6/15 From 1940 Through the 1950’s: Ducky Deal; Card Swap & Not; Sauer Shuffle; Game Stories HBD Bruce & Lance

• 1941 - RHP Bruce Dal Canton was born in California, Washington county. Dal Canton pitched for California State College and had an oddball entry to pro baseball. After graduating, he became a science teacher at Burgettstown HS and played ball in an amateur league where he was discovered by scout Rex Bowen. The team signed him in 1966 and he debuted in the majors the next year. Bruce tossed his first four big-league seasons (1967-70) in Pittsburgh to a 20-8-8, 3.57 line. He put together an 11-year career as a starter and long man, also twirling for KC, Atlanta and the White Sox. Dal Canton was a Braves minor league pitching coach for a decade when he was discovered to have cancer in 2008; he passed away six months later.

Bruce Dal Canton - 1970 Topps

• 1944 - Max Butcher ducked the bullets and went the distance as the Bucs edged the Reds 1-0 at Crosley Field. The Pirates scored with two down in the ninth when Bob Elliott’s single to center sent Lee Handley home for the Pirates only tally against Cincinnati’s Tom de la Cruz. Butcher gave up eight hits over the course of the afternoon, but the Redlegs went 0-for-8 with RISP while Handley was only the second Bucco to get into scoring position against de la Cruz. 
• 1949 - Rookie OF Dino Restelli homered twice and drove in five RBI against Boston’s Warren Spahn, leading the Pirates to an 8-7 come-from-behind victory at Forbes Field and make Rip Sewell, on in relief, a winner. After a blazing start, Dino was back in the minors next season. Some people say his career was ruined when he took a Ewell Blackwell fastball in the neck; another theory was that he couldn’t see because of east coast humidity - his glasses would fog up! 
• 1949 - The Pirates started a shuffle that didn’t result in much. They began the day by buying Hank Sauer’s brother Ed, an outfielder, from the Cards; before the sun set, they had sent him to the Boston Braves for C Phil Masi. Masi was solid, playing in 48 games and hitting .274, but he was sold in the off season to the White Sox. 
• 1951 - The Pirates received RHP Ted Wilks, IF Dick Cole, C Joe Garagiola, OF Bill Howerton and LHP Howie Pollet from St. Louis for LHP Cliff Chambers and OF/3B Wally Westlake. Pollet and Chambers ended up as washes on the hill, but Westlake played seven more seasons and retired with a lifetime .272 BA. Wilks pitched creditably for the Bucs from 1951-52, Garagiola hit .262 for Pittsburgh from 1951-53 and Howerton batted .279 as a Pirate with 1952 being his last campaign. 
• 1954 - Les Beiderman of the Pittsburgh Press wrote that trade talks between the Bucs and Cards fizzled. The Redbirds wanted RHP Max Surkont and were willing to part with $50,000 and a couple of minor leaguers; the Pirates Branch Rickey countered with Solly Hemus as the return, and no deal was struck. Max ended up going 9-18/4.41 in 29 starts for Pittsburgh while IF Hemus hit .304 as a backup. 

Lance made it home at last - 1995 Fleer

• 1956 - C Lance “Big Wheel” Parrish was born in Clairton. Lance spent 19 years in the show, returning home near the end of the trail as a 38-year-old in 1994, putting up a .270 BA. He was an eight-time All-Star for three different teams, six-time Silver Slugger awardee and three-time Gold Glove honoree. Since retiring, he’s been both a major and minor league coach, announcer, and is now a minor league manager. The nickname “Big Wheel” came about in the early ’80s based on a Mel Allen “This Week in Baseball” feature. Allen opened with “...the wheels of the Motor City were turning...” and referred to Parrish as the Big Wheel, according to Baseball By the Letters. 
• 1958 - SS Johnny O’Brien and 3B Gene Freese were traded to the Cardinals for IF Dick “Ducky” Schofield, who would play a key role in the Bucs 1960 NL championship as a sub for the injured Dick Groat during the stretch run for the pennant. Ducky, a lifetime .227 hitter, had a .333 BA for the 1960 Buccos and hit .248 in his eight Pittsburgh seasons. Freese ended up with a 12-year career and rejoined the Pirates from 1964-65. It was the first time Johnny and his twin brother Eddie were on different teams; for Eddie, it was his last campaign and Johnny was out of the majors a year later.