10/15 From 1926: Waner Show; Kent Canned; Joyriders; HBD Juan, Mendy, Carlos, Mitchell, Red, Gail, Bill & Don

• 1926 - RHP Don Carlsen was born in Chicago. Carlsen was signed by the Cubs as an IF, played a season and then went into the service, coming back two years later as a pitcher. He played in a game for Chicago, then in 1951-52 tossed for Pittsburgh, going 2-4/5.43 in 12 games (seven starts). Don worked in the Pirates minors until 1957, retiring after that campaign. 
• 1927 - LHP Bill Henry was born in Alice, Texas. The veteran reliever spent the latter half of the 1968 campaign with the Pirates. It was his 15th year in the show and the creaks showed as he had the worst line of his career, compiling no record but tossing to an 8.10 ERA and giving up 18 runs (15 earned) and 29 hits in 16-⅔ IP over 10 appearances. Bill got into three games with the Astros the following year and then hung ‘em up. Henry did have a nice run despite the messy finish; he ended his MLB days with 572 outings, 46 wins, 90 saves and a 3.26 ERA with an All-Star game and World Series under his belt. 

The Waner Wonders - 1927 photo Ray Gallavan/Press

• 1927 - Although the New York Yankees Murderers Row pushed the Pirates out of the spotlight with a World Series sweep, the Bucs strong season kept the Waner brothers on a big stage a little longer as the "Waner Wonders" vaudeville team toured Loew movie houses in St. Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and other stops for six weeks. Paul blew sax, Lloyd bowed the fiddle, and they told baseball stories between tunes. Per Bob Hersom’s Oklahoman article, "Every so often," Lloyd said, "we'd hit the same notes as the orchestra." The Waners were each paid $2,100 a week, culminating with a $3,000 payday in the Big Apple, stipends that way outstripped their baseball compensation. Even with more big money ripe for the picking, the brothers turned down a proposed extension of their tour; they had to catch up on their off season fishing, hunting and golfing. 
• 1928 - OF Gail Henley was born in Wichita, Kansas. He hit .300 in his only year with the Pirates (and in the big leagues), 1954, but the spot he was auditing for was more than adequately locked up with the arrival of Roberto Clemente the next year. Henley did serve some minor league time, then managed eventual Pirates skippers Jim Leyland and Gene Lamont. After some time as a skipper in the minors for the Detroit Tigers, Henley joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as a scout and organizational manager. He ended his baseball days with a stint as a scout for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. 
• 1936 - RHP Art “Red” Swanson was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was signed by the Pirates as a bonus baby in 1955 and spent the next two years in the show, as required by the signing rules, and barely appeared, with 10 outings in all. Red got more work in 1957, slashing 3-3/3.72 in 32 appearances before being sent to the minors, where he pitched until 1963. His dad was Al “Red” Swanson, who coached baseball and basketball at LSU and from whom Red picked up his nickname. 
• 1951 - OF/1B Mitchell Page was born in Los Angeles. A third round pick of the Pirates in 1973, he tore it up in the minors for four years before being shipped to Oakland in part of the big ‘77 deal that brought Phil Garner to Pittsburgh. He spent seven seasons, four as a starter (.273/64 HR from 1977-80), on the coast before returning to the Pirates in 1984. He went 4-for-12 as a late-season call up, spending most of his time at AAA Hawaii. Mitchell retired after the year and coached off and on for the Royals, Cards and Nats before passing away in 2011. He was known as "The Swinging Rage" in Oakland, a nickname dropped on him by A’s broadcaster Monte Moore. 

Forbes Field Fiasco - 1958 photo Post Gazette

• 1958 - Some joyriders sneaked into Forbes Field, hot-wired a maintenance truck parked overnight by the scoreboard and rode around the park until they crashed the vehicle several rows deep into the first base boxes, causing $3,000 worth of damage to the ballyard.
• 1967 - IF Carlos Garcia was born in Tachira, Venezuela. In seven (1990-96) Bucco seasons, he hit .278. Carlos was named to the 1993 Topps All-Star Rookie Team and the NL All-Star squad in 1994. In 1995, he was a hitting machine who had a 21-game hitting streak in June and then a 15-game hitting streak in September. García later coached for Seattle and was the first base coach and infield instructor for John Russell’s staff in 2010. He was named the manager of the Bradenton Marauders in December 2010, and in 2013-14, Garcia managed the Altoona Curve before being released by the Pirates. He then coached and managed in the Mexican League until 2018. 
• 1973 - IF Mendy Lopez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Mendy got bits and pieces of seven campaigns in the majors, with some of 2001-02 with the Pirates where he hit .217 in 25 games (he spent almost all of 2002 in AAA Nashville). After his MLB retirement in 2004, he played in Korea, Mexico and the Dominican. Currently, Mendy is the Pirates Latin American Field Coordinator. 
• 1978 - RHP Juan Cruz was born in Bonao, Dominican Republic. Juan finished up his 12-year career in Pittsburgh in 2012, getting into 43 games and going 1-1-3/2.78 with 14 holds as part of the support group of closer Joel Hanrahan. With several younger back-end options, the Pirates released him in late August and that was it for his MLB journey. 

Juan Cruz - 2012 Topps Update

• 2002 - Head Trainer Kent Biggerstaff was fired by Dave Littlefield. Biggerstaff, 54, had spent the past 17 years as the Bucs’ head trainer after serving a four-year apprenticeship under Tony Bartirome, who he replaced in 1986. He went on to become an athletic trainer for the PGA Tour, the Summer Senior Olympics, and Minor League Umpires Concussion Coordinator. In 2018, Kent was elected to the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame. Biggerstaff still works out of PhysioFitness Associates, which he’s been associated with since 1967.