6/25 Birthdays: HBD A-Ram, Paul, Alejandro, Bobby, John, Ken, Bill & Ralph

• 1895 - 2B Bill Webb was born in Chicago. His show time consisted of five big league games for the 1917 Pirates, going 3-for-15 as a 22-year-old. His late season Bucco try out had its up-and-downs. Webb was 0-fer in his first four games, but in his last go, he went 3-for-4 with a run scored as the Bucs beat Boston, 2–0, at Forbes Field. Webb did have a long minor league career, playing 14 seasons and went on to become a baseball lifer. He managed in the minors and then coached third base for the White Sox under Jimmy Dykes for five years before becoming their farm director, a position he held until he had a fatal heart attack at the age of 47. 
• 1902 - LHP Ralph Erickson (his middle name was Lief) was born in DuBois, Iowa. He went to Idaho State and toiled in the Class C Idaho-Utah League before the Bucs brought him to Pittsburgh in September, 1929. He lasted until mid-summer of 1930, getting into eight games with a 1-0/8.40 slash. Ralph was a workhorse starter on the farm after that trial and pitched through the 1934 season. He then went to Arizona and worked in the mining industry, which apparently agreed with him - he was MLB’s oldest living player until he passed away in 2002 at the ripe old age of 100. Erickson did have his moment in the sun: He tossed a no hitter in 1933 while pitching for Shreveport of the Texas League. He won the game, 2-0, against Houston, beating none other than Dizzy Dean. 

John Gelnar 1967 Topps Rookie Stars

• 1943 - RHP John Gelnar was born in Granite, Oklahoma. The Bucs signed Gelnar out of Oklahoma in 1963; a year later he got a cup of coffee with the Pirates, working nine innings and giving up five runs. He got into 10 games in 1967, going 0-1, 8.05, with most of his time spent with AAA Columbus. In 1969-70, after a couple of trades, John pitched fairly well for the Seattle Pilots and then the Milwaukee Brewers. He got off to a rough start with the Brew Crew in ‘71, was sent down to AAA and then retired at the end of the 1972 campaign. He did get some recognition from Jim Bouton in “Ball Four” when Bouton wrote Gelnar used to bring binoculars to the bullpen when the pair were with Seattle so they could watch girls. 
• 1951 - 3B Ken Reitz was born in San Francisco. He ended his 11-year career on a quiet note with the Pirates in 1982, going 0-for-10 with four whiffs. Ken had been a Cardinal mainstay at the hot corner for eight years, earning an All-Star spot, Golden Glove and the nickname “Zamboni” for his ability to scoop up grounders. 
• 1959 - RHP Alejandro Pena was born in Cambiaso, Dominican Republic. After helping whip the Pirates in the playoffs as a Brave in 1991, the Pirates signed him as a free agent after the 1992 season for $1.35M. He promptly sat out the year with elbow surgery and came back in 1994, going 3-2-7/5.02 and was released in June. The 15-year vet had a twisty road to join the Pirates - he was mentioned, along with Kevin Mitchell and a PTBNL, to be part of a 1992 pre-season deal for Barry Bonds with Atlanta. The swap was agreed to in principle by GM Ted Simmons but nixed by Jimmy Leyland, who went over Simmons’ head to plead his case with team President Carl Barger. So the club, which apparently thought highly of Pena, later signed him as a free agent even tho he sat out the 1992 Bravo post-season with tendonitis. 

A-Ram 1998 Bowman

• 1978 - 3B Aramis Ramirez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The Pirates signed him in 1994 as a 16-year old, he debuted in 1998, and was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 2003 in one of Pittsburgh’s more brutal contract dumps of the Dave Littlefield era. On July 23rd, 2015, he was traded back to Pittsburgh exactly 12 years after they first traded him away, and helped the Pirates in their wildcard run by hitting six homers and playing first base as needed for the first time in his 18-year career. He retired in November as a member of the team that first signed him two decades earlier. A-Ram spent a dozen years with the Cubs and Brewers in between and was a three-time All-Star who hit .286 and swatted 386 HR. 
• 1982 - LHP Paul Maholm was born in Greenwood, Mississippi. Maholm was selected by the Pirates in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2003 draft and debuted in 2005. He worked for the Bucs through 2011, slashing 53-73/4.36, and was released with the Cubs picking him up. He played for them, the Braves and Dodgers through 2014 when a shoulder injury ended his career. 
• 1986 - LHP Bobby LaFromboise was born in Downey, California. He had two brief MLB stops, working for the Anglels and then getting into 17 games for the Pirates in 2014-15 as a depth reliever and LOOGY, with no decisions but a fine ERA of 1.54. Still, he was waived and though he signed with several teams on a look-see basis, he’s been out of baseball since 2017.