1-3: HBD Red, Gus, Harry, Mark & AJ; It Rolls In; The Joker Returns

• 1894 - RHP Kirby (or Red) White was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. Kirby tossed most of 1910 and a bit in 1911 for the Bucs. He was traded to the Pirates by the Boston Doves early in 1910 and went 10–9 with a 3.46 ERA in 30 games. In 1911, he was used for just three innings, going 0-1, 9.00, and was released, spending the next four seasons in the minors. We assume he was red-haired; Kirby also went by “Buck.”

Kirby White 1911 (photo via Detroit Public Library)

• 1906 - 1B Gus Suhr was born in San Francisco. He spent 9-1/2 seasons (1930-39) with the Pirates, hitting .279 with a .386 OPB and driving in 818 runs, earning an All-Star berth in 1936. Suhr played 1,339 games at first base for Pittsburgh, a team record, and once held the NL standard of 822 consecutive games played, which lasted until 1957. The record-snapping game he missed wasn’t due to injury; he took off to attend his mother’s funeral.
• 1926 - PH/RHP Harry Fisher was born in Waterloo, Ontario. He was a two-way guy and appeared in 18 MLB games with the 1951–52 Pirates, ten as a pinch hitter and eight as a pitcher. Harry hit .278 for the Bucs, and went 1-2, 6.87 on the hill. He made his last appearance in August of 1952 before returning to minor league baseball, where he played through 1959 and split time between the mound and the pasture.
• 1961 - The Pittsburgh Press reported that the Pirate owners collected their first dividend check since buying the club from the Dreyfuss family in 1946, citing the increased attendance thanks to the 1960 World Series championship. They got $4/share. John Galbreath was the main man and majority team owner from 1946-85.
• 1965 - RHP Mark Dewey was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mark went 3-3-8/3.23 for the Bucs out of the pen from 1993-94. After retirement, he coached for the Washington Wild Things and is now a part of the Brewers organization.

Mark Dewey 1995 Score

• 1973 - President Nixon gave a $1,000 check in Roberto Clemente's memory to the Nicaraguan embassy. At the President's request, Dan Galbreath, owner of the Pirates, along with Dave Giusti and Steve Blass, met with him at the White House to discuss setting up a fund in Clemente's honor to aid the survivors of the earthquake. Thus was born the Roberto Clemente Memorial Fund to aid the earthquake victims with Tricky Dicky as the first donor.
• 1977 - RHP AJ Burnett was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The veteran tossed for two years in Pittsburgh (2012-13) after being obtained from the Yankees in a Gotham salary dump, with a line of 26-21 with a 3.41 ERA while averaging a whiff per frame. After a rough season in Philly, he returned for his final year in 2015. He went 9-7/3.18 in 26 starts, coming back in September from an All-Star break elbow inflammation to close out his 17th season, collecting 164 wins and 2,513 whiffs for five teams over that span. AJ was credited with leading the charge to reverse the team’s decades-long losing culture through his mentoring and clubhouse presence.
• 2006 - 3B Joe Randa was officially signed as a free agent for his second go-around with the Pirates. He was inked to a $4M deal, nearly double his 2005 salary at Cincinnati. The Joker hit .267 in 89 games in what would be his last MLB season, losing his job to Freddy Sanchez and then announcing his retirement in November.

1/3: HBD, AJ, Gus & Mark; Bucs Pay Off; Clemente Fund Born

• 1906 - 1B Gus Suhr was born in San Francisco. He spent 9-1/2 seasons (1930-39) with the Pirates, hitting .279 with a .386 OPB and driving in 818 runs, earning an All-Star berth in 1936. Suhr played 1,339 games at first base for Pittsburgh, a team record, and once held the NL standard of 822 consecutive games played, which lasted until 1957. The record-snapping game he missed wasn’t due to injury; he took off to attend his mother’s funeral.
• 1961 - The Pittsburgh Press reported that the Pirate owners collected their first dividend check since buying the club off the Dreyfuss family in 1946, citing increased attendance thanks to the 1960 World Series championship. They got $4/share. John Galbreath was the main man and majority team owner from 1946-85.

John Galbreath 1967 (photo via Columbus Business Times)

• 1965 - RHP Mark Dewey was born in Grand Rapids, MI. Mark went 3-3-8/3.23 for the Bucs out of the pen from 1993-94. After retirement, he coached for the Washington Wild Things, and is now coaching in the Brewers organization.
• 1973 - President Nixon gave a $1,000 check in Roberto Clemente's memory to the Nicaraguan embassy. At the President's request, Dan Galbreath, owner of the Pirates, along with Dave Giusti and Steve Blass, met with him at the White House to discuss setting up a fund in Clemente's honor to aid the survivors of the earthquake. Thus was born the Roberto Clemente Memorial Fund to aid the earthquake victims with Richard Nixon as the first donor.
• 1977 - RHP AJ Burnett was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The veteran tossed for two years in Pittsburgh (2012-13) after being obtained from the Yankees in a Gotham salary dump, with a line of 26-21 with a 3.41 ERA, averaging a whiff per frame. After a rough season in Philly, he returned for his final year in 2015. He went 9-7/3.18 in 26 starts, coming back in September from an All-Star break elbow inflammation to close out his 17th season, collecting 164 wins and 2,513 whiffs for five teams over that span.

AJ (photo Justin Aller/Getty Images)

• 2006 - 3B Joe Randa was signed as a free agent for his second go-around with the Pirates. He was inked to a $4M deal, nearly double his 2005 salary at Cincinnati. Joe hit .267 in 89 games in what would be his last MLB season, losing his job to Freddy Sanchez and then announcing his retirement in November.

1/3: AJ, Gus Suhr, Ka-Ching, Clemente Memorial Fund, Joe Randa...

AJ, Gus Suhr, Ka-Ching, Clemente Memorial Fund, Joe Randa...

• 1906 - 1B August "Gus" Suhr was born in San Francisco. He spent 9-1/2 seasons (1930-39) with the Pirates, hitting .279 with a .386 OPB and driving in 818 runs, earning an All-Star berth in 1936. Suhr played 1,339 games at first base for Pittsburgh, a team record, and once held the NL standard of 822 consecutive games played, which lasted until 1957. The streak-snapping game he missed wasn’t due to injury; he took off to attend his mother’s funeral. 

Gus Suhr 1935 Diamond Star series

• 1961 - The Pittsburgh Press reported that the Pirate owners collected their first dividend check since buying the club off the Dreyfuss family in 1946, citing the increased attendance and World Series championship. They got $4/share. John Galbreath was the main man and majority team owner from 1946-85. 
• 1973 - President Nixon gave a $1,000 check in Roberto Clemente's memory to the Nicaraguan embassy. At his request, Dan Galbreath, owner of the Pirates, along with Dave Giusti and Steve Blass, met with him at the White House to discuss setting up a fund in Clemente's honor to aid the survivors of the earthquake. Thus was born the Roberto Clemente Memorial Fund to aid the earthquake victims with Richard Nixon as the first donor. 
• 1977 - RHP AJ Burnett was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The veteran tossed for two years in Pittsburgh (2012-13) after being obtained from the Yankees in a Gotham salary dump. His Pirate line was 26-21 with a 3.41 ERA, averaging a whiff per frame. After a lost season in Philly, he returned to the Bucs for his self-proclaimed final year in 2015. 

AJ - photo by Keith Allison on Flickr via Wikipedia

• 2006 - 3B Joe Randa was signed as a free agent for his second go-around with the Pirates. He was inked to a $4M deal, nearly double his 2005 salary at Cincinnati. Joe hit .267 in 89 games in what would be his last MLB season, losing his job to Freddy Sanchez and then announcing his retirement in November.

1/3-5: Gus Suhr, Clemente Memorial, AJ, Joe Randa, Sam Barkley, Lonnie Smith, JR, Bert Blyleven...

Gus Suhr, Clemente memorial, AJ, Joe Randa, Sam Barkley, Lonnie Smith, JR, Bert Blyleven...

• January 3, 1906 - 1B Gus Suhr was born in San Francisco. He spent 9-1/2 seasons (1930-39) with the Pirates, hitting .279 with a .386 OPB and driving in 818 runs, earning an All-Star berth in 1936. Suhr played 1,339 games at first base for Pittsburgh, a team record, and once held the NL standard of 822 consecutive games played, which lasted until 1957.
• January 3, 1973 - President Nixon gave a $1,000 check in Roberto Clemente's memory to the Nicaraguan embassy. At the President's request, Dan Galbreath, owner of the Pirates, along with Dave Giusti and Steve Blass, met with him at the White House about setting up a memorial fund in Clemente's honor to aid the survivors of the earthquake.
• January 3, 1977 - RHP AJ Burnett was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The veteran tossed for two years in Pittsburgh (2012-13) after being obtained from the Yankees in a Gotham salary dump. His Pittsburgh line was 26-21 with a 3.41 ERA, averaging a whiff per frame.
• January 3, 2006 - 3B Joe Randa was signed as a free agent for his second go-around with the Pirates. He was inked to a $4M deal, nearly double his 2005 salary at Cincinnati. Joe hit .267 in 89 games in what would be his last MLB season, losing his job to Freddy Sanchez.
• January 4, 1886 - St. Louis owner Chris Von Der Ahe sold the rights to IF Sam Barkley to the Alleghenys, despite the fact that the infielder had already signed a contract with the Orioles. Because they were late in sending Von Der Ahe their check for Barkley’s rights, he unilaterally voided the deal and shipped him to Pittsburgh instead. The American Association eventually resolved the controversial case by allowing Barkley to play for the Alleghenys, and sending Milt Scott from Pittsburgh to Baltimore as compensation. Additionally, the Browns were allowed to keep the $1,000 they received from Pittsburgh for Barkley's reserve rights. Baltimore could have kept him; Barkley hit .248 in his two years with the club, splitting time between first and second base.

 Sam Barkley - Old Judge Cigarettes 1897

• January 4, 1993 - The Pirates signed OF Lonnie Smith to a $1M deal. He put up a line of .286/6/24, with a .422 OBP and 9 stolen bases before he was flipped to the Orioles in September for two minors leaguers, Terry Farrar and Stanton Cameron, neither of which became big leaguers.
• January 5, 1961 - Manager John Russell was born in Oklahoma City. After his playing career, he managed the Bucs from 2008-10 during some dark seasons, with a record of 186-299. It wasn’t his first stop in Pittsburgh; JR had been Lloyd McClendon’s third base coach from 2003-05.
• January 5, 2011 - After a 14 year wait, curve ball king RHP Bert Blyleven was elected to the Hall of Fame. He won 34 games for Pittsburgh between 1978-80 in a 22 year career that saw him earn 287 victories, and was inducted on July 24th.