3/9 Birthdays: HBD Billy, Joe, Arky, Ronnie, Jake, Terry & Daniel

• 1893 - RF Billy Southworth was born in Harvard, Nebraska. He was a Buc from 1918-20, hitting .294, and then was traded as part of the package for Rabbit Maranville. Southworth reached the Hall of Fame thanks mainly to his managing chops; he won two World Series with the Cardinals.

Bill Southworth 1919-21 W514 Strip Set

• 1897 - RHP Ralph Fenton “Joe” Dawson was born in Bow, Washington. He pitched for the Bucs from 1927-29, mostly from the pen, and went 11-17-3 with a 4.15 ERA. Joe tossed a scoreless frame in the 1927 World Series and hit pretty well for a hurler with a .257 Pirate BA.
• 1912 - Hall-of-Fame SS Floyd “Arky” (for his birth state) Vaughan was born in Clifty, Arkansas. Vaughan compiled a .318 BA during a 14-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1932-41) and Brooklyn Dodgers. He was named to nine All-Star teams during that span. Arky hit at least .300 in all 10 of his seasons with the Pirates, walked 937 times during his career while striking out just 276 times and in 1941, he became the first player to hit two home runs in an All-Star game. Arky was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1985.
• 1932 - RHP Ronnie Kline was born in Callery, Butler County. He spent eight of his 17 big league years (1952, 55-59, 68-69) hurling for the Bucs, going 66-91-14/3.77 for Pittsburgh. Called the “Callery Hummer,” he became the mayor of Callery after he hung up the spikes. He remained there until he passed away at the age of 70.

Ronnie Kline 1957 Topps

• 1932 - RHP Paul “Jake” Martin was born in Brownstown, near Charleroi. The 6’5”, 235 pounder was a Mon Valley League legend and signed a two-year “bonus baby” deal with the Bucs in 1955 on the advice of former Pirates hurler Ron Necciai, a Monongahela HS grad and Mon Valley neighbor. Jake threw hard but was wild and his ride with the Pirates lasted for just seven appearances. He posted an 0-1 record with seven strikeouts, 17 walks and a 14.14 earned run average. He never had a chance to rebound; he injured his arm in August, was shut down and then sent to Cuba for winter league work. Somewhere during that span he tore the ligament in his elbow, ending his career. But Jake had no regrets. After he was long retired, he told writer Len Fiorito of Oldtyme Baseball that "I was with the team long enough to get on a baseball card and people still send me the card to sign."
• 1963 - LHP Terry Mulholland was born in Uniontown and went to Laurel Highland HS. Terry played for the hometime nine just briefly, signing as a free agent and working 22 times in 2001 to a 3.72 ERA before being flipped to the Dodgers at the deadline for Mike Fetters. He was an MLB survivor - despite a 4.41 career ERA, he worked 20 years in the show (he lasted until he was 43) while tossing for 11 teams and became one of the few pitchers to beat every major league club during his run.
• 1987 - RHP Daniel Hudson was born in Lynchburg, Virginia. A solid starter in his earlier years, a pair of TJ surgeries limited him to 12 outings between 2012-14 and a transition to the bullpen. He made 134 appearances (7-5-9, 4.50) in the two following seasons with Arizona, featuring a 96 MPH fastball, and the Pirates signed him in December, 2016, to a two-year/$11M free agent deal with $3M more available in possible bonuses as a bullpen back-ender.

Daniel Hudson (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)