1/21: Waite Signed, Danny Not, Frankie HoF, No TV, NYC Bucs, Hot Card; RIP Clyde, HBD Chase, Wil, Jeff, Danny, Fern & Jimmy

• 1895 - RHP Jimmy Zinn was born in Benton, Arkansas. Zinn worked three years for the Bucs (1920-22; 8-7-4/3.54), with the last year being his only full season with the club. But he was a minor league legend, tossing for nine different farm clubs over 25 campaigns (mostly with San Francisco and Kansas City), collecting 279 wins while compiling a 3.49 ERA. 
• 1913 - OF Fernando “Fern” Bell was born in Ada, Oklahoma. He spent his brief MLB career in Pittsburgh from 1939-40, batting .283. Fern was a minor league lifer (he started in organized ball as an 18-year-old) when he got the call to Pittsburgh, and after cooling off from a red-hot start in ‘39, he was sold early in the 1940 season to the Toronto Maple Leafs club. Fore: After baseball, Fern continued to make his living by swinging a stick - he became a golf pro in California. 
• 1927 - IF Danny O’Connell was born in Paterson, New Jersey. As a Buc rookie in 1950 he hit .292 and finished third in the NL-ROTY voting. He spent the next two years in the Army during the Korean War but came back strong for Pittsburgh in 1953, hitting .294. The Pirates traded him in the off season to the Milwaukee Braves in one of MLB’s biggest deals, netting six players (Sid Gordon, Sam Jethroe, Curt Raydon, Max Surkont, Fred Waters & Larry Lasalle) along with $100,000. O’Connell hit .279 for the Braves in ‘54, then never batted over .266 during the rest of his career, finishing with a career BA of .260 over 10 years. 
• 1933 - Future Hall of Fame RHP Waite Hoyt was signed by the Pirates after being waived by the New York Giants. Working mostly out of the bullpen (156 outings, 45 starts), he went 35-31-18/3.08 in his five-year Bucco career before being sold to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1937. Hoyt was called “Schoolboy” because he signed with the Yankees as a 15-year-old. Waite was also known as "The Merry Mortician" - in the off season he was a funeral director by day and a vaudevillian by night, sharing the stage with the likes of Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante, and George Burns. 

The Fordham Flash - 1945 Play Ball

• 1947 - The Baseball Writers selected Frankie Frisch to the Hall of Fame. Although the Fordham Flash spent his playing career with the Giants and Cardinals, he managed the Buccos from 1940-46. Five of his seven Pittsburgh clubs had winning records but finished higher than fourth just once when the team went 90-63 in 1944, coming in second to St. Louis, which won 105 games. 3B Pie Traynor fell short by two votes; he would be elected into the Hall the following year. 
• 1949 - It was a busy day for the Pirates front office. First, they confirmed they would be the only MLB team to not televise any home games. They noted the decision could change for later seasons, but for now, they were sticking with WWSW Radio as their only outlet. Next, Danny Murtaugh announced that he rejected the FO’s first contract offer, saying “I feel I’m worth more to the club...” but adding “I feel I can adjust this matter in short order.” He did, agreeing to a deal 10 days later. On the bright side, 1B Clyde McCullough said he was “very happy” with his contract and signed it, so the day wasn’t totally shot. 
• 1958 - After the departure of the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers to the west coast, the Pirates agreed to broadcast their games against the two former Gotham clubs back to New York City to provide a National League presence. It was the first time the Senior Circuit didn’t have a NYC-based squad since 1876; the hole was filled by the Mets in 1962. The St Louis Cards reached the same deal while the Phils one-upped both squads by airing 78 games in the Big Apple. 
• 1970 - RHP Jeff McCurry was born in Tokyo. His dad was a serviceman stationed there before the family moved to Texas a few months later. A Pirate draft pick in 1990 out of San Jacinto JC, Jeff worked his 1995 rookie campaign in Pittsburgh, then returned for the 1998 season (he also pitched for Detroit, Houston and Colorado during his five big league seasons). McCurry was a big ‘un at 6’7”, but pitching downhill didn’t help his counting numbers noticeably as the reliever was 2-2-1/5.38 in 71 Bucco outings. At last check, he’s a coach at his alma mater, Houston’s St. Thomas HS, where his number was retired in 2024. 

Jeff McCurry - 1995 Signature Rookie

• 1980 - 3B/OF Clyde Barnhart died in Hagerstown, Maryland at age 84. Clyde spent his entire nine-year career as a Pirate, starting out as a third baseman and then moving to the outfield after Pie Traynor’s arrival at the hot corner. Clyde was a dependable hitter with a lifetime BA of .295 and collected 12 hits in the 11 World Series games he played in 1925 and ‘27. His most famous feat was being the last player credited with hits in three straight games - on the same day! The 24-year-old rookie, 10 days past his debut, got a knock in each of the three contests played against the Reds in 1920 during the last MLB tripleheader. His son, Vic, also played here. He was a backup SS for the Pirates from 1944-46. 
• 1981 - LHP Wil Ledezma was born in Valle de la Pascua, Venezuela. Ledezma was entering his 11th campaign in pro ball with a spotty eight-year record in MLB when the Pirates signed him in the 2009-10 offseason. He looked like a steal when he tossed to a 0.94 ERA at Indianapolis w/1.017 WHIP to start 2010, but the tables turned when he got the call back up - he went 0-3/6.86, in 27 Bucco outings. He was DFA’ed and claimed by Toronto where he ended his MLB days in 2011. 
• 1987 - IF Chase d’Arnaud was born in Torrance, California. A fourth round pick of the Pirates in 2008 out of Pepperdine, he debuted for the Bucs in 2011. He got a good look but hit just .217 with some questionable leatherwork, afterward being given a couple of courtesy calls in 2012 and ‘14 before being DFA’ed and claimed by the Phils. Chase bounced around as a depth guy with Atlanta, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, Texas and KC before retiring in 2020. 
• 2025 - Topps announced that an 11-year-old from LA pulled Paul Skenes 1/1 Chrome Update Patch Debut baseball card. The Pirates had a standing offer of two season tickets, two autographed Skenes jerseys; a softball game for 30 people at PNC Park with alumni coaches; a meet-and-greet with Skenes plus BP and warmup with the Pirates at their Bradenton complex for the card. The cash value was estimated to be worth six figures on the baseball card market. Try seven - it went for $1.1M to Dick’s Sporting Goods, with the money being stashed for a college fund for the kid and his bro

1/20 Through the 1950s: Hans, Lloyd & Heinie Sign - Big Poison Holds Out, Roberto On Radar, Dapper Dale; RIP Josh, HBD Carl, Jesse & Denny

• 1904 - OF Denny Sothern was born in Washington. Originally, his last name was Southern, but it changed, along with his age, so he could enlist in the Marines while underage. Sothern had been a fairly effective leadoff hitter for Philadelphia going into his fourth season (.289 BA) and the Bucs sent OF Fred Brickell to the Phils in August of 1930 for him. Denny’s bat went cold (he hit .176) and the Pirates sold him to Baltimore, who flipped him to Brooklyn. He played 17 games for the Robins in 1931, ending his MLB career at age 27. Brickell didn’t set the world afire, either, but he did last three plus seasons with the Phillies, hitting .258. 
• 1933 - RHP Heinie Meine stopped by the Pirates office and signed a $10,000 contract. It was feared that the 34-year-old workhorse, who had notched 31 wins and 450+ IP in 64 outings (60 starts) during the 1931-32 campaigns, would be difficult to sign after holding out in ‘32, but he came back and anchored the staff with a line of 15-8/3.65 during the season. Heinie was the poster boy for pitch-to-contact hurlers. In six seasons here, he averaged 1.8 strikeouts per nine innings. 
• 1936 - C Jesse Gonder was born in Monticello, Arkansas. Jesse caught the final two seasons (1966-67) of his six-year career in Pittsburgh, batting .209 while backstopping 70 games. He came to Pittsburgh as a Rule 5 pick from Atlanta hoping to win the starting spot from Jim Pagliaroni, and although he didn’t, Jesse did see a lot of action in 1966 (59 games). Relegated as the third man the following year, he faltered and the curtain dropped on his stint in MLB. 

Jesse Gonder - 1966 East Hills SC Promo

• 1937 - The Waner brothers didn’t do everything in tandem. Club President Bill Berswanger announced that Lloyd’s contract was returned signed, with a salary guesstimate of $10K or so, while big bro Paul returned his unsigned. No worries, though - Big Poison, like Hans Wagner, was a notorious malingerer as spring camp approached, but always returned to the flock. He played all 154 games in 1937, eventually inking a deal estimated at $15-16,000. Veteran lefty Ed “Dutch” Brandt, newly obtained from Brooklyn, also agreed to his terms (the amount was undisclosed) and the next day shortstop Arky Vaughan signed for $12,500. 
• 1940 - Honus Wagner, 65-years-old, signed his 29th Bucco contract as he joined Frankie Frisch’s staff for his eighth season as a Pirates coach He played until 1917, took some time off from baseball and then returned to the coaching ranks in 1933 before retiring for good in 1951. Hans joined with holdovers Jake Flowers and Mike Kelly as Frisch’s aides returned intact. Young southpaw Ken Heintzelman also returned a signed agreement and joined the rotation in ‘40. 
• 1944 - UT Carl Taylor was born in Sarasota, Florida. He caught, played first and pinch hit for the Bucs in 1968-69 and was brought back again in September of 1971 for their pennant drive from KC; he returned to the Royals after the title run to complete the final two years of his career. His best season far and away was 1969, when he slashed .348/.432/.457 in 221 AB. 
• 1947 - Homestead Gray and Pittsburgh Crawfords C Josh Gibson, the “black Babe Ruth,” died of a stroke at the age of 35. The future Hall of Fame catcher was put to rest in an unmarked grave in Allegheny Cemetery. In 1975, Negro League teammate Ted Page, Puerto Rican baseball scout/exec Pete Zorrilla, Bucco Willie Stargell and Commissioner Bowie Kuhn paid for a red granite marker that read: "Josh Gibson, 1911-1947, Legendary Baseball Player," a prototype for SABR’s Negro Leagues Grave Marker Project to memorialize lost players. 

Roberto Clemente - 2022 Topps Heritage Minor League

• 1954 - The Sporting News first mentioned Roberto Clemente in a notes column that read “Three major league organizations - the Giants, Braves and Dodgers - are attempting to sign Roberto Clemente, Santurce (Clemente’s Puerto Rican club) outfielder.” The Dodgers may have won that early tussle, but quickly lost The Great One in November’s Rule 5 draft to Pittsburgh. 
• 1957 - Dale Long won the Dapper Dan Man of the Year honor for his eight-game home run streak and was presented with the award at the annual dinner at the Penn-Sheraton Hotel. He became the sixth Pirate to receive the DD and the first to be recognized since pitcher Murry Dickson in 1951.

1/20 From 1960: DJ, Octavio & Adam Sign, Al For Barry, Osborn Joins Booth, MLB Shares $; HBD Ali, David, Brian & Cecil

• 1963 - OF Cecil Espy was born in San Diego. He hit .254 in his two Bucco campaigns of 1991-92, part of Jim Leyland’s title clubs’ bench corps. Cecil was a highly touted guy who never quite panned out; the speedster was the eighth overall selection in the 1980 draft. The Pirates had originally landed Espy in 1985 as part of the Bill Madlock deal with LA. He spent the next season in AAA Hawaii, then the Rangers took him in the Rule 5 draft before Cecil reunited with the Pirates as a free agent in early 1991. His last MLB campaign was with the Reds in 1993. 
• 1970 - The Pirates announced the hiring of Gene Osborn to replace Jim Woods in the KDKA booth after Woods left to join the Cardinals crew. He joined Bob Prince and Nellie King for both radio and TV broadcasts. Osborn had experience as an MLB voice in Detroit with Ernie Harwell from 1965-66 and was doing college announcing when Pittsburgh beckoned. He lasted a year as the Pirates went to a two-man radio booth from 1971-84, keeping the three-man format for TV only. 
• 1971 - RF Brian Giles was born in El Cajon, California. In five years with Pittsburgh (1999-2003), he put up a line of .308/.426/.591 with 165 HR/506 RBI/158 OPS+ and two All-Star berths. A power guy who hit 35+ homers for four straight Bucco seasons, Giles also had a great eye, walking nearly 350 more times during his career than he whiffed. He retired in 2010 after a rough season with San Diego while trying to play through an arthritic knee at age 38. 
• 1975 - Pirates former Special Assistant David Eckstein was born in Sanford, Florida. He played for a decade in the show for the Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres, winning the 2006 World Series MVP with the Cards and a WS title with the Angels in 2002. The Bucs hired him in early 2019, a few weeks after his bro Rick was picked as batting coach, with David placed in player operations; he’s had teaching experience in the Anaheim and Arizona organizations. The brother act broke up quickly as David left in early 2021 to dedicate time to his family while Rick was dismissed a few months later. 

Al Martin - 1993 Fleer Ultra (reverse)

• 1993 - The Barry Bonds era officially ended with Jim Leyland’s announcement that rookie Al Martin, 25, would man left field as Bond’s replacement after Barry took his heart (and bat) to San Francisco in the off season. “I’m not really looking at it as replacing Barry,” Martin said. “Hopefully, I can start a name for myself.” Al had gotten a September cup of coffee in ‘92 and went on to have a solid rookie campaign, batting .289 w/18 HR, coming in fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting. His Achilles heel became apparent though, as the lefty swinger had a big L/R divide (.191 v LHP, .302 v RHP), a gap that would prove consistent over his career. Even with that daunting split, he posted 113 games/425 PAs or better in six of his eight Bucco campaigns and hit .280. 
• 1997 - C Ali Sanchez was born in Carora, Venezuela. The Pirates signed him as a free agent in December, 2023 as a depth guy; he had seven MLB games under his belt from 2020-21 while with the Mets and Cards. The Pirates had Sanchez briefly in 2022 when they claimed him off waivers from the Tigers in October, but a few weeks later they tried to slip him through the wire and lost him to the D-Backs. But Ali was DFA'ed as the season started, cleared the wire and then declared free agency. He spent ‘2024-25 on four rosters and is now part of the New York Yankees organization. 
• 2000 - Big league baseball does occasionally think forward. The team owners voted to cede their digital rights to the Commissioner's office, allowing for the creation of a new cash cow, mlb.com. Bud Selig split the new pot of cyber gold equally among the franchises, in effect tossing the low-revenue markets that were treading water financially a fiscal life preserver. 

Adam LaRoche - 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter

• 2009 - 1B Adam LaRoche, 29, signed a one-year/$7.05M contract to avoid arbitration. Adam then hit .247 with 12 homers, 40 RBIs and 81 strikeouts in 87 games, slumping badly after a hot ‘09 start, and was shipped to the Red Sox on July 22nd for SS Argenis Diaz and RHP Hunter Strickland. The Pirates also agreed to one-year deals with LHP Zach Duke for $2.2M, LHP John Grabow ($2.3 million), and RHP Tyler Yates ($1.3M). Like LaRoche, neither Grabow (traded to the Cubs on July 30th) nor Yates (injury/TJ surgery) made it through the season. 
• 2010 - Free agent RHP Octavio Dotel was signed to a one-year/$3.5M deal w/an option by the Bucs, the only team that offered the right-hander the opportunity to save games rather than be a set-up guy (they needed a replacement for Matt Capps). The 36-year-old reliever hadn't been a closer since 2007 with Kansas City, but reclaimed the role, saving 21 games (in 26 opportunities w/4.28 ERA) before being traded at the deadline to the Dodgers for Andrew Lambo and James McDonald. Dotel worked into the 2013 season and appeared in two WS after leaving the ‘Burg. J-Mac showed early promise that remained unfulfilled while Lambo couldn’t carry his minor league production over into the show. 
• 2010 - RHP DJ Carrasco was signed to a one-year/$950K contract. The reliever stuck around (2-2/3.88) until the deadline, and was packaged as part of a deal with Arizona. His last MLB gig was in 2012 with New York. Carrasco was a part of the Pirate organization from 1999 - 2002 before Kansas City took him in that year’s Rule 5 draft from Pittsburgh’s High A Carolina League club, Lynchburg.

Weekly Report: RIP Dave Giusti, International Signings, More NRI's, Honors & Notes, Camp Opens 2/11, Ol' Bucs Find New Homes

Still work to do....

Pirates Stuff:

• Ol' Bucco reliever Dave Giusti passed away at the age of 86. Danny Murtaugh converted the palmballer from a starter to the pen in 1970 and it paid off big time - in 1971, he was named TSN's reliever of the Year when he helped take home a World Series crown (seven post-season outings - 10-2/3 IP, zero runs, four hits, three saves) after leading the majors with 31 saves during the regular season. Dave spent seven of his 15 big league seasons twirling for the Pirates (47-28-133/2.94; he's third in saves for the Bucs) and lived in Mount Lebanon when his pitching days ended. 

Dave Giusti - 1971 Arco

• The Pirates traded DFA'ed RH reliever Chase Shugart to the Phillies for 18-year-old 3B prospect Francisco Loreto.
• Pittsburgh signed 16-year-old shortstop Wilton Guerrero Jr., #17 on MLB.com's Top 50 International Prospects list, for $1.95M. If the name sounds familiar, it's because he's the son of utility guy Wilton Sr., who spent eight seasons in the big leagues with four different clubs, featuring a strong run with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos and Cincinnati Reds from 1997-2001. Junior is also the nephew of Hall of Famer Vlad Sr. and cousin of All-Star Vlad Jr. They also inked the #7 player on the list for half the price when they reached agreement with the hit-with-power OF prospect Jeancer Custodio, 17, for $900K; both are from the Dominican Republic. MLB Pipeline's Jesse Borek took a look at some of the Pirates top international signings while Austin Bechtold of Bucs Dugout has put together a list of the Bucs '26 international class.
• OF/1B Edward Florentino was selected as the top corner outfield prospect by Baseball America. The 19-year-old lefty was signed from the international ranks in 2024 and hit .290 with 10 HR for Class A Bradenton last year. He's in MLB Pipeline's Top 100 (#81) and ranked among the Bucs Top Five prospects.
• The Pirates announced their NRI camp gang to date: SS Konnor Griffin, 2B Termarr Johnson, IF Duce Gorson, C Omar Alfonzo, C Shawn Ross, RHP Noah Davis and RHP Chris Devenski.
• The Bucs had two guys land in MLB Pipeline's 2026 Top 10 RHP Prospects: #2 Bubba Chandler, who went 4-1/4.02 in a seven-game look last year, and #5 Seth Hernandez, who has yet to throw a pro pitch.

Esmerlyn Valdez - 2025 MLB Pipeline

• A guy who may not be on your radar but may be part of the Pirates future, OF/1B Esmerlyn Valdez, 21, announced he'll be at Pirates Fest. He was added to the 40-man this year after hitting .286 w/26 HRs between A+/AA ball last year and went on a rampage in Arizona, hitting .386 w/8 HR and 27 RBI in 19 games to earn the Arizona Fall League Offensive Player of the Year honor. 
• A storyline you may want to watch: Carmen Mlodzinski, who the Bucs converted to the pen, wants to return to a starting role and has been stretching out during the offseason to try to reclaim that role per MLB's Alex Stumpf.
• Spring is officially in the air!...the first workout for Pirates pitchers and catchers is Wednesday, Feb. 11 with the first full squad workout on Monday, Feb. 16. They're bringing in the WBC players early for their rust removal - 2/9 for Ps & Cs, 2/12 for the non-battery World players. Paul Skenes is playing for the US; ex-Bucs David Bednar, Clay Holmes and Bethel Park's Mason Miller are also on the staff.
• Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin had a pretty whirlwind 2025; 2026 is off to an equally momentous start as Konnor married his high school sweetie Denby Hogan in Mississippi last weekend.

MLB Stuff:

• The Mets claimed SS Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Rays who had claimed him from the Pirates in December.
• OF Marco Luciano, 24, has had a busy off season - the Bucs claimed him from the Giants in early December, then the O's picked him up a month later after he was DFA'ed following the Brandon Lowe trade and the Birds DFA'ed him after they claimed P Jose Saurez. Luciano was once a BA Top 15 Prospect...
• The White Sox have agreed to a minor league deal/spring invite with LHP Ryan Borucki. Ryan spent 2023-25 with the Bucs, getting into 87 games and posting a 5-3/4.17 line. He put up strong numbers in '23, but was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in '24 and hasn't shown the same stuff since.

Ryan Borucki - 2025 Pirates

• Nick Solak, who was hot with the stick at Indy last year as an insurance-policy type utility guy but only got into four games with the Bucs (1-for-11), has signed with the San Diego Padres.
• The Mets signed ex-Buc prospect LHP Trey McGough to a rare two-year minor league deal. After a breakout 2024 campaign, he retired last May after a brutal AAA outing; apparently he's finally gotten over it.
• The Toronto Blue Jays released IF Rodolfo Castro, who they had recently claimed from Philly, so that he can join the NPB’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Rudy was with the Bucs from 2021-23, batting .219 w/22 HRs in 180 games, mostly at 2B but with plenty of time at SS and 3B, too. 
• RHP Ovaldo Bido has been on the move. The 30-year-old debuted with the Bucs in '23, spent the following two years with the As, was claimed and DFA'ed by the Tampa Bay Rays in the off season, and now is with Miami.
• OF Jared Oliva, who got his taste of MLB in 2020-21 as a Bucco, has signed a minor-league deal with the Giants. It's his fourth organization since leaving Pittsburgh to go with Dominican and Mexican stints.
• Knuckleballer Wilbur Wood, who never found his groove in Pittsburgh (1964-65), passed away. He was shipped to the White Sox, where he found greener pastures. The Sox used him in the pen before converting him to starter (12 years - 163 wins, 57 saves, 3.18 ERA) and teased out the talent that Pittsburgh couldn't unlock.

1/19: Stewie, Kip, Craig, Lee, Bob, Vern & Stan Sign, Gonzo-Adam, Bucs Show For Dapper Dick, Replacement Camp; RIP The Man, HBD Nick, Chris, Scott & Ed

• 1872 - SS Ed Spurney was born in Cleveland, Ohio (some sources list his B-Day as the 9th, c’ est la vie). Ed had a brief three-game stand with the Bucs in 1891 as a 19-year-old, and that was the sum of his MLB career. But he had a decent run, albeit for 17 late-June innings, as Spurney went 2-for-7 with two walks and scored twice while making 9-of-10 plays at short. He joined the club after regular SS Tun Berger lost his job, auditioning while the Bucs were in Cleveland after being touted by several Spider players, and beat out fellow try-out dude, Youngstown’s Eddie Bechtold. When they were told afterward that Spurney had won the competition, both claimed to be Spurney; manager Ned Hanlon couldn’t remember one Ed from the other and had to have the Cleveland players identify who was who before the game, per David Nemec’s “MLB Profiles.” Shortstop ended up a problematic position for the Pirates that season; seven guys manned the spot with mid-season acquisition Frank Shugart finally winning the job. Ed, unfortunately, was playing with a bum arm suffered earlier in the year and was released, moving on to Michigan Law School with some occasional ball playing with the Cleveland Athletic Club. Nocturnal trivia: Spurney was a sleepwalker, and his minor league teammates would lay bats around his bed to trip him up before he began roaming on one of his sandman safaris, according to Nemec. 
• 1950 - SS Stan Rojek ended a brief holdout by signing a one-year/$12,500 contract, the mid-point between the $14,000 he had earned in 1949 and the $11,000 offered by the Pirates for 1950. Stan’s cut was due to an anemic .244 BA, and it didn’t get better. The 31-year-old lost his starting job to Danny O’Connell during the season and was traded the following May. 
• 1958 - The Pirates had a big contingent present at the Dapper Dan dinner to help honor the Outstanding Sports Figure of 1957, Dick Groat. Attending for the Bucs were Tom Johnson, Dan Galbreath (owners), Joe Brown (GM), and Danny Murtaugh (manager) along with past and present Corsairs Bob Friend, Frank Thomas, ElRoy Face, Ron Kline, Bobby DelGreco, Bob Purkey, Jerry Lynch and Nellie King. More: Honus Wagner and Pie Traynor were installed into the Pittsburgh Hall of Fame and one-time Pirates catcher Joe Gargiola was the toastmaster to the Penn-Sheraton Hotel crowd of 1,200+. 

Groat & Company - 1/20/1958 Post-Gazette

• 1961 - RHP Vern Law, after putting together a 20-9/3.08 regular season slash and adding two more wins during the World Series, signed his 1961 contract with the Pirates. Though undisclosed, it was guesstimated by the media to be in the neighborhood of $50,000. Law’s career began to roller coaster after the ‘60 campaign as ankle and shoulder injuries would haunt him. 
• 1963 - OF Scott Little was born in East St. Louis, Illinois. Scott came to the Bucs in 1987 from the Mets as part of the Bill Almon-Al Pedrique deal. He spent most of the time in the minors, going 1-for-4 in three games for the Bucs in 1989. In 1991, after three injury-nagged farm campaigns, the Bucs converted the 28-year-old from player to staffer, and he’s been a minor league skipper, coach, scout and player development guy for the Pirates, Dodgers, Nats, Rangers and Rockies since. 
• 1965 - RHP Bob Friend signed on for his 15th year as a Bucco, agreeing to a deal with an undisclosed salary but estimated to be in the $40-45K range. The 34-year-old was coming off a 13-18/3.33 campaign in which he didn’t get much offensive support. It would be his last contract as a Pittsburgh Pirate; he was traded to the NY Yankees after the season and ended his career with the Mets. 

Chris Stynes - 2004 Topps Total

• 1973 - Versatile utilityman Chris Stynes was born in Queens. He joined the Bucs in 2004 as a $750K free agent to plug a hole at the hot corner, but hit just .219 and was released in August, ending his MLB days. Stynes had a pretty good MLB run, though, playing 10 years for six teams with a career .275 BA while filling in at every position but pitcher, catcher and first base. 
• 1979 - OF Lee Lacy signed on as a free agent with the Pirates, agreeing to a six-year/$1.02M contract. Lacy averaged over 100 games per season in his half-dozen Bucco campaigns, hitting .304 over that span, but was also implicated in the Pittsburgh coke trials. When his deal ended, he joined the Baltimore Orioles, playing three more years in his last MLB tour of duty. 
• 1993 - RHP Nick Burdi was born in Downers Grove, Illinois. He could touch 100 MPH at Louisville and was drafted in the second round (#46 overall) by the Twins in 2014. In 2017, he had TJ surgery and Minnesota hoped to sneak him through the Rule 5 draft. They couldn’t, with the Phils taking him and then selling his rights to the Pirates for $500 K in international pool money. He pitched 11 minor league rehab innings after recovery and was rostered by the Bucs in September to begin his Rule 5 residency clock, making a bumpy MLB debut on September 11th against the Cards that was followed with a scoreless frame against the Brewers. But he was bitten by the injury bug again in 2019 - in June, he underwent thoracic outlet surgery that cost him the rest of the season. He worked some in 2020, had TJ surgery in the off season, was DFA’ed and claimed by San Diego as a free agent. He then joined the Yankees & Red Sox and is now in the NY Mets system. 

Nick Burdi - 2019 Topps Inception

• 1995 - Reacting to the player’s strike, the Pirates announced that they were building a roster of replacement players. Without naming any names of players already inked, the FO said none of them would be minor league prospects, leaving ex-big-leaguers, undrafted college kids and fringy free agents as fair game (Keith Osik ended up among them). It became moot when the strike ended the day before the season was supposed to open, and the MLB played a short season in ‘95. On another front, the team announced it hired a New York agency to plow the path for the sale of the team as the City was nearing its deadline as a broker. The town fathers weren’t pleased and Mayor Tom Murphy called it saber-rattling. 
• 2004 - RHP Kip Wells and 1B/OF Craig Wilson avoided arb by signing contracts with big pay raises - Wilson jumped from $327K in 2003 to $1.15M in 2004, while Wells leapfrogged his previous $375K salary and inked a $2.575M deal. Both remained Pirates until 2006 when they were dealt at the deadline - Wells went to Texas for Jesse Chavez and Wilson to the Yankees for Shawn Chacon. 
• 2007 - The Bucs trade of LHP Mike Gonzalez and SS Brent Lillibridge to the Atlanta Braves for 1B Adam LaRoche and minor league 1B/OF Jamie Romak became official. Gonzo ended up injury-bitten, Lillibridge became a utility player for six seasons, Romak had a couple of cups of coffee in the show and LaRoche held a starting job at first for several clubs after putting up a slash of .265/58/213 in three Bucco seasons. He retired in 2016 after a White Sox edict limited his teenage son’s access to the clubhouse, walking away from $13M still due him. 

Mike Gonzalez - 2007 Fleer

• 2013 - Hall of Famer “Stan the Man” Musial of the Cards, who was born in Donora and is on the short list of all-time local stars, died at the age of 92. His 24 All-Star Game selections are more than anyone except Hank Aaron. When he retired after the 1963 season, Musial had an NL record 3,630 hits – 1,815 at home and 1,815 on the road – and a .331 batting average. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1969 on his first appearance on the ballot. Ben Cosgrove of Sports Illustrated wrote that his nickname was dropped on him not by St. Louis fans but by a discerning Brooklyn crowd. “The story goes that at Ebbets Field on June 23, 1946, Dodgers fans took to chanting "Here comes the man" when Musial, who routinely destroyed Dodger pitching, stepped to the plate. Longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Bob Broeg heard the chant, stuck it (Stan the Man) into his next column, and the most fitting nickname in baseball history was born.” 
• 2016 - C Chris Stewart’s two-year/$3M contract extension became official. Stew’s deal was for $1.35M in 2016 and $1.4M in 2017, with a $1.5M option/$250K buyout for 2018, making a guaranteed $3M deal for the veteran catcher. Stew made it through the first two campaigns and then was bought out in 2018 after an injury-filled 2017 season, finishing his career that season between Atlanta and Arizona. The Pirates also claimed RHP AJ Schugel off waivers from Seattle. He slashed 6-2-1/3.00 from 2016-17 in 68 outings, but missed 2018 due to injury and became a free agent after the campaign. He bumped around in Atlanta, Arizona and the minors before retiring in 2019.

1/18 Through the 1970s: Sudden Sam, Hal & The Tiger Sign, Hank & Eddie Join, Pete GM, Dapper Ralph; HBD Wandy, Lauren, Eddie & Charlie

• 1855 - OF Charlie Eden was born in Lexington, Kentucky. He joined the Alleghenys for two seasons, 1884-85, hitting .258 after a five-year minor league stint. Charlie played a little corner infield and also pitched some, going 1-3/5.53 with Pittsburgh. Those campaigns ended the 30-year old Charlie’s four-year MLB career; it appears that he went back to barnstorming through the minors. 
• 1899 - Utilityman Eddie Moore was born in Barlow, Kentucky. Moore hit .301 as a Bucco from 1923-26 and was a starter on the 1925 WS club, but he clashed with management a couple of times and was sold to the Boston Braves after getting into a shouting match with Fred Clarke, who was not only a club exec at the time but also served a dual role as a bench coach. 
• 1931 - RHP Laurin Pepper was born in Vaughan, Mississippi. A football star drafted by the Steelers (he was an All-America halfback at Mississippi Southern), Pepper was inked for $35K by the Bucs in 1954 as a bonus baby, as the Pirates easily topped the Steelers’ $15K bid. He probably should have stuck with the pigskin, though: in four MLB seasons (1954-57), he worked just 109-2/3 IP, going 2-8/7.09 with 98 walks. He then spent some time in the minors before becoming a long-time HS football coach and Athletic Director back home in the Magnolia State. 
• 1947 - The Pirates purchased Hank Greenberg, the original “Hammerin’ Hank,” from the Tigers for somewhere between $40,000-$75,000 (the latter is the consensus figure) after he had a spat with Detroit owner Walter Briggs. It didn’t come easy; the Bucs had to talk the 36-year-old out of retirement, even after a 44-homer campaign in ‘46. To celebrate the move, team co-owner Bing Crosby recorded a song, "Goodbye, Mr. Ball, Goodbye" with Groucho Marx and Hank after the Bucs signed him to a reported $90,000 deal (it was never disclosed; some think it was $100K, making him baseball’s first six-figure payroller), the biggest in history at that time. In his one season with Pittsburgh, he hit .249 with 25 HR/74 RBI to become the first player with a 25-homer season in both leagues, walked a league-high 104 times and served as a mentor to a young Ralph Kiner. He inspired “Greenberg Gardens” when the Bucs shortened Forbes Field’s left field wall by 30’ for him. When he retired after the season, his nook became “Kiner’s Korner.” 

Ralph Kiner wins a watch - 1/18/1948 Press

• 1948 - Ralph Kiner was presented the Dapper Dan “Athlete of the Year” award at the DD’s annual dinner at the William Penn Hotel (he was gifted with a watch). Newly retired Hank Greenberg made the trip to Pittsburgh as an honored guest of Kiner’s. Ralph also set aside some face time to talk contract with the Bucco brass, and made out pretty well by more than doubling his 1947 salary, inking a deal that upped his paycheck from $15,000 to $35,000 (per Baseball Reference). OF Dixie Walker had been the first Bucco to sign the day before, John Hancock’ing a deal thought to be in the neighborhood of $25,000. Two days later after Mr. Swat’s deal, they agreed to terms with staff workhorse RHP Kirby Higbe, paying him $15,000. 
• 1948 - The Bucs bought IF Joe “Eddie” Bockman from the Indians for an undisclosed amount. The 27-year-old had hit .259 for the Tribe after coming off an All-Star season in the American Association. Bockman spent two years behind Frank Gustine and Pete Castiglione at the hot corner (.230 BA in 149 games) and then settled in the minors as a player/manager through the 1958 season. After his stint behind the bench, he became a long-time Philadelphia Phillies scout, finally closing out his baseball days as a bird dog for the expansion Florida Marlins. 
• 1960 - 3B Don Hoak, who the Pirates acquired the season before from the Cincinnati Reds, was rewarded with a fatter wallet by GM Joe Brown for anchoring third base during the campaign, playing 155 games at the hot corner while batting .294. The Tiger happily returned his signed contract to the club that jumped his salary from its current $20,000 to $27,500 in 1960. 
• 1961 - C Hal Smith signed the biggest contract of his career, a $25,000 deal, after hitting .295 as Smoky Burgess’ platoon partner and swatting a huge seventh-game homer in the World Series to set the scene for Bill Mazeroski’s blast into Bucco history. He also had a lucrative night shift job with an off-season gig singing in the clubs with Elroy Face and adding another $8-10,000 to his wallet. 

Sudden Sam - 1975 Topps

• 1975 - LHP Sudden Sam McDowell, 32, signed an NRI deal with the Bucs for an undisclosed amount. The Central grad who still lived in Monroeville was out to prove that despite posting a 1-6/4.69 slash with the Yankees in 1974, he wasn’t quite ready for last rites. He broke camp with the team and went 2-1/2.86 in 14 outings w/29 K in 34-2/3 IP, but the bullpen was overloaded with lefties and the Pirates released Sam in June, ending his MLB career after 15 seasons. His replacement was a scrawny righty called up from AAA Charleston, Kent Tekulve. 
• 1979 - The Pirates announced that Harding “Pete” Peterson would be the Executive Vice President, in effect the GM, ending the two-man system of him and Joe O’Toole, the VP of Business Administration, trying to share the duties of the prior GM, Joe Brown. Pete lasted until 1985 when he was let go in mid-season for the man he replaced, Brown, who kept the seat warm for Syd Thrift. Peterson was the New York Yankees GM for a season and finished his career in player evaluation roles for the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays. 
• 1979 - LHP Wandy Rodriguez was born in Santiago Rodriguez, Dominican Republic. Wandy joined the Bucs in 2012 when he was acquired from the Astros. He didn’t become a major contributor as hoped, as his 2013 season derailed because of arthritis in his pitching arm after a dozen starts. He claimed just 11 wins in 25 outings with a 3.66 ERA as a Pirate before being released in May of 2014. Wandy worked for Texas the next year in his curtain call campaign.

1/18 From 1980: Big Joe-David/Endy, Felipe, Francisco & Bobby Sign, DD, BB & Bo To Hearings, Bix Dealt; HBD Justin & Gift

• 1980 - SS Gift Ngoepe was born in Randburg, South Africa. Ngoepe became the first black South African to sign a professional baseball contract when he agreed to a deal with the Pirates in October 2008 and the first to play MLB in 2017. He was born to be a ballplayer; Ngoepe's mom was a clubhouse attendant for the Randburg Mets, and they lived in one of the clubhouse rooms, as he literally grew up in a ballyard. Gift is a brilliant fielder but hasn’t solved hitting the ball, with a .222 Pirates BA (.231 career MiLB) and was sold to Toronto in the 2017 offseason. He played in Australia in 2018, then the Phils/Pirates/Indie League, back to the Land Down Under last year and the Frontier League. Gift then bounced around baseball and since 2023 has been a minor league manager and coach for the D-Backs. The Bucs signed his middle infielder brother Victor, and he played in the system until 2019. Pittsburgh signed his brother Victor, and he played in the Pirates system until 2019. 
• 1984 - LHP Justin Thomas was born in Toledo, Ohio. He was drafted out of Youngstown State by Seattle in 2005 and the Pirates claimed him off waivers from the Mariners in 2009. He had his longest stint as a Buc (12 outings, 0-1/6.23). JT spent the next year with the MLB Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, and then went East to toss for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan, the Kia Tigers of the Korean League, and the Chinese League Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions before hanging up his well-worn spikes after the 2015 season. 
• 1989 - Pittsburgh came to a one-year/$730K agreement, adding various award bonuses, with 25-year-old 3B Bobby Bonilla. Bobby Bo was one of seven Buccos who had filed for arbitration, and after hitting .274 with 24 HR’s & 100 RBI in 1988, he earned a big jump from his $245K paycheck. 

Bobby Bonilla - 1989 Fleer All Star

• 1991 - The Pirates and their eight arb-eligible players traded salary offers. Not surprisingly, there was a sizeable gap between the Three Amigos and Bucs: Bobby Bo ($1.25M in ‘90) wanted $3.475 and was offered $2.4M; Doug Drabek ($1.1M) requested $3.35M and was met with a $2.3M bid, and Barry Bond ($850K) asked for $3.25M; the Pirates countered with $2.3M. Drabek and Bonds won their hearings; Bonilla lost his and left after the season. Bonds and Drabek joined him in changing MLB employers after the ‘92 campaign to scatter the playoff core. 
• 1996 - The Bucs signed RHP Francisco Cordova out of the Mexican League. He tossed for five years in Pittsburgh, slashing 42-47/3.97. Francisco had three good years with the Bucs, throwing the front end of a combined no-hitter finished by lefty Ricardo Rincon and getting the Opening Day call in 1998 and ‘99 before arm troubles caught up to him. He lasted two more years as a Pirate. After he left, he had enough left in the tank to pitch in Mexico from 2002-2011 with the Mexico City Tigres, the Mexico City Diablos Rojos, and the Petroleros de Minatitlán. 
• 2010 - The Buccos traded OF/SS Brian Bixler to the Cleveland Indians, getting young minor league handyman Jesus Brito in return. Bixler was Pittsburgh's second-round pick in the 2004 draft, but in 166 Bucco PA’s between 2008-09, he batted just .178. Bix also got shots with Washington and Houston, but his bat never came around; his lifetime BA was .189, and his best single-season OPS+ was 59. Utilityman Brito never advanced past Class A. 
• 2018 - Felipe Rivero officially signed a four-year/$22M deal to cash in his arb years. He gets $2.5M in 2018, $4M in 2019, $5.25M in 2020, $7.25M in 2021, plus a $2M signing bonus. The deal includes club options in 2022 and 2023 for $10M with buyouts of $1M in 2022/$500K in 2023. Rivero had filed for an arb hearing as a Super Two (he asked for $2.9M & the Pirates countered with $2.4M), but he traded it in for guaranteed money and team-friendly cost certainty for the club. A 2019 arrest/conviction for kiddie porn/sexual contact ended his MLB connection. 

Endy Rodriguez - 2024 Topps Golden Mirror

• 2021 - The Pirates continued their teardown/rebuild when they pulled the trigger on a Big Joe Musgrove swap with San Diego and the Mets (it became official the next day after the physicals were completed). The Bucs got CF Hudson Head with RHPs David Bednar, Omar Cruz and Drake Fellows from the Padres along with C Endy Rodriguez from Mets (NY received LHP Joey Lucchesi from SD). Musgrove, 28, turned the corner during the 2020 campaign (1-5 but with a 3.86 ERA & 12.5 K per nine), had two years of team control and the added plus of going back to his hometown. Head, 19, and Rodriguez, 20, were the top kids coming back in return, while Bednar (who went to Mars HS) established himself as a back-ender with the Bucs and was dealt to the NYY in '25. Endy became the starting catcher in ‘23 but was on the shelf for ‘24 & most of '25 with a bum wing that required back-to-back surgeries. Cruz returned to SD via Rule 5 and is now an FA, Head toiled in the associated league last year and Fellows made it to Indy in '25, then signed with the Yankees as an FA in the offseason.

1/17: Jeff, Kip, Josh, Matt & Dixie Sign, '15, '14 '13 & '90 Arb Classes, '84 January Draft, '70 Zippo; RIP Jewel, HBD Jeff, Jack, Doc & Milt

• 1861 - 1B Milt Scott was born in Chicago. He played in the majors for four seasons, joining the Alleghenys late in June of 1885 after being purchased from the Detroit Wolverines and batted .248. He was then “traded” to Baltimore (actually the American Association settled a contract dispute over Sam Barkley’s rights with his transfer). He hit .190 in 1886 and was out of the majors after that, retiring after spending 1890 with Fort Wayne of the Indiana State League. 
• 1882 - C/1B John “Doc” Kerr was born in Dellroy, Ohio. He accrued eight years in the minors to end up playing in 59 big league games, all in the Federal League, from 1914-15. His first 42 contests came as a Pittsburgh Rebel, batting .239. One and done: Doc played for 12 pro teams in 10 years and spent full back-to-back seasons with just one, Trenton, of the Class B Tri-State League. 
• 1922 - 2B Jack Merson was born in Elk Ridge, Maryland. Jack was with the Pirates from 1951-52, playing regularly during the second season until it ended prematurely when he broke his wrist. He hit .257 over that span, but he ended up with Boston the next season. In Beantown, the 31-year-old was blocked by bonus baby Billy Consolo and Merson played just one game in 1953, going 0-for-4 to end his MLB days. He played for a few more seasons in San Diego, then a minor league club, and remained there to work and raise his family. 
• 1948 - OF Dixie Walker inked a $25,000 contract with the Pirates after coming over the month before from Brooklyn, where he had been an All-Star for four of the last five seasons, as part of the Billy Cox/Preacher Roe trade. The 38-year-old, playing in his 17th major league season, hit .316 as the Bucco’s right fielder and finished his career in Pittsburgh after the 1949 campaign. 

Jewel Ens 1925 Baseball Magazine

• 1950 - Pirates player, coach and manager Jewel (his real first name) Ens died from an aortic aneurysm in Syracuse at age 60. Ens wore the Pirates colors as a utility infielder (1922–25; .290 career BA), player-coach (1923–25), F/T coach (1926–29; 1935–39) & manager (1929–31). He was a member of the 1925 World Series champs and coach of the 1927 National League pennant winners. After his Pittsburgh tours of duty, Jewel also coached for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston Braves before spending eight seasons as the field boss of the International League Syracuse Chiefs where he won three league titles. He was elected as a member of the IL Hall of Fame posthumously in 1950. 
• 1964 - LHP Jeff Tabaka was born in Barberton, Ohio. Jeff got a cup of coffee with the Pirates in 1994, moved on and returned again in 1998, slashing 2-2/3.02 as a Bucco. Jeff had the usual itinerary of a journeyman lefty - in his six seasons in the majors he pitched for the Pirates, San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, and St. Louis Cardinals. Tabaka’s promising career was short circuited by injuries; he had to undergo a pair of TJ surgeries. At last look, he was an instructor at the Strike Zone Academy in North Canton, Ohio. 
• 1970 - The Pirates selected players through the 28th round of the January player draft, going nine rounds deeper than any other club, and came up with exactly no one who made it to the majors. LHP Alan Jackson of Northeastern State was their top pick (14th overall); he declined to sign and was instead selected by the Red Sox in the June draft. He topped out a Class AA. The January draft was a secondary feeder. Its pool consisted of high school players who graduated early, JC/community college athletes, and players who opted out of four-year colleges. 
• 1984 - The Pirates drafted pitcher Gil Heredia first in the January draft, but the righty from Pima CC didn’t sign. He went pro three years later, albeit as a ninth-round pick of the Giants, and carved out a 10-year MLB career. Light hitting OF Alex Cole was also selected that year. The best pick was in the secondary phase when the Bucs took OF Jay Buhner, who ended up swatting 310 HR in 15 big league seasons after being traded to the Yankees. They also chose C Tom Prince in the fourth round of the secondary draft, and he hung with the Bucs from 1987-93 as a reserve backstop, later rejoining the club as a minor league manager and big league coach. He moved to Detroit in 2020, managing the AAA Toledo club. 

John Cangelosi - 1990 Score

• 1990 - The Pirates had 11 players eligible for arbitration; all 11 filed for February hearings. OF John Cangelosi was the first to give in before judgment day, agreeing to a one-year/$220K deal after bringing home $150K the season prior. Cangelosi told the Post-Gazette that “The offer was fair. I didn’t want to make anybody mad.” The Buccos also re-signed minor leaguer LHP Scott Ruskin, who had a good start to the year and was subsequently flipped to the Expos in August as part of the Zane Smith trade. The big guns took a split decision: Doug Drabek won a $1.1M payday, but Barry Bonds ($850K) and Bobby Bonilla ($1.25M) lost their cases.
• 2003 - RHP Matt Herges agreed to a one-year/$825K deal. The 33-year-old Expo reliever, who the Bucs had recently acquired as a setup man, came to Pittsburgh for pitcher Chris Young. Young went on to some success as a starter before injuries dropped the curtain on his career while Herges was in the fifth year of an 11-season MLB tour of duty. He pitched for six teams from 2003 forward, but Pittsburgh wasn’t one of them; they cut him in March. 
• 2005 - RHP Josh Fogg inked a one-year/$2.15M deal with the Bucs to avoid an arbitration hearing. Fogg went 6-11/5.05 during the ‘05 campaign and was non-tendered at the end of the season, ending up signing with Colorado in 2006. Craig Wilson agreed to a one year/$3M contract the next day to also avoid an arb judgment. He ended up playing only 59 games during the year as a result of hand injuries that landed him on the DL twice. 
• 2006 - The Bucs inked RHP Kip Wells to a one-year, $4.15M contract, avoiding arb. Kip only lasted to the deadline, going 1-5 with a 6.69 ERA before being dealt away to the Texas Rangers for RHP Jesse Chavez. Wells, a former first round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 1998, pitched for nine teams in 12 seasons with a career slash of 69-103-2/4.78 ERA. 

Jeff Karstens - 2013 Topps Heritage

• 2013 - The Pirates signed vets RHP Jeff Karstens, who was non-tendered in arb, to a reported one-year/$2.5M contract as a FA and 1B/OF Brad Hawpe to a minor league deal. Karstens, who had missed two months of 2012 due to injury, never returned to the hill. He underwent shoulder surgery in early June that eventually led to his 2015 retirement. Hawpe was cut during camp, played briefly for the Angels and was done with MLB ball by late July after hitting .185. 
• 2014 - The Pirates signed five players to one-year deals (2B Neil Walker, 3B Pedro Alvarez, RHP Mark Melancon, 1B Gaby Sanchez and RHP Vin Mazzaro) to avoid arbitration. They had previously reached agreements with arb-eligibles RHP Charlie Morton, OF Travis Snider and C Chris Stewart, and non-tendered 1B Garrett Jones, C Mike McKenry and OF Felix Pie to close out the 2014 class. 
• 2015 - The Pirates had a MLB-high dozen players eligible for arbitration: Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, Mark Melancon, Josh Harrison, Tony Watson, Francisco Cervelli, Jared Hughes, Travis Snider, Antonio Bastardo, Chris Stewart, Vance Worley and Sean Rodriguez, after previously releasing arb-eligible players Ike Davis, Gaby Sanchez, John Axford, Jeanmar Gomez and Chaz Roe. Nine signed one-year deals; Walker, Alvarez, and Worley opted to take the arbitration route. Walker lost his case (asked for $9M and got $8M) while Alvarez ($5.75M awarded after being offered $5.25M) and Worley (he filed for a $2.45M salary and was offered $2M) won their cases at the hearings.

1/16 Through the 1970s: Lamb Shuffle, Cali Camp, Hoop Rivals, FDR OK's Season; HBD Alfredo, Ron, Dave, Erskine & Art

• 1858 - IF Art Whitney was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. Known for his glovework, he played for the Alleghenys from 1884-87, hitting .248 while in Pittsburgh. His lifetime BA was a paltry .223, but the slick gloveman led the league four times in fielding percentage, three times as a third baseman (1886, 1887, and 1891) and once as a shortstop (1885). 
• 1890 - RHP Erskine Mayer was born in Atlanta. He worked two seasons for Pittsburgh from 1918-19, going 14-6 with a 3.19 ERA. In 1919, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox, becoming part of the infamous "Black Sox" team. His only appearance in the scandal-tainted 1919 World Series was a one-inning relief stint, and it was his last outing in an MLB uniform, ending his eight-year career with an overall slash of 91-70-6/2.96. His moment in the sun as a Bucco came in 1918 when Mayer worked 15-1/3 shutout innings as the starter of the longest scoreless game in Pirate history, eventually won over the Boston Braves, 2-0, in 21 innings. 
• 1930 - Before the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues, teams traveled all over the country for camp. The Pirates took 30 players to the 1930 spring training site, California’s Paso Robles, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The club announced nine late-March tune-up games after breaking camp, playing at nearby LA, SF and Oakland, traveling on to Fort Worth, Dallas, Tucson, Mobile, New Orleans and Cincinnati, then returning to Pittsburgh and Forbes Field. The pre-season warm-up trip rumbled over 6,500 miles of railroad track accompanied by the dealing of countless hands of gin rummy. 

1930 Pirates - The Sporting News

• 1945 - FDR gave baseball the OK to go ahead with the season as long as the league didn’t hinder the services or manpower needed for the war effort, with the president making it clear that draft-eligible/war industry players would heed the call of their country first and baseball second. Roosevelt was a friend of sports during the war years, encouraging the leagues to play on within the manpower and other limits imposed by WW2 as a morale booster for the nation. He had written a similar 1942 note in support of continuing baseball despite the war. 
• 1957 - Coach Dave Jauss was born in Chicago. Dave was named to the Pirates scouting staff in 2011 and became a coach for Clint Hurdle next season. He’s been managing, coaching and scouting since 1982, managing college, Dominican & minor league nines while coaching and scouting for Montreal, Baltimore, Boston, the Dodgers and Mets prior to landing in Pittsburgh, where he’s a coach without portfolio. He was let go when the new regime took over in 2019 and went to the Mets as bench coach, where he was replaced by another ex-Buc coach, Glenn Sherlock, when Buck Showalter took the reins. He’s now an advisor with the Nats. 
• 1960 - The Pirates and Steelers picked a neutral sport - basketball - to go mano-a-mano for charity, with the gridders taking a 22-20 sudden-death overtime win at Fitzgerald Field House despite 14 points from Dick Groat. The 15-minute match, set up by The Gunner, was part of a tripleheader played for the benefit of Children's Hospital with Pitt whipping Westminster and Carnegie Tech upsetting Duquesne in front of 5,308 fans. Prince got into the action - he and the “Voice of the Steelers” Joe Tucker were the refs for the Bucco/Black & Gold game. 

Pirates-Steelers hardwood clash - 1/17/1960 Pgh. Press

• 1970 - LHP Ron Villone was born in Englewood, New Jersey. Villone played for 12 teams in his 15-year career, tied for third all-time. Villone tossed for the Pirates in 2002, going 4–6/5.81 in 45 games with seven starts after signing a one-year/$900K deal in February. 
• 1974 - In a bit of a shell game, the Pirates sold RHP John Lamb to the White Sox, only to buy him back two months later. Lamb had three years with Pittsburgh (1970-71, 1973), going 0-2-5/4.07 in 47 appearances. They would be his last in MLB; the Bucs stashed him away at AAA Charleston as insurance and 1974 ended up his last pro season. The Buccos kept a couple of other guys around in a more traditional manner, signing LHP Jerry Reuss and prospect Ed Ott to contracts. 
• 1978 - IF Alfredo Amezaga was born in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico. He was claimed off waivers in April ‘05 (Chris Duffy was sent down to clear a space for Alfredo), and then was released two weeks later with just four PA’s and four innings in the field after Jose Castillo came off the DL. Amegaza went on to play fairly regularly for Florida from 2006-08 and lasted nine MLB seasons in all, retiring after the 2011 campaign and closing out his playing days in Mexico in 2018 at age 39.

1/16 From 1990: JHK, Jose, Brendan, Ollie & Kip Sign, J-Hay Wants Out, Interleague OK'ed, All Star Sites; RIP Frank

• 1991 - LHP Bob Kipper avoided arbitration by signing a one-year/$825K deal with the Bucs, upping his take-home pay by $300K. His line was 5-2-3/3.02 in 1990, but he slashed 2-2-4/4.65 in 1991 and left as a FA to join the Twins in the off season. That was the end of his road; he was released by Minnesota in July after eight MLB campaigns and began coaching in the indie and minor leagues. 
• 1996 - Interleague play was approved by MLB for the next season and was later given an imprimatur from the MLBPA. It was meant to showcase rivalry games; three decades in, the Pirates are still looking for their natural rival; Detroit was designated as their MLB-designated blood foe. 
• 2003 - To add some skin to the All-Star game, the owners voted unanimously to give the winner home field advantage for the World Series, later approved by the MLBPA. It was eventually scrapped; 2016 was the last Mid-Summer Classic to determine the World Series home field. Good thing, too, for the NL - the Junior Circuit had won 11 of the 14 games played under that format. 
• 2006 - LHP Ollie Perez signed a $1.9M contract in his first arbitration year after coming off a 7-5/5.85 campaign. The Bucs had high hopes for a bounce back from the southpaw who had gone 12-10/2.98 with 239K in 2004, but the 24-year-old posted a 2-10/6.55 line during the season and the Pirates sent him to the Mets at the 2006 deadline as part of the Xavier Nady package. 

Ollie Perez - 2005_Fleer Tradition

• 2010 - The Pirates inked 38-year-old reliever Brendan Donnelly, an eight-year vet who was a former All Star but had been released by three teams in 2009, to a $1.35M FA deal. The righty put up a line of 3-1/5.58 for the Bucs and was let go in late July to end his big league days, retiring in 2011. Before that, he had been the poster boy for a baseball journeyman - since 1992, he had played for 12 pro organizations, two indie leagues, 19 minor league teams, and for six MLB clubs. 
• 2011 - The Pirates signed RHP Jose Veras to a minor league deal worth $1M if he made the big club. He did, going 2-4-1/3.80 with 79K in 71 IP. Jose was one-and-done with the Bucs; in the off season, he was flipped to the Milwaukee Brewers for 3B Casey McGehee. Veras had three seasons left in the tank, slashing 9-10-23/3.64 and averaging almost 10 whiffs per game. McGehee hit .230 with eight homers for the Bucs while playing on a gimpy knee and was sent to the New York Yankees at the deadline for RHP Chad Qualls. 
• 2015 - The Pirates officially signed Korean SS Jung-Ho Kang to a four-year, $11M contract ($2.5M, $2.5M, $2.75M & $3M with a $250K/$5.5M option for 2019). He could earn up to $750K/year in at-bat bonuses, with a guaranteed annual stipend for family travel and an interpreter. Pittsburgh also paid his club a posting fee of $5,002,015 for negotiating rights, making the deal the most expensive the Pirates ever paid out for an international signee. Kang, 27, hit .356 with 40 home runs and 117 RBIs in 501 PAs for the Nexen Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization in 2014. His slash was .287/.355/.461 in his first MLB campaign, cut short by a late-season leg injury. He was strong again in 2016 but suffered through another injury-shortened year. That was followed by a missed campaign in 2017 due to legal issues in Korea that cost him his US work permit after a DUI conviction. JHK finally got back in good graces in 2018, but missed all but three games with a wrist injury. Kang was non-tendered, then re-signed by the Bucs for 2019 and released at the end of the campaign. He returned to Korea but hasn’t played since. 

Jung-Ho Kang - 2015 image/Pirates

• 2018 - IF Josh Harrison, reacting to the recent trades of his running mates, All-Star Andrew McCutchen and the team’s ace pitcher, Gerritt Cole, asked to be dealt too. “If indeed the team does not expect to contend this year or next, perhaps it would be better for all involved, that I also am traded,” he told The Athletic. Josh didn’t get his wish granted - although a handful of teams were said to be interested in him, he broke his hand in April - until the offseason when he signed a free agent deal with the Tigers. He’s been with six organizations since and had been a FA since the Reds released him in early 2024; the two-time All-Star retired in mid-2025. 
• 2023 - 50’s Pirates slugger Frank Thomas passed away at the age of 92. Born in the shadow of Forbes Field in Oakland, Thomas played 16 years in MLB, spending his first eight seasons (1951-58) with his hometown Pirates. Primarily an outfielder and third baseman, Frank was a three-time NL All-Star as a Bucco. He led the club in home runs five times and in RBI four times, reaching the 25-dinger mark four times while driving in more than 100 runs twice. He was handed the Bucs rain-maker torch in 1953, replacing Ralph Kiner, who was traded the same year.

1/15 Through 1964: Woodling-Chesnes, Red - Pink, Sunday Sale, '60 Rooks, C Call, Possum Airs, WW2 Ball; HBD Banny, Ed, Jock & Mike

• 1858 - OF Mike Mansell was born in Auburn, New York. He played three seasons (1882-84) for the Alleghenys, posting a .251 BA. His final big league year was 1884 when he played for three teams. Mansell did have a knack for scoring - in 202 games for the Alleghenys, he touched home 164 times. His two brothers also played in the big leagues, and the trio even played the outfield together, albeit for minor league Albany Blue Stockings of the National Association. 
• 1868 - RHP John “Jock” (the Scottish version of Jack) Menefee was born in Rowlesburg, West Virginia. Jock tossed three not very successful campaigns for Pittsburgh (1892, 1894-95), going 5-9/5.75. But he did have a shining MLB moment: Menefee became the first NL pitcher to pull off a successful steal of home while with the Cubs against Brooklyn on July 15th, 1902. 
• 1880 - RHP Ed Kinsella was born in Bloomington, Illinois. He got his first taste of the show in September, 1905, going 0-1/2.65, with the Pirates in three outings (two complete game starts) and made a final MLB stop in 1910 with St. Louis. Kinsella was an early example of a AAAA player who finished his career with 144 minor league victories, including four 20+ win campaigns, in 10 seasons. 
• 1888 - OF Billy Sunday was purchased by the Pittsburgh Alleghenys from the Chicago White Stockings for $2,000. Billy spent most of his last three years with Pittsburgh, hitting .243, while the final few weeks of his career were served as a Philly after a late August trade. But the aptly named Sunday was transitioning from chasing flies to chasing souls; he became a famed tent revivalist in the early 20th century, and in a rarity (for both road-tripping evangelists and old-timey baseball players), one who never had a scent of scandal waft around him. 

Billy Sunday - 1888 Goodwin & Co.

• 1895 - The Pirates traded RHP Red Ehret and $3,000 (“a large bundle of dollars” per the Pittsburgh Press) to the St. Louis Browns for RHP Emerson “Pink” Hawley, the swap becoming official a couple of days later. Hawley spent three years in Pittsburgh as a workhorse, tossing 1,133-2/3 IP with a slash of 71-61-1/3.76 and becoming one of only three Bucs to win 30 games in a single season when he notched 31 victories in 1895. Pink was deservedly well compensated for his era - the Pirates paid him $2,400 a year (he asked for $3,000). Ehret had won 53 games for the Bucs over the previous three years, but in his remaining four seasons could only put up one more double-digit win campaign when he went 18-14 for the 1896 Reds; he would claim just 35 more victories total during the remainder of his MLB career. As for Hawley’s “Pink” moniker, Dale Voiss of SABR wrote “Emerson was born one of two twins, the other being named Elmer. People had trouble telling the twins apart so the nurse who assisted in their birth pinned a blue ribbon to one and a pink one to the other. This resulted in Emerson being given the middle name Pink, and the brothers were known as Pink and Blue.” Voiss added that Pink was a hit with the local fans, too. “Hawley earned the nickname ‘Duke of Pittsburgh’ because of his stylish dress and good looks. He was known to wear diamonds and other items of high fashion and developed a reputation similar to that of a matinee idol in Pittsburgh. Later a cigar was named Duke of Pittsburgh after Hawley. Boxes of these cigars featured his picture.” 
• 1898 - The Detroit Tigers (then of the Western League, shortly to join the AL in 1901) were short at 1B and the Pirates had an overload at the spot, so owner George Vanderbeck stopped by Pittsburgh for a couple of hours of chat with Prez Bill Watkins to try to pry one of three redundant players - John Ganzel, Harry Davis or Jack Roth - loose for Motown. The Bucs refused to yield, admitting they weren’t going to carry all three but wanting to see them compete in camp. The patient Tigers eventually got their man when they bought Ganzel in late May. As for the other pair, neither made it through the year in the Steel City: Roth was sold to the KC Blues before the season and Davis, who had won the job early on, was sent to Louisville in July as Willie Clark claimed 1B. 

John Ganzel (Rochester) - 1909 T206

• 1942 - Baseball in wartime, per BR Bullpen: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent his famed ‘Green Light Letter’ to Commissioner Judge Landis, encouraging MLB to continue playing during World War II. FDR stated that he believes playing the sport would be good for Americans and encouraged the owners to have more games at night to give war workers an opportunity to attend games. Despite the loss of players to the military (no sports exemptions), all 16 teams continued to play regular schedules for the duration of the war. 
• 1943 - Due to a league directive that satisfied wartime travel regulations, the Pirates switched their spring training facilities from San Bernardino, California, to Muncie, Indiana. The Bucs had pitched their tent for seven of their past eight preseason camps in San Bernardino and returned there after spending 1943-45 in the Midwest. From ‘55 on, they made camp in Florida, first at Fort Myers, then in 1969 at Bradenton in Pirate City and McKechnie Field/LECOM Park. 
• 1948 - The Bucs paid a steep price to land RHP Bob Chesnes, shipping OF Gene Woodling, C Dixie Howell and minor league pitchers Ken Gables & Manny Perez, along with $100,000, to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League for Chesnes’ services to complete a deal that took form in September. Chesnes had just finished up with a 22-8/2.32 slash in the PCL and looked like the real deal as a rookie, going 14-6/3.57 with 15 complete games. But the next two campaigns were plagued by arm soreness and he posted a 10-16/5.81 line. In June of 1950, he was assigned to the minors and never tossed another big league game. The Bucs did have a pretty good replacement in the system, though - after Chesnes was sent down, Vern Law was called up. 

The Possum, Jim Woods - photo via SABR

• 1958 - Jim “The Possum” Woods joined Bob Prince in the broadcast booth from NY, replacing Dick Bingham, who was axed. Woods and The Gunner formed a team that lasted through the 1969 season. In 1970, after battling KDKA over pay, The Possum moved to the second chair in St. Louis, supporting Jack Buck. He later manned the mic for Oakland, Boston and the USA Network. Bingham’s three-year run with Prince (the two didn’t have a smooth relationship) ended his radio career that had begun in 1946. He earned his daily bread as a realtor during the offseason and eventually gave up announcing to form his own real estate firm. 
• 1960 - The Pirates invited 22 rookies to join the club for spring training in Fort Myers. Out of the group, there were three who would end up pretty good ballplayers - LHPs Bob Veale & Joe Gibbon along with 1B Donn Clendenon. Gibbon made the club out of camp and saw action in the World Series. Clendenon claimed a spot on the big team the following season and a starting job in ‘63 while Veale joined the squad in 1962 and ended up second on the franchise K list. 
• 1964 - Jeff “Banny” Banister was born in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Drafted in 1986, he got one at-bat with the Bucs in 1991 and singled. After going through the minor league system, he then served as a coach or manager for the franchise beginning in 1993. He flew the coop in 2014 when he was hired as the skipper of the Texas Rangers and quickly earned the AL Manager of the Year award in 2015. He came back to the Bucs briefly before being let go in 2020; now he’s the Arizona bench coach. His nickname, btw, isn’t based on his surname, but is short for “bantam rooster,” a nod to his scrappy style of play.