1/31 Through the 1960s: Dennis, Wiz of Whiff Signs; Pud, Big Poison HoF; Staff Swells; HBD Ted, Coral, Don, Jimmy, Stuffy, Jot, Al & Bob

• 1845 - IF Bob Ferguson was born in Brooklyn. In a 14-year career with eight teams, he closed out his playing days in 1884 with the Alleghenys, getting into 10 games and hitting .146. But he did leave a legacy; he was the first recognized switch hitter in baseball, and also had one of the all-time great nicknames, “Death to Flying Things” Ferguson. In orthodox baseball circles, he earned the title because of his ability to run pops and flares down, although a more prosaic theory holds that he got the name because of his skill at swatting flies in hotel lobbies. He later managed for a couple of years and then moved on to umpiring. 
• 1861 - Manager Al Buckenberger was born in Detroit. He managed the Pirates from 1892-94, coming in second place in 1893 and posting an overall 187-144 slate while also serving as club president. He then tried unsuccessfully to resurrect the old American Association, earning himself a brief league suspension during the 1894 off-season for his efforts. Buckenberger carved out a 25-year career as a manager at different levels, taking the helm for four big league clubs while winning four minor league championships. 
• 1870 - RHP Joshua “Jot” Goar was born in New Lisbon, Indiana. The Terre Haute ace of the Western League was purchased by the Pirates in 1896 for $3,200. He got into three games and was hit hard (0-1/16.88), although per John Decker of Pirates Prospects, one game was an intentional throwaway, trying to waste time in hopes of a rainout. Nevertheless, Jot was sold to Grand Rapids in mid-season. He had another dominating year for Indianapolis in 1897, was purchased by the Reds, got bombed in a mop-up role (ironically against Pittsburgh), claimed a sore arm and on that note ended his MLB career. He finished his playing days in the Western League and semi-pro ball, retiring in 1906 after a freak hunting accident - he shot himself in the arm! 
• 1894 - 2B John “Stuffy” Stewart was born in Jasper, Florida. Stuffy was a stud hitting (five .300+ minor league years) and superb base stealer in the minors (he led the Southern Association in swipes five times), but couldn’t buy a base in the show. He played in parts of eight MLB seasons but only got more than 17 at-bats twice in that time, entering 64 of his 176 big league games as a pinch runner. He got into three games for the Pirates in a 1922 trial, going 2-for-13. He was an early version of a AAAA player, lasting for 17 pro seasons and managing a little after that with a year off as an artilleryman during WW1. 

Jimmy Zinn - 1920 photo via Out Of the Ballpark development (tnfoto)

• 1895 - RHP Jimmy Zinn was born in Benton, Arkansas. A Texas League star, the Pirates purchased him from Wichita of the Western League in 1920, and he worked from then through 1922 in Pittsburgh, slashing 8-7-4/3.54. He also tossed briefly for Philadelphia and Cleveland. Though his MLB career just lasted for just five years and 49 games, he was a baseball lifer as a pro player, suiting up from 1915-39. Jimmy also was an outfielder in the minors and had a streak of seven .300+ seasons with 13-.300 campaigns in all to go with his 288 farm wins. He closed out his book by managing five seasons. 
• 1899 - LHP Don Songer was born in Walnut, Kansas. He tossed three of his four MLB years with the Bucs between 1925-27, going 7-9-3/3.55. Songer was part of two World Series teams, but never got to participate, as he wasn’t included on the playoff roster in his rookie year of 1925 and then was traded to the Giants before the 1927 regular season ended. 
• 1919 - P Ken “Coral” Gables was born in Walnut Grove, Missouri. He pitched for the 1945-47 Pirates, spending his entire MLB career as a Bucco. Gables had a 13-11/4.69 slate before being traded to the San Francisco Seals and spent the last seven seasons of his career in the PCL. We can’t confirm it, but we’d guess his nickname is a nod to the Florida town. 
• 1941 - A Pittsburgh era ended when Paul “Big Poison” Waner, 37, who was released by the Pirates in December, signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers after a 15-year run in the Steel City. He spent his final five campaigns with Brooklyn, the Boston Braves and New York Yankees, hitting .276 over that wartime span. Paul retired after the 1945 season and was a hitting coach for several clubs although he preferred to hunt, fish and golf. He made it into the Hall of Fame in 1952 and the Pirates retired #11, his number, on July 21st, 2007, exactly 55 years to the day of Waner's induction into the Hall. 

Paul Pettit - 1951 photo/Wide World Photo

• 1950 - The Pirates signed high school phenom LHP Paul Pettit (“The Wizard of Whiff” pitched six prep no-hitters) for a record $100‚000 after buying his rights from film producer Fred Stephani, who had signed him to an exclusive contract as an athlete/actor. The lefty went 1-2/7.43 for the Pirates (1951, 1953) but after eight minor league seasons, he retired in 1961 with arm problems that had first surfaced a decade earlier and forced him to become an OF/1B (he actually turned into a good hitter and replaced Dick Stuart at 1B for Hollywood of the PCL). Pettit did get a couple of bit parts in movies, but his show biz plans never panned out and he became a high school coach. 
• 1952 - RF Paul “Big Poison” Waner was elected to the Hall of Fame and inducted on July 21st. In a 20 year career, he led the National League in hitting three times and put up a slash of .330/.404/.473. His 2,868 hits as a Pirate are third on the team, behind Roberto Clemente (3,000) and Honus Wagner (2,970). 15 years later, he and younger sib Lloyd became the second brother combo enshrined in the Hall, following Harry and George Wright. 
• 1955 - RHP Ted Power was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Ted tossed for 13 MLB campaigns, stopping in Pittsburgh as a 35-year-old in 1990 and posted a line of 1-3-7/3.66 in 40 games. He famously was used as a Jim Leyland ploy in the 1990 NLCS; although he hadn’t started a game all year, he was called on to open against the Reds. His purpose was to turn around the lineup for lefty Zane Smith, who took over in the third frame. The scheme was effective but fruitless as the Bucs lost, 2-1. His career ended in 1994 after labrum surgery. He became the Reds’ bullpen coach in 2016 after a long run as Cincy’s AAA pitching coach with Louisville; that stint lasted through 2018. 
• 1963 - The Press’ opening line was “The Pirates will lead the major leagues in one department this season - number of coaches in uniform." Danny Murtaugh added Gene Baker and Virgil Trucks to his staff, bringing the number of Bucco aides up to seven. His other helpers were base coaches Frank Oceak & Ron Northey, pitching coach Don Osborn, Sam Narron and Len Levy. 

Danny Murtaugh - 1963 Topps

• 1965 - RHP Pud “Gentle Jeems” Galvin was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee as the lone selection. Galvin was MLB’s first 300 game winner while tossing 6,003 innings and 646 complete games, both marks behind only Cy Young. Gentleman James earned 20 victories or more 10 times in 15 seasons and won 365 times in his career. He tossed for both the Alleghenys and Pirates from 1885-1892, winning 138 games and notching four 20+ win years for Pittsburgh. He was inducted into the Hall on July 26th. 
• 1967 - RHP Dennis Ribant, who the Pirates had just gotten from the Mets in the off-season for Don Cardwell, signed his contract for $20,000. The Pirates had high hopes for the 25-year-old after he went 11-9/3.20, for NY, and Ribant said at the signing that “I hope I can win 15 games” in the coming season. He fell short, winning nine times with a 4.08 ERA and was sent to Detroit for Dave Wickersham after the year. Ribant was switched to full-time reliever there, but lasted just two more seasons in the show, spending the last four years of his career in AAA.

1/31 From 1970: Zamora-Smoker; Jackie-Ryan; JT, Jeff, Danny; Barry, John, Wally Sign; Al, Jake, Joe HoF; Joe Jabs; Steve On TV; 2-To-11; HBD Guillermo

• 1971 - The Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee selected two Bucs from the early days to the Hall, 1B Jake Beckley and OF Joe Kelley. Beckley played for the Alleghenys, Burghers and Pirates from 1888-96, hitting .300. He banged a modest 43 HR, but legged out 113 triples in that span. Kelley got a cup of coffee with Pittsburgh in 1892, hitting just .239. The Pirates dumped him, and he went on to have a dozen consecutive .300+ seasons beginning the following year, playing mostly for the Baltimore Orioles. They were inducted on August 9th. 
• 1974 - The Pirates traded SS Jackie Hernandez to the Phils for C Mike Ryan. Hernandez was released by Philadelphia in April and was re-signed by the Bucs, spending a year in the minors before closing out his career in the Mexican League. Ryan was little used, going 3-for-30 in Pittsburgh, then spending two seasons on the farm before tossing the mask for the last time. Mike (not to be mistaken for the Altoona manager of the same name, who was an OF’er) managed a little for the Bucs and then went on to a two-decade coaching run with Philadelphia. 
• 1977 - The Special Veterans Committee selected C Al Lopez for the Hall of Fame. Lopez caught for Pittsburgh from 1940-46, hitting a modest .254. But he was best known for his glove and ability to handle a staff, going on to manage the Indians and White Sox when his playing days ended. He was inducted on August 9th. 
• 1984 - Third base coach Joe Lonnett, a New Brighton native, sat down with several members of the Beaver County Times to give his view of the current Bucco squad. Joe didn’t take prisoners in the two-day weekend story, rapping several players and some FO decisions, saying that he was just evaluating the guys as ballplayers, not personally. GM Harding Peterson told the Pittsburgh media that Lonnett wasn’t in any hot water - “He has a right to his opinion, even if I disagree with just about everything he said...,” preventing the story from creating a firestorm. The tempest in a teapot concluded quietly when Lonnett later issued an apology. 

Joe Lonnett - photo via Autograph Warehouse

• 1986 - The Pirates announced a couple of changes in their KDKA-TV coverage: John Sanders remained as the play-by-play man while Alan Cutler took over the analyst job and Steve Blass, who was also on the radio side with Lanny Frattare and Jim Rooker, was added as a part-time color commentator. 
• 1990 - The Pirates signed 30-year-old IF Wally Backman to a $600K free agent deal (they also had to compensate the Twins, his former club, with a #78 third-round draft pick) to help ease Jeff King’s load at third base. He filled the bill, starting 68 times at the hot corner and hitting .292 during the campaign in his last solid MLB season; he even started with a bang when he collected six hits during a nine-inning game in late April. Wally went to Philadelphia in the off-season and hit .243, finishing out his playing career after the 1993 campaign and beginning a stormy second life as manager. 
• 1991 - LHP John Smiley agreed to a $1.05M deal with the Bucs, getting a bump from his 1990 $840K salary. He had a rough ‘90 campaign, with shoulder surgery in the off season, followed by a broken finger in May, leading to a 9-10/4.64 slash line. But he recovered from his battle scars and roared back to make the ‘91 campaign the best of his career, going 20-8/3.08. 
• 1991 - OF Guillermo Heredia was born in Matanzas, Cuba. Guillermo jump-started his MLB career the hard way; he defected from Cuba in 2015. The Pirates signed the FA to a major league contract early in 2020, presumably to serve as a depth outfielder, as he did for Seattle and Tampa Bay. In parts of four seasons, he scored high marks as a defensive corner outfielder while batting .240 with an 82 OPS+. Seldom used in Pittsburgh, he hit .188 and was released, to be claimed by the Mets. He took his game to Korea. 

Guillermo Heredia - 2020 photo/Pirates

• 1992 - The Pirates signed OF Barry Bonds to a one-year contract worth $4.7M, the largest one-year deal in baseball history at the time. Bonds won his second MVP trophy and the Bucs won their division, so it was top shelf money spent on top shelf talent. His next contract was with the San Francisco Giants, and it was another record-breaker at seven years/$43M. 
• 1995 - The Bucs ended their 40-year affiliation with KDKA Channel 2 and switched to WPXI Channel 11. The drivers behind the flip were thought to be that KD switched networks to CBS, causing preemption issues on the weekend, and to boot, was losing money airing the Buccos on the TV side. The deal didn’t affect their long-time radio agreement, though. WPXI agreed to broadcast 16 weekend games, so long as they didn’t involve replacement players, and the main TV distributor, cable station KBL, held the rights for another 75 contests. 
• 1996 - With camp around the corner, 40-year-old RHP Danny Darwin agreed to ink a minor-league deal worth $550K (MLB rate) with the Pirates rather than retire after suffering through a horrendous 3-10/7.45 season w/Texas and Toronto in ‘95. Lo and behold, he was 7-9 with the Bucs but posted a sterling 3.02 ERA and was sent to the Astros before the deadline. He then tossed two more campaigns before hangin’ ‘em up after the 1998 season as a 42-year-old. 
• 2003 - Free agent RHP Jeff Suppan was signed to a $500K deal. After a solid summer (10-7/3.57), he was flipped to the Red Sox at the deadline as part of the Freddy Sanchez/Mike Gonzalez deal, so Jeff ended up as one of the Pirates better rental signings. Steady Freddy was a Pirate All-Star while Gonzo eventually became the closer. “Sup” went on to toss for eight more seasons, capping a 17-year MLB career in 2012 at age 37. He’s a Kansas City Royals minor-league pitching coach now. The Pirates also inked RHP Pat Mahomes (the pappy, not the QB) to a minor-league contract. He was called up twice from AAA Nashville during the season, got into nine games (one start) and slashed 0-1/4.88 in his final MLB gig. Pat continued tossing in the minors and indie leagues through 2009. 

Josh Smoker - camp 2018 photo/Pirates

• 2018 - The Pirates sent minor league lefty Daniel Zamora, a late-round 2015 draft pick, to the New York Mets for LHP Josh Smoker. Zamora went 1-1/4.08 for NY in 2018-19 while averaging 12K per nine innings, albeit while spending most of his time in AAA. He was DFA’ed in 2021 after sitting out ‘20, then went to Seattle, Mexico and the Dodgers before signing up with the Pirates in '23; he was released at the end of the year. Smoker was waived by Pittsburgh and then Detroit after giving up seven runs in 5-2/3 IP while striking out two, walking five and giving up a pair of homers. He closed out 2019 pitching in the indie leagues for York and that was his last pro port of call. 
• 2020 - Pittsburgh signed utilityman JT Riddle, 28, to a one-year, $850K MLB contract. He played for parts of three seasons (2017-19) for the Marlins, with a slash of .229/.269/.368, mainly as a shortstop but with some time in center field, too. He came to Pittsburgh with no remaining options, so it was a sink-or-swim deal. He tread water through the season, but hit just .149 and was DFA’ed in October, later signing a minor league deal with the Twins. He opted for free agency after getting six at-bats and being DFA’ed/outrighted by Minnesota after the ‘21 campaign. JT worked in the Reds system in 2022 and is still looking for a landing spot for this campaign.

1/30: Tiger, Kitten & Smoky For Frank; Fritz Purchase; Eric, Paul, Pokey, Cricket, Danny Signed; Billy Meyers DD MoY; Lights On!; '60 Honor; Not For Sale; Joe Block Hired; HBD Hipolito, Matt the Scat; Demon & Charlie

• 1872 - RHP Charlie Heard was born in Philadelphia. His big league time consisted of 12 games for the 1890 Alleghenys. Charlie had a rough go in his six starts - he went 0-6/8.39 (add in unearned runs and he gave up 65 tallies in 44 frames - over 13 runs per nine innings - and put on 109 runners via hits/walks), although he did go the distance for five of the outings. Charlie also got six games in the outfield, not doing much better with a .186 BA and committed four errors in 10 chances. In his defense, he was just 18-years-old during the campaign, and the team around him was the baseball version of the Keystone Kops, losing 113 games after mass defections to the Players League Pittsburgh Burghers. 
• 1888 - OF Vin “Demon” Campbell was born in St Louis. Vin joined the Bucs in 1910; he had been a two-sport star at Vanderbilt and was dubbed “Demon” for the way he smashed into football opponents (he was named All-Southern Conference with a guy named John Heisman, for whom the college Heisman Trophy is named). Campbell hit .326 in 1910 and looked like a future star in the making. He then stunned the Bucs by retiring to join a brokerage firm. Vin rejoined the team in July - his sweetie and future wife was a Pittsburgh girl - and batted .312. Demon held out for a bigger contract and the Pirates traded him to the Braves for Mike “Turkey” Donlin. Vin played ball for three more seasons, then joined the in-laws to run a chain of tire stores in Pittsburgh and New York City. 
• 1936 - The Pirates purchased OF Fred “Fritz” Schulte’s contract from Washington for $7,500. The nine-year vet was acquired as a pinch hitter/spare outfielder, and filled that role for 74 games in ‘36, batting .261. The following year, the 36-year-old hit a wall and was released at the end of the season after hitting .100 in just 25 plate appearances with more walks than knocks to finish his MLB days. He went on to a long career managing/coaching on the farm and scouting. 

Fritz Schulte - Post Gazette story 1//31/1936

• 1940 - Club President Bill Benswanger announced that the Pirates would become the sixth NL team to install lights, putting up eight towers in Forbes Field designed by Westinghouse, fabricated by American Bridge and erected by Morganstern Electric for $125,000. The standards weighed 160 tons to support 864 floodlights which used 1.5M watts, and was claimed to provide enough light to illuminate the homes in a city of 25,000. The Pirates expected the lights to be up by June and in anticipation had seven night games backdated into their 1940 home schedule, one against each league rival. Construction ran smoothly and the first night game was played on June 4th with the Bucs thumping the Boston Bees, 14-2. 
• 1947 - Pinch-runner Matt “The Scat” Alexander was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He spent the last four years of his career (1978-81) with the Pirates, and though he only got 27 at-bats during that time, he stole 30 bases out of 37 tries and scored 36 runs. During his nine-year MLB career, he pinch-ran 271 times in the 374 games he appeared in, which explains how he scored 111 runs and swiped 103 bases during that time while banging out just 36 hits. 
• 1949 - Pirates skipper Billy Meyers was wined and dined as the Dapper Dan Sports Figure of the Year after leading the Buccos into the first division (83-71, good for fourth place) in 1948. He got more than a plaque; the middle of the Pirates infield, 2B Danny Murtaugh and SS Stan Rojek, both ended brief holdouts that afternoon. The Whistlin’ Irishman was bumped up to $12K while the Happy Rabbit pulled in an estimated $14-15K in their new agreements. Their bats were dependable in ‘48; each man put up .290 BA while Danny strung together a 23-game hitting streak. The glovework was solid, too, as the infield finished third in the National League in turning DPs with Murtaugh and Rojek each involved in 90+ twin killings. The day before saw 3B Pete Castiglione agree to his contract (salary undisclosed) and RHP Murry Dickson added in a cash deal from the Cards, so Billy got his 1949 infield and a workhorse starter handed to him, too. 
• 1959 - 3B Don Hoak, LHP Harvey Haddix and C Smoky Burgess went from the Reds to the Pirates in exchange for 3B Frank Thomas, OF Jim Pendleton, OF John Powers and RHP Whammy Douglas, providing three major pieces of the 1960 championship club. Slugger Thomas, the key figure in the deal, was the last to know - he was touring military bases in Germany when the deal was made, and the press had to get trade reaction quotes from his wife Dolores. The deal had been simmering since the December league meetings, evolving from the rumored opening offer by the Pirates of Thomas and RHP Curt Raydon for Hoak, Haddix, Burgess and RHP Tom Acker. 

Team of the Year - Post-Gazette/AP article 1/31/1961

• 1961 - The Pittsburgh Pirates were the runaway winners of the Associated Press 1960 “Team of the Year” vote after their see-saw seven-game victory over the New York Yankees in the World Series. Left in the dust were the NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles and the US Hockey Team, the Olympic Gold Medalists at Squaw Valley after victories over Russia and Canada. 
• 1964 - LHP Hipolito Pena was born in Fantino, Dominican Republic. He tossed the first two of his three MLB campaigns with the Pirates in 1986-87, going 0-6-2/5.56 in 26 outings while spending most of ‘86 in AA Nashua and the following season in AAA Vancouver. He finished his big league career with the Yankees in 1988 after being swapped for Orestes Destrade. Pena remained in the NYY system through 1991, then played for the Tigers and Mets AAA clubs in 1992 before closing it down with two years of indie ball. 
• 2002 - The Pirates signed FA 2B Pokey Reese to a two year/$4.25M contract with a 2004 club option. Pittsburgh was the fourth team for Reese since the end of the 2001 season. He finished the year with Cincinnati, and then was traded to the Colorado Rockies and the Boston Red Sox in a span of three days in December. Boston didn’t offer him a deal, making him a free agent. Pokey stuck with the Bucs for both seasons, although he lost all but 37 games to injury in 2003. His nickname dates back to his infancy. Reese was a chubby baby and also had a hernia (it wasn’t repaired until he was six) that caused his navel to poke out, so his grandma called young Calvin "Pokey." 
• 2009 - The Pirates avoided arbitration by signing former first round pick LHP Paul Maholm to a three-year/$14.5M contract that included a team option for 2012. He was released after the 2011 season, playing for three different teams afterwards. The lefty reinvented himself in 2014, switching to a bullpen role, but a late-year torn ACL (and 4.84 ERA) made that his last MLB campaign. 

Paul Maholm - 2009 O-Pee-Chee

• 2009 - Free agent OF/UT Eric Hinske inked a one-year/$1.5M contract with Pittsburgh. Hinske hit .255 with one HR for the Bucs before being shipped to the NY Yankees before the deadline. That kept his streak alive of being a member of a playoff team for four straight years (2007-2010, for four different clubs). He retired after the 2013 season, having played 12 years for seven teams. 
• 2010 - Another deal that fell through… Dejan Kovacevic of the Post Gazette broke a front-page story that claimed Penguin owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Buerkle had made an offer to buy the Pirates from Bob Nutting after the 2009 season. The hockey duo had turned around the fortunes of the Pens and Buerkle in particular had the deep pockets that the small-revenue Bucs lacked, but the team stated that there was no “concrete” offer, it was not for sale and that Nutting was committed to bringing a championship to Pittsburgh. The rumor mill added that sports attorney Chuck Greenberg had made an earlier bid and was told the same thing before teaming up with Nolan Ryan to buy the Texas Rangers. 
• 2016 - Joe Block was hired as a Root Sports play-by-play announcer to replace Tim Neverett, who left to work in the Boston booth. Block spent the prior four years with the Milwaukee Brewers and the 2011 season hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers radio post-game show on KABC. Joe also called nine seasons of minor league baseball, rising up through the ranks by working for five different teams.

1/29: Matty-Vic; Swift-Phillips; Dickson Deal; Mesa, Clark, Veale, Friend Sign; Branch, Lloyd, Max, Hans HoF; Roberto Honors; Lil' Poison; Rookie Watch; Howie Goes; Jumper; RIP Lee; HBD Jason, Frank & Denny

• 1848 - Harmar Denny McKnight, son of local politico Robert McKnight, was born on Western Avenue in Allegheny City. He founded the Allegheny Baseball Club of Pittsburgh on October 15th, 1881, making him the father of the Pirates. McKnight managed the club during the 1884 season and was also the first president of the American Association. The Alleghenys bolted to the NL in 1887 following a flap over signing Sam Barkley, after which McKnight sold the club to William Nimick. 
• 1882 - OF Frank Delahanty was born in Cleveland to a baseball family - his brothers, Ed, Jim, Joe and Tom all played in the show. After a four-year run in MLB as a bench player, Frank jumped to the Federal League in 1914, starting briefly with Buffalo and closing out his big league time with the Pittsburgh Rebels in 1914-15, batting .239. He went on to a life of turmoil after baseball, becoming a politician who retired after a bribery scandal and then turned to bootlegging. He saw the light at age 50, found a legit job and became a regular fan of his hometown nine, the Indians, before passing away after a serious fall at the age of 82. 
• 1914 - C Mike Simon jumped from the Pirates to the St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League. He was a light-hitting (.244 BA) backup catcher for five years during the Bucs’ Mooney Gibson era behind the dish and joined the “grass is greener” exodus to the upstart league in search of PT. He spent two seasons in the FL, moving to the Brooklyn Tip-Tops in 1915, and hit just .196 over that three-year span to end his major league career. 
• 1928 - The Pittsburgh Press’ sports page lede was “Lloyd Waner: Can He Continue Dazzling Pace?” A couple of column inches beneath the banner, the article pondered “Fans Wonder if Youth Will Lose Luster After Year of Brilliance” following a rookie campaign that saw Little Poison finish third in batting with a .354 BA and lead the league in runs, plating 133 times. They needn’t have fretted during the winter - Lloyd patrolled center field for 17 seasons in Pittsburgh with a .319 BA while laying the groundwork for his later entry into the Hall of Fame. 

Little Poison - Helmar Big League Brew

• 1932 - RHP Billy Swift was traded by the Kansas City Blues of the American Association to the Pirates for RHP Bob Osborn and C Eddie Phillips. It was a good deal: Osborne never pitched in the majors again and Phillips played for three more seasons while Swift worked eight years for the Bucs, posting 91 wins. Swift was a pitch-to-contact guy; he didn’t walk many hitters (1.9/9 innings), struck out almost no one (3.4/9 innings) and still posted a 3.57 ERA in Pittsburgh. 
• 1936 - Honus Wagner, along with Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson, was selected by the BBWAA to become the first Hall of Fame class. They had to wait until July 12th, 1939, for the enshrinement, though, until the museum in Cooperstown was opened and first four inductee classes were installed en masse in a glittering intro to the HoF. 
• 1939 - Before the Pirates headed for camp, UPI published an article on six rookies to watch. Three ended up pretty good ballplayers - Bob Elliott was a six-time All Star, Frankie Gustine played in the Midsummer Classic three times and Ken Heintzelman pitched for 13 years in the show. Alas, the other three players - Fern Bell, Mel Preibisch and Jack Juelich - managed parts of just five major league seasons among them, none lasting past 1940.
• 1949 - The Pirates purchased RHP Murry “Dick” Dickson from the Cardinals for $125,000. During his five-year stay in Pittsburgh, he went 66-85 with a 3.83 ERA and had a 20-win season in 1951 while the Pirates won only 64 games that year. In fact, during his Pittsburgh years, he accounted for nearly 25% of the Pirates wins (66-of-274) before being traded to the Phillies. Known as a soft thrower with a variety of pitches and a rubber arm, he worked more than 200 innings in 10 straight seasons, beginning when he turned 31 in 1947. 
• 1959 - RHP Bob Friend signed a contract for $30,000, making him the highest paid Pirates pitcher to date, surpassing Rip Sewell’s $21,500 salary during the 1940s. Friend certainly earned the deal, sparkling in 1958 with a 22-14/3.68 slash, his second All-Star bid and a third place finish in the Cy Young balloting. 

Bob Friend - 1959 TSN All Star

• 1961 - OF Max Carey was voted into the Hall of Fame by the veterans committee and inducted on July 24th. In 17 seasons with Pittsburgh, he collected 2,400+ hits, batted .287 and stole 688 bases. Carey joined the Bucs with the intention of becoming Pittsburgh’s everyday shortstop, but thanks to Honus Wagner, Max spent the entirety of his long Pirate career as an outfielder.
• 1963 - RHP Lee Meadows passed away in Daytona Beach, Florida, of heart disease at the age of 68. “Specs” (he was one of the first ball players to wear glasses in MLB) spent the last seven campaigns of his 15-year career as a Pirate, slashing 88-52-1/3.50 after 157 starts (183 outings) with 58 wins from 1925-27 (19-20-19) and tossing for two Bucco World Series clubs. A bad arm and other injuries bit him beginning in 1928, and he retired in 1932 after serving time in the minors, did a little coaching and then settled into the life of an IRS clerk. 
• 1966 - The Bucs had a busy weekend. First they signed LHP Bob Veale, who was coming off a 16-12/3.08, 229 strikeouts All-Star campaign, for an undisclosed amount. Then they drafted OF Del Unser and RHP Frank Brosseau in the January draft of previously selected but unsigned players. Unser deferred and went to Washington in the first round of the June draft, launching a 15-year career, while Brosseau shook hands and pitched for Pittsburgh, albeit for just three games, his entire MLB workload. The Pirates also picked a couple of guys well outside the box, former Pitt quarterback Fred Mazurek and Duquesne basketball guard Willie Somerset. In his senior season as a Panther, CF Mazurek batted .465 to finish second in the NCAA batting race and he made All-American. Fred gave the proposal some consideration, but decided to stay with the Washington Redskins and continue with law school (he graduated with a JD from Catholic U). Willie had no baseball background and was drafted thanks to the “good athlete” theory. He stuck with hoops and went from the NBA to the ABA to the EBA before retiring from hoops to the life of a pharmacist. 
• 1967 - GM Branch Rickey and OF Lloyd Waner were elected to the Hall of Fame by a unanimous vote of the Special Veterans Committee and were inducted on July 24th. Rickey was GM from 1950-55; his teams were terrible but he began the process of building a farm system that paid off in 1960. “Little Poison” spent 17 years with the Pirates, mainly in CF, and hit .319 during that time. 

Roberto Clemente - 1967 Topps

• 1967 - Roberto Clemente was the Dapper Dan Man of the Year and was presented his award in front of a sellout crowd at the Hilton Hotel. He hit .319 with 29 HR, 119 RBI and 105 runs scored in 1966. Gene Alley was also recognized at the ceremony for his strong play. 
• 1971 - The Pirates traded OF Matty Alou and LHP George Brunet to the St. Louis Cardinals for OF Vic Davalillo and RHP Nellie Briles. Davalillo spent 2-1/2 years in Pittsburgh as a role player, hitting .290 while Briles spent three full seasons as a Bucco, winning 36 games with a 2.98 ERA, highlighted by a two-hit shutout win over the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. At 33, Alou had three campaigns left in him and hit .294 over that time while Brunet, 36, would make seven appearances for the Cards to close out his 15-year MLB dance card. But he had a second act ready that he played to perfection, pitching in Mexico until he was 54 (where he was called "El Viejo" or "The Old Man"). Brunet tossed a no-hitter, set a league record by authoring 55 shutouts and was selected into the Mexican Hall of Fame to cap a 36-year career in pro ball. 
• 1971 - Roberto Clemente was in Houston to accept the Tris Speaker Award from the local BBWAA chapter. He told the writers and 800 fans gathered at Astroworld that "If you have an opportunity to accomplish something that will make things better for someone coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth," which became perhaps his most widely cited quote. 
• 1973 - RHP Jason Schmidt was born in Lewiston, Idaho. He was drafted by Atlanta and came to the Pirates in 1996 as part of the Denny Neagle deal. In 5-1/2 seasons with Pittsburgh, he went 44-47/4.39 before being traded to San Francisco, where he had three All-Star campaigns. After six years on the Bay, he signed a three-year/$47M deal with the Dodgers in 2007, but it was his last contract - a bad shoulder limited him to just 10 starts in those three seasons and ended his career. 

Jason Schmidt - 1997 Upper Deck

• 1988 - Super scout Howie Haak, 76, left the Pirates by agreeing to a buyout of his final contract year. The “King of the Caribbean” (who in truth scouted widely for Pittsburgh, not just among Latino prospects), had worked for the Bucs since 1950. Among Howie’s signees were Tony Pena, Manny Sanguillen, Rennie Stennett, Dick Stuart, Bob Veale, John Candelaria, Omar Moreno, Al McBean, Ramon Hernandez and Orlando Merced along with many others. The reason for his departure wasn’t his age, but like many Pirates in the front office, he had a hard time coexisting with then-GM Syd Thrift and moved on to the Houston Astros before retiring to his rocking chair in 1993. 
• 1992 - OF Dave Clark joined the Bucs as a free agent after being released by Kansas City in the off season, agreeing to a minor league contract. Clark was called up from AAA Buffalo in June and stayed on the big team’s roster until the 1996 deadline when he was traded to the Dodgers. He hit .278 with a 111 OPS+ over that five-year span as a corner OF’er and bench stick. 
• 2004 - The Bucs inked 15-year vet RHP Jose Mesa, 37, to a one-year contract with an option (he would earn $2.8M in two seasons, per Baseball Reference) after a dismal season in Philly. The vet rediscovered his mojo and went 5-2-43/3.25 in 70 appearances during the 2004 campaign, falling three saves shy of Mike Williams' club record. He faded badly in 2005 (2-8-23/4.76) and was released after the season, catching on with Colorado. He had expressed a desire to close (he wanted to reach 300 career saves and his Pittsburgh stint put him over the top; he finished his career with 321 saves), and the ninth inning slot was wide open for him - Mike Williams had been traded at the 2003 deadline and heir-apparent Julian Tavarez signed with the Cardinals earlier in the month after failing to reach a contract agreement with the Buccos. Mesa hung on until he was 41, toeing the rubber for the last time in 2007 with the Phils. 
• 2004 - Pirates prospect RHP Ian Snell, who went by the name Ian Oquendo (his wife’s surname) since 2000, returned to his original name per press wire reports. He would reshuffle that again in 2009 when he decided to go by Ian Davilo-Snell (Davilo was his stepfather) during the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Ian brought an entirely new meaning to the phrase “player to be named later.”

1/28: Jeff, Julian, Baron Signed; Highpockets, Kiki, Deacon HoF; DD Parker; RIP Chet; HBD Key, Lyle, Chris, Comet, Alf, Bob, Spittin' Bill & Emil

• 1900 - LHP Emil Yde was born in Great Lakes, Illinois. As a rookie in 1924, Yde led the NL in shutouts with four, in winning percentage (.842) with a record of 16–3 and he was a member of the Pirates 1925 World Series championship team, going 17-9 during the season. His career was brief; he pitched four years for the Pirates with a 44-22/3.84 line before the bottom fell out in 1927 (1-3/9.71). He spent 1928 in the minors and was out of MLB after a stint with the Tigers in 1929. Emil tossed in the minors briefly and in 1933 retired to Florida, where he and his family lived, and became a successful realtor. 
• 1908 - RHP “Spittin’ Bill” (guess what his bread and butter pitch was) Doak was born in Pittsburgh. He never pitched for the hometown nine, which was their bad - in 1919, he pitched the Cards to victory over the Pirates at Forbes Field on “Doak Day” before hometown family and friends. The Bucs and MLB can thank Bill for an innovation still in use, the first modern glove. He proposed to Rawlings that a web should be placed between the first finger and thumb to create a natural pocket, and his model was introduced when he pitched against the Pirates in 1920. The Bill Doak glove soon replaced all other mitts and is still considered a classic design. Spittin’ Bill also was key in lobbying MLB to grandfather old spitballers when the leagues decided to ban the wet one. After he retired, he became an amateur coach for HS/Legion ball and a golf pro. 
• 1914 - SS Alf Anderson was born in Gainesville, Georgia, where he was an all-state HS baseball player and a two-sport (baseball/football) athlete for the Georgia Bulldogs. He saw some action in 1941-42 for the Bucs, but lost the next three years to wartime service. He returned for a cup of coffee in 1946, but that was it; he retired after the season. Alf hit .238 as a Bucco. After baseball, Anderson worked for Jefferson Mills HS in Georgia as athletic director/baseball coach and was inducted in the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. 

Bob Muncrief - 1948 Post Gazette photo

• 1918 - RHP Bob Muncrief was born in Madill, Oklahoma. He tossed 288 games in the bigs over 12 years, mostly as a St. Louis Brown, with 13 of them tossed for the Pirates during the early part of the 1949 campaign. He went 1-5-2/6.31, and was waived in June to the Cubs. Bob finished the year with them and ended his MLB stint with two appearances in 1951 with the NY Giants. 
• 1927 - OF Carlos “Comet” (the speedster led his MiLB league in stolen bases three times) Bernier was born in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico. He only played one MLB season, hitting .213 for the Pirates in 1953, but he was a minor league dynamo. Carlos played for 16 MiLB seasons, appearing in 2,200 games (mostly in AAA and the PCL, then independent), batting .298 with 2,291 hits and 200 home runs in the bushes with a great eye, whiffing and walking at the same pace. Carlos is de facto the first Pirates black player, beating Curt Roberts to the show by a season. Oddly, he’s not recognized as such by Major League Baseball, likely because he was Puerto Rican rather than American. His tale has a tragic ending: In 1989, at age 62 and homeless, Bernier committed suicide. 
• 1960 - Elroy Face became the Pirates highest paid player when he signed a contract thought to approach $40,000 after an 18-1-10/2.80 All-Star campaign that saw him win 22 straight games. He was worth the geld; he worked 114 IP in 1960 with a 10-8-24/2.90 slash, was an All-Star selection and saved three games in the World Series. As an added bonus, he was a week away from being honored as the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year at the group’s annual ceremony. 
• 1962 - Local boy Bill “Deacon” (he was a quiet soul who even sang in his church choir) McKechnie was selected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. He was inducted on July 22nd. The Wilkinsburg native played for and managed the Pirates, winning the 1925 World Series. McKechnie was the first manager to win World Series titles with two different teams (1925 Pirates and the 1940 Cincinnati Reds; he’s one of 15 to pull off that feat), and is one of only two managers (Dick Williams is the other) to win pennants with three teams, also capturing the NL title in 1928 with the St. Louis Cardinals. 

Bill McKechnie - 1912 Conlon Collection/Detroit Public Library

• 1968 - OF Kiki Cuyler was elected into the Hall of Fame by a unanimous vote of the Special Veterans Committee and was inducted on July 22nd. Kiki spent his first seven MLB seasons (1921-27) in Pittsburgh, hitting .336. Cuyler was traded for a couple of journeymen by the Bucs when he bumped heads with management over a new contract and feuded with manager Donie Bush over batting position and hustle, or lack thereof. Kiki went on to play 11 more post-Pirates years, batting .315 with a 121 OPS+ and playing in two more World Series. 
• 1972 - LHP Chris Peters was born in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He graduated from Peters Township HS in McMurray, was drafted by the Pirates in 1993 and toiled five years (1996-2000) for the Bucs, going 17-21/4.57 as a long man/spot starter. His career was short circuited by shoulder surgery in 1999, and 2001 was his last season in MLB, with the Expos. Chris still lives and works in the area, coached at Point Park for a spell and has tossed BP for the Bucs at PNC. 
• 1973 - The Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee selected 1B George Kelly to the Hall of Fame. Highpockets had a very brief stint in Pittsburgh - as a young player in 1917, the NY Giants waived him because of a weak stick. The Bucs picked him up to back up Honus Wagner, who by that time was playing first, but in eight games, Kelly went 2-for-24 and was released; the Giants took him back. Highpockets was a slick fielder who played 16 MLB seasons (11 with NY) who put up a lifetime .297 BA. He was inducted on August 6th. He got his nickname (he was also called Long George) because of his stork-legged 6’4” frame. 
• 1973 - Press sports editor Chet Smith passed away at the age of 74. He attended Dartmouth and moved from their sports staff to the Pittsburgh Dispatch in 1916 and later to the Gazette Times. He jumped to the Cleveland Press as a college beat guy, returning to Pittsburgh as the Press’ sports editor in 1931, a post he held until he retired in 1966. He was best known for his “Village Smithy” column. Chet was president of the BBWAA in 1950 and won several awards, including being named the Pennsylvania Sports Writer of the Year. 

Lyle Overbay - 2011 photo Jared Wickerham/Getty

• 1977 - 1B Lyle Overbay was born in Centralia, Washington. Overbay was a 34-year-old, 10-year vet when he signed with the Pirates in late 2010 for $5M, with the team hoping that it had added a little more punch to the lineup. It ended up a forlorn hope - after batting .227 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs in 103 games, he was DFA’ed in August. He played through 2014 before retiring. 
• 1979 - Dave “The Cobra” Parker, a couple of days removed from signing his $5M contract, was feted as the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year at the Hilton ballroom. He was the first Pirate to take home the award since 1971 when Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente and Danny Murtaugh were named co-winners, breaking a football awardee streak of six seasons. The Cobra had a monster year, with a .334/30/117 slash despite breaking his jaw. 
• 1997 - 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes was born in Tomball, Texas. The son of MLB vet Charlie, he was the 32nd pick of the Pirates in 2015. He was picked as the best hot corner gloveman in the minors for three years in a row while steadily improving his batwork. Ke’Bryan, then considered to be the top prospect in the Pirates organization, got the call on August, 2020. He had quite an debut, with a homer double, three runs scored and an RBI, and broke camp as the starter in 2021. Key battled injuries and hit just .257 in 96 games while showing off a spectacular glove. Key played through hip/back injuries in 2022, hitting just .244 but was a Golden Glove finalist. He rallied in ‘23, batting .271 and earning his Golden Glove, ending Nolan Arenado's streak of 10 straight GGs. 
• 2003 - The Pirates began addressing their pitching by signing RHP’s Jeff D'Amico and Julian Tavarez as free agents. D’Amico’s MLB deal was for $750K when he broke camp as the Bucs #5 starter, slashing 9-16/4.77 in 29 starts, leading the NL in losses. He moved on to Cleveland in 2004, got into seven more games and that dropped the curtain on his MLB career. Tavarez signed a minor league deal after shoulder issues as a Marlin. Converted to bullpen duty, he posted a streak of 14-1/3 consecutive scoreless innings and rang up a career-high 11 saves, with a line of 3-3-11/3.66 for the big club. Julian made $750K in the show, and the Pirates gambled that they could hang on to him for the following campaign. They couldn’t - he signed with the Cards and made $4.2M over the next two years. JT pitched well there as St. Louis won back-to-back flags.

1/27: Marte-Peggy; Snider-Steve(s); St. Marys Joe; Hernandez, Mateo, Dessens, Ray, Perez, Lamabe Signed; Maz Statue; RIP Gene & Dale; HBD Luis, B-Rey, Zags, Steve, Al & Otis

• 1876 - OF Otis Clymer was born in Pine Grove (Schuylkill County), Pennsylvania. Clymer started his career in Pittsburgh, playing from 1905-07, before the often injured OF was traded to Washington after hitting .285 during his Pirate days. He was a feisty guy, once getting into a fight with Reds 1B Cliff Blankenship during a 2-1 win at Expo Park in 1905. It started when Clymer spiked Blankenship as a payback for an event a few days prior when the Reds infielder ran into Honus Wagner. Blankenship won the battle but not the war as he was pelted with bottles (even a knife was tossed from the stands) by heated Bucco fans after the pair were ejected, per The Baseball Library. A more memorable career highlight came in 1908 when Otis hit for the cycle while a Cub. 
• 1888 - OF Al Wickland was born in Chicago. Wickland got his start with the Reds in 1913, then jumped to the Federal League the following year, playing for the hometown Feds/Whales. Next, he suited up for the Pittsburgh Rebels, where he appeared in 100 games and hit pretty well with a .301 BA in 1915. When the league folded, he joined the American Association’s Indianapolis Indians for a couple of seasons to earn a ticket back to the bigs. He did return, but hit just .249 for the Boston Braves and NY Yankees over two campaigns (1918-19). Al finished out his career with a three-year stay with the AA’s Toledo Mud Hens before leaving the game in 1922 at age 34. 
• 1935 - Coach Steve Demeter was born in Homer City. Steve got a little MLB time with the Tigers (1959-60) and was the Pirates first base/bench coach in 1985. Before that, he served in the Bucco farm system as skipper of the Sherbrooke Pirates (1972), Salem Pirates (1973; 1976–77), Charleston Charlies (1974–75), Shreveport Captains (1978), and Buffalo Bisons (1979–80). He also was a roving instructor and scout for Pittsburgh. He passed away in 2013 at age 78. 

Jack Lamabe - 1963 Topps

• 1957 - RHP Jack Lamabe joined the Pirates with the signing credited to scout Ed McCarrick. It was a non-bonus deal so that the Pirates could start him in the minors instead of the big club as the rules of the day would have dictated. Jack became a Buc in a round-about way. Originally drafted by the Phils, he was declared a free agent over a college kerfuffle. The clubs weren’t supposed to sign college players during that era, and although Lamabe said he had already left the University of Vermont, the league disagreed on the timeline. That made Jack a FA and he inked his Bucco deal two months later. He had a strong Pirates rookie campaign in 1962, going 3-1/2.88 in 46 outings, and Pittsburgh leveraged that into a deal with Boston, sending Lamabe and 1B Dick Stuart to the BoSox after the season for RHP Don Schwall and C Jim Pagliaroni. 
• 1976 - The Bucs’ Latino scout Neftali Cruz signed 19-year-old amateur RHP Pascual Perez of the Dominican Republic. He rose quickly through the system, reaching AAA in 1978 and debuting with the Bucs in 1980. In ‘80-’81, he slashed 2-8/3.94 and was traded for Larry McWilliams. In 1983, he had an All-Star season with the Bravos and won 29 games over two years. It was the best back-to-back string he put together although he did spend 11 years tossing in the show. Perez may have been best known for his trademark quirks - he shot a finger pistol at strikeout victims and eyeballed the runner at first through his legs when holding him on. The peek-a-boo worked pretty well - his catchers had a career 35% throw-out rate against wanna-be base stealers. 
• 1983 - Jumbo reliever LHP Mike Zagurski was born in Omaha. The Bucs signed the 6’, 240 pound southpaw to a minor league deal for 2013, and it appeared that they found a gem as he dominated in camp and struck out 37 batters in 21 IP at Indy. He earned a call to the show, but in six innings surrendered 10 runs on 10 hits with eight walks, becoming a poster boy for AAAA pitchers. Zags was released to make room for Brandon Cumpton, and the Yankees picked him up. Mike was hit hard there, too. He spent two seasons pitching in Japan, and since then has bounced around, pitching on the farm for Detroit, working for Milwaukee briefly, then signing with Chicago. He was released by the Cubs during their 2019 camp and has been a free agent since. 

Mike Zagurski - 2013 photo Justin Aller/Getty

• 1984 - Two days after his DP partner Dale Berra inked a five-year deal, 2B Johnny Ray got a five-year agreement, too (the media called it “Operation Twin Killing”). His contract was worth $3.75M, including his signing bonus and incentives. He, like Berra, had been rumored as trade bait, with the chatter involving a swap with the San Francisco Giants for Will Clark. Ray was a hot property; he had been runner-up to Steve Sax in 1982 for Rookie of the Year and followed that up by batting .283 in ‘83. He lasted into the 1987 season when he was sent to the Angels for Miguel Garcia and Bill Merrifield in late August to clear a starting spot for Jose Lind. 
• 1991 - 1B Dale Long passed away in Florida at age 64 after losing his battle with cancer. His 1956 home run streak of eight straight games cemented his place in Pirates history, even though he only played two full seasons (1955-56) in Pittsburgh. He was recalled as more than a slugger by his Buc teammates, but as a leader who stood up to the vets and helped create a winning vibe in the locker room. Long played 10 years of MLB, half as a starter, before retiring in the 1963 season, and even faced his old mates during the World Series in 1960 as a member of the New York Yankees squad. 
• 1993 - The Pirates signed RHP Elmer Dessens. After some minor league seasoning, he debuted in 1996 and went 2-8/6.12 in parts of three campaigns. The Bucs released him and he tossed for a year in Japan. That seemed to turn the trick; he came back to the states and worked 11 more years as a late-inning bullpen guy for nine different clubs, retiring after the 2010 season as a 39-year-old. Elmer was a pitching coach in the Angels system in 2023. 

Elmer Dessens - 1997 Pacific Prizm

• 1995 - OF Bryan Reynolds was born in Baltimore, Maryland. A second-round pick of SF in 2016, he joined the Pirates in 2018 as part of the Andrew McCutchen deal with Giants. A .312 hitter through the minors, he was called up on April 20th, 2019, after the Pirates outfield was cut down with injuries. He put together an 11-game hitting streak to start his career, tying Gregory Polanco for the franchise record. After a sluggish 2020 campaign, he came back with a vengeance and earned his first All Star nod. His 2022 numbers were down but still solid after a slow start, and he was a finalist for the NL Silver Slugger Award after hitting .262 with 27 homers during the campaign. His future looked cloudy with contract contentions bouncing to-and-fro until he inked an eight-year/$106.75M agreement in 2023, the richest amount ever tendered by the Bucs, to clear the smoke. B-Rey responded with a hot-and cold .263 BA/24 HR/87 RBI/113 OPS+ slash in ‘23. 
• 1999 - RHP Luis Ortiz was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic and was signed by the Pirates in 2018. The fireballer was called up for his debut in September of 2022 as the 29th man in a twin bill and pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning, hitting a pitch speed of 100 MPH or more six times. In two years, he’s appeared in 22 games (18 starts) with a slash of 5-7/4.73 with command issues. This year is his opp to show his stuff with a thin rotation to kickstart his career. 
• 2004 - The Bucs inked OF Ruben Mateo to a minor league deal with an invite to camp. He started the year on the farm and got a call up after tearing it up in Nashville (.311, 11 HR) to replace the AWOL Raul Mondesi. He did OK, hitting .242 with three homers in 39 PA’s before being sold in July to KC. He faded there, and it was his last MLB go-around. He played a year in Korea after that and then went to the Latin leagues, finishing out his days after the 2015 campaign.

Ruben Mateo - 2004 photo Jud Jacobsohn/Getty

• 2006 - The Pirates signed jack-of-all-trades Jose Hernandez, who had played for the Bucs in 2003, to a $150K minor league deal (which would jump to $850 K in the majors) with a camp invite. Hernandez did make the team and hit .267 before the 36-year-old was sold to Philadelphia in late August. He came back to Pittsburgh for 2007 as a free agent, but father time caught up to him. He spent the season at Indy and then ended his career with a two-year Mexican League stint. 
• 2010 - Dejan Kovacevic of the Post Gazette leaked the news that the Bucs were going to build a Maz statue, confirmed by the team two days later during the Fan Fest. Maz joined Honus Wagner, Willie Stargell, and former teammate Roberto Clemente as Bucco greats honored with a statue outside of PNC Park. The 12-foot bronze was designed by local sculptor Susan Wagner and showed the Hall of Fame infielder rounding second base, cap doffed, after his legendary homer. It was dedicated in September during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Pirates 1960 World Championship season. 
• 2011 - St. Marys (Elk county) native Joe Beimel signed a minor league deal with the Bucs, reuniting him with both the Pirates (he began his career in Pittsburgh from 2001-03) and his former manager Clint Hurdle (he was with the Rox in 2009). The lefty reliever started the year on the DL with forearm stiffness, then came back and tossed 35 outings (just 25 IP) in the next six weeks with a 5.33 ERA, went back on the DL and was DFA’ed in August. He had TJ surgery in 2012 and returned as a Mariner in 2014-15. He signed several minor league deals afterward, and played indie ball briefly in 2017 before announcing his retirement from baseball in June. Joe packed those 13 big league seasons under his belt pretty much without a safety net - he never signed a contract longer than one year. 

Joe Beimel - Pirates promo card

• 2015 - Fourth outfielder Travis “Lunchbox Hero” (he was renowned for his team cookouts) Snider, a former first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays, was traded to Baltimore for a pair of prospects, LHP Stephen Tarpley and a PTBNL (LHP Steven Brault). He returned a few months afterwards for free, as the O’s released him in mid-August and the Bucs signed him a week later before releasing him in the off season. Snider has bumped around in the minors (he even spent a year playing indie ball) since the Pirates let him go, and was released by Miami in 2020. Brault took over a bullpen role after falling short in his starter challenge, then won a spot again in 2019 and pitched solidly from the rotation in 2020. He was injured in ‘21 (lat strain; 60-day IL) and released at the end of the year. The Cubs claimed him, and he worked ‘22 in their system before retiring last year.  The Pirates flipped Tarpley to the Yankees in 2016 along with minor league OF Tito Polo in a deal to land Ivan Nova. He made his debut in the majors as a 2018 September call up and is pitching indie ball now; Polo has played in the Latin leagues since 2019. 
• 2020 - CF Starling Marte was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for RHP Brennan Malone, 19, and SS Liover Peguero, also 19, and slot money to mark Ben Cherington’s first big move. Starling signed with the Bucs in 2007, debuted in 2012 and had been a fixture in the Pirates outfield since then, except for a 2017 PED suspension. He hit .287 in Pittsburgh with 239 stolen bases during that span. He was shipped to Miami in September by the D-Backs and then went to the Mets. Malone and Peguero were both highly touted prospects. Peggy has advanced steadily and is the big-league mix while various Malone injuries cost him the 2022-23 campaigns; at age 23, he only has 27 pro IP. 
• 2022 - OF Gene Clines passed away at the age of 75 in Bradenton. “Little Angry” was always noisily pushing for time in his five years (1970-74) with the Pirates, but never reached 350 PAs during his Pittsburgh seasons. Still, he was a valuable 10th man - he hit .287 over that span with 51 stolen bases, played all three outfield positions well, was part of four division-winning powerhouse clubs and a World Championship squad along with being a member of the first all-minority lineup in MLB history. He played through 1979 in the show before retiring to become a coach, and was a regular sight at Pirates camp and team reunions.

1/26: Gumbert - Kinslow; Maz Signed; $1M Cobra; First Fans Fest; Red, White & Blue; Pitchers Era; HBD Josh, Jeff & Kaiser

• 1874 - RHP Irvin “Kaiser” Wilhelm was born in Wooster, Ohio. Kaiser tossed one year in Pittsburgh (1903), going 5-3/3.24 before bouncing around between the show and the farm. While in the bushes, he authored a perfect game for Birmingham in 1906 and put together the minor league record (still standing) for consecutive shutout innings with 59 the following year, also as a Baron. And yes, his nickname was thanks to Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm (it didn’t help that his middle name was Key) - and it was a moniker that Wilhelm absolutely despised. 
• 1895 - RHP Addison “Ad” Gumbert was traded to the Brooklyn Grooms for C Tom Kinslow. The deal stirred some controversy on a couple of fronts. First, it happened four days after a newspaper report (which he denied) claimed he bad-mouthed the Pirates’ Pink Hawley trade. Additionally, the Reds protested, saying they had a prior handshake deal for Gumbert with manager Connie Mack, but that argument was rejected by the league. Ad, only 26, had gone 26-21/5.71 for the Bucs in 1893-94 and Kinslow was a back-up catcher. Neither team got much out of the deal as both retired after the 1896 season. Ad was a local boy who was elected County Sheriff in 1906 & County Commissioner in 1915 (he became Chairman), where he was a key figure in the building of the three Sister bridges. He also headed a variety of benevolent efforts - in fact, Pittsburgh Mayor William Magee once appointed him an Assistant Director of Charities for the City - and belonged to several service groups, including the Masons, Shriners and Odd Fellows. Ad passed away in 1925 from a brain tumor and is buried in Homewood Cemetery. 
• 1942 - The Pirates were “going patriotic” (red, white & blue) with their 1942 uniforms, according to the Post Gazette. The caps were blue, with a red P, visor and top button. The jerseys lost the Pirates Buccaneer logo on the chest and instead featured the nation’s colors. The home unis sported red Pirates across the chest with blue trim and the road tops carried Pittsburgh in red with blue piping. The player’s number on the back would be the opposite, with a blue number surrounded by red trim. The socks and pant stripes were blue and red. Actually, it was keeping with the traditional blue-red combo they had worn in different combos since the turn of the 20th century; they didn’t adopt the current black and gold colors of the City Seal until 1948. 

Maz - 1959 Topps/TSN All Star

• 1959 - After hitting .275, winning his first All Star nod and being awarded a Golden Glove, the Bucs rewarded Bill Mazeroski by doubling his contract from a guesstimated $10K to $20K. It was his second year as a starter, and in those two seasons (1957-58) he batted .277 to go with his legendary leather to launch his 17-year Pirates and Hall of Fame career. 
• 1963 - The mid-60s pitcher’s era began when the MLB Rules Committee opened up the strike zone between the top of the batter's shoulders and the bottom of his knees. The hurlers began to dominate, and after the run drought of 1968 (the “Year of the Pitcher”), the league reversed course, lowering the mound by five inches (from 15” to 10”) and tightening the strike zone to between the bottom of the armpit and the top of the knee for the next campaign. Later changes deformed and reformed the strike zone, though the mound remained thankfully unaltered. 
• 1967 - Former Pirates hitting coach Jeff Branson was born in Waynesboro, Massachusetts. A second round draft pick of the Reds in 1988, he spent nine seasons in the show as a utility infielder, mostly with Cincinnati. After his playing days, Branson joined the Bucco minor league staff in 2003, and in late 2012, he was called up to the home club to serve as an assistant hitting coach under Jay Bell; when Bell left after the following year, Jeff was promoted to his position. He held the job until after the 2018 campaign when he was replaced by Rick Eckstein. Jeff coached the Detroit Tigers’ AAA Toledo Mud Hens in ‘21 and the following year was named their minor league hitting coordinator. 
• 1979 - Dave Parker of the Pirates became the first $1M per year player in sports when he signed a five-year/$5M contract after winning consecutive batting crowns and being named MVP. He didn’t get to enjoy it long - he had three straight All-Star seasons, but missed half of the 1981 and 1982 campaigns with injuries before having a full-time but meh, by his standards, year in 1983. Fans behaved even more poorly when they tossed batteries and other assorted trash at him in the field. He signed with Cincinnati when the deal expired. As Lennon and McCartney so aptly observed, “Money Can’t Buy Me Love.” (Note: the contract payout was worth at least $7.75M in all but was spread out over 30 years, so he never received $1M in any single campaign but rather $775K per season for five years. How the financial breakdown was finally worked out is unknown; the Pirates took him to court to void the deal due to Cobra’s coke use, and an undisclosed settlement was reached in 1988 before trial. In 1980, Nolan Ryan became the first actual $1M/season player with the Houston Astros.) 

Josh Sharpless - 2006 Topps Retro Rookie

• 1981 - RHP Josh Sharpless was born in Beaver. Josh went to Freedom Area HS and was drafted by the hometown nine in the 24th round of the 2003 draft out of Allegheny College, where he still ranks in the top five in several career pitching categories. He blew through the Pirates minor league system in three years, pitched in the Futures game, and tossed briefly for the Bucs, going 0-1/4.41 between 2006-07 cups of coffee in the show before being released and joining the Giants. Sharpless still lives in the area and gives pitching lessons while helping coach the LaRoche College Redhawks. 
• 1990 - The Buccos held their first Pirates Fest at the Monroeville Expo Mart. It lasted two days and featured GM Larry Doughty, skipper Jimmy Leyland, Bobby Bonilla, Jay Bell, RJ Reynolds and Billy Maz among others, along with an exhibit of Buc memorabilia. The Fest was a fan favorite, but the Bucs unplugged it for the 2023 offseason, with no mention of whether it’s to return. (It did come back in 2024, drawing a large and enthusiastic crowd to the Convention Center.)

1/25: Stuper-Sandt; Sid, Jeff, Dann, Dale Signed; Joe & Hank - HoF; $100K Clemente; Bill's Boast; RIP Mooney; HBD Dan, Gregg & Buddy

• 1936 - IF Harold “Buddy” Pritchard was born in South Gate, California. The Pirates signed him in 1957 out of Southern Cal for a $30,000 bonus w/$6,000 salary for each of the next three seasons, and as a bonus baby he had to spend his first year with the Buccos. He went 1-for-11 in 23 games and played just 34 innings in the field. Pritchard was sent to minors after the campaign and played eight seasons in the Pirate farm system with a .256 BA. Buddy managed and scouted for Pittsburgh, then bird dogged for the Cubs and the Major League Scouting Bureau. 
• 1950 - LHP Bill Werle, recovered from a muscle pull and angling for a raise, predicted that “given a share of the breaks” that he would finish the year with 20 wins after a 12-13/4.24 rookie campaign. He misspoke by a bit; he finished the season 8-16-8/4.60, splitting time between starting and the pen. In fact, he won just 18 more MLB games between 1950-54 after his prediction. 
• 1956 - SS Joe Cronin and OF Hank Greenberg were elected to the Hall of Fame. Both were considered to be among the top RH hitters of their era and had brief stops in Pittsburgh. Cronin started as a Pirate in 1926-27 and played sparingly before breaking out for Washington and Boston, while Greenberg spent 1947, his last MLB season, as a Bucco, hitting 25 HR and serving as a mentor to up-and-coming slugger Ralph Kiner. They were inducted on July 23rd. 
• 1964 - Former Pirate coach Gregg Ritchie was born in Washington DC. Ritchie played in the Giant system, topping out at AAA, and then went on to coach in the White Sox organization for a decade before joining Pittsburgh. In 2006, Ritchie became the Bucs' roving minor league hitting coordinator and later the hitting coach for the big club during the 2011-12 seasons. He left to take George Washington University’s baseball manager job and is still the Colonial’s pilot. 

Roberto Signs - 1/26/1967 photo Post-Gazette/AP

• 1967 - Roberto Clemente signed a $100,000 contract, then the highest in Pirate history, topping Ralph Kiner’s $90,000 deal of 1952. He joined the MLB’s top shelf of players with a six-figure deal; the others paid at that rate were Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Frank Robinson, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. His salary helped boost the total Pirates payroll for the year to an estimated but unverifiable $800,000, considered by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette to be an “elite” amount for a third place club. It was certainly a different era - the combined total payroll of MLB in 1967 was estimated to be at about $9.5M, with at least 10 of the 20 clubs topping out at $375,00 or less (Kansas City’s entire roster came in at $190,700!). The average player’s salary was $19,000 for the ‘67 campaign, with the minimum set at $6,000. 
• 1967 - Catcher and manager George "Mooney" Gibson passed away in his hometown of London (Ontario) at the age of 86. Mooney played for the Bucs from 1905-16 and was considered one of the top defensive catchers of the deadball era , making up for his .238 BA as a Pirate. He was a workhorse with Pittsburgh, leading NL catchers in games played for four consecutive seasons between 1907-10. His final two seasons were with the NY Giants, spent as a player/coach, and the time served him well as he had two stints as the Pirates skipper, from 1920-22 and again from 1932-34. The clubs went 401-330 (.549), finishing under .500 just once with three second-place finishes. George, who hailed from Ontario, was celebrated north of the border - he was named Canada's baseball player of the half century in 1958, the first baseball player elected to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and entered the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum in 1987. 
• 1974 - LHP Dan Serafini was born in San Francisco. Though he got just 104 appearances in parts of seven big league seasons (he was a Pirate in 2000, going 2-5/4.91 in 11 starts), he deserves a tip o’ the cap for perseverance. Drafted out of HS, he pitched from 1992-2013 professionally from the age of 18 until he was 39, with nine AAA seasons, 10 years in foreign (Mexico, Japan, Venezuela) leagues and even a couple of years of indie ball; that’s one dedicated ball tosser. 

Tommy Sandt - 1992-93 Nationwide

• 1979 - The Pirates traded RHP John Stuper to the St. Louis Cardinals for IF (and later coach) Tommy Sandt. Stuper, a RHP who twirled for Point Park College, was drafted by the Bucs the year before and was plucked from Class A Charleston. He spent three years in the Redbirds system, and carved out a four-year MLB career, winning 32 games, including a brilliant rookie playoff run in 1982. He took over the reins at Yale in 1993, where he still manages. Sandt, like Stuper, never played for Pittsburgh, but began his coaching career as a minor league skipper for the Pirates in 1982 before coaching for Jim Leyland, Gene Lamont and Lloyd McClendon. 
• 1984 - SS Dale Berra signed a five-year contract worth nearly $3M, avoiding arbitration and putting to bed rumors that he was on his way to the Yankees, where his dad Yogi had just been named manager, in exchange for Roy Smalley. His middle-of-the-infield partner, 2B Johnny Ray, also signed a five-year agreement two days later. But Berra hit just .222 during the ‘84 campaign and joined his pap in NY as part of the Steve Kemp deal. 
• 1989 - Pittsburgh agreed to terms with a trio of players. They met 1B Sid Bream in the middle, signing him to a one-year/$510K deal. The Pirates then signed RHP Jeff Robinson to a two-year/$1.675M deal, with the Pirates meeting his salary demands after he went 11-5-9/3.03 and led the majors in bullpen work with 124-2/3 IP. Both were arb-eligible. C Dann Bilardello inked a minor league contract. Dann hung around for two seasons, hitting .171 in 51 games and spending most of his Buc career in AAA Buffalo, not an uncommon occurrence during his career - he spent all or part of 16 seasons in the minors as a big league insurance policy.