- 1866 - Utilityman Frank “Frenchy” Genins was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Frank’s biggest workload in a three-year big league career came with the 1895 Pirates. He played all the infield & outfield spots (in fact, he was the only other Bucco to play the OF that year other than the starting trio of Patsy Donovan, Jake Starzel and Mike Smith), hitting .250 in 73 games. Genins may not have dented very many major league lineups, but he played his way through much of the midwest in the minors from 1887-1909, with his latter years spent as a player/manager.
- 1881 - The American Association was founded. The initial members were the Brooklyn Atlantics (replaced by the Baltimore Orioles), Cincinnati Red Stockings, Louisville Cardinals, Philadelphia Athletics, Pittsburgh Alleghenys, and St. Louis Brown Stockings. The AA was considered a major league organization, though the Alleghenys bolted to the NL after the 1886 campaign and the league folded after the 1891 season. Denny McKnight, the Alleghenys owner, was elected its first president, with his term running from 1882-85.
- 1927 - Although the first All-Star Game wouldn’t be played until 1933, that didn’t stop papers from picking a squad of its own, usually combining leagues. The Brooklyn Eagle’s Hall of Fame baseball writer Thomas Holmes released his 1927 lineup which featured 3B Pie Traynor and OF Paul Waner on the first team. Lloyd Waner was named to the second team.
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| Preacher Hebert - photo via Out of the Ballpark Developments |
- 1942 - The Pirates selected LHP Wally “Preacher” Hebert and RHP Ed “Rube” Albosta in the Rule 5 draft. Preacher toiled for nine minor league seasons (he was picked from San Diego of the PCL) following three MLB years (1931-33) with the St. Louis Browns. He was strong here with a line of 10-11/2.98 in 184 innings for the 1943 club, but despite his numbers and a Pittsburgh contract offer, the 35-year-old retired in the off season. Albosta missed three years due to WWII, not taking the hill for the Bucs until 1946. Plucked from International League Montreal, Albosta went 0-6/6.13 in 17 outings (six starts and 11 relief calls), and that was the end of his MLB tour that started in 1941 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he went 0-2 in his two prior big league starts. He finished with two years in the PCL and two more in the Central League before retiring.
- 1952 - He never played in the Pirate organization, but he sure has some pull in the FO: agent Scott Boras was born in Sacramento. Boras reps Josh Bell, Cole Train, Pedro Alvarez and Bryan Reynolds among others. Fun fact: Boras played four years in the minors as an infielder and was a pretty good slap hitter and OBP guy, even earning a spot on the Florida State League All-Star team before hanging up the spikes due to injury and enrolling in law school.
- 1955 - Bobby Bragan was named the new Bucco field manager, signing a one-year deal to replace Fred Haney. The fiery Bragan didn’t last long, getting the ax in early August of 1957 after compiling a 102-155 record. His spot was taken by Danny Murtaugh, making the first of his four Pirates managerial stints. Bobby went on to manage the Cleveland Indians (1958) and Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1963-66), compiling an overall 443-478 record.
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| Gary Hargis - 1979 photo via SABR |
- 1956 - IF Gary Hargis was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was drafted out of high school (Cabrillo HS, California) in 1974 in the second round by the Bucs. His MLB resume is slim; as a September call up, he made it into one game for the 1979 Buccos as a pinch runner, earning a $250 World Series share for his effort. Hargis was injury-plagued on the farm, and he was moved to the OF in 1980 because his arm wasn't considered MLB caliber for short and they were priming him for a utility role. He got married in ‘81 and that was his last pro season.
- 1966 - OF/1B Orlando Merced was born in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. Merced played from 1990-96 for the Bucs with a .283 BA, coming in second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1991. After a solid 13-year MLB career (he played for seven teams w/.278 lifetime BA), he now operates the Orlando Merced Baseball Center.
- 1973 - Two-time All-Star Gene Alley, 32, announced his retirement. In 1966-67, he was at the top of his game both with the glove (he and Maz set the DP record in ‘66 w/215 twin killings) and with the bat (.293 BA during those two years), but an arm injury suffered in ‘68 followed by a bum knee brought him back to earth. He never hit above .250 afterward and was a bench player in his final year. His Bucco career spanned 1963-73 and he hit .254 over that time.
- 1978 - Willie Stargell was named the United Press’ “Comeback Player of the Year” after hitting .295/28 HR/97 RBI. He was coming off a 1977 campaign in which he only got into 63 games, going on the DL twice with a bum elbow, and ending his streak of 15 straight seasons with 20> homers. He ran away in the vote from pitchers Vida Blue (SF), Gaylord Perry (SD) and Jim Bouton (ATL).
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| Andy Hassler - 1980 Topps Update |
- 1979 - In MLB’s Free Agent Re-Entry Draft, the Bucs’ Bruce Kison was claimed by the Indians and Rennie Stennett by the Mets after the Pirates signed Grant Jackson to a new contract the day before to keep him out of the process. The Bucs claimed bidding rights on Dave Goltz of the Twins, John Curtis of San Francisco, Nolan Ryan of California, Milt May of the White Sox, Al Hrabosky of KC, Don Stanhouse of Baltimore and Rick Wise of Cleveland. The purpose of the draft was to lessen the financial impact of free agency for the bidders; FA’s could only sign with a team that selected them. The clubs could only select a limited number of players, and there was also a limit to the number of teams that could select a single player. But there was a loophole for the lesser-sought players and the champagne guys: unless selected by three or more teams, they were available to all. The draft lasted from 1976-80 when a new agreement that eliminated the re-entry procedure went into effect after the ‘81 strike. Thanks to the three-team rule, Kison signed with the Angels and Stennett with the Giants as both could negotiate league-wide. The Bucs inked none of their selections, although they did eventually land ex-Pirate May once again in a 1983 trade. Since they couldn’t sign any of the big name arms, they instead inked Andy Hassler to a six-year, $750 K contract. He lasted until June, when he was sold to the California Angels.
- 1988 - Andy Van Slyke joined some pretty good company in Ralph Kiner (1950), Dick Groat (1960), Roberto Clemente (1966) and Dave Parker (1978) as Bucs who won The Sporting News NL Player of the Year Award (Barry Bonds would take the award in 1990 and ‘91). The 28-year-old hit .288 w/25 homers, 101 runs, 100 RBI, and 30 stolen bases. Teammates Bobby Bonilla and Mike LaValliere, along with AVS, were named to the TSN All-Star team. And in a very good day for Bucco awardees, Jim Leyland and Dodger skipper Tommy LaSorda tied each other in first place votes for NL Manager of the Year (the first time TSN had a tie for that honor) in a race that was decided by a gnat’s eyelash by overall points in Jim's favor. Leyland and LaSorda earned four first-place votes each while the Mets Davey Johnson came in with three. Leyland was the third Pirates field general to win the award, along with Danny Murtaugh (1960, 1970) and Billy Meyer (1948).
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| Mark Redman - 2005 Topps |
- 2005 - LHP Mark Redman exercised his $4.95M player option for the 2006 season. Acquired as part of the Jason Kendall deal, he went 5-15/4.90 in 2005 for the Bucs. He didn’t make it to camp, though, as the Bucs swapped him to Kansas City for RHP Jonah Bayliss a month later.
- 2015 - The Pirates had eight free agents after the season: pitchers Antonio Bastardo, Joe Blanton, AJ Burnett, JA Happ & Joakim Soria, 1B Corey Hart, UT Sean Rodriguez, and 3B Aramis Ramirez. S-Rod was the only one of the gang that the team re-signed as AJ and A-Ram retired while the others found new homes as part of the winter marketplace. Bastardo had a homecoming when the Pirates traded to get him back at the 2016 deadline. Roriguez left the flock after ‘16, but not for long; the Pirates got him back on the roster later in the next campaign. Several other bubble guys were released soon afterward: RHP Radhames Liz, LHP Jeremy Bleich, OF John Bowker, C Wilkin Castillo, RHP Brad Lincoln, RHP Blake Wood and 1B/OF Andrew Lambo.
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