12/21: Frankie Deal; All Tendered In '05; Deals Not Cut; HBD Josh, AVS, Freddy, Bill, Danny, Doc, Pete & John

• 1878 - 1B Warren “Doc” Gill was born in Ladoga, Indiana. He played in the majors for one year as a 30-year-old on the pretty powerful 1908 Bucco club, hitting .224 in 27 games during a month’s audition. Although he played 12 seasons of pro ball, Gill is best known for failing to touch second base in a game against the Chicago Cubs on September 4th, 1908. With the score tied in the bottom of the 10th, Chief Wilson’s single plated the winning run. But Johnny Evers saw that Gill, who was on first, didn’t run the play out to second and stepped on the sack for a force-out; it was somewhat commonplace if careless for the players to head straight to the clubhouse after a game ended. Doc got away with the gaffe because Ump Hank O'Day, back in the day of one-man crews, didn’t see it. Three weeks later, the New York Giants Fred Merkle duplicated Gill's bit of lazy-bones running during a game against the Cubs; Chicago again completed the force play and this time, O’Day did see the action. Known to this day as “Merkle’s boner,” the call overturned a Giant victory and helped the Cubs to the 1908 title. Gill was nicknamed "Doc” as he was working on his dentistry degree at Washington University (St. Louis), and when he retired he started a 35-year dental practice. 
• 1897 - OF Floyd “Pete” Scott was born in Woodland, California. Pete spent three years in the majors as a good stick guy (.303 lifetime BA) off the bench who could play corner OF/IF; his final campaign was in 1928 when he hit .311 in 60 games for the Pirates. During a 14-year pro career, he hit under .300 just twice with .286 being his lowest single-season BA. 

Josh Gibson T330 Helmar Art Stamp

• 1911 - Hall of Fame catcher Josh Gibson was born in Buena Vista, Georgia. Considered the top HR hitter (the “Black Babe Ruth”) of the Negro Leagues, he played for the Grays and Crawfords. His power was legendary; he hit moonshots in Forbes Field and Yankee Stadium that are still considered among the longest blasts ever launched. Gibson was the second ballplayer, behind Satchel Paige, to be elected to the Hall of Fame because of their exceptional Negro League careers. 
• 1920 - LHP Bill Werle was born in Oakland, California. Werle earned the nickname “Bugs” honestly as he was an amateur entomologist (a bug collector). He spent from 1949-1952 with the Bucs, going 29-39-15 and working everything from starts to closing. Bugs got into some hot water with the Bucco suits in 1952 after coming in late one night. He was fined, suspended, and traded soon thereafter. 
• 1930 - C Danny Kravitz was born in Lopez, near Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The reserve catcher played five years (1956-60) for Pittsburgh, hitting .236, but missed out on the ‘60 Series when he was traded in June to KC for Hank Foiles. His first homer was memorable: it happened on May 11th, 1956 in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and the Pirates trailing the Phillies 5-2 to give the Pirates a 6-5 win. 

Danny Kravitz 1959 Topps

• 1959 - Deals made and not made: After Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh rejected the A's offer to deal Roger Maris for SS Dick Groat earlier in the month, Pittsburgh obtained OF Gino Cimoli along with RHP Tom Cheney from the Cardinals for RHP Ron Kline. Maris, who was then dealt to the Yankees, had the first of his two consecutive MVP years in New York, while Groat played a key role for the World Champion Bucs the next season and was named the NL MVP. As for the deal that did happen, Kline pitched 11 more seasons in the show (including a 1968-69 return to the Bucs). Cheney worked 22 games for the Pirates before being traded and Cimoli hit .272 in a pair of Pirate seasons before being shipped to Milwaukee. 
• 1960 - OF Andy Van Slyke was born in Utica, NY. AVS played eight years (1987-94) for the Bucs, hitting .283, earning three All-Star spots while winning five Golden Gloves and two Silver Sluggers during his stay. He was a mainstay of the Jimmy Leyland teams of the early nineties after coming over from the Cards in the Tony Pena deal. 
• 1970 - RHP John Hope was born in Fort Lauderdale. The high schooler was a second round draft pick in 1989, signing for an $85K bonus, but never panned out. He went through elbow and shoulder surgery, and in part of four seasons (1993-96) with the Pirates, the righty went 1-5 with a 5.99 ERA. 

John Hope 1994 Topps

• 1977 - 2B Freddy Sanchez was born in Hollywood. In six years (2004-09) as a Pirate, he hit .301, winning the batting crown in 2006 with a .344 BA and appearing in three All-Star games. It was a dark day in the City when fan favorite Steady Freddy was traded to the Giants, where injuries derailed his career. He hit .292 for the G-Men in the 2010 World Series season, but shoulder and back surgeries followed in 2011-12. 
• 2005 - The Pirates extended tenders to arb-eligible LHP Ollie Perez, RHPs Kip Wells & Ryan Vogelsong, OF Jody Gerut and SS Jack Wilson while passing on RHP Josh Fogg. He signed with the Rockies; GM Dave Littlefield said his spot in the rotation would be taken by one of Ian Snell, Sean Burnett or Victor Santos as the Bucs were going young to retool their staff. Earlier in the offseason, they traded away hurlers Dave Williams and Mark Redman. 
• 2012 - LHP Francisco Liriano reached an agreement to sign with the Bucs for two years/$14M, pending his physical. He broke his right arm over the holidays, but he and the Pirates worked out an alternate deal that was worth $7M over two years with performance bonuses that would allow him to recapture much of the lost money. The Cisco Kid won 16 games in 2013 and was the “Comeback Player of the Year.” After the 2014 season, he returned after testing the free agent market, inking a three-year contract worth $39M. He didn’t get to finish out the contract in Pittsburgh, being shipped to Toronto at the 2016 deadline.