2/16: Ty, Ron, Leo Sign; Bo Loses Arb; Robby Veto; Gilkey Deal Nixed; Hans # Retired; Tommy Back; Freese Zing; Wheaties Stars; HBD Marco, Jorge, Luis, Jerry, Ray, Skip & John

• 1873 - C John Sullivan was born in Chicago. John had a 14-game showing with the Tigers in 1905 and then settled in with the minor league Kansas City Blues; he got one more call to the majors sandwiched inside that KC stint by the Bucs, catching for three frames in 1908. He gave up a stolen base, committed an error and went 0-for-1 before returning to KC, and he retired from pro ball in 1910 at age 37 after 11 years behind the plate. 
• 1889 - RHP James “Skip” Dowd was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Dowd, out of Holy Cross, got into one game for the Pirates in 1910, his only big league outing, and gave up four runs in two innings. In his defense they were all unearned, leaving him with a spotless career ERA. Aside from getting his name on a major league scorecard, he can also claim that he worked against HoF hurler Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown. He tossed in the minors for five campaigns (1911-15) afterwards. Skip is the grandfather of Emmy-winning actress Ann Dowd. 
• 1912 - RHP Ray Harrell was born in Alexandria, Louisiana. He tossed for the Bucs in 1940, getting into three games (3-1/3 IP) with an ERA of 8.10 as a waiver pickup from the Phils before being sent to the AA Portland club. Ray spent a total of six years in the show, returning in 1945 to take a final bow with the wartime New York Giants after working the intervening seasons in the Pacific Coast League. He retired in 1950 after an 18-year pro career. 
• 1952 - Carnegie’s Honus Wagner’s #33 (actually, it was his second number as a coach - 14 was first - because players didn't sport numbers during Hans’ playing career) was retired after he bid farewell as a Pittsburgh coach at the age of 77 following 39 years with the team. The Bucs also honored him by giving him a lifetime pension at full pay. Hans’ number was the first the Pirates retired; other Buccos to later join him in the honor were Billy Meyer (1), Ralph Kiner (4), Willie Stargell (8), Bill Mazeroski (9), Pie Traynor (20), Roberto Clemente (21) and Danny Murtaugh (40). The Flying Dutchman finished his career with a .329 average and won eight NL batting titles, ranking among the Pirates' top 10 in 11 offensive categories. He was a coach with the Pirates between 1933 and 1951. Honus was also part of the first Hall-of-Fame class ever selected, along with Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and Babe Ruth. 

Jerry Hairston - 1978 Topps

• 1952 - Jerry Hairston was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He was sold to the Pirates by the White Sox in June, 1977, and in 51 games he hit .192, mostly as a pinch hitter. Jerry played parts of 14 MLB seasons entirely with the White Sox except for his brief Bucco stint. Hairston has a strong legacy link - his dad Sam, brother Johnny and son Jerry were all big league players. 
• 1974 - IF Luis Figueroa was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. After playing for the Puerto Rican national team, he was signed by the Bucs in 1997 and played four games with the club in 2001, going 0-for-2. Luis was waived and claimed by the Mets. In 2006-07, he got in 14 games for the Blue Jays and Giants, his only other outings as an MLB player. But he had a long career, playing 16 years of pro ball with campaigns in Puerto Rico, both in the winter league and with their international squad, and as a fielding coach in the Yankee organization. 
• 1980 - The Pirates announced that five-and-10-year veteran OF’er Bill Robinson was traded in principle to Houston for pitcher Joaquin Andujar, but the deal hit a bump a couple of days later when the Astros wouldn’t rework Robinson’s contract and he vetoed the trade. It’s hard to project how the swap would have worked out. Robinson had a strong 1980 campaign and then faded while Andujar wouldn’t hit his prime until 1982, winning 61 games and two All-Star berths between then and 1985 as a St. Louis Cardinal, who got him early in 1981 for Tony Scott. 
• 1988 - RHP Jorge Rondon was born in Calabozo, Venezuela. Jorge has spent small parts of three seasons in MLB, with two of his 16 big league outings coming with the Pirates in 2016 after a solid stint at AAA Indianapolis. It didn’t work out so well, with a 17.18 ERA/2.727 WHIP in 3-2/3 IP. He was DFA’ed five days after his call-up and signed with the Chisox, then took his services to Japan for the 2017 campaign. He now pitches in the Mexican League. 

Bobby Bo - 1991 Topps All-Star

• 1991 - OF Bobby Bonilla lost his arbitration hearing, settling for the Pirates $2.4M offer rather than his $3.475 request. He and his agent had earlier turned down a Bucco package for four years/$15.5M; their meter began running at $19M. Bobby Bo, whose asking price was the highest ever presented in an arb session, was philosophical about it. He told the Post Gazette’s Paul Meyer “Who am I to cry? I’m getting $2.4M. That’s more than anybody I grew up with is making.” 
• 1992 - LHP Marco Gonzales was born in Fort Collins, Colorado. A first round pick (#19 overall) of the Cards in 2013 out of Gonzaga, the Bucs traded with Atlanta for him in December of 2023, after the Bravos had acquired him from Seattle just two days before. The Braves sent Pittsburgh cash ($9.25M - Gonzales was due $12M in ‘24 with a $15M team option/no buyout in 2025) and will get a PTBNL in return. He had a weak 2023 (5.22 ERA in 10 starts), but was dealing with a nerve issue that eventually required surgery. In the five prior seasons as a Mariner, Marco averaged 175 IP with a 46-30 record/3.94 ERA, and the Bucs were banking on his recovery and a return to workhorse status to help fill out a paper thin rotation. 
• 1996 - General Mills put out a Wheaties cereal box commemorating Negro League stars Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell to celebrate the league's 75th anniversary. All three legendary figures played for Pittsburgh and/or Homestead at some point in their Hall of Fame careers. 
• 1999 - Paul Meyer of the Post Gazette published a rumor that the Pirates were ready to send Al Martin and Tony Womack to Arizona for Bernard Gilkey and a prospect if they could work out some financial wrinkles in Gilkey’s contract (mainly big deferred money), while also looking into signing free agent Pat Meares to solidify the infield. They did land Meares, but the Gilkey deal eventually fell through, and probably a good thing it did - he had a very nice 1999, but still never got more than 241 plate appearances/94 games as age caught up to the 33-year-old. The Bucs did eventually sent Womack to the Diamondbacks (his salary and Meare’s basically were a wash) for hurlers Jason Boyd and Paul Weichard in a good deal for the Snakes, which got five years/.269 BA out of Tony and a World Series title during his run in the desert. 

Tony Womack - 1999 Skybox Thunder

• 2000 - The Pirates signed RHP Leo Nunez out of the Dominican Republic. He never twirled for the Bucs, being traded to Kansas City in 2004 and made the news in 2011 when he admitted to being Juan Carlos Oviedo, not Leo Nunez, a fake ID he used to shave a year off his age. He pitched through 2011, served a lengthy suspension to start 2012 and then blew out his elbow during rehab, requiring TJ surgery. Juan/Leo returned to the show in 2014 in a final MLB hurrah with Tampa Bay, then finishing his career in the Dominican Winter League in 2017. 
• 2000 - Tommy Sandt, a popular field coach during Jim Leyland’s tenure from 1987-96 who left the team with Leyland, rejoined the club as a minor league roving instructor. The reunion didn’t last very long; Sandt stayed through the 2002 campaign and then left again after a housecleaning to coach in the San Diego Padres organization. He passed away in 2020. 
• 2002 - RHP Ron Villone signed a one-year/$900K FA contract with the Bucs, making Pittsburgh one of his 12 MLB stops during a 15-year career. He went 4-6 with a 5.81 ERA for the Pirates and was released at the end of the year, but hung around through the 2009 season before retiring. Villone has been a pitching coach in the Cubs’ organization since 2012. 
• 2018 - In one of the Pirates more memorable camp outbursts (maybe only second to Jim Leyland’s f-bomb scold of Barry Bonds in 1991), David Freese threw some darts at the “environment” in Pittsburgh. He tossed out zingers like “This is a different organization, where if you get drafted, you look at a guy like Jameson Taillon. It sucks that if you pan out, you have your future written for you in an organization like this. You either fold and sign a team friendly deal, or you’re bounced,” and "You look at the Steelers, Penguins and you’ve got the Pirates. If I’m kind of handling this situation, I’d be losing sleep trying to compete with those other two teams. To have all three teams in a city like Pittsburgh be on top of each league, that would be incredible." He explained that he thought the FO and his teammates had the desire to win, but had to move beyond analytics and focus more on culture to provide that winning environment for the Pirates. "You’ve got to have urgency. You’ve got to have accountability...I’ve been here for two years, and we just kind of lacked in that department a little bit. We’ve got to pick that up.”

Tyler Anderson - 2021 Pirates image

• 2021 - Pittsburgh signed former first round pick LHP Tyler Anderson to an MLB deal worth $2.5M, pending his physical (the deal became official the next day). The lefty back-ender was 4-3/4.37 for the Giants in 2020 after starting his career in Colorado. In his four years as a Rox, he slashed 18-24/4.69. After a workmanlike start for the Pirates (5-8/4.35), Tyler was sent to Seattle, then the Dodgers and now is with the Angels. To make room on the 40-man roster, Rule 5 pick RHP Jose Soriano, who was recovering from TJ surgery, went on the 60-day IL; the Rule 5 pick was released after the year and returned to his original club, the LA Angels.