1/15 Through the 40s: Pink for Red; Games Go On; HBD Mike, Jock & Ed

• 1858 - OF Mike Mansell was born in Auburn, New York. He played three seasons (1882-84) for the Alleghenys with a .251 BA. His final big league year was 1884 when he played for three teams. Mansell did have a knack for scoring - in 202 games for the Alleghenys, he touched home 164 times. His two brothers also played in the MLB, and the trio even played the outfield together, albeit for minor league Albany.
• 1868 - RHP John “Jock” (the Scottish version of Jack) Menefee was born in Rowlesburg, West Virginia. Jock tossed three not very successful campaigns for Pittsburgh (1892, 1894-95), going 5-9/5.75. But he did have a shining MLB moment: Menefee became the first NL pitcher to pull off a successful steal of home while with the Cubs against Brooklyn on July 15th, 1902. 
• 1880 - RHP Ed Kinsella was born in Bloomington, Illinois. He got his first taste of the show in September, 1905, going 0-1, 2.65, with the Pirates in three outings (two complete game starts) and made a final MLB stop in 1910 with St. Louis. Kinsella was an early example of a good AAAA player who finished his career with 144 minor league victories - he had four 20> win MiLB campaigns - in 10 seasons.

Pink Hawley Ars Longa

• 1895 - The Pirates traded P Red Ehret and $3,000 (“a large bundle of dollars” per the Pittsburgh Press) to the St Louis Browns for P Emerson “Pink” Hawley. Hawley won 71 games for the Pirates in his three year (1895-97) stint with Pittsburgh, becoming one of only three Bucs to win 30 games in a single season when he notched 31 victories in 1895. Ehret would claim just 35 more victories during the remainder of his MLB career. Pink was well compensated for his era - the Pirates paid him $2,400 a year (he asked for $3,000). As for the “Pink” part, Dale Voiss of SABR wrote “Emerson was born one of two twins, the other being named Elmer. People had trouble telling the twins apart so the nurse who assisted in their birth pinned a blue ribbon to one and a pink one to the other. This resulted in Emerson being given the middle name Pink, and the brothers were known as Pink and Blue.” He was a hit with the local fans, too. “Hawley earned the nickname ‘Duke of Pittsburgh’ because of his stylish dress and good looks. He was known to wear diamonds and other items of high fashion and developed a reputation similar to that of a matinee idol in Pittsburgh. Later a cigar was named Duke of Pittsburgh after Hawley. Boxes of these cigars featured his picture.” (s/o to John Dreker of Pirates Prospects for the right date) 
• 1942 - Baseball in wartime, per BR Bullpen: “US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sends his famed ‘Green Light Letter’ to Commissioner Judge Landis, encouraging MLB to continue playing during World War II. President Roosevelt states that he believes playing the sport would be good for Americans and encourages the owners to have more games at night to give war workers an opportunity to attend games. Despite a loss of many star players to military service, all 16 teams will continue to play regular schedules for the duration of the war.”