7/25 Happenings: Jake, Highpockets Deals; Larcenous Kiki; ASG; HBD Doug, Alex, Ed, John & Marv

• 1863 - John Tener was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and moved to the City as a babe. A pitcher for the Pittsburgh Burghers in 1890, he later served as Governor of Pennsylvania from 1911 to 1914 and President of the National Baseball League from 1915 to 1918. 
• 1896 - The Pirates traded 1B Jake Beckley to the New York Giants for 1B Harry Davis and cash. Beckley was a local favorite who would eventually enter the Hall of Fame, and the deal didn’t sit very well with the fans. Both teams got a good year, bad year out of the players, who then went on to star for different clubs. Beckley spent seven years with Cincinnati and hit .325 over that span, cementing his HoF path, while Davis spent 16 of his last 17 seasons (he played 22 years) hitting .279 for the Philadelphia Athletics.

Jake Beckley via Hall of Fame

• 1917 - 1B George “Highpockets” Kelly was claimed by the Bucs in a waiver deal with the NY Giants. He got in eight games, and after the injured player he replaced (43 year old Honus Wagner) came back, he was returned to the Giants in another waiver deal. Kelly became a Hall-of-Fame player for NY, hitting .297 over 16 seasons. 
• 1921 - CF Marv Rackley was born in Seneca, South Carolina. Marv was bungee Bucco - the Brooklyn Dodgers sent him to Pittsburgh in 1949 for 1B Johnny Hopp. He got into 11 games and hit .314, but it ended up that he was damaged goods with a bum arm. The deal was voided and he went back to da Bums, who sold him to the Reds (with proper notice of the achy wing) in the off season. He played five games for them before being sent down, and he finished his career in the upper minors, retiring after the 1955 campaign. 
• 1925 - In a ho-hum 7-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field, Kiki Cuyler became the last Bucco to steal second, third and home in a game. 
• 1962 - RHP Doug Drabek was born in Victoria, Texas. He tossed six seasons (1987-92) in Pittsburgh with a line of 92-62/3.02. Drabek won the Cy Young in 1990 when he went 22-6, but oddly never made an All-Star team as a Pirate. Doug spent six seasons in the show after he left Pittsburgh following the 1992 season but never won more than a dozen games elsewhere. After he retired, he spent time at home and helping coach Little League ball. In 2010, he returned to pro ball as a pitching coach for Arizona, a position he still holds. 

Doug Drabek 1991 Score All Star

• 1967 - 1B/3B Ed Sprague was born in Castro Valley, California. Sprague spent one of his 11 major league campaigns in Pittsburgh, signing in 1999 for $1.3M, and it was a solid season. He became the Bucco starter, hitting .267 with 22 homers and made the only All-Star game of his career.He left for San Diego in 2000, with Aramis Ramirez slotted in at the hot corner for Pittsburgh. 2001 was his last big league year, and he became the head coach for the U. of Pacific Tigers from 2004-15. In 2016, Sprague joined Oakland as a special advisor and is their Coordinator of Instruction. 
• 1972 - The NL nosed the AL 4-3 at Atlanta Stadium in the All-Star game, kicking off an 11-game winning streak for the senior circuit. Manager Danny Murtaugh had a boatload of Bucs on his roster: P Steve Blass, OFs Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Al Oliver plus C Manny Sanguillen. Blass went an inning and gave up a run. Sangy went 1-for-2, Pops 0-for-1 with a walk, and Scoops went 0-for-1. The Great One didn’t get in the last of his 12 All-Star games; he was voted a starter, but was injured. He did have a pretty capable replacement, though - Hank Aaron played in his stead. 
• 1985 - OF Alex Presley was born in Monroe, Louisiana. Picked in the eighth round of the 2006 draft, he hit .261 as a yo-yo part of the Pirate roster between 2010-13, when he was traded to Minnesota as part of the Justin Morneau deal. He’s played for Houston, Milwaukee and Detroit since then.