8/15: Cole Signs, Bunning Dealt, Max To Pgh; Jose Hammers, Long Bob, Steverino Shutouts, NY-Buc Battles, Game Tales, 4 For Ralph; HBD Jarrod, Ollie, Ramon, Duffy, Red, Bernie, Lew & Doggie

• 1864 - George “Doggie” Miller was born in Brooklyn. Doggie was mostly a catcher, but also played the OF and every IF position, primarily third. In 10 seasons with the Alleghenys and Pirates (1884-1893), he hit .254 and was the epitome of a contact hitter: Doggie struck out 99 times in a Pittsburgh uniform (not counting 1884-86, which have no K stats), and never had a season where he whiffed more than he walked. Doggie was athletic for a catcher; beside playing all those other positions, he swiped 209 bases. Miller is one of three catchers to last a decade in Pittsburgh, along with George Gibson and Manny Sanguillen, and was the first player ever to spend 10 years with Pittsburgh. Doggie got his nickname because he bred dogs. In a less kindly vein, he was also called “Foghorn” and “Calliope” because of a mouth that never shut when he was on the field. 
• 1872 - IF Lew Carr was born in Union Springs, New York. Lew’s only major league action was with the powerhouse 1901 Pirates when he got into nine games and went 7-for-28, which was pretty heady stuff for a guy who played for the amateur Morovian team in 1899 while going to Hobart College. He also was the table-setter for Hans Wagner who slid into the SS spot after Carr was injured after a beaning. Lew attended Syracuse and earned a Law degree after his playing days and stayed around to coach the school's baseball team from 1910-42. In 1952, the school's ballyard was renamed in his honor and he was selected into the College Baseball Hall of Fame. Known locally as “Mr. Baseball,” Carr spent his retirement years starting a little league program in Moravia and served as its commissioner until he passed away in 1954 at age 81. 
• 1906 - LHP George “Red” Peery was born in Salt Lake City. He spent 10 games in the majors; his first was with the Pirates in 1927, when the 20-year-old tossed an inning and gave up an unearned run on a walk & boot. He retired in 1930 as a 23-year-old after working in the Texas League. 
• 1908 - RHP Bernie Walter was born in Dover, Tennessee. He got one MLB inning in 1930 as a Pirate, tossing a clean frame as a 22-year-old fresh out of the U of Tennessee. His main job wasn’t to challenge for a rotation spot; he spent the season as the Pirates BP pitcher. 

Lefty Leifield - 1910 Tip Top

• 1910 - In a meeting of two powerhouse rivals, the Pirates and NY Giants split a twinbill at the Polo Grounds by 2-1 scores. The first game went 11 innings before either team scored. Pittsburgh got a pair of runs off Christy Mathewson thanks to a Fred Clarke double; Lefty Leifield was nicked for a score in the bottom half but hung on for the win. The Giants scored twice in the first frame of the nightcap off Howie Camnitz, and Hooks Wiltsie made it hold up, with the only Buc run coming via a Hans Wagner double and Doggie Miller single an inning later. However, the game didn’t have much influence on the finish as the Cubs won 104 games and ran away with the pennant, leaving the usual NL suspects in their dust. 
• 1910 - The Pirates bought the rights to OF’er Max Carey from South Bend of the Central League. The Hall-of-Famer played in Pittsburgh for 17 seasons, compiling a .287 BA and .363 OBP with 2,416 hits, 918 walks (he had over 1,000 in his career), 1,414 runs scored and 688 stolen bases. He led the NL in stolen bases 10 times and still holds the Bucco record for swipes, barely edging out Honus Wagner. They also purchased SS Alex McCarthy on the same day from the same club. He spent eight years as a Bucco good-glove utility guy, hitting just .226. 
• 1934 - The Bucs and the NY Giants split a twin bill at Forbes Field. The Giants took the opener, 5-4, holding on after a four-run first for the win. Lloyd Waner singled to bring his hitting streak to 22 games. Pittsburgh won a see-saw battle in the second game. NY tied it, 3-3, in the eighth; the Bucs answered in their half and won 4-3 behind Schoolboy Hoyt’s arm and Arky Vaughan’s homer. The Giants did end Little Poison’s hitting streak in the second contest, but he collected knocks in the next nine games to claim a 31-of-32 games batting roll. 
• 1945 - C Duffy Dyer was born in Dayton, Ohio. Dyer backed up Manny Sanguillen from 1975-78, hitting .227 as a Bucco. He caught John Candelaria's no-hitter on August 9th, 1976 and led NL catchers in fielding % in 1977. The light-hitting (.221 lifetime BA) catcher had a long career behind the dish, lasting 14 MLB campaigns. He managed in the minors after his playing days, scouted and was a MLB coach for the Brewers and Oakland A’s. In 2013, Duffy powered down to skipper the Kenosha Kingfish, a summer collegiate league club; he had managed Kenosha in the early eighties when the town was home to a Twins farm club. 

Duffy Dyer - 1976 Topps

• 1947 - Ralph Kiner hit a home run off Red Munger in his last at bat during a 7-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field. Kiner then homered in his first three at bats in his next game against the Cards Ken Burkhart, tying the record for consecutive home runs. And this time the results were better for the Bucs as the Pirates slugged their way to a 12-7 victory.
• 1950 - The Pirates surrendered six runs in the ninth inning, then scored a half dozen of their own to beat the Reds, 10-9, at Forbes Field. The Bucs put up the six spot with six singles, a walk and a big boot - a bobbled potential double play ball - with Clyde McCullough getting the walk-off knock, scoring Wally Westlake from second when his liner was deflected into no man’s land by Reds pitcher Johnny Hetki. The highlight was a fifth-inning homer by Ralph Kiner, Mr. Swat's 33rd, to left center field off Ewell Blackwell that was estimated to travel 480’. The Bucs third twirler, Bill MacDonald, earned the win. 
• 1951 - Ralph Kiner banged a homer and triple, scored twice and chased home four runners as the Bucs beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-0, at Forbes Field behind Bob Friend’s two-hitter (he was effectively wild with eight walks) and first career shutout. George Metkovich added three hits to the pot. 
• 1964 - Pirate pitchers Tommie Sisk, Frank Bork and Alvin McBean spoiled “Ernie Banks Day” at Wrigley Field, holding Bingo hitless in a 5-4 Bucco win. Donn Clendenon had a pair of RBI (his two-out single in the ninth inning was the eventual game winner) while Bob Bailey and Roberto Clemente homered. McBean claimed the victory over Lindy McDaniel. 
• 1968 - Steve Blass tossed a four-hit shutout in Pittsburgh’s 2-0 win over the Giants at Forbes Field. It was Blass’ seventh complete game and third whitewash of the season (he ended up with seven zippos, a career high). The Pirates scratched out their scores, tallying via a first inning single by Donn Clendenon and an error that brought home Willie Stargell. 1968 was Steverino’s breakout campaign as he slashed 18-6/2.12 during the year, beginning a five-year run of 30+ starts. 

Jim Bunning - 1969 Topps

• 1969 - The Pirates traded RHP pitcher Jim Bunning to the Dodgers for two minor league players and cash. Bunning was nagged by injuries and was a disappointing 14-23/3.84 in two seasons with Pittsburgh. He left Pittsburgh and won just 18 more games before retiring after 1971, though he would earn a spot in Cooperstown for his work with the Tigers and Phils. IF Chuck Goggin and 1B/OF Ron Mitchell were the return. Goggin earned eight at-bats in Pittsburgh while Mitchell never made it to the show, spending 11 years in the minors. 
• 1969 - Big Bob Veale went the distance for the third straight time, scattering six hits against the Reds at Crosley Field to lead the Bucs to a 5-1 victory. The Pirates flexed their muscles in the victory, homering four times - Gene Alley went yard twice while Richie Hebner and Al Oliver also swatted long balls. Veale would add one more complete game to the streak before ending the string at four games after a six-inning outing in a win against Cincy. 
• 1970 - Jose Pagan homered twice while going 4-for-4 with five RBI as the Pirates beat the Padres, 9-3 at TRS. It was the third career two-homer game for Pagan, who homered just 52 times in 4,032 career plate appearances. Bill Mazeroski also went long and Bob Veale struck out 12 batters while tossing a complete game and driving in three runs with a bases-loaded rap. 
• 1974 - RHP Ramon Morel was born in Villa Gonzalez in the Dominican Republic. Ramon pitched for the Bucs from 1995-97, going 2-2/4.98. He pitched one last season for the Cubs before spending time in the minors, Japan and the Dominican League until he retired following the 2008 campaign. At last check, he’s now working for a Florida sports training academy. 
• 1981 - LHP Oliver Perez was born in Culiacan, Mexico. Part of the Jason Bay deal, he pitched from 2003-06 for the Bucs. Ollie had a breakout 2004 campaign, when he went 12-10 with a 2.98 ERA and 239 K in 196 IP, the third most whiffs in franchise history for a single season. Control and velocity problems ruined his effectiveness, and he reinvented himself later in his career as a LOOGY. He twirled in the Mexican League before retiring in 2023 after 20 years of MLB moundwork. 

Jarrod Dyson - 2020 Topps Update

• 1984 - CF Jarrod Dyson was born in McCombs, Mississippi. A rare 50th-round draft pick (#1,475 overall) that made a career in the MLB, he played seven years for the KC Royals, a season for Seattle and two campaigns with the D-Backs. The Bucs signed him to a one-year/$2M contract in 2020 to fill the gap in center left by the Starling Marte trade. The 35-year-old Dyson featured good defense and fleet feet but an indifferent bat in 2019, with his batting line at .230/.313/.320 (66 OPS+) but with 30 swiped bases and 13 Defensive Runs Saved on the plus side of the ledger. He lasted in Pittsburgh until August (his BA was .157) before being sent to the White Sox and then was picked up by his original club, the Royals, in 2021. Jarrod finished the season, his last in MLB, with Toronto. 
• 1993 - The Bucs parlayed a couple of small-ball moves perfectly in the 11th inning and were rewarded with a 4-3, walk-off win against the Braves at Three Rivers Stadium. Dave Clark led off by falling behind 0-2, then held his ground as he watched four off speed pitches miss the mark. Jimmy Leyland put on a hit-and-run for Don Slaught, who banged a ball through the vacated second base hole, and when the center fielder took a tumble cutting it off, Rich Donnelly waved Clark home with the winner. Donnelly’s windmill failed him in the ninth inning when Jeff King was cut down at the plate; Rich didn’t exactly have greyhounds steaming around the corner. King was the hitting hero with two hits, including a big two-run triple, as Blas Minor picked up his seventh win. 
• 2011 - On the last day to sign draftees, the Pirates and #1 pick Gerrit Cole agreed to a record $8M minor-league deal. Cole turned down an $8.5M major league contract running through 2016. His agent, Scott Boras, said the pitcher projects to earn an additional $1.4 million under this deal. "It's essentially the largest signing bonus ever given an amateur player," Pirates GM Neal Huntington told ESPN. "Sometimes, it's more advantageous for a player to take a minor league contract with a bonus that can be spread over nine months than a major league contract that would be spread out over four years." Cole Train wasn’t the only deadline signee; 23 of 33 first round picks hadn’t come to terms yet, but all except prepster RHP Tyler Beede (Toronto’s overall #21 pick, once a Buc & now pitching in the Cleveland system) were in the fold at the day’s end. Cole’s deal and the signing of second pick Josh Bell to a record $5M contract eventually led to the MLB adopting a bonus pool system for draft selections to limit the big paydays.