- 1892 - OF Lee King was born in Hundred, West Virginia, just across the Pennsylvania state line. After being picked up from the Central League’s Wheeling Stogies, he played for Pittsburgh from 1916-18, compiling a .241 BA. King’s Bucco career ended when he enlisted during the war; when he returned in 1919, his contract was purchased by the New York Giants. He played through 1922, mostly in NY, spent a few seasons in the minors and retired to his native West Virginia, where he would relive the old days with an occasional trip to watch the Pirates at Forbes Field. On the Big Stage: King drove in the final NY Giants’ run of the 1922 World Series with a single in his only at-bat in a WS game.
- 1895 - RHP John “Bonnie” Hollingsworth was born in Jacksboro, Tennessee. Hollingsworth worked four MLB seasons, his first as a 27-year-old for the Pirates in 1922. In nine games, he had no decisions and an ERA of 7.90. He was shipped to Minneapolis of the American Association for Reb Russell, who was in his thirties but still hit .323 over two seasons for Pittsburgh. Bonnie closed out his decade in organized ball in 1930 with Chattanooga of the Southern Association.
- 1935 - LHP Al Jackson was born in Waco, Texas. He was a Bucco product and worked his first two pro campaigns of 1960-61 as a Pirate, getting into 11 games and going 1-0/4.75. He was then lost to the Mets in the 1961 expansion draft. Al suffered through a couple of 20-loss seasons, but he also won 40 games in four years for the sad sack Metropolitans. He ended up with 10 campaigns in the show and then coached 20 more seasons with the Mets, Orioles and Red Sox.
- 1946 - The Pirates purchased C Clyde Kluttz from the St. Louis Cardinals, and he caught 160 games over the next two seasons. In 1947, he hit .302 with career-high six home runs and 42 RBIs in 73 games, but faded to .229 the following season and was sent to the minors. He finished his career in 1952 with Washington, spent time in the bushes and then became a long-time MLB scout.
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| Clyde Kluttz - 12/27/1946 Vince Johnson/Press |
- 1950 - IF Mario Mendoza was born in Chihuahua, Mexico. In five seasons (1974-78) with the Pirates, the infielder put up a .204 BA. About the Mendoza line: "My (Seattle Mariner) teammates Tom Paciorek and Bruce Bochte used it to make fun of me," Mendoza told Dave Seminara of the St. Louis Post Dispatch in 2010 "Then they were giving George Brett a hard time because he had a slow start that year, so they told him, 'Hey, man, you're going to sink down below the Mendoza Line (.200 BA) if you're not careful.' And then Brett mentioned it to Chris Berman from ESPN, and eventually it spread and became a part of the game." Mario ironically ended up with a .215 lifetime BA, safely above his namesake line.
- 1953 - The Pirates sent 2B Danny O'Connell to the Milwaukee Braves for 3B Sid Gordon, RHP Max Surkont, OF Sam Jethroe, and minor league hurlers Curt Raydon, Fred Waters, and Larry LaSalle. The Braves threw in $100,000 to sweeten the deal. It was the only 6-for-1 deal in MLB history, outmanned only by Vida Blue’s 7-for-1 swap in 1978. Danny was sold at his high point; after hitting .294 for Pittsburgh, he never had a BA over .266 in the remaining eight years of his career. It evened out; none of the return for Pittsburgh had much impact, either.
- 1964 - 3B Jeff King was born in Marion, Indiana. The first pick overall in the 1986 draft, King reached Pittsburgh in 1989 and stayed until 1996, hitting .258 with 493 RBI during that span and was part of two division title teams in 1990 and 1992. King is one of three players, along with Willie McCovey and Andre Dawson, to hit two home runs in the same inning twice during his career. On August 8th, 1995, he hit two home runs in the second inning of the Pirates' 9-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park. On April 30th, 1996, he repeated the feat in the fourth inning of the Pirates' 10-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Cinergy Field. He retired after the ‘99 season and now is a cattle rancher in Montana.
- 1974 - The Pirates GM Joe Brown & President Dan Galbreath met with free agent pitcher Catfish Hunter in North Carolina. The Bucs sat down twice with Hunter, who was leaving the Athletics and Charlie O Finley after a 25-win campaign, and their offer, if one was made, was not disclosed. Catfish ended up signing a five-year/$3.2M deal with the Yankees, which we can assume dwarfed any bid contemplated by Pittsburgh (Willie Stargell only made $165K in ‘74).
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| Jack Zduriencik - 2018 photo/Seattle Times |
- 1990 - Jack Zduriencik was named the Pirates chief scout. The New Castle native played at California U of PA, coached at Clairton HS and was a Mets scout before joining the Bucco staff. He held the position through 1993. Zduriencik followed with a successful decade-long front office run with the Brewers, becoming the first non-GM to win Baseball America’s “Executive of the Year” award. He became Seattle’s GM in 2008, a job “Trader Jack” held until 2015. He transitioned into a media commentator on Root Sports and later, KDKA radio.
- 2012 - RH closer Joel Hanrahan and IF Brock Holt were officially traded to the Boston Red Sox for RHP Stolmy Pimentel, IF Ivan De Jesus, RHP Mark Melancon and 1B/OF Jerry Sands to finalize a deal agreed to a week or so earlier. Hanny, 31, was the key player for Boston, with 76 saves in 2011-12 for Pittsburgh, but ended up with TJ surgery and is now a Nats minor league pitching coach, while Holt blossomed as a 10-year utility guy, seven with the BoSox. The Bucs got some prospects that never emerged as more than fringe roster players, but did land a sterling back-end reliever in Melancon who thrived as both a set-up man & closer while earning a pair of NL All-Star berths as a Pirate. He went to the Nats at the 2016 deadline and then inked a juicy four-year deal with the Giants as a free agent. The Shark was moved to the Bravos in 2019, then made stops at San Diego and Arizona. He lost the 2023 season to a shoulder injury and is now retired.
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