4/4 Through the 1970’s: Manny, Hitman, Mota Deals; Shifty; Playful Pirates; Cash Back; LaRussa Let Loose; HBD Jim, Les & Bill

• April 4, 1883 - OF Bill Hinchman was born in Philadelphia. He played for the Bucs from 1915-18 and again in 1920. Bill started the first two seasons, hitting over .300, but faded at the end, finishing his five-year Bucco stint with a .284 BA. Hinchman was a Pirates coach in 1923 and scouted for the club from 1921 to 1958, with a pretty keen eye - he signed Lloyd Waner, Arky Vaughan, Rip Sewell, Cookie Lavagetto, and Billy Cox.

Bill Hinchman - 1991 TSN/Conlon Collection

• April 4, 1903 - LHP Les Bartholomew was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Les got into nine big league games, six as a 25-year-old rookie with the Pirates in 1928. He earned no decisions and ran up a 7.15 ERA. He tossed three more games for the White Sox in 1932 and hung up the spikes. He spent just five seasons in organized ball before returning to a day job in the sheet metal trades.
• April 4, 1938 - A half dozen Pirate players “were feeling playful” per Post Gazette writer Edward Balinger and got into a wrestling match while aboard a train. The result was that Russ Bauers, a big righty slated to work Opening Day, wrenched his knee. He didn’t start a game again until April 25th and didn’t pick up his first win until June 1st. That was the year the Bucs lost six of their last seven games to finish two games out of first; the loss of their ace to horseplay may have been the difference between the flag and staying home.
• April 4, 1942 - IF Jim Fregosi was born. Jim spent the last season and change of his 18-year career with the Bucs in 1977-78, batting .263 as a bench guy. Pittsburgh released him at the Angels' request; they wanted him to become their manager, and Fregosi segued from player to skipper. He managed four MLB teams over 15 years (Angels, Phillies, White Sox & Blue Jays) with some downtime as a Triple-A helmsman, retiring from baseball in 2000.
• April 4, 1954 - While the popularity of infield shifts has taken off in recent seasons, it’s not a modern stratagem. The Post-Gazette noted that the KC Athletics pulled a “Kiner shift” on young Pirate slugger Frank Thomas with three infielders on the 3B side of second base during an exhibition. The shift was made famous in the forties when it was employed against Ted Williams and dates back to at least the twenties.
• April 4, 1954 - Instead of sitting on an unexpected small windfall, the Bucs got into the tax refund spirit, announcing a ticket reimbursement of 19 cents/per box seat, 16 cents/per reserved seat and a thin dime per general admission for pre-season ticket holders after a federal levy had been cut in half. And it wasn’t credited toward the purchase of future ducats; the Pirates paid their customers back in cold cash.

Manny Mota - 1965 Topps

• April 4, 1963 - OF Manny Mota was traded by the Houston Colt .45's to the Pirates for Howie Goss and $50,000. Mota spent six years as a Pirate, hitting .297 as a fourth OF’er/pinch hitter. He went on to a 13 year career with LA (he spent 20 seasons in MLB) as a pinch hitter deluxe, and when he was finished hitting, his 34 consecutive seasons as a Dodgers coach was the longest in team history and the second-longest streak in MLB history behind Nick Altrock. Howie played one season for Houston, hit .209, and never got back to the bigs. The unsuspecting Goss struggled to get in touch with his family who had left Florida just prior to the deal and were driving to Pittsburgh. The Florida Highway Patrol found them and redirected the Goss clan westward to Texas.
• April 4, 1975 - The Pirates released minor league infielder Tony LaRussa after he hit .260 at Class AAA Charleston in 1974. He retired in 1977 and came back to annoy the Bucs as the manager of the St. Louis machine that ran roughshod over the NL Central during his tenure as skipper.
• April 4, 1977 - OF Mike Easler was traded by the California Angels to the Pirates for RHP Randy Sealy. The Hit Man spent six seasons with the Bucs, hitting .302 and earning an All-Star spot in 1981. The Pirates then sold him to the Red Sox after the 1978 campaign but traded a couple of minor leaguers to get him back before the 1979 season began. Persistent suitor Boston eventually got his services for the ‘84 season, sending John Tudor to Pittsburgh for Easler; apparently both clubs really liked the guy. Sealy, who had originally been drafted by the Pirates, spent seven years in the minors and finished his career tossing in Florida’s short-lived Senior Professional Baseball League.
• April 4, 1978 - The Pirates sent OF Miguel Dilone, P Elias Sosa and IF Mike Edwards to the A’s for C Manny Sanguillen, who was traded to Oakland 17 months earlier for Chuck Tanner and cash. He spent three more seasons in Black & Gold, mainly as a bench player behind Ed Ott and Steve Nicosia as his heyday was in the rear view mirror. Dilone carved out a 12-year career, returning to the Bucs briefly in 1983. Sosa was also in the middle of a 12-year MLB run while Edwards played regularly for a couple of years for the A’s but was finished after the 1980 campaign.