9/5 Happenings: Maz Statue; Hans Card; Hopp Away; Olivo Debut; HBD Maz, Lefty, Chris, Andy, Hot Rod & Pablo

• 1883 - LHP Paul “Lefty” Leifield was born in Trenton, Illinois. From 1906 to 1911, Leifield was part of the Pirate starting rotation, winning 15 or more games each season. In 1909, he went 19-8 as Pittsburgh won the NL pennant. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 1912. Lefty was a Bucco for eight years from 1905-12, and his Pirate line was 109-84/2.38. In 1918, Leifield became a player-coach for the St. Louis Browns, turning full-time by 1920. Lefty helped lead the 1922 Browns squad to the best season in team history with 93 wins (still a game shy of the Yankees who won the flag). He also coached for the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. 

Maz 2002 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic

• 1936 - Bill Mazeroski was born in Wheeling, WV. The Hall-of-Fame second baseman was one of the defensive wizards of his time and will be remembered forever in Pittsburgh baseball lore for his walk-off homer in the 1960 World Series. Maz has two high school fields named in his honor, belongs to several HoF’s, had his number retired, has a statue & street at PNC Park and still goes to Pirates camp every spring as an instructor and keeper of the flame. 
• 1950 - The Bronx Bombers bought 1B Johnny Hopp‚ who was second in the NL in hitting with a .340 mark‚ from the Pirates for an undisclosed amount of cash. Hopp was at the end of his career, and after 1950 he played as a bench piece through the 1952 season. 
• 1960 - At the age of 41, LHP Diomedes Olivo made his MLB debut, pitching in relief of Harvey Haddix for the Pirates. The oldest rookie in NL history other than Satchel Paige tossed two goose eggs against Milwaukee at Forbes Field, giving up a hit to Eddie Matthews and a pair of walks. The Bucs lost 7-1, splitting a doubleheader with the Braves after chasing Warren Spahn in a 9-7 win earlier in the day. Diomedes was in the show until 1963 between the Pirates and Cardinals; his brother, Chi-Chi, also tossed in the big leagues. 
• 1960 - LHP Chris Green was born in Los Angeles. The Bucs’ 1979 fourth-round pick, his MLB stay consisted of four games with the 1984 Pirates, giving up two runs in three frames. The Kentucky pitcher had a problem with the bottle, and he was sent from 1985 spring training into rehab, then to AAA Hawaii. He spent 1986 in the Angels system and his last pro year in ‘87 was with the Oriole organization. 
• 1964 - Roberto Clemente was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Confidant Corsair.” Though the Pirates were a disappointing 80-82, Roberto led the NL with 211 hits and a .339 BA. 

• 1966 - Harry “The Hat” Walker’s mug graced the cover of Sports Illustrated for the story “Pittsburgh Pirates: Very Good to Excellent,” teased as "The High Price of a Pennant." It ended up they were just very good; they finished 92-70, three games behind the LA Dodgers. 
• 1974 - Coach Andy Barkett was born in Miami. The former 1B had a major league career of one month, spent in Pittsburgh (he did hit .305) in 2001. After a long tour of duty in the minors, Andy started coaching in the Marlins system in 2010, moved on to Detroit and then became the minor league hitting coach for the Pirates in 2016. He got the manager’s job at Indy when Dean Treanor left to become the Marlins bullpen coach in 2017. 
• 1975 - C Rod Barajas was born in Ontario, California. Rod played for a dozen seasons, closing out his career in 2012 in Pittsburgh. He hit .206 in 104 games and surrendered 93 stolen sacks in 99 tries after signing a $4M FA contract at age 36. Hot Rod was released by Arizona in camp the following season, took a year off and has been managing in the Padres system since. 
• 1991 - While presenting her Six-Year Development Plan address, Mayor Sophie Masloff said that the City would like to build a 44,000 seat baseball stadium “...so we will finish the job of securing the Pirates’ future in this City.” She planned to locate it on the North Shore, to be ready by the turn of the century, and wanted to call it Clemente Field. She may not have got all the details right, but became the prime mover, often against stiff opposition, for the eventual building of PNC Park, pushed through by her successor, Mayor Tom Murphy. 

Clemente Field (Post Gazette September 6, 1991)

• 1993 - Utilityman Pablo Reyes was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. After batting .289 at Indianapolis in 2018, he was among the first wave of call-ups. He’s one of the Swiss Army knife-type players the Pirates value, having played both middle infield positions and the outfield for the Tribe. He got his first MLB start on September 4th, one day shy of his 25th birthday and collected two hits, including his first MLB knock. .
•  2007 - A 1909 T206 American Tobacco baseball card of Honus Wagner was sold for a record $2.8M to an anonymous buyer. The card is such a rarity because Wagner refused to license his image to the tobacco company, and only between 50-200 of the cards were ever printed. 
• 2010 - Bill Mazeroski’s statue was dedicated at PNC Park outside the RF gate, located on Mazeroski Way (it was renamed on this day, switching from its original Avenue of the Pirates designation) and unveiled on his 74th birthday. Pittsburgh sculptor Susan Wagner created the likeness. Susan also molded the Clemente and Stargell monuments for PNC Park.