12/7 Through 1935: Sugden Deal; HBD Hal, Tony, Don, Gee Whiz, Ken, Bobby & Vinnie

• 1886 - C Bobby Schang was born in Wales Center, New York. Bobby spent 1914-15 with the Bucs, hitting .194. He was nothing if not persistent - he toiled in the minors for the next 12 years before getting five more MLB at-bats as a Cardinal at the age of 40 in 1927. He was the brother of catching great Wally Schang, who had a 19-year big league gig. 
• 1897 - The Pirates traded C Joe Sugden to the St. Louis Browns for C Morgan Murphy. Sugden would play for six more years, batting .243 over that span, while Murphy played five games for Pittsburgh before being released. He did get small nips of the apple in Philly, playing three years and getting into 45 games with a .220 BA. 

Tony Piet - 1933 Conlon All Star

• 1906 - 2B Tony Piet (Pietruszka) was born in Berwick, PA. Tony started his career with the Bucs, playing from 1931-33 and hitting a solid .298. He was traded in 1934 as part of the Red Lucas deal after he led the NL in games played in 1932 with 154. Name game: his son told UPI that “He changed his name to Piet because Pietruszka wouldn't fit on the scoreboard in Pittsburgh.” 
• 1915 - LHP Johnny Gee was born in Syracuse. In August 1939, the top minor league prospect was purchased by the Pirates for $75,000 and four players, the highest price paid by the Bucs for a player until the purchase of Hank Greenberg in 1947. Nicknamed “Gee Whiz,” he lasted parts of four seasons (1939, 1941, 1943-44) with the Bucs, winning five games. Also known as “Long John” (the bonus baby was also called the “$75,000 Lemon”), he never recovered his form after a 1940 arm injury. Gee was the tallest person at 6’9” to play MLB until 6’10” Randy Johnson debuted for the Montreal Expos in September, 1988. Not too surprisingly, he also went on to play pro hoops for the NBA Syracuse Nationals; he had been captain of his Michigan roundball squad. 
• 1915 - C Vinnie Smith was born in Richmond. Smith’s career was defined by WW2; his rookie campaign was in 1941 and then he was drafted into the Navy. He returned to the Pirates in 1946 and played in a handful of games (he hit .259 over the two seasons) before being relegated to the minors afterward. Smith got a taste of umpiring on the farm when a crew couldn’t get to the game, so the players had to police themselves and he found it to his liking. He began as an arbitrator after he hung up his spikes in 1954 and returned to the majors in that role in 1957. Smith became part of Pirates history while in blue: he was behind the plate on May 26th, 1959 when Harvey Haddix threw his 12 perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves. 
• 1930 - C Hal Smith was born in West Frankfort, Illinois. Although the backup catcher only played two seasons (1960-61) in Pittsburgh, his three-run homer in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, overshadowed by Maz’s dramatic walk-off, may have been the key blow of the entire set. Mel Allen called it "one of the most dramatic base hits in the history of the World Series." It put the Bucs up 8-6 after eight innings and set the stage for Maz, whose blow nudged Smith from the history books. Hal retired after 10 years in the show, batting .267 overall and catching 75+ games in seven of those campaigns. 

Hal Smith - 1960 Topps

• 1930 - Scout Ken Beardslee was born in Vermontville, Michigan. Beardslee was called high school’s first ace - he set national records in strikeouts in a 9-inning game (26), threw eight no-hitters, won 24 of 25 games and set the national record for career strikeout average (18 out of every 21 batters) and season average (19 of 21 batters in 1949) while tossing two career perfect games for VHS. It led to six minor league campaigns before back injuries forced him off the mound. Beardslee went on to scout/supervise for the Pirates for 21 years, earning a World Series ring in 1971. He also went on to write eight books including novels, poetry and a pitching how-to titled “Making Every Pitch Count.” 
• 1935 - RHP Don Cardwell was born in Winston-Salem, NC. He spent four seasons (1963-66) in Pittsburgh, where injuries led to a lot of bullpen time. He was 33-33-1 with a 3.38 ERA in his time with the Pirates, winning 13 games in 1963 and again in ‘65 when healthy and starting, but was dogged by arm woes in 1964. Cardwell lasted 14 campaigns, tossing for five teams. He threw a no-hitter for the Cubs and won a ring with 1969 Mets.