12/17 From 1960: Rogers Deal; King, Ward, Schourek & Correia Inked; HBD Steve & Larry

• 1967 - RHP Steve Parris was born in Joliet, Illinois. Steve started his eight-year MLB run in Pittsburgh between 1995-96 with a 6-9/5.82 slash as a starter. After a year in the minors, he tossed three solid seasons with the Reds and three not-so-solid seasons with Toronto and Tampa Bay. 

Steve Parris 1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice

• 1980 - Scout & suit Larry Broadway was born in Miami. The Montréal Expos chose him from Duke in the 3rd round (77th overall) of the 2002 draft. Larry got to AAA and had a couple of good years but was up-and-down after a 2005 knee injury. He never got a chance in the show, and Broadway signed with the Pirates for 2009 to play at Indy. He lost his batting eye and even tried pitching but retired and became a scout with the Bucs in 2010. As of the 2014 season, he was Pittsburgh's Director of Minor League Operations. 
• 1993 - 3B Jeff King avoided arbitration by signing a one year/$2.4M contract. He lost an arbitration hearing the previous year, asking for $2M but being awarded $675K. He hit cleanup during the season, batting .295 with 9 HR and 98 RBI to earn the pay bump. 
• 1997 - OF Turner Ward was signed to a two-year/$1.6M contract after hitting .353 off the bench during the season. Ward earned the money when he turned in a highlight-reel play in the ‘98 campaign when he crashed through the wall at TRS. He batted .262 in 1998 and was released in August of 1999 after posting a .209 BA. He rebounded to have a great season with Arizona to help them win the NL West, then played two more years before retiring after 2001. In all, he had 12 big league years with a .251 career BA. 
• 1998 - The Pirates signed free agent LHP Pete Schourek to a two-year/$4M contract after he went 8-9/4.43 for Houston and Boston. He was the Cy Young runner-up to Greg Maddux in 1995 after going 18-7 for the Reds, but various injuries limited his effectiveness, and he never won more than eight games after that breakout ‘95 season. It didn’t get better; he went 4-7/5.34 for the Bucs and was released at the start of the 2000 season, with Pittsburgh eating $2M of his deal. He went on to win four more games for Boston over the next two years, ending his 11-year MLB career after the 2001 season. 

Pete Schourek (photo Vincent Laforet/Getty)

• 2010 - RHP Kevin Correia signed as a FA with Pittsburgh, agreeing to a two year/$8M deal. In those two seasons, he would post a line of 24-22/4.49 before joining the Twins after losing his spot in the rotation to Wandy Rodriguez. He started 54 games, appeared 59 times, represented the Pirates at the 2011 All-Star Game and was the Opening Day pitcher that same season. KC worked for three more teams afterward, retiring after the 2015 season. 
• 2015 - The Pirates sent CF Keon Broxton and RHP Trey Supak to the Milwaukee Brewers for 1B Jason Rogers. The speedy Broxton is an on-again, off-again major leaguer with a great glove and some power while Supak is on the Brew Crew’s 40-man roster. Roger’s 2016 MLB chance was effectively blocked when the Bucs later signed David Freese; Jason got just 33 PAs and hit .080 for the Bucs in 2016, went to Japan in 2017 and played indie ball as a 30-year-old last season.