3/24: Greenberg Stamp, Kiner Commemoration; HBD Mike, Gus & Corey; RIP Mace

• 1884 - 3B Mike Mowrey was born in Brown's Mill, Pennsylvania. Mike had a 13 year MLB career, spending a pair of seasons in Pittsburgh. He hit .254 as a Pirate in 1914 and .280 for the Federation League’s Pittsburgh Rebels the following year. Mowrey’s forte was as a defender; he was considered the most accomplished hot corner fielder in baseball and especially sharp against the bunt, a major offensive tool during the dead ball era. Mike’s real first name was Harry; he became Mike thanks to his brother. Mowrey’s dad was sheriff and ran the jail; vagrants were often housed in the cells overnight. Young Harry was friendly with one of his dad’s guests named Mike and so his bro called Harry “Mike the Hobo” after his bro’s incarcerated bud from that time forward.

Gus Dugas (photo via Bases Empty)

• 1907 - 1B/OF Augustine “Gus” Dugas was born in St. Jean de Matha, Quebec. The reserve hit .250 in 1930 & 1932 (he broke his jaw in 1931) as a Bucco before he was sent to Philly as part of the Freddie Lindstrom trade. “Lefty” (his threw and hit from the left side), along with fellow Quebec-born major leaguers Tim Harkness, Raymond Daviault, Georges Maranda, Ron Piché, Claude Raymond, and Jean-Pierre Roy, threw the ceremonial first pitch before the inaugural Montreal Expos game at Olympic Stadium on April 15th, 1977.
• 1982 - 1B/OF Corey Hart was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Pirates signed Hart to a one-year/$2.5M contract for the 2015 campaign, taking a risk that he would recover from microsurgery on his knee and fill a hole at first base. The club rolled snake eyes; Corey got into just 35 games battling shoulder & knee injuries, batting .222, and retired prior to the 2016 season.
• 2002 - RHP Mace Brown passed away in North Carolina at the age of 92. Brown was the first true dedicated reliever for the Pirates, appearing 207 times from the bullpen from 1935-31. He also started 55 games over that span and ended up credited retroactively with 29 saves as a Pirate (a closer wouldn’t be a thing for several more decades; a save wasn’t even kept as a stat until 1969) to go with 18 complete games and two shutouts.

Mace Brown 1941 Double Play

• March 24, 2006 - At Mickey Mantle's Restaurant & Sports Bar in New York City, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled the "Baseball Sluggers" postage stamps which were issued on July 15th at Yankee Stadium prior to the game against the White Sox. The four Hall of Famers featured in the set had roots in New York with Mickey Mantle (Yankees), Mel Ott (Giants) and Roy Campanella (Dodgers) playing their entire careers in the Big Apple, and the fourth, Hank Greenberg, had set schoolboy records at James Monroe High School in the Bronx. Greenberg spent his final season (1947) in Pittsburgh where he mentored slugger Ralph Kiner.
• 2014 - The Pirates announced that the team would wear #4 patches all season to commemorate slugger Ralph Kiner, who died on February 6th. Kiner led the NL in home runs for seven straight years (1946-52) and led MLB in long balls for six consecutive seasons (1947-52), both records. He was selected for the All-Star Game in six straight seasons, 1948-53.

3/24: Greenberg, Kiner Memorials; Mace Goes to the Bullpen in the Sky; HBD Gus

• 1907 - 1B/OF Augustine “Gus” Dugas was born in St. Jean de Matha, Quebec. The reserve hit .250 in 1930 & 1932 (he broke his jaw in 1931) as a Bucco before he was sent to Philly as part of the Freddie Lindstrom trade. “Lefty” (his threw and hit from the left side), along with fellow Quebec-born major leaguers Tim Harkness, Raymond Daviault, Georges Maranda, Ron Piché, Claude Raymond, and Jean-Pierre Roy, threw the ceremonial first pitch before the inaugural Montreal Expos game at Olympic Stadium on April 15th, 1977.

Gus Dugas via Bases Empty blog

• 2002 - RHP Mace Brown passed away in North Carolina at the age of 92. Brown was the first true dedicated reliever for the Pirates, appearing 207 times from the bullpen from 1935-31. He also started 55 games over that span, and ended up credited retroactively with 29 saves as a Pirate (a closer wouldn’t be a thing for several more decades; a save wasn’t even kept as a stat until 1969) to go with 18 complete games and two shutouts.
• 2006 - At Mickey Mantle's Restaurant & Sports Bar in New York City, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled the "Baseball Sluggers" postage stamps which were issued on July 15th at Yankee Stadium prior to the game against the White Sox. The four Hall of Famers featured in the set had roots in New York with Mickey Mantle (Yankees), Mel Ott (Giants) and Roy Campanella (Dodgers) playing their entire careers in the Big Apple, and the fourth, Hank Greenberg, had set schoolboy records at James Monroe High School in the Bronx. Greenberg spent his final season (1947) in Pittsburgh where he mentored slugger Ralph Kiner.

Ralp Kiner 2005 Upper Deck Classic

• 2014 - The Pirates announced that the team would wear #4 patches all season to commemorate slugger Ralph Kiner, who died on February 6th. Kiner led the NL in home runs for seven straight years (1946-52) and led MLB in long balls for six consecutive seasons (1947-52), both records. He was selected for the All-Star Game in six straight seasons, 1948-53. 

3/24: Two Sluggers Honored: Ralph Kiner & Hank Greenberg

• 2006 - At Mickey Mantle's Restaurant & Sports Bar in New York City, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled the "Baseball Sluggers" postage stamps which were issued on July 15th at Yankee Stadium prior to the game against the White Sox. The four Hall of Famers featured in the set had roots in New York with Mickey Mantle (Yankees), Mel Ott (Giants) and Roy Campanella (Dodgers) playing their entire careers in the Big Apple, and the fourth, Hank Greenberg, had set schoolboy records at James Monroe High School in the Bronx. Greenberg spent his final season (1947) in Pittsburgh where he mentored slugger Ralph Kiner. 

Hank Greenberg & Ralph Kiner in 1947 - Photo from The Sporting News Archive

• 2014 - The Pirates announced that the team would wear #4 patches all season to commemorate slugger Ralph Kiner, who died on February 6th. Kiner led the NL in home runs for seven straight years (1946-52) and led MLB in long balls for six consecutive seasons (1947-52), both records. He was selected for the All-Star Game in six straight seasons, 1948-53.

Bucs v Baltimore; Karstens Out

Chris Leroux gets his first start of camp against the O's and Brian Matusz today, replacing the sore-shouldered Jeff Karstens.  The game is at McKechnie Field and first pitch is slated for 1:05. And hey, it's like a big boy game - it will be aired on Root Sports on the TV side and The Fan 93.7 on the radio side.

Lineup: Starling Marte LF, Russell Martin C, Andrew McCutchen CF, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Neil Walker 2B, Jose Tabata RF, John McDonald SS and Mike McKenry DH.

Looks like Martin will get some regular season time in the two hole, while Pedro drops to fifth against a lefty. Old McDonald gets a little more work now that he's a Bucco, and JT was booted to the bottom of the order instead of his usual two spot. The Fort was a late addition to the lineup and took over the pitcher's batting spot against the AL Orioles, which wanted to use a DH.

Pitchers: Chris Leroux and ?

Leroux wanted a shot at starting, but hasn't worked longer than two frames yet this spring, even in the WBC, so a lot of guys should get some work today.

•  Jeff Karstens was scheduled to start but was scratched because of "continuing shoulder discomfort," the team announced this morning. That trip to the DL looks just around the bend, and the battle for the back end of the rotation just got a little more interesting, with spots now open for both Jonathan Sanchez and Jeff Locke, with Kyle McPherson and Jeanmar Gomez hangin' around with maybe a bullpen shot. It's also a reminder of why the Pirates didn't tender JK earlier in the year.
• Pittsburgh still has 35 guys on the roster, not counting Francisco Liriano, Jose Contreras and Charlie Morton. With a couple of obvious cuts and possibly sliding JK and Brandon Inge to the DL, that leaves them with a half-dozen tough decisions remaining, especially now that the pitching has been shook up a bit.
• Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune Review has a piece on the forgotten next big thing, Stetson Allie, and how the switch to first base from the mound helped his attitude. He also gives an update on infielders Alen Hansen and Dilson Herrera.
• Kaitlynn Rielly of the Post Gazette covers another aspect of the Pirates minor league program (no, it's not all belly crawls and carrying logs, SEAL-Style). Every player in the system has to contribute 10 hours of community service per year, a requirement that began with the current FO.
  
• March 24, 1989 - The Pirates sent SS Felix Fermin and UT Denny Gonzalez to the Indians for SS Jay Bell to complete a PTBNL deal from November 28th, 1988 (Gonzalez + the PTBNLs). Bell would man the SS spot for eight years and earn an All-Star berth in 1993 for the Bucs. He returned to the team this year as the batting coach.