3/5: WBC Exodus; Foxy, Bunning, Foster HoF; HBD Teke, Erik, Larry, Del, Al, Handsome Harry & Earl

• 1911 - 1B/OF Earl Browne was born in Louisville. A noted minor league slugger, Brown began his MLB career in Pittsburgh, getting into 17 games from 1935-36 and hitting .273 before closing out with two more seasons with Philadelphia. Browne did enjoy a 22-year career in minor league baseball as a southpaw pitcher, outfielder and first baseman with a .304 lifetime BA. 

Earl Browne (photo via The Baseball Enthusiast)

• 1915 - RHP “Handsome Harry” Shuman (guess he was a looker) was born in Philadelphia. Shuman got his big break in 1936 when the pre-law student was a pitcher for Temple U and a friend asked him to toss batting practice to the Philadelphia Athletics. A's skipper Connie Mack was impressed by his arm and signed him to a minor league contract. He cracked the majors when got into a dozen games from 1942-43 for the Pirates, going 0-0/4.88. He spent 1944 with Philadelphia and then was traded to the LA Angels, then of the PCL. Handsome Harry had a family in Philly and didn’t want to travel that far, so he retired rather than report to the left coast. He stayed in Philly and worked a series of government/political jobs. 
• 1917 - Coach Al Monchak was born in Bayonne, NJ. After his playing days (he had a cup of coffee with the Phils), he was a scout, instructor and minor league manager. Then he hooked up with Chuck Tanner and coached for the White Sox, Athletics, Braves and Pirates (1977-84) as Chuck’s first base coach and infield tutor. He was named the 2009 winner of the Roland Hemond Award by Baseball America in December 2009. The award recognizes baseball figures who have made long-term contributions to scouting and player development operations. 
• 1930 - C Del Crandall was born in Ontario, California. The long-time Braves receiver made a 1965 stop in Pittsburgh late in his 16-year career after the Pirates sent Bob Burda and Bob Priddy to the Giants for his services. He was 35-years-old and got into 60 games, batting .214, before being released after the year to spend his final season in Cleveland. Del later managed the Brewers and Mariners along with a long minor league stint as a Dodger skipper, closing out his resume as a catching instructor for LA. 

• 1938 - OF Larry Elliot was born in San Diego. Elliot was signed by the Pirates as a 20-year-old out of San Diego City College and spent four years in the Bucs' farm system before getting cups of coffee with Pittsburgh in 1962-63. He went 3-for-14 with a homer (he was a minor league masher) and then spent a pair of seasons with the Mets. He played in the minors afterward, retiring after the 1969 season. 
• 1947 - RHP Kent Tekulve was born in Cincinnati. The rubber armed reliever pitched 12 years for the Pirates (1974-85) with a record of 70-61-158/2.68, and appeared in 90 games twice, making 722 Pittsburgh outings totaling 1,017-1/3 IP. He saved three of the four wins against the Orioles in the 1979 World Series, and Teke & Mike Marshall are the only pitchers to make 90 appearances three times during their career. Tekulve is a special spring instructor and heart transplant recipient, retiring from his decade-long Pirates pre-and-post game TV gig after the 2017 campaign so he can finally take a long overdue summer vacation. 
• 1979 - LHP Erik Bedard was born in Naval, Ontario. In 2012, the often-injured lefty signed as a free agent with the Pirates for $4.5M. Bedard stayed healthy and posted a 3.12 ERA in 10 starts over the first two months. But beginning in June, the wheels fell off and Bedard slashed 7-14/5.01 before the Pirates released him on August 28th. Houston and Tampa tried to right his ship, but he tossed no better with those clubs and retired after the 2014 season.

Erik Bedard 2012 Topps Update

• 1996 - “Foxy” Ned Hanlon was selected to the Hall of Fame. He played and managed for the Alleghenys, Burghers and Pirates (1889-91) but his glory years were as skipper of the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn Superbas. Noted as a keen tactician (hence “Foxy”), he came up with innovations still in play today such as the hit-and-run, double steal and “Baltimore chop.” Also selected was RHP Jim Bunning, who worked for the Pirates from 1968-69 toward the back end of his career and was one of five players to throw a no-hitter in both leagues, along with Negro League star LHP Willie Foster, who had stops with the Homestead Grays (1931) and Pittsburgh Crawfords (1936). They were inducted on August 4th. 
• 2017 - Four of the Pirates eight starting position players skipped to their WBC teams (Starling Marte & Gregory Polanco - Dominican Republic; Andrew McCutchen & Josh Harrison - USA) with Fran Cervelli joining the exodus the next day to report to his Italian squad. Minor league reliever Jared Lakind packed his bags on the 9th to join Team Israel.