12/7 Through the 1910’s: Sugden Deal; HBD Deacon, Bobby, Tony, Long John & Vinnie

• 1847 - 3B James “Deacon” White (who played every position except center field) was born in Caton, New York, and learned the game per baseball lore from a soldier returning home after the Civil War. He spent the next-to-last campaign of his 10-team, 20-year career with the Alleghenys in 1889, hitting .253 as a 42-year-old and playing the corner infield positions. He managed briefly after he retired; as one would expect from a man named Deacon (he actually was a clean-living church deacon), he and his wife were closely associated with the Christian school Mendota (now Aurora) College after his baseball days. White entered the Hall of Fame in 2013. 

Deacon 1888 (photo Tomlinson/Spaulding Collection, NY Public Library)

• 1886 - C Bobby Schang was born in Wales Center, New York. Bobby spent 1914-15 with the Bucs, hitting .194. He was nothing if not persistent - he toiled in the minors for the next 12 years before getting five more MLB at-bats as a Cardinal at the age of 40 in 1927. He was the brother of catching great Wally Schang, who had a 19-year big league gig. 
• 1897 - The Pirates traded C Joe Sugden to the St. Louis Browns for C Morgan Murphy. Sugden would play for six more years, batting .243 over that span, while Murphy played five games for Pittsburgh before being released. He did get small nips of the apple in Philly, playing three years and getting into 45 games with a .220 BA. 
• 1906 - 2B Tony Piet (Pietruszka) was born in Berwick, PA. Tony started his career with the Bucs, playing from 1931-33 and hitting a solid .298. He was traded in 1934 as part of the Red Lucas deal after he led the NL in games played in 1932 with 154. Name game: his son told UPI that “He changed his name to Piet because Pietruszka wouldn't fit on the scoreboard in Pittsburgh.” 
• 1915 - LHP Johnny Gee was born in Syracuse. In August 1939, the top minor league prospect was purchased by the Pirates for $75,000 and four players, the highest price paid by the Bucs for a player until the purchase of Hank Greenberg in 1947. Nicknamed “Gee Whiz,” he lasted parts of four seasons (1939, 1941, 1943-44) with the Bucs, winning five games. Also known as “Long John” (the bonus baby was also called the “$75,000 Lemon”), he never recovered his form after a 1940 arm injury. Gee was the tallest person at 6’9” to play MLB until 6’10” Randy Johnson debuted for the Montreal Expos in September, 1988. Not too surprisingly, he also went on to play pro hoops for the NBA Syracuse Nationals; he had been captain of his Michigan roundball squad. 

Johnny Gee 1942 (photo via Out of the Park Developments)

• 1915 - C Vinnie Smith was born in Richmond. Smith’s career was defined by WW2; his rookie campaign was in 1941 and then he was drafted into the Navy. He returned to the Pirates in 1946 and played in a handful of games (he hit .259 over the two seasons) before being relegated to the minors afterward. Smith got a taste of umpiring on the farm when a crew couldn’t get to the game, so the players had to police themselves and he found it to his liking. He began as an arbitrator after he hung up his spikes in 1954 and returned to the majors in that role in 1957. Smith became part of Pirates history while in blue: he was behind the plate on May 26th, 1959 when Harvey Haddix threw his 12 perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves.