3/7 From 1990: Willis HoF; Where To Play Freddy; Pre-Arbs Inked; Jordan Debut; Spring Swap? RIP Cool Papa

• 1991 - The Pirates went to Winter Haven to play a spring exhibition against the Red Sox, and it was speculated that the two teams would be swapping training facilities before the next camp opened. For the Bucs, based in Bradenton since 1969, it was a matter of growing impatient with the City-County feud over updating McKechnie Field, which dated back to 1923. But all’s well that ends well; Pittsburgh got its renovations in 1993 (those improvements were freshened up again in 2008), and have held preseason work there for the past 50 years. 

Cool Papa - 1989 Perez-Steele Celebration

• 1991 - OF Cool Papa Bell, who spent five seasons with the Pittsburgh Crawfords and five more with the Homestead Grays (he hit .300+ in nine of those 10 campaigns; the outlier season saw him hit .291), died at age 87 in St. Louis of a heart attack. His speed was legendary; Josh Gibson made the famous observation that Bell was so fast he could flip the light switch and be in bed before the room got dark. Cool Papa played for 25 years and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974. 
• 1994 - The Pirates got a springtime look at Michael Jordan in Bradenton as he tried to transition from roundballer to hardballer. He didn’t have much luck, fanning once and bouncing three balls to the infield, reaching once on 2B Carlo Garcia’s error. The Pirates whipped the White Sox 3-2 as MJ’s teammates didn’t do much with the bats, either. 
• 1995 - The Veterans Committee selected RHP Vic Willis for the Hall of Fame. Willis pitched from 1906-09 with Pittsburgh, going 89-46 with a 2.08 ERA. The workhorse curveballer was inducted on July 30th with 249 career victories on his resume. Vic also was one of eight pitchers who tossed over 300 innings in a season without giving up a homer when he threw 322 frames in the 1906 campaign without surrendering a long ball. 
• 2007 - The main topic in the papers was whether or not the Bucs should keep defending NL batting champ Freddy Sanchez at second base; both the media and the team had questions about his legs being able to take the physical beating dished out to middle infielders on plays at the bag. Freddy proved tough enough. He spent 2006 much like 2005, splitting time at 3B-SS-2B, and then closed out the rest of his career as a second sacker. Injuries to his arm and then to his back eventually did end his MLB days. 

Wherefore art thou, Freddy? - 2007 Allen & Ginter

• 2019 - In an annual rite of spring, the Bucs signed 31 pre-arb players for 2019. 30 of the players were on the 40-man roster plus Dario Agrazal, who was removed from the 40-man roster during the off-season but brought to camp as a NRI, so the team had just 10 guys with more than three years of service time on the active roster. It would be a short window; eight players would become arb-eligible in 2020. But even that club was young; they signed 27 pre-arb players.