12/2 TRS-PNC Era: Danny Murtaugh RIP, Big KC Deal, Bobby Bo & El Toro Go, Stew Arrives

• 1970 - The Pirates and the Kansas City Royals swung a six player trade with P Bruce Dal Canton, C Jerry May and SS Freddie Patek going to KC while C Jim Campanis, SS Jackie Hernandez and P Bob Johnson came to the Bucs. Patek and Dal Canton were everyday players for KC, with Patek playing nine years for the KC and winning three All-Star berths. Johnson was 17-16-7/3.34 with the Bucs and Hernandez was a reserve infielder, both lasting three years for the Pirates. Campanis didn't make the club until 1973, and he only had six at-bats.

Jackie Hernandez 1973 Topps

• 1976 - Danny Murtaugh‚ who had retired two months earlier as Pirate manager‚ died of a heart attack/stroke at age 59 in his Chester home. He compiled a 1,115-950 record in 2,068 games (.540), second-most wins in Pirates history behind only Fred Clarke, and took two World Series championships. His number 40 was retired by the Pirates on Opening Day, 1977.
• 1991 - After six years as a Pirate, Bobby Bonilla signed as a free agent with the New York Mets. His five-year, $29M deal made him the game's highest-paid player at the time. From 1986 to 1991, Bonilla had a .284 batting average, with 114 home runs, and 500 RBI's. He led the league in extra base hits in 1990 and in doubles in 1991. Bonilla also made the All-Star team four years in a row. Bo is currently being paid about $1.2M by the New York Mets each year up to 2035, as part of a negotiated buy-out of a second deal signed in 1999, turning $5.9M due to him in 2000 into $29.8M over 25 years.
• 2013 - C Chris Stewart was traded to the Bucs by the New York Yankees for a PTBNL, who ended up being minor league pitcher Kyle Haynes. Stew played through two option seasons before signing up for another two year stint (with a club option for a third) following 107 games and a .292 BA with the Pirates as the #2 man from 2014-15. Stew got into just 34 games in 2016 and had season-ending surgery on his knee in September.

Pedro Alvarez 2015 Topps

• 2015 - Former #1 pick (second overall) in 2008, 1B Pedro Alvarez, was non-tendered and became a free agent. Pedro hit 131 homers in 742 games for Pittsburgh, but his inability to solve lefties (.203 BA), strikeouts (809) and fielding woes made his projected $8M arbitration award too pricey for the Bucs, which had tried unsuccessfully to move him to an AL club for two years running. Jaff Decker, a depth outfielder, was also non-tendered. El Toro hit .249 w/22 HR with the Orioles in 2016, mostly as a DH (he handled nine balls in the field and made four errors). Jaff served as organizational depth for Tampa, getting into 19 games.

12/2 Expo Park - Forbes Field Era: Welcome Ginger, Jeep & Luke; HBD Rubberlegs, Mike, & Andre; Pags & Bobby Go

• 1876 - RHP Roscoe Miller was born in Greenville, Indiana. Roscoe started out on fire, winning 23 games for Detroit as a rookie. He stumbled along for the next couple of years but seemed to have righted the ship with the Pirates in 1904, going 7-7, 3.35. But bad luck intervened. Miller was riding with 14 other Pirates in a carriage when the rear wheel collapsed. Several players were hurt when the carriage folded and was dragged on its side by the horses, including Miller, who injured his wrist badly in the accident. That would become his last MLB season, although he spent five years in the minors afterward. Roscoe had a boatload of nicknames, with Rubberlegs, Roxy and Ross among them. "Ross" and "Roxy" are plays on Roscoe, and he was dubbed "Rubberlegs" after moving from Detroit to New York to Pittsburgh in a 14-month span.
• 1896 - C Mike Wilson was born in Edge Hill, Pennsylvania. Mike’s entire MLB career consisted of five appearances behind the dish and an 0-for-4 career hitting line in 1921 for Pittsburgh. He is notable, though, as one of the early two-sport players who suited up for the Pirates, as he spent four winters playing pro football.

Ginger Beaumont (photo via Racine Heritage Museum)

• 1898 - Pittsburgh traded IF Bill Gray and P Bill Hart to Milwaukee of the Western League for OF Ginger Beaumont. Gray wouldn’t play in the majors again while Hart tossed one more big league campaign. Beaumont spent eight of his 12 MLB seasons as a Pirate, hitting .321 over that span, winning the NL batting title once and leading the league in hits three times.
• 1934 - UT Andre Rodgers was born in Nassau, Bahamas. He was with the Bucs from 1965-67, batting .257 over that time, playing all four infield spots and seeing action in left field, too. Rodgers was the first Bahamian to play in the major leagues. A talented cricket player who paid his own way for a tryout with the Giants in 1954, he finally cracked the majors in 1957 and played 11 big league seasons, finishing with a .249 BA.
• 1936 - The Pirates signed 23 year old IF Lee “Jeep” Handley as a free agent. He was a dependable sometimes starter, sometimes bench player for the Bucs over eight seasons (1937-46, with two years off for WW2), averaging 105 games per year and hitting .269. It’s been speculated (by the Uniontown Morning Herald of 1938) that he got his nickname in 1936 as a Cincinnati Reds rookie when he apparently reminded the veterans of a new Popeye cartoon strip character, “Jeep.” As Popeye said when gifted with Jeep: "Well, blow me down! A baby puppy!"

Lee "Jeep" Handley 1940 (photo The Sporting News Collection hologram)

• 1963 - Win some, lose some… The Pirates lost OF Bobby Tolan to the Cards in the first-year player draft. Tolan ended up with a solid 13 year career with a .265 lifetime BA and even made a late stop back to his original Bucco club in 1977. Pittsburgh claimed LHP Luke Walker from Boston in the same draft, and Luke spent 8-of-9 MLB seasons with the Pirates, going 40-42-9, 3.42 in 243 games (100 starts) as a sort of an all-around pitching handyman.
• 1967 - GM Joe Brown worked out a pair of deals, trading minor league 1B/OF Bob Oliver to the Minnesota Twins for 35 year-old reliever Ronnie Kline and selling C Jim Pagliaroni, who had offseason neck surgery, to the KC Athletics.

12/2: The Irishman Passes On; Jeep & the Baron Join Up; Bobby Bo's Big Deal; Patek-For-Johnson; HBD Andre

• 1934 - UT Andre Rodgers was born in Nassau, Bahamas. He was with the Bucs from 1965-67, batting .257 over that time, playing all four infield spots and seeing action in left field, too. Rodgers was the first Bahamian to play in the major leagues. A talented cricket player who paid his own way for a tryout with the Giants in 1954, he finally cracked the majors in 1957 and played 11 big league seasons, finishing with a .249 BA.

Andre Rodgers 1966 Topps

• 1936 - The Pirates signed 23 year old IF Lee “Jeep” Handley as a free agent. He was a dependable sometimes starter, sometimes bench player for the Bucs over eight seasons (1937-46, with two years off for WW2), averaging 105 games per year and hitting .269. It’s been speculated (by the Uniontown Morning Herald of 1938) that he got his nickname in 1936 as a Cincinnati Reds rookie when he apparently reminded the veterans of a new Popeye cartoon strip character, “Jeep.” As Popeye said when gifted with Jeep: "Well, blow me down! A baby puppy!"
• 1952 - The Pirates drafted ElRoy Face from the Montreal Royals, the top minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers. During a 15-year career with the Pirates, Face led the NL in saves three times, collecting 100 wins and 188 saves as a Bucco while popularizing the forkball, a prototype of the modern day splitter. He retired to N. Versailles where he made his living as a carpenter. During his career, he was known as “The Baron of the Bullpen” thanks to Bob Prince and is still considered a pioneer in the closer’s evolution.

The Baron of the Bullpen 1963 Fleer

• 1970 - The Pirates and the Kansas City Royals swung a six player trade with P Bruce Dal Canton, C Jerry May and SS Freddie Patek going to KC while C Jim Campanis, SS Jackie Hernandez and P Bob Johnson came to the Bucs. Patek and Dal Canton were everyday players for KC, with Patek playing nine years for the KC and winning three All-Star berths. Johnson was 17-16-7/3.34 with the Bucs and Hernandez was a reserve infielder, both lasting three years for the Pirates. Campanis didn't make the club until 1973, and he only had six at-bats.
• 1976 - Danny Murtaugh‚ who had retired two months earlier as Pirate manager‚ died of a heart attack/stroke at age 59 in his Chester home. He compiled a 1,115-950 record in 2,068 games (.540), second-most wins in Pirates history behind only Fred Clarke, and took two World Series championships. His number 40 was retired by the Pirates on Opening Day, 1977.

Danny Murtaugh 1960 Roto Magazine Cover (art by Nat Youngblood)

• 1991 - After six years as a Pirate, Bobby Bonilla signed as a free agent with the New York Mets. His five-year, $29M deal made him the game's highest-paid player at the time. From 1986 to 1991, Bonilla had a .284 batting average, with 114 home runs, and 500 RBI's. He led the league in extra base hits in 1990, and in doubles in 1991. Bonilla also made the All-Star team four years in a row. Bonilla is currently being paid about $1.2M by the New York Mets each year up to 2035, tho that was a negotiated buy-out of a second deal signed in 1999, turning $5.9M due to him in 2000 into $29.8M over 25 years.

12/2: Andre Rodgers, The Baron, Dealin' With KC, Danny Murtaugh Passes On, Bobby Bo Leaves Town...

Andre Rodgers, The Baron, Dealin' With KC, Danny Murtaugh Passes, Bobby Bo Leaves Town...

• 1934 - UT Andre Rodgers was born in Nassau, Bahamas. He was with the Bucs from 1965-67, batting .257 over that time, playing all four infield spots and seeing action in left field, too. Rodgers was the first Bahamian to play in the major leagues. A talented cricket player who paid his own way for a tryout with the Giants in 1954, he finally cracked the majors in 1957 and played 11 big league seasons, finishing with a .249 BA. 

Andre Rodgers 1967 Topps series

• 1952 - The Pirates drafted ElRoy Face from the Montreal Royals, the top minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers. During a 15-year career with the Pirates, Face led the NL in saves three times, collecting 100 wins and 188 saves as a Bucco while popularizing the forkball, a prototype of the modern day splitter. He retired to N. Versailles where he made his living as a carpenter. 
• 1970 - The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Kansas City Royals completed a six player trade with P Bruce Dal Canton, C Jerry May and SS Freddie Patek going to the Royals and C Jim Campanis, SS Jackie Hernandez and P Bob Johnson sent to the Bucs. Patek and Dal Canton were everyday players for KC, with Patek playing nine years for the KC and winning three All-Star berths. Johnson was 17-16-7/3.34 with the Bucs and Hernandez was a reserve infielder, both lasting three years for the Pirates.

Bob Johnson 1972 Topps series

• 1976 - Danny Murtaugh‚ who had retired two months earlier as Pirate manager‚ died of a heart attack/stroke at age 59 in his Chester home. He compiled a 1,115-950 record in 2,068 games (.540), second-most wins in Pirates history behind only Fred Clarke, and took two World Series championships. His number 40 was retired by the Pirates on Opening Day, 1977. 
• 1991 - After six years as a Pirate, Bobby Bonilla signed as a free agent with the New York Mets. His five-year, $29M deal made him the game's highest-paid player at the time. From 1986 to 1991, Bonilla had a .284 batting average with 114 home runs and 500 RBIs. He led the league in extra base hits in 1990, and in doubles in 1991, earning a spot on the All-Star team four years in a row. Bonilla is currently being paid about $1.2M by the New York Mets each year up to 2035, tho that was a negotiated buy-out of a second deal signed in 1999, turning $5.9M due to him in 2000 into $29.8M over 25 years. 

Bobby Bo 1991 Upper Deck series

12/1-2: Cookie, Matty, Maury Wills, The Baron of the Bullpen, The Cricket, Danny Murtaugh, Bobby Bo...

Cookie, Matty, Maury Wills, The Baron of the Bullpen, The Cricket, Danny Murtaugh, Bobby Bo...

• December 1, 1912 - IF Cookie Lavagetto was born in Oakland, California. He started his MLB career as a Bucco bench player, batting .249 between 1934-36. He was then traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he blossomed into a four time All-Star before losing four years to WW2. 
• December 1, 1965 - The Bucs traded for Giants’ CF Matty Alou‚ who was coming off a .231 season‚ sending LHP Joe Gibbon and IF Ozzie Virgil to the Bay. Alou played five seasons in Pittsburgh, winning a batting crown in 1966 and putting up four straight .330+ years after manager Harry "The Hat" Walker retooled his batting approach.

 1967 Topps Poster Series

• December 1, 1966 - The Pirates sent 3B Bob Bailey and SS Gene Michael to the Dodgers for SS/3B Maury Wills. Wills hit .290 and stole 81 bases for the Bucs in his two seasons with the club. 
• December 2, 1952 - The Pirates drafted ElRoy Face from the Montreal Royals, the top minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers. During a 15-year career with the Pirates, Face led the NL in saves three times, collecting 100 wins and 188 saves as a Bucco. 
• December 2, 1970 - The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Kansas City Royals completed a six player trade with P Bruce Dal Canton, C Jerry May and SS Freddie Patek going to the Royals and C Jim Campanis, SS Jackie Hernandez and P Bob Johnson sent to the Bucs. Patek and Dal Canton were everyday players for KC, with Patek playing nine years for the KC and winning three All-Star berths. Johnson was 17-16-7/3.34 with the Bucs and Hernandez was a reserve infielder, both lasting three years for the Pirates.
•  December 2, 1976 - Danny Murtaugh‚ who had retired two months earlier as Pirate manager‚ died of a heart attack at age 59 in his Chester home. 
• December 2, 1991 - After six years as a Pirate, Bobby Bonilla signed as a free agent with the New York Mets. His five-year, $29M deal made him the game's highest-paid player at the time.