2/11: Boom Boom TRS; Vic For Burleigh; Bell Wins DD; Cecil & Doug Sign

• 1928 - Pittsburgh sent RHP Vic Aldridge, who was fishing for a raise from owner Barney Dreyfuss, to the NY Giants for RHP Burleigh Grimes, who they had traded away nine years earlier. Grimes won 42 games in 1928-29 before being sent to the Braves after the Bucs reached a contract impasse with him. He returned in 1934 for his third Pittsburgh stint to finish his MLB career as a Pirate, the team he started with. The Hall of Famer won 48 of his 270 career victories as a Buc. As for Aldridge, he also bumped heads over money with Giants, held out and had a terrible year, prompting him to retire from baseball in 1929.

• 1991 - OF Cecil Espy signed with the Bucs as a FA. He spent two seasons in Pittsburgh as a reserve outfielder, hitting .254. He was a first round pick of the White Sox in 1980 (eighth overall) but was a regular just one year during his eight big league seasons, retiring after 1993.
• 1993 - SS Jay Bell took home the Dapper Dan Sportsmen of the Year award after hitting .310 and scoring 102 runs during the 1992 season. He also won a Golden Glove award for his fielding during the campaign. Bell played for the Bucs from 1989-96, and returned in 2013 as the hitting coach before joining the Reds as their bench coach the following year.
• 2001 - Three Rivers Stadium‚ the home of the Pirates since 1970‚ was imploded before a full complement of TV cameras and thousands of onlookers. Roberto Clemente's 3,000th hit, Mike Schmidt's 500th home run, the 1994 All Star game and a couple of World Series teams were part of the park's thirty-year legacy.

TRS Falls (via ESPN)

• 2008 - IF Doug Mientkiewicz signed as a FA for $750K. The 34 year old had a fairly solid year, hitting .277 in 125 games, and went to LA in 2009 to close out his 12 year career. He’s now a manager in the Twins minor league system.