3/4: Leyland Erupts; Allegheny Bust; HBD Fort, Brian, Bruce, Mel, Clyde, Jeff, Dazzy & Jax

• 1888 - RHP Ed “Jeff” Pfeffer was born in Seymour, Illinois. Jeff tossed for 13 years in the show, closing out his career as a 36-year-old with Pirates in 1924 after being claimed from the Cards in July. He pitched credibly, going 5-3, 3.07, in 16 games (four starts) and ended his MLB career with 158 wins and a 2.77 ERA. Named Ed, he was called "Jeff" after his older brother, "Big Jeff" Pfeffer, who tossed a no-hitter for Boston in 1907.  

Billy "Who Me?" Kuehne 1887 Old Judge/Goodwin

• 1889 - Oh, those rowdy North Siders! Pittsburgh Alleghenys 3B Billy Kuehne was arrested and charged with operating a gambling house at an Allegheny City billiards hall run by him and teammate Ed “Cannonball” Morris. Morris, who was out of town during the raid, told the Pittsburgh Press that “The Allegheny officers labored under a misapprehension...the boys occasionally played for cigars and soft drinks in the back room but nothing worse.” Kuehne beat the rap - when the case came to trial, the charges were dropped after the main witness failed to show. 
• 1891 - RHP Charles “Dazzy” Vance was born in Orient, Iowa. The fireballing Hall of Famer (he had over 2,000 career K) made his debut in 1915 as a 24-year-old for the Pirates after his contract was purchased from St. Joseph of the Western League. His Bucco career lasted all of one wild appearance when he walked five in 2-⅔ IP. He was hampered by an obstinate achy wing until his career was resurrected years later by a card game. According to his Baseball Hall of Fame bio “A sore arm was blamed for cutting short his first cracks at the majors. That soreness became shooting pain after he banged his elbow on a poker table, causing him to have surgery. The procedure cleared up the pain, and also relieved the chronic soreness that had plagued him.” His career rejuvenated, he rejoined the show in 1922 as a 31-year-old and won an MVP and World Series along the way, pitching through his age 44 campaign. Vance was dubbed Dazzy as an Iowa teen for his dazzling fastball. Dee-lightful: The 1934 St. Louis Gashouse Gang featured Dazzy, Dizzy Dean, Daffy Dean & Ducky Medwick. 
• 1917 - C Clyde McCullough was born in Nashville. Clyde had a long MLB career, catching for Pittsburgh on a semi-regular basis from 1949-52 and batting .258. He was a Cub at heart. The Bucs got him from Chicago and he returned there later, spending 12 of his 16 campaigns in the Windy City. He coached for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, New York Mets & San Diego Padres and is a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. 

Mel Queen 1951 Bowman

• 1918 - RHP Mel Queen Sr. was born in Maxwell in Fayette County, south of California University of PA. After starting out with the Yankees, he worked for Pittsburgh from 1947-48, then from 1950-52. Queen’s Bucco record was 19-36 with a 5.33 ERA. His son, Mel Jr., pitched for several seasons in MLB and went on to have a long and storied career as the Toronto Blue Jays’ pitching coach. 
• 1952 - Scout Jax Robertson was born in Milwaukee. After working for the Yankees, Tigers and Marlins, he became a special assistant to the GM in 2002 under Dave Littlefield, a position he still holds. In 2015, he was honored as baseball’s East Coast Scout of the Year and is also a member of the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame. 
• 1968 - 1B/OF Brian Hunter was born in Torrance, California. He was a bench guy for nine MLB campaigns, stopping off in Pittsburgh as a 26-year-old in 1994 after an offseason deal with the Braves, swapping places with Jose Delgado. The Pirates were familiar enough with him; his first inning homer in game seven of the NLCS launched the Bravos to a 4-0 win. He hit .227 with 11 homers as a Buc and then was sent to the Reds at the deadline in another minor deal for OF Micah Franklin. The FO hoped he’d be a middle-of-the-order 1B, but it wasn’t to be as seven different Buccos manned the spot in ‘94. Mark Johnson took over in ‘95 until Kevin Young was moved to first in 1997. 
• 1972 - OF Bruce Aven was born in Orange, Texas. He was a five-year MLB’er, spending part of 2000 as a Pirate after a deal with the Marlins in a swap for Brant Brown. Aven hit .250. and was sent to LA in August. His last big league game was in 2002 and now he’s the baseball skipper at American Heritage School in Florida.

The Fort (photo Rob Foldy/USAToday Sports)

• 1985 - C Mike “The Fort” McKenry was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was a back-up catcher for the Bucs from 2011-13 and was a popular player with several clutch hits on his resume. Overall, though, he hit just .226 as a Pirate and returned to his original team, the Colorado Rockies, as a free agent in 2014 before making the rounds as a depth player, retiring to become the Pirates pre-and-post game analyst in 2018 as a replacement for Teke. McKenry earned his nickname because of the similarity of his name to Fort McHenry and the way he defended the plate on plays at home. 
• 1991 - In Pittsburgh’s most famous manager meltdown, Jim Leyland was caught on camera as he blasted Barry Bonds at camp following a media spat. The redacted version of Leyland’s message went something like “I’ve kissed your (bleep!) for three (bleeping!) years here and I’m sick of this. If you guys don’t want to be here then get the (bleep!) out!”