8/7 From the 30’s Through the 70’s: Willie Signed; FF Fire; Roberto Show; Sothern Deal; RIP Wilbur; HBD Tyler, Steve, Jim & Jerry

• 1930 - The Pirates traded Fred Brickell to the Phillies for Denny Sothern in a swap of not-ready-for-prime-time outfielders. Sothern played 17 games for Pittsburgh and hit .176 while Brickell at least remained useful as a bench player for Philly, hitting .258 in 236 games over four campaigns. 
• 1936 - C Jerry McNertney was born in Boone, Iowa. He finished a nine-year MLB career with the Pirates in 1973, playing nine games, mostly as a defensive sub, and going 1-for-4 at the dish. The Iowa State product was later a bullpen and minor league coach with the Yankees and a Bosox coach. 

• 1951 - RHP Jim Sadowski was born in Lawrenceville. A nephew of the local MLB clan of Ed, Ted and Bob Sadowski, he played for Central Catholic HS. Ed signed with the Pirates in 1969 and while not as successful as his uncles, he did get into four games with Pittsburgh in 1974, going 0-1, 6.00 in nine innings of work. He spent a decade on the farm, playing in the Pirates, Kansas City Royals and Cincinnati Reds systems. Jim’s now a financial consultant. 
• 1954 - OF Steve Kemp was born in San Angelo, Texas. He played for the 1985-86 Pirates and hit .246 before being released in early ‘86. He joined the club as part of the deal that brought Tim Foli back to Pittsburgh during the 1984 off season. After a stint in the Senior Baseball League, Kemp has coached at the amateur level and is a regular at Tigers fantasy camps, but is otherwise merrily retired.  
• 1958 - The Pirates signed Willie Stargell as a free agent out of Encinal HS in Alameda, California. Pirate scout Bob Zuk got the 17-year old’s name on a contract for a very well spent $1,500 bonus, quite a bargain for a Hall of Famer who belted 475 HR and chased home 1,540 runners. 
• 1962 - Forbes Field, which was plagued by a pair of fires after its closing in 1970, also had blaze delay on this day, stopping the Pirates-Cardinals game for 26 minutes when some materials stored under the right field seats burst into flames during the seventh inning. Some 200 fans had to be moved, but the fire was contained to the storage area and didn’t cause any damage to the stands. A fire needed to be lit under the Buccos instead of the faithful as Pittsburgh went up in smoke, 5-0, to Saint Louis. 

Roberto Clemente 1966 Topps

• 1966 - Roberto Clemente put on a one man show at Forbes Field with four hits, two homers and five RBI, but it wasn’t enough in a 9-7 loss to the Reds. Clemente had a chance to win the game in the ninth with two on and two out, but his flare to center was run down. 
• 1973 - RHP Wilbur Cooper passed away at the age of 81. Wilbur tossed for 13 years (1912-24) for Pittsburgh, slashing 202-159/2.74 and winning twenty or more games four times. He’s the only pitcher to win 200+ games as a Pirate and is second in career IP with 3,199, behind only Bob Friend, & also in games pitched with 469, also trailing Friend. 
• 1977 - RHP Tyler Yates was born in Lihue, Hawaii. He pitched for the Bucs from 2008-09 after coming over in a deal with the Braves. The reliever went 6-5-1, 5.06 in 87 appearances over that span, but 2009 was his swan song as he underwent a second TJ surgery and never made it back to the show.