4/1 Through the 1970s: Cronin & Watty Deals, In OT, Umps Eyeballed, Parrot Arrives, Strike, April Fool; HBD Masumi, Willie, Jake, Hugo & Fred

• 1858 - OF Fred Mann was born in Sutton, Vermont. The center fielder played two of his five-team, six MLB years with the Alleghenys from 1885-86. He hit .251 over that span, spent one more season in the show, then left baseball after toiling for three more years in the bushes to operate a hotel. He was the first major league ballplayer to hail from the Green Mountain state. 
• 1884 - Manager Hugo Bezdek was born in Prague, Bohemia, then part of Austria-Hungary empire and now part of the Czech Republic. While he coached at Oregon, he also moonlighted as a Pirates scout covering the West Coast. When 1917 Pirates manager Nixey Callahan was let go, Hans Wagner became the interim manager (a job he did not particularly care for and quickly gave up) before Barney Dreyfuss settled on Bezdek as the full-time skipper. The team went 30-59 the remainder of the year, but improved to 65-60 in 1918 and finished 71-68 the next campaign. Bezdek relied on his players' advice to overcome his lack of baseball experience, with two of them - Casey Stengel and Billy Southworth - becoming Hall of Fame field generals. Bedzek left the team after 1919 for his second love, football. He coached at Penn State where his football teams went 65-30-11 with two undefeated seasons and a Rose Bowl appearance. In addition, he was manager of the Nittany Lion nine, going 129-76-1 from 1920-1930. He spent a couple of seasons as the Cleveland Browns coach and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. 
• 1904 - In one of the earliest interleague player moves (some considered it the first major deal) between the AL & NL after their 1903 truce, the Pirates bought Wyatt “Watty” Lee from Washington for $3,000. The P/1B had three solid seasons for the Senators, but was a flop for the Bucs, appearing in just eight games, five as a pitcher and three as a pinch hitter. Watty went 4-for-12 at the plate, but his pitching record left much to be desired with a slash of 1-2/8.74. It was the end of Lee's major league days though he soldiered on with a long minor league career. 
• 1911 - Just to prove that umps’ eyesight has always been under suspicion, according to Charlton’s Baseball Chronology “NL president Tom Lynch reveals he had asked all umpires to produce certificates as to their eyesight; tests showed all have perfect vision.” Wonder who tested the docs? 

Jake Theis - 1955 Topps

• 1926 - RHP Jake Thies was born in St. Louis. As a 28-year-old, he spent 1954 and one lackluster ‘55 start with the Pirates, slashing 3-10/3.90 overall. He was dealt to Kansas City where he spent two years at AAA, returning to the Buc system for three games to close his pro days. 
• 1928 - The April Fool’s victim this year was the Pirates, who sold SS Joe Cronin to Kansas City of the American Association, which then flipped him to Washington in July. In Pittsburgh, he was blocked at SS by Glenn Wright and manager Donie Bush preferred vet George Grantham at second base, so the Pirates deemed him to be excess baggage. They deemed wrong; after a 20-year career, seven All-Star games and .301 BA, he earned a plaque in the Hall of Fame. 
• 1948 - 1B Willie Montanez was born in Catano, Puerto Rico. Willie spent part of 1981 and 1982 with the Pirates at the tail end of his 14-year career after he was swapped from the Expos for John Milner. He seldom made the lineup but hit .271 off the bench before the Bucs released him. He closed out his MLB stint in ‘82 with the Phillies, the last of nine clubs he played for. 
• 1957 - The Pirates and KC Athletics played an 18-inning, 0-0, exhibition game before darkness put an end to the match. The two teams collected a combined 18 hits, 16 of which were singles, and only used three pitchers each; there were almost as many players as fans; the crowd at Fort Myers was 432 warm fannies. The contest was just shy of lasting four hours before the managers called it a day. Ron Kline and Bob Purkey did most of the tossing for the Bucs, with long-shot Purkey winning a spot on the staff after his 10-inning whitewash performance. 
• 1963 - The Titusville Herald’s headline screamed “Pittsburgh Pirates To Move Club To Titusville.” The April Fools gag drew a chuckle but no interest from ownership and the Bucs remained firmly rooted in Forbes Field. Titusville’s population per the 1960 census was 8,356 souls; Forbes Field had an average attendance of 9,675 in 1963; maybe there was a match to be made. 

Masumi Kuwata - 2007 Topps Update

• 1968 - RHP Masumi Kuwata was born in Yao, Japan. He ended his 21-year stay with the Yomiuri Giants (173 wins, 3.55 ERA) after the 2006 campaign because at age 38, he wanted to take a shot at MLB. He drew some interest from the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but chose the Pirates because he thought they offered the fastest track to the majors. He hurt his ankle in camp, went to Indy and got a call up in June. He lasted two months and 19 outings, tossing to a 9.43 ERA, and was outrighted. He refused the Indy assignment and returned to Japan, but then signed a minor league deal with the Bucs for 2008; apparently neither side believed that experience was a very good teacher. Kuwata didn’t make the 25-man out of camp and retired. The Pirates offered Kuwata a coaching job (Masumi’s performance may have been slack, but he was a pro at preparation and a willing mentor to younger guys), but he declined and went back to Nippon for good. He made the Bucco annals as the first Japanese player for Pittsburgh. 
• 1972 - The first players' strike in baseball history began and wiped six-to-eight games off the schedule, which were canceled upon settlement. This resulted in teams playing a different number of games during the 1972 season and led to the Detroit Tigers edging the Boston Red Sox by only one-half game (86-70 to 85-70) to win the AL East Division championship. The strike settlement required the team owners to add salary arbitration and increase pension fund payments. 
• 1979 - The Pirate Parrot was “hatched” at Three Rivers Stadium as a response to the Phillie Phanatic, introduced the year before. The concept of a parrot came from Robert Louis Stevenson’s pirate tale “Treasure Island.” At first, the Parrot was a lean, mean bird dressed in pirate gear, but in the mid-eighties was transformed into the more child-friendly, goofy butterball in a team jersey and backward cap that we have today. The Green Machine is a mainstay of charity, community and children's events and even hosts a Twitter account. The big bird has had its controversial moments, too, being involved in a drug scandal and violating team neutrality by showing up at a political event, but has managed to escape the occasional bad press with its feathers unruffled.

4/1 From 1980: Pena-AVS/Spanky & JT -Otter, JVM Deal, Odell Back, SS Shopping, '06 Top 10, Games; RIP Jerry & Frankie, HBD Axman

• 1980 - RHP Odell Jones was traded back to the Pirates by the Seattle Mariners for a PTBNL and cash after spending a season in the Great Northwest. Jones had pitched in Pittsburgh from 1975 & 77-78, then went to Seattle as part of the Enrique Romo swap. Pittsburgh eventually sent Larry Andersen to the M’s in October to complete the trade. Anderson, who was lights out in AAA Portland after coming over from Cleveland, pitched through 1994 in the show. Jones yo-yo’ed between the minors and majors, appearing in 137 MLB games and 168 MiLB games through 1989; he pitched in Mexico after that except for a brief 1992 stop in the Angel’s organization to cap his 21-year pro career. 
• 1981 - 1B Jason Thompson was traded by the California Angels to the Bucs for LHP Mickey Mahler and C Ed Ott. Thompson took control of a muddled first base situation in Pittsburgh, which was transitioning from Pops Stargell (Doe Boyland and Eddie Vargas, the organizational heir apparents, never panned out), and held the starting job through 1985 until Sid Bream replaced him. The 29-year-old Ott was taken by surprise by the swap - he and the Pirates had been close to finalizing (at least in Ott’s mind) a six-year/$275K per season deal. Steve Nicosia and rookie Tony Pena shared the load after Otter’s departure eased the catching logjam. The deal was originally structured to be a three-teamer. The Yankees were set to send the Pirates 1B Jim Spencer, two minor league pitchers and $850,000 for Thompson, with $450,000 earmarked to pay Spencer's salary, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn nixed that part of the swap because of the money involved; at the time, $400K was the max amount allowed to switch hands. That no-go decision worked out bigly to the Pirates advantage - the 33-year-old Spencer hit .182 over 1981-82 and then retired while JT lasted five seasons with the Pirate, posting a .259 BA with 93 HR and a 125+ OPS during that span. 
• 1983 - RHP John “The Axman” Axford was born in Simcoe, Ontario. Axford has 10 MLB campaigns on his resume, with two months spent as a Pirate in 2014. He was claimed off waivers from the Indians in August, where he had a workmanlike campaign, to strengthen the Bucco mid-inning pen during its playoff run. He slashed 0-1/4.14 and after the season signed with the Rockies; he was called up by Milwaukee very briefly in 2021 to end his MLB days. 
• 1985 - The Pittsburgh Press speculated that the Pirates were in the market for a shortstop with a void in the lineup following Dale Berra’s trade to NY. The hot stove league stoked trade rumors featuring Johnny Lemaster as Tim Foli was on his last legs and Rafael Belliard was considered to be no more than a good glove backup. The Giants, though, wanted an arm and leg for Lemaster, so the Bucs wisely passed. He ended up with the Indians, and Pittsburgh did grab him on May 30th in exchange for a career minor leaguer (Lemaster had three hits in 23 games between the Bay and Tribe, which dropped his price considerably). A change of scenery didn’t help as he hit .155 here and the Pirates ended up with Sammy Khalifa taking the job. There were six SS’s who started that year - Khalifa, Lemaster, Foley, Belliard, Bill Almon and Jerry Dybzinski. Pittsburgh didn’t fill that particular infield hole until 1989 when they added Jay Bell to the lineup. 

Post Gazette Sports - 4/2/1987

• 1987 - St. Louis sent OF Andy Van Slyke‚ C Mike LaValliere and RHP Mike Dunne (reports said the Pirates had their choice between him and another 20-something pitching prospect, LHP Joe McGrane) to Pittsburgh in exchange for All-Star C Tony Pena. Van Slyke and Dunne both thought it was an April’s Fool joke when first told of the trade, and Pena cried at the press conference when the deal was announced. AVS was one of the core players during the Pirates early nineties resurgence, Spanky formed a solid catching combo with Don Slaught and Dunne started strong (TSN named him the NL Pitching RoY for ‘87) before injuries derailed his career. Pena remained solid behind the dish but only hit above .263 once in his remaining 12 big league campaigns. 
• 1991 - Frankie Gustine died at the age of 71. The versatile infielder was a three-time All-Star who played a decade for the Pirates (1939-48) after signing as a 16-year-old, compiling a .268 BA. After his MLB career, Gustine coached at Point Park College from 1968-74 (he’s in the school’s HoF). He became a successful local business owner, operating a popular namesake Oakland restaurant on Forbes Avenue located just a Texas League bloop away from the ballyard (it became Hemingway’s); he also held part ownership of the Sheraton Inn at Station Square. 
• 1996 - The Pirates Paul Wagner beat Kevin Brown (who was the ‘96 Cy Young runner up with 17 wins and an ERA of 1.89) and the Florida Marlins in the Season Opener at Joe Robbie Stadium, 4-0, before a crowd of 41,815. C Jason Kendall made his MLB debut, not only calling a shutout but going 3-for-4 at the plate with 2 RBI; the 22-year-old would go on to the All Star Game in his rookie campaign while batting .300 during the year. Jay Bell doubled home the other pair of runs. Wagner went 6-2/3 innings for the win with Jon Lieber and Dan Plesac finishing up. 
• 2006 - The Pirates Top Ten prospects going into the year were IF Neil Walker, 1B Brad Eldred, CF Andrew McCutchen, 3B Jose Bautista, LHP Tom Gorzelanny, IF Yurendell DeCaster, C Ronny Paulino, RHP Josh Sharpless, CF Rajai Davis and OF Adam Bouve, a collection of youngsters who covered the full spectrum of baseball achievement. Another riser with a bullet, RHP Matt Capps, who was expected to start the year with AA Altoona, instead went north with the big team. 
• 2011 - Neil Walker hit his first career grand slam off Ryan Dempster on Opening Day at Wrigley Field to become the second player in team history to swat a grand salami on Opening Day, joining Roberto Clemente, who drilled one to start the 1962 season. It was the key blow in a 6-3 win over the Cubs, supplying enough offense to carry Kevin Correia and four relievers to victory. 

Jerry Lynch - 1964 Tops

• 2012 - One of the games great pinch-hitters, Jerry Lynch, died at the age of 82. He started and ended his career as a Pirate, spending seven seasons with the Bucs. He came off the bench to collect 116 pinch hits during his career, 18 of which were homers. Lynch lived in Allison Park when he passed away and was part owner of Champion Lakes GC, along with Dick Groat. 
• 2021 - The Pirates got just three innings from their starter, Chad Kuhl, gifted the Cubs a run, ran themselves out of an inning, stranded 15 runners during a 3-for-20 w/RISP afternoon and still beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Opening Day by a 5-3 score. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a two-run homer (he became the second Pirates rookie to go long on Opening Day, joining Johnny Ray who first did the deed in 1987) while Adam Frazier, Kevin Newman and Jake Stallings had two hits each, with the Cub pitchers helping by walking 11 Buccos. But the key to the win was a shutdown bullpen. In its six innings, six Pittsburgh relievers (Duane Underwood Jr., Clay Holmes, Sam Howard, David Bednar, Chris Stratton and Richard Rodriguez) gave up a run on a hit and walk with 11 whiffs to help the Pirates overcome their own shoot-myself-in-the-foot antics to start the season on a winning note. Howard claimed the victory and Ric Rod earned the save. 
• 2022 - The Pirates traded 20-year old RHP Listher Sosa to Arizona for IF Josh VanMeter. The infielder had four years in the show, split between Cincinnati and the D-Backs with a .210 career BA. The move, though minor, was widely panned when JVM was added to the active roster as the Bucs were already knee-deep in upper level infield prospects jousting for attention. Josh played in 67 games, filling six positions and DH'ing while batting .187. He was DFA’ed in early September, spent a couple of years in the minors and retired in ‘25. Sosa had made it to AA in the Snake system, but was hit with an 80-game suspension after testing positive for Dianabol in 2025 and was released. 
• 2025 - 2022 first-rounder RHP Thomas Harrington was called up to spin against Tampa Bay in his MLB debut. He was a Top 100 (#78) MLB Pipeline Prospect and the third-rated rook in the Pirates org. He had a strong camp and it was a bit of a surprise when he was a late cut. The club optioned RHP David Bednar to Indy and DFA'ed C Jason Delay to open up active and 40-man slots for Harrington. The Renegade ran out of rope and it was hoped a trip to Indy would kickstart him (it did) while Delay was a victim of a logjam at catcher. As for the game, well, it was an intro worth forgetting; Harrington lasted just four frames and the Bucs were rolled over by the Rays, 7-0.