Bucs Take Advantage of Red Gifts, Strong Outings by Willy & Big Joe To Roll Over Cincy 5-0

The first started off with the Pirates being gifted a run; Sonny Gray missed a Joey Votto flip to first, allowing Starling to reach. Marte stole second and came in on J-Bell's two-out rap. The Bucs almost had a big frame in the second. A Melky rap opened it, a grounder moved him up and Willy knocked him home. Another rap and walk loaded 'em up, but the Reds turned a 1-2-3 DP on Corey-D's comebacker, stopped by Sonny's wicket, to escape relatively unscathed. The Bucs used three walks - one with the bases loaded and two outs to Willy - to add a third tally and chase Gray. It went quietly through the sixth; the Reds have posted three singles, a walk and six K off Williams so far as he picked up from where he left off last year. Good thing he was sharp; despite six singles, seven walks, a HBP and two Reds boot, the Pirates had left 11 stranded runners to allow Cincy a heartbeat.

Willy kept it going (photo Pittsburgh Pirates) 

That was it for Willy after 80 pitches on a cold day. Pittsburgh went quietly in the seventh, then Big Joe Musgrove got some work in by tossing a 1-2-3 inning. A bunt single by Fraze and throwing error on the play to begin the eighth set up the Bucs fourth run when Starling doubled Frazier home. Marte later touched the dish after a misplayed pickoff try moved him up and Corey D's right side bouncer chased him in to make it 5-0. Joe tossed another clean frame. The Bucs blew another shot in the ninth, with JHK at third, Redbeard at first and an out when Erik Gonzalez rolled into a 6-4-3 DP. Felipe came in to close just to get some work in. He got plenty of that, working 2/3 IP, giving up a double and walk during a 25-pitch outing. Kela Keone got the wave and punched out Matt Kemp, preserving the shutout and win as the Bucs raised the Jolly Roger for the first time in 2019.

When the opponent is sloppy - four errors, seven walks, one bopped batter - you'd like to see the scoreboard spin a little more. We'd hope for a little less base-at-a-time attack and more muscle in the future, but with the way Willy and Big Joe were tossing, it was plenty enough offense today. Now off to welcome the Cards to Pittsburgh.

Notes:

• Fraze and Melky had two knocks and five other Pirates had a knock and a walk; every Bucco reached base. Of the five runs, four Pirates had RBI and four more scored (Williams had two RBI, Marte two runs scored).
• Pirates pitchers allowed just six Reds runners; two reached third.
• Fraze apparently was hopin' for some sun in chilly Cincinnati; he started the game wearing a jersey with the Florida spring training patch on the sleeve. By the next inning, the light went on and he swapped it out for a regular season shirt with the Bucco logo. Mother Nature refused to fall for Adam's ploy; the game was played in the thirties, brrrr.

Willy and Sonny One More Time, Lineup & Notes - Rotation Rotated

Game: The game at GABP starts at 1:10 and will be carried by AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan. It'll be windy (14 MPH) and cold (39 degrees) in Cincy, but it will be dry. Random factoid: Today's game will be the 10th at GABP to start while the temp was in the 30's; six of those games involved the Pirates (s/o Rob Biertempfel/The Athletic)

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte CF, Corey Dickerson LF, Josh Bell 1B, Fran Cervelli C, Jung Ho Kang 3B, Melky Cabrera RF, Eric Gonzalez SS, Trevor Williams P.

And batting leadoff... 2019 Topps Living series

Pitchers: Righties Willy and Sonny Gray are back at it. Williams wants to good times to keep rollin' while Gray is looking to turn the page. Trevor was 2-0/1.50 in his two starts against the Redlegs in 2018, while Sonny hasn't worked against the Bucs since 2016.

Notes:

• No game yesterday; the MLB might want to reconsider early opening dates in the east a little bit; this was the third season in a row the club has banged a game due to weather during its opening series. The lost date is now part of a Memorial Day day-night doubleheader on May 27th. 
• The rotation order will now be Willy, Archie, Jamo, Jordan Lyles and Joe Musgrove, who was pushed back to Friday, thx to the rainout and Lyles' Thursday return. Big Joe will be available from the pen today because of the rearranged schedule.
• The Pirates sent RHP Aaron Slegers, recently DFA'ed, to Tampa Bay for cash. 
• Yesterday, Josh Hader of the Brewers tossed an immaculate inning against the Cards, striking out the side on nine pitches, while Dodger C Russ Martin, called to the hill during a blowout (LA beat the D-Backs 18-5), tossed a 1-2-3 frame.

3/31 Through the 1980’s: Bielecki, DiMaggio Dealt; Robby, Tenace Released; RIP Billy; HBD Fred, Chick, Tom & Skeeter

• 1886 - OF Fred Kommers was born in Chicago. He debuted with the Bucs in 1913, hitting .233 in 40 games. He jumped to the Federal League the following season, and though he hit better as a Fed than he did in the NL, it didn’t do much to advance his baseball career - it would be his last major league campaign. 
• 1887 - RHP Chester “Chick” Brandom was born in Coldwater, Kansas. Chick tossed from 1908-09 for the Bucs, getting into 16 games and going 2-0-3 with a 0.94 ERA. The Bucs were loaded back then, and he was sent back to the minors despite that shiny albeit small performance sample. But he may have a greater claim than his Bucco stint. A 1908 picture of Chick shows him delivering a knuckleball and if the date is right, that would make him the first known practitioner of that pitch, predating guys like Eddie Cicotte.

Chick Brandom 1909 (Conlon Collection/Detroit Public Library)

• 1894 - RHP Tom Sheehan was born in Grand Ridge, Illinois. Tom pitched the final two years of a MLB career that began in 1915 for the Pirates (1925-26; 1-3-2/4.08). He embarked on a long march as a baseball lifer after his playing days. Sheehan coached for the Reds and Braves, then spent many years as a minor league manager/ scout in the Giants system. In 1960, at age 66, he succeeded the fired Bill Rigney as the Giants skipper, becoming the oldest person to make his debut as a big-league manager. That gig didn’t work out, and after the campaign he was once again assigned to scouting.
• 1895 - OF Carson “Skeeter” Bigbee was born. He played eleven years for Pittsburgh, his only MLB club, from 1916-26, and hit .287 lifetime. His best seasons were 1921-22, when he batted .323 and .350. He banged out 419 hits over that span, scored 213 runs and led the NL in singles both years. Bigbee stole 182 bases in his career, which earned him his “Skeeter” nickname. Bigbee was part of the 1926 “ABC Affair” when he, Babe Adams and Max Carey beefed about team suit Fred Clarke being in the dugout during games and overruling manager Bill McKechnie; all three were on the downside of their careers and got their walking papers as a result. 
• 1945 - The Pirates traded OF Vince DiMaggio, a two-time All-Star, to the Philadelphia Phillies for P Al “Lefty” Gerheauser. Both were near the end of their playing days; DiMaggio hung up the spikes after the ‘46 season and Gerheauser won just seven more games in three years as the Pirates converted him from a starter to the pen. 

Vince DiMaggio 1941 (photo Bettman/Getty)

• 1957 - Ex-manager Billy Meyer died at age 64 of kidney and heart problems in Knoxville, having never truly recovered from a stroke suffered two years earlier. He had a long minor league career with a brief taste of the bigs and was a long time farm skipper before he got the call to manage the Bucs in 1948. He piloted the team to fourth place finish that season (Meyer won The Sporting News Manager of the Year award for that 83-win feat), but was stuck with a roster of Ralph Kiner and Rickey-Dinks, compiling a 317-452 record over five years. He resigned as skipper after the 112-loss 1952 campaign and spent the next three campaigns as a minor league rover/scout for Pittsburgh before his stroke. His #1 was retired by the Pirates in 1954, more as a matter of respect and affection for Billy than accomplishment. 
• 1977 - After nine years as a Bucco, the Pirates released 1B Bob Robertson, who had been reduced to part-time status following 1974 knee surgery and then hurt his back in camp. He filed a grievance with the MLBPA to get his full year’s salary because he was let go while injured; it was settled when the Bucs paid him the entire $50K due for 1977. In 1971, the Mount Savage Strongboy became the first player to hit TRS’s upper deck in left center, then enjoyed a monster postseason, but he slumped badly after that campaign before his knees gave out. He retired after being released by Toronto in June of 1979. 
• 1984 - C Gene Tenace ended his 15-year career when he was released by the Pirates in spring training after batting .177 for the Bucs in 1983 as a 36-year old. Tenace had a great eye and was an OBP machine. His BA was just .241, but he had a .388 OBP for his career and drew nearly 1,000 walks. Even in his last season with the Bucs, he had more walks than hits. 

Gene Tenace 1984 Fleer

• 1988 - The Chicago Cubs traded minor league LHP Mike Curtis to the Pirates for RHP Mike Bielecki. Bielecki turned into a workmanlike journeyman pitcher, working 14 years in MLB (although he did have one big season for the Cubs, going 18-7/3.14 in 1989) while Curtis never got out of AAA, ending his career as an indie league pitcher.

3/31 From 1990: Opening Days; PNC's First Match; Bell Released; Torres & Young Sign

• 1997 - The Pirates lured FA 1B Kevin Young back to Pittsburgh from KC with a $400K contract. He would sign two more deals with the Bucs worth $28M over the following six seasons before retiring after the 2003 campaign. The 1B hit .259 over 11 years with the Pirates and is back with the club as a special instructor. 

KY 1998 Score

• 2001 - PNC Park hosted its first MLB baseball game when the Pirates and Mets played an exhibition. The game was a sellout as NY won, 4-3. The Mets won the next day’s spring game too, 3-2, notable mainly because Aramis Ramirez hit the first HR in the park’s history. 
• 2002 - “Operation Shutdown” OF Derek Bell was released, with the Pirates eating $4.5M in guaranteed money, after Bell told the media that he would sail into the sunset on his yacht rather than be forced to compete for a starting spot. In the first year of his deal, he was nagged by injuries and hit .173 in 46 games, which to many seemed a good enough reason to open the competition. His voyage as a ballplayer was scuttled after he hoisted his anchor: he never appeared in another MLB game. As Mark Madden of the Post Gazette wrote “Derek Bell becomes the ultimate Pirate: Lives on a boat and steals money.” 
• 2003 - Pittsburgh helped the Reds christen Great American Ballpark. President George Bush tossed out the first ball in front of 42,000+ fans, but Cincy played second banana for the yard’s opening act. The Bucs spoiled the party by a 10-1 score, behind homers from Reggie Sanders, Kenny Lofton and Jason Kendall, all launched during a six-run second inning. Kris Benson got the win. 
• 2006 - RHP Salomon Torres agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $6.5M pending a physical, extending his current deal through 2008. He worked 94 games in 2006 (3-6-12/3.28), but after a subpar 2007 campaign, he was shipped to Milwaukee for Marino Salas and minor leaguer Kevin Roberts. Torres considered retirement over relocation, but did join the Brewers, worked the season and then hung up his mitt. 

Xavier Nady 2008 Topps Heritage

• 2008 - In an Opening Day shootout at Turner Field, the Bucs beat the Braves 12-11 in 12 innings. Damaso Marte and Matt Capps blew a 9-4 ninth inning lead, capped by a fly ball dropping between LF Jason Bay and CF Nate McLouth with two outs to tie the score. Pittsburgh reclaimed the lead in the top of the 12th on a Xavier Nady three-run bomb, but Atlanta almost tied it again with two runs in their half before Franquelis Osario nailed down the save. The X-Man had four hits while McLouth, Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Doumit had three to prime a 17-hit attack. 
• 2014 - Neil Walker blasted a tenth inning, 3-2 changeup from Carlos Villanueva deep over the Clemente Wall to give the Bucs and Bryan Morris a 1-0 Opening Day win over the Cubs at PNC Park. Francisco Liriano and Jeff Samardzija started the game, leaving it for the bullpens to decide. It also marked the first use of expanded replay, which had been rolled out in the Arizona Fall League, when Cubs manager Rick Renteria challenged a double play in the top of fifth inning. (The original call on the field of out at first was confirmed).

Willy v Sonny Gray, Lineup & Notes

Game: Round Two begins at 2:10 EDT from GABP and will be on AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. The weatherman may not cooperate; Cincy is supposed to get an inch of rain today.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte CF, Corey Dickerson LF, Josh Bell 1B, Fran Cervelli C, Jung Ho Kang 3B, Melky Cabrera RF, Erik Gonzalez SS, Trevor Williams P. Nice to see Starling back in the lineup; it was pretty thin w/o him.

Willy toes the slab today (photo Dave Arrigo/Pittsburgh Pirates)

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams takes on RHP Sonny Gray. Everyone's hopping on the regression wagon re: Willy, and it is most improbable that he sizzles like he did during the second half of 2018 when he went 7-3/1.38 in his last 12 outings. But hey, if he settles into a solid #3 guy, yay team. We'll see if Sonny fares any better away from Yankee Stadium, his personal house of horrors. The Pirates were thought to be kicking his tires in the off season, as were several clubs, before the Reds swooped in.

Notes:

• Season starters: Erik Gonzalez, first hit; Jung Ho Kang, first RBI; Corey D, first homer. Go to the head of the class if you had Gonzalez for the year's first knock.
• The battered Bucs in Florida are in various stages of rehab. Gregory is playing minor league games, Jordan Lyles is set to toss a six-inning sim game, and the others are still in the early stages of recovery.
• The Pirates and Twins have the most international-born players, with 14 each on the 40-man roster. 11 of the Pittsburgh internationals are from the Dominican/Venezuela.
• The Pirates have always had players helping people. Corey Dickerson and his wife, Beth Anne, launched "Assists for Autism" initiative to support people with autism and their families. The Dickersons will donate $100 for every outfield assist recorded throughout the Majors in April, which is Autism Awareness Month, and also will donate $1,000 for every outfield assist recorded by the Pirates from May 1 until the end of the season.

3/30 Through the 1900’s: HBD Tom, George, Dutch, Ed, Hal, Happy & Ripper

• 1857 - IF/manager Tom Burns was born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. After spending the first 12 years of his career playing for Chicago clubs, he spent his final campaign as a player/manager of the Pirates in 1892. Though the team was considered a contender with two future Hall of Famers on the roster in Joe Kelley and Jake Beckley, it started slowly and after putting up a 25–30 record, Burns was axed in favor of Al Buckenberger (he led them them to a too-late 53-41 slate). Tom moved on to manage in the minors, spent a couple of seasons as the skipper of the Chicago Orphans and finished his baseball career in 1901 as a farm club boss. 
• 1866 - OF George Van Haltren was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He played briefly for the Pirates in 1892-93, hitting .325, but was deemed expendable because of a deep Pittsburgh outfield. A borderline HoF player, Van Haltren was sold to the New York Giants, where he spent the next decade putting up a .321 BA. He started his career as a pitcher, and in 1888 tossed a rain-shortened no-hitter against the Alleghenys. 

George Van Haltren 1909 (image by Harry Murphy/Sunday Oregonian)

• 1879 - Utilityman Arthur “Dutch” Meiers was born in St. Louis. A two-sport star at Princeton, Dutch spent just one year in the show, playing behind Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke in 1906. He hit a respectable .256 and got into 82 games. He earned his spot during the previous off-season when Meier showed his stuff by joining the team for exhibition and barnstorming games. After his Pittsburgh stint, he played for a variety of semi-pro clubs and served as baseball coach for his alma mater. And maybe even for his old team - it's speculated that Meier may have played a few more times with the Pirates under a number of assumed names since he appears in team pictures as late as the 1912 season. 
• 1897 - IF Ed Sicking was born in St. Bernard, Ohio. Ed spent four years in the show as a backup infielder for four different clubs, then spent six years with Indianapolis of the American Association. He opened the 1927 campaign with the Bucs, got into six games, going one-for-seven, and was sent back to Indy in early May. Though he didn’t leave much a mark in MLB, Sicking was a pro ball lifer, spending 17 years fielding hot shots (12 seasons in the AA) before retiring in 1933 at age 36 from Class B Keokuk. 
• 1899 - IF Hal Rhyne was born in Paso Robles, California. He began his career in Pittsburgh (1926-27), coming over with Paul Waner from the San Francisco Seals, and hit .258. He was a .250 batter in his seven MLB years and a minor league lifer, spending 20 years on various farm clubs. Rhyne came to the majors with a reputation as a hitter. The back of a 1926 photo carries a caption that claimed his “magnetic eyes” made a ball look twice as large as normal. He might have been better off with a magnetic bat instead, although he did finish with a .291 career BA on the farm, playing until he was 41. 

"Magnetic Eyes" 1926 (photo World Wide Sports/Conlon/Sporting News)

• 1899 - IF Bill “Happy/Gray Ghost” Evans was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He played semi-pro and indie league black ball from 1924 until the late 30s, with his longest stop in the pros being with the Homestead Grays from 1930-33. Happy played everywhere, mainly at short, second and the outfield, and was a dependable stick guy with one of the strongest arms in black baseball. He spent his last pro campaign in 1937 with Homestead’s crosstown rivals, the Pittsburgh Crawfords. He was called the Gray Ghost because of the his speed & defense and Happy due to his disposition. Evans is still in the news today, or at least his bloodline is - he’s the great-great uncle of Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s better half. 
• 1904 - 1B Jim “Ripper” Collins was born in Altoona. He made his name as a hard-hitting prankster of the Gas House Gang and spent his last MLB campaign as a Pirate in 1941 after taking a two-year hiatus in the PCL at Los Angeles. The Bucs brought him in to share some Elbie Fletcher’s workload at first, but at age 37 Collins’ best days were behind him and he batted just .211 in 49 games, mostly pinch-hitting. He stayed with the organization for several years as a player/manager at Class A Albany. Cort Vitty of SABR, citing The Sporting News, wrote “The nickname Ripper developed during an on-field incident that occurred when Jimmy was a young player. A ball rocketed off his bat and struck a nail protruding from the outfield fence; it caused the cover to partially tear. When asked who hit the ball, the retrieving outfielder saw the ball hanging and said, ‘It was the ripper.’”

3/30 From 1950: Wild Opener; Omar, Ross, Ricardo & Meadows Join; RIP Deacon; HBD Mike & Dan

• 1952 - Deacon Phillippe passed away. The righty tossed 12 seasons (1900-11) for the Bucs with a 168-92-11/2.50 line, winning 20 games six times and never suffering through a losing season. He won three World Series games against Boston in 1903, beating Cy Young in the opener and tossing five complete games. Toward the end of his career, he worked six shutout innings in the 1909 Series against Detroit. In 1969, Pirates fans voted him as Pittsburgh's top all-time right-handed pitcher. 
• 1969 - Panamanian OF Omar Moreno was signed by the Pirates’ Howie Haak as a 16-year-old amateur free agent. Moreno, who was with the Pirates from 1975-82, led the 1979 World Series club in runs and hits. The speedster, known as The Antelope, set the single-season Pirates record for stolen bases with 96 in 1980, and his 412 steals with the team ranks third overall behind Max Carey and Honus Wagner. 

The Antelope 1981 Topps

• 1979 - LHP Mike Johnston was born in Philadelphia. A 20th round pick in the 1998 draft, he made his big league debut on April 7th, 2004, along with fellow farmhand Jose Castillo against the Phils; Mike got his first whiff and Jose his first hit. Johnston made it until June with the big club, being sent down after going 0-3/4.37. He made one more appearance in 2005 and that was his last MLB outing. He tore his labrum in 2006 at Indianapolis, missed 2007-08 and was released by the White Sox in 2009. Mike gave indie ball a final shot at age 33 in 2012 to close his career. 
• 1985 - LHP Dan Runzler was born in Santa Monica, California. He signed with the Bucs for the 2017 season and was a September call up, getting in eight games with no decisions and a 4.50 ERA after spending the summer at Indy. That was his last MLB duty; he’s been with Tampa, Boston and in the indie leagues since. 
• 1997 - The Pirates purchased LHP Ricardo Rincon from the Mexico City Reds. In 1997-98, he went 4-10-18/3.17 for the Bucs and was then traded to Cleveland for Brian Giles in one of Pittsburgh’s better baseball deals. He’ll be remembered here for combining with Francisco Cordoba on a 10-inning 1997 no-hitter. Ricardo played on the Mexican WBC teams in 2006 & 2009, retiring from the Mexican League in 2012. 
• 2002 - RHP Brian Meadows signed as a minor league free agent with the Pirates. He was called up mid-season and lasted four years with the club, converting from a starter to a reliever who made 133 appearances in his last two seasons with Pittsburgh. Meadows went 8-12-2 with a 4.20 ERA from 2002-05. He lasted one more year with Tampa Bay before retiring. 

Brian Meadows 2005 Fleer Tradition

• 2005 - The Bucs bought C David Ross from the Dodgers. Ross got into 40 games (35 behind the dish) and hit .222. It was fairly early in his 15-year career and he was just 28, but that made him the graybeard, behind 26-year-old Humberto Cota & a pair of 24-year-old up-and-comers, Ryan Doumit and Ronny Paulino. Ross was sent to San Diego at the deadline for SS JJ Furmaniak to help break the logjam. 
• 2018 - In their earliest-ever season opener (and it started even sooner the next year), the Pirates see-sawed to a 13-10 win over the Tigers at Comerica Park. Ivan Nova twice worked out of bases-loaded, no-out jams, but relievers Michael Feliz and Felipe Rivero were bashed for four runs each, Feliz in 2/3 IP and Rivero failing to get an out in the ninth, blowing a 10-6 lead and sending the game into extra innings. Josh Smoker and game-winner Steven Brault held off Motown until Gregory Polanco bashed a three-run homer in the 13th, set up by two-out singles by Adam Frazier and Josh Harrison. Frazier, Polanco and Josh Bell each had three hits; Harrison, Starling Marte and Fran Cervelli collected a pair of raps. El Coffee had four RBI while Bell and Cervy each knocked home three. Harrison and Polanco scored three times apiece. It was, unsurprisingly, the longest Opener in Bucco history, lasting five hours and 27 minutes.

Pirates: Roster Ripples, Notes

One thing that struck us watching the Pirates play yesterday is the transitional nature of this club. The Opening Day lineup is likely to have three guys returning in April - Jordan Lyles, Elias Diaz, and Gregory Polanco, with Lonnie Chisenhall due back in May.

After that small wave, performance (and likely service time) will determine the timetable for the Indy gang who are knocking on the door - Ke'Bryan Hayes, Cole Tucker, Kevin Kramer, Bryan Reynolds, Jason Martin, Will Craig, Mitch Keller, JT Brubaker and the gang during the last year of the 40-man September roster. They'll be followed in 2020 by Chad Kuhl and Edgar Santana, rehabbing from TJ surgery now.

Last year's team ain't this year's team ain't next year's team... (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

We're hard pressed to recall an team that was already in flux starting the year with so much potential shake 'n' bake left down the road. That makes for a multi-textured season as beside the ballgames, there will be some sidebars in play - guys playing for a spot in 2020, players the Buc FO will move/allow to walk during/after the season (the team only has four guys w/contracts for '20; Cervy & Corey D walk this year) to open some spots and maybe get a little value back, and at what point of the season will the transition will begin.

Enjoy the season; not only the games but the games within the game should make it interesting.

Notes:

• Some Pirates felt that the big hit of the sixth, Jose Iglesias' double over the bag, was foul. It may have been; it was a close call either way but Jamo said he "wouldn't lose any sleep" over it or the game and spoke well of the 2019 Reds team.
• Yesterday's loss snapped Jamo's 22-game streak of giving up three earned runs or fewer.
• Zach Duke got the win; he's 3-0/0.90 in 18 outings against his old mateys.
• Cincy's Michael Lorenzen has switched from the rubber to the pasture; the Reds used him as a pinch runner yesterday and he played some center field.
• BTW, Commish Rob Manfred's awkward appearance in the AT&T booth was caused by a set of malfunctioning headsets that sometimes squawked him out of the conversational loop.
• Cutch and Austin Meadows weren't the only ex-Bucs with Opening Day dingers; Neil Walker and Matt Joyce also popped a ball over the wall.

3/29: Varsho Day; Smith, McEnaney, DJ Deals; Jared Released; HBD Bossman, Sean, Danny, Mike, Hank & Bob

• 1865 - RHP Hank Gastright was born in Covington, Kentucky. He had been a workhorse for the Columbus Colts for the first three years of his career, had a rough campaign with Washington and then in 1893 had a bounceback year, starting out with Pittsburgh. The Pirates didn’t use him much as he went 3-1/6.25 in nine games into July, when he was released and claimed by Boston, where he pitched a little better but with lots more luck, going 12-4/5.13; his combined 15-5 record was the best winning percentage in the National League that year. He had one more campaign left in him and tossed a farewell game in 1896 for his hometown Cincinnati Reds. Trivia: Gastright threw a no-hitter in 1890 for Columbus but it’s not considered an official no-no. It missed the books because the game was called after eight innings due to darkness. 
• 1894 - LHP Bob Steele was born in Cassburn, Ontario. Steele hurled for the Bucs from 1917-18, when they had some fairly poor clubs. He was 7-14, but his ERA was 2.87. Pittsburgh sold him to the Giants during the 1918 campaign, and 1919 was his last big league season. He did make the record books (albeit Canadien) when he tossed a no-hitter for the Moose Jaw Robin Hoods against the Calgary Bronchos (sic) in the Class D Western Canadian League in 1913. 

Mike Kingery 1996 Fleer Ultra (reverse)

• 1961 - OF Mike Kingery was born in St. James, Minnesota. Mike closed out his 10-year MLB career with the Bucs in 1996, signing on as a $750K free agent at the age of 35. He became their part-time center fielder, hitting .246 before retiring to Minnesota to raise his family and begin the Solid Foundation Baseball School. 
• 1962 - Pirates owner Bob Nutting was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. He’s CEO of Ogden Newspapers Inc. and owner of Seven Springs Mountain Resort along with being the Chairman of the Board and principal owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had been repping the Nutting interests in the Bucs since 2002, when his dad Ogden was a shareholder of the Kevin McClatchy team. Educated at Williams College (despite his background, he majored in History, not Finance/Econ), he’s married with three kids and often the target of frustrated Pirates fans who believe he should loosen the pursestrings. Get used to his bottom line ways; he’s already turned down at least three local bids to sell the club. 
• 1971 - RHP Sean Lowe was born in Dallas, Texas. Lowe had been a White Sox long man/spot starter for three seasons when he arrived in Pittsburgh in 2002 with Kip Wells and Josh Fogg as part of the Todd Ritchie deal. After going 4-2/5.35, he was released in September. He finished the campaign with Colorado, tossed for KC in 2003 and that ended his seven-year stint in MLB. 
• 1975 - RHP Danny Kolb was born in Sterling, Illinois. The Pirates signed the eight-year vet to a minor league deal in 2007; the 32-year-old didn’t break camp with the club, but was called up in June, got into three games, gave up three runs on six hits in three innings and was DFA’ed back to the minors. He refused to report and became a FA, signing with Boston. The Red Sox released him early in 2008, making Pittsburgh his last MLB stop. 

Dan Kolb 2007 (photo Matt Robinson/Pittsburgh Skyline)

• 1978 - The Pirates sent RHP Tim Jones to the Expos for LHP Wil McEnaney. The deal was a wash - Jones bombed in AAA and retired, while McEnaney was shelled in Pittsburgh (10.38 ERA) and sent to AAA Columbus, where he was released at the end of the season after posting a 6.24 ERA. He was fighting drug & drinking demons in 1977-78, triggered by a divorce and the death of his mom, but after a car wreck and under the wing of his future second wife, Cindy, he flew straight once again and has been leading the clean life ever since. 
• 1991 - The Pirates traded Steve Carter to the Chicago Cubs for Gary Varsho. OF Carter, who had a couple of short Pittsburgh stays, never appeared in MLB again. Varsho hit .249 as a bench bat for the Bucs, was waived and claimed by the Reds for the next season, and returned to the coop in 1994. 
• 1994 - After being released the day before, Gary Varsho signed a $243,750 contract for a second go-around with the club, which he had played for in 1991-92 before joining the Reds. In his three years with the club, Gary batted .251 as a pinch hitter and extra outfielder. He returned one more time to serve as John Russell’s bench coach in 2008 before being let go in 2010, shortly before JR was shown the door. He returned in 2016 as a Bucco scout. 
• 1997 - The Pirates traded OF Trey Beamon and C Angelo Encarnacion to the San Diego Padres for 1B/OF Mark Smith and minor-league RHP Hal Garrett. It was a wash; Beaman had a couple of decent seasons from the pine while Smith hit .285 with nine homers off the bench for the Bucs in 1997 but faded in 1998. Smith’s highlight came in 1997 when he drilled a homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Pirates a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros at TRS, ending the first extra-inning, combined no-hitter (Francisco Cordoba, Ricardo Rincon) in MLB history. 

Mark Smith 1998 Pacific Invincible

• 1999 - RHP DJ Carrasco, 33, signed a one-year/$950K free agent deal with the Pirates. He continued his workmanlike ways with a 2-2/3.88 slash. That performance earned him a deadline ticket to Arizona with Ryan Church and Bobby Crosby via the trade route for Pedro Ciriaco, Chris Snyder and cash. 
• 2017 - In a surprise move, the Pirates released RHP Jared Hughes, whom they had tendered months earlier and signed to a $2.175M contract. Hughes had been with the MLB club since 2011 and was a career-long member of the organization since 2006 when he was a fourth round draft pick. The release date had to do with a combination of declining performance and dollars; by letting him go before the season started, the Pirates were on the hook for just $695K. Hughes later signed as an FA with the Milwaukee Brewers for $950K. He followed that campaign by signing a three-year deal with the Reds.

Dietrich's Pinch Hit Homer Carries the Reds to a 5-3 Opening Day Win

Bad start - 2/3 of the outfield was laid up, and then Luis Castillo got three swinging K's out of his changeup in the first two frames. The Reds dented the board in the second off Jamo when the guy the Pirates didn't want, Jose Iglesias, banged a two-out double to plate Jose Peraza. JHK saved a second run on a diving stop and throw to end the inning. A Gonzalez knock, bunt and Fraze walk put the Bucs in business in the third; a pair of first-pitch pops ended that. Pittsburgh survived a J-Bell boot and a botched rundown to muddle through their half. Castillo struck out the side in the fourth with a walk; the free pass should have been a K and the whiff a walk, but Joe West...lol. Fraze had a face plant when his foot shot out from under him on some loose infield dirt while planting for a weak roller, costing two bases, but JT  escaped that, too. The fifth was quiet.

Corey D slid a shot just foul of the pole before fanning on another change. J-Bell then lined a knock; at 90+ pitches for Castillo, the Reds waved in Jared Hughes. With two gone in the sixth, Cervy singled. The infield played back, both runners had a big lead and Jung Ho dropped a soft lob into left center; Josh touched home and when the throw was lollipopped into second, Joey Cora spun the windmill and Fran's slide beat the rap to give the Bucs a 2-1 lead. Amore had himself an inning; he tossed out Eugenio Suarez, who worked a one-out walk, trying to steal on a rocket shot to allow Taillon a shutdown frame. Zach Duke worked a 1-2-3 seventh; Jamo hit a wall. A flat slider that ran in on Peraza was dumped into the first row in left center and a walk was followed by a Iglesias bouncer that just barely hopped fair over third for a two-bagger. That brought on Richard Rodriguez, and Derek Dietrich jumped a 2-1, center cut heater and lined on into the stands to make it 5-2 before Ric Rod settled in.

Cervy looked sharp in the Opener

Raisel Iglesias got the ball in the eighth. Dickerson didn't miss this time planting one into the right field seats, but the boys behind him went without a peep. Nick Burdi struck out the side, showing 97 MPH heat and a sharp slider, even if he did miss a spot or two. Lots of drama in the ninth; three Red pitchers walked three Buccos, and with the bases jammed and two outs, Corey D and David Hernandez fought a 12-pitch battle. But llas, Hernandez won, getting a weak roller to second to end the Pirates comeback efforts.

Jamo handled the top of the order fine, but the 6-7-8 guys went 5-for-8 with a walk, so we're not sure if he had a focus issue this afternoon or not. He never did seem to untrack his breaking stuff and that may have well caught up to him. Castillo was sharp, mixing heaters, sliders and changes equally. Oh, and a note to Pirates hitters: it's not always smart to sit on a fastball. The Bucs get to lick their wounds tomorrow and they're at 'em again on Saturday.

Notes:

• Starling was scratched about a 1/2 hour before the game with a migraine and replaced by JB Shuck.
• Corey D and JHK reached twice with a knock and a walk; JB Shuck drew two free passes.
• There were 44,049 in Cincinnati for today's game.
• Per John Dreker of Pirates Prospects, Pittsburgh has acquired INF/OF Jake Elmore from the Chicago White Sox for future considerations/cash and assigned him to Indy. Elmore was briefly with the Pirates over the 2014/15 off-season. He hasn't been on a MLB roster since 2016 and has never posted a positive WAR. The Bucs want to give Kevin Kramer outfield work and Nick Franklin may not be physically ready to go yet, so he's a warm body pick-up.
• Cutch's first at bat as a Phillie was a leadoff homer; Austin Meadows led off with a bomb for the Rays.
• RHP Jeanmar Gomez lives another day; he made the Rangers roster.

Opening Day: Buccos v Reds, Lineup, Pitchers, Notes; Lonnie Out w/Broken Hand, Lyles On IL & Other Moves

Game: Showtime, baby, as the Bucs and Reds kick it off at 4:10. The game will be carried by AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte CF, Corey Dickerson LF, Josh Bell 1B, Fran Cervelli C, Jung Ho Kang 3B, Melky Cabrera RF, Eric Gonzalez SS, Jameson Taillon P. No surprises w/Lonnie out. The Reds will have a much improved middle of the lineup this year, featuring Joey Votto, Matt Kemp, Eugenio Suárez and Yasiel Puig. They will miss Scooter Gennett, who is out for several weeks, along with their top rookie Nick Senzel.

Pitchers: RHP Jameson Taillon takes on RHP Luis Castillo. Jamo is carrying a 22-game streak of allowing three or fewer earned runs from last year, when he posted a 3-2/3.16 line against Cincy. Taillon follows Ivan Nova, Gerrit Cole and Frankie Liriano (three straight) as the Opening Day pitcher; Castillo is the fifth different starter to pitch the Reds Opener in five years, and was 1-2/5.06 against Pittsburgh in 2018.

Notes:

• Ouch - Lonnie Chisenhall has a broken finger and will be out 4-6 weeks, so JB Shuck has made the club, as did Steven Brault. Lonnie, Elias Diaz (virus), Jordan Lyles (right side cramps), Jose Osuna (neck), Gregory Polanco (shoulder) and Dovy Neverauskas (oblique) went on the 10-day DL. Pitchers Jake Barrett and Aaron Slegers were DFA'ed while Edgar Santana was moved to the 60-day IL. That leaves the fifth starter in the air; the Bucs don't need one until the 7th. And in an odd twist of fate, Gregory may be back before his replacement, Chisenhall.
• Random Numbers - The Reds have lost their last two season openers and are 6-10 at GABP on Opening Day. This is the 29th Opener between the two teams; the Bucs are 22-7 and have won five straight season kickoffs. Pittsburgh was 14-5 v Cincy in 2018.
• Eric Davis will throw out the first pitch; Johnny Bench will catch it. Joe Morgan is honorary captain and Commish Rob Manfred is here to celebrate baseball’s first pro team, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. Joe West is behind the plate.
• From Baseball America - NL Central outlook: Cubs: Don't be fooled by the quiet offseason; Brewers: The division got tougher, but so are they; Cardinals: Positioned to snap three-year playoff drought; Reds: A strong offense got even stronger; Pirates: A tough year to be average.

3/28: Neal, Buddy, Omar Deals; Yankee Repeat; MLK Classic; RIP Cum; HBD Shark, Bryan, Steve & Bill

• 1929 - RHP Bill MacDonald was born in Alameda, California. Bill tossed for the Bucs in 1950 and again briefly in 1953, compiling an 8-11-1/4.66 mark. He had a promising debut campaign for Pittsburgh, but after missing 1951-52 while in the service, Mac never regained his form. He tossed for two seasons in the PCL and retired from baseball. 

Bill McDonald 1952 Topps

• 1946 - Cumberland “Cum” Posey, who owned the Homestead Grays from 1911-46, died in Mercy Hospital from cancer. He was part-time player until 1929, and managed until 1937. Posey was a big-time owner, and his teams played regularly in Forbes Field and Washington DC’s Griffith Stadium. The Grays won eight Negro League pennants and three World Series titles under his reign. 
• 1961 - Just to prove it wasn’t a fluke, the Pirates bounced the Yankees in their first meeting since the World Series by a 9-2 score at Fort Myers’ Terry Park during a spring exhibition, played in front of an overflow crowd of 5,351 fans. Bob Friend tuned up for the season by going the distance, scattering eight hits and fanning seven. Dick Stuart and Roberto Clemente homered while Maz led the nine-hit attack with a pair of knocks. But the Bronx Bombers proved better suited for the long run - they beat the Reds in the ‘61 Fall Classic in five games while the Bucs stumbled to a 75-win, sixth-place campaign. 
• 1969 - The Pirates traded RHP Tommie Sisk and C Chris Cannizzaro to the San Diego Padres in exchange for OF Ron Davis and IF Bobby Klaus. Sisk was on the backside of his career while Davis and Klaus never become big-time performers, but Cannizzaro became an All-Star in 1969 for the expansion Padres (albeit with a .220 BA) and had a 12-year career that ended after the 1974 season. 
• 1970 - The East-West Major League Baseball Classic was held at Dodger Stadium to commemorate Dr. Martin L King. Played before 31,694 fans, the Pirates were represented by Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente; other players with Pittsburgh connections were Grant Jackson, Maury Wills and Jim Fregosi (the teams were integrated, per MLK’s philosophy) while Mudcat Grant played and sang the National Anthem. The East won 5-1 and the game raised $30,000 for the Southern Christian Leadership Council. 

Steve Sparks 2000 Fleer Tradition

• 1975 - RHP Steve Sparks was born in Mobile, Alabama. Sparks was drafted by the Bucs in the 28th round of the 1998 draft from the U of South Alabama and tossed three times for the Pirates in 2000 during a brief mid-summer visit. He had no decisions and a 6.75 ERA in his only MLB season. Steve played two seasons after that in the upper minors for three times, hanging ‘em up in 2002 at the age of 27. 
• 1980 - RHP Buddy Solomon was traded by the Atlanta Braves to the Pirates for minor league player Greg Field. Solomon worked 1980-82 for Pittsburgh, going 17-15-1/3.58 before being traded at the deadline to Chicago for 3B Jim Morrison. Buddy died young in a car accident in Macon, Georgia, at age 34 in 1986. 
• 1985 - RHP Mark Melancon was born in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Melancon came to Pittsburgh in 2013 from the Red Sox as a versatile back-ender, working both as set-up man and closer, and earned a spot on the ‘13 All-Star team. Mark the Shark took the closer’s job full time in early 2014, saving 33 games in 37 chances. In nearly four Pirates seasons, he picked up 10 wins, 130 saves and 41 holds while posting a 1.80 ERA (2.27 FIP) in 267 appearances. He won the Sporting News & Trevor Hoffman NL reliever of the year awards in 2015. The Shark was traded to Washington at the 2016 deadline and signed with the Giants in 2017 as a free agent. 
• 1987 - RHP Bryan Morris was born in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Acquired in the Jason Bay trade, he was part of the Bucco bullpen from 2012-14, going 13-8/2.61 before being dealt to Miami. Morris was otherworldly in his Marlin stint, posting an 0.66 ERA (although his 3.03 FIP was more down to earth) and finished his Fish tenure with a 2.30 ERA. He moved to San Francisco in 2017. 

Bryan Morris 2013 Panini Prizm

• 1989 - LHP Neal Heaton was traded by the Montreal Expos to the Pirates for RHP Brett Gideon. Heaton worked four years for the Jimmy Leyland playoff teams of the early nineties and made the All-Star team in 1990. He was out of the MLB after the 1993 season and is a pitching instructor for the private All Pro Sports Academy in Bellport, NY. Gideon got into five games for the Expos in 1989-90 to end his MLB days, retired after the 1992 campaign and is now a sales rep. 
• 2001 - The Pirates staff was beset by injuries, and the Bucco FO made a conditional deal with Oakland for RHP Omar Olivares, who had just been beaten out as the A’s fifth man. The 33-year-old Olivares joined his eighth team, and got a dozen starts for the Pirates, going 2-7/7.12, before being sent to the pen. He finished the year a bit better with a 6-9-1/6.55 slash, but it would be his last MLB campaign.

Almost...Moves, Impressions and Notes

Roster Moves: Pablo Reyes, Nick Kingham, Nick Burdi, & Kevin Newman were all told they’re on the 25-man roster, and the team will take 27 players to Cincy. Steven Brault, Jordan Lyles, Lonnie Chisenhall and JB Shuck are the bubble gang. If Chisenhall & Lyles are healthy, they're in. Sent down were C Steven Baron, RHP's Rookie Davis & Brandon Maurer, LHP Tyler Lyons and OF Patrick Kivlehan, who were reassigned to minor league camp. So no surprises; you could have picked the active roster in February, with the exception of Shuck if he lands a spot. Jose Osuna isn't on the list, so we assume he'll either be assigned to the minors or go on the IL, depending on the severity of his neck injury. The roster isn't cast in stone - Elias Diaz should be back sometime in April and Gregory Polanco in May, if not sooner.

Pablo's comin' north... (photo Dave Arrigo/Pittsburgh Pirates)

Impression: The Bucs were looking to improve at SS, find Gregory's temporary replacement and pick a fifth starter; can't say that they've done anything to write home about in any of those areas this spring. They have a dice-roll in Jung Ho Kang, who can provide a big patch both with his glove and bat at third if he can keep on. Except for JHK, the Bucs showed occasional, spread-around power throughout the lineup; we'll see how that plays out. J-Bell still looks like J-Bell; the team is hoping for him to step up. Fraze looks ready to take over second base; having one position seems to suit him well. Starling and Corey D remain rock solid while Melky is a professional fourth outfielder; Lonnie is still in wait-and-see mode. The catchers are a solid trio. The starting pitching should be pretty good (caveat: it's not the 1966 Dodgers), though depth is still an issue, and the pen is top flight. The future wave of Cole Tucker, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Kevin Kramer, Jason Martin and gang is promising, so the well isn't dry even with all the transitioning. The Pirates put their money on a young team improving across the board, and upon that premise rides the season.

Notes:

• PNC Park has a bunch of new eateries for Bucco foodie fans. 
• Utilityman Alen Hanson didn't make the Giants MLB roster; he's out of options so he'll either be traded or available via waivers.
• RHP Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs got himself an extension, too. At this rate, there may not be any free agents left for next season.

3/27: Damaso Moves; Cangy Deal; Staff Shortage; Blass Release; HBD Bill, Clay, Gary & Dave

• 1895 - RHP Bill Burwell was born in Jarbalo, Kansas. Burwell pitched but one year for the Pirates, going 1-0/5.23 in 1928, but later served as a Pirate coach and scout (1947–1948; 1958–1962). Burwell was the acting manager of the Pirates for the final game of the 1947 season after player-manager Billy Herman resigned and he beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-0. He was the pitching coach for the 1960 WS champs, and before that was a minor league assistant who helped develop Vern Law by teaching him how to change speeds and throw a changeup. 

Bill Burwell 1966 James Elder postcard

• 1953 - C Gary Alexander was born in Los Angeles. He had back-to-back strong seasons in 1977-78 while playing for three teams but a low BA and high K rate marked him as bench material by the time he arrived in Pittsburgh in 1981. He hit .213 as an OF/1B/PH for the Bucs in his last MLB season. Alexander was released by the Pirates as a late cut the following spring and finished out his pro career in Mexico. 
• 1956 - 1B Dave Hostetler was born in Pasadena, California. He closed out his five-year MLB run with six games played for the Pirates in 1988 after reviving his career with a two-year tour of duty in Japan. Hostetler went two-for-eight, and in May was sent to AAA Buffalo, ending his time in the show. After retirement, he stayed in sports as a regional manager for Riddell. 
• 1975 - The Pirates released RHP Steve Blass, who went from Game Seven World Series winner to a pitcher who had no idea where the ball was going once it left his hand, a condition that to this day is known as “Steve Blass disease.” Blass is now a Pirate ambassador and last lap member of the broadcast team for Root Sports (now AT&T SportsNet). In other camp news, a position shuffle saw Willie Stargell moved from LF to 1B, Richie Zisk crossed the pasture into Pops old spot and Dave Parker was slotted into right. Bob Robertson ended up with the short stick; Willie’s shift (and Robby’s aching knees) reduced Big Red to just 152 PAs during the regular season. 
• 1987 - OF John Cangelosi was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Pirates for RHP Jim Winn. Cangelosi became a useful bench piece for the Bucs, spending four seasons in Pittsburgh with a .243 BA, while Winn worked two more years in the show. Cangelosi retired in 1999 and now operates a sports training facility in Illinois. 

Clay Holmes 2019 (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

• 1993 - RHP Clay Holmes was born in Dothan, Alabama. A ninth round pick of the Bucs out of high school in 2011, his career was delayed by 2014 TJ surgery. Clay finally got the call, albeit for a cup of coffee, in April of 2018, getting into one game as a mop-up man, giving up a run in two innings on two hits & two walks with a whiff before being sent back down. He continued to yo-yo between Indy and Pittsburgh, going 1-3/6.84 In 11 outings (four starts) with major control & command issues, giving up eight walks per nine innings. Holmes started this season at Indy, being grooved for a bullpen role.
• 2001 - The papers speculated that the Pirates, whose FO was given the green light to increase the payroll after injuries to Kris Benson, Francisco Cordova and Jason Schmidt created the need for another pitcher, were after Brett Tomko of Seattle. But nothing came of the attempt to bolster the staff except dealing for Omar Olivares (6-9-1/6.55), who started 12 games and was sent to pen, and the free agent signing of Ramon Martinez, who got four starts that resulted in an 0-2/8.62 slash to end his MLB career. Todd Ritchie and Jimmy Anderson carried the load, with 10 other pitchers joining the rotation at one point or another behind them. Ritchie, with 11 victories, was the only double-digit game winner. 
• 2002 - The Pirates sent LHP Damaso Marte and minor league IF Ruddy Yan to the Chicago White Sox for RHP Matt Guerrier. The Bucs would get Marte back a few years later (he spent four campaigns as a Bucco) while Guerrier never tossed for the Pirates. He spent two seasons in AAA before embarking on an 11-year MLB career that ended after the 2014 season.

Tuesday: One More Before They Count; Lineup, Pitching & Notes

Game: The spring fun ends at 2:10 EDT when the Bucs close it out against the 'Stros at Minute Maid Park. The game will be on KDKA-1020 AM radio.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte CF, Corey Dickerson LF, Josh Bell 1B, Colin Moran 3B, Melky Cabrera RF, Erik Gonzalez SS, Will Craig DH, Jake Stallings C (Brandon Maurer P).

Pitchers: RHP Brandon Maurer gets the start against RHP JB Bukauskas; the rest of the crew is TBA.

Brandon Maurer (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Yesterday's Game: The Bucs and Astros got together for a preseason softball kegger, with Houston belting out a 12-9 win. Keone Kela couldn't throw a strike, Geoff Hartleib gave up more hits than he got outs, and Alex McRae served up a couple of gopher balls; the three of them were charged with all 12 runs. Adam Frazier (two hits, two runs, two RBI) and Fran Cervelli's two-run homer weren't enough to keep pace.

Notes:

• Lonnie Chisenhall was hit in the hand with a pitch last night and pulled from the game; the extent of the injury is TBD, although it appears to just be a bruise.
• Fran Cervelli is riding a nine-game hitting streak.
• Jose Osuna didn't make the trip to Houston because of lower neck pain, instead heading to Pittsburgh to be evaluated. 
• Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com picks the Pirates rotation as the seventh strongest in baseball.
• RHP Jacob deGrom joins the contract extension club, inking a five-year/$137.5M deal with the Mets.

3/26: Moose, Tyler Join, Masumi Leaves; Nothing for Something; Dead Deal; Spring Sandy; HBD Eric, Josh, Morrie & Jack

• 1850 - P Morrie Critchley was born in New London, Connecticut. He honed his art as a semi-pro player before tossing as a 32-year-old rookie for the Alleghenys in 1882. Morrie did pretty well, spinning a seven-hit whitewash as he tamed Cincinnati 2-0 at the Bank Street Grounds to become the MLB’s first 30-year-old or over hurler to pitch a shutout in his first game. Despite that victory, he was released 10 days later; it seems the Allegheny directors had “strong reason to believe he was throwing games” per Major League Player Profiles, with their shackles raised after an exhibition contest where he was shellacked. Even with that stain, he was taken by the St Louis Brown Stockings six weeks later. He threw four complete games for them, but the results weren’t as shiny as he went 0-4/4.24, and that stint ended his big league career. Morrie remained in Pittsburgh, umpired briefly and then ran a local bar/hotel until he died at the age of 59. 

Jack McCarthy 1904 (photo Chicago Daily News)

• 1869 - LF Jack McCarthy was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts. McCarthy started for the Pirates in 1898-99 and hit a robust .298. But the Pirates landed Fred Clarke, also a LF, when they absorbed the old Louisville team and sold McCarthy to the Chicago Orphans. He played until 1907 and had a lifetime .287 BA. He managed in the minors for a while after retiring, then finished his days as a Chicago courthouse employee. Fun fact: On April 26th, 1905, as a Cub, McCarthy became the first fielder to throw out three runners at home plate, doing the deed against his old mateys, the Pittsburgh Pirates. 
• 1963 - The LA Dodgers' Sandy Koufax surrendered two homers and was touched for six runs while whiffing nine Buccos in seven innings during a spring tune-up. It was not an omen of things to come. In 40 starts that season, Koufax gave up six runs in an outing once, going 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA, winning the Cy Young Award and earning a World Series ring. The Bucs did get to the Hall-of-Fame lefty better than most during that campaign, going 1-1 against him in three starts and scoring over three runs per game. 
• 1981 - IF Josh Wilson was born in Pittsburgh and played prep ball at Mt. Lebanon High along with Don Kelly. As a Blue Devil, he won the 1998 PIAA Championship and was the PA Player of the Year. He was only with the hometown organization briefly at Indy in 2008 but played in eight big-league campaigns for nine teams (with three stops at Arizona). Wilson earned the nickname “Paperboy” not so much because he delivered (his lifetime BA was .229) but as a nod to his youthful appearance. Josh was the son of one of the area’s top baseball icons - his dad, Mike, was a long-time coach with stops at Mt Lebanon HS (he coached up Josh & Don), Pitt & Duquesne, and also was a player, coach, & manager with the semi-pro Greater Pittsburgh Federation Baseball League for more than 20 years. Josh is a free agent this season. 

Eric Hacker 2009 (photo Dave Arrigo/Pittsburgh Pirates)

• 1983 - RHP Eric Hacker was born in Duncanville, Texas. The Pirates got the reliever from the New York Yankees for Romulo Sanchez in 2009. He spent most of his time at AAA Indianapolis, getting a September call up and making his MLB debut on September 22nd. He toed the slab for three Bucco outings, giving up two runs on four hits in three frames. Eric got a couple more cups of coffee in the show and then headed to greener pastures, pitching in Korea since 2013. 
• 1988 - C Mackey Sasser and RHP Tim Drummond were traded to the NY Mets for minor leaguer Scott Henion and 1B Randy “Moose” Milligan, a 26-year-old selected as The Sporting News’ 1987 Minor League Player of the Year. Milligan hit .220 for the Bucs before having some solid seasons at Baltimore while Sasser caught the next six seasons for the Mets, batting .286 for NY over that span. Drummond worked 43 more games in the bigs, with a 3-5-2/4.35 line. 
• 2003 - The Pirates released RHP Matt Herges, for whom they had traded RHP Chris Young to the Padres in December. SD reclaimed Herges on April 1st, in effect keeping their reliever and getting a young front-line pitcher for free from Pittsburgh’s GM Dave Littlefield. Herges pitched until 2009 and Young, despite a boatload of injuries, has started 221 games and is still tossing the ball at age 39 on a minor-league deal with the Padres. 
• 2006 - The day’s hot topic was a deal brewing between Atlanta and Pittsburgh featuring a straight 1B/OF Craig Wilson-for-RHP John Thompson swap, with the Bravos also showing interest in expanding the talks to include Salomon Torres. It eventually led nowhere, with all the players remaining place for the season, which was an overall plus for Pittsburgh. The Pirates starters were terrible in 2006, but Thompson’s 2-7/4.82 campaign for the Braves wouldn’t have helped to right that ship. Wilson hit .267 with 13 HR off the bench while Torres was a bullpen ironman, getting the ball 94 times and going 3-6-12/3.28 over the year. 

Tyler Yates 2009 Upper Deck

• 2008 - The Pirates traded minor league RHP Todd Redmond to the Atlanta Braves for reliever Tyler Yates. Fastballer Yates went 6-5 in two seasons with Pirates, pitching to a 5.08 ERA before arm surgery derailed his career. Redmond finally got a shot at Toronto in 2013 and was effective in 2014 after being converted to the pen. He got beat up in 2015 at Toronto and spent most of the year in AAA. 2016 was his last pro season when he was released by Baltimore in April. 
• 2008 - RHP Masumi Kuwata, the first Japanese player ever signed by the Pirates and a legend in his homeland, retired. Kuwata, who was a week shy of 40-years-old, had a 1.80 ERA in five innings in the spring but hadn’t pitched since March 18th and chose to retire when it became clear that he wouldn’t make the Pirates' opening-day roster. Per Japanese tradition, Kuwata walked to the McKechnie Field mound about an hour after the Tigers-Pirates exhibition game ended and without stepping on the white-painted pitching rubber, placed a ball on it. He had made his major league debut at Yankee Stadium on June 9th, 2005 and was 0-1/9.43 in 19 games before his final MLB appearance on August 13th. Kuwata was the oldest player to make his major league debut since 41-year-old Diomedes Olivo, also for the Pirates, in 1960.

Monday: At Minute Maid v the 'Stros, Lineup & Pitchers; Yesterday's Game & Notes

Game: The Bucs and Astros open a two-game set to get ready for the campaign. Tonight's contest will start at 8:10 EDT and be on 93.7 The Fan.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Starling Marte CF, Corey Dickerson LF, Josh Bell 1B, Fran Cervelli C, Jung Ho Kang 3B, Lonnie Chisenhall RF, Melky Cabrera DH, Erik Gonzalez SS, (Richard Rodriguez P).

Pitchers: The Bucs do some bullpenning, with Richard Rodríguez, Felipe Vázquez, Keone Kela, Kyle Crick and Nick Burdi slated to work. The Pirates get to see Houston's touted prospect, righty Forrest Whitley, so the match should be a pitcher's delight.

Ric Rod starts the bullpen parade (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Yesterday's Game:  Willy tossed three innings of three-hit, scoreless ball while Nick Kingham had another nice outing of three innings, with one hit, three K, and a minimum nine batters (he got a DP ball). Jung Ho Kang gave them a 1-0 lead with his seventh HR of the spring, but that was pretty much it. The Orioles got an eighth inning run off Steven Brault on a leadoff double, bounce out and sac fly, and it finished a 1-1 sister smooch. The Birds had just six hits; the Bucs had nine but went 0-for-8 with RISP. Eric Gonzalez was the only Pirates to reach base twice with a knock and a walk. Goodbye Sunshine State and hello Lone Star State.

Notes:

• The Bucs broke out a four-man OF against Chris Davis yesterday, with Fraze moving to the pasture.
• Big Joe and Archie stayed in Florida; Musgrove will toss a sim game today to stay on schedule and Archer will do the same tomorrow. Both are slated to go six frames.
• Dayn Perry of CBS Sports looks at the 2019 Buccos, and is part of the the chorus singing the blues over ownership's lack of activity. That's offset by Nubyjas Wilborn of the Post Gazette, who likes what he saw in Florida. In another projection, the MLB.com Power Ratings, the Pirates rank 19th, between the Reds and the Padres.
• The Pirates were rated as having the #3 bullpen in baseball, and the best in the NL by MLB.com.
• RHP Daniel Hudson signed a major league contract with the Blue Jays after being released by the Angels.

3/25: Jay, Gregory, Vanimal, Freese Join Club; Maz Hurt; Wilson Wins Job; HBD Lee

• 1953 - The Pirates signed IF Gene Freese to a minor league contract. The 19-year-old from Wheeling made it the hard way; he was one of 21 to survive a local try-out at Forbes Field, then was culled from a pack of about 70 players who were worked out at minor league camp. He was assigned to Class D Brunswick and jumped quickly to Class B Burlington, then in ‘54 started out at AA New Orleans. From there, he went to Hollywood of the Pacific Coast League and debuted with Pittsburgh later in 1955 as a 21-year-old. Gene used that as a launching pad to an 11-year MLB career, spending six of those seasons with the Bucs. 

Gene Freese 1958 Topps

• 1955 - OF Lee Mazzilli was born in New York City. Mazzilli spent four of his 14 seasons as a Pirate, playing fairly regularly for his first two years (1983-’86) and hitting .244 overall. In 1986, the Mets were rumored to have offered Ray Knight (who was nearing the end of his career) for Mazzilli, but the Pirates turned them down. The Bucs released Lee in July when he was hitting just .226 and he joined NY for free while Knight batted .298 with one more solid ‘87 campaign still left in him. 
• 1965 - Camp isn’t all fun and games. Bill Mazeroski broke a bone in his right foot on this day and was out of the Bucco lineup until May. He came back to hit .271 and earned another Golden Glove for his trophy case. It was the only time between 1964-67 that he didn’t appear in every game, and Maz still played in 130 contests after his foot healed. 
• 1989 - The Pirates sent SS Felix Fermin and UT Denny Gonzalez to Cleveland for SS Jay Bell to complete a PTBNL deal from November 28th, 1988. Bell manned the SS spot for eight years and earned an All-Star berth in 1993 for the Bucs. He returned to the team in 2013 as their batting coach before moving on to the Reds. Fermin played eight more years in the AL, starting several years for the Indians. Gonzalez got into eight more MLB games after the deal and closed out his career with stints in Japan and Mexico. 
• 2001 - Manager Lloyd McClendon officially announced that 23-year-old Jack Wilson was going to start the season at shortstop, bumping veteran Pat Meares to second base. Solid choice; Wilson held the job until he was traded in 2009, hitting .269 and winning an All-Star berth in 2004. Jumping Jack Flash was sent to Pittsburgh in 2000 by the Cards for LHP Jason Christiansen. For Meares, it was the end of the road - a nagging hand injury led to a battle royale with the club over treatment, and he got into just 86 games during the campaign, his last as a MLB’er, playing out his $15M contract on the DL through 2003. 

Jack Wilson 2001 SP Authentic

•  2009 - Pirates Latin American scouts Rene Gayo and Rene Ellis signed a skinny 17-year-old kid who they envisioned as making the jump from pitcher to outfielder for $175,000. The vision became reality - the beanpole was Gregory Polanco and he’s been on patrol in Pittsburgh’s pasture since 2014. Although the promise has yet to catch up with the performance, he did a little better at the negotiating table in 2017, signing a five-year/$35M contract with two team option years worth $26M. He was injured during an awkward late season slide late in 2018 and will start the year on the DL, not expected back in action until May or June. 
• 2014 - RHP Vance Worley was purchased from the Minnesota Twins. After going 1-5 with a 7.21 ERA in 2013, Vanimal started out at Indianapolis and following some tinkering with his arm angle, he was called up to start on June 15th to replace injured Francisco Liriano. He finished the campaign with an 8-4 record and 2.85 ERA. After a 4-6/4.02 line in 2015, he was released and went to Baltimore. He’s now a FA.

Sunday: Bucs at Birds, Lineup, Notes; Yesterday's Games & Notes

Game: Pittsburgh is on the road to Sarasota and Ed Smith Stadium to visit Baltimore at 1:05, with the game being aired by 93.7 The Fan. It's the last Grapefruit League contest, followed by a pair of warm-ups against Houston at Minute Maid Park before showtime on the 28th at Cincinnati.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Jung Ho Kang 3B, Corey Dickerson DH, Josh Bell 1B, Melky Cabrera RF, Pablo Reyes CF, Jose Osuna LF, Erik Gonzalez SS, Jake Stallings C (Trevor Williams P).

Pitchers: RHP Trevor Williams takes on RHP Andrew Cashner, with Nick Kingham and Steven Brault penciled in to follow Willy.

Willy takes his last spring fling today (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Yesterday's Games: Philly: Jordan Lyles gave up three runs in five innings, surrendering seven hits and fanning five, and that apparently was enough to nail down the last rotation spot if NH is to be believed. The last four innings were a breeze behind the A-Team bullpen, Corey D & Oneil Cruz went long (Corey had two knocks while Cruz started two DP's from short), and the Pirates won their last home spring outing 5-3 over the Phils.
Boston: The BoSox threw the Bucs a little changeup by starting Chris Sale instead of Nathan Eovaldi, and it went downhill from there. Jamo wasn't real sharp, giving up four runs in four frames on eight hits with three K, a couple of young guys got a rude welcome to the bigs, and Boston took a 12-3 laugher. The Pittsburgh highlight was a three-run jack by Ke'Bryan Hayes off Heath Hembree.

Notes:

• Starling Marte has taken it easy with a tight back, but said he's ready to go and should play in Houston.
• Neal Huntington said the Bucs final roster decisions will be made after camp, during the final two-game tune-up series in Houston against the 'Stros.
• Jung Ho Kang is still a wild card, per Adam Berry of MLB.com, but he is at least in great shape. The site selected JHK as the Pirates great unknown for the 2019 campaign.
• Get used to J-Bell at cleanup; Clint said that's his lineup spot coming out of camp.
• The Mets released SS Adieny Hechavarria and OF Rajai Davis, and the Jays let RHP John Axford walk. 1B Pedro Alvarez didn't make the Miami cut and has opted out of his deal, making him a free agent. The Giants picked up another former Bucco, trading with the Brewers for C Erik Kratz, who was also a late camp casualty.