5/13: Strickland, Fitz Sold; BB Goes B-2-B; 12 For Jerry; Groat Sixer; Necciai K's 27; Game Tales; Mike Goes; The Man #3,000; TV News; HBD Maxie, JR, Jack, Bill, Leroy, Bullet & Jimmy

• 1883 - C Jimmy Archer was born in Dublin, Ireland. He played for five different clubs during his career, starting out and then playing his last year in Pittsburgh, first in 1904 as a rookie and then taking his bow in 1918. Archer was a strong armed catcher (his throwing strength was a trademark of Archer’s play; one bio credited it to shortened arms muscles caused by a teenage work accident) who often threw out wanna-be base stealers from a squat. In his two stints with the Pirates, he only got into 31 games and hit .154 but posted a career .249 BA. He retired and became a purchaser for Armour meats. Jimmy made the news as a hero in 1931 when he revived a pair of drivers who had been overcome by carbon dioxide while idling their rigs in the Union Stockyards. 
• 1886 - RHP Frank “Bullet” Miller was born in Salem, Michigan. Miller tossed for the Pirates from 1916-19 and put up a 41-49-2/2.75 slash. Miller sat out two full seasons (1920-21) when the Pirates wouldn’t meet his salary demands, working his farm instead. He did eventually return to baseball when the Boston Braves paid the 36-year-old $7,500 in 1922, but hung up the spikes and returned to farming after two more seasons. His nickname was a nod to his fastball. 
• 1901 - 33-year-old OF Elmer “Mike” Smith was released as a late cut to the roster. He spent seven of his 14 big league years with Pittsburgh, starting as a pitcher in 1892 but quickly being converted to the pasture, where he hit .325 for the Pirates. It was the end of the road for Smith; he played in just 16 more MLB games. Smith was born in Allegheny City and lived in the North Side on Madison Avenue throughout his four-team (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New York & Boston) career. After leaving baseball, Smith worked as an inspector for the City of Pittsburgh. 
• 1909 - SS Leroy Morney was born in Oak Forest, Illinois. Morney had brief local stops in 1933 with the Homestead Grays (one of three teams he played for that season) and with the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1934. Leroy had happy feet, playing for 15 teams in a 14-year career as a heavy-hitting shortstop who was named to three Negro League All-Star games. 

Bill McKinley - 1955 Bowman

• 1910 - Umpire Bill McKinley was born in Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County. He was an AL umpire from 1946-65, making the calls in 2,977 regular season games, four World Series and three All-Star Games. After his retirement at age 55, he later served as umpire-in-chief of the short-lived 1969 Global League. 
• 1931 - C Jack Shepherd was born in Clovis, California. Signed out of Stanford in 1953, his first full season was the following year when he hit .304 and was a member of The Sporting News All-Rookie team. He played for Pittsburgh through 1956, compiling a lifetime .260 BA; he retired in 1957. 
• 1952 - RHP Ron Necciai of Gallatin struck out 27 batters while throwing a 7-0 no-hitter for the Bristol Twins, the Pirates' Class D Appalachian League team, against the Welch Miners. Four hitters reached base against him, via a walk, an error, a hit batsman and a passed ball on a swinging third strike that resulted in a four-strikeout ninth inning. Only two batters put the ball in play: a grounder to short in the second inning and an error in the ninth. Necciai pitched for the Bucs later in the year, but a torn rotator cuff limited him to that one MLB season. 
• 1953 - Pittsburgh sold SS George Strickland to the Cleveland Indians. It was a nice grab by the Tribe, which got eight seasons out of the sweet-fielding infielder, who started for four years and played 85 or more games in six Indians campaigns. Bo never had much of a stick - he hit over .238 just once in a decade-long career, but was consistently among the league leaders in fielding. Strickland’s time as a Pirate came to an end when the club signed the O’Brien twins (Eddie was a SS) as bonus babies; the rules of the time required that they stay on the MLB roster for two years or be released. George later went on to scout, coach and manage. They also sold C Ed Fitz Gerald to the Washington Senators. Fitz went on to play seven more seasons with a .264 BA; he left the Pirates without an experienced backup backstop as he was replaced by another bonus baby, Nick Koback, who got into 16 Bucco games in three years and batted .121. Ed became a golf instructor after his baseball days, swinging a driver rather than a Louisville Slugger. 

George Strickland - 1952 Topps

• 1958 - A quick shout-out to the original kid from Donora: the Cardinals’ Stan Musial got his 3,000th hit with a pinch hit double off the Chicago Cubs’ Moe Drabowsky at Wrigley Field when the Hall of Famer was 37 and in his 16th season. Stan The Man is fourth all-time with 3,630 hits. 
• 1960 - Dick Groat became the first National League player since Philadelphia’s Connie Ryan in 1953 to go 6-for-6 and the first Bucco since Johnny Hopp in 1950 to roll sixes as Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee, 8-2, at County Stadium. He collected three doubles and three singles. Four other Bucs had two-hit days as Bob Friend cruised to the win. The day was a foreshadowing of Groat's charmed 1960 season despite being Friday the 13th - he was the Bucs team captain, an All-Star, won the batting title by hitting .325, earned a World Series ring and was honored as MVP. 
• 1975 - Jerry Reuss fanned a career-high 12 batters while tossing a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 victory over the San Diego Padres at Three Rivers Stadium. Frank Tavares tripled home Paul Popovich for the first run, and the Bucco insurance came in when Manny Sanguillen’s sac fly brought home Reuss, who had singled, was bunted to second and went to third after a stray pickoff throw. 
• 1983 - Mike Easler provided enough offense to help Rick Rhoden and Kent Tekulve (who had to relieve a shaky Rod Scurry in the ninth to clinch the win) to a 2-1 victory over the New York Mets at TRS. The Hit Man had three knocks and both RBI, walking the game off in the ninth with a single off lefty Carlos Diaz that scored Dave Parker. The Cobra showed some fine footwork in the last frame, stealing second after a knock and barely eluding Ron Hodge’s tag at home with a nifty slide to score the game-winner. Easler had more than his bat going; he also threw out Darryl Strawberry trying to score earlier in the game. 

Mike Easler - 1983 Topps

• 1988 - Barry Bonds hit a leadoff homer for the second day in a row, a feat also accomplished by his dad Bobby in 1973. It came in handy as the Bucs rallied against the Reds, 6-5, at TRS. Bonds scored the winner in the ninth when he led off with a single and came all the way around when 1B Dave Collins threw away Jose Lind’s sac bunt trying for the force at second. 
• 1991 - C John Ryan Murphy was born in Bradenton, Florida. A second round draft pick of the Yankees in 2009 straight out of high school, he played with NY, Minnesota, Arizona and Atlanta before the Pirates signed him as an NRI for the 2020 campaign. JR made the team from the season’s start after Luke Maile was injured and served as Jake Stalling’s caddy. He became a free agent in October, found no takers and in 2023 joined the Phillies as a minor league coach. 
• 1992 - The Pirates coughed up an eight-run cushion after leading 10-2 in the fourth inning when a four-run Brave rally in the eighth inning knotted the score. The club saved face in the ninth thanks to a Jay Bell homer (good timing; it was Jay’s first of the year) to escape with an 11-10 verdict at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. Bell had four RBI, Steve Buechele added three more and Stan Belinda, who gave up a two-run shot the inning prior, worked the ninth for the win. Bell, Andy Van Slyke and Don Slaught had four hits while Buechele added three more raps as the Bucs banged out a season-high 21 knocks. The victory snapped Pittsburgh’s seven-game losing streak to the Braves. 
• 1993 - IF Max Moroff was born in Winter Haven, Florida. He was a 16th round draft pick in 2012 out of high school, and got on the radar in 2015 when he was named an Eastern League & Baseball America AA All-Star while honored as the Pirates Minor League Player of the Year. The switch hitter made his cup-of-coffee Bucco debut in 2016, played on the big club the following season starting in May, and answered the call in 2018 in mid-April when Josh Harrison went down with a broken hand. The Bucs sent him to Cleveland in the 2018 off season as part of the Eric Gonzalez deal, then he went to the Cards. After shoulder surgery in 2021, Max was released in the off-season by the Redbirds, didn’t catch on with another club and hasn’t played since. 

Max Moroff - 2018 Pirates image

• 1999 - The Pirates got a welcome financial boost when they and Fox Sports extended their TV contract, which was due to end after the 2000 season, through 2007. The fees weren’t disclosed, but the Bucs were booked to collect $4.5M per year in 2000 and the ante was anticipated to escalate. The games available for broadcast went up from 100 per year to 120, the most TV exposure ever given to the team, and Kevin McClatchy cited that the length of the deal would give the Pirates some financial certainty moving forward. 
• 2007 - Pittsburgh, which had been averaging just 3.2 runs scored per game, erupted against the Braves and rolled to a 13-2 win at PNC Park, defeating Anthony Lerew, who had just been called up from AAA and was making his second major league start. The 18-hit attack (all singles and doubles) was led by Jack Wilson, with three knocks and who reached safely during all five of his plate appearances. Chris Duffy and Freddy Sanchez also had three raps each, and every starting Bucco position player hit safely. The Pirates never had fewer than two runners aboard in any inning (along with the Bucco hit parade, Atlanta issued seven free passes to go with an intentional walk, bopped batter and boot). Ian Snell went seven frames for the win. 
• 2009 - The Pirates beat the Cardinals 5-2 at PNC Park. Adam LaRoche made history when he had a first-inning home run call reversed by instant replay and ruled a double. It was the first time in 14 reviews that a homer had been overruled since instant replay started in 2008. The Bucs didn’t clear the fences that night, but did bang out five two-baggers. Jack Wilson led the hit parade with three knocks while Ross Ohlendorf got the win and Matt Capps picked up the save.