2/20 Through the 1960s: UA, IA Form; RIP Bill; HBD Tony, Baron, Frankie, Jack, Tom & Harry

• 1862 - 3B Harry Raymond was born in Utica. After four seasons with the Louisville Colonels, Raymond came to Pittsburgh briefly in 1892, getting into 12 games and batting .082. He finished the year and his big league career with Washington, going 1-for-18. He did soldier on, playing seven more minor league campaigns before calling it quits in 1899 at age 37. Raymond was a league jumper who hopped from Louisville to Lincoln in 1891 and was given a lifetime suspension by the American Association and National League after the flip, who had an agreement limiting player movement. But the punishment was withdrawn later in the year and he played out his final MLB season. 

Tom O'Brien - 1901 Commercial Gazette

• 1873 - Utilityman Tom O’Brien was born in Verona. O’Brien played just two seasons and four positions for his hometown club (1898, 1900), hitting .274 for Pittsburgh before his untimely death during a Cuban barnstorming tour in 1901. The lore around his death is that it was brought on by drinking a bucket of seawater during the voyage as a seasickness cure, but he actually had typhoid that developed into pneumonia, and he passed away at age 27. 
• 1875 - C Jack Rafter was born in Troy, New York. Jack’s big league line was 0-for-3 in one game for the 1904 Pirates but he had a career-long New York baseball connection. Jack played at Fordham and spent 13 years in the minors, staying near his Empire State home base with tours of duty at Troy, Syracuse and Albany forming the bulk of his pro baseball resume. 
• 1877 - The International Association (international because it included a pair of Canadian clubs) was formed in Pittsburgh with the Alleghenys as one of the charter teams. Some baseball historians consider it to be the first minor league; others think the league had higher aspirations and was conceived to rival the major National League. It was fairly short-lived, folding after the 1880 season. It really didn’t have much of a schedule; Alleghenys’ ace Pud Galvin tossed 18 of the 19 IA games played that first year. Pittsburgh finished second at 13-6, 1-1/2 games behind the London (Ontario) Tecumsehs. 
• 1884 - The now you see it, now you don’t, Union Association was organized. It only lasted a season and had two local reps: the Pittsburgh Stogies, which absorbed the Chicago Browns before folding (they were resurrected in 1913 as a Federal League team, aka the Rebels) and the mid-state Altoona Mountain City nine. Whether it was major league or not depends on your baseball historian of choice; some accept it as big time, but most say nay. 

Frank Gustine - 1943 Play Ball

• 1920 - All-Star infielder and restaurant owner Frankie Gustine was born in Hoopeston, Illinois. He played 10 years (1939-48) for the Bucs, hitting .268 as a Pirate and earning three All-Star slots. Gustine later became the head coach at Point Park College from 1968-74 and operated a popular, photo-packed bar/restaurant on Forbes Avenue in Oakland a few steps away from Forbes Field that became Hemingway’s Cafe in 1982. 
• 1928 - The Baron of the Bullpen, ElRoy Face, was born in Stephentown, NY. He pitched fifteen years (1953, 1955-68) for the Bucs, posting a 100-93-188/3.36 slash. Face was the first major leaguer to save 20 games more than once, leading the league three times and finishing second three times; in 1959 he set the still-standing major league record for winning percentage (.947) at 18-1, winning 22 games in a row over two seasons (1958-59). He held the National League record for career games pitched (846) from 1967-86, and the league record for career saves (193) for two decades, from 1962-82. Face still holds the NL record for career wins in relief (96), and he held the league mark for career innings pitched in relief (1,211-1/3) until 1983. His nickname was bestowed by Post Gazette beat writer Jack Hernon in 1959, borrowing it from Joe Reichler of the Associated Press who wrote in his 1950 preseason profile of the St. Louis Cardinals: "For relief they have Ted Wilks, the league's bullpen baron...” 
• 1963 - Bill Hinchman passed away in Columbus at the age of 79. He finished his 10-year MLB career with the Bucs from 1915-20 (he hit .284/129 OPS+ in that span), was a Pirates coach in 1923 and scouted for Pittsburgh from 1921-58. As a bird dog, he signed Rip Sewell, Clyde Barnhart, Claude Passeau, Cookie Lavagetto & Billy Cox and was involved in the player evaluation chain of Hall-of-Famers Arky Vaughan & Lloyd Waner. 

Tony Menendez - 1994 Stadium Club

• 1965 - RHP Tony Menendez was born in Havana, Cuba. Tony was a first round draft pick of the White Sox out of high school in 1984 and had a three-year MLB career with three teams between 1992-94 that lasted 23 appearances. He got 14 of those outings as a 1993 Bucco. He did pretty well, with no decisions but a 3.00 ERA in 21 IP, mostly as a September call-up from AAA Buffalo. Tony signed with the Giants the following year, got a brief look in the majors and retired as a Bay farmhand after the 1995 campaign. He’s now got his irons in the media fire.