1/17 Through the 1980’s: Dixie Signs; Drafts; RIP Jewel; HBD Jeff, Jack, Milt & Doc

• 1861 - 1B Milt Scott was born in Chicago. He played in the majors for four seasons, spending part of 1885 with the Alleghenys, joining them in late June after being purchased from the Detroit Wolverines and batting .248. He was then “traded” to Baltimore (actually the American Association settled a contract dispute over Sam Barkley’s rights with his transfer). He hit .190 in 1886 and was out of the majors after that, retiring after spending 1890 with Fort Wayne of the Indiana State League.   
• 1882 - C/1B John “Doc” Kerr was born in Dellroy, Ohio. With eight years in the minors, he played 59 big league games, all in the Federal League, from 1914-15 with his first 42 contests as a Pittsburgh Rebel, batting .239. One and Done: Doc played for 12 teams in 10 years; he spent full back-to-back season with just one, Trenton. 

Jack Merson - 1952 TCMA

• 1922 - 2B Jack Merson was born in Elk Ridge, Maryland. Jack played for the Pirates from 1951-52, regularly during the second season that ended prematurely with a broken wrist. He hit .257 over that span, but he ended up with Boston the next season, where he played one game in 1953, going 0-for-4 to end his MLB days. He started his big league career at 29, and in Boston, the 31-year-old was blocked by bonus baby Billy Consolo. He played for a few more seasons in San Diego (then a minor league club) and then remained there as a businessman and later a prison guard, raising his family. 
• 1948 - OF Dixie Walker inked a $25,000 contract with the Pirates after coming over the month before from Brooklyn, where he had been an All-Star for four of the last five seasons, as part of the Billy Cox/Preacher Roe trade. The 38-year-old, in his 17th MLB season, hit .316 as the Bucco’s right fielder and would finish his career in Pittsburgh after the 1949 campaign. 
• 1950 - Pirates player, coach and manager Jewel (his real first name) Ens died from an aortic aneurysm in Syracuse at age 60. Ens was with the Pirates as a utility infielder (1922–25; .290 career BA), player-coach (1923–25), F/T coach (1926–29; 1935–39) & manager (1929–31). He was a member of the 1925 World Series champs and coach of the 1927 NL titleists. After his Pittsburgh tours of duty, Jewel also coached for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston Braves before spending eight seasons as the field boss of the International League Syracuse Chiefs. He was elected to the IL Hall of Fame posthumously in 1950.
• 1964 - LHP Jeff Tabaka was born in Barberton, Ohio. Jeff got a cup off coffee with the Pirates in 1994, moved on and returned again in 1998, slashing 2-2/3.02 as a Bucco. Jeff had the usual itinerary of a journeyman lefty - in his six seasons in the majors he pitched for the Pirates, San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, and St. Louis Cardinals. Tabaka’s promising career was short circuited by injuries; he had a pair of TJ surgeries. At last look, he was tutoring at the Strike Zone Academy in North Canton, Ohio. 
• 1970 - The Pirates selected players through the 28th round of the January player draft, going nine rounds deeper than any other club, and came up with exactly no one who made it to the majors. LHP Alan Jackson of Northeastern State was their top pick (14th overall); he declined to sign and was instead selected by the Red Sox in the June draft. He topped out a Class AA. The January draft was a secondary feeder. Its pool consisted of high school players who graduated early, JC/community college athletes, and players who opted out of four-year colleges. 

Tom Prince - 1986 Pro

• 1984 - The Pirates drafted pitcher Gil Heredia first in the January draft, but the righty from Pima CC didn’t sign. He went pro three years later, albeit as a ninth-round pick of the Giants, and carved out a 10-year MLB career. Light hitting OF Alex Cole was also selected that year. The best pick was in the secondary phase when the Bucs took OF Jay Buhner, who ended up swatting 310 HR in 15 big league seasons after being traded to the Yankees. They also choose C Tom Prince in the fourth round of the secondary draft, and he hung with the Bucs from 1987-93 as a reserve backstop, later rejoining the club as a minor league manager and big league coach. He moved to Detroit in 2020, managing the AAA Toledo club.