Tommy Thevenow, Branch Rickey, Candy Man, Adam LaRoche...
- 1930 - SS Dick Bartell was traded away by the Pirates to the Philadelphia Phillies for SS Tommy Thevenow and P Claude Willoughby. Thevenow spent six season with the Bucs and hit .251 while Willoughby went 0-2 for Pittsburgh in his final MLB season. Bartell played 14 more seasons and ended up with a .281 lifetime BA. But the seemingly one-sided swap of SS’s worked out OK - Thevenow hurt his leg in 1931, and in 1932 was replaced by Hall-of-Famer Arky Vaughan. A Tommy Thevenow factoid: he didn't homer in his final 3,347 at-bats, the most consecutive at bats without a home run in MLB history.
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| Tommy Thevenow from The Sporting News Conlon Collection |
- 1950 - Branch Rickey signed a five-year contract with the Pirates to become the team executive vice president/GM, replacing Roy Hamey. His son, Branch Jr., assumed the post of Pittsburgh's VP and farm system director.
- 1953 - LHP John Candelaria was born in New York. The Bucs selected the LaSalle Academy (Brooklyn) star in the second round of the 1972 draft. In 12 years (1975-85, 1993) with the Pirates, his line was 124-87-16/3.17, with a 1-1, 3.91 ERA mark in his four post-season starts. The Candy Man earned one All-Star nod in his 19 year MLB career.
- 1979 - 1B Adam LaRoche was born in Orange County, California. He played for the Bucs from 2007-09, hitting .265 with 58 HR. During his last Pirate season, he got to play with his brother Andy and also became the first player in major league history to have a home run taken away through the use of video replay.
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| Andy (back turned) & Adam LaRoche - Gene Pukar Associated Press |
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