- 1934 - Pittsburgh purchased the contract of RHP Mace Brown from Kansas City of the American Association. It was a good deal; as a spot starter and long man, Mace went 76-57/3.46 for the Bucs over seven campaigns and earned a 1938 All-Star berth with 15 wins.
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| Mace Brown 1936 R312 National Chicle Pastel |
- 1935 - The Phillies sent C Al Todd to Pittsburgh for C Earl Grace, rookie RHP Claude Passeau, who worked just one game for the Pirates during the season and what Pittsburgh Post Gazette writer Ed Ballinger called “a healthy amount of cash.” Todd caught three years for the Bucs, hitting a solid .284 before being flipped to Boston for C Ray Mueller while Grace had a couple of seasons left in the tank. Passeau, who had pitched just once for the Bucs as a rookie in 1935, was the key figure, putting up a 162-150/3.32 line during his 13 year MLB career.
- 1956 - Bobby Bragan was inked to his second contract as Bucco manager after his initial one-year audition ended, and though the terms weren’t revealed, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported he had received a ”substantial raise.” Hopefully he didn’t spend it all in one place; he was relieved of duties with two months remaining in the season. Ironically, Brash Bobby’s critics said that he was out of water with such a young team and was better suited to lead a veteran club, but his greatest successes as field general were claimed as a minor-league skipper. In fact, Bragan became president of the Texas League and did so well in that post that he was elected president of the National Association, the governing group of MiLB.
- 1973 - Pete Rose won the NL MVP, edging out Willie Stargell by a 274-250 tally. Rose took his third batting crown with a .338 mark. Stargell led the league with 44 HR, 119 RBI, and a .646 slugging percentage while batting .299. Many in Pittsburgh still believe Captain Willie wuz robbed because of the Charlie Hustle mystique.
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| Was Willie Robbed? 1973 Topps |
- 1979 - Free agent LHP Andy Hassler signed a six-year/$750K (+$25K bonus money available annually) contract with the Bucs. It was much ado about nothing for the Pirates. They sold the reliever in June after just six outings and a 3.86 ERA to California where he strung together three solid campaigns with the Haloes. He mostly struggled his last three seasons with the Angels & Cards, retiring after the deal expired.
- 1991 - The Brave's 3B Terry Pendleton, who hit .319 with 22 HR and 86 RBI, won the NL MVP over Barry Bonds, who hit .292, with 25 HR & 116 RBI by a 274-259 point count. Bobby Bonilla came in third and was thought to have split Bond's vote, leading to Barry’s somewhat surprising runner up finish.
- 2005 - The Pirates sent 2B Bobby Hill, part of the ill-fated salary-dump deal with Chicago that made Aramis Ramirez a Cub, to San Diego for RHP Clayton Hamilton, a Beaver Falls native who went to Blackhawk HS and Penn State. Clayton never made it to the majors, although he did work a season or two in Japan. It was a wash; Hill, who been DFA’ed three days earlier, never made another MLB appearance.
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| Don't Stop Believin' - 2012 Topps |
- 2011 - The Pirates inked free agent SS Clint Barmes to a two-year, $10.5M contract, their first $10M+ free agent deal since they signed Steve Buechele in 1991. His 2013 walk up song, Journey's "Don’t Stop Believing," became the Bucs' theme for the season when they finally broke their 20-year losing streak and made the playoffs. Barmes came back on a one-year deal in 2014 for $2M to serve as insurance for Jordy Mercer, spent 2015 in San Diego and retired in 2016 after a 13-year career.
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