2/4 From 1965: Frankie, Arquimedes Sign; Arroyo, Bo Go; Pops-A-Go-Go; HBD Danny, Doug, Dennis & Neal

• 1969 - Pirates GM Neal Huntington was born in Amherst, New Hampshire. He was named the Pirates GM after the 2007 season, replacing Dave Littlefield. Huntington built a team that broke a twenty-year losing streak and then made the playoffs from 2013-15, but the wheels fell off and he was fired after a 69-win campaign in 2019. Before Pittsburgh, he had been the Assistant Director of Player Development with the Montreal Expos in 1995 before moving on to the Cleveland Indians for 10 years, becoming their Special Assistant to the GM (2006–2007). He was replaced by an old baseball teammate from Amherst, Ben Cherington. 
• 1970 - The Bucs sent noted bon vivant and so-so hurler Bo Belinsky to the Reds for RHP Dennis Ribant. Belinsky went 0-3 in eight games as a Pirate with a 4.58 ERA, and 1970 was the end of the MLB trail for Ribant (who had previously tossed for Pittsburgh in 1967) as he never pitched in the show again. Belinsky tossed three times for the Reds, and that was it for his big league stay. 

Dennis Ribant - 1967 Topps

• 1971 - RHP Dennis Konuszewski was born in Bridgeport, Michigan. Dennis was chosen in the seventh round of the 1992 draft out of the U of Michigan by the Pirates and got called up in August of 1995. He came very close to having an ERA of infinity - he faced five batters, with four of them reaching base (he wasn’t smacked around so much as unlucky - a walk, two ground ball singles through the infield and a flare was the damage done against him) and two of the runners scored, leaving him with a 54.00 ERA in 1/3 IP. He was sent back down, with Jim Leyland telling Dennis he’d return (spoiler alert: Leyland fibbed). Konuszewski remained in the Pirates system from 1995-97, mostly for the AA Carolina Mudcats, before leaving baseball to become a sales rep and little league coach.
• 1972 - It was a busy week for Willie Stargell. He began it with a White House visit with President Dick Nixon as part of the War on Drugs, then returned to Pittsburgh to visit the Black Athlete’s Foundation offices before signing his contract (the amount was undisclosed, but the Pirates called it a “substantial increase” from 1971). Then on the 5th, he joined Danny Murtaugh and Roberto Clemente as one of the co-winners of the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year Award. 
• 1980 - LHP Doug Slaten was born in Venice, California. Slaten had spent four years in Arizona and two more in Washington before joining the Pirates in 2012 as a minor league FA. The 32-year-old spent most of his time at Indianapolis, but was called to work 10 games for the Bucs and acquitted himself well with a 2.77 ERA in 10 outings. Still, he was released at the end of the year, ending his MLB career. He earned an asterisk for Indy in April, serving up the last three outs of a combined no-hitter started by Justin Wilson and Jose Diaz. 

Doug Slaten - 2012 photo/Keith Allison, Flickr

• 1996 - RHP Danny Darwin signed with the Pirates after a couple of dismal seasons at Boston, Toronto and Texas. He went 7-9 with a sparkling 3.02 ERA and was flipped at the deadline to Houston for reliever Rick Loiselle. Darwin was dubbed "Doctor Death" by Houston’s Nolan Ryan because Danny was always ready to rumble. He got into two famous bouts with teammates Orel Hershiser and Barry Bonds, though Bonds was just a raucous verbal altercation. 
• 2003 - The Red Sox claimed Bronson Arroyo off waivers from the Pirates. After three seasons and a 9-14/5.44 ERA for Pittsburgh, he worked an additional 15 years in the show, winning 100+ games while going 10 straight years with 32+ starts and tossing 200 or more IP in nine of those campaigns. After a stint with the Arizona D-Backs in 2014 following an eight-year run with Cincinnati, he returned to the Reds organization in 2017 after taking a nearly three-year big league hiatus due to TJ surgery and elbow issues. He retired in September, was gifted with a guitar and rocking chair before his farewell and then played 40 minutes of Pearl Jam hits with his band postgame. 
• 2015 - The Pirates purchased the contract of RHP Arquimedes Caminero from the Miami Marlins. The hard-throwing righty got into 112 games for the Pirates in 2015-16, slashing 6-3-1 (his only big league save)/3.58 with 23 holds, but his 1.66 WHIP got him shipped to Seattle for a pair of minor leaguers during his second year. He finished out his MLB stay there, keeping on by tossing in the minors, Japanese, and the Dominican Leagues before retiring in 2022 and taking on a minor league pitching coach position with the Houston Astros. 

Arquimedes - 2015 Topps

• 2019 - The Pirates brought back LHP Frankie Liriano on a NRI deal worth $1.8M with an additional $1.5M available in incentives, with opt-out dates. Francisco had posted a 19-32/4.89 line since 2016, his final Bucco campaign, though he had developed as an effective LOOGY, limiting lefties to a .210 BA in 2017-18. He was signed to audition as a swingman who could relieve and fill in as an opener if the Bucs went that route in 2019, and made the team one more time, slashing 5-3/3.47 solely from the pen. He was released at the end of the year, took a Covid opt-out option in 2020, tried to comeback with the Phils in ‘21 unsuccessfully and then announced his retirement in 2022.