, Bill, Don, George, Mule & Bob

1881 - HD “Denny” McKnight resurrected the Allegheny Baseball Club of Pittsburgh (it had disbanded after the 1877 season) during a meeting at the St. Clair Hotel and joined the newly formed American Association. In 1887 they entered the National League and in 1891 morphed into the Pittsburgh Pirates after “pirating” away infielder Lou Bierbauer from the Philly A’s.

1887 - RHP Bob Harmon was born in Liberal, Missouri. He tossed for four seasons for the Pirates (1914-16, 1918), posting a 39-52-4/2.60 line while splitting his time between starting and the pen. After his pro baseball career ended in 1918, he became a successful dairy and crop farmer in Louisiana and was an active participant in both the community and the local sports scene.

1892 - On the last day of the season, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Charles “Bumpus” Jones no-hit Pittsburgh at League Park in his major league debut. Bumpus won 7-1, fanning three and issuing four walks. It wasn’t much of a launching pad - his MLB career lasted eight games and he won just one other decision. Bumpus still remains the only player to pitch a no-hitter in his first MLB appearance. Bill James gave him the distinction of being the “mathematically least likely pitcher ever to have thrown a no-hitter in the major leagues.”

1896 - RHP John “Mule” Watson was born in Arizona, Louisiana. He worked five games for the Pirates in 1920, one of three teams he played for that season. He didn’t impress the Bucco brass, compiling the worst ERA (8.74) for any of the four teams he spun for over a seven-year career. Mule did enjoy his 15 minutes of fame, although in a different set of flannels - on August 13th, 1921, he started both games of a doubleheader, and did pretty well, too, winning 4-3 and 8-0 contests in a pair of complete game outings for the Boston Braves.

1900 - The Pittsburgh Chronicle-Telegraph offered a silver cup to the winner of a best-of-five series at Exposition Park between the NL’s top two teams, the Pirates and the Brooklyn Superbas; Brooklyn won the 1900 title by 4-1/2 games over the Bucs during the regular season. Two future Hall of Famers faced off in the opener as NL ERA leader Rube Waddell (2.37) went against “Iron Man” Joe McGinnity, who topped the league with 28 wins. McGinnity whitewashed the Pirates for eight innings before two unearned runs in the top of the ninth cost him the shutout. Not only was he hurt by shoddy fielding, but he had been knocked out briefly the inning before during a rundown when he was accidentally kneed. He refused to come out after he regained his breath and went the distance for a five-hit, 5-2 victory. Claude Ritchey banged out a pair of knocks in a losing cause.

Chronicle Cup 1900 - Hall of Fame photo via Wiki

1903 - OF George “Mule” Haas was born in Montclair, New Jersey. Haas was signed as a youngster by the Bucs and worked his way to the show in 1925, getting in four games and going 0-for-3. Haas was in a wrong-time, wrong place situation - the Pittsburgh outfield that season featured Kiki Cuyler, Clyde Barnhart and Max Carey. Mule was sold to Atlanta after the season due more to the logjam than performance. He played 11 more seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox, hitting .292 and playing in three World Series. Haas got his nickname in the minors while playing with Birmingham when the local beat man wrote that his bat had the kick of a mule after he homered.

1925 - Before the final game of the World Series, Senators OF Goose Goslin filled some column inches in the Washington Post to debunk reports that Pirates C Earl Smith had gotten under his skin by clowning around behind the dish when Goslin hit. “That’s a lot of apple sauce,” Goslin wrote. “Smith simply is one of these ‘funny boys’ who gets a big kick out of trying to get smiles from the crowd. His imitation of flopping of wings, goose calls and such seem to have worried others worse than it has me. I think my batting record, which includes three home runs and a double out of my seven hits, proves that his antics have not upset me much. The fact is that I have been kidded by experts and have paid absolutely no attention to Earl’s amateurish efforts.” Goose added that Clark Griffith, Washington’s president, had complained to Commissioner Landis “on the grounds that Smith’s actions take away from the dignity of the game” and might even lead to a brawl. “I can promise one thing,” Goslin wrote. “I don’t intend to start any trouble.” Goose and Smith behaved and factored one another out; each went 1-for-4 during the deciding contest.

1925 - In Game Seven of the World Series at Forbes Field, played on a muddy track soaked by a two-day rainstorm (the game was delayed a day), Kiki Cuyler laced an eighth-inning two-out, two-run, bases loaded double off Washington's Walter “Big Train” Johnson to lead the Pirates to a 9-7 comeback victory and their second World Championship, made all the sweeter by rallying from an early 4-0 deficit. Ray Kremer got the win, his second of the Series, with four innings of one-run relief after pitching a complete game win two days before. Errors by SS Roger Peckinpaugh, the AL MVP, in both the seventh and eighth innings led to four unearned runs. He had a tough Series in the field, committing a record eight errors. With the victory, the Bucs became the first team to win a World Series after being down three games to one. The Series was a big financial hit, grossing a record-setting $1.2M. Winning shares were $5‚332.72 while the losers pocketed $3‚734.60. It took a while, but Bucco manager Bill McKechnie became the first MLB skipper to win a World Series title with two different teams when his Cincy Reds beat the Detroit Tigers in the 1940 Fall Classic.

1926 - RHP Don Carlsen was born in Chicago. Carlsen was signed by the Cubs as an IF, played a season and then went into the service, coming back two years later as a pitcher. He played in a game for Chicago, then in 1951-52 tossed for Pittsburgh, going 2-4/5.43 in 12 games (seven starts). Don worked in the Pirates minors until 1957, retiring after that campaign.

Bill Henry - 1968 Topps

1927 - LHP Bill Henry was born in Alice, Texas. The veteran reliever spent the latter half of the 1968 campaign with the Pirates. It was his 15th year in the show and the creaks showed as he had the worst line of his career, compiling no record but tossing to an 8.10 ERA and giving up 18 runs (15 earned) and 29 hits in 16-2/3 innings over 10 appearances. Bill got into three games with the Astros the following year and then hung up his mitt. Henry did have a nice career run despite the messy finish as he ended his MLB days credited with 572 outings, 46 wins, 90 saves and a 3.26 ERA with an All-Star game and World Series during his tenure.

1927 - Although the New York Yankees Murderers Row pushed the Pirates out of the spotlight with a World Series sweep, the Bucs strong season kept the Waner brothers on a big stage a little longer as the "Waner Wonders" vaudeville team toured Loew movie houses in St. Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and other stops for six weeks. Paul blew sax, Lloyd bowed the fiddle, and they told baseball stories between tunes. Per Bob Hersom’s Oklahoman article, "Every so often," Lloyd said, "we'd hit the same notes as the orchestra." The Waners were each paid $2,100 a week, culminating with a $3,000 payday in the Big Apple, stipends that way outstripped their baseball compensation. Even with more big money waved at them, the brothers turned down an extension of their tour; they had to catch up on their off season fishing, hunting and golfing.

1928 - OF Gail Henley was born in Wichita, Kansas. He hit .300 in his only year with the Pirates (and in the big leagues), 1954, but the spot he was fishing for was more than adequately locked up with the arrival of Roberto Clemente the next year. Henley served some minor league time as a player, then managed in the minors for the Detroit Tigers, where he converted OF Jim Rooker into a pitcher. Henley joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1969 as a scout and farm manager then scouted for four other clubs from 1994-2010 before retiring from Tampa Bay after spending some 60 years in pro ball.

1936 - RHP Art “Red” Swanson was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was signed by the Pirates as a bonus baby in 1955 and spent the next two years in the show, as required by the signing rules, and barely appeared, with 10 outings in all. Red got more work in 1957, slashing 3-3/3.72 in 32 appearances before being sent to the minors, where he pitched until 1963. His dad was Al “Red” Swanson, who coached baseball at LSU and from whom Art picked up his nickname.

1951 - OF/1B Mitchell Page was born in Los Angeles. A third round pick of the Pirates in 1973, he tore it up in the minors for four years before being shipped to Oakland in part of the big ‘77 deal that brought Phil Garner to Pittsburgh. He spent seven seasons, four as a starter (.273/64 HR from 1977-80), on the coast before returning to the Pirates in 1984. He went 4-for-12 as a late-season call up, spending most of his time at AAA Hawaii. Mitchell retired after the year and coached off and on for the Royals, Cards and Nats before passing away in 2011.

Mitchell Page - All-Star Collectables

1958 -  Some joyriders sneaked into Forbes Field, hot-wired a maintenance truck parked overnight by the scoreboard and rode around the park until they crashed the vehicle several rows deep into the first base boxes, causing $3,000 worth of damage to the ballyard due to their midnight ride.

1967 - IF Carlos Garcia was born in Tachira, Venezuela. In seven (1990-96) Bucco seasons, he hit .278. Carlos was named to the 1993 Topps All-Star Rookie Team and the NL All-Star squad in 1994. In 1995, he was a hitting machine who had a 21-game hitting streak in June and then a 15-game hitting streak in September. García later coached for Seattle and was the first base coach and infield instructor for John Russell’s staff in 2010. He was named the manager of the Bradenton Marauders in December 2010, and in 2013-14, Garcia managed the Altoona Curve before being released by the Pirates. He then coached and managed in the Mexican League until 2018 and is now a clinic hitting coach.

1973 - IF Mendy Lopez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Mendy got bits and pieces of seven campaigns in the majors, with some of 2001-02 with the Pirates where he hit .217 in 25 games (he spent almost all of 2002 in AAA Nashville). After his MLB retirement in 2004, he played in Korea, Mexico (where he was the 2006 MVP) and the Dominican. Mendy joined the organization in 2015 as the Pirates DSL manager, then was the Bucs Latin American Field Coordinator from 2017-21 and became Pittsburgh’s infield coach the following season. He left the Bucs after the ‘25 campaign and began managing in Mexico.

1978 - RHP Juan Cruz was born in Bonao, Dominican Republic. Juan finished up his 12-year career in Pittsburgh in 2012, getting into 43 games and going 1-1-3/2.78 with 14 holds as part of the support group of closer Joel Hanrahan. With several other late inning options available, the Pirates released him in late August and that was the final leg of his MLB journey.

2002 - No job is safe: head Trainer Kent Biggerstaff was fired by Dave Littlefield. Biggerstaff, 54, had spent the past 17 years as the Bucs’ head trainer after serving a four-year apprenticeship under Tony Bartirome, who he replaced in 1986. He went on to become an athletic trainer for the PGA Tour, the Summer Senior Olympics, and Minor League Umpires Concussion Coordinator. In 2018, Kent was elected to the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame.