7/14 B-Days & All-Stars: HBD Bob, Earl, Tanny, Jose, Joe & Jacks; ASGs: Murry Gets A Save; Clemente Boo'ed; Cutch Homers; Bonds in HR Derby

• 1874 - LHP Jesse “Tanny” Tannehill was born in Dayton, Kentucky. He played six seasons (1897-1902) for Pittsburgh, with a line of 116-58/2.75. Tanny won 20 games or more four times for the Pirates and led the NL in ERA in 1901 (2.18). He was also pretty handy when not hurling, batting .277 and making 71 OF appearances for the Bucs. After six years with the Pirates, he and owner Barney Dreyfuss got into a contract squabble. Tannehill then jumped to the AL New York Highlanders and spent the next seven years of his career in the junior circuit before a last hurrah with Cincinnati. He coached, managed and even umped after his playing days but eventually joined the 9-to-5 crowd as a machinist. 

Jesse Tannehill 1900 (photo The Sporting News)

• 1889 - RHP Joe Conzelman was born in Bristol, Connecticut long before ESPN was a twinkle in an eye. He spent his three year MLB career (1913-15) with Bucs, going 6-8 with a 2.92 ERA. He was a Columbia and Brown graduate and left baseball to pursue his calling as an engineer. 
• 1892 - Utilityman Floyd “Jack” Farmer was born in Granville, Tennessee. Farmer played 2B, SS, 3B, LF & RF for the 1916 Bucs, getting into 55 games and batting .271. He would play big league ball again in 1918 briefly for the Indians and gave up the baseball life after spending the 1920 season at Nashville of the Southern Association. 
• 1929 - RHP Bob Purkey was born in Pittsburgh and was signed by the Bucs right after he graduated from South Hills HS. The knuckleballer spent his first four and his final seasons with the Pirates (1954-57, 1966), going 16-30/4.13. His heyday was with the Reds, where he won 100+ games, appearing in a World Series and three All-Star contests. The Pirates dealt Purkey to Cincinnati in 1957 for relief pitcher Don Gross. Pirates GM Joe Brown often called the transaction "the worst trade I ever made.'' After his retirement, he lived in Bethel Park and ran an insurance agency. 
• 1935 - Earl Francis was born in Slab Fork, West Virginia. The hard throwing righty tossed five seasons (1960-64) for the Bucs, going 16-23/3.77 with his time split between starting and as a long man from bullpen. Francis was the Pirates first African-American Opening Day pitcher in 1963 against the Reds and became the first pitcher that a young Pete Rose ever batted against. His short spell in the show wasn’t because of talent but injuries; Francis battled a sore arm throughout his career. He retired and put that powerful arm to good use - he became a butcher. 

Murry Dickson 1953 Red Man

• 1953 - P Murry Dickson was the Bucco rep at the All Star Game, a 5-1 NL victory at Crosley Field. He tossed the final two innings, giving up a run on three hits and earning a save for Warren Spahn. The relief appearance of the St. Louis Brown’s 46-year-old Satchel Paige in the eighth inning set an All-Star record for oldest pitcher to toss in the contest. 
• 1969 - IF Jose Hernandez was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. Jose played for 15 years in the show, making stops in Pittsburgh in 2003 as part of the infamous A-Ram/Kenny Lofton deal with Chicago and again in 2006 as a FA, playing six positions while hitting .240. He signed a minor league deal with the Bucs for 2007 (he was one of Jim Tracy’s favorites) but the 37-year-old’s tank was running on empty and he didn’t make the final cut. He’s been a coach in the Baltimore farm system since 2010. 
• 1970 - Roberto Clemente was booed by the All-Star crowd at Riverfront Stadium (then all of two weeks old) after earlier saying he would only play if the game was held in Pittsburgh instead of Cincinnati. He changed his tune (GM Joe Brown provided a bit of arm twisting), and though resting a chronically sore neck, the Great One was used late in the game. Clemente, the only Buc rep on the roster, hit a sac fly to tie the contest and held Willie Horton to a 375’ single off the wall in right as the NL won 5-4. The game is better remembered for the brutal collision between Pete Rose and Ray Fosse at the plate, with Rose jarring the ball loose to score the winning run. 
• 1987 - The NL used plenty of pitching to take a 2-0 win over the AL in the Midsummer Classic held at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum; it took 13 innings before a run was scored. Tim Raines hit a two-run, two-out triple to win the game and the MVP. Rick Reuschel represented the Bucs and tossed 1-⅓ frames of scoreless ball, giving up a hit and striking out one. 

Rick Reuschel 1987 Fleer

• 1990 - LHP Jack Leathersich was born in Beverly, Massachusetts. After seeing some time with the Mets and Cubs, Leathersich was claimed by the Bucs from Chicago in September, 2017, after recovering from TJ surgery. He tossed well in a short stay (4-1/3 IP, no runs on three hits with six K) but was DFA’d after the season and now spins for the Cleveland organization. 
• 1992 - Lotta lumber being swung at the Midsummer Classic as the AL took a 13-6 victory from the senior circuit at Jack Murphy Stadium. The junior circuit banged out 19 hits with two leaving the yard. Outfielders Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke started; Bonds went 1-for-3 with a double and a run while AVS went 0-for-2 and hit into a DP. Barry also took part in the home run derby, hitting two dingers in the first round. 
• 2009 - The AL continued to snowball over the NL in All Star competition, taking a 4-3 victory at Busch Stadium. P Zach Duke and 2B Freddy Sanchez made the team, but didn’t get into the game. President Barack Obama, wearing a White Sox jacket, threw out the first pitch and later briefly joined Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the Fox booth. 

Cutch 2015 Donruss Diamond King

• 2015 - Andrew McCutchen started and batted leadoff for the NL in the ASG played at Great American Ballpark. Cutch contributed a home run going 1-for-3, but the AL won their third straight game 6-3. Gerrit Cole tossed a scoreless frame while Mark Melancon struck out a pair in his inning of work but was touched up for a two-out, two-strike homer by the Twins’ Brian Dozier. AJ Burnett, in his first All Star game after 17 years in the show, didn’t get into the fray. Commissioner Bud Selig allowed Pete Rose to be recognized before the game along with former teammates Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin, and Joe Morgan.