1/18 Through the 1940’s: Ralph DD MoY; Hammerin' Hank & Eddie Join; HBD Laurin, Charlie & Eddie

• 1855 - OF Charlie Eden was born in Lexington, Kentucky. He joined the Alleghenys for two seasons, 1884-85, hitting .258 after a five-year minor league stint. Charlie played a little corner infield and also pitched some, going 1-3/5.53 with Pittsburgh. Those campaigns ended the 30-year old Charlie’s four-year MLB career; it appears that he went back to barnstorming through the minors. 

Eddie Moore - photo via Detroit Public Library

• 1899 - Utilityman Eddie Moore was born in Barlow, Kentucky. Moore hit .301 as a Bucco from 1923-26 and was a starter on the 1925 WS club, but he clashed with management a couple of times and was sold to the Boston Braves after getting into a shouting match with Fred Clarke, who was not only a club exec at the time but also a bench coach. 
• 1931 - RHP Laurin Pepper was born in Vaughan, Mississippi. A football star drafted by the Steelers (he was an All-America halfback at Mississippi Southern), Pepper was inked for $35K by the Bucs in 1954 as a bonus baby, as the Pirates easily topped the Steelers’ $15K bid. Probably should have stuck with the pigskin, though: in four MLB seasons (1954-57), he worked just 109-⅔ IP, going 2-8/7.09 with 98 walks. He then spent some time in the minors, finally becoming a long-time HS football coach and AD back home in Mississippi. 
• 1947 - The Pirates purchased Hank Greenberg, the original “Hammerin’ Hank,” from the Tigers for $75,000 after he had a spat with Detroit owner Walter Briggs. It didn’t come easy; the Bucs had to talk the 36-year-old out of retirement, even after a 44-homer campaign in ‘46. To celebrate the move, team co-owner Bing Crosby recorded a song, "Goodbye, Mr. Ball, Goodbye" with Groucho Marx and Hank after the Bucs signed him to a reported $90,000 deal, the biggest in history at that time. In his one season with Pittsburgh, he hit .249 with 25 HR/74 RBI to become the first player with a 25-homer season in both leagues, walked a league-high 104 times and served as a mentor to a young Ralph Kiner. He inspired “Greenberg Gardens” when the Bucs shortened Forbes Field’s left field wall by 30’ for him and when he retired after the season, his nook was renamed “Kiner’s Korner.” 
• 1948 - Ralph Kiner was awarded the Dapper Dan “Athlete of the Year” award at the DD’s annual dinner at the William Penn Hotel (he was gifted with a watch). Newly retired Hank Greenberg made the trip to Pittsburgh as an honored guest of Kiner’s. Ralph also set aside some face time to talk contract with the Bucco brass, and made out pretty well by more than doubling his 1947 salary, upping his paycheck from $15,000 to $35,000 (per Baseball Reference). 

Ralph Kiner - 2018 Topps Fire

• 1948 - The Bucs bought IF Joe “Eddie” Bockman from the Indians for an undisclosed amount. The 27-year-old had hit .259 for the Tribe after coming off an All-Star season in the American Association. Bockman spent two years as part of the Pirates third base merry-go-round (.230 BA) and then settled in the minors as a player/manager through the 1958 season. After his stint behind the bench, he became a long-time Phillies scout, finally closing out his baseball days as a bird dog for the expansion Marlins.