11/30: Roberto, Russ, Reiser Sign; Lynch Drafted; '21 Arb Dozen; Sharon, Wicky Gone; Manager Mooney; HBD Kyle, Craig, Matt, Joe, Clyde, Tacks & Lefty

• 1870 - LHP Frank “Lefty” Killen was born in the North Side, then still Allegheny City. He spent six seasons with the Bucs (1893-98) and twice led the NL in wins, with 36 (a team record) in ‘93 and 30 in ‘96. Lefty’s line with Pittsburgh was 112-82/3.97. The team released him during the 1898 campaign, and he closed out his 10th MLB season in 1900. Killen trivia: he ended Wee Willie Keeler's 44-game hitting streak on June 19th, 1897 when Lefty and the Bucs stopped the Orioles, 7-1. He went 30-18 in 1896 and was the last 30-game winner in team history. 

Lefty Killen - 1896 Team Photo snip

• 1877 - C Clifford “Tacks” Latimer was born in Loveland, Ohio. Tacks played 13 years of pro ball with five whistle stops in the show, including a four-game visit with the Bucs in 1900, as part of maneuvering that moved most of Louisville’s roster to Pittsburgh. Latimer’s Pirates audition was short-circuited by a bout of malaria caught during spring camp though he went 4-for-12. He got his nickname in the minors: though a quiet man, one of his teammates dubbed him Tacks, a name usually reserved for guys who play to (and sometimes over) the line using the same reverse logic that names a 6’6” player Shorty. He did get tacky after he retired. He got a job as a railroad cop, and his boss got into a brawl with Tacks, ending badly when Latimer shot his knife-wielding foe four times, killing him. Unfortunately, the slugs were in the back and the judge sentenced him to life in prison. But Tacks was a model con, sheltering the warden & guards during a violent gang escape, then later helping douse a prison fire to eventually earn a parole. He kept his nose clean after that, passing away in Loveland in 1936. Tacks’ trivia: Ex-Pittsburgh catcher Doggy Miller managed him at minor-league Minnesota and converted Tacks from the OF to C. 
• 1901 - Pirate coach and scout Clyde Sukeforth was born in Washington, Maine. A longtime member of the Brooklyn Dodger organization (he was the scout on Jackie Robinson), he followed Branch Rickey and came to Pittsburgh as a coach/scout in 1952. Sukeforth was one of the key FO voices heard pushing the selection of Roberto Clemente in the 1954 Rule 5 draft. He turned down the chance to succeed skipper Bobby Bragan in 1957 and retired as a coach after the season, but remained with the Pirates as a scout and minor league manager through 1962. 
• 1931 - George “Mooney” Gibson (he earned the nickname either through his moon-shaped face or because one of his early teams was called the Mooneys; take your pick) returned for his second spin as Bucco manager, replacing Jewel Ens. He lasted until early in 1934, posting a 200-159 record and two second place finishes. Overall, the Canadian Gibson (he was from Ontario) had a 401-330/.549 record with Pittsburgh. He got his start as a long-time Bucco catcher, playing from 1905-1916 in Pittsburgh, hitting .238 but leading the NL in fielding three times with a toss-out rate of 46% against would-be base stealers. Mooney was the Pirates everyday catcher in 1909 when they won the World Series against the Tigers. 

Mooney 'toon - 7/15/1932 Berger/Press

• 1950 - Pittsburgh signed the Boston Braves’ OF Harold “Pete/Pistol Pete” Reiser, who had been a three-time all-star for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early-to-mid 40s, as a FA. Reiser hit .271 in 74 games as a Bucco bench player and was released following the season. Per Mark Stewart of SABR “As a boy, his friends and family called him Pete, after the cowboy movie hero Two-Gun Pete. He loved westerns, and as a child often walked around the neighborhood with a pair of toy six-shooters holstered to his belt. Eventually his nickname became Pistol Pete.” 
• 1953 - The Pirates selected OF Jerry Lynch from the New York Yankees in the Rule 5 draft. Lynch spent the first and final three campaigns of his 13-year career as a Pirate (he spent the middle seven seasons with the Reds), batting .263. He was one of baseball’s great bats off the bench, collecting 116 pinch hits during his career, joining ex-Bucs Manny Mota, Matt Stairs and Smoky Burgess on the all-time roster. Lynch is also high on the career pinch hit home run list (he was first when he retired) with 18. He kept his local roots watered when he teamed up with Dick Groat to own and operate the Champion Lakes Golf Course in Ligonier. 
• 1954 - Coach Joe Kerrigan was born in Philadelphia. A first round draft pick of the Expos in 1974, Joe tossed for five seasons before coaching. He was John Russell’s pitching coach in Pittsburgh from 2008-10 after serving as PC for Montreal, Boston (briefly as manager in 2001) and Philly with a bullpen coaching gig for the Yankees. Kerrigan was a volatile guy and also known for his “Pitchers Pal,” a mannequin he had his pitchers throw against instead of a live batter. The Pirates bullpen nicknamed the dummy “Oyez,” one of Joe’s favorite terms. 
• 1959 - The KC Athletics drafted Dave Wickersham from the Pirates in the minor league Rule 5 draft. The righty went on to have a 10-year MLB career (including 1-0-1/3.48 with Pittsburgh in 1968 though most of the year was spent in AAA Columbus), highlighted by a 19-win season in 1964 with the Detroit Tigers. He finished his career where it started in KC with the Royals in 1969. 

Matt Lawton - 2005 Donruss Studio

• 1971 - OF Matt Lawton was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. Matt spent a few months of his 12-year career in Pittsburgh in 2005, coming to the Bucs from the Indians for Arthur Rhodes and then getting sent to the Cubs at the 2005 deadline for Jody Gerut. Lawton swung a decent stick while here, batting .273 w/10 HR. But after the 2005 season, he received a 10-game suspension after testing positive for PEDs. He played in 11 games for Seattle in 2006 and that was his MLB curtain call. 
• 1972 - The Pirates sent OF Dick Sharon, their 1968 first round draft pick, to the Detroit Tigers for LHP Jim Foor and righty Norm McRae. Sharon hadn’t reached the majors yet while Foor and McRae had cups of coffee in the show. It ended up a very minor deal - Sharon played three years in the show and got a chance to show his stuff, but hit .218 in 242 games before spending his last campaign with Boston’s AAA Pawtucket club. Foor got into three games for the Pirates in 1973 and was traded in the spring, ending his MLB days. McRae never pitched again in the majors, working in the Mexican League for five years before retiring. 
• 1976 - OF/1B Craig Wilson was born in Fountain Valley, California. He played as a semi-regular for the Bucs from 2001-06 with a line of .268/.360/.486, 94 HR and 284 RBI, along with a 28% career K rate. Wilson tied the MLB single-season record for pinch-hit home runs with seven in 2001. Hand injuries in 2005 and shoulder surgery in 2007 wound down his career. 
• 1992 - RHP Kyle Crick was born in Fort Worth, Texas. A first round pick (49th overall) out of high school in 2011 by the Giants, he got into 30 games with SF in 2017 (0-0/3.06) before joining the Bucs as part of the Andrew McCutchen trade. He didn’t make the team out of camp, but was called up mid-April to join the big club and worked his way into the set-up role for Felipe Vazquez with a 3-2-2/2.39 slash and 65 K in 60-1/3 IP. His ERA doubled in 2019 thanks to a barrage of homers, and his season ended on September 10th when he broke his finger in a clubhouse brawl with Felipe Vazquez. 2020 was little better; injuries put him on the shelf for all but seven outings. He was erratic in ‘21 and the Pirates released him in July; the White Sox picked him up. 

Kyle Crick - 2020 image via Pirates

• 2012 - The Pirates signed free agent catcher Russell Martin, a three-time All-Star, to a two-year/$17M deal, the largest free agency contract they had ever negotiated (since surpassed by Frankie Liriano's three-year/$39M deal in 2014). The catcher got a $2M signing bonus, $6.5M for 2013 and $8.5M for 2014. The deal was a bit of role reversal as the Pirates outbid the Yankees, Martin’s last team, which reportedly offered two-years/$12-$14M. Russ was among the league's top defensive catchers and had a .290/.402/.430 slash in his final Pirate season. He left after the 2014 campaign, signing a five-year/$82M deal with Toronto. This contract remains the largest FA deal ever tendered by the Bucs for a player who came from outside the organization. 
• 2021 - The Pirates left a gaping hole behind the plate when they traded Jake Stallings the day before (they actually had no catcher listed on their 40-man roster) and acted quickly, signing two-time Golden Glover Roberto Perez, formerly of the Indians/Guardians, to a one-year/$5M contract (the deal became official the next day). Perez had a lifetime BA of .206 over eight campaigns and was coming off a pair of sub-.200 seasons, albeit struggling through shoulder injuries. The Pirates brass accepted that as the club needed a bridge for young lower-level prospects Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez & company, and Perez fit the need for a vet presence for a young staff. Alas, true to form, he played 21 games before losing the remainder of the year to injury. 
• 2021 - The ‘21 arb class had their day. The FO inked SS Kevin Newman to a $1.95M contract, a nice bump after he had made $598,000 last season. The Bucs also tendered contracts to OF Bryan Reynolds (he signed later for two years/$13M) and RHP Chris Stratton, who was dealt to the Cards at the deadline. The team didn't make an offer to RHP Chad Kuhl, who was 2021's Opening Day pitcher. He wanted to start and the Pirates had him pegged as a reliever, resulting in his departure to join the Rox and their rotation. Earlier in the off season, the FO signed OF Ben Gamel, traded C Jake Stallings, and cut ties with 1B Colin Moran, LHP Steven Brault, LHP Chasen Shreve, IF Wilmer Difo, C Michael Perez and IF Erik Gonzalez, the other members of the ‘21 arb class. Out of 12 arb eligible players, Reynolds was the only one left standing in Pittsburgh after the ‘22 season.

11/29: Terrell Signs; Canny Deal; Adieu Locke, Andy; '21, '65 Shufflin'; Fletcher Flies; Series Shares; Single ASG; HBD Hit Man, Lefty, Ed, Hutch & Little Bill

• 1864 - RHP “Little Bill” Sowders was born in Louisville. He pitched two of his three seasons for Pittsburgh from 1889-90, going 9-13/5.39 for the Alleghenys. Bill came from a baseball family. Two of his brothers, John and Len, also played in the big leagues. No clue as to why he was “Little Bill” as Sowders was the middle bro and fair-sized at 6’0”, although a string-bean at 155 pounds. 

Bill Sowders - 1887 Goodwin/Old Judge

• 1884 - SS Marc “Hutch” Campbell was born in Punxsutawney. He got into his only two MLB games in 1907 with the Pirates as a 22-year-old, going 1-for-4. He had played for Lock Haven University, and after his Pirates stint, played four more years of minor league ball. 
• 1910 - 2B Ed Leip was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He played three years for the Bucs as a pinch hitter and runner after being purchased from the Senators after his rookie campaign. He didn’t see much action, getting into 21 games w/30 at-bats and hitting .200 from 1940-42 before turning in the flannels for khaki during WW2. 
• 1931 - LHP Paul “Lefty” Pettit was born in Los Angeles. He pitched for the Bucs in 1951 and again in 1953, going 1-2/7.34. The Bucs signed him in 1950, making him baseball's first $100,000 bonus baby. He never really got a chance to show his stuff; he injured his arm in 1951. By 1954, it was so painful that he was sent to the Pacific Coast League and switched to the pasture where he showed a nice stick, but he eventually had to shift to first base to spare his sore wing. He retired from pro ball in 1961, becoming a high school teacher and coach. 
• 1950 - 1B/OF Mike Easler was born in Cleveland. The Hit Man spent six (1977, 1979-83) of his 14 MLB seasons as a Pirate role player with a .302 BA. Fittingly enough, he spent his later years as a hitting coach for a handful of minor league/MLB squads. Mike, btw, is considered to be the Original Hit Man, not Don Mattingly. He picked up the name because of his aggressive style at the plate and his ability to drive the ball to all fields, leading to five .300+ seasons in the show and a .293 career BA. After his coaching days, he’s now living in Vegas. 

Mike Easler - 1983 Topps

• 1962 - MLB & MLBPA reps agreed to return to a single All-Star Game in 1963. To compensate, the players' pension fund was given 95% of the proceeds rather than the prior 60% haul from the two-game series. The double-dip Midsummer Classic was in place from 1959-62 (the ASG began in 1933), and it’s stayed a one-game baseball holiday since then. 
• 1965 - The Pirates made some moves around the edges during the MLB draft. They picked up OF/1B Dave Roberts and C Jesse Gonder to strengthen the left side of their bench. That led to C Del Crandall’s release to clear a 40-man roster spot (he was claimed the same day by the Indians), and the loss of farmhands LHP Frank Carpin & OF Greg Sims (Astros), and C Orlando McFarlane (Tigers). In other news, the team announced that Frank Oceak, released from the Reds staff, would rejoin the Pittsburgh organization in some yet undetermined capacity. Also, newly retired Harvey Haddix was joining Mickey Vernon to become the pitching coach at Vancouver. A month later, the Kitten bailed out of that job and became the PC for Wes Westrum and the Mets. 
• 1967 - Pittsburgh traded 1B/OF Mike Derrick to Detroit for C Chris Cannizzaro. Pittsburgh kept the light-hitting Cannizzaro (.241) for a season before moving him to San Diego in the middle of his 13-year career while Derrick played one MLB campaign for Boston. 
• 1979 - You get more than glory when you win a World Series; the Pirates also got a glorious bonus check of $28,263.87 as a full share for their victory. 31 players took the whole enchilada home; three others received fractions of a share and a handful of fringe contributors were voted $250. It was the second-highest amount ever awarded to a winning club (the New York Yankees - Los Angeles Dodgers series the year before had generated more player juice). The Orioles could also afford plenty of beers to cry in with their $22,113,94 runner-up share. 

Jay Bell - 1990 Fleer

• 1988 - GM Larry Doughty played a sad violin, announcing that the Bucco target to fill a gaping shortstop hole, FA Scott Fletcher, who had hit .276 for Texas during the past season and was the namesake for team owner George Dubya Bush’s pooch, rejected a three-year/$3M deal and re-signed the next day with the Rangers for three-years/$3.5M. It ended up that no move was a good move as Fletcher hit .239 over that contract for Texas and the White Sox. Doughty kept looking and pulled the trigger on a deal with Cleveland to land Jay Bell, who would man the spot for eight years, and also swapped with Seattle to add Rey Quinones to the mix. 
• 1989 - The Pirates signed eight-year veteran righty Walt Terrell to a $800K deal as a free agent, and he promptly had the worst start of his career, going 2-7/5.88 before the Bucs cut him loose in July. He did go on to finish up a bit more credibly with the Tigers, tossing for them through 1992. 
• 2010 - The Bucs sent 3B Andy LaRoche outright to Indy; he opted for free agency the following day. Laroche was a key piece of the Jason Bay trade, but hit just .226 in three Pirate seasons. The Bay deal reeled in Laroche, Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss and Bryan Morris, but they never became building blocks for Neal Huntington (although Moss & Morris developed into big league-caliber players). GM Neil Huntington was hoping to maximize the return by dealing Bay at the deadline, but later admitted he probably should have held off until the winter to hold the auction.
• 2016 - The Pirates DFA’ed LHP Jeff Locke, who had come to Pittsburgh in 2009 as part of the Nate McLouth deal. In his six seasons with the Pirates, the lefty compiled a 35-38/4.41 slash in 644-1/3 IP. He was a 2013 All-Star, but frustratingly inconsistent and put up a 5.44 ERA during the season, although he did go 9-8 and led the team in innings pitched. He was picked up by Miami, was DFA’ed, and tore his labrum in 2017. He hasn’t pitched since. 

Jeff Locke - 2015 Topps Postseason

• 2021 - Busy day in the office. C Jake Stallings was traded to Miami for RHP Zach Thompson and prospects RHP Kyle Nicolas and OF Connor Scott. He was a popular item thanks to a weak class of FA catchers, and reportedly the Fish outbid the Red Sox for his services. OF Ben Gamel signed a one-year/$1.8M deal in his second arb year with $200K more available in plate appearance bonuses. LHP Jose Quintana was officially added to the roster after earlier inking a one-year/$2M agreement; six-year vet LHP Steven Brault, injured for most of 2021 and up for arb, was DFA’ed to clear roster space. The same scenario played out for 1B Yoshi Tsutsugo, whose previous one-year/$4M deal was made official. Colin Moran was DFA'ed to clear the lefty-1B redundancy. It was a wash salary-wise; Captain Redbeard was projected to earn $4M in his first arb year by MLBTR. So was the Quintana-Brault swap out; Steven was guesstimated to earn $2.2M in arb.

11/28: Bell-Fermin Swap; Ribant; Tiger, Kiki Dealt; Mazzaro, Pizarro Join; Pitt Buys Forbes Field; HBD Yefry, Taylor, Angel, Jose, Sixto, Dave, Max, Leo & Heinie

• 1870 - C Heinie Peitz was born in St. Louis. Heinie was versatile - he played every infield position at some point in his career, a little outfield and even pitched four times - and spent the final two (not counting a three-game final bow in 1913 with the Cards) of his 16 big league seasons with the Pirates in 1905-06 after Pittsburgh sent C Ed Phelps to the Reds for his services. He had a rep as a great game manager from behind the dish, but hit just .228 as a Bucco and could barely run after all his years spent in a crouch. He played for minor league Louisville for four years before embarking on an umpiring/coaching/scouting career. 
• 1876 - C Leo Fohl was born in Lowell, Ohio, but learned to play baseball in Pittsburgh where he was raised. Leo was one of those guys who barely appeared in the majors - he played five games with 17 MLB at-bats, going 0-for-3 with the Pirates in 1902, and toiled for 11 seasons in the minors - but had big league squads entrusted to his care. After his playing days, he spent 11 years as a field manager for the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns, and Boston Red Sox with three second-place finishes to his credit. He finished his career with three campaigns of minor league skippering before retiring to Cleveland, where he passed away at age 88 in 1965. 

Max West (top left w/Johnny Hopp & Dixie Walker) - 1948 Bettman/Getty

• 1916 - 1B Max West was born in Dexter, Missouri. He closed the book on his seven-year MLB career in Pittsburgh in 1948 as a 32-year-old, batting .178 in 87 games after hitting .306 for San Diego of the Pacific Coast League the year before. Max then spent the final six years of his pro career in the PCL with San Diego and Los Angeles. West had been an All Star in 1940 with the Braves and even swatted a three-run homer in the ASG, but gave up 1943-45 to the Army Air Corp. He operated a sporting goods firm with Ralph Kiner in California after retiring from baseball, and passed away at the age of 87 in Sierra Madre. 
• 1927 - Hall of Famer OF Kiki Cuyler was traded to the Chicago Cubs for journeymen IF Sparky Adams and OF/1B Pete Scott. He had bumped heads with manager Donie Bush, even being benched during the World Series, and owner Barney Dreyfuss was looking to dump salary with the Waner brothers on the payroll, so it was bye-bye Kiki. Cuyler competed for 12 more seasons, hitting .300+ in six of them. Adams batted .272 in two Bucco campaigns before being sold to the Cards and played through 1934. Scott, 30, played his final year in the show and hit .311 as a backup OF. 
• 1949 - OF Dave Augustine was born in Follansbee, West Virginia. His MLB career lasted from 1973-74, getting 29 at bats with the Bucs and hitting .207. He’s best known for the “ball on the wall” against the Mets. In the heat of a late September pennant race in 1973, he hit a ball at Shea in the 13th inning that appeared ticketed for the seats. Instead, it landed on the top of the wall and bounced back into play. Richie Zisk was thrown out at home, the Pirates lost the contest, and the Mets eventually took the National League crown by 2-1/2 games over the Bucs. That ball was the closest Augustine ever came to hitting a major league dinger. 
• 1953 - OF Sixto Lezcano was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The 12-year vet finished out his big league days in Pittsburgh in 1985, hitting .207 off the bench. His contract was one of a handful of bad deals brokered by the Bucs that created dead money woes in the late 80s - Sixto had signed a two-year FA agreement, and the Bucs ate the second season’s salary of $500K when they released him. 

Forbes Field - photo via Historic Markers Project

• 1958 - The sale of Forbes Field to University of Pittsburgh was approved; the Pirates were allowed to stay on for five years, until the new Northside stadium was built. The Bucs had discussed replacing Forbes Field as far back as 1948 because of both its deteriorating condition (it was built in 1909) and smallish seating capacity of 35,000. In reality, the Pirates stayed on not for five but for 12 years, until TRS opened in 1970. The stadium was a political hot potato for a decade as politicians wrangled over location, costs, and design until ground was finally broken in 1968. The Bucs lost a preferred open center field view of town from TRS when the Steelers vetoed that design in search of more seats; the Pirates made up for that lost scenery when PNC Park was built. 
• 1962 - The Pirates traded 3B Don Hoak, 34, to the Philadelphia Phillies for IF Pancho Herrera and OF Ted Savage. It ended up a minor deal; The Tiger was at the end of his career while Herrera and Savage never established themselves as regulars in MLB. Hoak got his nickname from Bob Prince for his relentless, hard-nosed play augmented by his background as an ex-Marine and boxer. 
• 1966 - The Bucs completed an October deal that sent knuckleballer Wilbur Wood to the White Sox for a PTBNL by getting Juan Pizarro and sending the Sox $30,000. Pizarro pitched a season and some change in Pittsburgh (10-12-9/3.55 in 69 overall Pirates outings) before being sold to Boston in 1968; he would return in late 1974, ending his 18-year career at age 37. 
• 1967 - In a reliever swap, Pittsburgh dealt Dennis Ribant to the Detroit Tigers for Dave Wickersham. Both were near the end of their careers and while they had solid 1968 campaigns, they were out of the MLB following the 1969 season. 

Dave Wickersham - 1968 KDKA promo

• 1972 - RHP Jose Parra was born in Jacagua, Dominican Republic. Parra got in pieces of five MLB campaigns, stopping in Pittsburgh for six games in 2000, going 0-1/6.94 as a reliever after working most of the year at AAA Nashville as part of the rotation. He could never quite figure out where to toss - beside his big league stops, he spent 11 years in the minors, four in Mexico, two in Japan and one in Korea before hurling his last pitch in 2005. 
• 1988 - The Pirates sent UT Denny Gonzalez and SS Felix Fermin to the Cleveland Indians for SS Jay Bell. Gonzalez was the only player actually traded on the day of the deal. He was out of options and had to go to clear roster space for RHP Bob Walk, who had inked a contract with the Bucs the day before. Fermin and Bell were PTBNL and weren’t officially named until March 25th. Bell solidified the SS spot for the Bucs, batting .269 over eight years and earning an All-Star and Gold Glove during that spell. Fermin started 4-of-5 years for the Tribe, hitting .256, while Gonzalez got into eight games in ‘89 to end his MLB career. 
• 1989 - RHP Angel Sanchez was born in Tenares, Dominican Republic. He had a minor-league breakout in 2015, but it was followed by TJ surgery. He came back in 2017 and got his MLB baptism with a handful of games for the Bucs, giving up five homers in 12-⅓ IP but also whiffing 10. His 2017 birthday gift was his release: the Pirates seemed poised to give him another year to knock off the rust, but he got a $850K deal from the KBO’s SK Wyvern club and hopped the pond. 
• 1989 - C/IF Taylor Davis was born in Tampa, Florida. He turned down the Marlins, who drafted him late in 2008 as a prepster, went to Morehead State and later signed with the Cubs in 2011 as an undrafted FA. Davis played 20 MLB games with Chicago from 2017-19 (.222 BA, one HR, seven RBI) and was DFA’ed. He signed a minor league deal with the Orioles for 2020, and was traded to the Bucs in June of 2021 for minor league OF Jose Berroa. Taylor got the call up when Jake Stallings was placed on a concussion protocol in September after posting a line of .253 BA, two HR, 22 RBI between AAA clubs Norfolk and Indy. He was released, re-signed for 2022 and is now a FA. 

Yefry Ramirez - 2019 photo via MLB.com

• 1993 - RHP Yefry Ramirez was born in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Signed in 2011 by Arizona, he ended up with Baltimore, where he went 1-10/6.07 between parts of 2018-2019 as a starter/long man. The Pirates picked him up for cash/PTBNL in late May. He was added to the roster on June 16th as an insurance policy, wasn’t needed, and returned to Indy on the 18th when Chris Stratton returned from the IL, then was recalled again in July. Y-Ram was released at the end of the season after turning in a 7.71 ERA in nine outings. He joined the Dodgers in 2021 and pitched for Hanwha of the Korean League in ‘22. 
• 2012 - The Pirates acquired RHP Vin Mazzaro & 1B Clint Robinson from Kansas City in a waiver deal for two pitchers from the Dominican Summer League (Luis Rico & Luis Santos), also adding RHP Zach Stewart from Boston for a PTBNL (RHP Kyle Kaminska). Vin was a Pirate from 2013-14, with most of the second year spent at Indy, slashing 8-2-1/2.89 in 62 outings. His moment of glory was in 2013 against Milwaukee. After a rain delay, he set down all 15 batters he faced in order in a game that the Pirates eventually won in the 14th. Robinson never made it to PNC Park, lost as a late cut at the end of camp to Toronto. Stewart left the same way. Two months after getting him, the Pirates tried to slip him through waivers to create 40-man roster room, but were foiled by the White Sox.

Notes: First Base Touched; Move Or Two; Old Bucs Movin' On

Thanksgiving week...

Notes:

• Hey - Pittsburgh signed another 1B! Carlos Santana inked a one-year/$6.725M deal. He's a 13-year vet (ten years with the Indians) who hit .202 with 19 HR last year for KC/Seattle, but whose peripherals were stronger than counting numbers. The 36-year-old switch-hitter is an average fielder and joins a crowded field of 1B/DH candidates, although it looks like the Pirates are hoping for an effective Santana-Choi partnership at first.  
• The Pirates claimed 1B Lewin Díaz from the Marlins. The 26-year-old lefty swinger hit .181 over parts of three seasons with the Fish, banging 13 HR and fanning 99 times in 343 PAs. His claim to fame is that he's actually a 1B and can field the position. Diaz batted .263 with good contact in the minors, so the Bucs are hoping for a change of scenery rally, especially as he's out of options. There's gonna be quite the crowd vying for first; we're not particularly sold on the cattle call audition process. Utilityman Hoy Park was DFA'ed to clear a 40-man spot for Diaz, and while in limbo was traded to Boston for LHP Inmer Lobo, an 18-year-old who tossed in the Dominican Summer League, impressing with a 2-0/0.82 line in five starts covering 22 IP.

Quinn Priester - 2021 image from MLB Pipeline

• MLB.com selected its likeliest 2023 Rookie of the Year candidates by team; for the Pirates, it was RHP Quinn Priester (Oneil Cruz used up his rookie eligibility last season).
• The KT Wiz of the KBO signed RHP Beau Sulser for the 2023 season, the team announced. He’ll receive a $740K guarantee. Sulser started the year with Indy and then the Bucs, was DFA'ed and claimed by Baltimore, who also later DFA'ed him (the Pirates claimed him back, btw, but then cut him loose again; no wonder he jumped the pond).
• Former Pirates IF Pablo Reyes has signed with the Oakland A's as a minor league FA after being outrighted by Milwaukee. Take one ol' Buc, lose another - Oakland RHP Deolis Guerra (2015 in Pittsburgh) was DFA'ed and elected free agency.
• RHP Shelby Miller, who the Bucs had stashed at Indy and brought up for a minute in 2021, is again an item after a couple of strong AAA seasons.
• No one asked, but LA free agent CF Cody Bellinger has a BA of .203/74 OPS+ with 41 homers over 1,143 plate appearances in the past three years, so there's more than the benjamins keeping him off the Pirates radar.

11/27: Kendall Dealt; Sheltie Hired; Walker HS Athlete of the Year; Damaso, Walkie Sign; RIP Harold, Buck & Nick; HBD Jared, Moose, Tim, Dave, Bill, Bob, Bullet Joe, Marty, Jack & Shamus

• 1881 - 1B Jim “Shamus” (phonetic Irish for Seamus/James) Kane was born in Scranton. The big guy - he was 6’2”, 225 lb - got one shot in the show with the 1908 Pirates, hitting .241 in 166 PAs. Kane did have a fair opportunity to win the job as he was one of four different first basemen used that year along with Harry Swacina, Alan Storke and Warren Gill. But none played more than 50 games, none hit better than .258 and they combined for 29 errors; Bill Abstein was brought in for 1909 though he didn’t provide much of an upgrade from the old gang (.260, 1 HR). Shamus, for all his bulk, only banged out six extra-base hits (no homers) with a .303 slugging percentage and spent the next seven years in the Western League, playing for Omaha and Sioux City. 
• 1884 - 1B Jack Kading was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Jack had a couple of cups of coffee in the majors; his longest stint was an eight-game September run for the 1910 Pirates. He did OK at the dish, going 7-for-23 (.304) with five walks, then spent the next three years in the minors before getting a final three-game shot with Chicago in the Federal League in 1914. He finished the year in the minors, ending his career at age 29. 

Marty O'Toole - 1915 Cracker Jack

• 1888 - RHP Marty O’Toole was born in William Penn, Pennsylvania (Schuylkill County). A big-time minor league ace, the Bucs bought him from St. Paul in 1911 and he debuted on August 30th. In 1912, he pitched 37 games and 275 innings with a 15-17 record, 2.71 ERA and tied for the NL lead in shutouts with six. Alas, his arm was shot after that workload. He lasted just four seasons as a Pirate, from 1911-14 (his last MLB season), going 25-35/3.17. 
• 1892 - RHP Leslie “Bullet Joe” Bush was born in Gull River, Minnesota. He spent two of his 17 MLB years in Pittsburgh (1926-27) posting a 7-8-3/3.61 line and won 196 games overall. According to his SABR bio, his nickname came about in the minors when the local media began to call him Joe Bullet because of his excellent fastball. He became Bullet Joe after Philadelphia teammate Eddie Collins spied a letter in the clubhouse that was addressed to "Joe Bullet" Bush. Collins turned the moniker around and “Bullet Joe” stuck for the rest of his baseball career. 
• 1923 - LHP Bob Schultz was born in Louisville. The southpaw worked 11 seasons of organized ball beginning in 1946 with four stops in the majors, although 1952 was the only full year he spent in the show. He tossed in Pittsburgh for 11 games in 1953 with an 0-2/8.21 line. He got one more cup of coffee after that with Detroit in 1955 and retired at age 32 after spending the ‘61 campaign in Chattanooga of the Southern Association to close out a decade of farm time. 
• 1937 - LHP Bill Short was born in Kingston, New York. Bill spent 16 years tossing pro ball and was a well-traveled lefty; he yo-yo’ed back and forth from the minors/majors in five of his six big league years while pitching for 14 different clubs. He got a taste in Pittsburgh in 1956, going 0-0-1/3.86 in six outings while spending most of his time at AAA Columbus as a starter. Bill did good work in the upper minors - in 1959, he was named the Most Valuable Pitcher of the International League and was inducted into the IL Hall of Fame in 2009. 

Dave Giusti - 1974 Pinback pin

• 1939 - RHP Dave Giusti was born in Seneca Falls, New York. Giusti tossed 15 MLB seasons, with seven (1970-76) in Pittsburgh where the closer slashed 47-28-133/2.94, using the palmball as his out pitch. He led the National League with 30 saves in 1971, became the first pitcher to appear in every game of an NLCS, and earned a World Series save. He won the NL Fireman of the Year Award after the campaign, and following a couple of snubs was finally named an All-Star in 1973. Giusti also recorded the last out at Forbes Field in 1970 in the Pirates win over the Cubs during the park’s grand finale. After he retired, he became a sales manager but remained an active Pirates alum and booster from his Upper St. Clair home. 
• 1954 - RHP Nick (Duffy) Maddox died of tuberculosis at Leech Farm Hospital in Lincoln-Lemington at the age of 68. Nick was a meteorite in the Pittsburgh pitching constellation, pitching just four years with one truly outstanding season, 1908 (23-8/2.28) and a slew of memorable performances. As a late season call-up in 1907, he won his first four starts, something no other Pirate would do until Gerrit Cole in 2013. His ERA was 0.83 and he only allowed 32 hits in 54 innings. In just his third major league start, he became the youngest pitcher ever to throw a no-hitter at 20 years & 10 months from the modern day distance, a mark he still holds. He took the ball in the 1909 World Series on a wet, raw day and beat the Detroit Tigers despite a bad glove day by his teammates to earn the Bucs their only non-Babe Adams win. And that marked the end; he had started the year with a sore arm and had rehabbed it, but after that outing he never had a good wing to work with again. Manager Fred Clarke kept him around, perhaps in gratitude, for one more season and then Nick tended to his family in Millvale, working for Fort Pitt Brewery. 
• 1961 - 1B Randy “Moose” (he was 6’1”, 230 lbs) Milligan was born in San Diego. He spent eight seasons in the show, notably with Baltimore. Moose hit .220 in 80 at bats for the Pirates after coming over as part of the Mackey Sasser deal with the Mets and then was moved to the O’s in a minor-league transaction after the year. 1994 was his last MLB season, and he’s now an Orioles scout. 

Moose Milligan - 1989 Fleer

• 1969 - C Tim Laker was born in Encino, California. He spent 11 years as a reserve big league backstop (with 15 seasons in the minors, many being split campaigns). In 1998-99, he bounced between Pittsburgh and AAA Nashville. Tim hit well in 20 games with a .364 BA, mainly as a pinch hitter with some first base and catching outings. His last MLB appearance was in 2006, and since he’s managed and coached in the minors; Laker is now the hitting coach for Arizona. 
• 1988 - The Pirates signed Bob Walk to a guaranteed three-year contract worth $2.5M after his 1988 All-Star campaign. “I’m thrilled,” the righty told Paul Meyer of the Post Gazette. “I got the length of contract I wanted from the team I wanted to play for. It’s kind of like winning the lottery.” The deal was a win for Walk, who was holding out for three years after the Bucs had reportedly offered him two years at $775K per season (Dave LaPoint also asked for three years and got it, but with the Yankees rather than the Bucs as Pittsburgh wouldn’t bend for him). Walkie went 29-17/4.00 over those three seasons, then inked a two-year deal to finish out both his Pirates and MLB career. 
• 1995 - OF Jared Oliva was born in Santa Clarita, California. Jared was a high school teammate of Keston Hiura (Valencia HS) and college teammate of Kevin Newman (Arizona). The speedy centerfielder was taken in the seventh round of the 2017 draft and called up in late September of 2020, going 3-for-16 in six games. He got another call up in July, 2021, and hit .233 in 20 games. He was DFA’ed in 2022, made it through waivers and was assigned to Indy. 
• 1997 - Buck Leonard, 90, passed away in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. He joined the Homestead Grays in 1934 and stayed there until his retirement in 1950. The team won nine league pennants in a row during that span with Leonard hitting cleanup behind Josh Gibson. He led the Negro League in batting average in 1948 with a mark of .395 and was one of the NL’s great power hitters, being called the "Black Lou Gehrig." He and Gibson were elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972. 

Buck Leonard - 2003 Topps Gallery

• 2000 - Harold Tinker passed away at the age of 95. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, his family moved north when he was 12 and Tinker played for several local teams, including the Edgar Thompson squad that merged with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and he played center field for the Craws until 1930. He left after Gus Greenlee mandated the players give up their jobs and become full time ballers, opting to keep his year-round $25 per week job over GG’s $80/month salary. Good choice; he ended up working 52 years for his company while also becoming an assistant pastor at Central Baptist Church. He founded the Terrace Village Baseball Club in 1949, one of the city’s earliest, if not the first, integrated ballclub. As a final feather in his cap, Harold is also credited with discovering Josh Gibson back when Gibby was a youngster playing on the North Side. 
• 2003 - Neil Walker was selected to the Post-Gazette’s High School Fabulous 22 Players squad for the second straight year - in football. The Pine-Richland grad was also named the “Male Athlete of the Year” by the paper. But his write-up was quick to note that “...his best sport is baseball. Considered one of the top five catchers in the country...(He) has a baseball scholarship to Clemson.” The Pittsburgh Kid passed on the Tigers when he became the Pirates first round pick in 2004 (11th overall; $1.95M bonus), and after bouncing from backstop to third to second, he made his MLB debut in 2009 and was starting the next season. In all, Neil played 12 years in the show, with seven of those campaigns spent as a Bucco. Now he’s a contributor in the Pirates broadcast booth. 
• 2004 - The Pirates traded three-time All-Star C Jason Kendall to the Oakland Athletics for pitchers Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes as Pittsburgh FO looked to shed the $34M still due to the catcher over the next three seasons. The Bucs flipped Rhodes to Cleveland for OF Matt Lawton two weeks later while Redman hurled one year for the Pirates before being dealt to Kansas City for Jonah Bayliss. Kendall played eight more seasons with four other clubs, ending up with 2,195 hits and a slash of .288/75/744. 

Damaso Marte - 2007 Upper Deck

• 2006 - The Bucs inked LHP Damaso Marte to a two-year contract extension with a club option for 2009 worth $8.5M total overall for three years, with $4.75M of the amount guaranteed. The Yankees paid most of the bill when they traded for the lefty set-up man at the 2008 deadline. 
• 2019 - The Pirates announced the hiring of Minnesota Twins bench coach Derek Shelton as their new manager to replace Clint Hurdle. It was the 49-year-old’s first shot as an MLB manager after coaching stints with the Twinkies, Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians following his first job in the New York Yankees’ farm system. Shelton was a hot item in the skipper candidate crowd; he had been a finalist for the NY Mets job and was highly regarded within baseball circles. Due to some internal churn, he had to make his case to a pair of Pirates GMs - Neal Huntington first, and then NH’s replacement, Ben Cherington.

11/26: Rhoden-Drabek Deal; Lonnie Signed; AVS, BB - GG's; Sparky Sold; HBD Yoshi, Josh, Walkie, Gravedigger, Charley, Joe, Bob, Howard, Bill & Gussie

• 1873 - LHP James “Gussie” Gannon was born in Erie. Gussie spent his career in the minors at northern outposts like Buffalo, Rochester, Montreal and Ottawa with his only MLB shot coming in 1895 when he tossed five innings of one-run ball for the Bucs. But it all went for a good cause - his baseball paychecks helped Gannon’s son become a priest in Pittsburgh and helped to foot the bill for his nephew John’s education through the seminary. John later became the bishop of Erie and had Gannon University named after him. Not only did Gannon have friends in high places, but his collared relatives joined the unofficial clerical scouting web sustained by Philadelphia manager Connie Mack, who was Gussie’s skipper in Pittsburgh.
• 1897 - C Bill Warwick was born in Philadelphia. Bill played 23 MLB games over three years, getting his first taste with Pittsburgh in 1921, catching two innings and going 0-for-1 as a 23-year-old. Warwick persevered in pro ball until 1929, when he took his last at bat for Waco in the Texas League. 

Howard Easterling - undated photo Baseball Hall of Fame

• 1911 - 3B Howard Easterling was born in Mt. Olive, Mississippi. He played for 10 years in the Negro League, with his most productive years (1940-43, 1946) coming with the Homestead Grays where he hit .310+ three times, won three All-Star berths, and a NLWS. He also spent time in the Latin Leagues after the NL began to wane during integration. 
• 1916 - OF/3B Bob Elliott was born in San Francisco. He spent eight seasons (1939-46) in Pittsburgh with a .292 BA, 124 OPS+ and three All-Star appearances. Traded during the 1946 off season to the Boston Braves, he became the NL MVP in 1947, helped in part by playing in a much more hitter-friendly field. Elliott was the second MLB third baseman to have five seasons of 100 RBI, joining Pie Traynor, and retired with the highest career slugging average (.440) of any NL third baseman. He also led the National League in assists three times and in putouts and double plays twice each, and ended his career among the NL leaders in games (8th, 1262), assists (7th, 2547), total chances (10th, 4113) and double plays (4th, 231) at third. In later years, he managed and coached in the minors, with a one year gig at the helm of the sad sack KC Athletics. 
• 1922 - LHP Joe Muir was born in Oriole, Maryland. His MLB career consisted of the 1951-52 seasons when he worked 21 games for the Pirates, going 2-5/5.19 as a reliever and spot starter. Joe was a Marine before he joined pro ball, and upon retirement, he used that background to become a Maryland State Trooper. 
• 1924 - Pirates writer Charley Feeney was born in Queens. He began his writing career in 1946 as the New York Giants' beat man for the Long Island Star Journal, covering the team until 1963. He then followed the Yankees and Mets for the New York Journal American until the paper closed its doors. From 1966-86, he covered the Pirates for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He was famous for calling everyone “Pally;” he could never keep anyone’s name straight. Feeney was the 1996 winner of the JG Taylor Spink Award. Charley died at the age of 89 in 2014. 

Sparky Adams - 1928 photo Conlon Collection/Getty

• 1929 - IF Earl “Sparky” Adams (he was 5’4-½” tall), who had been a key part of the 1927 Kiki Cuyler deal, was sold to the Cardinals. He hit .272 in his two seasons at Pittsburgh, but manager Jewel Ens told the Post Gazette that “Sparky did not fit into the plans for next season.” Sports editor Havey Boyle wrote that “Sparky Adams was one of those players that looked good far away but in a close up did not appear so attractive…(But) he still has a certain usefulness and possibly in St. Louis he will do better than he did in Pittsburgh.” He sure did. Sparky batted leadoff for the Cards in 1930-31, hitting .314 and .293, and St. Louis represented the National League in the World Series both seasons against the Philadelphia Athletics, winning it all in ‘31. Sparky is shorthand for Spark Plug, which the diminutive infielder was by all accounts.
• 1947 - 3B Richie Hebner was born in Boston. The Gravedigger (his off season occupation) played 11 years (1968-76, 1982-83) for the Pirates, putting up a .277 BA and playing in five NLCS and the 1971 World Series. He left on a contentious note; after having his contract cut in 1976 after a poor year, he opted for free agency after the campaign. The Pirates GM Pete Peterson offered to match any deal Hebner received on the market, but the Gravedigger wanted out and signed with Philadelphia (other tales say Philly doubled Pittsburgh's on-the-table offer, which sounds a little more like it). He returned a few seasons later. Richie then spent two decades coaching/managing at both the minor and major league level. 
• 1956 - RHP Bob Walk was born in Van Nuys, California. He pitched a decade for the Pirates (1984-93) with an 82-61-5/3.83 ERA, won an All-Star berth in 1988 and compiled a 2-1 record in the postseason, capped by a three-hitter tossed against the Braves in 1992 to keep the Pirates alive in the NLCS. His current claim to fame is as a long-time Bucco broadcaster, joining the booth in 1994. 
• 1963 - The Pirates brought IF Gene “Augie” Freese back, prying him from the Reds for an undisclosed but “considerable” amount of cash (per Joe Brown, more money than he had ever spent on a player in his nine-year run as GM; the media guesstimates ran as high as $70,000). Freese, 30, had started his career in Pittsburgh, playing from 1955-58 after being signed out of West Liberty State by the Bucs in 1953. Augie played third base in his second go-around as a veteran insurance policy for an unsettled spot. He lasted until August of 1965, when he was sold to the White Sox after batting .233 in 142 games and being bumped off the hot corner by bonus baby Bob Bailey. 

Gene Freese - 1965 Topps

• 1986 - In a pitcher swap, the Yankees dealt Doug Drabek, Brian Fisher, and Logan Easley to the Bucs for Rick Rhoden, Cecilio Guante, and Pat Clements. It took three days to complete the trade, until Rhoden agreed to a two-year/$1.5M contract extension with NY (as a 5 & 10 year man, he could veto the deal). The swap gave Jim Leyland his ace; Drabek went on to win the NL Cy Young in 1990 while posting a 92-62/3.02 Bucco slash in six seasons. 
• 1988 - LHP Josh Smoker was born in Calhoun, Georgia. After working two years with the Mets, he signed with the Bucs as a minor league FA in 2018. Josh saw limited action with the big club (with good reason), giving up seven runs in 5-2/3 IP on 11 hits with five walks and just two whiffs. He was released, claimed by the Tigers and later the Dodgers. He’s been an unclaimed free agent since that time after finishing 2019 tossing in the indie leagues. 
• 1991 - Andy Van Slyke won his fourth Golden Glove and Barry Bonds his second, but the big local story was 2B Jose Lind losing out to Ryne Sandberg, who earned his ninth straight GG. The gist of the argument: Chico was playing on turf at TRS and Sandberg at Wrigley. Pittsburgh featured Astroturf, which gives truer hops but is a much quicker track than the thick grass that kills hot shots in Chi-town. The debate lost its legs soon enough; Lind won his Golden Glove the next season. 
• 1991 - 1B/OF Yoshi Tsutsugo was born in Hashimoto, Japan. He was a big bopper in the Nippon League and was signed to a two-year deal by Tampa Bay after the 2019 season. His bat didn’t quite translate in MLB; he was sold to the Dodgers after a year, sent to the minors and released so that the Pirates could sign him in August of 2021. Yoshi showed well as a Bucco (.268 BA/8 HR in 127 ABs) and was rewarded with a one-year/$4M contract in November. He hit .171 in his second go-around and was released in August of 2022, signing with Toronto. 

Lonnie - 2019 Topps Heritage

• 2018 - The Pirates signed FA 3B/RF Lonnie Chisenhall to a one-year/$2.75M contract with $3M more available in bonuses based on at-bats, with the deal officially announced the next day. The big incentive clause provided a mutual value regulator, inserted after a two-year string of injuries to the former Indian, who posted .272 BA/127 OPS+ in 2017-18 but only got into 111 games. Primarily a platoon player at Cleveland, the 30-year-old was expected to hold the fort in right field while Gregory Polanco recovered from off-season surgery. But he was injured again, missed the entire 2019 campaign, and was released at the end of the year. He retired in 2020.

11/25: Dickerson - Mikolas/Decker Swap; Simon Deal; Roberto - 12 Straight GG's; HBD (especially Jims) Octavio, Mike, Cholly, Jim, Ben, Big Jim, Frank & Jimmy

• 1859 - OF Jimmy Woulfe was born in New Orleans. Woulfe was part of NOLA’s early wave of ballplayers, with six players from the Big Easy hitting the show ( then consisting of the National League and the American & Union Associations) in 1884. It was Jimmy’s only MLB campaign, split between Cincinnati and the Alleghenys, as he hit .113 for Pittsburgh and .126 overall. The record book is mum on him afterward; he returned to his home base and played for New Orlean’s oldest team, the RE Lee’s, the following season and then his stat sheet dried up completely. He did remain a hometown kid, passing away in the Crescent City in 1924. 
• 1877 - RHP Frank Moore was born in Portsmouth, Ohio. He got one appearance in the show, tossing three scoreless innings for the Pirates in 1905, giving up two hits and fanning one. Moore played in the minors through 1912, twice winning 20+ games, and was later a minor league manager. 
• 1903 - RHP Big Jim Weaver was born in Obion County, Tennessee. He spent the middle of his six-team, eight-year MLB career in Pittsburgh (1935-37) posting a 36-21/3.76 line while splitting his slab time between starting and the pen. Big Jim earned his nickname honestly: he was 6'6" and weighed 230 pounds (and that may be on the light side). 

Big Jim - undated photo via Out of the Ballpark Developments

• 1922 - RHP Ben Wade was born in Morehead City, North Carolina. Ben closed out a five-year MLB stint in 1955 for the Pirates, getting into 11 games and going 0-1-1/3.21 after the Bucs swapped Lefty LaPalme for Wade with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Wade also worked 16 seasons in the minor leagues. After his playing career ended at age 38, following his 1961 tour of duty with San Diego of the PCL, Wade spent 30 years as a scout and then director of scouting for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 
• 1933 - RHP Jim Waugh was born in Lancaster, Ohio. His big league days lasted just two seasons (1952-53), both with the Bucs, with a slash of 5-11/6.43. After getting his feet wet out of the pen, Waugh became the youngest pitcher at age 18 to win a game in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates when he went the distance at Forbes Field in a 4-3 victory over the Cubs in August of 1952, in the first start of his MLB career. Unfortunately, he came to the show already with arm problems and that sore wing eventually derailed his career. 
• 1934 - RHP Lazaro “Cholly” Naranjo was born in Havana, Cuba. Branch Rickey had him on the radar from an exhibition game and plucked him from the Washington Senators organization in 1954. In 1956 he was called up with his eventual roomie, Bill Mazeroski, and put up a line of 1–2/4.46 in 34-1/3IP (17 outings, three starts). However, he had a sore arm in the minors that he kept quiet so that he wouldn’t hurt his chances at a MLB gig, and it caught up to him. With that and a beef regarding his contract, he didn’t break camp with the team in the spring and had a so-so year. He went to Cincy organization in 1959 and finished in the Cub system in 1961. His nickname came from his grandmother who called him “Cholito,” a Latino term of endearment. Fun fact: while a member of the Senator’s system, he sat with President Eisenhower and his guests on Opening Day in 1954. Ike had tossed the ceremonial first pitch and stayed for the game, with Cholly’s job making sure the president and his party didn’t get bopped by a foul ball while occupying the railing seats. 

Mike Ryan - 2016 photo Indiana Trib Democrat

• 1941 - C Mike Ryan was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Mike closed out his 11-year MLB stay in 1974 with Pirates, getting into 17 games and going 3-for-30 (.100) after signing on as a FA during the off season. After his playing career, Ryan managed/coached in the Pirates & Phillies minor leagues from 1975-79, then coached for the Phillies for 16 seasons, from 1980 until 1995. 
• 1972 - Roberto Clemente won his 12th straight Sporting News Golden Glove award, a string of recognition dating back to 1961. He and “Say Hey” Willie Mays are tied for the most GG’s earned by an outfielder with a dozen apiece. In his 2,433 games career, Roberto handled 5,102 chances with a .973 fielding %, threw out 266 runners and put fear of the Lord into countless others. He was such a versatile fielder that in 1956 he actually subbed at third base for a game and at second for two more. Clemente also played center field 63 times. 
• 1973 - RHP Octavio Dotel was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Dotel tossed for 15 years in the show and got his last gig as closer in 2010 at age 37 for the Pirates after signing a FA deal for $3.25M. He went 2-2-21/4.28 with 48 K in 40 IP and the Bucs flipped him to the Dodgers for James McDonald and Andrew Lambo. Dotel worked into the 2013 season and appeared in two World Series after leaving Pittsburgh. J-Mac showed early promise and won 27 games in four years before fading while Lambo couldn’t overcome a series of injuries. 
• 2002 - Detroit sent 1B Randall Simon to the Pirates for LHP Adrian Burnside and a player to be named later (RHP Roberto Novoa.) Novoa pitched three MLB seasons; Burnside went to Japan to play. Simon ended up better at swatting sausages (his “Sausagegate” escapade in Milwaukee cost him a $432.10 Milwaukee city fine for disorderly conduct while MLB suspended him for three games and fined him $2,000) than baseballs, hitting .245/13 HR in 152 games as a Bucco between 2003-04. 

Jaff Decker - photo Pirates/MLB

• 2013 - In a prospects depth deal, the Bucs acquired OF Jaff Decker and RHP Miles Mikolas from San Diego for 1B/OF Alex Dickerson. All three have since had cups of coffee in the show, with Dickerson on the verge of becoming an everyday player before he underwent back surgery in June of 2017; he’s now a free agent after stints with San Diego and San Francisco. Decker has gotten short calls to the show through 2017; his last stop was with the Nats in 2018. Miles went to Japan for the 2015 season and came back loaded for MLB bear in 2018, winning 18 games for St. Louis and nine more during the following campaign before undergoing arm surgery in 2020. He returned to duty in August of ‘21, and in 2022 worked over 200 IP to announce he was back.

11/24: Yoshi, Spanky, Bill, Jeff, Cecilio Sign; Zachster Dealt; Abner Joins; Million $ Arms; HBD Kelvin, Jeff, Mike, Bob, Al, Curly, Whitey, Commy, Ed & Frank

• 1857 - C/OF Frank Smith was born in Fonthill, Ontario. Not much is written about Frank; he played from August through October in 1884 for the Alleghenys, hitting .250 in 10 games after arriving from the Northwest League’s Saginaw Greys as a 26-year-old. Afterward, he put in at least a season in the minors, later living in Canandaigua, New York until he passed on at the age of 70. 
• 1886 - 29-year-old OF Abner Dalrymple was sold to the Alleghenys/Pirates, reportedly for the princely sum of $15,000, by the Chicago White Sox. A gifted hitter - he claimed four batting titles and hit leadoff for five league-winning Chicago clubs - Dalrymple had an off year in 1886 and the Bucs pried him loose. Alas, it was more than an outlier season, and he hit just .215 for Pittsburgh. After a two-year run through the minors, Abner ended his major league days in 1891 with Milwaukee of the American Association. Trivia tidbit: Dalrymple was Pittsburgh’s first NL batter when he hit leadoff in Alleghenys senior circuit opener in 1887, fittingly against his old buds, the CWS. 

Ed Doheny - image via Vermont Historical Society

• 1873 - LHP Ed Doheny was born in Northfield, Vermont. Ed spent the last three seasons of his nine-year career with the Pirates (1901-03) posting a line of 38-14/2.35. After a mediocre beginning of his career with the NY Giants, Doheny was reaching his prime with the Pirates, but it wasn’t to be. He began exhibiting signs of paranoia in 1903. The team granted him a rest leave, and he returned, but so did the problems. He was sent home for care, missing the 1903 World Series (and as part of the three man rotation, possibly costing the team the championship) where he became violent and was eventually committed to an institution where he died 13 years later. 
• 1890 - RHP Ralph “Commy” Comstock was born in Sylvania, Ohio (maybe; the year and place of birth vary by source). Ralph tossed in Pittsburgh twice, for the Federal League Rebels in 1915 (3-3/3.25) and the Pirates in 1918 (5-6/3.00). Frank won 11 games in three big-league seasons, but the guy was popular. He played for four major league clubs and nine farm teams in nine years of organized ball, playing for multiple nines in five of his campaigns - and that doesn’t include his semi-pro outings in local leagues. But the lifestyle finally got to him, and he retired from pro ball after the 1918 season and went to work in the insurance business in Toledo. 
• 1890 - SS Harry “Whitey” (he was blonde) Wolfe was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Whitey started his career with a four-year stint with the indie Northern League feeder Duluth White Sox before being called up by the Cubs in 1917. That would be his career year; he got into seven games with Chicago and was sold to the Pirates, where he got into three more games, going 0-for-5 with four whiffs and a walk. The Bucs optioned him to Richmond - beside the weak start, Wolfe didn’t like Pittsburgh as a destination - and he jumped back to his old indie league to finish the 1917 season with Hibbing, which outbid his old Duluth squad. After a military stint, he played indie ball for a while before retiring to Huntington, Indiana, to the life of a bartender. 

Bob Friend - 2018 Topps Fan Favorites Archives

• 1930 - RHP Bob Friend was born in Lafayette, Indiana. A three-time All-Star pitcher for the Pirates, he averaged 232 IP and 13 victories for some of the worst teams in baseball. As a 24-year-old in 1955, Friend became the first pitcher to lead his league in ERA while pitching for a last-place team. He led the NL in victories once, innings pitched twice, games started three times, and WAR for pitchers twice, going 191-218/3.55 in 15 years (1951-65) as a Buc. He also was active in local Republican politics after his career, serving as Allegheny County Controller from 1967 to 1975 and as a three-time convention delegate. Bob passed away in 2019 from a heart attack at the age of 88. 
• 1932 - Betty Jane “Curly” Cornett was born in the Spring Hill section of North Side. Growing up, she attended St. Ambrose, St. Mary's, Latimer and Allegheny schools while competing at the Cowley Rec Center on Troy Hill. The tomboy played softball locally before trying out for the All American Girls Pro Baseball League. After attending rookie camp in 1949, Betty Jane played first (she got to pitch a couple of times, but gave up 10 runs in eight innings) for the Rockford Peaches, and then toured with the Springfield Sallies (1950), Kalamazoo Lassies (1951), and Battle Creek Belles (1951), even playing memorably once at Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately, she didn’t hit like the Babe, but put up a paltry .183 BA in her two seasons. She came back home, waited for her five-year professional status to expire and went back to local amateur softball. Her nickname? She got caught in the rain while at AAGPBL training camp, and her hair got soaked and dropped straight down over her face. Her teammates took one look at the Cher-like do and perversely dubbed her Curly. 
• 1967 - OF Al Martin was born in West Covina, California. Martin played eight years (1992-99) for Pittsburgh, hitting .280 with 107 HR and 485 RBI. His best season was 1996, when he hit .300 with 18 HR, 72 RBI and 38 stolen bases. In Pittsburgh, he was backed by “Al’s Army,” donated thousands of tickets to various groups and even met fans at the turnstiles before the game. After his Pirate years, though, he was beset with a string of bizarre personal problems, tarnishing his image as a Bucco good guy and pretty much dropping off baseball’s radar. 

Al Martin - 1998 Pinnacle Performers

• 1976 - Utilityman Mike Edwards was born in Goshen, New York. Mike closed out his three-year, 106-game MLB career with the Pirates in 2006, hitting .188 with 18 at-bats after being signed to an off season minor-league deal and spending most of the year at Indianapolis. He was in AAA for all of 2007, mostly with the Reds after an April release, and lives in the San Francisco area. 
• 1979 - The Pirates signed RHP Cecilio Guante, a member of the silver medal-winning Dominican Republic of the Pan American Games. The then 22-year-old reliever made his debut in 1982 and slashed a solid 13-17-20/3.08 in five years with Pittsburgh. He was sent to the Yankees in 1986 as part of the Doug Drabek trade and worked for them, the Rangers and Indians through 1990. 
• 1980 - OF Jeff Salazar was born in Oklahoma City. Jeff spent parts of four years in MLB, closing out his career in 2009 with the Bucs. He went 1-for-23 mainly as a pinch hitter (he got into four games as an OF’er). He then spent the next three seasons playing with various AAA and Mexican clubs. Jeff’s now a hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies. 
• 1987 - LHP Kelvin Marte was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He spent nearly a decade working his way through the Giants’ system when the Pirates signed him to a minor league deal in 2016. He got his only MLB action for the Bucs, spinning the ball for two outings with no decisions and a perfect ERA. That is a little misleading though - his FIP was 12.15 as he gave up five unearned runs in 3-1/3 IP thanks to an error and back-to-back two-out homers. 

Spanky - 1990 Bowman

• 1989 - The Bucs settled on contracts with C Spanky LaValliere, RHP Jeff Robinson and RHP Bill Landrum, leaving CF Andy Van Slyke, 1B Sid Bream & LHP Bob Kipper waiting their turn at the table. Robinson was dealt to the Yanks for C Don Slaught a few days later, the others signed, and they all helped to provide a solid core for Jim Leyland's '90 division-winning club. 
• 2008 - The Pirates became the first MLB team to sign players from India when they inked pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, winners of a reality show called "The Million Dollar Arm Hunt." Patel was cut in 2010 and returned home to attend college, but Singh made it to A ball before a rash of arm injuries; he tossed one inning between 2013-16 and then flipped careers to become a WWE wrestler. Their story was made into a Disney movie called (what else?) “Million Dollar Arm.” 
• 2010 - After six years as a Pirate, Pittsburgh traded LHP Zach Duke (45-70/4.54) to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a PTBNL, RHP Cesar Valdez. Duke’s 2005 rookie year saw him post an 8-2/1.81 slash and he made the All-Star team in 2009, but never put up an ERA south of four again. Zach reinvented himself as a LOOGY after leaving town and resurrected his career in the bullpen before having elbow surgery in 2016, returning to action the following season. Zach worked for eight clubs after leaving Pittsburgh, retiring after the 2019 campaign. Duke now owns Framework Athletics, a sports training facility. Valdez tossed at Indy in 2011 before joining the Latin leagues. 

Yoshi - 2022 image via AT&T SportsNet

• 2021 - Yoshi Tsutsugo agreed to a one-year/$4M deal, pending his physical, returning to the Bucs after a brief free agency window. Yoshi slashed .268/.347/.535 with eight doubles, eight home runs and 25 RBIs in 43 games after signing with the Pirates in August where he played 1B/OF and would be a candidate for DH if the new CBA OKs the spot for the NL. Tsutsugo came from the Japanese League before playing two years for Tampa Bay and the LA Dodgers. He was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh in August, and broke out offensively with the Buccos. But he fizzled in 2022 after turning down a two-year contract and was released in August with a .171 BA and two homers. He was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays and became a FA after the year.