12/14 From 1920 Through the 1960’s: Kitten & Kunz Deals; Yde, Spencer Go; HoHoHo; HBD Lefty, Jeff & Jerry

• 1922 - In what looked like a big deal at the time, the Bucs sent RHPs Chief Yellow Horse & Bill Hughes, minor leaguers Harry Brown & Claude Rohwer, and $7,500 to Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League for RHP Earl Kunz. The Chief and Hughes never pitched big league ball again, Brown and Rowher proved to be career farm hands, and the 23-year-old Kunz went 1-2/5.52 during 1923 in his only major league campaign. 

Lefty LaPalme - 1954 Dan Dee

• 1923 - LHP Paul “Lefty” LaPalme was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Lefty began his career in Pittsburgh (1951-54) and was a starter in the last two seasons, with a Pirate line of 14-33-2/4.99. The knuckleballer was traded to the Cards in 1955, converted to a reliever, and put together several decent seasons from the pen. 
• 1927 - The Pirates waived four-year man LHP Emil Yde and three-year vet C Roy Spencer to Indianapolis; they were to receive a PTBNL, whose name never made the record books. Yde had won 41 games in his first three Pirates campaigns, but fell apart in ‘27, giving up 35 runs (32 earned) in 29-1/3IP. He had a last hurrah in 1929 with the Tigers, going 7-3 but with a 5.30 ERA to close out his MLB career. Spencer hung around for nine more big league seasons, getting regular time in the early thirties with Washington and Cleveland, before doffing the mask. 
• 1943 - C Jerry May was born in Staunton, Virginia. May was mainly a backup catcher from 1964-70 (he started in ‘67-68) for the Bucs, hitting .237 in his seven year Pittsburgh stint. He was signed by Syd Thrift out of high school and tossed several no-hitters as an American Legion pitcher; the Bucs converted him to catcher and he was behind the dish for Dock Ellis’ infamous 1970 no-hitter. May was bumped out of the starting role by Manny Sanguillen. Jerry was a good tactician and glove guy throughout his 10 year MLB career, throwing out 43% of the base runners who tried to steal a sack on him, good for 11th on the all-time list. He led NL catchers in 1970 with a 50% caught stealing percentage. 
• 1961 - RHP Jeff Robinson was born in Ventura, California. He finished out his six year career with a few weeks as a Bucco after being claimed off waivers from Texas in June of 1992, getting seven starts (eight outings) with a 3-1/4.46 line and then being waived again in July. Robinson went on to become the pitching director, coach and instructor with the Natural Baseball Academy in Kansas. He missed the three-year Pirates stint of fellow hurler Jeff Robinson (1987-89), and the two were often differentiated by their middle initial - Jeff M was the starter and Jeff D the reliever. 

The Baron picked up a little extra Christmas cash - 1960 Topps

• 1961 - Baseball players may be rolling in long green now, but for many decades, even the stars had a winter job. ElRoy Face earned a Post-Gazette sports column mention on this date by selling Christmas trees grown on his Indiana farm at the corner of Bouquet Street and Forbes Avenue in Oakland, a block from the ballyard. 
• 1963 - The Pirates sent P Harvey Haddix to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for SS Dick Yencha and cash. The Kitten, then 38 and a reliever, spent the last two years of his career in Baltimore, going 8-7-11/2.63 before retiring because of arm problems, while Yencha never made it past AA. Haddix later followed his rookie mentor Harry Brecheen (as St. Louis teammates, veteran Brecheen was “the Cat” and his protege, the young Haddix, was “the Kitten”) as a pitching coach, working with the Mets, Reds, Red Sox, Indians, and Pirates before passing away in 1994.