11/25: Decker, Simon Deals; Roberto's 12th GG; HBD Octavio, Big Jim, Jimmy, Ben, Jim, Cholly & Mike

• 1859 - OF Jimmy Woulfe was born in New Orleans. Woulfe was part of NOLA’s early wave of ballplayers, with six players from the Big Easy hitting the show (National League and the American & Union Associations) in 1884. It was Jimmy’s only MLB campaign, split between Cincinnati and the Alleghenys, as he hit .113 for Pittsburgh and .126 overall. The record book is light on him afterward; he returned to his home base and played for New Orlean’s oldest team, the RE Lee’s, the following season and then his stat sheet dries up. He did remain a hometown kid, passing away in the Crescent City in 1924.

Big Jim (photo via Out of the Park Development)

• 1903 - RHP Big Jim Weaver was born in Obion County, Tennessee. He spent the middle of his eight-year career in Pittsburgh (1935-37) posting a 36-21, 3.76 line, splitting his time between starting and the pen. Big Jim earned his nickname honestly: he was 6'6" and weighed 230 pounds (and that may be 20 pounds light). 
• 1922 - RHP Ben Wade was born in Morehead City, North Carolina. Ben closed out a five-year MLB stint in 1955 for the Pirates, getting into 11 games and going 0-1-1, 3.21 after the Bucs swapped Lefty LaPalme for Wade with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Wade also worked 16 seasons in the minor leagues. After his playing career ended at age 38 following his 1961 tour of duty with San Diego of the PCL, Wade spent 30 years as a scout and then director of scouting for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 
• 1933 - RHP Jim Waugh was born in Lancaster, Ohio. His MLB career lasted just two seasons (1952-53), both with the Bucs, with a slash of 5-11/6.43. After getting his feet wet out of the pen, Waugh became youngest pitcher at age 18 to win a game in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates when he went the distance at Forbes Field in a 4-3 victory over the Cubs in August of 1952. It was the first start of his MLB career. Unfortunately, he had arm problems even then that eventually derailed his career. 

Cholly (photo via Sports Memorabilia)

• 1934 - RHP Lazaro “Cholly” Naranjo was born in Havana, Cuba. Branch Rickey had him on the radar from an exhibition game and plucked him from the Senators organization in 1954. In 1956 he was called up with his eventual roomie, Bill Mazeroski, and put up a line of 1–2/4.46 in 34-⅓ IP (17 outings, three starts). However, he had a sore arm in the minors that he kept quiet as to not hurt his chances at a MLB gig, and it caught up to him. With that and a beef regarding his contract, he didn’t break camp with the team the next spring and had a so-so year. He went to Cincy organization in 1959 and finished in the Cub system in 1961. His nickname came from his grandmother who called him “Cholito” or little Choly. Fun fact: while a member of the Senator’s system, he sat with President Eisenhower and his guests on Opening Day in 1954. Ike had thrown out the first pitch and Cholly’s job was to make sure the president and his party didn’t get bopped by a foul ball while in the railing seats. 
• 1941 - C Mike Ryan was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Mike closed out his 11-year MLB stay in 1974 with Pirates, getting into 17 games and going 3-for-30 (.100) after signing on as a FA during the off season. After his playing career, Ryan managed and coached in the Pirates & Phillies minor leagues from 1975-79, then coached for the Phillies for 16 seasons, from 1980 until 1995. 
• 1972 - Roberto Clemente won his 12th straight Sporting News Golden Glove award, a string of recognition dating back to 1961. He and “Say Hey” Willie Mays are tied for the most GG’s earned by an outfielder with a dozen apiece. In his 2,433 games career, Roberto handled 5,102 chances with a .973 fielding %, threw out 266 runners and put fear of the Lord into countless others. He was such a versatile fielder that in 1956, he actually subbed at third base for a game and at second for two more. Clemente also played center field 63 times. 

Octavio Dotel 2010 (photo Jared Wickersham/USA Today)

• 1973 - RHP Octavio Dotel was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Dotel tossed for 15 years in the show and got his last gig as closer in 2010 at age 37 for the Pirates after signing a FA deal for $3.25M. He went 2-2-21, 4.28 with 48 K in 40 IP and the Bucs flipped him to the Dodgers for James McDonald and Andrew Lambo. Dotel worked into the 2013 season and appeared in two WS after leaving the ‘Burg while J-Mac showed early promise before flaming out and Lambo couldn’t beat a series of injuries. 
• 2002 - Detroit sent 1B Randall Simon to the Pirates for LHP Adrian Burnside and a player to be named later (RHP Roberto Novoa.) Novoa pitched three MLB seasons; Burnside went to Japan to play. Simon ended up better at swatting sausages (his “Sausagegate” escapade in Milwaukee cost him a $432.10 Milwaukee city fine for disorderly conduct while MLB suspended him for three games and fined him $2,000) than baseballs, hitting .245 with 13 HR in 152 games as a Bucco between 2003-04. 
• 2013 - In a prospects depth deal, the Bucs acquired OF Jaff Decker and RHP Miles Mikolas from San Diego for 1B/OF Alex Dickerson. All three have since had cups of coffee in the show, with Dickerson on the verge of becoming an everyday player before he underwent back surgery in June of 2017. Decker has gotten short stints in the show every year since 2013 and Miles has tossed in Japan since the 2015 season.