12/2 From 1970: Cricket, Stew, Strange Deals; Bo, Petey, GI, The Fort, Jaff Go; Arb; Spanky GG; Carl Prez; RIP Danny; HBD Wyatt

• 1970 - The Pirates and the Kansas City Royals swung a six-player trade with P Bruce Dal Canton, C Jerry May and SS Freddie Patek going to KC while C Jim Campanis, SS Jackie Hernandez and P Bob Johnson came to the Bucs. Patek and Dal Canton were everyday players for KC, with Patek playing nine years for the KC and winning three All-Star berths. May was backup who played through 2003. Johnson was 17-16-7/3.34 with the Bucs and Hernandez was a reserve infielder, both lasting three years for the Pirates. Campanis didn't make the club until 1973, and he only had six at-bats. 

RIP Danny - photo 1970 Getty

• 1976 - Danny Murtaugh‚ who had retired two months earlier as Pirate manager‚ died of a heart attack/stroke at age 59 in his Chester home. He compiled a 1,115-950 record in 2,068 games (.540), second-most wins in Pirates history behind only Fred Clarke, and took two World Series championships. His number 40 was retired by the Pirates on Opening Day, 1977. 
• 1987 - Attorney Carl Barger was named team president, replacing Malcolm “Mac” Prine who lost an internal battle w/GM Syd Thrift. Barger was one of the architects of the Pittsburgh Associates ownership plan and well-positioned to take over the day-to-day operations of the club, although he still kept his day job with Eckert, Seamans, Cherin & Mellott. His immediate goal was to improve the team’s image and marketing, aiming for attendance to hit the 2M mark. He left in 1991 to become president of the new Florida Marlins’ franchise after he hit his attendance goal in 1990, helped greatly by the Buc’s NLCS club. Westinghouse Corporation’s Douglas Danforth was chosen as Chairman of the Board and CEO. 
• 1982 - C/coach Wyatt Toregas was born in Fairfax, Virginia. He had a 22-game MLB career with three of those games played with Pittsburgh in 2011 where he went 0-for-4. In November, at the age of 28, Toregas was inked a player/coach and served in the first base box for the 2012 AAA Indy Indians. In January, 2015, Toregas was named as the first manager of the Bucs’ short-season affiliate, the West Virginia Black Bears, and now is the skipper for the Low-A West Virginia Power. 
• 1987 - C Mike “Spanky” LaValliere was presented with his first (and only) Golden Glove as selected by the coaches and players. Spanky led the NL in throwouts (45%) in his first season as a Bucco (he replaced Tony Pena, who was part of the deal with SL that brought Lavalliere to Pittsburgh) and finished the year with a .300 BA, doing it with both his lumber and leather. It was also proved handy for his pocketbook; the honor triggered a $10K contract bonus. 

Spanky "Golden Glove" Lavalliere - 1993 Upper Deck

• 1991 - After six years as a Pirate, Bobby Bonilla signed as a free agent with the New York Mets. His five-year, $29M deal made him the game's highest-paid player at the time. From 1986 to 1991, Bonilla had a .284 batting average, with 114 home runs, and 500 RBI's. He led the league in extra base hits in 1990 and in doubles in 1991. Bonilla also made the All-Star team four years in a row. Bo is currently being paid about $1.2M by the New York Mets each year up to 2035, as part of a negotiated buyout of a second deal signed in 1999, turning $5.9M due to him in 2000 into $29.8M over 25 years. 
• 1997 - Free agent IF Doug Strange signed a two-year/$1.1M w/PA-based bonuses deal with the Pirates. The 34-year-old hit .173 in 1988 and didn’t make the cut for the second year of the deal, with his solo Bucco season ending his nine-year MLB career. No hard feelings, though - Strange joined the front office in 2002 and is still a Pirates suit involved with evaluation and scouting. 
• 2013 - C Chris Stewart was traded to the Bucs by the New York Yankees for a PTBNL, who ended up being minor league pitcher Kyle Haynes. Stew played through two option seasons before signing up for another two-year stint (with a club option for a third) following 107 games and a .292 BA with the Pirates as the #2 man from 2014-15. Stew got into just 34 games in 2016 and had season-ending surgery on his knee in September. He barely topped the Mendoza Line in his final two Bucco campaigns and was non-tendered after 2017. The Pirates also lost two fan favorites players on this date when 1B/OF Garrett Jones and C Michael “The Fort” McKenry were allowed to walk. 
• 2015 - Former #1 pick (second overall) in 2008, 1B Pedro Alvarez, was non-tendered and became a free agent. Pedro hit 131 homers in 742 games for Pittsburgh, but his inability to solve lefties (.203 BA), strikeouts (809) and fielding woes made his projected $8M arbitration award too pricey for the Bucs, which had tried unsuccessfully to move him to an AL club for two years running. Jaff Decker, a depth outfielder, was also non-tendered. El Toro hit .249 w/22 HR with the Orioles in 2016, mostly as a DH (he handled nine balls in the field and made four errors). Jaff served as organizational depth for Tampa, getting into 19 games. 

Pedro Alvarez - 2014 Topps Finest

• 2016 - The Pirates kept the majority of their eight-man arb class. The FO tendered P’s Tony Watson, Juan Nicasio, Gerrit Cole, Drew Hutchison & Jared Hughes and signed Wade LeBlanc (one year + option, $800K guaranteed); they also tendered SS Jordy Mercer. The casualties were P Jeff Locke, who was DFA’ed, and C Eric Fryer, who was non-tendered as a pre-arb player.