12/21: Holland - Mazzilli, Hughey - Hart, Anderson Deal, Frankie & Jose Signed, '05 Arbs, '59 Hot Stove, Staff Shuffle; HBD Slick, Josh, Freddy, John, Danny, Bugs, Pete & Doc

• 1878 - 1B Warren “Doc” Gill was born in Ladoga, Indiana. He played in the majors for one year as a 30-year-old on the powerful 1908 Bucco club, hitting .224 in 27 games during a month’s audition. Although he played 12 seasons of pro ball, Gill is best known for failing to touch second base in a game against the Chicago Cubs on September 4th, 1908. With the score tied in the bottom of the 10th, the Bucs’ Chief Wilson’s single plated the winning run. But Johnny Evers saw that Gill, who was on first, didn’t run the play out to second and stepped on the sack for a force-out; it was somewhat commonplace if careless for the players to head straight to the clubhouse after the game ended. Doc got away with the gaffe because Ump Hank O'Day, back in the day of one-man crews, didn’t see it. Three weeks later, the New York Giants Fred Merkle duplicated Gill's bit of lazy-bones running during a game against the Cubs; Chicago again completed the force play and this time, O’Day did see the action. Known to this day as “Merkle’s boner,” the call overturned a Giant victory and helped the Cubs to the 1908 title. Gill was nicknamed "Doc” as he was working on his dentistry degree at Washington University (St. Louis). After he retired, Gill lived up to his moniker by operating a dental practice for the next 35 years. 
• 1897 - RHP Jim Hughey was traded by the Pirates with $1,800 to the St. Louis Browns for RHP Bill Hart. Hughey had three not very good years with two terrible teams, St. Louis and Cleveland, posting a line of 16-61/4.76 that included a 4-30 slate in 1898, still the record for most losses in a season. Hart went 5-9-1/4.82 for the Bucs in his penultimate campaign. The club knew him well; Bill had won a personal best 14 games for the Pirates in 1895 during his first City stop. 
• 1897 - OF Floyd “Pete” Scott was born in Woodland, California. Pete spent three years in the majors as a good stick guy (.303 lifetime BA) off the bench who could play corner OF/IF; his final campaign was in 1928 when he hit .311 in 60 games for the Pirates. During a 14-year pro career, he hit under .300 just twice with .286 being his lowest single-season BA. 
• 1911 - Hall of Fame catcher Josh Gibson was born in Buena Vista, Georgia. Considered the top HR hitter (the “Black Babe Ruth”) of the Negro Leagues, he played for the Grays and Crawfords. His power was legendary; he hit moonshots in Forbes Field and Yankee Stadium that are still considered among the longest blasts ever launched. Gibson was the second ballplayer, behind Satchel Paige, to be elected to the Hall of Fame because of their exceptional Negro League careers though Josh never got a chance to prove himself in MLB. 

Bill Werle - 1950 Bowman

• 1920 - LHP Bill “Whirling Willie” Werle was born in Oakland, California. Werle also earned the nickname “Bugs” honestly as he was an amateur entomologist (a bug collector). He spent from 1949-1952 with the Bucs, going 28-35-14/4.76 while working every pitching role from starts to closing. Bugs got into deep hot water with the Bucco suits in 1952 after breaking curfew by coming during spring training, and then trying to tap dance his way out of his jam with a set of ever-shifting stories. He was fined, suspended, and then was traded to the St. Louis Cards in May. 
• 1930 - C Danny Kravitz was born in Lopez, near Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The reserve catcher played five years (1956-60) for Pittsburgh, hitting .236, but missed out on the ‘60 Series when he was traded in June to KC for Hank Foiles. His first homer was a story for the grandkids: he launched his bomb May 11th, 1956, in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and the Pirates trailing the Phillies, 5-2, to give the Pirates a 6-5 win. Kravitz only hit 10 long balls in his career and that was the only Danny granny. 
• 1959 - Deals dangled: After Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh nixed an A's offer to deal Roger Maris for SS Dick Groat earlier in the month (GM Joe Brown was shopping for an outfielder with some punch), Pittsburgh instead took OF Gino Cimoli along with RHP Tom Cheney from the Cardinals for RHP Ronnie Kline. Maris was then dealt to the Yankees and had the first of his two consecutive MVP years in New York, while Groat was named the NL MVP in 1960. As for the deal that did happen, Kline, who had beefed about not being used enough in ‘59, pitched 11 more seasons in the show, including a 1968-69 return to the Bucs. Cheney worked 22 games for the Pirates before being traded, winning 17 games for the Senators over the next five years. Cimoli hit .272 in a pair of Pirates seasons before being shipped to Milwaukee. In other derailed deals, Frank Lane of Cleveland told Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press that the Pirates asked about OF Minnie Minoso during the winter meetings, denying newspaper reports that OF Rocky Colavito was a Pittsburgh target. Lane said he asked for either 3B Don Hoak or RF Roberto Clemente and the Bucs countered with C Hank Foiles; needless to say, that trade talk quickly shut down. Joe Brown told Biederman that he also made unspecified player offers to Detroit for OF Al Kaline and to Washington for 3B Harmon Killebrew, but both remained with their clubs in ‘60. 
• 1960 - OF Andy Van Slyke was born in Utica, New York. AVS played eight years (1987-94) for the Bucs, hitting .283, while earning three All-Star spots, winning five Gold Gloves and claiming two Silver Sluggers during his tour. He was a mainstay of the Jimmy Leyland teams of the early nineties after coming over from the Cards in the Tony Pena deal. Known as “Slick,” his nickname was bestowed on him by his St. Louis skipper, Whitey Herzog. 

John Hope - 1994 Fleer (reverse)

• 1970 - RHP John Hope was born in Fort Lauderdale. The high schooler was a second round draft pick in 1989, signing for an $85K bonus. He went through elbow and shoulder surgery, and in part of four seasons (1993-96) with the Pirates, the righty went 1-5 with a 5.99 ERA. Hope, who had suffered through a litany of arms woes, became hooked on painkillers after his career, but later came clean through the help of the Baseball Assistance Team and Sam McDowell. 
• 1977 - 2B Freddy Sanchez was born in Hollywood. In six years (2004-09) as a Pirate, he hit .301, winning the batting crown in 2006 with a .344 BA and appearing in three All-Star games. It was a dark day in the City when fan favorite Steady Freddy was traded to the Giants, where injuries derailed his career. He hit .292 for the G-Men in the 2010 World Series season, but shoulder and back surgeries followed, making 2011 his final campaign. 
• 1979 - RHP Larry Anderson was traded to Pittsburgh by the Cleveland Indians for minor league players RHP John Burden and OF Larry Littleton. Burden never made it to the show while Littleton got a cup of coffee with the Indians in 1981 and earned a share of the MLB record for the most at-bats (23) without a hit by a non-pitcher. Anderson went 5-7-15/1.74 with AAA Portland, but the Bucs never called him up (the ‘80 bullpen was strong w/Teke, Grant Jackson, Enrique Romo, Buddy Solomon, Rod Scurry, and gang) and he was dealt to Seattle as the PTBNL in the Odell Jones deal. Jones ended up a nine-year MLB career with a line of 24-35-14/4.42 while Anderson appeared in nearly 700 games during 17 campaigns (none as a Bucco) and slashed 40-39-49/3.15. 
• 1982 - OF Lee Mazzilli was traded to the Pirates by the New York Yankees for minor leaguers Don Aubin, John Holland & Jose Rivera along w/RHP Tim Burke; the swap became official the following day. The key figures were Burke, who had an eight-year career as a reliever with 100+ saves, and Mazzilli, who spent 3-1/2 years (1982-85) with Pittsburgh, playing outfield and first base while putting up a .244 Bucco BA. The Buccos hoped that he would replace Omar Moreno in center, but Mazzilli lost the job to Marvell Wynne. He was released in ‘86 and returned to his first club, the New York Mets. 

Lee Mazzilli - 1993 Topps Traded

• 2000 - The Pirates re-signed 27-year-old RHP Jose Silva to a one-year/$795K contract. 2001 was his fifth and final year as a Bucco; he got into 26 games, with a 3-3/6.75 slash and was shipped to the Reds in the offseason. He got into a dozen games with them in 2002 to end his MLB run. In his Pirates stint (1997-2001), his line was 24-28-4/5.44 after 140 outings (53 starts). 
• 2005 - The Pirates extended tenders to arb-eligible LHP Ollie Perez, RHPs Kip Wells & Ryan Vogelsong, OF Jody Gerut and SS Jack Wilson while passing on RHP Josh Fogg. He signed with the Rockies; GM Dave Littlefield said his spot in the rotation would be taken by one of Ian Snell, Sean Burnett or Victor Santos as the Bucs were going young to retool their staff. Earlier in the offseason, they traded away hurlers Dave Williams and Mark Redman. 
• 2012 - LHP Francisco Liriano reached an agreement to sign with the Bucs for two years/$14M, pending his physical. He broke his right arm over the holidays, but he and the Pirates worked out an alternate deal that was worth $7M over two years with performance bonuses that would allow him to recapture much of the lost money. The Cisco Kid won 16 games in 2013 and was the “Comeback Player of the Year.” After the 2014 season, he returned after testing the free agent market, inking a three-year contract worth $39M. He didn’t get to finish out the contract in Pittsburgh, being shipped to Toronto at the 2016 deadline. 
• 2022 - A day of minor moves: Kieran Mattison, Altoona's manager, was promoted to the Pirates’ 2023 outfield, baserunning and run game coordinator. Callix Crabbe was named Curve skipper after leading Hi-A Greensboro last year and Robby Hammock, who spent last season as bench coach for the El Paso Chihuahuas (the San Diego Padres AAA club) took his place. Miggy Perez returned as AAA Indy manager while Jonathan Johnston remained the pilot at Lo-A Bradenton. Crabbe is now the Texas Rangers ass't hitting coach and Hammock is the Altoona skipper.

12/20: Young - Herges, Berra/Buhner - Foli/Kemp, Kitty - Clymer, Silva Dealt, Ryota, Jeff, Chris & Rich Sign, '04 Arbs Kept, Bucs In The Black; HBD Bryse, Jose, Paul, Spud, Joe, Branch & Jimmy

• 1876 - 2B Jimmy Williams was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He only played two years in Pittsburgh, but made quite a splash. In his first year, 1899, Williams hit in 27 straight games, setting an MLB rookie record that wasn’t broken until 1987, and his mark is still a Pirates team standard. His 27 triples are also an MLB rookie record, and he ended the campaign with a .354 BA. But the next year he returned to reality, hitting .264, and then jumped leagues in 1901, joining the AL Baltimore Orioles and opening the door for Tommy Leach to take control of the hot corner. 
• 1881 - Branch Rickey was born in Stockdale, Ohio. An innovator of things as diverse as the breaking the color line, a feeder minor league system and batting helmets, Rickey was the Pirate GM from 1950-55. His Pittsburgh teams were notoriously poor (“The Rickey-Dinks”), but his player development pipeline helped to form a nucleus for the 1960 World Championship club. New York sportswriter Tom Meany gave him the nickname “Mahatma,” per Lee Lowenfish in “Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman,” because he reminded him of Gandhi with his combination of almost religious fervor combined with Tammany Hall backroom tactics. He was also called “The Brain” for his innovative work & eye for players, and “El Cheapo” by some players for his tight-fisted contract dealings. 
• 1885 - OF Joe Wilhoit was born in Hiawatha, Kansas (although SABR’s Bob Rives notes that “Wilhoit's age appears to have been more closely guarded than the Coca-Cola formula. In various publications, his date of birth ranges from 1885 to 1891 and his birthplace varies from Los Angeles to Illinois to Kansas.” Our place and DOB are consensus but uncertain.) He played for four MLB seasons, and called three teams home in 1917, one being Pittsburgh where he went 2-for-10 before joining the NY Giants. Joe’s claim to fame: Playing for the Western League’s Wichita Jobbers’, he put together pro baseball’s longest hit streak of 69 games and ended the season with a .422 average. Per baseball lore, he was given a gift hit to reach 63 games when a third baseman ate his bunt rather than make a play (a credit to Wilhoit’s popularity among the players). When his streak ended at home, the fans passed a hat and filled it with $600 to reward Joe’s feat. 

Otis Clymer - 2005 Chicago Daily News/Chicago History Museum

• 1904 - The Pirates traded 1B Kitty Bransfield, IF Otto Krueger and OF Moose McCormick to the Phillies for 1B Del Howard and RF Otis Clymer. In his first MLB season, Howard hit .292 for the Pirates and was then part of the deal for P Vic Willis the following year. Clymer was a reserve for three years, hitting .284, before he was sold to the Senators in 1907. Kitty, a member of the Pirates first World Series club, stayed on for seven campaigns in Philadelphia, with a .269 BA. Moose, one of baseball’s earliest full-time pinch-hitters, didn’t play again until 1908 after leaving the game to become a salesman. Krueger hung around for one more year before leaving baseball. 
• 1904 - C Virgil “Spud” Davis was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He spent his last four seasons (1940-41, 1944-45) as a back-up catcher who hit .301 as a Bucco. From 1943-44 he coached before returning for a couple of seasons during the war years. He continued as a coach and a scout for the Pirates and briefly managed the team when manager Frankie Frisch resigned in September of 1946. Spud left baseball for good in 1950. Davis hit over .300 ten times in 16 MLB seasons, and as of his retirement, his .308 career BA was second only to Mickey Cochrane all-time among major league catchers. At last peek, it’s still in the Top Five. Per Andy Sturgill of SABR: The nickname was given to Davis by an uncle in his childhood. “I liked potatoes so much early in life that I was nicknamed Spud,” Davis explained. “But I loved baseball more than potatoes, so I cut them out.” 
• 1953 - RHP Paul Moskau was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. After climbing the hill for five years with the Reds, he joined the Bucs in 1983, getting into 13 games (five starts). Paul’s Pittsburgh line was 1-3/4.37 and he finished his MLB tour the following year as a Chicago Cub. 
• 1960 - RHP Jose DeLeon was born in Rancho Viejo, Dominican Republic. After being taken in the third round of the 1979 draft, he reached Pittsburgh in 1983. He went 17-38 with a 4.02 ERA as a Buc before being traded to the White Sox in 1986. DeLeon lasted 13 seasons in the MLB, winning 86 games while tossing for five teams and posting a workmanlike 3.76 ERA. 

Jose DeLeon - 1985 O-Pee-Chee

• 1984 - In a deal that was in the makings for a couple of weeks, SS Tim Foli, OF Steve Kemp and $800K were sent to the Pirates by the NY Yankees in exchange for SS Dale Berra, OF Jay Buhner and LHP Alfonso Pulido. The move freed Berra from the Bucco doghouse, and did the same for Kemp who was in George Steinbrenner’s bad graces. The deal was held up by the Commissioners Office until a work-around for the cash sent to Pittsburgh was struck, with Pulido tossed into the pot as a separate cash transaction. Kemp hit .246 w/2 HRs & was released in May of 1986; Foli was released in June ‘85 w/.189 BA. Buhner went on to have a 15-year career with 310 homers, mostly with Seattle, while Berra spent two years in NY, batting .230 before ending his MLB days in Houston the next season. 
• 1988 - Big day for the Bucco bank account: the team announced that the Pirates posted an operating profit of $2,850,660 during the 1988 season, the first time since 1971 the Bucs ended the year in the black. The team set a club home attendance record of 1,866,713, an increase of more than 700,000 over the previous year when Pittsburgh had an operating loss of $1,756,838. 
• 1997 - RHP Bryse Wilson was born in Durham, North Carolina. He was a fourth round pick of the Braves in 2016 out of Orange HS and debuted for Atlanta in 2018. Wilson got into 22 games (14 starts) over four years with a 5-4/5.45 slash. At the 2021 deadline, he was traded to Pittsburgh as part of the Richard Rodriguez deal and joined the rotation, starting four days later. His combined line for the year was 3-7/5.35, with the long ball giving him fits. He’s now with his fourth club, Chicago White Sox, having just signed on as a free agent. Fun fact: His first start was against the Pirates. Wilson pitched five innings and earned the victory in the Braves' 1–0 win to become the youngest pitcher to win his debut by that score. Bryse was part of the rotation in ‘22, starting 20 games and slashing 3-9/5.52, crossing the 100+ IP threshold for the first time in the MLB. 
• 1999 - The Pirates signed RHP Rich Loiselle and LHP Chris Peters to one-year deals; both were arb-eligible and had missed the previous season with arm woes. Loiselle agreed to $400K while Peters took home $550K. Rich got into 40 games and went 2-3/5.10; he would pitch 18 big league games in 2001, which would be his last of six campaigns in the show. Peters worked 18 games, going 1-0/2.18, then closed out his MLB stay in Montreal the following season after six years of service. They also bulked up by adding a pair of depth catchers via minor league deals, Tim Laker and Randy Knorr.

Jose Silva - 1998 Donruss Rookie

• 2001 - In a minor deal, the Bucs sent RHP Jose Silva, one day after his birthday, to the Reds for minor league RHP Ben Shaffar. Silva spent the season with Cincy to finish out his MLB at seven campaigns (all but his first and last with the Pirates) while Shaffar never made it to the show. 
• 2002 - RHP Chris Young and minor leaguer Jon Searles were traded to the Montreal Expos for RHP Matt Herges. The 6’10” Young, a third round pick of the Bucs in 2000 who was given a $1.65M bonus to lure him from basketball, went on to win 32 games between 2005-07 and landed an All-Star berth before injuries threw a series of speed bumps at his career, while the Pirates cut Herges in spring training and lost him to the Padres. He went on to make over 350 more appearances in the next six years as a journeyman middle reliever. 
• 2004 - The Pirates tendered all seven of their arb-eligible players: SS Jack Wilson, OF/1B Craig Wilson, 1B Daryle Ward, UT Rob Mackowiak, and P’s Josh Fogg, Kip Wells and Brian Meadows, and the gang stayed together to play for the Bucs throughout the 2005 campaign. They had signed RHP Salomon Torres earlier in the off season to a two year/$2.6M deal to avoid arbitration. 
• 2011 - The Bucs took a chance with RHP Ryota Igarashi, the fastest pitcher in Japan featuring a 98-MPH heater who had two years as a Met under his belt, by signing him to a minor league deal with an invite to camp. He was sent to the minors in March and told the media he was “shocked” by the demotion, even though he had surrendered nine runs in 9-1/3 spring innings. The Bucs sold their disgruntled reliever to the Toronto Blue Jays the next day; he eventually returned to Japan in 2013 after tossing just four more MLB outings between the Jays and Yankees in ‘12. The Pirates also inked Jeff Clements onto the non-roster invitee list. He started at Indy and made it to Pittsburgh in late August, but hit just .136 to end his four-year/152-game major league stay.

12/19: Cutch, Huddy, Corey, Joe, Brian, Kevin, Sluggo & Ron Sign, Bummer Bucs, Yay DH, Russ Debut; RIP Dock, HBD Jose, Mike, Obie, Ray, Eddie, Lou & Artie

• 1887 - IF Artie Butler (Bouthillier) was born in Fall River, Massachusetts. Art hit .277 in two Bucco seasons (1912-13) before moving along to the Cards. His claim to fame is a bit on the macabre side - he was the last living teammate of legendary pitcher Cy Young before passing on in 1984. 
• 1891 - It may be a surprise to the dyed-in-the-wool NL fans of the Steel City, but a Pirates honcho, William Temple (president and part-owner) was the first documented proponent of the DH. The Sporting Life wrote that “President Temple, of the Pittsburgs, brought up the question as to what disposition should be made of the pitcher in the batting order. (He) favored the substitution of another man to take the pitcher’s place at the bat when it came his turn to go there.” The magazine added that “Every patron of the game is conversant with the utter worthlessness of the average pitcher when he goes up to try and hit the ball. It is most invariably a trial, and an unsuccessful one at that.” Temple brought the matter up during the 1892 preseason gathering of the National League nabobs, but it lost in a close vote. (S/O to John Thorn’s “Our Game” blog) 
• 1898 - RHP Lou Koupal was born in San Gabriel, California. He began his MLB odyssey with the Pirates in 1925-26 and slashed 0-2/5.02. He was shipped back to the farm, came back and worked three more years in the league, then took a seven year hiatus before closing out his career in 1937. Fun fact from the Baseball Junk Drawer: He was one of six 1929 Brooklyn Robins who had been members of the championship 1925 Pirates team, along with Max Carey, Johnny Gooch, Eddie Moore, Johnny Morrison and Glenn Wright. 
• 1915 - OF Eddie Yount was born in Newton, North Carolina. Eddie was a Wake Forest grad and minor league lifer, starting in 1937 and hanging in there until 1951 when he was 35. He got seven at-bats with the Philadelphia A’s in 1937 with two knocks and two more cuts for the Pirates in 1939 (he struck out both times). He then spent the rest of his time on the farm with a three-year break during WW2, serving with the 12th Armored Division Hellcats. 

Ray Poat - undated photo Giants Sports Collection

• 1917 - RHP Ray Poat was born in Chicago. Mainly a reliever, Ray spent six campaigns in the show around a couple of years in the military during the war. He finished his career in 1949 at Pittsburgh, making 11 appearances with a line of 0-1/6.25, after arriving in June as part of the Kirby Higbe deal. He was pitching with a bum wing and had surgery after the season, but it was a recurring woe and he retired to the life of a chemist (he was an Illinois grad). Fun fact: In 1947, Poat became the first MLB player to swat a season cycle, which is collecting just four hits in a year but with one of each flavor - single, double, triple and home run. 
• 1918 - OF/3B Tommy “Obie” O’Brien was born in Anniston, Alabama. O’Brien was a three-time All State football player and enrolled at the University of Tennessee, but opted for baseball. He started his MLB career as a Pirate, hitting .301 between 1942-45, toiled in the minors from 1946-48 and returned to the show in 1949-50 with Boston and Washington. His shining moment came in 1943 when he had seven consecutive hits in a doubleheader against the NY Giants. 
• 1938 - In a poll of writers by the Associated Press, the Pirates were selected as the biggest disappointment in sports for the year, edging out the Rice Owls football team. The Pirates had a seven game edge on September 1st and were up 3-1/2 games after September 22nd, but dropped six of their final seven games to finish the season two games behind the Cubs after losing the famous “homer in the gloaming” game. The Bucs went 28-26 in the final two months of the season while the Cubs rampaged through September, winning 21 of their last 26 games. 
• 1957 - RHP Ron Kline became the first Pirate to sign for the ‘58 campaign when he was inked for an undisclosed amount. He had a Jekyll and Hyde 1957 season - he was 2-15/4.82 through July, then ditched his knuckleball and went 7-1/1.44 from August onward. He went on to have a workmanlike 1958, going 13-16/3.53. The Callery Kid (Callery in Butler County was where he was born) was traded to the Cards after the 1959 campaign, returning to the fold as a reliever in 1968-69 near the end of his 17-year career. He became Callery’s mayor after his retirement. 

Mike Fetters - 2002 Topps Total

• 1964 - RHP Mike Fetters was born in Van Nuys, California. The veteran reliever tossed 16 major league seasons for eight clubs, spending 2001-02 with the Pirates and slashing 2-1-8/3.75. He’s often remembered for his odd motion; before he delivered the ball, he took a deep breath and turned his head 90 degrees, a move he came up with to counter the stress of pitching. He’s been on the Arizona Diamondbacks staff since 2012 and is now the D-Backs bullpen coach. 
• 1967 - Russ Goetz got his call to the bigs. The McKeesport native’s dream wasn’t to play but umpire MLB games, and at age 37, his dream came true. He took full advantage, too - he wore the blue for the AL from 1968 to 1983, arbitrating 2,384 games in a 16-year career. Russ worked two World Series (1973, 1979), two All-Star Games (1970, 1975) and four ALCS (1970, 1974, 1977, 1981). He was one of the last umps to still use the old school exterior chest protector when he retired. 
• 1973 - RHP Jose Silva was born in Tijuana, Mexico. Jose worked five years (1997-2001) for the Bucs, starting 53 of his 140 Pirate games. He finished 25-28-4 with a 5.41 ERA in his Pittsburgh years. He worked one more major league campaign before moving on to the Mexican League. 
• 1990 - 32-year-old C Don Slaught signed a three-year/$3M contract with the Pirates after coming over the year before from the New York Yankees and hitting .300 in a platoon role. Sluggo played six seasons in Pittsburgh and batted .305 between 1990-95 in 475 games as a platoon guy - he played in 87+ games in a season just one time as a Buc backstop. 
• 1996 - Pittsburgh signed 32-year-old free agent SS Kevin Elster to a one-year/$1.65M deal. The veteran infielder was coming off a career season in Texas, hitting .252 with 24 HR and 99 RBI. But he never got into a groove, hitting .225 for the Bucs with seven homers while getting into just 39 games before breaking his wrist in mid-May. He never returned to duty and was released at the end of the campaign. His injury put a big dent in the “Freak Show” attack, with the 1997 club still managing to compete into September before finishing five games back. 

Brian Meadows - 2005 Fleer

• 2002 - RHP Brian Meadows avoided arbitration by signing a one-year/$800K deal, with a split time provision paying him $150K if he was in the minors. And that’s where he started, but after going 7-0 at Nashville, he was called up to earn his big league fee and stayed on the Bucs’ active roster through 2005. He tossed for one more year with the Tampa Bay Rays before the 30-year-old called it quits after MLB stints with five teams over nine years. 
• 2003 - LHP Joe Beimel signed a one-year/$535K contract after appearing in 69 games in 2003, although a second half meltdown left his slash at 1-3/5.05. He didn’t make it to the opener, being one of the last cuts in camp and then signing with the Twins. The Bucs had John Grabow, Mike Gonzalez and Mike Johnston coming up from the minors, and the youngsters all got showtime in 2004 to make St. Mary’s Joe expendable. In other contract action, LHP Mike Lincoln was non-tendered (he signed w/the Cards but was injured in May, missing the rest of 2004 and all of 2005, then came back in 2008 to toss parts of three years with the Reds). RHP Kip Wells, SS Jack Wilson and UT Craig Wilson were tendered, leaving the Pirates with four 40-man openings for FA’s. 
• 2008 - One of the most colorful guys to put on a Bucco uniform, Dock Ellis, passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 63 of cirrhosis. Ellis tossed the first eight and then the final season of his 12-year big league career with Pittsburgh. His Pirates line was 96-80/3.16 with a no-hitter (while on LSD, per his retelling), All-Star appearance and World Series ring to his credit. The Docktor also left behind enough stories to fill a 2014 movie, “No No: A Dockumentary” and collaborated with Donald Hall on a 1976 book, “Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball.” Ellis cleaned himself up after he left baseball following the 1979 campaign and became a drug counselor, working with prisoners and minor leaguers among others who were struggling with his familiar old demons. 
• 2014 - The Pirates signed free agent 1B/OF Corey Hart to a one- year/$2.5M contract with another $2.5M available in bonuses based on at-bats. Hart had microfracture knee surgery in 2013, missing that year, and hit just .203 with Seattle in 2014, but prior to that was a career .271 hitter and two-time All-Star playing for Milwaukee, swatting 30 homers twice. Hart got just 57 at bats with the Bucs before his knees gave out again, and he retired after the 2015 campaign. 

Corey Hart - 2015 Topps

• 2016 - Free agent RHP Daniel Hudson, 29, signed a two-year/$11M (w/$1.5M more possible based on games finished) deal with the Pirates. The flamethrower (96 MPH fastball) came from Arizona, where his days as a starter ended after a pair of TJ surgeries. Pittsburgh planned to plug him into the back end of the bullpen, which was in need of a righty arm. The deal was made official two days later when Brady Dragmire was DFA’ed to clear a roster spot for Hudson. After a 2-7/4.38 showing in 71 outings in his first campaign, he became more valuable as a trade piece and after the year he was sent to Tampa Bay as part of the Corey Dickerson deal. Since then, he’s been a Dodger, Blue Jay, Nat and Padre. Huddy returned to the Big Blue in 2022, retiring after LA won the 2024 World Series. 
• 2023 - The Pirates re-signed Andrew McCutchen, 37, to a one-year/$5M deal, the same one as they agreed to in 2023. Cutch slashed .256/.378/.397 w/12 home runs in 112 games and 473 PAs in ‘23 while mostly DH’ing. His season ended prematurely on September 4th, when he sustained a partial Achilles tear legging out a double, leaving him one long ball short of the 300-homer club. The signing dragged out longer than originally anticipated as the Pirates apparently were waiting to see how Andrew recovered, but he healed up and was in spring camp for his 16th MLB campaign and 11th Bucco season.

12/18: Joe - Garcia, Martin, Ryan, Javier, Masumi, Yoslan & Amos Sign, Tim In The Booth; HBD Josh, Joker, Gino & Johnny

• 1915 - OF Johnny Barrett was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He played from 1942-46, with all but 24 games as a Pirate, and hit .251. His best years were 1944-45, when he swiped 53 bases (he led the NL in steals in 1944 with 28) and scored 196 runs. But when WW2 ended and the players returned from the service, Barrett’s career came to an end. He hit .193 in 1946, his last big league campaign that was split between the Buccos and the Boston Braves. 
• 1929 - OF Gino Cimoli was born in San Francisco. He only played a season and some change (1960-61) for the Bucs, but was their fourth outfielder for the 1960 Series champs, hitting .267 as a Pirate and .250 in the series. He scored the first tally in Pittsburgh’s five-run eighth inning in the deciding game seven and started several games in place of the injured Bob Skinner. After retiring from baseball, Cimoli worked as a delivery driver for UPS. 
• 1969 - IF Joe “The Joker” Randa was born in Milwaukee. Joe played early and late with the Pirates - he spent his third big league season, 1997, and his MLB finale in 2006 in Pittsburgh, hitting a solid .291. Tony Muser, Joe’s skipper in Kansas City, gave him his nickname because he reminded him of Batman’s “The Joker” character, always with a smile on his face. 
• 1983 - The Pirates signed 37-year-old free agent OF Amos Otis. A five-time All-Star with the Kansas City Royals, Otis was at the end of his road and hit .165 in 40 games for the Bucs. He was released in August and never played in the majors again. Ironically, the Royals had agreed to a deal sending him and Cookie Rojas to the Pirates for Al Oliver/Art Howe after the 1975 season per Charley Feeney of the Post Gazette, but Rojas killed the transaction by exercising his 5-and-10 year veto rights; Pittsburgh was that close to landing Otis in his heyday. 

Amos Otis - 1984 Fleer Update

• 1984 - IF Josh Rodriguez was born in Houston, Texas. His MLB career was short-lived; he went 1-for-12 in six games for the Bucs in 2011 and that was it for showtime. The Pirates took him from the Cleveland Indians as a Rule 5 selection and he beat out Pedro Ciriaco for the middle infield bench spot in camp. But Rodriguez couldn’t take advantage of sticking his foot in the door and the Bucs returned him to the Tribe in late April, replacing him on the roster with Brandon Wood. Josh returned to Pittsburgh in June in a cash deal with Cleveland and provided depth at Indy and Altoona. He then bounced around several minor league systems and has played in the Mexican League since 2018. Josh was released last season and is now a free agent. 
• 2006 - Cuban RHP Yoslan Herrera, 25, agreed to a three-year/$1.92M contract with the Pirates, Pittsburgh’s first Cuban signing of the Castro era. He had defected in July of 2005 and was signed by scouts Rene Gayo and Louie Eljaua after posting a combined record of 18-7/3.27 between the Cuban Youth Team (1999-2000) and the Cuban National Team (2001-2004). His numbers didn’t translate in the US, and he won just one game for the Bucs. In a nice bounce-back tale, Herrera was signed to a minor league deal by the LA Angels in 2013 after last pitching in the majors in 2008, put together a nice run at the end of 2014 (1-1/2.70 in 20 outings) for the Halos, then moved across the Pacific to toss in the Nippon League for the final two years of his career. 
• 2006 - The Bucs announced another dip into the international market by inking 38-year-old Japanese RHP Masumi Kuwata to a one year/$500K minor-league contract. He chose the Pirates over the Red Sox and Dodgers because he thought he had a better shot at making the club, but an ankle injury in the spring delayed his MLB call until June. He was 39 then, the oldest rookie to appear since Diomedes Olivo and the first Japanese player to suit up for the Bucs. After 19 games, his ERA was 9.43 and he was sent down. He was invited to camp in 2008, failed to make the final roster, and after rejecting a coaching offer by the Bucs, returned home. He became a TV commentator and later coached the U of Tokyo. 

Matsuma Kuwata - 2008 Topps Year In Review

• 2008 - Tim Neverett was hired as the Pirate play-by-play man, replacing Lanny Frattare. Prior to joining the Pirates, Neverett worked four years for FSN Rocky Mountain, where he spent the 2008 campaign serving as both the pre and post-game studio host for Colorado Rockies games, along with calling many other sports. Neverett began his baseball on-air career in 1985 at the age of 19 with Pittsburgh's Class AA affiliate in the Eastern League, the Nashua Pirates. The New England native left here to join Boston after the 2015 campaign, but it was a short stay as he left their booth following the 2018 Sox season after a beef with management. He was out of work for just a week before he was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers, his current employer. 
• 2009 - The Pirates signed LHP Javier Lopez to a one-year/$775K contract. The LOOGY reestablished his credentials (2-2/2.79) in Pittsburgh and then was traded to the Giants at the deadline for OF John Bowker and RHP Joe Martinez. The southpaw was the only active player to have played on four or more World Series championship teams, winning three times with the G-Men and once with Boston. He retired from the G-Men after the 2016 campaign (he slashed 17-8-10/2.47 during his Bay stint) and joined the SF broadcast team. 
• 2015 - The Pirates and RHP Ryan Vogelsong officially agreed to a one-year/$2M contract, bringing him back to Pittsburgh after he had been gone for a decade following stints in Japan and San Francisco. In what would prove to be his final MLB season, he went 3-7/4.81 as a starter/long man, with his season shortened when he broke an orbital bone after being beaned by then-Rockie Jordan Lyles. At the end of the 2017 campaign, after he had been released from AAA by the Minnesota Twins, the Giants signed him to a one-day contract in September and tossed a retirement tribute at AT&T Park for Vogey. 

Ryan Vogelsong - 2002 Topps Total

• 2022 - The Pirates brought home 1B/OF Connor Joe, 30, from Colorado in exchange for 23-year-old RHP Nick Garcia. Joe was the Pirates 2014 Competitive Balance selection (39th overall pick) who was traded to Atlanta for Sean Rodriguez in August, 2017. He bats from the right side and hit .238 with seven homers for the Rockies in ‘22 with a lifetime .247 BA in three MLB seasons with the Rox and Giants. He’s also pretty handy with the mitt, so he was hoped to be a good-fit platoon piece when a lefty bat is called for. Connor hit .238 in 2023-24 while playing first and the outfield corners and was non-tendered after the ‘24 campaign; he’s now a free agent. Garcia, a third-round pick in 2020, went 4-4/3.66 with 109 whiffs in 113 IP over 25 outings (23 starts) for Hi-A Greensboro in ‘22. He was raw and his ultimate ceiling is TBD as he’s a position player converted to the pen converted to the rotation. He had a rough 2023 (3-9/7.35) tossing in AA and is now in the Giants system. To create roster room, the Pirates DFA’ed RHP Nick Mears. 
• 2023 - The Pirates signed free-agent LHP Martin Perez, 32, agreeing to a one-year/$8M deal. It took awhile to become official, though - he wasn’t placed on the roster until early January when RHP Max Kranick was DFA’ed to clear a spot. Perez, 32, went 10-4/4.45 ERA in 141-2/3 IP over 35 appearances (20 starts) for the Texas Rangers last season. The 12-year vet was an All-Star in 2022, slashing 12-8/2.89 with 196-1/3 innings and 32 starts. Pittsburgh was the fourth team of his 12-year career, with two stops at Texas. He joined LHP Marco Gonzales, obtained by trade with Atlanta, in a rebuild of the starting staff which returned just RHP Mitch Keller as a rotation regular from last season. Perez was 2-5/5.20 and sent to San Diego at the deadline; Gonzales went 1-1/4.54 before injuring his arm, later undergoing surgery, and was non-tendered.

12/17: Broxton/Supak - Rogers, Austin, Kevin, Turner & Jeff Sign, Dapper Baron, Big Easy Bucs, AA Folds Into NL; HBD Vogey, Larry, Steve, Marvell, Charlie, Jim, Rebel & Cy

• 1879 - RHP Fred “Cy” Falkenberg was born in Chicago. He worked his 1903 rookie campaign for the Pirates, going 1-5 with a 3.86 ERA. It would be the fewest wins and highest ERA compiled in a single season for ol’ Cy, who tossed 12 big league years, winning 130 games (20+ victories twice) with a 2.68 lifetime ERA. Those 20-win tallies in 1913-14 were sparked by a new pitch that he came up with - a scuffed “emery” ball. The delivery was declared illegal after the 1914 season, and Cy was out of MLB two years later (in justice, hitting the age of 38 probably had as much with his descent as did the rulebook). So far as Falkenberg’s “Cy” moniker, SABR’s Eric Enders speculates that it was another Cy (as in Cyclone) Young knock-off, the old-timey ace whom many promising youngsters were likened to when they were coming up through the ranks. 
• 1883 - CF Ennis “Rebel” Oakes was born in Lisbon, Louisiana. He played five years for the Reds and Cards, then jumped to the Federal League when it was established in 1914. After two seasons as the player-manager for the Pittsburgh Rebels, perhaps named in his honor, the league folded and Oakes never returned to MLB despite his .295 BA. SABR writer Phil Williams believes “Rebel Oakes was effectively blacklisted” after the Federal League’s demise. Btw, he didn’t earn his nickname by being particularly iconoclastic. When he was in the minors, an Iowa sportswriter dubbed him Rebel because of his Deep South birthplace. 
• 1891 - The American Association, the home of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys through 1886, ceased as a major league after a 10-year run when a settlement was reached with the National League for a semi-merger. Four AA clubs (St. Louis, Louisville, Washington, and Baltimore) joined the NL to form a twelve-club league. The other four AA clubs were bought out for about $130,000. 
• 1896 - C Jim Mattox was born in Leesville, Virginia. Jim was a back-up in 1922-23 for the Pirates, hitting .253 off the bench. He was released after the year and retired rather than report to the minors again as his contract was sold to Wichita Falls. Jim was an early two-sport star - in 1919, he was an All-Conference quarterback at Washington and Lee. 

Charlie Sands - 1972 Topps

• 1947 - C/PH Charlie Sands was born in Newport News, Virginia. Charlie played for the Bucs in 1971-72, going 5-for-33 (.192) and was on the ‘71 WS roster. He hung around the league for three more seasons, but only got into 63 more games. Fun fact: Sands caught all 29 innings of what at the time was the longest game ever to occur in professional baseball. Playing for the Class A, Florida State League Miami Marlins on June 15th, 1966, Sands held the fort as Miami beat the St. Petersburg Cardinals (coached by Sparky Anderson), 4-3. 
• 1947 - The Pirates bought the AA New Orleans Pelicans, including 37 players (none of which ever made the Bucco roster), for an estimated $200K. In an era when farm systems were deep, The Big Easy became the Pirates 19th farm club in 1948. Oddly, in 1947 the club didn't field a AA team, so NOLA was a needed addition to fill the gap between AAA Indy (which was replaced by Hollywood in 1951) and Single A Albany (which moved to Charlestown in 1950). 
• 1959 - CF Marvell Wynne was born in Chicago. He started his career with the Pirates, playing from 1983-85. Projected as a leadoff hitter, he stole 46 sacks but batted just .245 with an OBP of .297 before being traded to the San Diego Padres for Bob Patterson, and he put together a solid four-year run on the left coast. Marvell’s last season was 1991, played in Japan. His son, also named Marvell, became a pro jock, too, but as an MLS soccer player. 
• 1959 - ElRoy Face, 31, became the fourth consecutive Pirate, following Dale Long, Dick Groat and Danny Murtaugh to win the Dapper Dan Man of the Year Award as the athlete who did the most to publicize the region through his exploits. All the Baron of the Bullpen did was win 17 straight games to run his streak to 22 before a September loss, slash 18-1-10/2.70 and earn his first All Star selection. His main DD competition shared the clubhouse with him as he eased past runner-up Harvey Haddix, who tossed a 12-inning perfecto that same season. 

Steve Parris - 1996 Upper Deck Collectors Choice

• 1967 - RHP Steve Parris was born in Joliet, Illinois. Steve started his eight-year MLB run in Pittsburgh between 1995-96 with a 6-9/5.82 slash as a starter. After a year in the minors, he tossed three solid seasons with the Reds and three not-so-solid seasons with Toronto and Tampa Bay. 
• 1980 - Scout & suit Larry Broadway was born in Miami. The Montréal Expos chose him from Duke in the 3rd round (77th overall) of the 2002 draft. Larry got to AAA and had a couple of good years but was up-and-down after a 2005 knee injury. He never got a chance in the show, and Broadway signed with the Pirates for 2009 to play at Indy. He lost his batting eye and even tried pitching but retired and became a scout with the Bucs in 2010. In 2014, he became Pittsburgh's Senior Director of Minor League Operations. He held that post until 2020, when the new Cherington regime moved him to player evaluation. 
• 1992 - 1B/DH Daniel Vogelbach was born in Orlando, Florida. The six-year vet was an All-Star with Seattle in 2019 when he slammed 30 homers, but he’d only topped 100 at bats in a season three times and carried a .209 lifetime BA. The Pirates signed him in March of 2022 to a deal for one year/$800K plus bonuses with a $1.5M option/$200K buyout in 2023, looking to add some pop after the newly approved rule change adding a designated hitter to NL lineups took effect. After banging 12 homers in 75 games for the Bucs, he was traded to the New York Mets for reliever Colin Holderman. The Mets non-tendered him after the 2023 campaign and Vogey moved on to Toronto; now he’s a free agent. 
• 1993 - 3B Jeff King avoided arbitration by signing a one year/$2.4M contract after losing an arbitration hearing the previous year, when he asked for $2M but was awarded $675K. He hit cleanup during the ‘93 season, batting .295 with nine HR and 98 RBI to earn the pay bump. 

Turner Ward - 1988 MLB.com photo

• 1997 - OF Turner Ward was signed to a two-year/$1.6M contract after hitting .353 off the bench during the season. Ward earned the money when he turned in a highlight-reel play in the ‘98 campaign when he crashed through the wall at TRS. He batted .262 in 1998 and was released in August of 1999 after posting a .209 BA. He rebounded to have a great season with Arizona to help them win the NL West, then played two more years before retiring after 2001. In all, he had 12 big league years (although only two with 200+ PAs) with a .251 career BA. 
• 2010 - Free agent RHP Kevin Correia officially signed with Pittsburgh, agreeing to a two-year/$8M deal with another $1M available in bonuses, which had been hammered out 10 days earlier during the Winter Meeting. In those two seasons, he posted a line of 24-22/4.49 before joining the Twins after losing his rotation spot to Wandy Rodriguez. He started 54 games, appeared 59 times, represented the Pirates at the 2011 All-Star Game and was the Opening Day pitcher that same season. KC worked for three more teams and retired after the 2015 season. 
• 2015 - The Pirates sent CF Keon Broxton and RHP Trey Supak to the Milwaukee Brewers for 1B Jason Rogers. The speedy Broxton was an on-again, off-again major leaguer who finished his playing days in the Mexican League in ‘23. Supak made the Brew Crew’s 40-man roster, then was released after the 2020 season from the Brewers’ alternate camp and joined the Oakland A's organization, then the Cubs. He’s now a free agent. Roger’s path was blocked when the Pirates brought in David Freese. Jason got just 33 PAs and hit .080 for the Bucs that year before being sent to Indy and later released. He played in Japan, Mexico, Australia, Puerto Rico and the indie/affiliated leagues through 2023. 
• 2022 - The Pirates signed C Austin Hedges, 30, to a one-year/$5M contract. He was a second-round draft pick of San Diego in 2011 and a consensus Top 100 Prospect who is now an eight-year vet who's played with the Padres and Indians/Guardians. He has an elite glove with a 75 DRS in the majors but on the other side of the pillow, he owns a lifetime .189 BA/58 OPS+ and hasn't hit .200+ in a season since 2018. He continued the trend, hitting .180 and was traded for future considerations to Texas at the deadline, claiming a ring by joining a club that went on to win the World Series. Hedges became a free agent after the season and signed on for another stint with Cleveland.

12/16: Daniels - Shantz, Todd - Mueller, Santiago Deal, Luke, GI Jones, Pete & Candy Sign, Hot Stove, '02 Rule 5 Losses, Shelty's Staff, Club News; HBD BDLC, Jeff, Rick, Steamboat Bill & Fred

• 1876 - OF Fred Crolius was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He went straight from college to the Boston Beaneaters in 1902 and got into nine games as a Pirate in 1902, batting .263. His pro career was short-lived; the Bucs sent him back down and Fred was banned from the majors in 1906 after a messy contract dispute with Toronto. But he had a Plan B. Fred was also a star halfback for Dartmouth, and in 1901 he played football for the Homestead Library & Athletic Club (the Carnegie Steel squad), then the following season was a halfback on the Pittsburgh Stars, a member of the first National Football League (and suspected of being financed by baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates). Fred also coached college football clubs - in 1899, he was the head coach for the Bowdoin College gridders and in 1902, Crolius was the boss man of the WUP (Western University of Pennsylvania, now Pitt) eleven. He then headed east toward Philly and coached Villanova football from 1904-11 and the Wildcat baseball team from 1905-11. 
• 1886 - LHP William "Steamboat Bill" Otey was born in Dayton, Ohio. He was the ace of the Norfolk Tars of the Virginia League, winning 69 games from 1906-09, but the results didn’t carry over to the bigs. Otey hurled for the Pirates in 1907 (0-1/4.41 in three games) and the Washington Senators in 1910-11, going a combined 1-5/5.01 in 24 games. He finished his career with the Dayton Veterans of the Central League, retiring at age 27 following the 1914 season. We’re uncertain as to the origin of his nickname, but we are willing to venture a guess it was associated with the 1911 hit tune “Steamboat Bill,” later to become a movie. 
• 1938 - The Boston Bees traded catcher Ray Mueller to the Pirates for C Al Todd and OF Johnny Dickshot. Todd had a couple of good seasons left, while Dickshot wouldn’t hit his prime until his last two campaigns in 1944-45 for the White Sox. “Iron Man” Mueller (he picked up his nickname in the early forties after catching 233 consecutive games for the Reds) played 90 games in two years with Pittsburgh as a reserve catcher, hitting .269. Factoid: Mueller was from Pittsburg - Pittsburg, Kansas, a coal mining hub that was named after our fair town. 

Ray Mueller - undated George Burke photo

• 1956 - Coach Rick Sofield was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He was a #1 draft pick and outfielder for the Twins, worked in the minors (he was the Pirates' minor league field coordinator in 2002) and managed in college. Sofield was brought back to the Pirate fold by long-time bud Clint Hurdle, managing at West Virginia for a season before joining the big league staff in 2013. After a barrage of ill-advised windmills at third base and several team basepath gaffes - he also coached the runners - Sofield was released after the 2016 campaign. Rick, at last check, was the skipper of the Hilton Head Prep School nine in South Carolina. 
• 1959 - Joe Brown told Jack Herndon of the Post Gazette that he had tried to swing a deal for a power-hitting outfielder with no luck after making offers for Roger Maris, Al Kaline, Harmon Killebrew and Rocky Colavito. Brown said all the proposals were straight player deals (the players offered were unnamed), and that the Bucs didn’t sweeten the pot with cash. Of the big boppers he coveted, two were moved - Colavito went from Cleveland to Detroit and Maris from KC to the NYY, while Killebrew and Kaline stayed at home. 
• 1960 - The Bucs sent UT Harry Bright, 1B RC Stevens and RHP Bennie Daniels to the expansion Washington Senators (now the Texas Rangers) for veteran curveballer LHP Bobby Shantz. GM Joe Brown told Post Gazette writer Jack Hernon that “Shantz gives the Pirates the finest bullpen in baseball...along with Roy Face, Clem Labine and Fred Green.” Shantz, 35, lasted a year in Pittsburgh before being lost to the Houston Colt .45s in the 1961 expansion draft. He slashed 6-3-2/3.22 in 43 games with the Pirates and continued to toss fairly effectively afterward, lasting until the end of the 1964 season. Shantz won 24 games in 1952 as a starter for the Philadelphia Athletics and was voted the AL MVP, but arm injuries drove him from the rotation to the bullpen. Daniels was a useful swingman in Washington for several seasons, Bright had one strong campaign in 1962 for the Sens (.273, 17 HR, 67 RBI) before retiring in 1965, while Stevens hit .129 and was released in June, marking the end of his MLB career. 
• 1969 - The Niagara Falls Pirates were granted a franchise in the New York-Penn League. The short season club remained a Bucco farm until 1977, with guys like Dale Berra, Miguel Dilone, Mike Edwards, Al Holland, Omar Moreno, Ed Ott and Rod Scurry passing through. It lasted until 1988 as a Tigers and White Sox affiliate before the team moved to Jamestown. 

Jeff Granger - 1997 Fleer

• 1971 - LHP Jeff Granger was born in San Pedro, California. Granger had a powerful two-sport arm: he was a quarterback for Texas A&M and was also a pretty fair pitcher, breaking Roger Clemens Southwest Conference strikeout record. The first-round pick of KC in 1993 had four fairly quick stops in the majors, spending three years with the Royals (18 appearances) and getting his final nine calls as a Bucco in 1997 (0-1/18.00), walking eight and giving up three long balls in five frames. The Pirates sent him down and he spent the next three seasons struggling in the minor leagues, pitching for five clubs in four organizations and retiring after a stint playing with the indie Long Island Ducks. 
• 1986 - It was good news, bad news for Bucco finances after its first year under the private-public partnership owner model. The good news is that they cut their $9.3M losses in 1985 by a quarter; the bad news was that they still leaked $7M, of which $3M was dead money lost via trades and player releases. Pittsburgh Associates president Mac Prine said “The general consensus is that they (the board members) were very satisfied with the progress made...” 
• 1992 - After burning his bridges with the Bucs in 1985 and being sent to California, John Candelaria signed a free agent deal worth $760K with the team he started out with as a 21-year-old. The reunion didn’t work out very well. It started poorly when he was busted for a DUI while in camp and continued along that path as he was ineffective from the pen during the campaign, slashing 0-3-1/8.24. Candy Man was finally released in July, ending his 19-year MLB career. The lefty finished his 12 years as a Bucco with a line of 124-87-16/3.17/117 ERA+, posting a no-hitter, a 20-win campaign and earning one All-Star berth in Pittsburgh. 
• 1996 - OF Byran De La Cruz was born in Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic. He was signed as an international FA in 2013 by Houston, was traded to Miami in 2021 and then dealt to the Pirates in 2024 for Bradenton UT Garrett Forrester and DSL RHP Jun-Seok Shim. In his time in Florida, DLC produced at a .250 BA/20 HR rate as a corner outfielder and although his defensive skills weren’t Golden Glove stuff, he checked the box for a middle-of-the-order bat for the Pirates. He joined the team the day after the trade and was slotted into right field. His audition didn't go well; he hit .200 with three HRs in 44 games and was let go, signing a split contract with the Atlanta Braves.

Pete Schourek - Vincent Laforet/Getty

• 1998 - The Pirates signed free agent LHP Pete Schourek to a two-year/$4M contract after he went 8-9/4.43 for Houston and Boston in hopes that he would replace Jon Lieber in the rotation. He was the Cy Young runner-up to Greg Maddux in 1995 after going 18-7 for the Reds, but various injuries limited his effectiveness, and he never won more than eight games after that breakout ‘95 season. It didn’t get better; he went 4-7/5.34 for the Bucs and was released at the start of the 2000 season, with Pittsburgh eating $2M of his deal. He won four more games for Boston and ended his 11-year MLB career after the 2001 season. 
• 2002 - The Rule 5 Draft took RHP DJ Carrasco (KC), C Ronny Paulino (also by the Royals) and RHP Chris Spurling (Atlanta) from the Pirates, who claimed RHP Matt Roney from the Rox and sold him to the Detroit Tigers on the same day. Carrasco tossed for eight MLB seasons (including a 2010 reunion with the Buccos), Spurling for four campaigns and Paulino was returned to the club in the spring, going on to catch for eight years in the show, the first four with Pittsburgh (2005-08/.278). They also released LHP Jimmy Anderson after failing to trade him. Anderson got 20 more appearances with three different teams in 2003-04 to finish his career. 
• 2004 - The Pirates acquired C Benito Santiago and cash (KC paid all but $750K of the $2.2M due Santiago) from the Royals for RHP Leo Nunez (Juan Oviedo). The 30-year-old Oviedo served a 2012 suspension after pitching for seven seasons because of name fraud; he went by Nunez to make it appear he was younger. Santiago, 40, got in six games before his release and never played again. 
• 2008 - The Pirates signed 1B/OF Garrett Jones as a minor league free agent. The Bucs picked up the 27-year-old after his release from Rochester, Minnesota’s AAA team, and he spent the first half of 2009 at Indy before bursting on the scene. After his July 1st call up, he hit .293 with 21 HR, 10 in the month of July alone, and became the first Buc to hit seven home runs in his first 12 games since Dino Restelli in 1949. Then he finished his Corsair stay with flair in 2013 when he became the second player and first Pirate to hit a homer into the Allegheny River on the fly. Jones was with Pittsburgh for five years (2009-13), batting .256 and whacking exactly 100 long balls before leaving for Miami, then closing out his career in 2015 with the New York Yankees. 

Luke Maile - 2020 photo Archie Campbell/UPI

• 2019 - The Pirates and C Luke Maile agreed to a split, one-year contract worth $900K at the MLB level and $325K for time spent in the minors. Maile was a good glove, bad bat (.198 career BA) backstop who played with both the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. A frontrunner to break camp with the club, he never got to show his stuff here; finger surgery cost him the 2020 campaign and then he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as a FA. He spent ‘22 with the Cleveland Guardians, signed with the Cincinnati Reds, and is now again a free agent. 
• 2021 - Derek Shelton officially named his revamped coaching staff: Andy Haines was hired as the hitting coach; he had served in the same capacity for Milwaukee. Mike Rabelo, who had been with the club since 2020, took over as the 3B coach while also serving as the major league field coordinator. Radley Haddad joined the gang as the game planning/strategy coach after spending the last five seasons with the New York Yankees. First base coach Tarrik Brock, bench coach Don Kelly, pitching coach Oscar Marin, assistant hitting coach Christian Marrero, bullpen coach Justin Meccage, coach Glenn Sherlock, bullpen catcher/coaching assistant Jordan Comadena and major league assistants Jeremy Bleich and Tim McKeithan all returned, seeming to leave Shelty with as many aides as players.

Notes: Spencer Horwitz For Luis Ortiz, Kennedy & Hartle, Maybe More Rotation Moves, Fulmer, Solak & Alvarado Signed, Team News

And the meetings result in...

Pirates Stuff:

• They pulled the trigger. Pittsburgh sent RHP Luis Ortiz and a pair of young LHPs to the Cleveland Guardians for 1B Spencer Horwitz. The 27-year-old Horwitz is a left-handed hitter who batted .265/.357/.433 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs in 97 games for the Toronto Blue Jays last season. He was more than a rental with six years of contract control (four arb years) and an option remaining. The downside - he's only made 425 MLB PAs and is a platoon guy, batting just .195 v LHP. Ortiz was 12-13/3.93 in 59 appearances (34 starts) in three seasons here with a 7-6/3.22 slash in ‘24. The two farm hands were Top 20 Pirates prospects. Michael Kennedy, 20, was a 2022 4th-round prep pick who averaged 10.2 Ks/nine innings in 18 games between Bradenton and Greensboro last season. Josh Hartle, 21, was a 3rd-round pick out of Wake Forest last year. And per Post-Gazette Pirates beatmen Noah Hiles and Andrew Destin, RHPs Mitch Keller (11-12/4.25) and Jared Jones (6-8/4.14) are also available if the right bat comes along (per sources, so caveat emptor). The consensus is that the FO is listening to but not actively seeking deals for the pair. 

• Pittsburgh signed 25-year-old minor league RHP Elvis Alvarado to a split contract. He had a solid '24 season at Miami's AAA Jacksonville club and then in the Dominican Winter League. Alvarado was placed on the 40-man roster after the deal became official following his physical.
• The Bucs acquired INF/OF Enmanuel Valdez, 26, from the Red Sox in exchange for RHP Joe Vogatsky. Manny has played 125 MLB games for Boston, almost exclusively at 2B, and hit .235. Valdez bats LH and is a platoon hitter with much stronger splits against RHP (.255/.109) and comes with an option remaining. He was placed on the 40-man roster. Vogatsky, 23, a reliever, is a 19th round 2024 pick from JMU.
• Also inked was OF/2B Nick Solak, 29, with the agreement becoming official on the 15th. He has a .252/21/93 slash in five MLB seasons (255 games), but has been mainly a AAA insurance policy the past three seasons. Solak hit .311 at Tacoma, Seattle's AAA club, last year.
• The Pirates agreed to a minor-league contract with RHP Carson Fulmer, 31, that includes an invite to spring training. Fulmer has been in seven organizations; this is his third shot with the Bucs, having been here for two stops in 2020, leaving via waiver during 2021's spring camp. In eight big league seasons and 114 games, he's slashed 7-15/5.38, although last year he tossed to a 4.15 ERA in 86-2/3 IP for the Los Angeles Angels.
• Pittsburgh passed on the major league part of the Rule 5 Draft Wednesday, and the league passed on them as no one from the organization was claimed. They took five guys in the minor league portion of the draft and lost three. 
• Staying home, Miguel Perez has been hired as the bullpen coach. Perez, 41, was the skipper for AAA Indy during the past three seasons, climbing the organizational ladder after several coaching stops in the system and managing gigs at Altoona, Greensboro, Charleston (W VA Power) and Bristol.

Oneil Cruz - 2024 Topps Mystical

• Oneil Cruz debuted in the Dominican Winter League on Tuesday.
• The team is optimistic that RHP Hunter Stratton, recovering from August knee surgery, could be ready for camp if his rehab continues to go well. 
• Paul Skenes was awarded $2.15M from MLB pre-arb bonus pool, meant to reward strong performers who haven't hit their contractual arb stage yet. Skenes' amount was second only to Bobby Witt, who was awarded $3M. Oneil Cruz made nearly $500K in bonus bucks while Luis Ortiz pulled in just about $250K.
• The Pirates hired Michael Voltmer to be the VP of Professional Evaluation & Strategy. where he'll lead the Pirates pro scouting department. Voltmer spent nine years in the LA Dodgers organization where he was Director of Baseball Strategy & Information, assisting the MLB staff with game prep and strategies.
• The Bucs drew the No. 6 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft; the Nats won the top spot. The draft will take place in on July 13-15, in Atlanta, as part of MLB All-Star Week. 
• The team announced its 2025 promotion schedule for PNC Park. 

Other Stuff:

• The Braves signed OF/DH Bryan De La Cruz to a a split contract.
• The Rangers DFA'ed RHP Roansy Contreras. He's gone from the Pirates to the Angels to the Rangers to destination unknown...

12/15: Bunning - Fryman, Brain - Willis, Olivares, Francis, Leppert & Rizzo Deals, Matt, Jeff & Vic Signed, Hanny Goes, C Crowd, Rule 5 Sweep, Staff Hires, TV Deal; HBD Joey, Art, Jim, Bucky, Joe & JJ

• 1882 - C Jay “JJ” Clarke was born in Anderdon Township (now Amherstburg) Ontario. Jay had a long career, starting in organized ball in 1902 and retiring in 1927, with some time off for duty in the Marine Corps during WW1. He played parts of nine years in the big leagues, making his last MLB stop in Pittsburgh in 1920. He got into three games, went 0-for-7 and was sent to the farm in late April. His moment in the sun came in 1908 when he caught a perfect game tossed by Addie Joss of the Cleveland Naps. Fun fact: According to lore, Clarke hit eight homers in eight at-bats in a 51-3 romp for the Texas League Corsicana Oil City squad over the Texarkana Casket Makers. Spoiler alert: the field he played on wasn’t meant for pro games but was used as a Sunday blue-law work-around, and the fence in right was estimated to be no more than 200’ from home, a lefty’s delight. Jay died on June 15th, 1949, 47 years to the day that he hit his eight home runs. He was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Baseball HoF in 1996. 
• 1884 - 1B Jim (also known as “Joe,” his middle name) Nealon was born in Sacramento. He’s one of the sadder Buccos “coulda-been” stories. Nealon played from 1906-07 for the Pirates, and in his rookie season tied for the NL RBI lead (83) while hitting .255. Jim hit .257 the next season, then contracted tuberculosis. He went back home to California, played a couple of years of minor league ball and died of typhoid pneumonia in San Francisco in 1910 at the age of 25. 
• 1905 - In one of their better deals, made official OTD after being agreed to the previous day, the Bucs picked up Hall-of-Famer RHP Vic Willis from the Boston Beaneaters for journeymen UT Dave Brain, IF/OF Del Howard, and RHP Vive Lindaman. Willis won 20+ games in each of his four years (1906-09) in Pittsburgh, with a slash of 89–46-3/2.08, and was part of the 1909 World Series championship club. The “Delaware Peach” (he went to Delaware College) was a workhorse throughout his career, completing 388 of his 471 starts. Brain started two years for Boston, then faded and retired after the 1908 campaign. Howard ended up a part-time guy, lasting through the 1909 season. Lindaman won 35 games in three years, then was let go after 15 outings in 1909. 
• 1906 - IF Wallace “Bucky” (a childhood nickname) Williams was born in Baltimore and moved to Pittsburgh at the age of six months. After stints with the Pittsburgh Keystone Juniors and Monarchs, he played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1927–32; 1937-39) and the Homestead Grays in 1936. Bucky also played for his employer as part of the Edgar Thomson Steel team (he was a ladle liner) after his pro career; his sandlot squad once defeated the Grays in an exhibition game. He went to Holy Rosary and Crescent Elementary before leaving school for work, and rests now in Calvary Cemetery. He was named an honorary member of the Negro League Hall of Fame before passing on at the age of 102. 

Johnny Rizzo - 1938-39 Sporting News

• 1937 - The Bucs sent OF Bud Hafey, 1B Bernard Cobb, C Tom Padden and cash to the St. Louis Cardinals for OF Johnny Rizzo. Hafey and Padden each spent time in the minors before getting one last MLB campaign while Cobb never advanced past the farm. Rizzo had a great year in ‘38, swatting 23 HR and batting .301 w/111 RBI, then set the franchise record for RBI in a game when he chased home nine runs in 1939 against his ol’ mates, the Cardinals. He hit .283 in his two years plus with the Bucs before he was shipped to Philly for Vince DiMaggio in early 1940. 
• 1944 - Pirate manager Jim Leyland was born in Perrysburg, Ohio. Leyland was the fiery, chain-smoking manager of the Bucs from 1986 to 1996. He won two Manager of the Year awards (1990 and 1992) and finished as runner-up in 1988 and 1991. Under Leyland, the Pirates went to the NLCS three straight seasons (1990-92) but lost all three, with the latter two going the full seven games against the Atlanta Braves. He did win a title in 1997 as the skipper of the Florida Marlins and also managed the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers. Leyland lives in Mt. Lebanon, helping the Tigers as a local scout, and joined the Hall of Fame in 2023. 
• 1946 - IF Art Howe was born in Pittsburgh. A star pitcher and quarterback at Shaler HS, he went to Wyoming to play football but flipped full-time to baseball after an injury. He went undrafted, returned home to Pittsburgh, got a job with Westinghouse and played semi-pro baseball on weekends in the Federation League. But the 24-year-old had a good day at a Pirates ‘71 tryout camp and the duly impressed hometown club inked him the next day. He began his big league career with Pittsburgh in 1974-75 as a utility infielder, batting .195 before being traded to the Astros, where he became a regular for six seasons beginning in 1977. He played for MLB 11 years with a .260 BA, managed for 11 more years, winning a pair of American League West titles with the Oakland A’s (he also skippered the Houston Astros and New York Mets), and worked scouting & coaching gigs for several clubs before retiring for good in 2008. 
• 1952 - Bonus baby Vic Janowicz was officially signed to a $25,000 contract agreed to earlier in the month with the Pirates, and he had to be carried on the MLB roster for two years because of the bonus amount. Janowicz was a Heisman-winning running back at Ohio State in 1950, but Pittsburgh saw his future in baseball. Vic hit .252 as a catcher in 1953, but dropped to .151 at 3B the following year, for a combined line of .214 with two HR and 10 RBI in 215 PA. He then left the team and jumped to pro football’s Washington Redskins, where he started at halfback. It looked like a great career move as he was second in the NFL in scoring in 1955 before a car accident ended his sports calling. 

Hank Foiles - 1958 Topps

• 1959 - The Pirates began to clear their logjam at catcher by selling Hank Foiles to the KC Athletics for an undisclosed amount. That left them with Smoky Burgess, Hal Smith, Danny Kravitz and Bob Oldis behind the dish. Burgess and Smith shouldered the load; Oldis started three games and Kravitz none in 1960, and in fact Kravitz would be traded to Kansas City on June 1st for...Hank Foiles. It wasn’t a lengthy reunion; Foiles was traded to the Indians the next day. 
• 1961 - Though none of the players had signed a contract for 1962 yet, the Pirates did have the John Hancock of all seven of Danny Murtaugh’s coaches - Frank Oceak, Ron Northey, Sam Narron, Bill Burwell, Lenny Levy, George Sisler and Virgil Trucks - who agreed to return for another campaign. 
• 1962 - The Pirates shipped 30-year-old backup C Don Leppert to Washington for minor league righty Ron Honeycutt. It ended up a pretty minor deal; Leppert got into 123 games over two years for the Senators but hit only .207 while Honeycutt never advanced past Class AA.
• 1964 - The Bucs sent RHP Earl Francis and OF Ted Savage to the St. Louis Cardinals in return for OF’s Ron Cox and Jack Damaska (from Beaver Falls HS). Francis sputtered through his last big league season while Savage was the only player that had any MLB impact, serving as a bench bat through the 1971 season. Neither of the players the Pirates received made it to the majors. 
• 1964 - ABC and MLB announced a two-year/$12M package for the rights to the Saturday Afternoon Game of the Week, with the pot being evenly divided among the clubs. The network loosened the blackout rule; it had previously been anywhere within a 50-mile radius of a big league city, but now would be limited to the hometowns of the two teams playing. Most teams were at least publicly ho-hum about competing with the televised games; the Pirates announced that they wouldn’t change any Saturday TV conflicts. It also marked the first time that TV money was split even-steven among the clubs. 

Don Money - 1965 Topps

• 1967 - Pittsburgh traded for RHP Jim Bunning, sending the Phillies pitchers Woodie Fryman, Bill Laxton and Harold Clem along with IF Don Money, who was the Phils regular 3B until Mike Schmidt arrived, then moving on to become an All-Star with Milwaukee. The popular Money had also been targeted by the White Sox, but the Pirates wanted RHP Joel Horlen in exchange, who Chi-town wasn’t about to surrender. Fryman lasted 18 years in the show and was twice named an All-Star. Bunning, who the Pirates hoped would put them over the top in 1968, stayed in Pittsburgh for 1-1/2 seasons, slashing at 14-23/3.84. 
• 1971 - Bill Virdon made his only new hire as Bucco manager by promoting Charleston Charlies skipper Joe Morgan to his staff as an infield/batting coach. He kept four of Danny Murtaugh’s assistants - Frank Oceak, Don Leppert, Don Osborn and Dave Ricketts - for his own gang.
• 1994 - 3B Jeff King turned down a chance to become a restricted free agent and instead opted to sign a one-year guaranteed deal with the Bucs for $2.16M, a 10% pay cut. He accepted that he was coming off a sub-par year (.263/5 HR/42 RBI) and told Paul Meyer of the Post Gazette that “I was happy they (the Pirates) wanted me...I like it here and I wanted to stay.” 
• 1996 - C Joey Bart was born in Buford, Georgia. With Endy Rodriguez out for the year and concerns about Yasmani Grandal’s foot injury, the Pirates picked up Bart, who had been DFA’ed, from the Giants in exchange for RHP Austin Strickland, 2023's 8th round pick from Kentucky. In four years yo-yo’ing between the Giants and AAA Sacramento, Bart got into 162 MLB games and hit .219. He had a .274 BA in the PCL, the slash lines of a Quad-A poster boy and a far cry from the days of being touted as Buster Posey’s replacement when he was selected second overall in the 2018 draft out of Georgia Tech. Bart was out of options & went on the MLB roster, with the domino effect of Indy RHP Colin Selby being DFA'ed and C Jason Delay placed on the 15-day IL. Joey had a resurgence when he arrived, slashing .265/13/45 in 80 Pirates games to tentatively claim the top spot behind the dish, pushing ahead of vet receiver Yasmani Grandal. 

Joey Bart - 2024 Topps Update

• 2002 - Well-traveled Matt Stairs (he played for three teams just in 2002) signed a one year/$900K contract with the Bucs, pending a physical (the official signing date was 12/18), and was penciled in as Craig Wilson’s platoon mate in right field. He had a strong season, hitting .292 with 20 HR despite just 305 AB, earning himself a three year/$3.55M contract with KC the following campaign. He retired after the 2011 season and entered the record books: Stairs played for more major-league teams (12) than any position player in big league history (technically, he was rostered on 13 teams but for just 12 franchises, as he played for the Montreal Expos aka Washington Nationals). A trio of guys with Pittsburgh stops have joined or passed him - P’s Ron Villone, Octavio Dotel and Rich Hill all played for a dozen or more squads. RHP Edwin Jackson holds the record for the number of teams that he suited up for, repping 14 clubs in 17 campaigns. 
• 2003 - The Pirates lost five players in the Rule 5 draft - 1B Chris Shelton, OF Rich Thompson, LHP Frank Brooks, RHP Jeff Bennett and 3B/OF Jose Bautista (they traded RHP Kris Benson to get him back in July, 2004). Oddly, the Pirates had three openings on the 40-man roster, but GM Dave Littlefield told local media that the need to add free agents to the lineup for next season and thus have some openings was more important than keeping players the club believed would not make an immediate impact. The rest of baseball begged to differ as the five Pirate farmhands went in the first six picks of the draft. Littlefield also removed pitchers Duaner Sanchez and Matt Guerrier from the 40-man roster (and lost them both on waivers to the Dodgers and Twins) to protect Mike Gonzalez and John Grabow. 
• 2021 - Indy’s pitching coach Joel Hanrahan announced that "After five years coaching with the Pirates I have decided to move on and look for other opportunities," catching on with the Nats as a farm coach. Hanny was Pittsburgh’s ‘21 Danny Murtaugh coach of the year, given out to the top assistant in the Buccos' minor league system. He spent four years (2009-12) as a two-time All Star back-ender in Pittsburgh, posting a slash of 10-8-82/2.59 with 265 punchouts in 229-1/3 innings of work, appearing in 283 games before being traded to the Boston Red Sox for his eventual replacement, Mark Melancon. 
• 2023 - The Kansas City Royals sent OF Edward Olivares to the Pirates for 21-year-old Bradenton IF Deivis Nadal. Olivares, 27, made the roster out of camp and was considered a good stick, meh mitt guy with a .261 BA over parts of four MLB seasons. He sported good speed and a strong arm, and was hoped to be Jack Suwinski's platoon partner in right field as both had considerable batting splits. Olivares became expendable after hitting .214 in 55 games and posting a negative WAR. He went to Indy and was released at season’s end, and is now with the Mets.