10/22: Jughead, The Possum, The Hat, Keith Osik, Clines-for-Dyer, Clint MoY...

Jughead, The Possum, The Hat, Keith Osik, Clines-for-Dyer, Clint MoY...

• 1885 - Pittsburgh hosted a world series that it wasn’t even part of. The 1885 World Series was an ad hoc post-season playoff road show between the NL champion Chicago White Stockings and American Association champion St. Louis Browns, played in four different cities. The fifth game was played at Recreation Park in Pittsburgh. The weather was cold and fewer than 500 people were present. Chicago won 9-2 in a shortened game that was called after seven innings because of darkness.
• 1895 - RHP “Jughandle Johnny” Morrison was born in Pellville, Kentucky. He worked eight seasons (1920-27) for the Pirates with an 89-71 record and 3.52 ERA. Johnny made three appearances in the 1925 World Series against Washington, striking out seven in 9-⅓ frames. In 1921, he was part of a Pirate brother act when sib Phil made the roster.
• 1916 - Announcer Jim Woods was born in Kansas City. He was a sidekick of Bob Prince at KDKA from 1958-69, where he was known as "The Possum." Woods worked for the Yankees, Giants and NBC before coming to Pittsburgh, moving later to the Cardinals, Athletics and Red Sox, then finishing his career as an announcer for the USA Network's Thursday Night Baseball games. Woods picked up his nickname of "Possum" while with New York. He had a slight overbite and close-cropped gray hair, and as he walked into the clubhouse fresh from a haircut, Enos Slaughter, or maybe Whitey Ford, looked him over and said, "I've seen better heads on a possum." Bob Prince picked up on the nickname, and the Gunner's wife even called Woods’ spouse “Mrs. Possum.”

Jim Woods via the SABR Baseball Biography Project

• 1916 - Harry “The Hat” Walker was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Walker was hired in 1965 to replace Danny Murtaugh, who stepped down for health reasons. The Pirates contended for the pennant during the 1965 and 1966 seasons, finishing third behind the champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the runner-up San Francisco Giants both years. But when the 1967 Pirates stumbled to a .500 mark in mid-season, Walker was let go in favor of his predecessor, Murtaugh. He did leave his mark, though, as an offensive mind on the organization. Walker, btw, got his nickname from his habit of continually tugging at his cap between pitches during his playing days. 
• 1968 - C Keith Osik was born in Port Jefferson, NY. He was a catcher and all around utility guy. Osik played for the Bucs from1996-2002, hit .231, and even pitched twice to save the bullpen arms in blowout games.

Keith Osik 2001 Topps series

• 1974 - The Pirates traded OF Gene Clines to the New York Mets for C Duffy Dyer. Dyer was a Pirate reserve for four years, mostly playing behind Manny Sanguillen. Clines didn’t do much for the Mets, but still had a couple of decent seasons left in him before hanging up the spikes after the 1979 season. 
• 2013 - The Sporting News named Clint Hurdle NL Manager of the Year after he led the Pirates to a wildcard and NLDS berth after breaking a 20-year string of losing seasons.