4/3: Wynne-Patterson, Cole-Pendleton; Hatcher To Reds; Littlefield, Walk Sign; Belle $ > Bucs; Game Tales- Frankie Gem, Rally, Sweep, Storm, RJ Bop; HBD Dewey, Bobby, Miguel, Alex, Dick, Larry & Guy

• 1856 - Manager and 1B Guy Hecker was born in Youngsville, in Warren County. He was the Alleghenys player-manager in 1890, and it wasn’t a great year for Guy’s resume - he hit .226 as the first baseman and the team finished 23-113, decimated by Player League roster raids. Guy compiled quite an overall resume, though. During his career he played for Louisville Eclipse prior to the Alleghenys and is considered by some baseball historians to be the best combination pitcher and hitter to play in the 19th century. The do-it-all Hecker remains as one of the only two pitchers in MLB history to hit three home runs in one game, along with Jim Tobin, and the only pitcher to win a batting title (.341 BA in 1886). In addition, he is the only pitcher in baseball history to get six hits in a nine-inning game. He could fling it, too - Hecker was the second pitcher ever in the American Association to pitch a no-hitter and led that league in Ks in 1884. 
• 1919 - Manager Larry Shepherd was born in Lakeland Ohio. He managed in the Pirate system from 1953 to 1966, spanning the Sally to the International Leagues, and won three pennants along the road. He returned to the Bucs after a year off in 1968 to replace Harry the Hat Walker at the helm, and in almost two seasons put together a 164-155 record. Shepherd was replaced by Alex Grammas with a week to go in the '69 season despite an 84-73 slate. He then became the pitching coach for Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine and coach/scout for San Francisco. 
• 1921 - RHP Dick Conger was born in Los Angeles. The Rule 5 selection from Detroit got a pair of Bucco appearances in 1941 and two more in 1942, split between starts and relief appearances. In his 12+ IP, he had no record but posted a sharp 1.46 ERA. Small samples have their flaws, though, and in 1943 he went 2-7/6.09 with Philadelphia. It was his last MLB go-around as he entered the service the following year and then tossed in the minors until 1950 after his discharge. 

Dick Conger - photo via Jewish Baseball Museum

• 1926 - Coach Alex Grammas was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Grammas, who played as a major league infielder for a decade, served as a coach for the Pirates from 1965-69 and was the Bucs’ interim manager for five games in 1969 after Larry Shepard was fired. When Danny Murtaugh took over for 1970, Grammas caught on with Sparky Anderson at Cincinnati, and would eventually end up with a gig as the Milwaukee Brewers’ head man from 1976-77. He was later a long-time Tiger coach who retired from baseball in 1991. Alex passed on in 2019. 
• 1957 - The Pirates swapped infielders, sending Dick Cole to the Milwaukee Braves for Jim Pendleton. Pendleton was a backup that got into 49 games in 1957-58, then was shipped to Cincy as part of the Smoky Burgess/Dick Hoak/Harvey Haddix deal. Cole played 15 games for Milwaukee and 1957. It was his last MLB season; he finished his days playing in AAA. 
• 1967 - LHP Miguel Garcia was born in Caracas, Venezuela. The Pirates got him from the Angels as part of the Johnny Ray deal. Miguel had brief big league visits from 1987-89 with the Bucs, going 0-2/7.71 in 13 outings, with ‘89 being his last stop in the show. After some time spent as a scout for the Marlins and Red Sox, he’s now Director of Latin American Operations for the Tigers. 
• 1978 - 2B Bobby Hill was born in San Jose. Part of the return from the A-Ram salary dump, he played in Pittsburgh from 2003-05. He hit .262 over that span and lost the second base job to Jose Castillo in 2005 in his last MLB season after being the starter the year before. After nearly a decade spent as head coach of Mission College, he’s now the skipper for West Valley College. 

Bobby Hill - 2004 Pirates promo

• 1981 - C Ryan Doumit was born in Moses Lake, Washington. Dewey was drafted by the Pirates in 1999 in the second round out of high school and caught ‘n’ stuff for the Pirates from 2005-11, with Bucco career numbers of .271, 67 HR and 266 RBI. Unfortunately, in those seven years he never stayed healthy and he only got into 100+ games twice for Pittsburgh. He retired after the 2014 season with 10 MLB campaigns, taking his final spin with Atlanta. 
• 1984 - After being released by the Atlanta Braves, the Pirates signed RHP Bob Walk, sending him to AAA Hawaii. The Whirly Bird (a nickname dubbed by his ‘80 Philly teammates because of his antics) ended up spending 10 seasons as a Bucco twirler, going 82-61-5 with a 3.83 ERA and putting up a 2-1 record during the Bucs three NLCS series from 1990-92. He then made the transition to the Pirates’ broadcast booth, where he’s been a fixture since his retirement. 
• 1986 - RJ Reynolds became the second Bucco to lead off the Home Opener with a home run (Billy Cox was the first in 1947) and later added a double, but it wasn’t enough muscle as Doc Gooden and the Mets dropped the Pirates, 4-2, at TRS. Rick Reuschel took the loss. 
• 1986 - The Pirates sent OF Marvell Wynne to the San Diego Padres for RHP Bob Patterson. It was a win-win deal. Patterson eventually was effective as a reliever for the Bucs (he came to the club as a starter) over six seasons, and Wynne played fairly regularly for SD for the next four seasons. He was replaced in Pittsburgh by Barry Bonds and a year later, Andy Van Slyke. 

Billy Hatcher - 1990 Upper Deck

• 1990 - The Bucs shipped OF’er Billy Hatcher, an 1989 deadline pick-up, to Cincinnati for IF Jeff Richardson, who got into six games as a Pirate in 1991, and RHP Mike Roesler, who appeared in five 1990 games. Hatcher, to add a little salt to the wound, helped the Reds sink the Bucs in the 1990 NLCS by hitting .333 and played six more MLB seasons as mainly a platoon outfielder. For Hatcher, the trade wasn’t the main event of the day. He was in the delivery room with his pregnant wife when he learned the news, and didn’t even ask what team he was traded to. Hatcher found his new destination after his daughter Chelsea was born, when Cincy GM Bob Quinn called to welcome him to the Reds. 
• 1997 - Per the Associated Press, for the first time in major league history, the salary of one player was more than that of a team. The Chicago White Sox paid Albert Belle $10M for the season, which was $928,333 more than the entire Pirate “Freak Show” payroll. The Pirates won 79 games that year while the White Sox won 80 and neither made the postseason, so pick your poison. 
• 2000 - The Pirates had a sold-out house of over 50,000 fans for the Home Opener, the final one for TRS, but Mother Nature didn’t cooperate. The team canceled the game against the Astros because of rain, causing the fans to litter the field with various ballpark debris. Then, to make matters worse, the crowd left to a massive traffic jam - the police who had directed the flow into the park were gone and not scheduled to return until the game was over, so people trying to get back home were left to their own devices in navigating an escape route until the officers could regroup. The game was played the next night in a gray drizzle, and a smattering of fans were treated to a 5-2 loss. 
• 2003 - The Pirates completed a season-opening three-game sweep of Cincinnati at The Great American Ballpark with a 7-5 win. Former Red Reggie Sanders went deep twice for Pittsburgh, going 4-for-5 and adding five RBI. Sanders went 7-for-10 in the series as the Pirates jumped out to their first 3-0 start to a season since 1993. The quick start wasn’t much of an omen - Pittsburgh finished the campaign with 75 wins, 13 games off the Cubs’ division-winning pace. 

Reggie Sanders - 2003 Topps 205

• 2006 - GM Dave Littlefield received a one-year extension on his contract, carrying him through the 2008 season. Hired in 2001, he had put together a 314-407 (.436) record, but owner Kevin McClatchy cited the forward progress the team had made under Littlefield’s tenure. The endorsement didn’t have very long legs as he was canned after the 2007 campaign. Brian Graham (Player Development director) replaced him as the interim GM before Neal Huntington was hired three weeks later. Graham was let go shortly thereafter, along with manager Jim Tracy and suits Ed Creech (Scouting director) and Jon Mercurio (Baseball Operations director). 
• 2011 - The Pirates plated a pair of runs in the ninth to down the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 5-4. A walk to Garrett Jones, a single by Neil Walker and a Lyle Overbay bunt against Carlos Marmol left runners at second and third in the ninth for Pedro Alvarez, who rolled a ball softly to the left side hole. He beat it out for a soft single as both Bucs scored, giving El Toro three RBI on the day. Jeff Karstens got the win in relief of Ross Ohlendorf, with Joel Hanrahan picking up the save. 
• 2016 - In the kickoff of the major league season shown on ESPN, the Pirates defeated the Cardinals, 4-1, in front of a sellout crowd of 39,500 fans at PNC Park. Frankie Liriano struck out 10 batters in six scoreless frames and also drove in the game’s first run with a single off losing hurler Adam Wainwright. Josh Harrison managed to hit into a sac fly/double play combo when with runners on first and third and no outs, his fly plated a run although the runner at first was cut down trying to retreat back to second after taking a wide turn to draw the throw. Though the year started off on a high note for the Cisco Kid, he would be traded to Toronto at the deadline after posting a 6-11/5.46 slash during the campaign, returning to Pittsburgh for a bullpen role in 2019.