2/6: Tom, Jonathan, Spanky Sign; Clint, Cutch Dapper Dans; Jose-for-Maz; RIP Ralph, Rosey; HBD Luke, El Toro, Richie, T-Bone, Smoky, Dale & Buckshot

• 1901 - SS Glenn “Buckshot” Wright was born in Archie, Missouri. He played five years (1924-28) for Pittsburgh, hitting .294, and was considered one of the league’s elite shortstops until a shoulder injury suffered in 1929. Wright was a member of the 1925 and 1927 World Series clubs, and was named to The Sporting News All-Star team in ‘25 while finishing fourth in the NL-MVP vote. He got his nickname due to his strong but sometimes scattered tosses. 

Buckshot - 1925 photo National Photo Company/Library of Congress

• 1926 - 1B Dale Long was born in Springfield, Missouri. Long played four seasons for the Pirates (1951, 1955-57), hitting 27 homers in 1956 and earning a spot on the All-Star team. He put his name in the record books that year by hitting eight home runs in eight consecutive games between May 19th-28th, still the MLB standard, tied but never topped (Ken Griffey Jr & Don Mattingly co-share). In 1958, Long became the last lefty thrower who caught (though not much, just two games for 1-2/3 innings, and with a first baseman’s mitt) in the majors until Benny DiStefano backstopped in 1989. The big guy had a choice of careers; he turned down an audition with the Green Bay Packers to focus on baseball. 
• 1927 - C Smoky Burgess was born in Caroleen, NC. He spent six years (1959-64) as a Pirates platoon catcher, hitting .296 as a Buc, and was a key part of the 1960 World Series club. People sometimes forget what a strong player Smoky was. Burgess was a six-time All-Star who led NL catchers in fielding percentage three times, while his MLB record of 145 career pinch hits (a late career specialty) wasn’t broken until 1979 by Manny Mota. Smoky also called every pitch during Harvey Haddix’s legendary 12-inning perfecto against the Milwaukee Braves in 1959. 
• 1932 - RHP Bill “T-Bone” Koski was born in Modesto, California. The Bucs signed him as a 19-year-old fastballer out of high school and he debuted that year, going 0-1/6.67, with a remarkably consistent line: 27 IP, 23 R (20 ER), 26 hits and 28 walks, lagging only in Ks with six. The Pirates still thought highly of him, but Uncle Sam grabbed him during the Korean War and after his 1954 return, he never got above Class B ball. Jeff Jardine of the Modesto Bee explained his nickname: while on a train trip with the Pirates, the teenaged Koski ate a T-bone steak for dinner. Later that night, he got hungry and ate another. A sports writer on the trip dared him to eat a third steak. He did, and that night his teammates dubbed the growing youngster “T-Bone.” 

Bill Koski - bio from Diamonds in the Dusk

• 1949 - LF Richie Zisk was born in Brooklyn. A third round pick in the 1966 draft, he spent six years in Pittsburgh (1971-76), hitting .299 as a Buc before being traded to the Chicago White Sox as part of the Goose Gossage deal. He made post-season appearances with the 1974-75 Pirates, batting .400 in the playoffs, and hit for the cycle against the Giants in 1974. Since his playing days, Zisk has managed, coached and scouted for the Cubs organization. 
• 1955 - While in the midst of preparing to go to Florida with the team, announcer Rosey Rowswell was struck with uremic poisoning and passed away in Pittsburgh at the age of 71. He was the Pirates announcer from 1936 until his death, beginning back when the road games were recreated from telegraphed wire reports. Rosey was a mentor to his booth partner, Bob Prince, and came up with plenty of unique phraseology - “Open the window, aunt Minnie” for homers, the “doozie marooney” for an extra base hit, the “old dipsy doodle” for a curveball, and even coined the phrase “Buccos” among his thesaurus of colorful but fractured English. Rowswell was also an author who wrote four books of humor and poetry. 
• 1974 - Recently retired Pirate vet Jose Pagan replaced Bill Mazeroski, who resigned from Danny Murtaugh’s staff a day earlier. Maz cited a preference to playing over mentoring and the desire to summer with his family; the papers also speculated the difference in pay and the loss of Maz’s bud, Bill Virdon (he was fired and replaced by Murtaugh), may have also played into the decision. Jose ended up staying on for five years as a Bucco assistant before jumping ship to coach in the minors and Puerto Rico. 
• 1987 - 3B Pedro Alvarez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. El Toro, who played at Vandy, was drafted in the first round (second overall) of the 2008 MLB draft. A last minute signing, complicated by some posturing by the FO and Scott Boras along with a suit filed by the MLBPA, was resolved and he joined the club, ultimately receiving a $6.4M bonus. Pedro took his bow in 2010 and tied for the NL lead in homers in 2013 with 36, also netting an All-Star berth, but spent 2014 with a bad case of the yips at the hot corner that triggered a switch to first base in 2015. That didn’t work out, and he was non-tendered in the off season. El Toro played with the O’s for three years, went briefly to the Miami organization, where was released during the 2019 camp. He retired and took a player development position with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2022. 

Mike LaValliere - 1991 Studio

• 1991 - Mike Lavalliere avoided an arb hearing by agreeing to a $950K contract with the Bucs, with incentives based on at-bats that would push the value to $1M+. He had made a bid for $1.14M and Pittsburgh countered with $750K, eventually conceding the package toward Spanky’s asking price while adding a little protection in case his grumpy knee acted up during the season. 
• 1991 - C Luke Maile was born in Edgewood, Kentucky. Luke signed with the catching-thin club in December, 2019, for one-year/$900K ($325K minor league) after stints with the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. He came to Pittsburgh with a rep as a glove first backstop, a Pirates priority, with a DRS of +21 and a 33% throw-out rate but also with a BA of .198. He didn’t make it out of camp; a broken finger landed him on the IL shortly before the season started. The Bucs let him go after the season and he signed with the Brewers; he’s now an FA. 
• 2013 - Two-time All-Star Andrew McCutchen was honored with the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year Award. He hit .327/.400/.533 with 31 home runs in a breakout 2012 season. A total of 18 Pirates have received the Dapper Dan SOY honor, but McCutchen was only the second in the past 20 years, and the first since Jason Kendall in 2000. 
• 2013 - The Pirates signed free agent LHP Jonathan Sanchez to a minor league deal. He broke camp as the fifth starter, but was released on May 8th after posting an 0-3/11.85 line in five outings (four starts), giving up seven homers in 13-2/3 IP. Known as “The Comeback Kid,” he was one cat who ran out of lives. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since, although he had inked minor league contracts w/the Cubs, Reds & Royals, working in the indie league and Mexico. 
• 2014 - Manager of the Year Clint Hurdle was honored as the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year. Hurdle joined Andrew McCutchen, Ralph Kiner, Danny Murtaugh, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Dave Parker as winners of the award. Cutch was the 2013 winner, and it was the first time Pirates had won back-to-back Dapper Dans since The Cobra in 1978 and Cap’n Willie in 1979. 

Clint - 2014 Topps Heritage

• 2014 - Pirate Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner passed away at the age of 91. He was the game’s greatest home run hitter following World War II, was elected to six All-Star Games, led or tied for the NL lead in home runs in his first seven seasons in baseball and helped keep interest in Pirates baseball alive during a dismal stretch. Kiner hit .280 w/301 homers and 801 RBI in 7-1/2 Bucco campaigns (1946-53). He finished with a career line of .279 BA, 369 HRs, 1,015 RBIs and 1,451 hits while walking 100 or more times in six of his 10 MLB seasons. After his playing days, Ralph closed out his career with a 52-year gig calling NY Mets’ games. 
• 2019 - The Pirates agreed on a minor league deal, including a 2020 option, with RHP Tom Koehler, 32, who spent most of the season rehabbing after having shoulder surgery last summer. The payday is $150K/$850K(MLB) w/$250K in incentives for this season; the 2020 club option is for $1.25M + $1.25M in incentives with a $50K buyout. Koehler was a six-year vet with a 36-55/4.39 line, mostly as a starter, and last tossed in 2017; he had his surgery in July of 2018 after being shut down for the season by the Dodgers. He returned to the hill in August of 2019, working four innings with five K but giving up six runs while pitching in the minors. Koehler came back on an NRI deal but didn’t make it out of camp, retiring in March of 2020.