10/23: Lloyd Hired; Dizzy v Crawfords; Ty AAA PoY; Feeney Spink Winner; Danny '58 MoY; J-Bell Runner Up; Mac Resigns, Frank Fired; Manny Joins Up; HBD Denny, Jim, Groundhog, Lave & Billy

• 1881 - LHP Lafayette “Lave” 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, although his FIP wasn’t too bad at 3.28. But that was his last MLB campaign, and there’s not much of a baseball trail to follow after he pitched in the minors at Wilmington the following year. 

Billy Sullivan - 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 entirely. 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. 

Dizzy & Daffy - Pgh Post Gazette photo 10/23/1934

• 1934 - The final game of Dizzy & Daffy Dean’s tour (the Deans were ending their baseball tour to begin a vaudeville tour) was played at Forbes Field as the Crawfords won, 4-3, before 2,500 fans. The contest featured a tasty matchup, with Dizzy facing Satchel Paige; Dean had gone 30-7/2.66 during the year while Satch posted a Negro League line of 13-3/1.54. The game flared up in the fourth inning when the players went at it after an ump changed a call at first on the Crawfords’ fiery Vic Harris, who erupted (he and the man in blue had a history, it seems). Vic wasn’t arrested but was removed from the game and later charged with assault by bruised and battered chief umpire Jim Ahearn, while peace wasn’t restored until a backup squad from #4 Station House on Forbes Avenue came to the rescue. As for the match itself, the Deans held a 3-2 lead in the eighth when the Crawfords scored three times with two down, the big blow being a two-run homer by Josh Gibson, who had two hits, two runs and two RBI. Oscar Charleston and Curt Harris also had a pair of raps for the Crawfords to help Bert Hunter claim the win. 
• 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. 
• 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. 

Denny Bautista - 2008 Topps

• 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 conflicts 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 Spink Award, awarded by the BBWAA. 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 writer/editor Wendell Smith of the Pittsburgh Courier (1993). Smith also won the Spink honor; the Gunner and Milo were Ford Frick Award winners and all are recognized in the "Scribes & Mikemen" exhibit in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
• 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. McClendon spent his last five MLB seasons as a player with the Buccos before joining Lamont’s staff. He inked a three-year deal, thought to be worth $500K per season. Lloyd managed Pittsburgh through 2005, spent time with Jim Leyland as a coach at Detroit and was the skipper for Seattle from 2014-15. He returned as Motown’s hitting coach and ‘20 interim manager, but didn’t survive the postseason shuffle and did a little radio work for Detroit in 2021. 
• 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; as a Ray, he has a 17-9/3.10/12+ K per nine innings slash in his four years (48 starts) while battling injuries. 

Josh Bell - 2017 Topps Fire

• 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.