11/23 From 1960: BJ Gets Away; Danny Done, Quail In; Roberto Award; Goose Goes; HBD Dale, Rich & Jose

• 1963 - IF Dale Sveum was born in Richmond, California. Dale played for the Bucs in 1996-97 and closed out his 12 year career when he returned in 1999. He hit .260 for Pittsburgh and played every infield position. After he closed the book on his playing days, he managed/coached for Pittsburgh, Boston, Milwaukee, Chicago and Kansas City. 

Rich Sauveur - photo Vince Laforet/Getty

• 1963 - LHP Rich Sauveur was born in Arlington, Virginia. Sauveur played in parts of six seasons in the majors with six clubs. The Pirates 11th round draft pick in 1983, he debuted with three 1986 starts for them, getting no decisions with a 6.00 ERA. The southpaw pitched 43 innings in his big league career in 34 outings and never won a game (in fairness, he only wore one loss). He did have an 18-year minor league career and has been a minor-league pitching coach since 2003. Fun fact: Rich holds the record for the most clubs pitched for without a win. 
• 1964 - OF Jose Gonzalez was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. He came to Pittsburgh briefly in 1991 after starting the year with LA, his seventh as a Dodger, after a July deal for Mitch Webster. He went 2-for-20 and in August was waived to the Indians. Jose had one big league campaign left after that, finishing his career with California. 
• 1971 - Danny Murtaugh retired as manager because of health reasons after winning the 1971 World Series, and Bill Virdon was named as his replacement. The Quail led the Pirates to 96 wins and the 1972 NL East title, but a 67-69 performance the following season cost him his job. The Irishman, who had stayed with the organization as a scout and trouble-shooter, returned in late 1973 for another stint as skipper. Virdon moved on to skipper the Yankees for two years, the Astros for eight more (with two pennants) and closed out as the Expo’s field general for two more seasons. He’s now a special instructor for the Pirates. Bill had the oddball distinction of having been replaced twice by the manager he replaced, bookended by Murtaugh in Pittsburgh and Jim Fanning in Montreal. Virdon was dubbed The Quail by announcer Bob Prince because Bill dropped so many hits just beyond the infield but in front of the outfielders, a soft hit known in that era as a dying quail for the way it fluttered to the ground. 
• 1971 - Roberto Clemente was the runaway October nominee for the Hickok Award after winning the World Series MVP, qualifying him for the big enchilada, the annual Hickok Belt awarded to the top pro athlete of the year. The Great One didn’t make the final cut, though - the 1971 winner was golfer Lee Trevino.  

Goose Gone - image via Baseball Fever

• 1977 - The New York Yankees signed Rich “Goose” Gossage to a six-year contract worth $3.6M. Gossage saved 26 games for the Pirates in 1977, but the Bucs never made a serious offer for him to return, though by most accounts, Goose liked the City, the team and Chuck Tanner (when Gossage was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008, he invited Tanner as his special guest) and had hoped for some local love. He did get a reported multi-year offer from the Bucs but the salary was not in the bidding ballpark, so he took the Yankees’ money, turning down a larger and longer offer from Ted Turner’s Atlanta Braves, per the papers. There are a couple of stories as to his moniker; one is that White Sox teammate (and roomie) Tom Bradley gave it to him for the way he craned his neck while getting a sign from the catcher; the other is that it’s just a play on Gossage. 
• 1998 - GM Cam Bonifay met with 33-year-old free agent BJ Surhoff for dinner and contract talk at The LeMont, along with owner Kevin McClatchy and manager Gene Lamont. The Bucs wanted the vet to man the hot corner and offered him a guaranteed deal reported to be for four years/$16M dollars. Alas, a couple of weeks later Surhoff re-signed with the Orioles, accepting a three-year contract worth $14M with an option year salary of $4.5M if exercised. He had an All-Star year in ‘99 (.308 BA/28 HR/107 RBI) and went on to play through his 40th birthday, retiring after the 2005 campaign, so age didn’t end up an issue for BJ, who hit .291 over his final seven seasons. The Pirates FO was busy on another front, hiring Brookline native and South Hills Catholic grad Mickey White away from Tampa Bay to become the Bucs’ scouting director.