2/4 Through the 30s: Hopping Hans; Joe Joins Up; Grantham Goes; HBD Lefty, Possum & Schoolboy

• 1875 - OF Alfonzo “Lefty” Davis was born in Nashville. Between 1901-02, he went to the plate 675 times for the Pirates and hit .300 w/.399 OBP, scoring 139 runs in 146 games played while swiping 41 bases. Despite that production, he would only play two more big league seasons, spending most of his career toiling in the minors as both a player and manager. Lefty passed away on his birthday in 1919. 

Possum Whitted 1921 Exhibits

• 1890 - UT George “Possum” Whitted (he picked up his nicknamed because of his tales of backwoods possum hunting) was born in Durham, North Carolina. Possum played in Pittsburgh from 1919-21, hitting .286 while manning first, third and left field. He was at the back end of an 11-year career, and after one game for the Dodgers in 1922, his MLB days were done. His versatility was a big part of his longevity. Possum was the first rookie in history to start at every position except pitcher and catcher during a season, and over the course of his career started at least 39 times at every non-battery position. 
• 1902 - The Hans Wagner basketball team made its debut, defeating a five from McDonald PA by a 9-5 score. It was common for players to work or tour in some fashion during the off-season to augment their meager pays, wrote Max Bultman of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (per Baseball Reference, The Flying Dutchman made just $138,500 during his 17-year career, topping out at $10K per season). The barnstorming tradition was an especially popular practice for star players, who could trade in on their name for cash to carry them through the winter; the Pittsburg Press of 2/5/1902 noted that pitcher Deacon Phillippe cancelled a trip to Virginia because he was too busy practicing for manager Fred Clarke’s hockey team. Wagner was an all-around athlete - Hans’ hoopsters were an off season tradition and Wagner himself helped coached basketball at Carnegie HS and Carnegie Tech during the off-season and his post-baseball years. 
• 1916 - RHP “Schoolboy” (he was a high school whiz on the mound, once striking out 25 opponents) Johnny Taylor was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Schoolboy began his pro career in the Negro/Latin Leagues in 1935 and joined the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1938, going 11-2. Like many on the team, he jumped to Mexico the following year and played there until 1942 when he entered the Army during WW2. He worked sporadically after the war, tossing his last game in 1948. 

Joe Harris 1927 (photo George Rinhart/Detroit Public Library)

• 1927 - The Bucs claimed veteran 1B/OF Joe Harris off waivers from Washington. He started in Pittsburgh, hitting .326 in 129 games and was batting .391 in June of 1928 when he was flipped to the Brooklyn Robins for Charlie Hargreaves in what became the 37-year-old’s last of 10 MLB seasons. 
• 1932 - The Pirates sold 31-year-old 2B George Grantham to the Reds. Grantham was the Bucco second sacker for the 1925 and 1927 World Series clubs and put up seven straight .300+ seasons for Pittsburgh, with a BA of .315 between 1925-31. The FO must have had a glimmer that his tank was running low; his .300 streak ended at Cincinnati (.294) while his Pirates replacement Tony Piet hit .282 and then .323 the following campaign. George became a sub for the Reds in 1933 and left the game following the next campaign.