3/3 Through the 1940’s: Lou Sold; Debs Bought; HBD Bill, Jesse, Yaller & Yo-Yo

• 1879 - C Ed “Yaller” Phelps was born in Albany, NY. Phelps was on the 1902 and 1903 National League pennant-winning clubs and played in the 1903 World Series, forming the Pirates’ first WS battery w/Deacon Phillippe. He served mainly as a back-up catcher during his six year Pittsburgh career (1902-04, 1906-08), hitting .247 as a Bucco. Ed’s nickname of "Yaller" referred to his sallow complexion, according to his family. 

Ed "Yaller"Phelps - 1904 photo Carl Horner

• 1897 - 2B Lou Bierbauer was sold to the St. Louis Browns after six seasons with Pittsburgh. His 1891 signing by the Bucs, after he was left unprotected by the Philadelphia Athletics, was denounced by the A’s as “piratical,” leading to the Alleghenys evolving into the Pirates. The “king of the second baseman” had a slow start to his Steel City days, but rallied to hit .284 over his final four Bucco campaigns and his glovework was elite throughout. After a couple of years with the Browns and some minor league touring, he retired to his hometown of Erie. 
• 1910 - C Bill Brenzel was born in Oakland, California. He spent parts of three season in MLB, beginning in 1932 with the Pirates when he got into nine games and went 1-for-24. he earned a reputation for his good glove, bad bat (.198 lifetime BA), and per his obit, quick wit and slow feet. He spent 18 years in pro ball (he left high school to begin his playing days at age 17), then managed in the minor leagues before becoming a long-time scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 
• 1912 - C Aubrey “Yo-Yo” Epps was born in Memphis, Tennessee. In the final game of the 1935 campaign, Epps caught for Pittsburgh after being bought from the Birmingham Barons, where he was hitting .301, and went 3-for-4 with three RBI (and two errors, oops). The Pirates had high hopes for Epps - they had to outbid the Indians to win him from Birmingham - but that game turned out to be his only major league appearance. He contracted a serious case of pneumonia in the off season after minor surgery and it cost him a chance at making the roster. Aubrey bounced around for another six seasons in the minor leagues and retired after the 1941 season at age 29. 
• 1940 - The Boston Braves sold OF Debs Garms to the Pirates. In 358 at bats for Pittsburgh he led the NL in hitting with a .355 average. At the time, there was no minimal at-bat requirement; league prez Ford Frick said the title was unofficial and 100 games, the unofficial cut-off line, was enough to qualify (Garms got into 103 contests), raising a hubbub. In 1950, the NL made 2.6 AB’s per scheduled game the magic number. The veteran was sold to St. Louis after the 1941 season, where he would finish his career in 1945. Debs, btw, is not a moniker but his given name. His parents christened him in honor of early twentieth century labor activist and socialist, Eugene Debs. 

Deb Garms - 1940 photo Conlon Collection/Getty

• 1949 - RHP Jesse Jefferson was born in Midlothian, Virginia. In a nine-year career as a spot starter and reliever, Jesse tossed one game for the Pirates in 1980 after the Bucs claimed him in September off the waiver wire from Toronto, where he was a member of the original expansion Jays. The outing was a strong effort by Jefferson, who beat the Cubs 3-1 by going 6-⅔ IP of three-hit ball. It wasn’t enough to keep the 31-year-old in Pittsburgh, but it did get him a final contract with the Angels, where he finished out his MLB days after the 1981 season.