12/13: Marte, Kip & Josh; Aven, J-Day Deals; Edinson, Buechele Sign; Mitchell Report Out, Cobra In Court; HBD Carson, Josh, Jeff, Dale, Dave, Joe, Bill & Buckshot

• 1899 - RHP William “Buckshot” May was born in Bakersfield, California. The 24-year old appeared in his only MLB game as a Pirate, tossing a no-run, two-hit, one-strikeout frame in a 10-7 loss to the Boston Braves at Forbes Field in 1924. May never was given another chance (it was said that he got into a contract dispute with Barney Dreyfuss, and that spittin' match with his boss put a brake on his career) though he did work 13 solid minor-league campaigns, winning 20 games three times. At age 35 in 1935, Buckshot left the mound for the rigs, retiring to a drilling supervisor job in the oil industry. 
• 1904 - 1B Willis “Bill” Windle was born in Galena, Kansas. Windle attended Missouri U where he starred in football and baseball, but his MLB career consisted of just three games played for the Bucs between 1928-29 with Bill going 1-for-2 with a double and a run scored. He played in the minors until 1933 before retiring to Corpus Christi where he became a successful apartment owner and a model citizen, with ties to the Boy Scouts, Kiwanis and different civic boards. 

Joe Christopher - 1961 Topps

• 1935 - OF Joe Christopher was born in Frederiksted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. He played for Pittsburgh from 1959-61 sparingly, hitting .244 before being lost in the expansion draft to the NY Mets; his highlight was scoring twice in the 1960 World Series as a pinch runner. Christopher is thought to be the first player from the Virgin Islands to play in the majors. Joe should remember his first start. He was called up to replace an injured Roberto Clemente and made his big league debut playing right field during Harvey Haddix’s 12-inning perfect game. 
• 1947 - LHP Dave Hamilton was born in Seattle. He tossed for nine big-league seasons, splitting 1978 between the Pirates and Cards, the club the Bucs bought the lefty from in May. Dave pitched well enough, going 0-2-1/3.42 and then signed up with Oakland after the season, returning to the squad he had won three World Series titles with in 1972-74. He retired as an Athletic in 1980 and went on to coach high school ball and work as a project manager. 
• 1956 - Dale Berra was born in Ridgewood, NJ. The SS, the first round pick of the 1975 draft (20th overall), spent eight years in Pittsburgh (1977-84) and started the last three, but his bat (.238 as a Pirate) never came around and to boot, he testified that he was a coke user during the 1985 trial. Berra still makes the highlight tapes thanks to a 1985 baserunning blooper with Bobby Meacham while with the Yankees. With Meacham at second and Berra at first, Ricky Henderson drilled a ball into the corner. Meacham slipped rounding the bases, so he and Berra came home at virtually the same time. That little stagger allowed Ozzie Guillen’s relay to beat the pair to the dish and Carlton Fisk tagged them both out - a double turned into a double play! 

Jeff Robinson - 1989 Panini

• 1960 - RHP Jeff Robinson was born in Santa Ana, California. He tossed for the Bucs from 1987-89. His first two seasons were strictly out of the pen, with 19 starts in 51 appearances in ‘89. Overall, Robinson went 20-19-17 for Pittsburgh with a 3.78 ERA. He went to the New York Yankees in the Don Slaught deal, but couldn’t replicate his Pittsburgh success. Robinson tossed for three teams from 1990-92 and then was out of baseball. He preceded starter Jeff Robinson, a Bucco in 1992, who was a brother Californian and whose birthday was just one day later. 
• 1976 - RHP Josh Fogg was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. He pitched for Pittsburgh from 2002-05 with a slash of 39-42/4.79 after coming over from the Chicago White Sox as part of the Todd Ritchie deal. Josh finished seventh in the Rookie of the Year vote in 2002 and won double figure games for three straight seasons, but was released after going 6-11/5.05 during the 2005 campaign. Fogg pitched four more years before stepping off the slab in 2009 as a Colorado Rockie. And blow out the candles - he was traded to the Bucs on his birthday in 2001. 
• 1988 - The suits and Dave Parker settled a 2-1/2 year battle over the Cobra’s 1979 contract. The Pirates believed his drug involvement voided $5.3M in deferred payments; Parker disagreed. A few weeks from trial, the two sides settled with Parker getting a lump sum payment of an undisclosed amount that was reportedly less than the original total due, confirmed a week later when the team said its 1988 operating profit was impacted favorably by the settlement. 

Cobra Contract Conflict - 2014 Topps Archives

• 1991 - Negotiating into the wee hours of the morning, the Pirates re-signed free agent 3B Steve Buechele to a four-year/$11M deal that included a $1M signing bonus; Buechele had sought a deal for $13M, but his agent admitted that the market wasn’t ready to support that figure. The agreement was announced a few hours later after the Bucs DFA’ed OF Cecil Espy to clear a 40-man roster spot for Buechele. Steve lasted into July before he was sent to the Cubs for Danny Jackson. GM Larry Doughty said that was near the end of the signings for next year; finalizing C Mike Lavalliere’s contract and bringing back RHP Bob Walk were the only items left on the Pittsburgh agenda. They were both re-signed and remained with the Buccos into 1993. 
• 1993 - RHP Carson Fulmer was born in Lakeland, Florida. The Chicago White Sox made the Vanderbilt ace the #8 overall pick in the 2015 draft, but he didn’t meet their expectations. In parts of five years as a starter and reliever, he tossed for CWS and the Tigers, posting a line of 6-9/6.57. The Pirates claimed him off waivers in late August of 2020 from Detroit, presumably to provide starting depth as they were shopping pitchers at the deadline. But none were moved and Carson became a man without a spot; he was waived in early September and claimed by the Orioles without appearing in a game for Pittsburgh. He was reclaimed by the Bucs two weeks later, released again, and spent 2021 with the Reds. The Dodgers took him in the minor league Rule 5 draft for 2022 and going into the 2023 campaign, he’s a free agent again. 
• 1996 - SS Jay Bell and 3B Jeff King were traded to the Royals for 3B Joe Randa (called "The Joker" after the grinning Batman villain; Joe had a permanent smile on his face), LHP Jeff Wallace, LHP Jeff Granger and RHP Jeff Martin in a salary dump, or maybe in an effort by the clubs to set a record for Jeffs (or just “J” first names in general) packaged in one deal. The trade cleared about $5M in salary, and also sent away the last starters from the playoff teams of the early 1990’s. In all, the Bucs traded away eight players worth $16.5M who were on the roster in August as Kevin McClatchy planned to operate the 1997 club with a payroll of $15M. On the same day, MLB projected that the Pirates would get $4.9M in revenue sharing for 1996 and $5.5M in ‘97. 

Bruce Aven - 2000 photo Ezra Shaw/Getty

• 1999 - The Pirates sent OF Brant Brown to Florida for OF Bruce Avens. Brant hit .232 in his year as a Bucco and it would get worse in 2000, his final MLB season. Aven hit .250 for the Pirates and was flipped to the Dodgers at the deadline, enjoying a couple of solid seasons in LA. 
• 2001 - The Pirates sent RHP Todd Ritchie and C Lee Evans to the White Sox for RHPs Kip Wells, Sean Lowe, and Josh Fogg. Ritchie struggled for Chicago and then was injured the following year, effectively ending his career. Fogg and Wells were mainstays in the Pirate rotation for three years but never blossomed beyond journeyman status; neither made it through the 2006 season for the Bucs. Lowe worked for three teams in 2002-03 before ending his MLB journey. 
• 2005 - The Bucs acquired LHP Damaso Marte from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for INF/OF Rob Mackowiak. It was the lefty’s second go-around with Pittsburgh, and after an injury to Matt Capps in 2006, Marte became the closer. He was traded to the New York Yankees with Xavier Nady at the deadline for José Tábata, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Dan McCutchen. Mack was strong for the White Sox from 2006-07 (.285 BA), but after being traded back into the NL at the 2007 deadline he faded badly, and his career ended after the 2008 campaign. 
• 2007 - The Mitchell Report, a 20-month investigation led by former US Senator George Mitchell into performance-enhancing drugs’ MLB inroads, was released. The report covered the use of PEDs by players with recommendations on how to handle the epidemic. Mitchell named names - 89 MLB players were alleged to be users, including 11 ex-Pirates (Kevin Young and Denny Neagle were the Bucs’ big names; every team had at least one player implicated in the report). The findings stiffened the MLB’s spine, and they, hand-in-hand with the MLB Players Association, jointly implemented a testing program with stiff penalties for violations in both the major and minor leagues. 

Edinson Volquez - 2014 Topps First Edition

• 2013 - RHP Edinson Volquez was officially signed as a free agent after passing his physical to a one-year/$5M contract. He was quite the bargain, going 13-7/3.04 during the season. He signed a two-year/$20M guaranteed deal with the KC Royals after refurbishing his value, then skipped to Miami on a one-year/$9M deal. He underwent TJ surgery in 2017 and was on the comeback trail with Texas, getting 18 outings from 2019-20, but hasn’t pitched since then.