10/10 From 1960: Roberto in Latino HoF; Expansion Losses; Deacon, Danny Cover Boys, RIP Lefty; HBD Cutch

• 1960 - Vernon Law was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated during its 1960 WS coverage. He won a pair of games against the Yankees and the Cy Young Award as he finished the regular season 20-9/3.09. The Deacon went through some injury-plagued campaigns afterward and even considered retirement, but rallied to win the NL Comeback Player of the Year award in 1965, with a 17-9/2.15 slash, along with the Lou Gehrig Award for his contributions on and off the field. Law finished his career with a line of 162-147/3.77. 

• 1961 - The expansion draft claimed six Pirates - the Houston Colt .45s took OF Roman Mejias, P Bobby Shantz, P Jim Umbricht and C Hal Smith, while the New York Mets selected OF Joe Christopher and P Al Jackson. 
• 1970 - LHP Albert “Lefty” Leifield passed away at the age of 87 in Fairfax, Virginia. Leifield tossed for the Pirates from 1905-12 and from 1906-11, he was a regular in the Pittsburgh rotation, winning 15 or more games each season and slashing 109-84-7/2.38 with 28 shutout victories. In 1909, he went 19-8 to help the Pirates win the NL pennant although he lost his only World Series outing that year; he was the last remaining member of that club. Lefty spent five more years in the majors after the Pirates traded him to the Cubs with several minor league stops, fighting a sore arm in his later years. Per SABR’s Lenny Jacobson, after his playing career, Leifield coached for the Browns, Red Sox, and Tigers, and managed in the minors for seven years. Lefty then worked in the St. Louis water department before spending his last years fishing, betting on horses, and taking in an occasional game at Busch Stadium. 
• 1970 - Danny Murtaugh was featured on the cover of The Sporting News for the story “Bucs’ Secret Weapon.” His ‘70 team made the transition from Forbes Field to TRS and won the NL East, only to be swept by the Reds in the NLCS. 
• 1986 - Andrew McCutchen was born in Fort Meade, Florida. Cutch, a five-time All-Star & MVP selected in the first round of the 2005 draft, was the face of the team after replacing Nate McLouth during the 2009 season until he was traded after the 2017 campaign. Andrew slashed .291/203 HR/725 RBI as a Bucco and won Baseball America’s Rookie of the Year, four Silver Sluggers, a Golden Glove, two Player’s Choice Outstanding Player of the Year and the Roberto Clemente award during that span. In 2018, he was traded to the Giants and then moved late in the season to the playoff-bound New York Yankees. 

Cutch 2009 - photo via MLB.com

• 2010 - Pirates RF Roberto Clemente and Cuban/Negro Leagues Martin “El Immortal” Dihigo, who played for the Homestead Grays in 1927-28, were inducted into the inaugural class of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame.