11/21: Donora's Day: Stan the Man & Junior, Al Todd, Captain Willie, Brian Meadows, Barry Bonds, Clint Barmes...

Donora's Day: Stan the Man & Junior, Al Todd, Captain Willie, Brian Meadows, Barry Bonds, Clint Barmes...

• 1920 - Hall of Famer Stan Musial of the Cards was born in Donora. Stan the Man compiled 3,630 career hits, ranking fourth all-time and first in a career spent with only one team. With 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 on the road, he also is considered to be the most consistent hitter of his era. He hit 475 home runs, was named the NL's MVP three times, and won three World Series championship titles. He shares the MLB record for the most All-Star Games played (24) with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Musial was a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. 
• 1935 - The Phillies sent C Al Todd to Pittsburgh for C Earl Grace and rookie RHP Claude Passeau, who worked just one game for the Pirates during the season. Todd caught three years for the Bucs, while Passeau put up a 162-150/3.32 line during a 13 year MLB career. 

Al Todd - Retro Images Archive

• 1969 - Ken Griffey Jr. of Seattle and Cincinnati fame was born in Donora. The Kid was a 13-time All-Star, and his 630 home runs rank as the sixth-most in MLB history. Griffey also won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field. He's tied for the record of most consecutive games with a home run (8 games, tied with Don Mattingly and Dale Long). His dad, Ken Griffey Sr., was born there and was a multi-sport star at Donora HS, graduating the year before it merged with Monongahela to form Ringgold. 

Stan the Man & Junior, Donora's B-Day boys. They combined for 6411 hits, 3611 runs, 1105 homers, 3787 RBI, four MVPs & 33 All-Star Games.(photo via MLB.com Mariner's Blog)

• 1973 - Pete Rose won the NL MVP, edging out Willie Stargell by a 274-250 tally. Rose took his third batting crown with a .338 mark. Stargell led the league with 44 HR, 119 RBI, and a .646 slugging percentage while batting .299. Many in Pittsburgh still believe Captain Willie wuz robbed because of the Charlie Hustle mystique. 
• 1975 - RHP Brian Meadows was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He pitched for Pittsburgh from 2002-05. The Bucs converted him to a reliever in 2003, and his line with the Pirates was 8-12-2 with a 4.20 ERA. He went on to Tampa Bay in 2006 and retired the following season after failing to make it out of camp with the Reds. 

Brian Meadows (photo by John Grieshop/Getty Images)

• 1991 - The Brave's 3B Terry Pendleton, who hit .319 with 22 HR and 86 RBI, won the NL MVP over Barry Bonds, who hit .292, with 25 HR & 116 RBI by a 274-259 point count. Bobby Bonilla came in third and may have split Bond's vote. 
• 2011 - The Pirates signed free agent SS Clint Barmes to a two year, $10.5M contract, their first $10M+ free agent deal since they signed Steve Buechele in 1991. Barmes inked a one-year deal in 2014 for $2M to serve as insurance for Jordy Mercer and is currently a FA. His 2013 walk up song, Journey's "Don't Stop Believing," became the Bucs' theme for the season when they finally broke their 20-year losing streak and made the playoffs.

Clint Barmes (photo by John Edmonds/Getty Images)