- 1957 - The Pirates traded RHP Bob Purkey to the Cincinnati Reds for LHP Don Gross. Gross won six games in three years as a Pirate while Purkey, a Pittsburgh kid who went to South Hills HS, won 124 games after the deal, appearing in a World Series and three All-Star games. GM Joe Brown later called it “the worst trade I ever made.” Purkey pitched his final season (1966) for the Pirates and then retired to Bethel Park, where he became a successful insurance broker. He died in 2008 at age 78 and was buried at Queen of Angels Cemetery.
 |
| Bob Purkey 1954 Topps |
- 1959 - The Bucs sent RHP Dick Hall, IF Ken Hamlin and a PTBNL (C Hank Foiles) to the Kansas City Athletics for C Hal Smith. The deal paid dividends when Smith’s three-run homer in the eighth inning of the seventh game of the 1960 World Series set the stage for Bill Mazeroski’s legendary blast.
- 1980 - The Pirates traded RHP Bert Blyleven and C Manny Sanguillen to the Indians for P Bob Owchinko‚ P Victor Cruz‚ C Gary Alexander‚ and minor league P Rafael Vasquez. Hall of Famer Blyleven was the key figure, and he went on to pitch 11 more seasons and win 148 more games. Blyleven requested the trade, saying that manager Chuck Tanner didn’t show any confidence in him by not letting him go deeper into games, although the Frying Dutchman (named because he loved setting teammates’ shoelaces on fire - the “hotfoot” prank - not his temperament) averaged 233 IP per season under Tanner’s watch.
- 2005 - The Pirates agreed to sign free agent reliever RHP Roberto Hernandez, 42, to a one year‚ $2.75M contract (it was finalized a week later, on the 15th). The set-up man was flipped to the NY Mets, his old club, at the 2006 deadline as part of the Xavier Nady trade.
 |
| Roberto Hernandez 2006 Upper Deck |
- 2015 - The Pirates traded 2B Neil Walker to the New York Mets for LHP Jon Niese. The Pittsburgh Kid (he went to Pine-Richland HS) had been a Bucco since he was selected in the first round (#11 overall) of the 2004 draft and took over the second base spot in 2010. Along with Robinson Cano, he was the only 2B with double-digit dingers for six straight seasons. From 2009-15, Walker put up a .272/.338/.431 slash for the Bucs, with 93 HR.
No comments:
Post a Comment