11/15: Clint Hired; Cobra MVP; Branch TSN; HBD Craig, Randy, Gus, Maurice & Joe

• 1893 - IF Joe Leonard was born in West Chicago, Illinois (some sources have his b-day on the 14th, sera, sera). Leonard got parts of five MLB seasons in, starting with the Pirates in 1914, batting just .198 that year. He was highly rated as a youngster, although his bat never proved big-league consistent; when Pittsburgh purchased the 19-year-old from the Des Moines Boosters of the Western League for $3,080 in 1913, he became the highest priced player sold to the majors at the time. Joe died while still an active player in May, 1920, at the age of 26 of appendicitis/pneumonia while a member of the Senators; Washington owner Clark Griffith and several teammates were at his bedside at the time of his death. 

Maurice Van Robay 1940 Baseball Magazine

• 1914 - OF Maurice Van Robays was born in Detroit. Van Robays replaced RF Lloyd Waner late in 1939. He finished third in the NL with 116 RBI and received a smattering of MVP votes the next season. "Bomber" (his nickname after he hit 11 HR in 1940) had a strong 1941. MVR developed vision problems the following season and had to wear glasses, and it took him until 1943 to rediscover his batting stroke. Then he missed the war years of 1944-45 while serving with the 1st Infantry Division, and played one last season in Pittsburgh in 1946. Van Robays is credited with naming Rip Sewell's famous "eephus" pitch. After seeing it delivered, Van Robays commented that the pitch was eephus, using the Hebrew term for "nothing." 
• 1928 - OF Gus Bell was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He came up with the Pirates, and between 1950-52 hit .270 with 40 HR. He was traded to the Reds, where he went on to win four All-Star berths. Gus is Buddy’s father and the grandpa of David and Michael. Family factoid from Wiki: David Bell hit for the cycle in 2004, joining his grandfather Gus to become the only grampa-grandkid duo in MLB history to accomplish that feat. 
• 1950 - Branch Rickey was featured in a cartoon on the front page of The Sporting News for the story “Treasure Island,” shown plotting future Pirate moves on an X-marks-the-spot map. Unfortunately, the Bucs ran aground rebuilding during the Mahatma’s 1950-55 reign, although he is often credited with the spadework that led to the strong sixties clubs. 

Randy Niemann 1983 Topps

• 1955 - LHP Randy Niemann was born in Scotia, California. Drafted by the Yankees in 1975, the southpaw middle man tossed parts of eight big league seasons. Randy was in Pittsburgh briefly from 1982-83, getting into 28 games and going 1-2-1, 6.24. He retired and immediately started working with the Mets, Red Sox and currently the Cards as primarily a pitching coach, serving at every level from Class A to the majors. 
• 1978 - RF Dave "The Cobra" Parker won the NL MVP, topping runner-up Steve Garvey of the LA Dodgers 320-194 in the vote parade. Parker had 30 HR with 117 RBI and led the league with a .334 batting average, a .585 slugging percentage, and 340 total bases. That was despite the fact that he missed two weeks after breaking his jaw in a home plate collision with the Mets' John Stearns and returned wearing a football-style facemask, thought to be the first time such a contraption was worn in an MLB game. 
• 1983 - RHP Craig Hansen was born in Glen Cove, New York. A first round draft pick of Boston from St. John’s U, the closer was traded to Pittsburgh as part of the Jason Bay deal. He only appeared in five games for the Pirates and was diagnosed with Parsonage-Turner Syndrome, a condition that disrupts nerve signals between muscles. His lost his fastball and was released by Pittsburgh in 2011. He last tossed in 2012 while in the Mets system; now he’s a trader and real estate developer in New York. 

Craig Hansen 2008 Topps

• 2010 - Clint Hurdle, former Colorado manager and current Rangers hitting coach, became the Pirates sixth field boss since 1992, replacing John Russell. Clint was the first skipper to guide the team to a playoff spot since Jim Leyland in 1992 when his club earned a wild card berth in 2013 while also snapping a record-setting 20-season losing streak and was in the playoffs for three straight years until the string was snapped in 2016.