9/21 Happenings: HBD Tom, Max, Sudden Sam, Danny, Rene, Jason & Antonio; More...

• 1860 - OF Tom Brown was born in Liverpool, England. Brown played from 1885-87 for the Alleghenys, hitting .287 and posting a 0-0, 4.30 line as an emergency pitcher (three games, eight IP) over that span. He came over to the North Side club when it purchased the entire Columbus team after the 1884 and became the first English-born player for Pittsburgh. After a 17-year MLB career, Brown became an umpire. 

Connie Mack 1905 (image via Field of Dreams)

• 1896 - Manager Connie Mack (given name: Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy) announced that he was leaving Pittsburgh to guide the Milwaukee club of the Western League; the Pirates finished in sixth place with a 66-63 slate during his last campaign. Patsy Donovan took over the reins in 1897. Connie’s claim to fame was managing the Philadelphia Athletics for the club's first 50 seasons of play, starting in 1901, and he became a Hall-of-Famer in 1937. 
• 1910 - RHP Max Butcher was born in Holden, West Virginia. He went 67-60/3.34 for the Bucs in seven seasons (1939-45), and had an ERA over 3.43 just once as a Pirate. His best year was 1941, when he went 17-12 with a 3.03 ERA. Though he was a big guy at 6’2” and 220 pounds, he wasn’t an overpowering hurler, averaging only 2.5 K/nine in Pittsburgh. 
• 1940 - OF Deb Garms went 5-for-6 in the second game of a twinbill split against the Cincinnati Reds to push his BA to .379. He doubled, scored three times and drove in a pair in the 8-7 win during the second game after going 0-for-4 in a 8-1 loss in the opener at Forbes Field. Though he wore an 0-for-23 collar over the remainder of the season, his .355 BA won the NL crown. He played just 103 games (100 games played was the accepted, although unwritten, standard) with 385 PA and was awarded the title, causing some grumbling by those who preferred a full-time awardee. His title eventually led to the adoption of minimum plate appearances to qualify for the batting championship. 

Debs Garms 1940 (Conlon Collection/Getty Images)

• 1942 - LHP Sudden Sam McDowell was born in Pittsburgh. Though he pitched only briefly for the hometown Pirates, he may be the most toolsy hurler the area ever produced. Sam went directly to the majors out of Central Catholic HS, signing with Cleveland. He played from 1961-75 with the Indians, Giants, Yankees and Bucs. McDowell struck out 2,453 batters in that span with a blazing fastball. His career was infamously short circuited by booze and pills, and he was said to be the inspiration for Cheers bartender Sam Malone. He beat his demons after retiring and became a MLB drug and alcohol counselor. His nickname was bestowed on him by Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Bob Dolgan during Sam’s first spring training camp in 1961. 
• 1947 - The Bucs were a part of Queen City broadcast history when their game against Cincinnati was broadcast on TV by W8XCT (WLWT), the first time a Reds game was aired. An estimated home audience of 10,000 viewers watched the Redlegs lose 11-7 at Crosley Field. Elbie Fletcher, Jimmy Bloodworth and Clyd Kluttz each had three RBI; Gene Woodling had the other pair. The opening game of the doubleheader wasn’t shown (we think), and it turned out better for the Reds, who won 3-1 as Ewell Blackwell bested Kirby Higbe. 

Danny Cox 1993 Fleer

• 1959 - RHP Danny Cox was born in Northampton, England. The Brit hurler spent 11 years in the league and managed to squeeze in 16 games as a Bucco in 1992, going 3-1-3/3.33 as a starter converted to back-end bullpen work. He was picked up from the Phils off waivers in June and at the end of the year signed with the Blue Jays, spending the final three seasons of his career in Toronto. 1962 - Scout Rene Gayo was born in Miami of immigrant Cuban parents and raised in Chicago. In 1989, Cam Bonifay hired Gayo as a part-time scout for the Pirates, then he went off to work for the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians. In 2004, the Pirates hired Gayo to lead their Latin American scouting system, filling a position inexplicably left vacant for five years under Bonifay and Dave Littlefield. He reeled in players like Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco and Elias Diaz along with moved-on prospects Alen Hanson, Dilson Herrera, Harold Ramirez and Joely Rodriguez. 
• 1969 - LHP Jason Christiansen was born in Omaha. The reliever worked six seasons (1995-2000) for the Pirates with a 14-20-10/4.13 line before being traded to the Cards at the 2000 deadline for SS Jack Wilson. He must have enjoyed working under the lights; after retirement, he became a co-owner and CEO of an LED company. 
• 1985 - LHP Antonio Bastardo was born in Hato Mayor del Rey, Dominican Republic. The mid-inning arm was obtained from the Phillies in December, 2014 for minor league pitcher Joely Rodriguez to replace Justin Wilson, who had been traded to the Yankees for C Francisco Cervelli. AB went 4-1-1 w/2.89 ERA in 66 Bucco appearances, a performance he turned into a two year, $12M free agent deal with the NY Mets. Wasn’t for long, tho - he came back to Pittsburgh when the Pirates returned ex-Met hurler Jon Niese at the 2016 deadline, but it was a short-lived homecoming. He was injured, ineffective and released in July, 2017, after nine outings and a 15.00 ERA.

Antonio Bastardo 2016 (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

• 1998 - The Pirates, playing out the string during a September freefall, were drubbed 8-1 by the Giants at 3 Comm Stadium. Jason Kendall provided the lone bright spot when he swiped his 26th base, breaking the modern stolen base record for NL catchers previously set by John Stearns in 1978. Kendall was quite adept at basepath larceny in his early years; he stole home twice during the ‘98 campaign. Jason swiped 103 bases in his first five campaigns but only 96 more over his last 10 years, slowed by a severe ankle injury in 1999 and later, age caught up as he played until he was 36.