1/27 Through the 1980s: Ray, Jack, Pascual Sign; HBD Zags, Steve, Otis & Al

• 1876 - OF Otis Clymer was born in Pine Grove (Schuylkill County), Pennsylvania. Clymer started his career in Pittsburgh, playing from 1905-07, before the often injured OF was traded to Washington after hitting .285 during his Pirate days. He was a feisty guy, once getting into a fight with Reds 1B Cliff Blankenship during a 2-1 win at Expo Park in 1905. It started when Clymer spiked Blankenship as a payback for an event a few days prior when the Reds infielder ran into Honus Wagner. Blankenship won the battle but not the war as he was pelted with bottles (even a knife was tossed from the stands) by heated Bucco fans after the pair were ejected, per The Baseball Library. A more memorable moment career highlight came in 1908 when Otis hit for the cycle while a Cub. 

Otis Clymer - 1905 photo Chicago Daily News/Chicago History Museum

• 1888 - OF Al Wickland was born in Chicago. Wickland got his start with the Reds in 1913, then jumped to the Federal League the following year, playing for the hometown Feds/Whales. Next, he suited up for the Pittsburgh Rebels, where he appeared in 100 games and hit pretty well with a .301 BA in 1915. When the league folded, he joined the American Association’s Indianapolis Indians for a couple of seasons to earn a ticket back to the bigs. He did return, but hit just .249 for the Boston Braves and NY Yankees over two campaigns (1918-19). Al finished out his career with a three-year stay with the AA’s Toledo Mud Hens before leaving the game in 1922 at age 34. 
• 1935 - Coach Steve Demeter was born in Homer City. Steve got a little MLB time with the Tigers (1959-60) and was the Pirates first base/bench coach in 1985. Before that, he served in the Bucco farm system as skipper of the Sherbrooke Pirates (1972), Salem Pirates (1973; 1976–77), Charleston Charlies (1974–75), Shreveport Captains (1978), and Buffalo Bisons (1979–80). He also was a roving instructor and scout for Pittsburgh. He passed away in 2013 at age 78. 
• 1957 - RHP Jack Lamabe joined the Pirates with the signing credited to scout Ed McCarrick. It was a non-bonus deal so that the Pirates could start him in the minors instead of the big club as the rules of the day would have dictated. Jack became a Buc in a round-about way. Originally drafted by the Phils, he was declared a free agent over a college kerfuffle. The clubs weren’t supposed to sign college players during that era, and though Lamabe said he had left the University of Vermont, the league disagreed. That made Jack a FA and he inked his Bucco deal two months later. He had a strong Pirates rookie campaign in 1962, going 3-1/2.88 in 46 outings, and Pittsburgh leveraged that into a deal with Boston, sending Lamabe and 1B Dick Stuart to the BoSox after the season for RHP Don Schwall and C Jim Pagliaroni. 
• 1976 - The Bucs’ Latino scout Neftali Cruz signed 19-year-old amateur RHP Pascual Perez of the Dominican Republic. He rose quickly through the system, reaching AAA in 1978 and debuting with the Bucs in 1980. In 80-81, he slashed 2-8/3.94 and was traded for Larry McWilliams. In 1983, he had an All-Star season with the Bravos and won 29 games over two years. It was the best back-to-back string he put together although he did spend 11 years tossing in the show. Perez may have been best known for his trademark quirks - notably, he shot a finger pistol at strikeout victims and eyeballed the runner at first through his legs when holding him. The peek-a-boo technique worked pretty well - his catchers had a career 35% throw-out rate against wanna-be base stealers. 

Mike Zagurski - 2013 photo Justin Aller/Getty

• 1983 - Jumbo reliever LHP Mike Zagurski was born in Omaha. The Bucs signed the 6’, 240 pound southpaw to a minor league deal for 2013, and it appeared that they found a gem as he dominated in camp and struck out 37 batters in 21 IP at Indy. He earned a call to the show, but in six innings surrendered 10 runs on 10 hits with eight walks, becoming a poster boy for AAAA pitchers. Zags was released to make room for Brandon Cumpton, and the Yankees picked him up. Mike was hit hard there, too. He spent two seasons pitching in Japan, and since then has bounced around in several organizations, pitching for Milwaukee briefly and then released by the Cubs during their 2019 camp. 
• 1984 - The day after his DP partner Dale Berra inked a five-year deal, 2B Johnny Ray got a five-year agreement, too (the media called it “Operation Twin Killing”). His contract was worth $3.75M, including signing bonus and incentives. He, like Berra, had been rumored as trade bait, with the chatter involving a swap with the SF Giants for Will Clark. Ray was a hot property; had been runner-up to Steve Sax in 1982 for Rookie of the Year and followed that up by batting .283 in ‘83. He lasted into the 1987 season when he was sent to the Angels for Miguel Garcia and Bill Merrifield in late August to clear a starting spot for Jose Lind.