6/16 Happenings: Groat, Bailey Signed; HBD Kevin, Dave, Max, Pete, Arquimedes, John, Fritz, Ralph & Marr

• 1857 - SS Marr Phillips was born in Allegheny City (now Pittsburgh’s North Side). He played for three years and 198 MLB games, spending four of those contests as a hometown Allegheny in 1885 and batting four-for-15 after coming over from the Detroit Wolverines. He played pro ball from 1877-99 and then retired to his hometown. 
• 1889 - OF Ralph Capron was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The former Minnesota Gopher quarterback got into three big leagues games, his first with Pittsburgh in 1912 - he never got to bat - and a couple of years later changed directions and played a little football, following the career course of his older brother George who also couldn’t really decide which sport to commit to. Ralph was the first ballplayer from the U of Minnesota to reach the majors; big bro George topped out in the PCL. 
• 1890 - 1B Fritz Mollwitz was born in Coburg, Germany and raised in Milwaukee. The sweet fielding first baseman played from 1917-19 for the Pirates, hitting .245. The Bucs sold him to the Cards in August, 1919, and that was his last MLB stop after a seven-year career. Fritz did have a long pro stint, playing from 1909-24 before retiring to become a Wisconsin small-town cop. 

Pete Coscacart 1945 Play Ball

• 1913 - IF Pete Coscarart was born in Escondido, California. He spent the last five years of his career in Pittsburgh (1942-46) after an All-Star stint at Brooklyn. Coscarart backed efforts in 1946 to form a players union and voted to strike for its acceptance, and as a result, he found himself out of the major leagues. After his career, Coscarart scouted for the Minnesota Twins (he signed Graig Nettles) and the New York Yankees. He later worked in real estate for 30 years. He joined a group that sued MLB baseball in 2001 for royalties associated with the use of their names and images, lost the case and passed away a few months later at age 89. 
• 1922 - RHP Max Surkont was born in Central Falls, Rhode Island. Max had been an effective pitcher for the Braves, but during his Buc years (1954-56) he sailed in rough waters, beset with nagging injuries and tossing for a team noted for its futility. He went 16-32/4.92 as a Pirate. He stayed in baseball until 1963 (he spent four decades in pro baseball, with nine years in the major leagues) before retiring. He opened a bar and traveled widely, lending his name and effort to a host of charitable fundraisers. Max Moment: In 1953 as a Brave, he set the MLB record for consecutive strikeouts with eight, a record that stood until 1970 when Tom Terrific fanned 10 straight.
• 1952 - Dick Groat was signed out of Duke University as a bonus baby reportedly for $25,000 plus $5,000 annually for the next five years. At the time of his signing, the media speculated that it was more like $75,000, and the Pirates never officially announced a figure. The story told is that the Pirates offered Groat a contract the year before, but the All-America hoopster & baseballer told them that he wanted to play out his last college season and if the team came back with the same offer after that, he'd sign with them. 

Dick Groat 1952 Topps

• 1960 - GM Dave Littlefield was born in Portland, Maine. He had been the Miami Marlins assistant GM, but he had a stormy reign in Pittsburgh with questionable deals, drafts and desertion of the Latino player market, hindered by a club that was perpetually cash poor. In September, 2007, Littlefield was canned by the Pirates and replaced on an interim basis by Brian Graham, the club's director of player development. Neal Huntington was later hired as GM. Littlefield then worked as a scout for the Cubs and Tigers, and in 2015 became Detroit’s VP of Player Development. 
• 1961- Pirate scouts Bob Hughes and Jerry Gardiner inked highly regarded Woodrow Wilson High grad Bob Bailey, 19, to a deal featuring a $150,000 signing bonus. He didn’t blossom into the next big thing (he never hit .300 or had 30 HR in his 17 year career) but the corner player (3B/1B/OF) did have a lengthy stay in the show, ending with a .257 BA, 189 HR and 773 RBI, playing seven years with Montreal, five with the Pirates plus stops in LA, Cincinnati and Boston. 
• 1967 - RHP John Ericks was born in Tinley Park, Illinois. The big righty (6’7”, 220), a first round pick of the Cards, spent his entire 1995-97 MLB tour in Pittsburgh, slashing 8-14-14/4.78. His foot in the door with the Pirates came via Ted Simmons, then Bucco GM and before that a Cardinal staffer. Ericks and his 98 MPH heater were headed toward a breakout campaign in 1997, with John going 6-of-7 in saves with a 1.93 ERA in his first shot as full-time closer and a decent contract, when boom - he went down with shoulder woes. Two operations later, his big league career was done. 

John Ericks 1996 Fleer Ultra (back)

• 1969 - 1B Kevin Young was born in Alpena, Mississippi. Young played 11 of his 12 seasons for the Pirates (1992-95, 1997-2003), hitting .259 with 138 HR. He was the last Buc on the right side of the long losing slide. At the time of his retirement in 2003, he was the only player remaining who had played on the last winning Pirate team in 1992, during his rookie year. 
• 1971 - IF Chris Gomez was born in Los Angeles. Chris closed out his 16-year big league career in Pittsburgh, hitting .273 for the Buccos while playing all four infield positions. He released after the campaign and then was cut by the Orioles out of camp in 2009. He retired a season later after playing nearly 1,500 MLB games and batting .262. He’s been a special assistant for the Pirates since 2014, working with developing players. 
• 1987 - RHP Arquimedes Euclides Caminero (named after Archimedes and Euclid) was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The speed demon - he’s hit 100 on the radar gun - had his contract sold to the Pirates by the Miami Marlins in 2015. In 112 appearances with the Pirates from 2015-16, he went 6-3-1, 3.73 before being dealt to the Seattle Mariners. He’s now toiling in Japan.