10/23: Lloyd Hired; Danny MoY; Sarmiento Deal; Glasnow MLB.com PoY; HBD Denny, Jim, Groundhog, Billy & Lave

• 1881 - LHP Lafayette “Lave/Lefty” Winham was born in Brooklyn. He relieved once in 1902 for the hometown Superbas and the Pirates took him via waiver wire the following season. His counting numbers in a small sample were excellent - 3-1, 2.25, 22 K in 36 IP, quite good for the era - but he walked 21 over the same period, gave up a hit per inning and less than half the runs he surrendered (nine of 20) were earned. That was his last MLB campaign, and there’s not much of a baseball trail to follow afterward, so he went home and either got a job or tossed semi-pro, perhaps both.

Billy Sullivan Jr 1966 James Elder Post Card

• 1910 - C Billy Sullivan Jr. was born in Chicago. The son of 16-year vet C Billy Sullivan, he played football at Notre Dame and was advised by his dad to get a good contract and avoid the minors if he wanted to play baseball; Junior did a good job with both. He put in 11 years with six teams before he entered the service in 1941; he didn’t return to baseball until 1947 at age 36 for a last hurrah with the Pirates. He hit .255 in 38 games, not too shabby considering the five-year layoff, and with that out of his system retired to Florida where he ran a successful construction firm.
• 1918 - LHP Frank “Groundhog” Thompson was born in Merryville (Maryville?), Louisiana. Groundhog got his name due to his unfortunate appearance; he had a short (5’2”), squat build, cleft lip and eyes that bulged to go along with a fastball, sinker and curve. He spent 10 years in the Negro Leagues, toiling for Homestead from 1946-48 and was a member of the Grays last championship club. Though he was considered one of their top pitchers, it’s a wonder he lasted that long - C Josh Gibson named him to his “All-Ugly” team and Luke Easter, at 6’4”, 220+ lbs, threatened to punch him out during a card game until Groundhog pulled out a knife and told him that he planned to “cut you down to my size.” Fun times. He closed out his career with the Birmingham Black Barons and the Memphis Red Sox.
• 1931 - RHP Jim Bunning was born in Southgate, Kentucky. The Hall of Famer tossed for the Bucs in 1968 and part of 1969, compiling a 14-23 mark with a 3.84 ERA before being traded to the LA Dodgers for a pair of minor leaguers. In a 17-year career, Bunning tossed a perfecto and was later inducted into the Hall of Fame. He did pretty well as a politico in Kentucky when he was done tossing horsehides, climbing from City Council to become a six-term Congressman and two-term Senator.

Danny Murtaugh 1970 (photo Getty Images)

• 1970 - The Associated Press named Danny Murtaugh as its major league Manager of Year, outpolling Reds’ skipper Sparky Anderson 148-131, although Sparky had the last laugh when his Reds swept the Bucs in the NLCS. 
• 1981 - RHP Manny Sarmiento was sold by the Boston Red Sox to the Pirates. He gave the Pirates two strong campaigns in 1982-83, going 12-9, 3.25 in 87 appearances (17 starts) and working 249 IP but blew out his elbow in camp the next season, effectively finishing his career.
• 1982 - RHP Denny Bautista was born in Sanchez, Dominican Republic. The vet pitched in 2008-09 for the Pirates, going 5-4, 5.89. Denny was a second cousin of Pedro Martinez and while pitching chops didn’t prove to be a family hand-me-down, he did manage a seven-year MLB career.

Denny Bautista 2008 Topps

• 2000 - The Pirates hired deposed manager Gene Lamont’s batting coach, Lloyd McClendon, as their the new skipper even though he had no prior experience as a manager. McClendon spent his last five MLB seasons as a player with the Buccos. He managed through 2005, spent time with Jim Leyland as a coach at Detroit and was the skipper for Seattle from 2014-15. He’s back as Motown’s hitting coach.
• 2014 - 21-year-old RHP Tyler Glasnow was selected as MiLB.com’s Starting Minor League Pitcher of the Year. The 6-7 hurler, selected in the fifth round of the 2011 draft and signed to a $600K bonus, went 12-5 with a 1.74 ERA while averaging 11.4 K per nine innings at High Class A Bradenton. He had an extended shot in 2017 of claiming a rotation spot, but is still very much a work in progress.