1/5: Esteban, Ravello, Varsho Sign; Brown Bought; Bert HoF; FO Moves; Gravedigger Goes; Live Ball; RIP Phil; HBD John, Danny, Mark, Danny, Roger, JR, Bob, Jack & Newt

• 1880 - 1B Fred “Newt” Hunter was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. Hunter spent from 1903-18 in the minors, getting the call in 1911 when he was one of six players who spent time at first base in 1911 along with John Flynn, Honus Wagner, Bill McKechnie, Mickey Keliher and Bill Keen. He did OK, hitting .254 in 65 games, but was replaced by Doggie Miller in 1912. After retiring (he played 17 years on the farm for 17 teams), he spent time as a Card coach in 1920, and except for a brief 1924 minor-league comeback that lasted six games, was done with baseball. 

Fred Hunter - 1911 photo Conlon Collection/Detroit Public Library 

• 1914 - RHP Jack Salveson was born in Fullerton, California. He worked for five MLB campaigns, including five 1935 outings for the Pirates with an 0-1, 9.00 line. Jack was known as a quick worker, once pitching a game in 65 minutes, and was a long-time PCL hurler who tossed for 22 years in the minors. Show biz fact: He got a small part in the movie “Pride of the Yankees” and got to bop Lou Gehrig (played by Gary Cooper) in the noggin as a Tinseltown tosser. 
• 1928 - C Bob Oldis was born in Preston, Iowa. Oldis was a third string catcher for the Bucs between 1960-61, getting into 26 games and batting .160 as a Pirate. Though seldom used, Oldis appeared in Games 4 and 5 of the 1960 World Series as a late-inning defensive replacement. After his seven-year MLB career ended, he was a coach/scout for the Phillies, Minny Twins, and Montreal Expos. He’s been with the Marlins since 2002 and still does some birddogging. 
• 1934 - The leagues took forever to sync the DH, didn’t play inter-league games until 1997 and didn’t pool umpires until 2000, but they did agree on a common baseball for the first time on this day. The NL adopted the AL horsehide, which had a thinner cover and less prominent seams. The switch was supposed to both juice up the NL attack and make inter-league performance comparisons more equivalent (the NL was considered more of a pitcher's league because of the less lively ball and the higher, pitcher-friendly seams). Pirates manager George Gibson told Volney Walsh of the Pittsburgh Press that “If the lively ball helps anyone it should help us some for we had the hardest hitting team in the league last year.” It didn't quite work out that way. The Bucs led the NL with a .383 slugging % in '33, and though they came in second in '34, their average fell to .344 as they pounded a paltry 52 homers. Business note: The AJ Reach Company, the AL’s vendor, was contracted to manufacture the balls, but it was bought by Spalding, its chief rival, which then produced the MLB balls until 1977 when Rawlings became the supplier. 

Jim Brown - 1/6/1946 Pgh Press photo

• 1946 - The Pirates forked over $30,000 to the Cards for infielder Jimmy Brown. Brown had been an All-Star in 1942, but played an abbreviated season in ‘43 before joining the Army Air Corp. He came back for the Bucs as a 36-year-old, hit .241 in 79 games and called it a career after spending the following two seasons in the minors. Afterward, he managed in the Pittsburgh system for a couple of years and then coached with the Milwaukee Braves for three more campaigns. 
• 1961 - Manager John Russell was born in Oklahoma City. While with the Rangers, he caught Nolan Ryan's sixth career no-hitter in 1990. He ended his 10-year career with a .225 batting average, 34 home runs and 129 RBI in 448 games. Afterward, he made several coaching stops and managed the Bucs from 2008-10 during some dark seasons, with a record of 186-299. It wasn’t his first gig here; JR had been Lloyd McClendon’s third base coach from 2003-05. He was the Orioles bench coach from 2011-18 and is now an IMG Sports Academy director.
• 1961 - LHP Roger Samuels was born in San Jose, California. He had a 20-game MLB career, tossing five of those contests in 1989 as a Bucco with no decisions and a 9.82 ERA. The 28-year-old started 1990 at AAA Buffalo, then the Pirates sent him to the Mets, where he pitched for AAA Tidewater and then retired at age 30, devoting his energies to amateur youth coaching. 
• 1962 - LHP Danny Jackson was born in San Diego. The Pirates got him in mid-July for the stretch run of the 1992 division race, and the lefty went 4-4/3.36 ERA as the club won the NL East but lost the NLCS to Atlanta in seven games. After the season, he was lost in the expansion draft. Jackson had a 15-year career with seven teams, appearing in three World Series and two All-Star games. 

Mark Redman - 2005 Topps Total

• 1974 - LHP Mark Redman was born in San Diego. He was part of the return from the Jason Kendall trade with Oakland, but in his one year (2005) with the Pirates, he slashed 5-15/4.90, the worst counting numbers season of his career. That prompted an off season deal with the Royals. He earned a spot on the 2006 All-Star team there despite a 6-4/5.27 line at the break, and that was his last hurrah. He made 17 more starts over two campaigns post-All Star and retired following the 2008 season, after playing in MLB for 10 years and eight teams. 
• 1984 - Richie Hebner signed a two-year deal with the Cubs which was made official on the 17th, marking the second time he left Pittsburgh via free agency. “I wanted to end my career in Pittsburgh,” claimed the 15-year vet. He said GM Pete Peterson was working on clearing a bench spot for him, but with camp approaching “They never got back to me and the Chicago deal came up.” The Grave Digger hit .264 over his last two years. He lost his job in 1986 after he signed up for one more campaign with Chicago but was released before the season and never caught on elsewhere. 
• 1990 - OF Danny Ortiz was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. A fourth-round draftee of the Twins in 2008, he signed a minor league deal with the Pirates during the 2015 off season. Danny got into nine games in 2017, going 1-for-12. He left after the 2018 campaign and since spent his career in the Latin leagues. Danny’s thrived there with a .272 BA in 13 seasons of Mexican and Puerto Rican ball. 
• 1993 - 1B John Nogowski was born in Tallahassee, Florida. The Bucs bought him after the Cards DFA’ed him in July, 2021, when injuries thinned the first base spot. Nogo hit just .096 in 20 games for St. Louis, but he got off to a hot start with Pittsburgh, collecting 21 hits in his first dozen contests for a .438 BA, then cooled off in his last 21 games, hitting just .127. He was released in September, claimed by the Giants, and later moved to Atlanta. From there, the Nats later claimed him in mid-season and Nogo is a free agent for the 2023 campaign. 

Nogo - 2021 image/Pirates

• 1994 - The Pirates signed LHP Ravello Manzanillo and OF Gary Varsho to minor league contracts. Manzanillo, who had been on a two-year hiatus from baseball, got into 51 games over the next two seasons, with a line of 4-2-1/4.19, and that was his last MLB slash. For Varsho, it was a return to the Pirates, where he played in 1991-92, and he said “There’s no place else I wanted to go.” He hit .256, used mostly as an extra outfielder and pinch hitter, before moving on to Philly for his final campaign in 1995. Gary did have a Steel City jones; he came back as John Russell’s bench coach from 2008-10, was axed along with JR’s staff, and then was resurrected as a Bucco scout in 2016. 
• 1998 - The Pirates signed RHP Esteban Loaiza to a two-year/$1.9M deal with $500K due the first year and $1.4M in the second. He had earned $200K in 1997 while posting an 11-11/4.13 slash. He went 6-5/4.52 in ‘98 before being flipped to the Texas Rangers in mid-July for 2B Warren Morris and RHP Todd Van Poppel. He tossed for 11 more years with two All-Star dances before his 2008 finale. 
• 2009 - Sportswriter Phil Musick passed away at age 71. The Duquesne grad started locally as sports editor of the Greensburg Tribune-Review. In 1969, he joined the Pittsburgh Press and later wrote for the Post-Gazette during the time the Steelers won four titles in six years and the Pirates prevailed in two World Series. Musick was named Pennsylvania Sports Writer of the Year in 1975 by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. He wrote books on Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron and Tony Dorsett, articles for Sports Illustrated, People, Time and Newsweek magazines and was the first sports columnist for USA Today. Musick later taught journalism at LaRoche College. 

Phil Musick photo 1/6/2010 via Post Gazette

• 2011 - After a 14-year wait, curveball king RHP Bert Blyleven was elected to the Hall of Fame. He won 34 games for Pittsburgh between 1978-80, his stay cut short because the Dutchman publicly disagreed with Chuck Tanner, who went to his bullpen earlier and more often than the righty preferred. Blyleven, who was inducted into the Hall on July 24th, posted 287 victories and 3,701 strikeouts during a 22-year MLB career that saw him hurl for five clubs, mainly Minnesota. 
• 2019 - The Pirates added a little grit to their operations department, hiring former 10-year vet David Eckstein and then bringing back former Bucco lifer Jeff Banister, both as special assistants for baseball operations. Eckstein had prior coaching experience with the Los Angeles Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks & USA Baseball, and joined his brother Rick, who had been hired as the batting coach in November. David left baseball to spend more time with his family while Rick is now with the Angels. Banny had spent 29 years with the Pirates, wearing several different hats, before taking over the reins at Texas for four years. His Steel City reunion was short-lived as he was let go in 2020 when the FO reduced the administrative staff.