10/31: Reuss-May; '11 Vet Exodus; JR Hired; Leyland '90 MOTY; Heaton Signs, Gott Goes; Cobra Surgery; Thomas Signs; HBD Yamaico, Dee, Ray, Harry & Hardie

• 1862 - RHP James “Hardie” (his middle name was Harding) Henderson was born in Philadelphia. He tossed for six MLB campaigns, his last stint being a five-game swan song with the Alleghenys in 1888, posting a 1-3/5.35 line (he did hit .278; Hardie also played some outfield and a smidgen of infield during his career). Hardie had a good arm but forgot the zip code in his final three seasons, issuing 134 walks in 271 IP. He umpired for a while after that before meeting his Maker at age 40 when he was run down by a trolley in Philadelphia. 
• 1874 - C Harry Smith was born in Yorkshire, England. He was a reserve catcher from 1902-07, hitting just .202 as a Bucco after joining the club as a highly touted youngster following his rookie season with the Philadelphia A’s. When the Bucs signed him, the Pittsburgh Press gushed “Clever Harry Smith...is the catcher pronounced by all the writers who are in sympathy with the National League as being the greatest young backstop in the country.” He didn’t blossom quite as advertised: Harry spent nine years in the NL and hit .209 w/-0.6 WAR. Smith was a player and manager for the Boston Doves briefly and went on to become a minor-league skipper after his playing days ended. 

Harry Smith - 1903 photo via Detroit Public Library

• 1894 - OF Ray O’Brien was born in St. Louis. Ray was a lifetime minor league guy, playing from 1913-32 on various farm clubs, but he did get a taste of the show in 1916 with the Pirates when he hit .211 in 57 AB/16 games. After his Bucco trial, he put together his longest stretch with one club at Denver of the Western League, spending nine seasons with the Bears. 
• 1924 - 1B Dee Fondy was born in Slaton, Texas. Dee joined the Bucs in 1957 from the Cubs after being dealt for Dale Long and Lee Walls, hitting .313 in 95 games. As a Bucco, he was the last player to bat at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn before the Dodgers switched coasts, grounding out. Fondy was a big guy but a contact hitter, and in the off season, the Bucs dealt him to Cincinnati for the more muscular Ted Kluszewski. Following his playing career he worked as a scout and in the FO for the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers, where he signed Paul Molitor. 
• 1955 - The Pirates signed Frank Thomas to an estimated $18,000 contract after an All-Star season when he belted 25 homers - he had a streak of six straight seasons in Pittsburgh with 23 or more dingers - though batting just .245. It was a good deal; he hit .284 with 83 homers and 278 RBI over the next three campaigns before being traded to Cincy as the centerpiece of a swap that landed Harvey Haddix, Don Hoak and Smoky Burgess for the 1959 Buccos. 
• 1973 - The Astros traded LHP Jerry Reuss to the Pirates for 22-year-old C Milt May. Reuss ended up 61-46-2 with a 3.52 ERA as a Buc and was a rotation mainstay for five seasons. The lefty worked six campaigns in Pittsburgh (1974-78, 1990) and spent his last MLB season as a Pirate. He did get around; Reuss was on the roster of eight different clubs at one time or another and won 220 games in a 22-year career. Milt had a quite respectable shelf life too, playing 11 more seasons, with the final two years (1983-84) a reunion gig with the Pirates. In his 15 campaigns, May hit .263 lifetime (.261 in his six Bucco years) with nearly 1,200 big league games to his credit. 

Dave Parker - 1980 Kelloggs

• 1980 - Dave Parker underwent knee surgery to remove loose cartilage by Michigan Dr. Lanny Johnson, recommended by Willie Stargell, who was also dealing from knee woes. The Cobra had been hobbled by the injury and a variety of other dings since after the All-Star Game. His knees survived the next season, but he had a series of other injuries (thumb, wrist, Achilles) during the remainder of his contract, exacerbated by weight issues, and signed with the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent in 1984. 
• 1987 - IF Yamaico Navarro was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Navarro got into 79 MLB games over four seasons; 29 were with the Pirates in 2012 after the Bucs sent RHP Brooks Pounders to KC for him. He hit .160 with an OPS+ of 27, then got a short look at Baltimore the next season after an off season deal, and that gig that ended his big league stay. Navarro has spent the last decade playing ball in Korea, Japan, the Dominican and Mexico. 
• 1989 - Pitchers Neal Heaton and Jim Gott joined Doug Bair as free agents. Heaton negotiated a solid contract for three years/$2.7M and immediately paid dividends, earning his first All Star berth in ‘90 with a 12-9/3.45 line. The lefty wasn’t as sharp during the next campaign and was sent to KC before camp broke in 1992. Bair also reupped, but at age 40, his tank was empty and 1990 was his last campaign, split between the show and farm. Gott was coming off an injury and the Bucs were unsure how he'd rebound. He ended up with the Dodgers for four years at the Blue’s back end (14-19-36/2.64 in 235 outings) before ending his career as a Pittsburgh Pirate in 1995. 
• 1990 - Jim Leyland was selected as the NL Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He guided the Bucs to 95 wins and a division title, winning the first Pirates flag since 1979 and easily outdistancing the Cincinnati Reds’ Lou Piniella in the polling.

Jim Leyland - Press article 1/11/1990

• 2002 - The Pirates hired John Russell away from the Twins. He was a highly-touted minor league coach in the Minnesota organization but was happy to land a gig in the majors when the Bucs brought him aboard to be the third base/catcher coach. He was let go in 2005 with Lloyd McClendon and his staff and moved on to the Phils system, but returned in 2007 as Jim Tracy’s replacement as Bucco manager. He lasted until a 105-loss season cost him his job in 2010 and then went to work for the Orioles until 2018; since that time, JR has been been involved as an instructor with Florida’s IMG Academy. 
• 2011 - The line forms at the right: the Pirates lost C Ryan Doumit, C Chris Snyder, SS Ronny Cedeno and LHP Paul Maholm to free agency the day after deadline rentals OF Ryan Ludwick and 1B Derrek Lee had declared themselves FAs. Dewey went to the Twins, Snyder to the ‘Stros, Cedeno to the Mets, Maholm to the Cubs, Ludwick to the Reds and Lee retired.

Notes: Quiet Week...

Series time:

Notes:

• C Jose Godoy cleared waivers and was outrighted to Indy; he elected free agency instead.
• Per John Dreker of Pirates Prospects, C Roberto Perez, who missed almost all of last season and will soon turn 34, said that the Pirates have expressed interest in bringing him back and he's open to it. He also wants a multi-year deal...lotsa luck with that.
• The Silver Slugger Award is given to the best offensive player at each position in each league. This year's winners will be named on Thursday, November 10th on MLB Network; the Pirates lone candidate and very long-shot for the trophy is Bryan Reynolds.

• If you thought that the list of young 'uns to audition was running low, watch for theses names next year (and in the upcoming 40-man shuffle): C Endy Rodriguez, SS Liover Peguero, 2B Nick Gonzales, 1B Malcomb Nunez, 3B Jared Triolo, OFs Matt Gorski, Canaan Smith-Njigba & Travis Swaggerty and Ps Quinn Preister, Mike Burrows and Nick Mears. And there are guys below them waiting for their turn...
• The Astro-Phils World Series didn't start until 10/28 and is tied at a game apiece, with Games #3-5 starting Monday at Philadelphia. BTW, there are no former Bucs on either Fall Classic roster. 

10/30 Through the 1970s: Gunner Axed; Giusti TSN Fireman; Irishman Inked; Colts Corralled; HBD Lee, Houston, Mosquito, Bobby, Lefty & Pete

• 1866 - RHP Pete Conway was born in Burmont, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philly. For Pete, it was a matter of too much, too soon. He broke into the majors at age 18 in 1885, and by his 1888 campaign made 46 starts, with 43 complete games and 391 IP on the way to a 30-14/2.26 year for the Detroit Wolverines. After Motown disbanded, Conway signed with the Alleghenys for two years at $3500 per year and then worked all of three games even though his arm was shot (the Boston Daily Globe reported that he had “snapped a cord in his arm”; later researchers believed he had a rotator cuff injury) and Pittsburgh suspended him - without pay, of course - for not being in baseball condition. He became a cause celebre with the Players Brotherhood as they tried to get his contract enforced (Pete even reported to the team daily) but to no avail; the injury was deemed to have a “natural cause.” He tried to pitch for a couple of more years, then went to Michigan to get a law degree. He coached the Maize & Blue nine for two years, but wasn’t allotted much time for either career, passing away at age 36 of a heart ailment. His older brother Jim was also a big league pitcher; his career ended because of a bum arm, too. 

Pete Conway - 1891 photo via Wikiwand

• 1884 - Financially troubled despite finishing second to New York in the American Association, the Columbus Colts sold its players to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys for $8‚000 and disbanded. The Alleghenys needed all the help they could get; they finished the 1884 season 30-78 and 45-1/2 games behind the AA champion NY Metropolitans. The deal bolstered the Pittsburgh fortunes: 10 of Columbus’ players stuck on the Alleghenys 1885 roster, and five became core players for years - C Fred Carroll, OF Tom Brown, 2B Pop Smith, 3B Bill Kuehne and P Ed Morris. 
• 1914 - LHP Aldon “Lefty” Wilkie was born in Zealandia, Saskatchewan. Lefty worked three years in the majors, all for Pittsburgh (1941-42, 1946), posting a line of 8-11-3/4.59. He lost 1943-45 to the war as he was sent to Europe by the Army, and he never regained his pitching touch after his return. Lefty worked in the minors through 1951, then retired to Oregon. 
• 1917 - Manager Bobby Bragan was born in Birmingham, Alabama. The former big league infielder managed the Bucs in 1956-57, just before they turned the corner, slating a record of 102-155 (.397) and earning a showman’s rep before Danny Murtaugh took the reins. Bobby moved on to Cleveland and after a break managed the Braves from 1963-66. He went on to become president of the Texas League and chairman of the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation. 
• 1918 - SS Tony “Mosquito” Ordenana was born in Guanabacoa, Cuba. Ordenana spent from 1942 to 1954 in pro ball, playing in 11 leagues with 14 teams. After appearing in one big league game with the Pirates in 1943, going 2-for-4 w/three RBI while handling seven chances at short, he spent the rest of his pro career in the minor leagues. Mosquito (so called because of his quickness) hurt his MLB cause by batting just .250 without ever swatting a homer on the farm. 

Tony Ordenana - Cuban Beisbo/Wikipedia

• 1957 - IF Houston Jimenez was born in Mexico City. Jimenez got parts of four seasons in the show, with most of his playing time as a Twin. He went 0-for-6 as a Bucco, getting into five games in 1987 before moving on to the Indians for a final cup of coffee the following campaign. Houston finished out his career playing winter ball and in the Mexican League, taking his last at bat in 2001 as a 43-year-old. He’s managed below the border since and was recognized in 2013 when he was selected into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame. 
• 1959 - Danny Murtaugh was inked to a one-year contract, per the Pirates policy, for an undisclosed amount, another FO standard. Bill Burwell, Frank Oceak, Sam Narron, Lenny Levy and George Detore all stayed on as members of his coaching staff. Murtaugh, 42, had led the Buccos to 162 wins during back-to-back campaigns after the dark ages of the early-to-mid 50’s, with the best just around the corner. 
• 1960 - RHP Byron Lee Tunnell was born in Tyler, Texas. The Baylor righty was the Bucs’ second pick in the 1981 draft. He arrived in Pittsburgh the following September and then went 11-6/3.85 in 1983, but his four year run (1982-85) produced just a 17-24-1/4.06 line overall. Lee went on to toss for St. Louis and Minnesota. He later pitched in the Japanese League for three seasons, then coached in the minor leagues for the Rangers and Reds. Tunnell joined the Milwaukee Brewers in 2009 as a minor league pitching coordinator and became their bullpen coach in 2012. 
• 1971 - Dave Giusti was named The Sporting News Fireman of the Year by posting a line of 5-6-30/2.93 during the season after being the runner up in ‘70 to the Reds’ Wayne Granger. Though postseason stats weren’t considered for the point-based award, he was brilliant in the NLCS v the Giants and the World Series against the Orioles, giving up just four hits and no runs in 10-2/3 innings (seven outings) while earning three saves. Guisti was the last Pirate to win the award before it was discontinued after the 2010 campaign; Roy Face (1962) and Al McBean (1964) were previous awardees. 

Dave Giusti - 1971 Pirates Picture Pack

• 1975 - Westinghouse Broadcasting stunned Pirate fans by announcing that Bob “The Gunner” Prince and sidekick Nellie King were getting the ax. At the time, no major league broadcaster had ever spent more years (29) with one team than Prince had with the Pirates. The reasons given were that the pair didn’t do enough to promote the team and went off-topic too often (guilty of the latter, but not the former). Despite public outrage and a parade in his support that drew 10,000 fans, the duo were replaced by Milo Hamilton, formerly of the Atlanta Braves booth, and Lanny Frattare, the voice of the Pirates AAA Charleston club.

10/30 From 1980: Lloyd Wins Gibson; '20 Churn; Howard Claimed; Cutch Wins Clemente; Price Cut; Bullington Signed; BB, AVS AS; Sauer Prez; HBD Ian

• 1981 - RHP Ian Snell was born in Dover, Delaware. He spent parts of six seasons (2004-09) as a Pirate starter, showing promise but never quite getting over the hump with a line of 33-46/4.75. Ian was demoted to Indy in 2009, at his own request, and traded to Seattle a month later. He bombed there and was DFA’ed in June of 2010, ending his MLB career, despite a couple of comeback efforts. 

Ian Snell - 2009 Topps Heritage

• 1991 - Mark Sauer was named club president/CEO after Carl Barger left for the Florida Marlins to deal with upcoming big-name free agency and negotiations to cut Pirates expenses at TRS without much financial ammunition. Sauer oversaw the cost-cutting that gutted the Pirates' 1990-92 powerhouse teams as per the orders of the Pirates' public-private ownership to reduce payroll, losing players like Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds, Doug Drabek and Andy Van Slyke. He was eased out of action by the Kevin McClatchy group and resigned in the summer of 1996; McClatchy took his spot. 
• 1992 - Outfielders Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke were named to the Associated Press All-Star team. Bonds’ line was .311 BA/34 HR/103 RBI and he would later be named the NL-MVP. AVS hit .324 and scored 103 times. But the eminent early-1990s club was coming apart. BB was an FA and signed with the Giants in December. AVS went on to have an All-Star year in ‘93, only to be curtailed by a broken collarbone just before the break, and then had a subpar ‘94 during the strike-shortened season. After that campaign, he moved on to Baltimore. 
• 2002 - The Pirates signed the first overall pick of the draft, RHP Bryan Bullington, to a $4M deal, the most they had ever paid a draftee. The 22-year-old from Ball State was expected to be a power arm but never panned out; labrum surgery cost him the 2006 season and he was never the same pitcher afterwards. The Pirates cut him in 2007 after just three starts and six games in the show, and he failed to stick in later stints with Cleveland, Toronto and Kansas City. 
• 2003 - The Pirates announced price cuts for their 2004 tickets, slicing $3/ducat off full season ticket plans, a dollar off for partial fans and a sliding discount scale for single-game tickets. “We still haven’t delivered anything that we’re supposed to deliver,” Kevin McClatchy told Robert Dvorchak of the Post Gazette. “We have to do better on the field.” The move was estimated to require an extra 100,000 fans to break even, but McClatchy figured the cuts would boost the gate. 

Cutch & Clemente Award - 2015 photo/Sports Illustrated

• 2015 - Andrew McCutchen became just the second Pirate to win the MLB’s Roberto Clemente community service award, following Willie Stargell, who took the honor in 1974. Cutch was presented the trophy during pre-game ceremonies before the third game of the World Series between the Mets and Royals at Citi Field. Andrew won the Pirate’s RC Award a record four straight times (2012-15), and holds the club mark of five in all, also taking the prize in 2009. Among his causes were the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, the Homeless Children's Education Fund, the Light of Life Rescue Mission and Habitat for Humanity. He also started the local “Cutch’s Crew” for at-risk inner-city kids. Even after he was traded, McCutchen returned to Pittsburgh to sponsor a week of community projects. 
• 2019 - LHP Sam Howard was claimed by the Bucs from the Rockies. He was prone to the occasional meltdown outing; while he averaged better than a K per inning, he was bitten by walks and homers that blew up his ERA. Still, the lefty mostly provided the Pirates with some solid mid-game work in 2020-21. He was waived in 2022 and is now tossing in the Tiger system. 
• 2020 - In a short season that still saw 11 players end up on the 60-day IL, the Pirates had to make more moves than Salome to straighten out their postseason 40-man roster. They added C Michael Perez from Tampa Bay, then outrighted holdover backstops Luke Maile and John Ryan Murphy to make Perez the early backup to Jake Stallings. They also lost LHP Brandon Waddel to the Twins and RHP Nick Tropeano was claimed by the Mets off waivers. IF Kevin Kramer, RHP Yacksel Ríos and OF Jason Martin were returned from the injured list and outrighted off the 40-man roster. Before the cuts were made, pitchers Keone Kela and Derek Holland had declared free agency to start the culling of the herd. 

Michael Perez - 2021 image/Pirates

• 2021 - Former Pirates player, coach and manager Lloyd McClendon received the 2021 Josh Gibson Legacy Award at a celebration held at the Wyndham Grand hotel. The Gary, Indiana native’s career began as “Legendary Lloyd” as a little leaguer and included playing eight years for three MLB teams, coaching for two more, and managing three others. Mac was also the first full time African American manager/head coach of any of Pittsburgh’s three major sports teams.

10/29: Anderson-Jones; NNL Talk; '18 Churn; Leyland's Staff Stays; RIP Bill; HBD Dana, Jim, Solly & Fido

• 1863 - RHP Marcus “Fido” Baldwin was born in Homestead. He only pitched two years and some change for the Pirates (1891-93) but the club got its money’s worth. Between 1891-92, Fido started 104 games, went 47-55, and worked 878 IP with a 3.14 ERA. He was known as one of, if not the fastest, thrower of his era. He also was sued by St. Louis owner Chris von der Ahe for trying to influence his players to skip leagues (which he did), and was arrested for participating in the Homestead steel strike (he was freed, claiming to be just a spectator). Fido couldn't stay out of controversy; as a minor league owner in 1896, he and his teammates were arrested and convicted of a Blue Law violation for playing the first-ever Sunday professional game in Auburn, NY, and he was fined $5. Baldwin later became a doctor and was affiliated with Homestead’s Municipal Hospital. He’s buried in Allegheny Cemetery. His nickname came about because he seemed to live his baseball life in the manager's doghouse, per Jonathan Light’s “Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball.” 

Solly Hofman - 1912 photo/Boston Herald

• 1882 - OF Arthur Frederick “Solly” Hofman was born in St. Louis. Hofman played for the Pirates in 1903, then returned again in 1912-13, hitting .246 for the Bucs. Solly had a long run in the show, playing 14 years in the National, American and Federation leagues. His nickname was "Circus Solly,” credited to either a comic strip character of the era or to his acrobatic “circus catch” feats in the outfield. 
• 1944 - RHP Jim Bibby was born in Franklinton, NC. The big guy worked five years (1978-83; he was out all of 1982 with a shoulder injury) for Pittsburgh, and won 19 games in 1980 during his All-Star season. He was 50-32-3/3.53 during that span. Bibby started three games in the 1979 championship run (1 NLCS, 2 WS) and while not getting a decision in any of them, put up a 2.08 ERA. His Pirates highlight was in 1981, when he gave up a leadoff bloop single to Atlanta’s Terry Harper and then retired the next 27 batters. A shoulder injury suffered later that season eventually led to his retirement in 1984. Originally, the Pirates signed him as a free agent in 1978 to replace Goose Gossage as the new closer, but he started 91 of his 146 Bucco outings. Another factoid: at 6'5", you might suspect he harbored some basketball genes, and indeed he did. Jim was an older brother of Henry Bibby and the uncle of Mike Bibby, both NBA players. 
• 1965 - Bill McKechnie passed away in Bradenton at the age of 79. A Wilkinsburg native, Bill spent 11 years in the majors as a player, then went on to lead three different clubs to the NL pennants as a manager and earned a spot in the Hall of Fame in 1962. He was a utility guy for the Pirates in 1907 & 1910-12 to start his career. By 1922, he was a Pirates coach and replaced George Gibson as skipper in mid-season. The club played better and eventually won the World Series over the Sens in 1925. The Pirates fell to third in 1926 and McKechnie was fired (he got caught up in the ABC Affair backwash), but bounced back with managing gigs at St. Louis, Boston and Cincinnati to carry him through 1946. As a field general, he split four World Series sets and was twice named Manager of the Year. The Pirates' spring training home, McKechnie Field in Bradenton, was named after him from 1962-2017, when it became LECOM Park. 

Odell Jones - 1978 Topps

• 1980 - The Pirates traded a PTBNL (AAA Portland’s RHP Larry Anderson) and cash to the Seattle Mariners for RHP Odell Jones. It was a homecoming for Jones, who had pitched for the Bucs in 1975 & 1977-78, and he went 4-5/3.31 in 1981. He was in AAA in 1982 and then lost in the Rule 5 draft to Texas. Anderson had a pretty good run - he pitched through the 1994 season and ended up appearing in 699 MLB games (40-39-49/3.15). Anderson was involved in one other notable deal when he was traded by the Astro's a decade later to Boston for Jeff Bagwell. 
• 1983 - LHP Dana Eveland was born in Olympia, Washington. Eveland was your basic journeyman lefty; he logged parts of 11 big league seasons with 10 teams, making 187 appearances. The Pirates got him in June, 2010, from Toronto for RHP Ron Uviedo, and Eveland spent most of the year in the minors, toeing the slab three times for Pittsburgh and giving up nine runs in 9-2/3 IP. Dana tossed a bit in Mexico in 2017 to close out his pro career. 
• 1991 - The Pirates retained Jim Leyland’s coaching staff, keeping pitching coach Ray Miller, 1B coach Tommy Sandt, 3B coach Gene Lamont, batting coach Milt May and bullpen coach Rich Donnelly. They were kept for good reason; though the Pirates lost a bitter seven-game NLCS battle to Atlanta, they won 98 games while claiming the Eastern Division crown. As for the skipper, the Pirates had him contractually locked up for two more seasons and refused permission for other teams to talk to him.
• 2018 - The postseason shuffle continued with SS Jordy Mercer declaring free agency after 3B Jung-Ho Kang led the charge; 2B Josh Harrison joined them two days later. JHK re-signed with Pittsburgh while Jordy and Josh moved on to the Detroit Tigers. Now Kang is out of the show while Josh is with the Chicago White Sox and Jordy retired. Others leaving earlier in the month were pitchers Casey Sadler and AJ Schugel. Casey signed with Tampa Bay and is working for Seattle while it was the end of the MLB road for AJ, who pitched indy ball in ‘22.

Josh Gibson - 1983 Donruss HoF Heroes

• 2021 - The Josh Gibson Foundation held a symposium on the 100th anniversary of black baseball (delayed a year due to the Covid pandemic) at Duquesne University, titled “Why the Negro Leagues Mattered, and Still Do,” featuring a panel of profs, historians, media folk and Pirates coach Tarrick Brock. Duquesne president Ken Gormley said “The historic Negro Leagues, and hometown powerhouse teams like Josh Gibson’s Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, will always be remembered for their significant...and positive influence on Major League Baseball.”

10/28 Through the 1950s: Dixie Drops Out; Sharing; HBD Big Bob, Gair, Canena, Joe, Percy & Big Bill

• 1867 - C “Big” Bill Wilson was born in Hannibal, Missouri. He played pro ball for 15 years, mostly in the minors, spending 1890 with the Alleghenys, which had been hard hit by defections to the Players League (he hit .214 and caught, played 1B and some OF) and then with the 1897-98 Louisville Colonels. He was argumentative and got into several donnybrooks during his career, stepping up to the world of crime when he retired. He was alleged to have been a member of Detroit’s “Purple Gang” and served time in Leavenworth. “Baseball” Wilson, as he was known to his associates in crime & law enforcement, met a brutal end when he was knifed in a St. Paul speakeasy in 1924. 

Bill Wilson (Louisville) - photo via SABR

• 1899 - LHP Percy Lee Jones was born in Harwood, Texas. Percy closed out his nine-year career, (seven spent with the Cubs) in Pittsburgh where the 30-year-old went 0-1/6.63 in nine games in 1930 before being sent down. He became a Pirate in an April deal with the Boston Braves for Burleigh Grimes. 
• 1917 - LHP Joe Page was born in nearby Cherry Valley and was raised in the mining town of Springdale. He was signed by the Yankees in 1940, starting out for the Class D Butler Yankees. Joe’s career turned in 1947 when NY flipped him from a starter to reliever, and he had several strong seasons before 1951 when his arm died, including winning the 1949 World Series’ MVP. He worked in the minors to overcome the loss of his bread-and-butter heater, coming up with a sinker (and almost assuredly a spitter, too). The Bucs gave him a shot in 1954, but after a quick start he was rocked (11.17 ERA in 9-2/3 IP) and released. He returned home to Springdale and ran a pair of local watering holes. Joe was known as “Fireman,” not only because he was a reliever but because he used to sport a red FDNY tee-shirt in the clubhouse. He was also called the “Gay (as in light-hearted) Reliever” by his bud Joe DiMaggio because of his love of the night-life. 
• 1924 - The Pirates got $16,545 for placing third in the NL race - they finished 90-63, three games behind the NY Giants - for a bonus of $570 for the 27 players who earned a full share with a little left over for the staff and short-timers. The cash bonus was determined by World Series revenues. 
• 1925 - OF Luis Ángel "Canena" Márquez Sánchez was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. One of the first Puerto Rican players in the MLB, he played for both the Homestead Grays (1946–1948) and briefly for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1956), going 1-for-9 with four walks as a Buc. Though he played just two MLB seasons and 68 games, he spent 14 years in the minors, with another four seasons in the Negro League. His hometown baseball stadium is named for him. 

Gair Allie - 1955 Topps

• 1931 - IF Gair Allie was born in Statesville, North Carolina. The Pirates signed Allie out of Wake Forest in 1952 where he went to school with Arnie Palmer. He got a lengthy look in 1954, but hit just .199 in 121 games, and his chance to challenge in camp the following season was dashed by a broken ankle. He played well in the Southern League after he recovered and had a solid 1956 in AAA Hollywood, then lost a year to the service. Gair never put together a strong season after his return from the military and retired, becoming a Falstaff/Lone Star Beer VP and later operating a restaurant. 
• 1935 - Big lefty Bob Veale was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He pitched 10-1/2 years for the Pirates (1962-72) with a line of 116-91/3.06 and 1,652 strikeouts. Veale led the league with 250 K in 1964 and had over 200 whiffs four times in his career; his 276 punchouts in 1965 are still a club record. He also led the league in walks four times. After his retirement from pitching in 1974 after a shoulder injury, he returned to his hometown, serving a few years as a coach for the Braves and Yankees. Veale stayed connected to baseball by working as a groundskeeper at Rickwood Field, a ballyard he played on as a youth. In 2006, Veale was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. 
• 1955 - Dixie Walker, manager of minor-league Rochester, pulled his hat out of the Bucco manager’s ring, telling Joe Brown that he was happy as part of the Cardinal organization and decided to stay after earlier expressing an interest in the job. His brother, Harry “The Hat” Walker, was also a skipper in the Redbird system and would take the Pirates helm a decade later in 1965. Bobby Bragan, an early front-runner, got Fred Haney’s job and lasted just through the 1957 campaign.

10/28 From 1970: Huntington Done; Cutch, Shark AS; Leyland MOTY; FA Bo; Milo Era; RIP T-Bone; HBD Diego, Nate & Corban

• 1979 - Radio announcer Milo Hamilton, who replaced Bob Prince in the booth but not in the hearts of the Bucco faithful, told the media that he was leaving the Pirates after four years, as soon as his contract expired at the end of the year. He made the move official the next day by announcing a deal with the Cubs, for whom he had broadcast earlier in his career. He was let go there in 1984 after clashing with Harry Caray before finding a home in Houston. He broadcast from Space City through 2012 on the final leg of his road to a Ford Frick media award. 
• 1981 - OF Nate McLouth was born in Muskegon, Michigan. Drafted in the 25th round of the 2000 draft, he spent his first five big league years (2005-09) with the Bucs, hitting .256 and earning an All-Star spot in 2008. McLouth was traded to the Braves for Gorkys Hernandez, Charlie Morton and Jeff Locke after his AS season when his value was high and Andrew McCutchen was ready to step in to play center field. Nate finished his 10-year career with Washington in 2014. 

Nate McLouth - 2006 Fleer Tradition Rookie

• 1988 - Utility man Corban Joseph was born in Franklin, Tennessee. The younger brother of Caleb, he had cups of coffee with four different organizations before the Pirates claimed him late in the 2019 campaign from the Giants. He only hit .169 in his MLB stops, but had a .371 BA with 13 homers while spending most of the 2019 season in the PCL. He reverted to form to bat .182 in an August/September stint with the big club and was released in the offseason. 
• 1991 - Bobby Bonilla became a free agent. In his six years with Pittsburgh (1986-91), Bobby Bo slashed .284/.357/.481 w/114 HR, 500 RBI, four All-Star nods and was twice a top-three finisher for the MVP. He signed with the Mets for five years/$29M, making him the highest paid player in baseball at the time. He got deferred money from that deal and more from a buy-out of his second contract that pays him $1.19M annually until 2035. A couple of other Bucs, 3B Steve Buechele and P Bob Kipper, also declared for FA. Buechele returned to the fold while Kip signed with the Minnesota Twins. 
• 1992 - Jim Leyland was named the National League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America, the second time he won the award. Leyland received 20 of 24 first-place ballots to outpoll rookie field general Felipe Alou of the Expos. Pittsburgh won 96 games and the division, only to be derailed by Atlanta in a seven game NLCS. Leyland would remain with the Bucs through the 1996 campaign, never winning more than 75 games after roster deconstruction began in the ‘92 offseason, then moved on to Florida, Colorado and Detroit. 

Diego Castillo - 2022 photo Joe Sargent/Getty

• 1997 - IF Diego Castillo was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. A Yankee prospect, the Pirates picked him in 2021 as part of the Clay Holmes trade. He spent most of that year in AA, but his performance the following spring earned him a spot on the roster when camp broke. He got into 96 games for the Bucs, hitting .206 with 11 dingers in 262 ABs while playing every IF spot and RF. 
• 2015 - CF’er Andrew McCutchen and closer Mark Melancon were named to The Sporting News' National League all-star team. Cutch hit .292 with 23 HR and 96 RBI, making his fourth straight appearance on the list, while Mark the Shark, who set a Pirate record and led the majors with 51 saves while appearing in 78 games & posting a 2.23 ERA, was a first-time awardee. It was a big day for Melancon; he also took home the 2015 Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year award. 
• 2018 - Pirates scout Tom “T-Bone” Baker passed away at his Huntington, WV, home at age 75. Baker had served as a regional scout for the Pirates from 1990-2013 when health issues bumped him to part-time status; he also worked as a systems engineer until retiring from that gig in 1997. He and his dog “Scout,” who attended the games with him, knew every ballyard in the area inside and out as T-Bone played for Huntington HS and Marshall University. 

Neil Huntington - photo via Amherst College

• 2019 - The Pirates made it a clean front office sweep by dismissing GM Neal Huntington after earlier relieving manager Clint Hurdle and President Frank Coonely. Kevan Graves, one of the Pirates' assistant GMs, served as interim GM while the Pirates conducted a search for Huntington’s position, resulting in Ben Cherington’s hire two weeks later. The other newbies were President Travis Williams, from of all places the Penguins, who was officially named as Coonelly’s replacement starting on November 1st and Derek Shelton, who was chosen manager on the 27th.

10/27: Spud Joins; Rabbit/Cholly-Vic/Grantham; Blass, Rock, Crew Back; Flood Bill; Meyer MOTY; Barnstormin'; HBD Ralph, Jon, Jason, Mike, UL, Pete, Rube & Charlie

• 1876 - IF Charlie Kuhns was born in Freeport. The local lad made his MLB debut in 1887 for the Bucs as a 20-year-old one-game fill-in, going 0-for-3 with a walk. He almost lost that line (and maybe wishes he did): the game he played in was at Philly, and the Pirates were losing but threatening weather was rolling in. Warming up between innings, the ball was zinged over his head and into the crowd, and the Bucs went on a recon mission to find it. Philadelphia pleaded their case to the ump that the Pirates were playing a delay game, hoping for the storm to hit. The ump agreed, but the Pittsburgh players remained a bit leisurely despite his warning, so he called the game in favor of the Phillies. Pity - the rains came shortly after the field was cleared; the Bucs likely would have got their wish for a washout if they had played it straight. As for Kuhns, he got a cup of coffee at Boston the next season and ended up with nine minor/indie league campaigns under his belt, mostly in the Eastern League, before retiring and heading back home. 
• 1918 - RHP Ed “Rube” Albosta was born in Saginaw, Michigan. The Bucs drafted Ed from the Dodgers in 1942 after he had made a couple of September starts for Brooklyn, but he entered the service afterwards and was in the military from 1942 through 1945. Albosta spent the entire 1946 season with Pittsburgh and made 17 appearances. He finished with an 0-6 record and 6.13 ERA, ending his MLB days. Although he had a strong campaign or two in the minors, he never got another call up and retired from baseball after the 1954 season. Ed returned home and was selected to the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame. 
• 1922 - OF Ralph Kiner was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico. He led the NL in home runs for seven straight seasons as a Buc. Kiner hit 301 bombs, drove in 801 runs, and had a .971 OPS in his eight Pittsburgh seasons (1946-53) and was named an All-Star six times. Ralph was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Pirates retired his #4 in 1987. 

George Grantham - 1925 Bain/Library of Congress

• 1924 - 1B Charlie Grimm, LHP Wilbur Cooper and SS Rabbit Maranville were traded to the Chicago Cubs for RHP Vic Aldridge, 1B George Grantham and rookie 1B Al Niehaus. Cooper was nearing the end of his career, Maranville would have two more strong seasons with Boston, and Grimm played for Chicago for the next dozen years, hitting .296 with 1,079 RBI and became their player-manager. Grantham hit .300 over six seasons with Pittsburgh, Aldridge won 40 games in his three-year Bucco tenure and Niehaus, 26-years-old and a key component of the deal as a highly rated minor league infielder, split 1925 between the Pirates and Reds in his only MLB campaign. 
• 1935 - According to Charlton’s Baseball Chronology, a touring group of American League All-Stars topped the Negro League champion Pittsburgh Crawfords, 7-2, in Mexico City in the final match of a three-game barnstorming series. Rogers Hornsby drove in three runs against Bert Hunter, and he drove in three more the day before when the All-Stars won, 11-7. The first game ended in a 6-6 tie. The AL squad featured Hornsby, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Lyons and Vern Kennedy while the Crawfords roster included Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson and Cool Papa Bell. 
• 1939 - The Pirates purchased C Spud Davis from the Phils. Spud caught 99 games in 1940, but in 1941 Al Lopez took over the Pirates starting catcher's role. The next season, Spud became a coach for the Pirates before returning to the active roster in 1944-45 due to player shortages of WW2. In his four Pirate seasons, he hit .301 and continued as a Bucco coach (he also served as the manager for a short stint after Frankie Frisch resigned in 1946) and a scout. He then played minor league ball and coached for the Cubs, retiring in 1953. 
• 1948 - Manager Billy Meyer was selected as The Sporting News MLB Manager of the Year, edging out Boston’s Billy Southworth by an 89-87 vote tally. After 22 years in the minors, he improved the hapless Pirates by 21 games to fourth place with an 83-71 record, 8-1/2 games behind Southworth’s first place Braves (and just 2-1/2 games off the pace on September 12th before a late season nosedive). The glow wore off quickly after new GM Branch Rickey dealt the vets and rebuilt; Meyer and his Pirate puppies lost 112 games in 1952 and Billy resigned. 

Pete Vuckovich - photo via Cambria County HoF

• 1952 - RHP/coach Pete Vuckovich was born in Johnstown. In his 11-year MLB career, he never tossed for the Pirates, but in 1992 he was hired by Pittsburgh as a pitching instructor. Vuckovich served as the pitching coach during the 1997–2000 seasons for Gene Lamont, then worked his way through the organization to become the Special Assistant to the General Manager until joining the Seattle organization in 2012. Pete also had a role in the movie “Major League,” uttering the snarky “How’s your wife and my kids?” line. Pete is a member of the Clarion University Sports Hall of Fame, the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. 
• 1953 - IF UL Washington was born in Springtown, Oklahoma. He closed out his 11-year big league visit in 1986-87 with the Pirates, batting .207 off the bench. After ending his playing career, Washington coached in the minors for the Pirates (1989), Royals (1991–98), Dodgers (1999), Twins (2001–02) and the Red Sox (2003–2014). Two UL factoids: UL isn’t shorthand for anything; it’s actually his given name. Also, the toothpick he always had in his mouth was a by-product of Astroturf. UL had always played with a blade of grass in his mouth until he got to the show and there were no more grass fields, so he substituted a toothpick. 
• 1962 - RHP Mike Dunne was born in South Bend, Indiana. The US Olympian from 1984 came to the Pirates as part of the Tony Pena trade and paid immediate dividends, going 13-6 with a 3.03 ERA in 1987 and finishing second to Benito Santiago in the Rookie-of-the-Year balloting (he won the TSN NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year award). He then encountered arm problems and couldn’t match his first-year numbers, winning just eight more games before being traded to Seattle in 1989. His Pittsburgh slash was 21-18/3.65. Dunne’s last MLB campaign was in 1992 with the White Sox, and he left there to coach at his alma mater, Bradley University. Now he's involved with instructional baseball and basketball camps. 
• 1973 - RHP Jason Johnson was born in Santa Barbara, California. He was signed by the Pirates in 1992 out of high school and made his debut in 1997, working six innings and giving up four runs before being lost to Tampa Bay in the expansion draft. He turned into a journeyman, working 11 seasons for eight teams and spending another year in Japan. Jason played through lifelong Type 1 diabetes; he was the first MLB player to wear an insulin pump on the field. 

Jon Niese - 2016 image via Positively Pittsburgh

• 1978 - LHP Jon Niese was born in Lima, Ohio. After working eight years as a Met, Niese was traded to Pittsburgh for Neil Walker in 2016. He was 8-6 for the Bucs, but a 4.91 ERA and 1.545 WHIP were more indicative of his performance. On August 1st, the Pirates sent him back to NY for Antonio Bastardo, a trade tree Neal Huntington would like to forget about. The Mets bought him out after the season, and he signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees but was let go in June. He didn’t have any better luck in 2018, auditioning with the Rangers but being released in camp and ditto with the Mariners in 2019, his last hurrah. 
• 1998 - President Bill Clinton signed the Curt Flood legislation that overturned part of baseball's 70-year-old antitrust exemption, putting baseball on a par with other professional sports on labor matters after Congress approved it unanimously earlier in the month. The new law overrode part of a 1922 Supreme Court ruling that exempted baseball from antitrust restrictions on grounds that it was not interstate commerce. The law took three sessions of Congress to pass and revoked the antitrust exemption only for labor relations, leaving the other issues as is for another day. 
• 2005 - Color man Steve Blass signed a one-year deal with an option while analyst John Wehner inked a straight one-year contract to broadcast with FSN Pittsburgh. They joined Lanny Frattare, Greg Brown and Bob Walk, who were already signed for the upcoming season, in the booth.

10/26: AS Starling; Jay Bay TSN-ROY; Bonds, Drabek Declare For FA; HBD Diomedes, Wilfredo, Frankie, Marty, Scat, Judy, Harry & Bill

• 1867 - RHP Bill Garfield was born in Sheffield, Ohio. The Oberlin product tossed his first big league season for the 1889 Pittsburgh Alleghenys, going 0-2/7.76 in 29 IP (two starts, four outings). He worked for the Cleveland Spiders the following year and then spent time in Bradford, Peoria and Sandusky in the minors before hangin’ up his mitt after the 1893 campaign. 
• 1884 - RHP Harry Camnitz was born in McKinney, Kentucky. He worked once for the Pirates in 1909, going four innings and giving up a pair of runs, but that was long enough for him to become an early brother act with teammate sib Howie, who won 109 games with the Bucs. Harry did have a strong minor league career, once winning 27 games for the McKeesport Tubers. 

Judy Johnson - 2001 Topps 50 Years

• 1899 - 3B William Julius "Judy" Johnson was born in Snow Hill, Maryland (This is a consensus date; there are a couple of others floating around). The Hall-of-Famer spent the twenties as a stalwart of the legendary Philadelphia Hilldale Darby teams, then played and managed for the Homestead Grays in 1929-30. He was also with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, serving as team captain from 1932-1936. He retired after 17 seasons with a career .290 BA. The New York Times wrote that "...as a third baseman, Johnson was often compared with Pie Traynor," and the paper recalled Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack’s comment about Johnson: "If Judy were only white," Mack said, "he could name his own price." He inherited his nickname early in his career from a Philly teammate he resembled, “Judy” Gans, who incidentally was from Washington, PA. 
• 1919 - 3B Jack “Gabby”/”Scat” Cassini was born in Dearborn, Michigan. Jack put 12 years in the minors (he missed three full seasons after entering the Army Air Corp) as a speedy infielder with All-Star chops (he had a lifetime .304 BA on the farm) and six stolen-base titles, but his only stop in the show was in 1949 for the Pirates. He got into eight games w/o touching a bat or mitt; he was used solely as a pinch runner, and did pretty well, scoring three times. After the season, the Pirates sent him to Brooklyn for Danny O’Connell. His playing days were cut short when he was hit in the face by a pitch in 1954, suffering a broken cheekbone and blurred vision. That effectively ended his playing career, but he soldiered on for the next two decades as a scout and minor league skipper for four different organizations - the White Sox, Redlegs/Reds, Mets and Indians. 
• 1974 - RHP Marty McLeary was born in Kettering, Ohio. After getting a brief taste of the show with San Diego, McLeary got nine outings (two starts) with the Bucs in 2006-07, going 2-0/3.91, and that was the end of his MLB road. He tossed for five different organizations before retiring at age 35 after the 2010 campaign and is now a sales manager for medical devices in Nashville. 

Marty McLeary - 2006 Topps Rookie 52

• 1983 - LHP Frankie Liriano was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. One of the Pirates most notable reclamation projects, the southpaw went 41-36 with a 3.67 ERA from 2013-16 for the Bucs and won the 2013 "Comeback Player of the Year" award. In the midst of a dismal 2016 campaign, Frankie was traded to Toronto at the deadline. From there, he ended up with the ‘Stros and a date at the 2017 World Series, moved on to the Tigers in 2018 and returned to the Bucs in 2019. It was his last MLB gig and he officially retired in 2022 after 14 seasons.
• 1989 - RHP Wilfredo Boscan was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Wil has been in baseball since 2007, spending 11 years in the minors as a starting pitcher while wintering in the Latino leagues six times, and got his only showtime as a Pirate in 2016 when he went 1-1/6.46 in six outings lasting 15-1/3 IP. Wil worked in the Mets minors in 2017, the Venezuelan Winter League that following offseason and in the Mexican League in 2019. He’s still tossing in both Latin leagues. 
• 1989 - LHP Diomedes Mateo was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. The Bucs were hoodwinked by Mateo, who they signed in 2009 under the false pretense that he was a 16-year old player named Yoldi Sierra instead of a 20-year-old Diomedes. The MLB fact-checkers quickly found out the ruse and suspended Mateo for two seasons. The southpaw returned in 2011 but was out of pro ball after 2012 following Low A, Rookie League and Dominican Summer League stops. 
• 1992 - It was a dark day for Pirates fans as Barry Bonds and Doug Drabek both declared for free agency. Bonds was a two-time MVP (1990, 1992) and Drabek a Cy Young winner in 1990. Both found considerably greener pastures away from Pittsburgh: Barry signed a six-year/$43.75M deal with the Giants while Doug inked a four-year/$20M contract with the Astros. 

Bye-Bye Barry - 1992 Upper Deck Diamond Skills

• 2004 - The Sporting News selected LF Jason Bay as the Rookie of the Year. Bay hit .282 with 26 homers and 82 RBIs despite missing the first five weeks of the campaign because of shoulder surgery. He was the third Pirate to win the TSN award behind Jason Kendall (1996) and Johnny Ray (1982), but neither of them took home the big enchilada, the Baseball Writer’s RoY. Jason would become the first Buccaneer to lay claim to that honor two weeks later. 
• 2016 - LF Starling Marte was named to The Sporting News 2016 National League All-Star Team for the first time. Marte slashed .311/.362/456 with 34 doubles, five triples, nine HR, 71 runs, 46 RBIs, 47 stolen sacks and a 4.9 WAR. He was the only Pirates player to receive votes for AS consideration from the panel of baseball execs who selected the TSN lineup.

10/25: Garber-Rook Swap; KD Deal Continues; Danny UPI-MOTY In '60; Branch Steps Down; HBD JJ, Danny, Pete, Nanny & Hoosier Schoolmaster

• 1893 - RHP Vic “Hoosier Schoolmaster” Aldridge was born in Crane, Indiana. He only tossed three of his nine MLB seasons for the Pirates (1925-27), but bookended those campaigns with World Series appearances. Vic, who possessed a dandy curveball, went 40-30-2/3.99 for the Pirates, starting 86 times, and went 2-1 in his four Fall Classic starts, claiming both his wins in 1925 against the Senators’ Stan Coveleski. After his retirement from baseball, he was a big man back home, serving as a state senator in the General Assembly and selected to the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. And yes, he was an Indiana schoolmaster before he became a hurler. 
• 1918 - Utilityman Froilan “Nanny” Fernandez was born in Wilmington, California. Nanny played for Boston in 1942, went off to the service and put in a couple of more seasons with the Braves. A quiet bat got him sent back to the farm and eventually swapped into the Pirate system. Fernandez shifted to third base and made it back to the majors with Pittsburgh in 1950, playing 65 games as a backup to Stan Rojek (he played SS, 3B & OF) and batting .258. Fernandez was sent to Indianapolis in 1951 and then played from 1952-55 in the PCL. 
• 1939 - RHP Pete Mikkelsen was born on Staten Island. He tossed for Pittsburgh from 1966-67, posting a line of 10-10-16/3.46 from the pen in 103 outings. Pete played for five different clubs over a nine-year career through 1972 despite suffering from a chronic back injury he received as a Pirate when a truck rear-ended his car in 1967. He’s also a card collector’s mystery man of sorts. Mikkelsen got into a dispute with Topps, and the company didn’t issue a card for him during the last four years of his career. 

Branch Rickey - photo via Baseball Hall of Fame

• 1955 - Hall-of-Fame executive Branch Rickey stepped down as the Pirates' general manager, replaced by Joe L. Brown. During Mahatma's five-year tenure, Pittsburgh’s “Rickey-Dinks” had three 100-loss seasons. Rickey was, however, credited with developing a solid farm system for the Pirates and stayed with the organization as an advisor. Brown filled some holes with vets via the trade route to supplement the farm, and was paid off with a strong ‘58 campaign and eventually wore the crown in 1960. 
• 1955 - RHP Danny Darwin was born in Bonham, Texas. DD tossed for 21 years and one of his nine teams for a brief spell was Pittsburgh. He signed with the Pirates in 1996 at the age of 40, and they traded him to the Astros for a second tour of duty at mid-season for Rich Loiselle after he put up a solid line of 7-9/3.02. Darwin was known as the "Bonham Bullet" as a nod to the hometown and was dubbed "Dr. Death" by Houston teammate Nolan Ryan because of his feistiness and occasional flyin’ fists. He retired after the 1998 season and is coaching as a member of the Reds organization. 
• 1960 - UPI named Danny Murtaugh the NL Manager of the Year by an 18-6 count over the Cards’ Solly Hemus. The Whistling Irishman’s charges won the 1960 World Series while Hemus brought the Redbirds home in third place. Bob Friend (18-12/3.00) took UPI’s NL Comeback Player of the Year award, outdistancing Stan “The Man” Musial, Ernie Broglio, Curt Simmons and Ed Roebuck. 
• 1972 - Pittsburgh traded RHP Gene Garber to the KC Royals for LHP Jim Rooker. Rook pitched eight seasons for the Pirates, winning 82 games with a 3.29 ERA before becoming a Buc announcer. Garber tossed out of various bullpens until 1988, winning 96 games and saving 218 more with a 3.44 ERA. Over his 19-year career, he saved 20+ games five times, with a high of 30 in 1982 for Atlanta. 

JJ Davis - 1997 Bowman

• 1978 - OF Jerry “JJ” Davis was born in Glendora, California. A first round draft pick in 1997 (eighth overall), Davis made very little noise in the show, playing in just 53 games from 2002-04 for the Pirates and batting .163, mostly as a pinch hitter. He was competing with Jason Bay and Brian Giles for a corner outfield spot in Pittsburgh and then got into manager Lloyd McClendon’s doghouse, with both situations limiting his opportunities to crack the lineup. 
• 1990 - After rejecting KDKA’s offer in April, the Pirates agreed to continue flagship radio rights and a 50-game TV deal for the coming season, guesstimated to be in the $2.5M range, a slight bump from last year, with the broadcaster. Neither side would say if the earlier proposal was sweeter than the one reached, but the Pirates were known to be looking for a better deal with other outlets without any luck, so KD’s deal was as good as it was going to get. The team in the booth remained unchanged with Kent Derdivanis, Lanny Frattare, Steve Blass and Jim Rooker.

10/24 Through the 1940s: Stretch Music; HBD Johnny, Ding Dong, Cal, Pete, Heinie, Chicken, Jay, Bill & Ned

• 1857 - IF Ned Williamson was born in Philadelphia. Ned launched his career as a 19-year-old with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys in 1877, when the club’s first incarnation played in the minor league International Association. They were pretty good as the Alleghenys won the league title, albeit with a 13-6 record, and all 12 players on the roster eventually ended up in MLB, notably Williamson, Pud Galvin and Chick Fulmer. Ned hit .173 in 19 games for Pittsburgh and then jumped to the NL Indianapolis Blues the next year. In 1879, he began a 11-year run with the Chicago White Stockings, ending his playing days in 1890 with the Chicago Pirates due to a knee injury. He also took part in Al Spalding’s famous World Tour of 1888. Ned died in 1894 at age 36 from tuberculosis. 
• 1858 - 3B Bill Kuehne (his surname was an Ellis Island special; in Germany, it was Knelme) was born in Leipzig, Germany. He played every position but pitcher and catcher, hitting .240 in Pittsburgh (he was with the Alleghenys 1885-89, Burghers 1890). His best years were with the Alleghenys, where he batted .299 in 1887 and led the NL with 138 games played in 1888. 
• 1859 - 1B Jacob “Jay” Faatz was born in Weedsport, New York. He began his four-year MLB career with a 29-game audition with the 1884 Alleghenys, batting .241 and then spending the next three years in the minors before getting another big-league opportunity. Faatz was an argumentative player with a knack for sticking out an elbow or knee and getting plunked, and that fiery temperament led him to become a ringleader in the Players League movement, which put an end to his career. He retired in 1894 after spending some time in the minors and moved to Syracuse to become a sales rep. His highlight came against his old Allegheny teammates in 1889 when he smoked a grounder to third that glanced off the fielder’s foot and kicked into temporary stands along the baseline; by the time the Pittsburgh infield could recover the ball, Jay had a three-run homer (one of three career four-baggers) on a hit that never left the infield. 

Jay Faatz (w/Cleveland) - 1887 Goodwin/Old Judge

• 1870 - OF Phil “Chicken” Routcliffe was born in Frontenac, Ontario. Routcliffe got into one MLB game as an Allegheny in 1890, going 1-for-4 and HBP, scoring once, driving in a run and swiping a sack while corralling three balls in the pasture as the left fielder. Just 19 when he played (although his 1870 birthdate is questionable), he was thought to be a contender for a starting role, but was released shortly thereafter. The Alleghenys must have sensed something; he hit just .213 in the Western League and was out of baseball two years later, working as a newspaper pressman and later as a policeman before being claimed by the 1918 flu epidemic at age 47. As for his nickname, we haven’t the slightest clue other than it dates back to his youth. 
• 1871 - 2B Heinie Smith was born in Pittsburgh. Heinie played for six MLB campaigns and spent 1899 with the Pirates, batting .283 in 15 games (a deceptive small sample; his career BA was .238). Smith had a disastrous turn as big league skipper, losing 27-of-32 games as the Giants player/manager in 1902. That didn’t deter him when his playing days ended; he was the minor league Buffalo Bisons’ manager for a decade and then coached the U of Buffalo for a couple of seasons. 
• 1906 - PH Pete McClanahan was born in Coldspring, Texas. His only big league time came in 1931 as a 24-year-old Pirate, getting into seven games as a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner. He went 2-for-4 with two walks and scored twice, so he fit right into that role. Pete’s calling card was his stick. In six farm seasons in the Texas, Lone Star and Dixie Leagues, he hit .317 before swinging the bat for a final time after the 1933 campaign, giving up the sport at the age 26.

• 1908 - Edward Meeker recorded "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" for the Edison Phonograph Company, the first recorded version of the tune (it was quickly covered and popularized by Billy Murray & the Haydn Quartet on Victor Records, who turned the song into a 1908 chart-topper). The melody was written earlier in the year by Tin Pan Alley vets Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer (“Shine On, Harvest Moon”) and became a vaudeville hit. Though it remained popular and was updated lyrically in 1927, it was first played in a major league venue at the 1934 World Series and in 1976 became a big league ballyard standard per baseball lore when then-Chicago White Sox announcer Harry Caray began singing it during the stretch, accompanied by organist Nancy Faust, at the urging of Sox owner Bill Veeck. Norworth and Von Tilzer, incidentally, had never seen a ballgame before writing the song, and wouldn’t until decades later. 
• 1927 - RHP Calvin “Cal” Hogue was born in Dayton, Ohio. His MLB career spanned 1952-54, all spent as a Bucco, with a line of 2-10/4.91 in 25 games (16 starts). He got a decent shot in his first campaign after a July call up while the next two seasons were cup of coffee stops. Cal’s issue was finding the dish - he issued 96 bases on balls in 113-2/3 innings as a Pirate. He stayed in the system through the 1957 season before retiring and returning home to work as a pipefitter. 
• 1933 - RHP Bill “Ding Dong” Bell was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Bell was one of two professional pitchers to throw three no-hitters in the same season (1952), doing the deeds as a member of Pirates affiliate Bristol in the Class D Appalachian League. Success there didn’t translate into much of a MLB career, though. Ding Dong was given a September call up at age 18 in ‘52 and resurfaced again briefly in 1955, going 0-1/4.32 lifetime for the Bucs. The hiatus was because Bill was drafted by Uncle Sam in 1953 and lost two years to the Army. When he came back, he popped his shoulder while practicing and pitched with a sore wing from that time forward. 

Bill Bell - photo via Diamonds in the Dusk

• 1944 - OF Johnny Jeter was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Johnny began his six-year MLB run with the Pirates, which had signed him out of Grambling, playing here between 1969-70. He hit .252 in 113 games (30 starts) and got a couple of at-bats against the Reds in the 1970 NLCS. JJ put in a pair of seasons with the Padres and played for the White Sox and Indians before he retired.

10/24 From 1950: Trevor Deal; New CBA, Williams Inked; Maz Retires; Broadway Briles; HBD Chris, Arthur, Rafe, Dave, Junior, Reggie & Antelope

• 1952 - Pirate CF Omar Moreno was born in Puerto Armuelles, Panama. “The Antelope” played eight years in Pittsburgh (1975-82) and led the league in stolen bases twice, swiping 487 sacks as a Buc. Moreno played every game of the 1979 and 1980 seasons, led the National League in at bats both years and hit .333 against the Orioles in the 1979 World Series (he also won a ring with KC in 1985). Known as “The Antelope” for his speed, both on the base paths and in center field, his bat never quite caught up to his wheels and he ended his Pirates career with a .255 BA/80 OPS+. One of the good guys of the game, he and his wife Sandra began the Omar Moreno Foundation, a youth baseball charity for underprivileged kids in Panama, and the Antelope is still active in Pirates alumni and PR work. Moreno was inducted into the Latino Hall of Fame in 2014. 

Omar Moreno - 1983 Donruss

• 1952 - OF Reggie Walton was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Reggie had a 12-year pro career in the majors, on the farm and in Mexico, finishing his big league time with the Pirates in 1982, hitting .200 in a bench role. Reggie was a good stick guy with a .291 minor league batting average, but half of his time was spent swinging in the hitter-friendly PCL and he didn’t show much plate patience. He hung ‘em up after the 1983 campaign at age 30 after playing for AAA Hawaii. 
• 1959 - C Adalberto “Junior” Ortiz was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Junior caught for the Bucs from 1982-83 (.264 BA), spent a year with the Mets, and came back again between 1985-89. In seven seasons, the reserve hit .262 during his career. We’re not sure where Junior picked up his moniker (he’s not a junior by name, but he did start stateside in the minors at age 17 and reached the Bucs as a 22 year-old, so perhaps it’s just a jab at his youth) but Ortiz embraced it; he even joked after the birth of his son, Adalberto Jr, that he was going to call him “Junior Junior.” 
• 1959 - RHP Dave Johnson was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Dave got his first pro shot with Pittsburgh in 1987, giving up seven runs in 6-1/3 IP. He bounced back to have a couple of solid years for Baltimore before calling it quits after five tours of MLB duty following the 1993 season. His son, Steve, also worked in the show, tossing for Baltimore O’s and Seattle Mariners. 
• 1961 - SS Rafael Belliard was born in Pueblo Nuevo, Dominican Republic. He played his first nine seasons (1982-90) in Pittsburgh as a good glove shortstop, hitting .218 during that time but ranking first in the NL in fielding percentage in 1988. Belliard went on to play the second half of his career in Atlanta, and was part of the ‘91-92 teams that eliminated the Bucs in the NLCS. He’s coached for the Tigers in the majors & farm, and been a minor-league coach for Atlanta. Since 2019, Rafe has worked for KC as a special assistant of baseball operations. 

Rafe - 1986 Pgh Press Profile

• 1969 - LHP Arthur Rhodes was born in Waco, Texas. Rhodes spent 20 years in the show and pitched for nine teams. He was also a Bucco for a brief winter visit. The Pirates got him from Oakland in late November of 2004 along with Mark Redman for Jason Kendall; two weeks later he was on his way to Cleveland for Matt Lawton. His last MLB gig was in 2011, retired officially before the 2015 campaign and now coaches pitching for the indie Cleburne Railroaders. 
• 1971 - Pitcher Nellie Briles converted from the mound to the stage as he opened an eight-day run at the Holiday House in Monroeville. His act was well received, with a set list of pop hits and, of course, “Take Me Out To the Ballgame.” He cracked wise between tunes, and dedicated the song “We Almost Made It This Time, Didn’t We?” to Earl Weaver. Briles actually was a fairly talented performer, working the local night club circuit (and Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago) for a couple of years with a song & comedy routine and even recording a novelty disk ("Hey Hank, I Know You're Gonna Do It", inspired by Henry Aaron). He then became a TV voice before passing away in 2005.
• 1972 - Bill Mazeroski officially retired from the Pirates after 17 seasons, becoming Bill Virdon’s third base coach. He only played 34 games and hit .188 in his final campaign as a bench infielder (.260 lifetime). The Hall-of-Famer left a legacy of 10 All-Star games, eight Golden Gloves and two World Series championships. His number #9 was retired in 1987 and his statue was erected at PNC Park in 2010. He still shows up in the spring to mingle with the boys as health allows. 
• 1978 - RHP Chris Bootcheck was born in LaPorte, Indiana. Chris worked parts of seven big league seasons (2007 with the LAA was his only full season in the show) and made a stop in Pittsburgh in 2009, earning no decisions while putting up an 11.05 ERA in 13 outings. Bootcheck did earn a paycheck for 14 professional seasons, including a couple in Japan, before retiring after the 2014 campaign at the age of 35. He’s now coaching the Georgia State University Panthers. 

Chris Bootcheck - 2009 photo Jeff Gross/Getty

• 2005 - LHP Dave Williams avoided arbitration and signed a one-year/$1.5M deal with the Pirates. Williams had slashed 10-11/4.41 for the Bucs in ‘05 in his fourth campaign with the club, then after signing was swapped to Cincinnati for 1B Sean Casey. That was just his first move; the Reds sent him to the Mets early in the ‘06 campaign. He underwent surgery for a herniated disc in 2007, and that ended his MLB career. Dave pitched in the minors, Japan and an indie league, coached a bit for Toronto and at last check owns a Georgia pharmacy.
• 2006 - The Players Association and MLB announced that they had agreed on a new CBA (two months early!) that would run for five years through the 2011 season. It jiggled some items and finances, but there were no major changes except that the winning All-Star team would host the World Series and the removal of MLB’s chief threat to the union, contraction. The players voted on and ratified the new deal in December, continuing labor peace since 1995. 
• 2015 - The Miami Marlins traded RHP Trevor Williams to the Pirates for Rookie League hurler Richard Mitchell. The Fish had earlier hired Pirates pitching assistant Jim Benedict, and it was thought that swapping a potential MLB back-ender for a long shot prospect was de facto compensation for the signing. Willy made 109 Bucco outings (94 starts) with a line of 31-37/4.43. His last couple of seasons were rough and he signed with the Cubs as a FA in 2021, then was moved to the Mets. Mitchell never advanced past Rookie League ball.