12/10 Through the 1980s: Goose, Riddle & Mikkelson Deals; Bo Goes; Wet One Banned; Expansion Thought; HBD Bob, Pedro, Frank & Grant

• 1866 - SS Frank Shugart was born in Luthersburg, in Clearfield County. He hit .268 for the Bucs between 1891-93, but booted 143 balls at short in 209 games in his first two seasons (which surprisingly was pretty close to league average), triggering a move to the OF and a mid-season trade in 1893 to the St. Louis Browns for SS Jack Glasscock. His MLB career ended when Shugart was blacklisted from baseball in 1901 after he punched an umpire. 

Burleigh Grimes, last of the spitballers - photo 1928 Getty

• 1919 - The National League, urged on by Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss, banned the spitball, which he believed was an unfair advantage against hitters. Old wet tossers were registered and spared through a grandfather clause. The AL initially resisted, then passed their own ban the following season. Off-and-on Pirate hurler Burleigh Grimes was the last of the legal spitballers, retiring following the 1934 season after a Hall-of-Fame career. 
• 1939 - RHP Bob Priddy was born in McKees Rocks and signed with the Bucs out of high school before the 1959 season. He spent his first two campaigns with the Pirates (1962, 1964; 2-2-1, 3.86 ERA, 37-⅓ IP), and went on to a nine-year journeyman career with the Giants, Washington Senators, White Sox, Angels and Braves with a 24-38-18/4.00 career line. Fun fact: Bob was signed as an infielder, but after a season in the minors (he hit .222 with a 33% strikeout rate), he was converted to the mound. 
• 1947 - The Buccos bought 32-year old Elmer Riddle from the Reds. Riddle put up an All-Star season in 1948, going 12-10/3.49, but faded badly the following campaign, winning just once during his final MLB year. They also got his brother John in the same transaction but for a different reason; the Bucs wanted him not as a player but as their bullpen catcher. 
• 1947 - The Pirates came out in support of expansion to a pair of 10-team leagues. The idea had some traction as the show was looking to plant some West Coast franchises, but more clubs wouldn’t become a reality until 1961. To temporarily vent some of the pressure, there were several relocations (Brooklyn Dodgers to LA, NY Giants to San Fran, Boston Braves to Milwaukee, Philadelphia Athletics to KC and the St Louis Browns becoming the Baltimore Orioles) in the fifties. 
• 1965 - The Pirates traded RHP Bob Friend, a four-time All-Star, to the New York Yankees for reliever Pete Mikkelsen and cash. Friend spent 15 years as a Pirate and won 191 games. He retired after the 1966 season, going just 1-4 for the Bronx Bombers. Mikkelson had a good year for the Bucs in 1966 out of the pen (9-8-14/3.07) but faltered the next year and was released.

Bob Friend - 1964 Topps

• 1967 - Scout Grant Brittain was born in Hickory, North Carolina. After an All-America career at Western Carolina and a considerably less successful stay in the minors, he earned his paycheck by scouting. He worked for the Tigers, Red Sox, Pirates (1994-2001, with his big signing being high school ace Zach Duke) and the Brewers. 
• 1976 - The Pirates traded OF Richie Zisk and RHP Silvio Martinez to the Chicago White Sox for pitchers Goose Gossage and Terry Forster. Except for minor-leaguer Martinez, the players were a year away from free agency, and all three took advantage to find new teams in 1978. But the big name rentals had a payoff: Zisk hit .290 with 30 homers and 101 RBI, and Gossage collected 11 wins, 26 saves and posted a 1.62 ERA with 10.2 K per nine innings. Both were named All-Stars. 
• 1985 - Bobby Bonilla, who the Bucs signed out of high school in 1981, was taken by the Chicago White Sox in the Rule 5 draft. The Pirates got Bobby Bo back in July of the following year, but it cost them RHP Jose DeLeon. Syd Thrift had signed him as a scout and reeled him back in as GM. It was worth it - from 1986 to 1991, Bonilla had a .284 BA with 114 home runs and 500 RBI's. He also made the All-Star team four years in a row before leaving town. 
• 1986 - SS Pedro Florimon was born in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Pedro turned a good glove into a seven-year MLB career, starting for Minnesota in 2013, but his bat has relegated him to mainly a journeyman depth guy. In his two seasons with Pittsburgh (2015-16), he mostly stayed busy in AAA while getting into 42 games with the Pirates, hitting just .149 over that span. P-Flo appeared with the Phils in 2017-18 and was in the Braves organization last year.