- 1874 - OF Tom McCreery was born in Beaver. The local kid played for five MLB teams in nine seasons, and spent three campaigns (1898-1900) with the Pirates, batting .303 as a switch hitter. Tom became the only player in major league history to hit three inside-the-park homers in a single game in 1897 as a Louisville Colonel. He later became head baseball coach at Pitt for the 1912 season. Tom lived out his days in his hometown, and stayed connected to the game with the semi-pro Rochester Athletics.
 |
| 1887 Pittsburgh Alleghenys - Kalamazoo Bats Cigars |
- 1887 - The 55-win Alleghenys of the National League and the 39-win Cleveland Blues of the American Association met in a four-game postseason exhibition series set up by their leagues. This date was the opener in Cleveland. The Alleghenys won that lidlifter, 9-6, behind Pud Galvin. The teams combined for 26 hits; more telling were the 11 errors. The second game went the Blues' way as George Hays suffered an 11-8 defeat. Cleveland scored six unearned runs thanks to Pittsburgh committing seven more errors. When the Alleghenys returned to Expo Park, they took the next two games handily, 6-3, behind Galvin and 16-7 with Ad Gumbert on the hill. This was before the World Series concept was accepted, but the NL and AA did have a championship series to battle for the short-lived Dauvray Cup. The two league champs, the Detroit Wolverines (NL) and St. Louis Browns (AA), played a 15-game set that was easily taken by Motown, 10-games-to-five.
- 1897 - OF Tom Lovelace was born in Wolfe City, Texas. Tom was a minor league vet, who played on the farm from 1920-1932, and he got one at-bat in the majors, with the Pirates in September of 1922, resulting in a ninth-inning lineout. He and a handful of other youngsters who were on the roster didn’t get to see much time; though the Pirates faded from the pennant chase, they were involved in a three-way battle for second-place money. They might as well have played the kids; they finished tied for third with St. Louis, a game behind second-place Cincinnati.
- 1931 - C/coach Don Leppert was born in Indianapolis. Don made his MLB debut with the Bucs in 1961-62, appearing in 65 games and hitting .266 before he was traded to Washington where he spent two more years (he was a 1963 All-Star) to play out his big league time. After he retired in 1966, Leppert managed a year in the minors for Pittsburgh and then was a Pirates MLB coach for nine more years. He also worked for Toronto, Houston and the Minnesota Twins. Fun fact: On June 18th, 1961, Leppert homered in the second inning of his MLB debut against the Cards’ Curt Simmons on the first pitch he saw as a major leaguer.
- 1948 - OF/3B Lorenzo “Rimp” Lanier was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Pirates drafted him out of high school in the 37th round of 1967 and sent him to Salem. He hit well for the next three seasons, albeit without much power, and got a September look for the powerhouse 1971 Bucs, going 0-for-4 in six games. His star dimmed after that; he was sent down in 1972, had trouble with AAA pitching & his fielding, and he left baseball after the 1973 campaign at age 24.
 |
| Rimp Lanier - 1972 Topps custom (When Topps Had Balls) |
- 1949 - Donora’s Stan Musial was honored as a Pennsylvania Ambassador for promoting the state with a ceremony at his hometown St. Dominic’s Hall. 400 fans filled the venue with speakers from business and government honoring “The Man,” including Bucco broadcaster Rosey Rowswell.
- 1951 - The original “Angels in the Outfield” movie was released. The film was shot primarily at Forbes Field (with Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning getting its fair share of love) and featured cameos by Bing Crosby (part owner), Ralph Kiner, George Strickland, Ed Fitz Gerald, George Metkovich, Sam Narron, Lenny Levy and Pie Traynor. Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio also made bit appearances.
- 1964 - Harry “The Hat” Walker was named manager of the Pirates, replacing Danny Murtaugh after an 80-82 season and sixth place finish in the National League (the Whistlin’ Irishman left because of health, not record, and became GM Joe Brown’s chief player evaluator). Brown had discussed the job with ex-Cards manager Johnny Keane but it never was a serious courtship as Keane had the Yankee position lined up and instead recommended Walker. After a couple of competitive seasons (the Pirates came in third with 90+ wins both years and finished second and then first in NL team BA), The Hat was let go in 1967 and replaced by...Danny Murtaugh.
- 1979 - The World Champion Pirates had their moment of glory in downtown’s Market Square when 29 members of the team & their families were cheered by 15-35,000 fans (take your pick; crowd estimates were all over the place); by any measure, the noontime celebration was packed. Tom Hritz of the Post Gazette wrote that “Market Square was so crowded you couldn’t get an X-ray through it.” Sister Sledge’s “We are Fam-a-lee” blared over the loudspeakers on the sunny day as Milo Hamilton and Lanny Frattare MC’ed the event. The local politicos got first crack at the mic, causing disgruntled chants of “We want the Bucs” that were finally answered when Tim Foli led off the Pirates lineup. The biggest cheer was for Willie Stargell, who wore a stetson with a gold star and told the fans that “You are as responsible for winning the World Series as we are.” The afternoon’s comic relief was provided by a hot air balloon that refused to fly right, alternating between dropping on the fans below it and snagging buildings until it finally tore.
 |
| 10/20/1979 Post Gazette |
- 1980 - 3B/OF Jose Bautista was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He played for the Bucs from 2004-08, and hit .241 with 43 HR in that span before being traded to Toronto in 2008 for Robinzon Diaz. Joey Bats blossomed after becoming a Blue Jay, leading the AL in home runs and RBI twice before becoming a 37-year-old nomad in 2018, ending his MLB stay with Philly. He played for the Dominican Republic’s Olympic team in 2020, helping the club to earn the bronze medal. Diaz didn’t leave much of a mark. He didn’t crack the majors again after his Pittsburgh stop, and last played in 2016-17 in the Dominican Winter League.
- 1980 - OF Rajai Davis was born in Norwich, Connecticut. Raj was a late round pick in 2001 by the Bucs. He showed speed and a pretty good stick in the minors, but was always one step behind guys like Chris Duffy, Nyjer Morgan and Nate McLouth. He got parts of two years with the Pirates, seeing action in 44 games and hitting .242 before being traded for Giants’ P Matt Morris in 2007 in a last-straw deal that greased the skids for Dave Littlefield. Davis played for eight teams over 14 big-league years through 2019 with a .262 lifetime BA and 415 stolen bases. Morris was released by the Bucs in late April of 2008 after going 3-8/7.02 to end his big league days.
- 1982 - RHP James Anthony “JA” Happ was born in Peru, Illinois. JA debuted with the Phils in 2007 and has been in the majors ever since. He played a key role in the Pirates’ 2015 playoff run when the Bucs sent RHP Adrian Sampson to Seattle for Happ, who went 7-2/1.85 down the stretch to help Pittsburgh to a wildcard finish. The Pirates let him walk after the campaign. JA worked through 2021 before retiring, with 18 years in the show, tossing for eight teams.
- 1984 - RHP James McDonald was born in Long Beach, California. The righty came to Pittsburgh in 2010 as part of the Octavio Dotel deal, and was an up-and-down member of the rotation until 2013, going 27-24/4.21 in his four Pirate years. J-Mac had a breakout campaign in 2012 (9-3/2.37) until after the All-Star break when the wheels fell off, and he never found his groove again. He lost the 2014 season to a shoulder injury and that ended his career.
 |
| Big John Holdzkom - 2015 Topps Autograph |
- 1987 - RHP John Holdzkom was born in Pasadena, California. After extreme control issues cost him his gig in the Mets system, Holdzkom was pitching indy ball when scout Mal Fichman signed him to a contract with the Pirates in 2014. Big John zipped through the minors and got a September call-up, striking out the side in his first outing and finishing the year with a line of 1-0/2.00 with 14 K in nine innings. He was sent back to the minor leagues to start the 2015 season, where nagging injuries and inconsistency with control, mixed with him being on the gray side at age 28, kept him on the farm. He had a rough offseason; his brother Lincoln died in a car crash in December and he was DFA’ed in April of 2016. The White Sox signed him to a minor league deal but released him after six games and he’s been on the outside since then. He ended his exile by signing up to pitch in New Zealand during the 2018-19 season, and that was his last post.
- 1990 - RHP Jordan Lyles was born in Hartsville, South Carolina. Lyles, picked 38th overall in the 2008 draft by the Astro’s, worked his way up to their top pitching prospect and a spot in the 2010 Futures game. But his eight-year career didn’t exactly follow the script; he slashed 31-52/5.28 for four clubs, starting out as a rotation arm and being bumped to the bullpen. The Pirates signed him to a one-year/$2.05M free agent deal at the 2018 winter meeting after he had looked sharp from the pen the prior year for San Diego and Milwaukee. He got off to a hot start then cooled off; he was sent to Milwaukee and was re-energized late in the year. Lyles is now with the Orioles.
- 2008 - Joe Kerrigan was named the Pirates pitching coach, replacing Jeff Andrews, who only lasted a season after being promoted from the Bucco minor league system. Joe had 18 years experience at the job with four other organizations and wanted the pitchers to work inside and throw strikes, a familiar recipe. But like Andrews ahead of him, he lasted just a year before he walked the plank along with John Russell and his staff after the 99-loss 2009 campaign.
No comments:
Post a Comment