3/29 Through the 1970’s: McEnaney Trade; Lots of HBD's - Danny, Sean, Bob, Mike, Hank & Bob

• 1865 - RHP Hank Gastright was born in Covington, Kentucky. He had been a workhorse for the Columbus Colts for the first three years of his career, had a rough campaign with Washington and then in 1893 had a bounceback year, starting out with Pittsburgh. The Pirates didn’t use him much as he went 3-1/6.25 in nine games into July, when he was released and claimed by Boston, where he pitched a little better but with lots more luck, going 12-4/5.13; his combined 15-5 record was the best winning percentage in the National League that year. He had one more campaign left in him and tossed a farewell game in 1896 for his hometown Cincinnati Reds. Trivia: Gastright threw a no-hitter in 1890 for Columbus but it’s not considered an official no-no. It missed the books because the game was called after eight innings due to darkness. 

Bob Steele - 1913 photo Moose Jaw Robin Hood/Western Canadian League

• 1894 - LHP Bob Steele was born in Cassburn, Ontario. Steele hurled for the Bucs from 1917-18, when they had some fairly poor clubs. He was 7-14, but his ERA was 2.87. Pittsburgh sold him to the Giants during the 1918 campaign, and 1919 was his last big league season. He did make the record books (albeit Canadien) when he tossed a no-hitter for the Moose Jaw Robin Hoods against the Calgary Bronchos (sic) in the Class D Western Canadian League in 1913. 
• 1961 - OF Mike Kingery was born in St. James, Minnesota. Mike closed out his 10-year MLB career with the Bucs in 1996, signing on as a $750K free agent at the age of 35. He became their part-time center fielder, hitting .246 before retiring to Minnesota to raise his family and begin the Solid Foundation Baseball School. 
• 1962 - Pirates owner Bob Nutting was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. He’s CEO of Ogden Newspapers Inc. and owner of Seven Springs Mountain Resort along with being the Chairman of the Board and principal owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had been repping the Nutting interests in the Bucs since 2002, when his dad Ogden was a shareholder of the Kevin McClatchy team. Educated at Williams College (despite his background, he majored in History, not Finance/Econ), he’s married with three kids and often the target of frustrated Pirates fans who believe he should loosen the pursestrings. Get used to his bottom line ways; he’s already turned down at least three local bids to sell the club. 
• 1971 - RHP Sean Lowe was born in Dallas, Texas. Lowe had been a White Sox long man/spot starter for three seasons when he arrived in Pittsburgh in 2002 with Kip Wells and Josh Fogg as part of the Todd Ritchie deal. After going 4-2/5.35, he was released in September. He finished the campaign with Colorado, tossed for KC in 2003 and that ended his seven-year stint in MLB. 

Danny Kolb - photo 2007 Matt Robinson/Pittsburgh Skyline

• 1975 - RHP Danny Kolb was born in Sterling, Illinois. The Pirates signed the eight-year vet to a minor league deal in 2007; the 32-year-old didn’t break camp with the club, but was called up in June, got into three games, gave up three runs on six hits in three innings and was DFA’ed back to the minors. He refused to report and became a FA, signing with Boston. The Red Sox released him early in 2008, making Pittsburgh his last MLB stop. 
• 1978 - The Pirates sent RHP Tim Jones to the Expos for LHP Wil McEnaney. The deal was a wash - Jones bombed in AAA and retired, while McEnaney was shelled in Pittsburgh (10.38 ERA) and sent to AAA Columbus, where he was released at the end of the season after posting a 6.24 ERA. He was fighting drug & drinking demons in 1977-78, triggered by a divorce and the death of his mom, but after a car wreck and under the wing of his future second wife, Cindy, he flew straight once again and has been leading a clean life ever since.