- January 5, 1961 - Manager John Russell was born in Oklahoma City. While with the Rangers, he caught Nolan Ryan's 6th career no-hitter in 1990. He ended his 10 year career with a .225 batting average, 34 home runs and 129 RBI in 448 games. After hanging up the spikes, he made some coaching stops and managed the Bucs from 2008-10 during some dark seasons, with a record of 186-299. It wasn’t his first stop in Pittsburgh; JR had been Lloyd McClendon’s third base coach from 2003-05. He’s currently the Baltimore Oriole's bench coach.
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| John Russell (photo Associated Press) |
- January 5, 2011 - After a 14 year wait, curve ball king RHP Bert Blyleven was elected to the Hall of Fame. He won 34 games for Pittsburgh between 1978-80, his stay cut short because the Dutchman publicly disagreed with Chuck Tanner, who went to his bullpen early and often rather than letting pitchers get deep in close games. In a 22 year MLB career, Blyleven claimed 287 victories and 3,701 strikeouts, and was inducted into the Hall on July 24th.
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| Bert Blyleven (Hall of Fame presentation) |
- January 6, 1933 - OF Lee Walls was born in San Diego. He played three years in all three outfield positions for Pittsburgh (1952, 1956-57) and put up a .259 BA before being traded to the Cubs in May of 1957. Walls was a Cub starter for three years, earning an All-Star berth in 1958, but spent the back end of his career as a bench player.
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| Lee Walls 1957 Topps |
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