1/31 From 1960: Jackie-Ryan, Zamora-Smoker Deals; Pud, Jake, Joe, Al HoF; Bonds, Supe, Backman, Ribant, Mahomes Signed

• 1965 - RHP Pud “Gentle Jeems” Galvin was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee and was the lone HOF selection that year. Galvin earned 20 victories ten times in 15 seasons and in his career took home 365 wins. He tossed for both the Alleghenys and Pirates from 1885-1892, winning 138 games and notching four 20+ win years for Pittsburgh. He was inducted on July 26th. 

Dennis Ribant 1967 Topps

• 1967 - RHP Dennis Ribant, who the Pirates had just gotten from the Mets in the offseason for Don Cardwell, signed his contract for $20,000. The Pirates had high hopes for the 25-year-old after he went 11-9/3.20, for NY, and Ribant said at the signing that “I hope I can win 15 games” in the coming season. Eh, a little off-target: he won nine with a 4.08 ERA and was sent to Detroit for Dave Wickersham after the year. Ribant was switched to full-time reliever there, but lasted just two more seasons in the show, spending the last four years of his career in AAA. 
• 1971 - The Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee selected two Bucs from the early days to the Hall, 1B Jake Beckley and OF Joe Kelley. Beckley played for the Alleghenys, Burghers and Pirates from 1888-96, hitting .300. He banged a modest 43 HR, but legged out 113 triples in that span. Kelley got a cup of coffee with Pittsburgh in 1892, hitting just .239. The Pirates dumped him, and he went on to have a dozen consecutive .300+ seasons beginning the following year, playing mostly for the Baltimore Orioles. They were inducted on August 9th. 
• 1974 - The Pirates traded SS Jackie Hernandez to the Phils for C Mike Ryan. Hernandez was released by Philadelphia in April and was re-signed by the Bucs, spending a year in the minors before closing out his career with a couple of seasons in the Mexican League. Ryan was little used, going 3-for-30 in Pittsburgh, then spending two seasons on the farm before tossing the mask for the last time. Mike (not to be mistaken for the Altoona manager of the same name, who was an OF’er) managed a little for the Bucs and then went on to a two-decade coaching run with Philadelphia. 

Al Lopez 1942 Play Ball

• 1977 - The Special Veterans Committee selected C Al Lopez for the Hall of Fame. Lopez caught for Pittsburgh from 1940-46, hitting a modest .254. But he was best known for his glove and ability to handle a staff, going on to manage the Indians and White Sox when his playing days ended. He was inducted on August 9th. 
• 1990 - The Pirates signed 30-year-old IF Wally Backman to a $600K free agent deal (they also had to compensate the Twins, his former club, with a second-round draft pick) to help ease Jeff King’s load at third base. He filled the bill, starting 68 times at the hot corner and hitting .292 during the campaign in his last solid MLB season; he even started with a bang when he collected six hits during a nine-inning game in late April. Wally went to Philly in the off-season and hit .243, finishing out his playing career after the 1993 campaign and beginning a stormy second life as manager. 
• 1992 - The Pirates signed OF Barry Bonds to a one-year contract worth $4.7M‚ the largest one-year deal in baseball history at the time. Bonds won his second MVP trophy and the Bucs won their division, so it was money well spent. His next contract was with the SF Giants, and it was another record-breaker at seven years/$43M. 
• 2003 - Free agent RHP Jeff Suppan was signed to a $500K deal. After a solid summer (10-7/3.57), he was flipped to the Red Sox at the deadline as part of the Freddy Sanchez/Mike Gonzalez deal. Steady Freddy was a Pirate All-Star while Gonzo eventually became the closer. “Supe” went on to toss for eight more seasons, capping a 17-year MLB career in 2012. He’s a KC Royals minor-league pitching coach now. The Pirates also inked RHP Pat Mahomes to a minor-league contract. He was called up twice from AAA Nashville during the season, got into nine games (one start) and slashed 0-1/4.88 in his last MLB outings. 

Jeff Suppan 2003 Upper Deck 40-Man

• 2018 - The Pirates sent minor league lefty Daniel Zamora to the New York Mets for LHP Josh Smoker. They might have been better off to let things be - Zamora went 2-1-1/3.99 for NY with 31 K in 30 IP while Smoker was waived after giving up seven runs in 5-2/3 IP while striking out two, walking five and giving up a pair of homers.