3/25: Bell Deal Finished; Maz Out; Vanimal Joins Up; HBD Frank, Jimmy & Lee

• 1868 - RHP Frank Dwyer was born in Lee, Massachusetts. Frank put together a solid 12-year MLB career with 176 wins and a 3.8 ERA. Unfortunately, his 1890 stop in Pittsburgh when he was 22-years-old was the lowlight of those dozen campaigns. He went 3-6-1/6.23 on the hill, although he did play a handful of games in the pasture and hit .264 for the Pirates. After he retired, he managed in Detroit for a year and umpired briefly in both leagues.

Jimmy Sebring 2003 Fleer Fall Classic

• 1882 - RF Jimmy Sebring was born in Liberty, PA, near Williamsport. He played for Pittsburgh from 1902-04, hitting .261, and in 1903 became the first MLB player to homer in a World Series game when he legged out an inside-the-park four-bagger against Cy Young while hitting .333 against Boston in that first WS. The talented OF’er (he was an early “can’t miss” prospect) had a rift with the team over a couple of different incidents and was traded. He then played with a series of outlaw teams, sidetracking his promising career. Sebring was on the comeback trail when he passed away from kidney disease in 1910 at the age of 27.
• 1955 - OF Lee Mazzilli was born in New York City. Mazzilli spent four of his 14 seasons as a Pirate, playing fairly regularly for his first two years (1983-’86) and hitting .244 overall. In 1986, the Mets were rumored to have offered Ray Knight (who was nearing the end of his career) for Mazzilli, but the Pirates turned them down. Instead, the Bucs released Lee in July when he was hitting just .226 and he joined NY for free.
• 1965 - Camp isn’t all fun and games. Bill Mazeroski broke a bone in his right foot and was out of the Bucco lineup until May. He came back to hit .271 and earned another Golden Glove for his trophy case. It was the only time between 1964-67 that he didn’t appear in every game, and Maz still played in 130 contests after his foot healed.

Maz proved human - 2013 Leaf Masterwork

• 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. Bell manned the SS spot for eight years and earned an All-Star berth in 1993 for the Bucs. He returned to the team in 2013 as their batting coach before moving on to the Reds.
• 2014 - RHP Vance Worley was purchased from the Minnesota Twins. After going 1-5 with a 7.21 ERA in 2013, Vanimal started out at Indianapolis and following some tinkering with his arm angle, he was called up to start on June 15th to replace injured Francisco Liriano. He finished the campaign with an 8-4 record and 2.85 ERA. After a 4-6/4.02 line in 2015, he was released and went to Baltimore.

3/25: HBP Lee; Bell Trade; Vanimal Inked; Maz Breaks Foot

• 1955 - OF Lee Mazzilli was born in New York City. Mazzilli spent four of his 14 seasons as a Pirate, playing fairly regularly for his first two years (1983-’86) and hitting .244 overall. In 1986, the Mets were thought to have offered Ray Knight (who was nearing the end of his career) for Mazzilli, but the Pirates turned them down. Instead, the Bucs released Lee in July when he was hitting just .226, and he re-signed with NY for free.
• 1965 - Camp isn’t all fun and games. Bill Mazeroski broke a bone in his right foot and was out of the Bucco lineup until May. He came back to hit .271 and earned another Golden Glove for his trophy case. It was the only time between 1964-67 that he didn’t appear in every game, and Maz still played in 130 contests after his foot healed.

Bill Mazeroski 1964 Topps

• 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. Bell manned the SS spot for eight years and earned an All-Star berth in 1993 for the Bucs. He returned to the team in 2013 as their batting coach before moving on to the Reds.
• 2014 - RHP Vance Worley was purchased from the Minnesota Twins. After going 1-5 with a 7.21 ERA in 2013, Vanimal started out at Indianapolis, and after tinkering with his arm angle, he was called up to start on June 15th to replace injured Francisco Liriano. He finished the campaign with an 8-4 record and 2.85 ERA. After a 4-6/4.02 line in 2015, he was released and went to Baltimore.

3/25: Bucs Bring In Jay Bell, Vanimal; Maz Hurt in Camp; Lee Mazzilli's B-Day

• 1955 - OF Lee Mazzilli was born in New York City. Mazzilli spent four of his 14 seasons as a Pirate, playing fairly regularly for his first two years (1983-’86) and hitting .244 overall. In 1986, the Mets were thought to have offered Ray Knight (who was nearing the end of his career) for Mazzilli, but the Pirates turned them down. Instead, they released him in July when he was hitting just .226, and he re-signed with NY for free. 
• 1965 - Camp isn’t all fun and games. Bill Mazeroski broke a bone in his right foot and was out of the Bucco lineup until May. He came back to hit .271 and earned another Golden Glove for his trophy case. It was the only time between 1964-67 that he didn’t appear in every game, and Maz played in 130 contests after his foot healed. 

Billy Maz 1961 Topps series

• 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. Bell manned the SS spot for eight years and earned an All-Star berth in 1993 for the Bucs. He returned to the team in 2013 as their batting coach before moving on to the Reds. 
• 2014 - RHP Vance Worley was purchased from the Minnesota Twins. After going 1-5 with a 7.21 ERA in 2013, Vanimal started out at Indianapolis, and after tinkering with his arm angle, he was called up to start on June 15th to replace injured Francisco Liriano. He finished the campaign with an 8-4 record and 2.85 ERA and is carrying his success over with a strong spring campaign.

Vance Worley 2015 Topps series

3/25: Mazzilli, Mazeroski, Jay Bell...

Mazzilli, Mazeroski, Jay Bell... 

• 1955 - OF Lee Mazzilli was born in New York City. Mazzilli spent four of his 14 seasons as a Pirate, playing fairly regularly for his first two years (1983-’86) and hitting .244 overall. 
• 1965 - Camp isn’t all fun and games. Bill Mazeroski broke a bone in his right foot and was out of the Bucco lineup until May. He came back to hit .271 and earned another Golden Glove for his trophy case. It was the only time between 1964-67 that he didn’t appear in every game; Maz played in 130 contests after his foot healed. 

• 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. Bell manned the SS spot for eight years and earned an All-Star berth in 1993 for the Bucs. He returned to the team in 2013 as their batting coach before moving on the following season.

Bucs v Rays

The Pirates will hop the bus to Charlotte Sports Park to take on the Rays at 7:05. Kyle McPherson, against all odds, is still alive and kicking, although another booty-beating like he had against the Braves in his last outing should pull the plug. He'll face off against Matt Moore. The game will be broadcast on The Fan 93.7.

Lineup: Jose Tabata RF, Russell Martin C, Andrew McCutchen CF, Gaby Sanchez 3B, Brandon Inge 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Josh Harrison LF, Clint Barmes SS and Kyle McPherson P.

Brandon Inge is back in the lineup; we're not quite sure why. He's at first base, flopped with Gaby, who is at third base. Josh Harrison is in left. Nothing like a week before the season and jerking guys all over the field, hey?  And JT, even with being RH and out of options, could stand a finish as strong as his start to camp was.

Pitching: Kyle McPherson and ?

Kyle will try to keep his hat in the ring; the Pirate pitching has taken some odd twists and turns in the last week.

• The Diamondbacks have released ex-Bucco C Rod Barajas, who was in camp on a minor league deal
• The Brewers signed the last FA standing, Kyle Lohse, for 3 years/$33M. The draft pick dance per Jim Callas of Baseball America is that they forfeit the #17 pick (value $2.1M) and the Cardinals gain the #28 pick (value $1.8M). 
• March 25, 1965 - Camp isn’t all fun and games, even for vets. Bill Mazeroski broke a bone in his right foot and was out of the Bucco lineup until May. He came back to hit .271 and earned another Golden Glove for his trophy case. It was the only time between 1964-67 that he didn’t appear in every game; Maz played in 130 contests after his foot healed.