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.