10/23: Lloyd Hired; Danny MoY Twice; J-Bell Runnerup for RoY; Frank & Mac Go; Glasnow MiLB Pitcher of the Year; Manny Joins Up; Feeney In; HBD Denny, Jim, Groundhog, Lefty & Billy

• 1881 - LHP Lafayette “Lave/Lefty” Winham was born in Brooklyn. He relieved once in 1902 for the hometown Superbas and the Pirates took him via waiver wire the following season. His counting numbers in a small sample were excellent - 3-1/2.25, 22 K in 36 IP, quite good for the era - but he walked 21 over the same period, gave up a hit per inning and less than half the runs he surrendered (nine of 20) were earned, skewing his ERA. That was his last MLB campaign, and there’s not much of a baseball trail to follow afterward. 

Billy Sullivan Jr - 1966 James Elder Postcard

• 1910 - C Billy Sullivan Jr. was born in Chicago. The son of 16-year vet C Billy Sullivan, he played football at Notre Dame and was advised by his dad to get a good contract and avoid the minors if he wanted to play baseball; Junior apparently listened. While his compensation isn’t known, he began his MLB career as a 20-year-old, avoiding the farm altogether. He put in 11 years with six teams before he entered the service in 1941; he didn’t return to baseball until 1947 at age 36 for a last hurrah with the Pirates. He hit .255 in 38 games, not too shabby considering the five-year layoff, and with that out of his system, he retired to Florida where he ran a successful construction firm. 
• 1918 - LHP Frank “Groundhog” Thompson was born in Merryville (Maryville?), Louisiana. Groundhog got his name due to his unfortunate appearance; he had a short (5’2”), squat build, cleft lip and bulging eyes to go along with a fastball, sinker and curve. He spent 10 years in the Negro Leagues, toiling for Homestead from 1946-48 and was a member of the Grays last championship club. Though he was considered one of their top pitchers, it’s a wonder he lasted that long - C Josh Gibson named him to his “All-Ugly” team and Luke Easter, at 6’4”, 220+ lbs, threatened to punch him out during a card game until Groundhog pulled out a knife and told him that he planned to “cut you down to my size.” Fun times. He closed out his career with the Birmingham Black Barons and the Memphis Red Sox. 
• 1931 - RHP Jim Bunning was born in Southgate, Kentucky. The Hall of Famer tossed for the Bucs in 1968 and part of 1969, compiling a 14-23 mark with a 3.84 ERA before being traded to the LA Dodgers for a pair of minor leaguers. In a 17-year career, Bunning tossed a perfecto and was later inducted into the Hall of Fame. He did pretty well as a politico in Kentucky when he was done twirling the horsehide, climbing from City Council to become a six-term Congressman and two-term Senator. 
• 1958 - In his first full year as skipper, Danny Murtaugh won the United Press “Manager of the Year” award. Hired on an interim basis after Bobby Bragan was fired in 1957, Murtaugh finished the year with a 26-26 record and was given a one-year deal. He took advantage, taking the club from 62 wins and last place in ‘57 to 84 victories and a second-place finish in 1958. The Whistling Irishman easily defeated Fred Haney of the Braves and Bill Rigney of the Giants by taking 18 of the 24 votes by the UPI writers’ panel. 

Danny Murtaugh - 1963 Topps

• 1970 - The Associated Press named Danny Murtaugh as its major league Manager of the Year, outpolling Reds’ skipper Sparky Anderson 148-131. The Pirates won the NL East with 89 wins, although Sparky had the last laugh as his Big Red Machine swept the Bucs in the NLCS.October 23, 1981 - RHP Manny Sarmiento was sold by the Boston Red Sox to the Pirates. He gave the Pirates two strong campaigns in 1982-83, going 12-9, 3.25 in 87 appearances (17 starts) while working 249 frames but blew out his elbow in camp the next season, effectively finishing his career. 
• 1981 - RHP Manny Sarmiento was sold by the Boston Red Sox to the Pirates. He gave the Pirates two strong campaigns in 1982-83, going 12-9/3.25 in 87 appearances (17 starts) while working 249 frames but blew out his elbow in camp the next season, effectively finishing his career. 
• 1982 - RHP Denny Bautista was born in Sanchez, Dominican Republic. The vet pitched in 2008-09 for the Pirates, going 5-4/5.89. Denny was a second cousin of Pedro Martinez and while pitching chops didn’t prove to be a family hand-me-down, he did manage a seven-year MLB career, ending with the Giants in 2010. Bautista then tossed for the Korean, Mexican and Dominican Leagues through the 2015-16 winter campaign, with the 2015 regular season spent in the Boston system. 
• 1987 - Malcolm “Mac” Prine resigned as president of the Pittsburgh Associates, the Pirates ownership group that he had helped to cobble together back in 1985. He cited conflict with GM Syd Thrift, whom he had hired, as the reason for leaving. Carl Barger, who was also involved in the formation of the PA, replaced Mac and in turn got Thrift’s resignation after the 1988 season ended. 
• 1996 - Post Gazette sports writer Charley Feeney was selected for the Spinks Award, earning him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame’s media wing. Feeney was the Pirates beat man from 1966-86 after arriving in town from NYC. He became the fourth local media dude to be honored, joining broadcasters Bob Prince (1986) and Milo Hamilton (1992), along with Wendell Smith of the Pittsburgh Courier (1993).

Lloyd McClendon - 2002 Topps

• 2000 - The Pirates hired deposed manager Gene Lamont’s batting coach, Lloyd McClendon, as their new skipper even though he had no prior experience as a manager. He inked a three-year deal, thought to be worth $500K per season. McClendon spent his last five MLB seasons as a player with the Buccos. He managed Pittsburgh through 2005, spent time with Jim Leyland as a coach at Detroit and was the skipper for Seattle from 2014-15. He’s back as Motown’s hitting coach. 
• 2014 - 21-year-old RHP Tyler Glasnow was selected as MiLB.com’s Starting Minor League Pitcher of the Year. The 6-7 hurler, selected in the fifth round of the 2011 draft and signed to a $600K bonus, went 12-5 with a 1.74 ERA while averaging 11.4 K per nine innings at High Class A Bradenton and he zoomed through the Bucco organization. He got some MLB starts in 2016-17, but was relegated to bullpen duty the following year before being sent to Tampa Bay as part of the Chris Archer deal. His Bucco line was 3-11/5.79 in 56 games, with 17 starts. He showed promise with the Rays in '18, and though a bum elbow held him to 60 IP in 2019, he turned it around, slashing 6-1/1.78. 
• 2017 - Josh Bell’s .255/26 HR/90 RBI line was pretty good for his rookie campaign but not strong enough to catch LA Dodger sensation Cody Bellinger (.267/39/97) for The Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year. Bell came in second, tied with the Cards Paul DeJong and nosing out the Cubs Ian Happ, in what was a landslide win (97 votes-to-2-2-1) by Bellinger. 
• 2019 - After 12 years at the helm, Pirates President Frank Coonelly was let go as Pittsburgh continued to clean house. Former Penguins COO and current Islander Business Operations guy Travis Williams was named to replace him the following Monday; his name was leaked within hours of Coonelly’s dismissal.