10/22: Clines - Dyer, All - Star Cutch, Clint Manager of the Year, Big Daddy Comeback Player, SI Coverboy Scrap Iron; HBD Alen, Bix, Keith, Wilbur, The Hat, Possum & Jughandle

• 1885 - Pittsburgh hosted a prototype world series that it wasn’t even part of. The 1885 World Series was an ad hoc post-season playoff roadshow between the NL champion Chicago White Stockings and American Association champion St. Louis Browns, played in four different cities. The fifth game was played at Recreation Park in Pittsburgh. The day was cold and fewer than 500 people showed up. Chicago won, 9-2, with the game called after seven innings because of darkness. 
• 1895 - RHP “Jughandle Johnny” Morrison was born in Pellville, Kentucky. He worked eight seasons (1920-27) for the Pirates with an 89-71-14 record and 3.52 ERA. In 1921, he was part of a Pirate brother act when sib Phil made the roster. Jughandle twice led the senior circuit in shutouts with three in 1921 and five in 1922. But his best campaign was in 1923 when he was 25-13-2/3.49 w/301 innings worked. He led the NL in outings in 1924 with 41 and again in 1925 with 44, with 51 starts in that span. In 1925, Johnny was 17-14-4 for the pennant-winning Pirates and pitched three games in the World Series against the Washington Senators without a decision, striking out seven in 9-1/3 frames. He got his nickname from his sweeping curve that bent like a jug handle. 
• 1916 - Announcer Jim Woods was born in Kansas City. He was a sidekick of Bob Prince at KDKA from 1958-69, where he was known as "The Possum." Woods worked for the Yankees, Giants and NBC before coming to Pittsburgh, moving later to the Cardinals, Athletics and Red Sox, then finishing his career as an announcer for the USA Network's Thursday Night Baseball games. Woods picked up his nickname of "Possum" while with New York. He had a slight overbite and close-cropped hair, and as he walked into the clubhouse fresh from a haircut, Enos Slaughter (or perhaps Whitey Ford; they're the two likeliest suspects), looked him over and said, "I've seen better heads on a possum." Prince picked up on and popularized the Yankees moniker so that even the Gunner's wife Betty would introduce Woods’ spouse Audrey as “Mrs. Possum.” 
• 1916 - Harry “The Hat” Walker was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Walker was hired in 1965 to replace Danny Murtaugh, who stepped down for health reasons. The Pirates contended for the pennant during the 1965 and 1966 seasons, finishing third behind the left-coast one-two punch of the champion Los Angeles Dodgers and runner-up San Francisco Giants. But when the 1967 Pirates stumbled to a .500 mark in mid-season, Walker was let go in favor of his predecessor, Murtaugh. He left his mark, though, by building an attacking, offensive mindset within the organization. Walker got his nickname from his habit of tugging on his cap between pitches as a player. 

Wilbur Wood - photo from the Cooperstown Collection

• 1941 - RHP Wilbur Wood was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The knuckleballer spent four years with Boston and then 1964-65 w/Pittsburgh (1-3/3.18 in 37 games), never finding a spot while mixing his regular stuff with the dancer. He was traded to the White Sox for Juan Pizarro. That’s where Hoyt Wilhelm convinced him into converting into a straight knuckler and his career took off. He made 292 relief appearances over four years for Chicago and then flipped to the rotation, where he made 40> starts for five straight years, worked 300+ IP for four of those seasons and won 20+ games four times (he won 16 times & threw 291 IP in 1975). He ended his 17-year career in 1978 at age 37 with 651 appearances (297 starts), 164 wins, a 3.24 ERA and 52.2 WAR. 
• 1968 - C Keith Osik was born in Port Jefferson, NY. Osik played for the Bucs from 1996-2002 as a catcher and utility guy, even pitching twice in blowout games while hitting .231. He’s been the head baseball coach since 2005 at Farmingdale State College SUNY, a Division III school located on Long Island, and taken his Rams to eight NCAA D-3 Tournament appearances as skipper. 
• 1974 - The Pirates traded OF Gene Clines to the New York Mets for C Duffy Dyer. Dyer was a Pirate reserve for four years, mostly playing behind Manny Sanguillen. Clines didn’t do much for the Mets, but still had a couple of decent seasons left in him before hanging up the spikes after the 1979 season with a .277 career BA (.287 as a Pirate). Afterward, he coached for the Astros, Mariners, Cubs, Giants and Dodgers organizations until he passed away in Florida in 2022. 
• 1979 - Phil Garner was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated during SI’s WS coverage. Scrap Iron had a hot hand and ended up a pretty solid choice for SI to feature, hitting .500 (12-for-24) in the October Classic, banging out four doubles, scoring four runs and driving home five teammates. 
• 1982 - Utility man Brian Bixler was born in Sandusky, Ohio. He was drafted by the Pirates in the second round of the 2004 MLB draft from Eastern Michigan U. Bix looked good in the minors and even made Team USA in 2007. He got 68 yo-yo games between 2008-09 to show his stuff, but hit just .189 for Pittsburgh. The Bucs traded him to Cleveland; then the Tribe sold him back to the Pirates and 11 minor-league games later Pittsburgh sold him to the Nats. Bix played a bit for the Washington Nats and the Houston Astros, then hung up the spikes after the 2014 season following a stint in the San Diego Padres’ system. 

Brian Bixler - 2009 Topps

• 1985 - RHP Rick Reuschel, 36, won The Sporting News NL “Comeback Player of the Year” award by going 14-8/2.27 for the Bucs after posting a 2-5/5.17 line with the Cubs in 1984. He still had plenty in the tank, going on to win 58 more games from 1986-89 for the Pirates and Giants. Big Daddy was preceded by The Deacon, Vern Law (1965), and Willie “Pops” Stargell (1978) as Pittsburgh Comeback awardees with Frankie Liriano joining the club in 2013. 
• 1992 - Utilityman Alen Hanson was born in La Romana, Dominican Republic. A prize IF prospect (his development allowed the Bucs to let Dilson Herrera go in a trade), his bat and glove never quite matched the hype. In two call-ups with the Pirates in 2016-17, he was seldom used and produced little (92 PAs, .205 BA). Out of options, the Pirates waived him in June of 2017 and he was claimed by the White Sox. Alen hit .231 for them, playing five positions plus DH while swiping nine bases in 11 tries. He joined the Giants in 2018, playing four spots and batting .252 in a career-high 110 games, but it didn’t carry over - he got into just 18 games for Toronto in 2019, hitting .163. He’s been playing in the Dominican & Mexican leagues since that time, with a ‘23 stop in Japan. 
• 2013 - The Sporting News named Clint Hurdle NL Manager of the Year as he led the Pirates to the playoffs after breaking a 20-year string of losing seasons with a 90-win campaign. The Bucs won the NL Wild Card Game against the Reds before dropping a five-game series against the NL Central champs St Louis in the 2013 NLDS. The Baseball Writers seconded the emotion on November 12th. 
• 2014 - CF Andrew McCutchen was the only Pirate named to The Sporting News NL All-Star team even though the club earned a wild-card berth. Still, the Bucs showed well - 3B Josh Harrison & 2B Neil Walker were runners-up, while C Russ Martin and LHP Tony Watson were also in the mix, finishing third.