3/26: Yates, Milligan Deals; Herges Release; HBD Jack & Josh; Sandy in Spring

• 1869 - LF Jack McCarthy was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts. McCarthy started for the Pirates in 1898-99 and hit a robust .298. But the Pirates landed Fred Clarke, also a LF, when they absorbed the old Louisville team and sold McCarthy to the Chicago Orphans. He played until 1907 and had a lifetime .287 BA.

Jack McCarthy (photo via Chicago Daily News)

• 1963 - The LA Dodgers' Sandy Koufax surrendered two homers and was touched for six runs while whiffing nine Buccos in seven innings during a spring tune-up. It was not an omen of things to come. In 40 starts that season, Koufax gave up six runs in an outing only once, going 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA, winning the Cy Young Award and earning a World Series ring. The Bucs did get to the Hall-of-Fame lefty better than most that campaign, going 1-1 against him in three starts and scoring over three runs per game.
• 1981 - IF Josh Wilson was born in Pittsburgh and played prep ball at Mt. Lebanon High along with Don Kelly. He was only with the hometown organization briefly at Indy in 2008 but played in eight big-league campaigns. Wilson earned the nickname “Paperboy” not so much because he delivered (his lifetime BA was .229) but as a nod to his youthful appearance. Josh was the son of one of the area’s top baseball mentors - his dad, Mike, was a long time coach with stops at Mt Lebanon HS (he coached up Josh & Kelly), Pitt and Duquesne while also part of the semi-pro Greater Pittsburgh Federation Baseball League for more than 20 years as a player, coach, and manager.
• 1988 - C Mackey Sasser and RHP Tim Drummond were traded to the NY Mets for minor leaguer Scott Henion and 1B Randy Milligan. Milligan hit .220 for the Bucs before having some solid seasons at Baltimore while Sasser caught the next six seasons for the Mets, batting .286 for NY.

Randy Milligan 1989 Fleer Rookie

• 2003 - The Pirates released RHP Matt Herges, for whom they had traded RHP Chris Young to the Padres in December. SD reclaimed Herges on April 1st, keeping their reliever and getting a young front-line pitcher basically for free from Pittsburgh’s GM Dave Littlefield.
• 2008 - The Pirates traded minor league RHP Todd Redmond to the Atlanta Braves for reliever Tyler Yates. Fastballer Yates went 6-5 in two seasons with Pirates, pitching to a 5.08 ERA before arm surgery derailed his career. Redmond finally got a shot at Toronto in 2013 and was effective in 2014 after being converted to the pen. He got beat up in 2015 at Toronto and spent most of the year in AAA. He’s now with the Baltimore organization.

3/26: HBD Jack; Deals Day...

• 1869 - LF Jack McCarthy was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts. McCarthy started for the Pirates in 1898-99, and hit a robust .298. But the Pirates landed Fred Clarke, also a LF, when they absorbed the old Louisville team and sold McCarthy to the Chicago Orphans. He played until 1907 and had a lifetime .287 BA.

Jack McCarthy 1904 (photo Chicago Daily News)

• 1988 - C Mackey Sasser and RHP Tim Drummond were traded to the NY Mets for minor leaguer Scott Henion and 1B Randy Milligan. Milligan hit .220 for the Bucs before having some solid seasons at Baltimore while Sasser caught the next six seasons for the Mets, batting .286 for NY.
• 2003 - The Pirates released RHP Matt Herges, for whom they had traded RHP Chris Young to the Padres in December. SD reclaimed Herges on April 1st, keeping their reliever and getting a young front line pitcher basically for free from Pittsburgh’s GM Dave Littlefield.
• 2008 - The Pirates traded minor league RHP Todd Redmond to the Atlanta Braves for reliever Tyler Yates. Fastballer Yates went 6-5 in two seasons with Pirates, pitching to a 5.08 ERA before arm surgery derailed his career. Redmond finally got a shot at Toronto in 2013, and was effective in 2014 after being converted to the pen. He got beat up in 2015 at Toronto and spent most of the year in AAA. He’s now with the Baltimore organization.

Tyler Yates promo via Getty Images

3/26: Jack McCarthy, Chuck Klein, Mackey Sasser, Matt Herges, Tyler Yates

• 1869 - LF Jack McCarthy was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts. McCarthy started for the Pirates in 1898-99, and hit a robust .298. But the Pirates landed Fred Clarke, also a LF, when they absorbed the old Louisville team and sold McCarthy to the Chicago Orphans. He played until 1907 and had a lifetime .287 BA. 

Jack McCarthy - 1904 Chicago Daily News photo

• 1940 - After being released by the Pirates‚ Chuck Klein signed up for his third go-around with the Phils. Klein was a Hall-of-Fame OF who hit 300 homers, helped greatly by the Philadelphia Baker Bowl’s short porch. He played 85 games for Pittsburgh, hitting .300 with 11 HR, but was released at age 34 and became a bench player for Philly through the war years. 
• 1988 - C Mackey Sasser and RHP Tim Drummond were traded to the NY Mets for minor leaguer Scott Henion and 1B Randy Milligan. Milligan hit .220 for the Bucs before having some solid seasons at Baltimore while Sasser caught the next six seasons for the Mets, batting .286 for NY. 

Mackey Sasser 1988 Score series

• 2003 - The Pirates released RHP Matt Herges, for whom they had traded RHP Chris Young to the Padres in December. SD reclaimed Herges on April 1st, keeping their reliever and getting a young front line pitcher for free from Pittsburgh’s GM Dave Littlefield. 
• 2008 - The Pirates traded minor league RHP Todd Redmond to the Atlanta Braves for reliever Tyler Yates. Fastballer Yates went 6-5 in two seasons with Pirates, pitching to a 5.08 ERA before arm surgery derailed his career. Redmond finally got a shot at Toronto in 2013, and was effective in 2014 after being converted to the pen.

Tyler Yates - 2011 Getty Images photo

3/26: Jack McCarthy, Chuck Klein, Mackey Sasser, Matt Herges...

Jack McCarthy, Chuck Klein, Mackey Sasser, Matt Herges... 

• 1869 - LF Jack McCarthy was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts. McCarthy started for the Pirates in 1898-99, and hit a robust .298. But the Pirates landed Fred Clarke, also a LF, when they absorbed the old Louisville team and sold McCarthy to the Chicago Orphans. He played until 1907 and had a lifetime .287 BA. 
• 1940 - After being released by the Pirates‚ Chuck Klein signed up for his third go-around with the Phils. Klein was a Hall-of-Fame OF who hit 300 homers, helped greatly by the Philadelphia Baker Bowl’s short porch. He played 85 games for Pittsburgh, hitting .300 with 11 HR, but was released at age 34 and became a bench player for Philly through the war years. 
• 1988 - C Mackey Sasser and RHP Tim Drummond were traded to the New York Mets for minor leaguer Scott Henion and 1B Randy Milligan. Milligan hit .220 for the Bucs before having some solid seasons at Baltimore while Sasser caught the next six seasons for the Mets, batting .286 for NY. 

 1988 - Donruss Rated Rookie Series

• 2003 - The Pirates released RHP Matt Herges, for whom they had traded RHP Chris Young to the Padres in December. SD reclaimed Herges on April 1st, keeping their reliever and getting a young front line pitcher for free from Pittsburgh’s GM Dave Littlefield.

Bucs v Jays; Sanchez, Inge On the Roster

The Bucs travel to Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in Dunedin this afternoon to take on the Toronto Blue Jays. Jonathan Sanchez climbs the hill to face Ricky Romero in the 1:05 clash. The game won't be broadcast.

Lineup: Starling Marte LF, Felix Pie CF, Gaby Sanchez, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Mike McKenry C, Garrett Jones RF, Jordy Mercer 2B, John McDonald SS and Jonathan Sanchez P.

Gaby is batting third while Garrett Jones is n right field, both for the first time this spring..

Pitchers: Jonathan Sanchez and ?

Welcome to the rotation, Jonathan.

• Tom Singer of MLB.com posts that Jonathan Sanchez and Brandon Inge have both made the club, although Inge is likely to be placed on the DL. We understand the move with Sanchez, but we're not so sure why Inge is on the roster. At least he's not blocking anyone while on the disabled list. The Pirates have until Sunday to officially add them to the 40-man roster.
• The starting pitching should clear up today, and the roster set by tomorrow when camp breaks. The FO wants to leave Florida with just the 25 players on the active roster.
  
• Fox Sports has its 2013 Bucco Preview on the web.
• The Bucs break camp after Thursday's game against the Yankees, take Friday off and play an exhibition at Altoona on Saturday. Then it's showtime Monday.
• The Marlins have agreed to a minor league deal with OF Matt Diaz, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Lyle Overbay, however, was cut by the Red Sox.
• Michael Love of the Tribune Review has a piece on RHP Scott McGough, a Plum Hi pitcher now in the Miami system. The Bucs thought enough of him out of high school to spend a draft pick for him in 2008, but he choose college (Oregon) instead.
• March 26, 1940 - After being released by the Pirates‚ Chuck Klein signed up for his third go-around with the Phils. Klein was a Hall-of-Fame OF who hit 300 homers, helped greatly by the Philadelphia Baker Bowl’s short porch. He played 85 games for Pittsburgh, hitting .300 with 11 HR, but was released at age 34 and became a bench player for Philly through the war years.