- 1942 - The Sporting News released a poll of 100 former major leaguers and managers voting for the best player of all time. Ty Cobb won easily, with Buc SS Honus Wagner second. The Flying Dutchman handily outpolled both Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby.
- 1963 - The Pirates traded for OF Manny Mota, sending OF Howie Gross to the Astros. Mota spent six years as a Pirate, hitting .297 as a fourth OF’er/pinch hitter.
- 1970 - RHP Jon Lieber was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Pirates picked him up at the 1993 deadline as part of a trade for Stan Belinda with KC, and he pitched his first five (1994-98) seasons with the Bucs, going 38-47/4.36. Pittsburgh sent him to the Cubs for Brant Brown after the 1998 campaign. He he spent another nine workmanlike years in the show, winning 131 games in 14 seasons, including 20 in 2001 for the Cubs.
- 1975 - The Pirates signed pitcher Sudden Sam McDowell, a 32 year old free agent that started out at Central Catholic. It would be the last hurrah of a 15 year career that saw him win 141 games and K 2,453 batters, mostly with the Indians. Sudden Sam was The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year in 1970 when he worked 305 frames and punched out 304 batters. But his bouts with the bottle caught up to him; he pitched OK for the Pirates, but was released in June. McDowell later went through rehab and turned his life around. The character Sam Malone, the bartender on the TV show “Cheers,“ was said to be loosely based on Sudden Sam.
Topps 1975 series
- 1997 - For the first time in major league history, the salary of one player was more than that of a team. The Chicago White Sox paid Albert Belle $10M for the season, which was $928,333 more than the entire Pirate "Freak Show" payroll.
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