12/12 Through the 1910’s: Konetchy Deal; Jack Sold; HBD Phenomenal, Diamond Joe, Mike, Hank & Clyde

• 1864 - LHP John “Phenomenal” Smith was born in Philadelphia. He had a couple of brief stops in Pittsburgh in 1884 & 1890, compiling a 1-4 record. He was actually born John Francis Gammon, but got his nickname when he struck out 16 batters in a no-hit game in 1885 while pitching for minor league Newark, with no batter hitting the ball out of the infield. Only two runners reached base, one on a walk and one on a dropped third strike – and Smith picked both of them off. 

Phenomenal Smith 1888 Old Judge

• 1876 - OF “Diamond Joe” Rickert was born in London, Ohio. Joe played long and hard in the minors, from 1896-1915. Pittsburgh noticed him in 1898 when he was a 21-year-old playing for the New Castle Quakers of the Interstate League and gave him a look. He went 1-for-6 in two games. He didn’t impress the Bucs nor the Boston Beaneaters in a later 1901 audition of 16 games. Diamond Joe did put his years of baseball knowledge to use, managing the New Orleans Pelicans and the University of Tulane. 
• 1879 - OF Mike Mitchell was born in Springfield, Ohio. Mike was known for his speed and strong arm, leading the NL in triples and outfield assists early in his career, and played for eight years in the show, closing out in 1913-14 with the Pirates. He hit .250 in a pair of half seasons, being claimed in 1913 off waivers from the Cubs and then lost midway through the next season when he was sold to the Senators. Mitchell retired in 1915 rather than report to the Yankees which had purchased his contract. 
• 1899 - The Pirates sold OF’er Jack McCarthy to the Chicago Orphans for $2,000. McCarthy hit .276 for Cincy in his first two campaigns and .286 as a Pirate from 1898-99. After being sold, he put in eight more big league seasons, finishing his 12-year career with a .287 BA.
• 1913 - The Pirates traded P Hank Robinson, OF’ers Chief Wilson & Cozy Dolan and IF’ers Art Butler & Dots Miller to the St Louis Cardinals for P Bob Harmon, 1B Ed Konetchy and 3B Mike Mowrey. The Cards got two or three good seasons out of their new acquisitions, but the Bucs weren’t so lucky. Harmon was keeper, tossing for four seasons and going 39-52 with a 2.60 ERA. But Konetchy and Mowrey both had so-so 1914 seasons for the Pirates, skipped to the outlaw Federal League’s Pittsburgh Rebels in 1915 and then were signed by different clubs in 1916. The deal was a heartbreaker in Pittsburgh; they had been trying to get Konetchy for years, and it was said that manager Fred Clarke even dangled an aging Hans Wagner as bait to get him, but it ended up a one-and-done deal. The trigger - Konetchy wanted a three-year, $7,500/season contract even after a sub-par .249 campaign (he hit .285 in his remaining seven big league years) and Barney Dreyfuss balked. 

Ed Konetchy 1915 Cracker Jack

• 1914 - C Hank (Comolli) Camelli was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Hank spent 1943-46 with the Bucs and during that time he got into 108 games, hitting .229. He finished his big-league time with the Boston Braves and did a spot of minor-league coaching, too. 
• 1917 - C Clyde Kluttz was born in Rockwell, North Carolina. Clyde spent 1947-48 with the Pirates with a .258 BA, hitting well in his first season and not so well in the next. He had a nine-year career in the show, afterward becoming a longtime scout with the Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees. He was later director of player development of the Baltimore Orioles, serving the Birds from 1976 until he passed away three years later.