4/12 Through the 1920’s: Opening Day Runaway; Little Poison Debut; HBD Vic, Moose, Bob, Bill & Joe

• 1876 - Vic "Delaware Peach" Willis was born in Cecil County, Maryland. The Hall of Fame righty spent four seasons in Pittsburgh (1906-09) with an 89-46/2.08 line and was part of the 1909 team that won the World Series against the Tigers, the first championship team from Pittsburgh. He won 249 games over a 13-year career. After retiring in 1910, Willis ran the Washington House, a hotel in his hometown of Newark, Delaware. The “Delaware Peach” was raised in Newark, Delaware, and went to Delaware College.
  

        Vic Willis - 1909 American Tobacco

• 1879 - 1B Bill Clancy was born in Redfield, New York. His MLB career consisted of one season (1905) with the Pirates, hitting .229. He was a highly touted minor-league player, and the Pirates grabbed him to replace the traded Kitty Bransfield at first. Clancy started off hot, but a broken finger in June cooled his stick and a couple of ill-advised drinking sessions earned him his release. But he did have a legacy - it’s thought that long-time Bucco catcher George Gibson was signed after a recommendation from Clancy. He was sometimes known as “William the Chicken-Hearted” because he turned down some MLB offers and chose to stay in the minors, a sign that he was afraid of the better competition per the sports writers. But fairly equal pay, a guarantee to play every day and his popularity among the farm fans motivated him to sign where he was comfortable rather than succumbing to stage fright over the level of play.

• 1908 - RHP Antonio “Joe” (his middle name) Vitelli was born in McKees Rocks. Joe got into five games as a Bucco during the 1944-45 war years and did OK for a guy who didn’t sniff the majors until he was 36, posting a 2.57 ERA (he did give up six runs in seven IP, but four were unearned). Joe got his chance the hard way - he came back from the service and was originally used as a Buc BP pitcher; from there, he got his shot on the roster. Joe was a semi-pro gridder for the powerhouse Rox Rangers, and after his playing days coached local football/baseball squads, while working for Allegheny County as a rec leader in charge of youth sports clinics.
• 1911 - The Bucs thumped the Reds 14-0 at the Palace of the Fans on Opening Day; it would remain the most one-sided OD shutout in MLB history until eclipsed by the Dodgers in 2016, when the Blue took the Padres behind the woodshed for a 15-0 victory. Babe Adams tossed a four-hitter with six whiffs while Bobby Byrne went 5-for-5 and finished a homer shy of the cycle. Dots Miller added four knocks and Honus Wagner chipped in with three raps. The Pirates couldn’t clear the fence, but they did bang out five triples during the day.
• 1926 - OF Walt “Moose” Moryn was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moose - he was 6’2”, 205 pounds - spent eight years in the majors as a slugging outfielder, oddly enough remembered the most for snaring a two-out, ninth-inning sinking liner to save Don Cardwell’s 1960 no-hitter while a Cub. The one-time All-Star was sold to Pittsburgh for cash and a minor leaguer in June of 1961 and closed out his career that season, hitting .200 in 40 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter. He went on to manage a sporting goods department and later ran a saloon/liquor store in Cicero, Illinois, before retiring from the work world to enjoy the golf links.
• 1927 - Scout Bob Zuk was born in Detroit, Michigan. Zuk, who was the Parks baseball director for the City of Oakland after graduating from Cal-Berkeley, started as a part-time sleuth for the White Sox. The Bucs hired him full-time in 1957 and he turned up a gem, signing Willie Stargell (for $1,500!) after George Powles, a HS coach, recommended he take a look. He also brought Freddie Patek into the fold before leaving the Pirates and beginning the nomadic life of a bird dog, sniffing around for nine other clubs during his 46-year career. 
  

The Waner family - 1927 World Series photo via Detroit Public Library

• 1927 - Hall-of-Famer Lloyd Waner made his Pirate debut in left field for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His brother Paul was in right field in the Bucs' 2–1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Redland Field. Little Poison collected his first hit and scored the winning run, driven in by his big bro, to back Ray Kremer’s six-hitter.