10/21: Frankie Comeback Player; Cam ExOTY; AVS-FA; Trade Rumors; Danny NL-MOTY; Giusti-Taylor Deal; Bill Moved; Kiner AS; RIP Herb; HBD Marc, Ron & Pap

• 1917 - LHP Frank “Pap” Papish was born in Pueblo, Colorado. Frank worked five post-war years from 1945-49 pretty effectively for the White Sox and Indians, but his effort to squeeze out one more campaign in Pittsburgh fell flat, as he required some hospital time for a bad back. The 32-year-old southpaw retired just seven of the 19 batters he faced and compiled a 27.00 ERA. He began and ended his Pirates stay at AAA Indianapolis, where he rebounded for the remainder of 1950 but from ‘51-53 couldn’t put up an ERA south of five. Pap retired from pro ball at 35 after failing to catch on after auditions with the Indians, White Sox and Senators. 

Ron Davis - 1969 Topps

• 1941 - OF Ron Davis was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. He ended his five-year MLB run, mostly spent with Houston, with Pittsburgh in 1969, batting .234 primarily as a pinch hitter after coming over from St. Louis in the Tommie Sisk/Chris Cannizzaro deal. Davis finished out his pro days with two more seasons in AAA. His son, Ike, spent time with the Bucs in 2014. 
• 1947 - In its second-ever MLB All-Star team, the Associated Press named Pirates OF Ralph Kiner to the 10-man squad. Ralph had some pretty sweet company in the pasture, joining Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio while earning a spot by hitting .313 with 51 HR and 127 RBI. Oddly enough, he didn’t garner a spot on the NL All-Star team, but did begin a six-year AS run the following season. 
• 1948 - Third base coach Bill Burwell was relieved of his major league duties by manager Billy Meyer. Burwell stayed with the organization and was reassigned as a minor league pitching coach (he notably mentored Vern Law, teaching him how to change speeds and throw the change-up) and scout. He later rejoined the big club from 1958-62 as the pitching guru for Danny Murtaugh. 
• 1969 - RHP Dave Giusti and C Dave Ricketts came over from St. Louis for 1B/OF Carl Taylor and minor league OF Frank Vanzin. Giusti spent seven years in the Buc bullpen and earned 133 saves, marking his trade as one of the Buccos' shrewder deals. Ricketts didn’t have a lot of on-field impact (he hit .182 in his only Bucco season) as a player, but was a popular clubhouse figure. He played basketball at Duquesne with his brother Dick and coached in Pittsburgh from 1971-73 before returning to the Cards to become a long time field coach and catching mentor. Taylor spent four more years in the show as a bench player, including a brief return to Pittsburgh in September of 1971, while Vanzin never advanced past Class AAA and was done with pro ball after 1970. 

Danny Murtaugh - 1970 photo/Getty

• 1970 - Danny Murtaugh was voted as the NL Manager of the Year by the Associated Press. The sportswriters/broadcasters gave him a 146-131 margin over Sparky Anderson, skipper of the West Division titlists, the Cincy Reds. Murtaugh’s Bucs finished five games ahead of the Cubs in the NL East but Sparky had the last laugh - the Pirates were swept by the Redlegs in the NLCS, losing the opener in extra innings, then dropping the next pair of games by 3-1 and 3-2 counts. 
• 1970 - RHP Marc Wilkins was born in Mansfield, Ohio. He spent his entire six-season MLB career (1996-2001) as a Bucco reliever (he started two games as a rookie), putting up a line of 19-14-3/4.28 while appearing in 245 outings. It was a pretty strong run for a guy who Pittsburgh selected in the 47th round of the 1992 draft. The U of Toledo product is now a financial advisor in Mansfield. 
• 1982 - The Los Angeles Examiner wrote that the Dodgers and Pirates were tinkering with a deal that would send 24-year-old C Tony Pena to LA for either OF Mike Marshall, 22, or 1B Greg Brock, 24. Though the talks broke off, the youngsters were all legit. Marshall lasted 11 years in the show, belting double-digit home runs for eight straight campaigns while compiling a .270 BA and landing in an AS Game. Brock spent 10 years in the league, hitting with some pop but putting up a .265+ average just twice, with a lifetime .248 BA. Pena was special. He earned five All-Star slots in an 18-year run, batting .260. Tony was eventually traded for Andy Van Slyke after the 1986 campaign. 
• 1987 - Bob Hertzel of the Pittsburgh Press reported some tire kicking: A discussed deal for OF Glenn Wilson with the Phils was at an impasse (Philly wanted young, front-line pitching, either Doug Drabek or Mike Dunne) and talks re: LA OF Mike Marshall were going on but “not serious” yet, per Thrift. It was a busy day. Manager Jim Leyland announced that his contract for 1988 was signed, Thrift and Prine were at loggerheads over Syd’s upcoming deal, banging heads on who had the final OK on personnel moves, and KDKA agreed to broadcast all 162 games on radio and 42 on TV. This agreement left the Pirates holding radio rights instead of KDKA, which allowed KD to establish a fixed fee while the Pirates became responsible for marketing, national advertising revenues and the broadcast crew. It was a two-year agreement with an option. 

AVS - 1995 Collectors Choice

• 1994 - Andy Van Slyke became a free agent. In his eight years (1987-94) with Pittsburgh, he slashed .283/.353/.458 and was a three-time All Star. But at 34 and with a bad back, he managed to snag just a one-year/$700K deal with the Baltimore Orioles only after a spring training audition. He played sparingly for them and was traded to Philadelphia Phillies, where he got into just 80 games and was done as a big leaguer after the 1995 campaign. 
• 1997 - Cam Bonifay was selected as the MLB Executive of the Year by The Sporting News (the voting was taken among Front Office execs). Working on a minimal budget ($9M!), the “Freak Show” Pirates stayed in contention into September and finished the year at 79-83 and in second place in the NL Central after being projected as a 100-loss team before the season opened. 
• 2013 - LHP Francisco Liriano (16-8, 3.02) was named The Sporting News “Comeback Player of the Year” for 2013. Frankie had posted ERA’s north of 5.00 in three of his four prior seasons but sparkled for the Bucs. The runner up was RHP Mark Melancon, the Bucs set-up/closer arm, and third place went to OF Marlon Byrd, who the Pirates picked up from the Mets during the stretch run. 
• 2017 - Former Pirate scout Herb Raybourne passed away at his Florida home at age 82. A minor league player for the Giants, the Panamanian started his career as a bird dog for Pittsburgh, signing fellow countrymen Manny Sanguillen, Rennie Stennett and Omar Moreno. Raybourne moved on to KC and later became the Yankees' Latin American scouting director, where he landed his biggest fish, Mariano Rivera, before finishing his career as Toronto’s Director of Scouting.