2/7 From 1940: Kip, Bill, Ralph, Buddy Sign; Baron DD-MoY; Broadway Brault; HBD Adrian & Humberto

• 1949 - The Bucs signed OF Ralph Kiner to a one-year/$50,000 contract. During the 1948 campaign, his third in the show, he hit .265 with 40 HR, 123 RBI, 104 runs scored, .391 OPS (he walked 112 times) and a 146 OPS+, earning the first of six consecutive All-Star berths. The Bucs also signed veteran 1B Johnny Hopp, now a reserve, to a one-year deal. 
• 1957 - Joe Brown signed the first bonus baby of his era, SS Buddy Pritchard of Southern Cal, reeling him in with a $30,000 payday. The Bucs outbid 11 other teams for his services, but like many bonus babies, being forced to tread water in the majors for a season delayed his progress enough that he remained a career minor leaguer. After eight years on the farm, he then managed and scouted for the Bucs, Cubs and MLB Scouting Bureau. 

Buddy Pritchard - 1958 Topps

• 1960 - Pirates reliever ElRoy Face was honored as the Dapper Dan Athlete of the Year in the annual award ceremony at the Hilton Hotel. The Baron of the Bullpen posted an 18–1/2.70 line with 17 victories in a row to begin the year after ending 1958 with five consecutive wins; he didn’t surrender a run in a month, from June 11th to July 12th. His teammate, Harvey Haddix, was also recognized after his 12-inning perfecto at Milwaukee. 
• 1974 - OF Adrian Brown was born in McComb, Mississippi. A 48th round draft pick in 1992, he beat the odds by having a nine year MLB career, the first six (1997 - 2002) with the Pirates as a reserve. He hit .261 during his Pittsburgh stay. The switch-hitter had a breakout 2000 campaign when he hit .315 w/ four HRs, 64 runs, 28 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 104 games/340 PA. But he had a pair of DL trips that season with hammy issues, and it got worse when he had rotator cuff/labrum surgery out of camp in 2001, costing him virtually all of the season. He never again came close to matching those 2000 numbers. 
• 1979 - C Humberto Cota was born in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. Cota was the Pirate backup catcher for his entire MLB career of seven seasons (2001-07) with a .233 lifetime BA after coming over from Tampa Bay as part of the Jose Guillen deal. He became a free agent in 2008 and signed with the Rox but failed a drug test. Cota was suspended for 50 games and never got another call to the show. 
• 1989 - LHP Bob Kipper avoided arb by agreeing to a one-year/$230K deal (he asked for $285K, Pittsburgh countered w/$185K) with the Bucs. He spun a 2-6/3.74 line in ‘88 out of the bullpen, and said after the signing that he was eyeing up the fifth starter’s spot, vacated by Dave LaPoint. He didn’t get that job and remained a member of the relief corps, but posted a 3-4-4/2.93 slash in ‘89. That performance earned him a $525K salary in 1990, though he did have to take his case to an arb hearing to get his payday. 

Bill Landrum - 1991 Score

• 1991 - RHP Bill Landrum signed an $820K guarantee/$75K in incentives with the Bucs before arb. He had asked for $990K and the Bucs countered with $700K, with the two sides settling on a base roughly at the midpoint before the hearing. Landrum had gone 7-3-13/2.13 in 1990 with 42 saves over two seasons, but suffered from a sore knee during the second half of the campaign and had surgery on his hinge in October. He recovered to go 4-4-17/3.18 in 1991, but it would be his last year as a Bucco as he was bumped out of the closer spot by Stan Belinda. 
• 2020 - P Steven Brault picked a unique way to get ready for camp - he sang in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Pops show “Blockbuster Broadway” at Heinz Hall, a program that ran through the 9th. He then reported to camp on the 10th, presumably with a song in his heart... Belting out show biz tunes, btw, are part of the lefty’s repertoire - shortly afterwards, he released the album “A Pitch to Broadway” (April 3rd) that featured him singing a dozen Great White Way hits.