11/18 Through the 1920’s: Alleghenys Join NL; Bennett Case; HBD Rocky, Gene, Bill & Roy

• 1882 - The case of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys versus C Charlie Bennett was decided. Prior to the 1882 season, Allegheny gave Bennett $100 to sign an agreement binding him to a future 1883 contract with the club. Instead, Bennett re-signed with the Detroit Wolverines. The Western Pennsylvania District Court ruled in Bennett’s favor for several reasons, including restraint of trade and the lack of a concrete ‘83 contract agreed to by the parties. His case later was cited during the fight over the reserve rule during the 1889-1890 Players League battle. He played for the Wolverines for eight seasons, and they named their stadium after him. Charlie is also credited with the first chest protector; his was a cork-lined vest he wore under his jersey. Sadly, Bennett lost a foot and most of his other leg in 1894 when he was run over by a train. The accident ended his ball playing days; he ran a cigar store afterward. Detroit still loved him; he threw out the first pitch on Opening Day for 30 straight years. 

The First Pittsburgh NL Team,  the 1887 Alleghenys - Charles Gross Postcard

• 1886 - The NL officially admitted the Alleghenys, who became the first franchise to jump from the American Association. The club made a reported profit of $160,000 in 1886 (per Wikipedia) and finished second in the AA, making the decision a no-brainer for the NL, which had a pair of franchises to replace. The 1887 Pittsburgh Alleghenys finished sixth in their first NL campaign with a 55-69 record. They played at Recreation Park that year and became unofficially known as the Pirates a few seasons later in 1891. (There was a season in 1890 when they were referred to as the “Innocents” because in the eyes of the local media, they played as if they were children who had never had seen a baseball, but Lou Bierbauer’s “piracy” changed that tag quickly enough). The Bucs, btw, date their history from their entrance into the NL, although the Alleghenys formed in 1882 and played in the American Association, a rival league that was considered to be major league at the time, with the two champions playing each other in the postseason from 1884-90 in loosely organized, albeit unofficial title bouts. 
• 1896 - RHP Bill Hughes was born in Philadelphia. Bill got to toss just two MLB frames, working as a Bucco on September 15th, 1921 and giving up a run with two whiffs. But Hughes made his living as a mound workhorse despite his lack of big league time. He pitched for 20 minor league seasons for 11 teams from 1920-39, winning 302 games while taking the bump for 761 outings and 4,803-2/3 IP. Bill won 20 games or more twice and notched double-digit wins in 18 of his 20 farm campaigns before retiring at the age of 42. 
• 1923 - RHP Roy Wise was born in Springfield, Illinois. The 20-year-old Wise worked three innings in two outings on back-to-back days in May with the Bucs in 1944. He gave up three runs on four hits with three walks and a whiff as his big league stat line. Wise was sent to Albany and appears to have continued his career in the Minnesota semi-pro leagues, a pretty active scene for town-based baseball in the late 40’s and 50’s. 
• 1924 - 1B Glenn “Rocky” Nelson was born in Portsmouth, Ohio. He got a cup of coffee with Pittsburgh in 1951 and then platooned with Dick Stuart from 1959-61. He hit .270 as a Pirate, and in the 1960 World Series went 3-for-9 with a Game Seven homer and two RBI. Rocky may have been a MLB journeyman, but he was a minor league terror. In 1958, Nelson was voted the International League’s MVP after winning the triple crown while a Toronto Maple Leaf. He was inducted into the IL Hall of Fame and later into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He earned his nickname the hard way according to SABR: while in the St. Louis Cardinals training camp, Whitey Kurowski bounced a ball off Nelson's noggin during a pepper game without effect and then added insult to injury by afterward anointing him Rocky after the misadventure. 

Rocky Nelson - 1960 Topps

• 1925 - Gene Mauch, long time MLB manager, was born in Salina, Kansas. He made a brief stop in Pittsburgh in 1947 as a 21-year-old infielder, batting .300 in 16 games after serving in the military for two years and spending another season in the Dodger farm system. His claim to fame was as a big league skipper/small ball advocate who won over 1,900 games (he lost over 2,000 times, too), though never claiming a pennant - his clubs finished one game shy of the flag three times during his four-team managing career that lasted from 1960-87.