12/14: Series Share, Willie Pope, Lefty LaPalme, The Kitten, Jon Lieber, Scott Sauerbeck, Wil Cordero, Lyle Overbay, Matt Diaz...

Series Share, Willie Pope, Lefty LaPalme, The Kitten, Jon Lieber, Scott Sauerbeck, Wil Cordero, Lyle Overbay, Matt Diaz...

• 1911 - Pirate owner Barney Dreyfuss proposed that each team in the World Series turn over one-fourth of its share of the gate to the league, to be divided among the other teams. It marked the beginning of changes that ultimately gave players of the first four clubs a percentage of the World Series money. 
• 1918 - Willie Pope was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Pope was a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1946) and Homestead Grays (1947-48) and a member of the Grays rotation for the 1948 Championship club. He tossed a no-hitter against the NY Cubans in 1947. Known as Wee Willie (he was 6’4”), he remained in the City after his career and became a player in Pittsburgh ward politics and a local black baseball historian. 
• 1923 - LHP Paul “Lefty” LaPalme was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Lefty began his career in Pittsburgh (1951-54) and was a starter in the last two seasons, with a Pirate line of 14-33-2 and a 4.99 ERA. The knuckleballer was traded to the Cards in 1955, converted to a reliever, and put together several decent seasons from the pen. 

Lefty LaPalme - 1953 Bowman series

• 1963 - The Pirates sent P Harvey Haddix to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for IF Dick Yencha and cash. Haddix, then 38 and a reliever, spent the last two years of his career in Baltimore while Yencha never made it to the MLB. 
• 1998 - RHP Jon Lieber was traded to the Chicago Cubs for OF Brant Brown. Lieber tossed nine more years in the show, winning 20 games for the Cubs in 2001 while Brown was one and done in Pittsburgh. 
• 1998 - The Pirates chose LHP Scott Sauerbeck from the New York Mets in the Rule 5 draft. Sauerbeck stuck with the Pirates until 2003, going 19-15-5/3.53 in his 4-1/2 Bucco career, before he was traded to Boston. 
• 1999 - The Pirates signed FA OF Wil Cordero to a 3-year contract worth $9M. 
• 2010 - The Pirates agreed to terms with 1B Lyle Overbay on a one-year, $5M contract; he was waived in August after hitting .227. The Bucs also signed 32-year old OF Matt Diaz to a two year deal worth up to $5M. He was sent back to the Braves at the following deadline for P Eliecer Cardenas after hitting .259 with no homers.