11/21 Through the 1950’s: Todd - Passeau, Mace, Foxy To Pgh; Bragan Signs, HBD Bill A, Daryl, The Man, Freddie, Alex, Billy C & Henry

• 1865 - IF Henry Youngman was born in Dortmund, Germany and raised in Indiana, PA. He played for part of one quite inauspicious MLB campaign, suiting up with the 1890 Alleghenys (the worst team in Pittsburgh baseball history with just 23 wins) until June; he hit .128 and committed 16 errors in 73 chances (.781 %) at third and second. Henry stayed local after his ball-playing days, passing away at age 70 and laid to rest at Homestead Cemetery in Munhall. 
• 1869 - IF Billy Clingman was born in Cincinnati. Billy played in parts of 10 big league seasons for seven teams, getting his first heavy dose of duty in Pittsburgh in 1895 when he played the hot corner for 106 games with the Pirates while batting .259. A good glove man who hit .246 lifetime, he retired in 1903 from the show, played through 1906 in the American Association and then got on with life in Louisville, Kentucky. He owned a print shop and an engraving business called Clingman Engraving Company, retiring in 1947 and going to his reward in 1958. 
• 1869 - P Alex Beam (no one seems to recall which hand he tossed with) was born in Johnstown. He was a star in the local leagues, working for a Greenburg nine before signing with Pittsburgh and pitching two major league games with the Alleghenys as a 19-year-old in 1889, both complete game starts, going 1-1/6.50 with some weird numbers: he walked more batters (15) than he allowed to reach via a hit (11), tossed three wild pitches and struck out one foe. His minor league record disappeared after 1892 and that’s it on Beam until his death in 1938. 
• 1888 - Pittsburgh purchased CF Ned Hanlon from the Detroit Wolverines for $2,500. Hanlon played for the Allegheny in 1889 and the Pirates in 1891; in between, he was one of many who jumped to the Players League, spending the year with the Pittsburgh Burghers. Known as the “Father of Modern Baseball” and “Foxy Ned” for his many field stratagems, he began his Hall-of-Fame coaching career in Pittsburgh as the player/manager during his hop ‘n’ skip, three-year stay in the City. He was a skipper for five teams/19 years and won five National League pennants during the pre-World Series era. 

Freddie Lindstrom - 1933 DeLong

• 1905 - OF & Hall of Famer Freddie Lindstrom was born in Chicago. Acquired from the NY Giants along with Larry French, Lindy played two seasons in Pittsburgh, hitting .302 before being sent to Chicago. Lindstrom batted .311 during a 13-year career. The Pirates got him a couple of seasons after a back injury moved him off his third base position to the outfield. 
• 1920 - Hall of Famer Stan Musial of the Cards was born in Donora. Stan the Man compiled 3,630 career hits, ranking fourth all-time and first in a career spent with only one team. With 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 on the road, he also is considered to be the most consistent hitter of his era. He hit 475 home runs, was named the NL's MVP three times, and won three World Series championships. He shares the MLB record for the most All-Star Games played (24) with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays and was a first-ballot inductee into the Hall of Fame in 1969. 
• 1934 - The Pirates bought the contract of RHP Mace Brown from Kansas City of the American Association. It was a good deal; as a multi-role hurler (he could start, close, and do everything in between), Mace went 76-57-29/3.46 for the Bucs in 226 outings over seven campaigns and earned a 1938 All-Star berth when he slashed 15-9-5/3.80 in 51 appearances. 
• 1935 - The Phillies sent C Al Todd to Pittsburgh for C Earl Grace, rookie RHP Claude Passeau, who worked just one game for the Pirates during the season, and what Pittsburgh Post Gazette writer Ed Ballinger called “a healthy amount of cash.” Todd caught three years for the Bucs, hitting a solid .284 before being flipped to Boston for C Ray Mueller while the vet Grace still had a couple of seasons left in the tank. Passeau, who had pitched just once for the Bucs as a rookie in 1935, was the key figure, putting up a 162-150/3.32 line and was a five-time All Star during his 13-year MLB career. 

Al Todd - 1937 Conlon Collection/Getty

• 1943 - RHP Daryl Patterson was born in Coalinga, California. Patterson worked off-and-on for five years in MLB, closing out his career with the Pirates in 1974, going 2-1-1/7.29. He joined the club after two years in the minors and appeared in his last major league game on September 14, 1974. Patterson ended his playing days at the Pirates' AAA Charleston Charlies in 1974-75. Patterson painful claim to fame: On July 14th, 1974, he was involved in a brawl with the Cincinnati Reds where he was bitten in the neck and had his hair pulled by Cincy’s Pedro Borbón. Patterson got a tetanus shot after the incident and Borbon was dubbed “Dracula” by Pirates announcer Bob Prince after the fracas. 
• 1952 - IF Bill Almon was born in Warwick, Rhode Island. Bill played in Pittsburgh from 1985-87, batting .249 before being traded to the Mets for Al Pedrique. His last season and 15th MLB season was 1988 as a Phil before he retired and joined the family business. Trivia Pursuit: Bill Almon was the first and only Ivy Leaguer to be drafted first overall by any of the four major professional sports when the Brown grad was selected by San Diego with the first pick of the ‘74 Draft. 
• 1952 - Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Joe Black, who posted a 15-4/2.15 slash, ran away with the National League Rookie of the Year. Another pitcher, Hoyt Wilhelm of the San Francisco Giants, claimed second, followed by Bucs SS Dick Groat (.284) and Milwaukee Braves 3B Eddie Mathews. 
• 1956 - Bobby Bragan inked his second contract as Bucco manager after his initial one-year audition ended, and though the terms weren’t revealed, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported he had received a ”substantial raise.” Hopefully he didn’t spend it all in one place; he was relieved of duties with two months remaining in the season. Ironically, Brash Bobby’s critics said that he was a fish out of water with such a young team and was better suited to lead a veteran club, but his greatest successes as field general were as a minor-league skipper. In fact, Bragan became president of the Texas League and was later elected president of Minor League Baseball’s National Association.