3/3: Debs Deal; Kip, Bert, Murry Sign; Lou Leaves; Ray HoF; RIP Al; HBD Matt, Trent, Ron, Neal, Jesse, Yo-Yo, Bill & Yaller

• 1879 - C Ed “Yaller” Phelps was born in Albany, NY. Phelps was on the 1902 and 1903 National League pennant-winning clubs and played in the 1903 World Series, forming the Pirates’ first Fall Classic battery with Deacon Phillippe. He served mainly as a back-up catcher (he started in 1903-04) during his six-year Pittsburgh career (1902-04, 1906-08), hitting .247 as a Bucco. Ed’s career claim to fame is that he caught six straight shutouts for the Pirates in 1903, still a post-1900 record. His nickname of "Yaller" referred to his sallow complexion, according to his family. 
• 1897 - 2B Lou Bierbauer was sold to the St. Louis Browns after six seasons with Pittsburgh. His 1891 signing by the Bucs, after he was left unprotected by the Philadelphia Athletics, was denounced by the A’s as “piratical,” leading to the Alleghenys evolving into the Pirates. The “king of the second baseman” had a slow start to his Steel City days, but rallied to hit .284 over his final four Bucco campaigns and his glovework was elite throughout. After a couple of years with the Browns and some minor league touring, he retired to his hometown of Erie. 
• 1910 - C Bill Brenzel was born in Oakland, California. He spent parts of three seasons in MLB, beginning in 1932 with the Pirates when he got into nine games and went 1-for-24. He earned a reputation for his good glove, bad bat (.198 lifetime BA), and per his obit, quick wit and slow feet. He spent 18 years in pro ball (he left high school to begin his playing days at age 17), then managed in the minor leagues before becoming a long-time scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 
• 1912 - C Aubrey “Yo-Yo” Epps was born in Memphis, Tennessee. In the final game of the 1935 campaign, Epps caught for Pittsburgh after being purchased from the Birmingham Barons, where he was hitting .301, and went 3-for-4 with three RBI (and two errors, oops). The Pirates had high hopes for Epps - they had to outbid the Cleveland Indians to win him from Birmingham - but that game turned out to be his only major league appearance. He contracted a serious case of pneumonia during the off season and it cost him a chance at making the roster. Aubrey bounced around for another six seasons in the minor leagues and retired after the 1941 season at age 29. His nickname was due to his proficiency with a yo-yo. 

Deb Garms - 1941 Play Ball

• 1940 - The Boston Braves sold OF Debs Garms to the Pirates. In 358 at bats for Pittsburgh he led the NL in hitting with a .355 average. At the time, there was no minimal at-bat requirement; league prez Ford Frick said the title was unofficial and 100 games, the traditional but unofficial cut-off line, was enough to qualify (Garms got into 103 contests), raising a hubbub as Cub fans thought Stan Hack's full-time .317 BA was tops. The league refused to bend, but in 1950, the NL made 2.6 AB’s per game the magic number. The veteran was sold to St. Louis after the 1941 season, where he would finish his career in 1945. Debs, btw, is not a moniker but his given name. His parents christened him in honor of early twentieth century labor activist and socialist, Eugene Debs. 
• 1949 - RHP Jesse Jefferson was born in Midlothian, Virginia. In a nine-year career as both a starter and reliever, Jesse tossed one game for the Pirates in 1980 after the Bucs claimed him in September off the waiver wire from Toronto, where he was a member of the original expansion Jays. The outing was a strong effort by Jefferson, who beat the Cubs, 3-1, by going 6-2/3 IP of three-hit ball. It wasn’t enough to keep the 31-year-old in Pittsburgh, but it did get him a final contract with the Angels, where he finished out his MLB days after the 1981 season. 
• 1952 - RHP Murry Dickson won the battle of the counting numbers, ending a two-day holdout by signing his ‘52 contract with the Bucs. Murray led the league in hits allowed (294), earned runs surrendered (129), home runs given up (32) and posted 16 losses with a 4.02 ERA. On the other side of the coin, he appeared in 45 outings with 35 starts, worked 288-2/3 innings and won 20 games, adding a couple of saves along the way. He was looking to plump his salary from $20,000 to $30,000 and almost made his case as he agreed to a $27,000 deal. 
• 1960 - LHP Neal Heaton was born in South Ozone Park, NY. He pitched for Pittsburgh from 1989-91, making the All Star team in 1990 after a 9-1/2.87 mid-June start. Heaton, who had battled tendinitis, credited the 1990 success to a new pitch, a knuckle change. The league apparently caught on; he finished the year at 12-9. As a Pirate, his line was 21-19 with a 3.46 ERA. Heaton now coaches at the All-Pro Academy in Bellport, NY, and worked with Marcus Stroman and Steven Matz when they were in high school. 

Ron Wotus - 1983-84 photo via Sports Memorabilia

• 1961 - IF Ron Wotus was born in Colchester, Connecticut. Ron spent his MLB career in Pittsburgh, getting into 32 games and batting .207 between 1983-84. He played in the minors afterwards, ending his playing days in the Giant organization. Wotus remained with the G-Men as a minor league manager from 1991 to 1997. He became the Giants third base coach in 1998 under Dusty Baker and has served as bench coach since 1999 under Baker, Felipe Alou and Bruce Bochy before returning to the 3B box in 2017; now he’s San Fran’s special assistant of baseball operations. Wotus was interviewed by the Bucs for the head honcho job in 2000, losing out to Lloyd McClendon. 
• 1964 - Coach Trent Jewett was born in Dallas. Jewett was a catcher on the Pirate farm before continuing on as a coach in the organization. He managed the Triple-A Nashville Sounds from 1998 to 2000, was the Bucs third base coach from 2000-02, then returned to managing AAA Nashville and Indy until 2008 when he skipped to the Nats system. In 2013, he joined Lloyd McClendon as bench coach for Seattle, a position he held through 2015 when both Trent and Lloyd were let go. 
• 1977 - Former Post Gazette Sports Editor Al Abrams passed away at age 73 after a heart attack. He covered the sports beat for the PPG from 1926 until his death and served as its sports editor from April 1947 to March 1974, with his regular “Sidelights on Sports” column continuing on even after he gave up the editorship. But his greatest contribution to the local sports scene may have been when Abrams founded the Post-Gazette Dapper Dan Club in 1936, now the Dapper Dan Charities, which awards an annual local Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Award and supports the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western PA for its sports activities. 
• 1978 - Newly acquired RHP Bert Blyleven signed a new deal with the Pirates, overriding his old Texas contract (under the rules then, Bert needed to have a single contract - the Rangers had an annuity set up for him - or he would be eligible for free agency at the end of the year). The details announced by the team were fuzzy; the FO just said it was multi-year and included deferred payments, with Baseball Reference listing his 1979 salary at $500 K and the ‘80 pay at $300 K. Apparently it satisfied the Fryin’ Dutchman - he went on to post a 14-10/3.03 slash, working team-highs of 34 starts, 243-2/3 innings, 11 complete games, four shutouts and 182 whiffs. They also found time to work out a depth deal, signing 2B Mike Edwards. He was sent to Oakland in April. 

Matt Diaz - 2011 photo Claus Anderson/Getty

• 1978 - OF Matt Diaz was born in Portland, Oregon. In December of 2010, he signed a two-year/$4.125M free-agent contract that could reach $5M w/bonuses with the Pirates, who were looking for some platoon punch to add to their attack. Instead, he suffered a power outage and slashed .259/.303/.324 without a dinger, resulting in the Pirates trading him back to the Braves, the club he had left after a non-tender, at the deadline for Eliecer Cardenas. Matt put 11 years in the league with a .290 lifetime BA after he hung ‘em up following the 2013 campaign, appearing in just 77 more games after he left town. 
• 1987 - 3B Ray Dandridge was the only player elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. He spent a handful of games with the Homestead Grays in 1937 as a 23-year-old pup early during a career that spanned 22 campaigns. Dandridge was nicknamed “Hooks” because of his bowed legs, but like the similarly-statured Honus Wagner, was an elite fielder and batter, considered by many to be the Negro League’s premier hot corner guy. He missed out on an MLB shot because of his age (35), but still hit .362 in the American Association, where he was Rookie of the Year in 1949 and MVP in ‘50. Ray went on to become a Giants’ scout after his playing days. 
• 1988 - RHP Bob Kipper signed a split contract, w/$125K for the bigs and $75K for the minors, as a take-it-or-leave-it tender offer from the Bucs. Neither he nor his agent was very pleased by the deal, with the agent suggesting the Pirates trade Kip someplace he would be more appreciated, at least financially. But Kipper made it through the season with an uninterrupted MLB stay, and got $105K added to his salary next season, sticking with Pittsburgh through the 1991 campaign.