11/10 From 1970: Barajas, King Signed; Pops MVP Runnerup; Jamo, Lanny Honored; Starling Golden; Mac Meets; Up the Middle; HBD Matt

• 1971 - Willie Stargell (.295/48/125) was MVP runner-up to Joe Torre, who led the NL in RBI (137) and batting (.363) while hitting 24 HR. Torre received 318 points to Stargell's 222. It wasn’t a complete wash; Pops did win the WS and HR titles. 
• 1982 - C Matt Pagnozzi was born in Miami, Arizona, named after the Miami Mining & Milling Company, a big local operator based in the Miami Valley of Ohio. Pagnozzi got in pieces of five MLB campaigns, including a 2011 stop in Pittsburgh as one of eight catchers used by the Bucs. Matt hit .250 in his five games (the Pirates didn’t pick him up until mid-September). He packed up the tools of ignorance after the 2015 season and 13 campaigns in the majors, minors and Dominican. 

Jay Bell & Chico Lind - 1992 Pirates Magazine

• 1988 - Per the Post Gazette’s Paul Meyer, the Pirates, looking to shore up the middle of their infield, offered FA 2B Steve Sax a three-year deal that his agent called “competitive” (it was thought to be in the $1M/year range) and were talking to the Cubs about acquiring SS Shawon Dunston. Sax was given a sweeter offer by the New York Yankees and opted to cast his fate in the Big Apple. Dunston was dangled but pulled back, staying with Chicago through 1995, although he did join the Buccos for 18 games in 1997. The Pirates went with youth as their Plan B; 23-year-old Jay Bell and 25-year-old Chico Lind manned the middle in ‘89. 
• 1995 - 3B Jeff King, 30, passed up a chance to test the market and signed a two-year/$5M contract with the Pirates. He was worth every cent in 1996, hitting .271 with 30 homers and 119 RBI, then was sent to KC in the offseason. Jeff played out his final three seasons as a Royal before retiring to his cattle ranch in Montana. 
• 2000 - New manager Lloyd McClendon met with nine of his core players - Brian Giles, Kevin Young, Adrian Brown, John Vander Wal, Keith Osik, Todd Ritchie, Mike Williams, Jason Schmidt and Jose Silva - to lay out his agenda and try to get “buy-in” from the players after a 93-loss season, three days after Jason Kendall, Giles and Young had met with GM Cam Bonifay to give their thoughts on righting the Bucco ship. But even with the kumbaya session, a fresh field boss and a brand spanking new ballyard to romp in, it was the same ol’ Bucs. Despite the preseason rah-rah, they finished 62-100 in 2001; Lloyd survived but GM Cam Bonifay was canned. 
• 2011 - The Pirates signed free agent C Rod Barajas to a one-year/$4M contract with a club option for 2013 ($3.5 million with no buyout). Hot Rod hit .206 and threw out just a half dozen baserunners all year. His option wasn’t exercised, marking the end of his MLB road, and he’s now a minor-league manager. 

Starling Marte - 2017 Topps Archive

• 2015 - Starling Marte was named a Gold Glove Award winner for the first time. Marte led all NL left fielders in fielding percentage (.995), making just one error in 196 total chances. He also led all National League outfielders with 16 assists, the most by a Pirates OF’er since Jose Guillen (also 16) in 1998, with 15 coming without a relay man. Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole were also GG finalists, but lost out to AJ Pollock and Zack Greinke. 
• 2018 - Jameson Taillon was honored at the Rotary Club’s Chuck Tanner banquet with the Memorial Award while Lanny Frattare took the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his 33 years as “Voice of the Pirates.” Sandy Dengler was awarded the Sally O’Leary Distinguished Woman in Baseball trophy after spending 20 years with Tampa Bay (and she also served as the Buccos Bradenton complex coordinator before that). Bob Melvin of the Oakland A’s won the Manager of the Year, and Kent State’s Jeff Duncan was named the College Coach of the Year.