4-5: HBD Wid, Rennie, Lastings & Jung-Ho; Polanco Extension; Robinson & Dravecky Deals; Local Ties; Sweet Tossing

• 1877 - SS William “Wid” Conroy was born in Philadelphia. Conroy only played one year in Pittsburgh in 1902, hitting .244, but he started ahead of Honus Wagner at short. Actually, the Flying Dutchman began his career in the pasture; he was converted to part-time shortstop in 1901 by skipper Fred Clarke when Bones Ely had a forgettable year at the dish. Wid was the usual starter at short in 1902 with Wagner seeing some action too, but Conroy’s batting performance was the final straw for Clarke and he installed Wagner at the position full-time in 1903. Widner then jumped leagues, joining the NY Highlanders and playing ball through 1911 for them and the Washington Senators. The nickname “Wid,” short for “Widow,” dates to his youth. Sam Bernstein of SABR suggests that the name came about because Conroy watched over the younger members of his sandlot group like a widowed mother watched over her brood.

Rennie Stennett 1978 Topps

• 1951 - 2B Rennie Stennett was born in Colon, Panama. Stennett played nine seasons (1971-79) with the Bucs as a sweet-fielding second sacker, hitting .278 BA to back up the leather. He was involved in a lot of good stuff, appearing in the 1979 Series, starting for the first all-black lineup in MLB in 1971, and collecting a record seven knocks in a nine-inning game against the Cubs in 1975. Sadly, he broke his leg in 1977 and never had a strong season afterward, even though the Giants signed him to a five-year deal worth $3M for 1980. They released him after two years while still in the hole for $2M.
• 1954 - It was only a spring training game, but it had some notable local flavor to it. Mt Washington native and South Hills HS grad Bob Purkey tossed a six-hitter and Frank Thomas, who grew up in the shadow of Forbes Field in Oakland and was born at Magee Women's Hospital, sent one over the wall as the hometown kids (Purkey was 24, Thomas 25) led the way to a 1-0 win over the KC Athletics in Mobile, Alabama. In other baseball business, the club cut Dale Long, Gene Freese and ElRoy Face from camp; they would all be back for keeps in 1955.
• 1975 - The Pirates got OF Bill Robinson from the Phils for RHP Wayne Simpson. Simpson appeared in 34 MLB games in 1975 & ‘77 while McKeesport’s Robinson spent eight years in Pittsburgh as a platoon OF’er, hitting .276 with 109 HR. His highlight season came in 1977 when he hit .304 with career highs of 26 home runs and 104 RBI.

Bill Robinson 1976 SSPC

• 1981 - Pittsburgh traded Youngstown native and Class AA Buffalo pitcher Dave Dravecky to the San Diego Padres for utilityman Bobby Mitchell. Mitchell never made it out of the minors while Dravecky eventually carved out an eight-year MLB career with a 64-57 slate, 3.13 ERA, and an All-Star appearance in a stint cut short by a cancerous tumor in his arm.
• 1985 - OF Lastings Milledge was born in Bradenton, Florida. A first-round pick of the Mets, he played for NY and then Washington. He was traded to the Pirates by the Nats in 2009 with RHP Joel Hanrahan in return for OF Nyjer Morgan and LHP Sean Burnett. From 2009-10 he hit a respectable .282 for Pittsburgh but was playing behind Jose Tabata in LF and Garrett Jones in RF with Andrew McCutchen in the pipeline. He left for free agency, but all he got was a cup of coffee with the White Sox, spending the past five seasons in Japan and Mexico.
• 1987 - IF Jung-Ho Kang was born in Gwangju, South Korea. After a winning posting bid of $5,002,015 for Kang from his Korean team, the Nexen Heroes, the Bucs signed the infielder to a four-year, $11M contract with an option year. He became the first KBO position player to make the jump to the MLB. Jung-Ho made the transition in style, hitting .287 with 15 HR while playing SS & 3B before he broke his leg in mid-September. He started 2016 late while recovering and then landed on the DL again with a shoulder injury, batting .255 with 21 dingers. It’ll be another late start from the box in 2017 as he sorts through the debris left by a DUI conviction during the off season.

Kip Wells 2004 Fleer Unsung Hero

• 2004 - Kip Wells scattered five hits and struck out seven over six scoreless innings as the Pirates beat the Phillies, 2-1, on Opening Day at PNC Park. Jose Mesa earned his 250th career save while Craig Wilson hit the first home run of the year for the Pirates.
• 2012 - Opening Day drew the largest crowd to date in PNC Park history, 39,585, as the Bucs Erik Bedard lost a classic pitching duel to the Phil’s Roy Halladay 1-0. The Bucs threatened in the first, but a Cutch 6-4-3 DP short-circuited the frame. Neil Walker took it to the track twice, but both balls died at the fence as Halladay tossed a two-hitter.
• 2016 - The Pirates officially announced they had signed RF Gregory Polanco to a contract extension that would carry him through arbitration and a year of free agency (2017-2021) worth $35M guaranteed with two team options, bringing the total contract value up to $58M. The particulars: $3M signing bonus, $1M - '17, $3.5M - '18, $5.5M - '19, $8M - '20, $11M - '21. $12.5M option/$3M buyout - '22, $13.5M option/$1M buyout - '22. The 24-year-old Polanco’s first full MLB campaign was 2015 when he hit .256 with nine home runs, 52 RBIs, 35 doubles, six triples and 27 stolen bases in 153 games. He also ranked second among all NL outfielders with 13 assists, trailing only teammate Starling Marte’s 16 throw-outs.

4/5: HBD Rennie & Jung Ho, Opening Day Duels, Bill Robinson & Dave Dravecky Deals

• 1951 - 2B Rennie Stennett was born in Colon, Panama. Stennett played nine seasons (1971-79) with the Bucs as a sweet-fielding second sacker, hitting .278 BA to back up the leather. He was involved in a lot of stuff, appearing in the 1979 Series, starting for the first all-black lineup in MLB in 1971, and collecting a record seven knocks in a nine inning game against the Cubs in 1975. Sadly, he broke his leg in 1977 and never had a strong season afterward, even though the Giants signed him to a five-year deal worth $3M for 1980. They released him after two years while still in the hole for $2M.
• 1975 - The Pirates got OF Bill Robinson from the Phils for RHP Wayne Simpson. McKeesport’s Robinson spent eight years in Pittsburgh as a platoon OF’er, hitting .276 with 109 HR. His highlight season came in 1977 when he hit .304 with career highs of 26 home runs and 104 RBI.

Bill Robinson (photo Getty Images)

• 1981 - Pittsburgh traded Class AA Buffalo pitcher Dave Dravecky to the San Diego Padres for utilityman Bobby Mitchell. Mitchell never made it out of the minors while Youngstown native Dravecky eventually carved out an eight year MLB career with a 64-57 slate, 3.13 ERA and an All-Star appearance in a stint cut short by a cancerous tumor in his arm.
• 1987 - IF Jung Ho Kang was born in Gwangju, South Korea. After a winning posting bid of $5,002,015 for Kang from his Korean team, the Nexen Heroes, the Bucs signed the infielder to a four year, $11M contract with an option year. He became the first KBO position player to make the jump to the MLB. Jung-Ho made the transition in style, hitting .287 with 15 HR while playing SS & 3B before he broke his leg in mid-September.
• 2004 - Kip Wells scattered five hits and struck out seven over six scoreless innings as the Pirates beat the Phillies, 2-1, on Opening Day at PNC Park. Jose Mesa earned his 250th career save while Craig Wilson hit the first home run of the year for the Pirates.

Kip Wells 2003 Topps Heritage

• 2012 - Opening Day drew the largest crowd to date in PNC Park history, 39,585, as the Bucs Erik Bedard lost a classic pitching duel to the Phil’s Roy Halladay 1-0. The Bucs threatened in the first, but a Cutch 6-4-3 DP short-circuited the frame. Neil Walker took it to the track twice, but both balls died at the fence as Halladay tossed a two-hitter.

4/5: Rennie, Bill Robinson, Dave Dravecky, Pitching Duel Split

• 1951 - 2B Rennie Stennett was born in Colon, Panama. Stennett played nine seasons (1971-79) with the Bucs as a sweet-fielding second sacker, hitting .278 BA to back up the leather. He was involved in a lot of stuff, appearing in the 1979 Series, starting for the first all-black lineup in MLB in 1971, and collecting a record seven knocks in a nine inning game against the Cubs in 1975. Sadly, he broke his leg in 1977 and never had a strong season afterward, even though the Giants signed him to a five-year deal worth $3M for 1980. They released him after two years while still in the hole for $2M. 
• 1975 - The Pirates got OF Bill Robinson from the Phils for RHP Wayne Simpson. McKeesport’s Robinson spent eight years in Pittsburgh as a platoon OF’er, hitting .276 with 109 HR. His highlight season came in 1977 when he hit .304 with career highs of 26 home runs and 104 RBI. 

Bill Robinson (photo by Getty Images)

• 1981 - Pittsburgh traded Class AA Buffalo pitcher Dave Dravecky to the San Diego Padres for utilityman Bobby Mitchell. Mitchell never made it out of the minors while Dravecky eventually carved out an eight year MLB career with a 64-57 slate, 3.13 ERA and an All-Star appearance in a stint cut short by a cancerous tumor in his arm. 
• 2004 - Kip Wells scattered five hits and struck out seven over six scoreless innings as the Pirates beat the Phillies, 2-1, on Opening Day at PNC Park. Jose Mesa earned his 250th career save while Craig Wilson hit the first home run of the year for the Pirates. 

Kip Wells 2004 Donruss Elite series

• 2012 - Opening Day drew the largest crowd to date in PNC Park history, 39,585, as the Bucs Erik Bedard lost a classic pitching duel to the Phil’s Roy Halladay 1-0. The Bucs threatened in the first, but a Cutch 6-4-3 DP short-circuited the frame. Neil Walker took it to the track twice, but both balls died at the fence as Halladay tossed a two-hitter.

Bucs v LA

Jonathan Sanchez, Jeff Locke and AJ Burnett will have their work cut out for them the weekend, dueling against the Dodgers trio of Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and probably South Korean rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu. The Bucs could have opted to keep the rotation short, but decided to get all five guys rolling from the get-go this season.

Like the Bucs, the Dodgers have been on a bit of a chilly streak at the plate, scoring seven runs (four in the opener) while going 2 for 27 with RISP and hitting .176 overall. Of course, that was against the Giants and their top three of Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum. The Bucs are even worse off, scoring six runs with a .144 BA even with their comparatively lusty 4-for-22 with RISP. As Clint Hurdle told John Perrotto of the BC Times “We need some guys to slow down in the batter’s box. We’re swinging at balls and taking strikes."

LA gets into the bottom of the Bucco staff in this series until AJ takes the bump on Sunday while trotting out their top three. There's something about the Bucs and April that brings out the other teams' top guns.Of course, there's something about the City of Angels that brings out the worst in the Bucs, period. The Pirates have lost six straight games at Dodger Stadium. The last time the Pirates won a series in Los Angeles was between September 19th-21st, 2006, and they've since gone 4-16 at Chavez Ravine.

Tonight starts a stretch where the next seven series (23 games) are against clubs that finished at .500 or better - LA, Arizona, Cincy, St. Louis (twice), Atlanta, and Philadelphia. The good news is that 10 of those games are part of a homestand running from April 12-21, but it's a brutal start to the year.

Hey, Pittsburgh had a tough row to hoe last April and held on finish 10-12. It's tough to tell what they have after a disappointing series against the Cubs, but this month should give us some idea of what to expect from the Pirates.

Tonight's game could be interesting. The Bucs have had some success against Grienke. He's started six games against them, and though he has a 4-1 record against Pittsburgh, he also has a 5.70 ERA. Zackster also had a funky spring with a sore elbow and is making his first 2013 start. As a long-time Giant, Sanchez has seen his share of the Dodgers. In 17 games (13 starts), he's 3-6 with a 4.66 ERA against the Blue.

• Brandon Inge played for Indy yesterday, meaning his 20-day rehab clock has started. None of the pitchers on the DL are close to game-ready yet, although the Pirates hope that Francisco Liriano and even Charlie Morton might be five or six weeks away. Jeff Karstens hasn't begun throwing yet, so if someone has to move to the 60 day DL, he's looking like the one.
• Gerrit Cole starts for Indy today against Columbus, and the countdown begins...
• In case you're wondering about the difference between the Pirate organization and Tampa's, consider this: Roberto Hernandez's start today ends a streak of 1,207 straight games without using a free agent starting pitcher. The last FA to start for the Rays was Hideo Nomo in July 2005.
• Maybe GW dissed the Cubbies a little more than deserved; Garrett Wilson of the blog Outside Corner picks them as the surprise team of the season with a possible playoff chance.
• This day in Bucco history: In 1975, the Pirates got OF Bill Robinson from the Phils for RHP Wayne Simpson. McKeesport’s Robinson spent eight years in Pittsburgh as a platoon OF’er, hitting .276 with 109 HR. And last year, opening day drew the largest crowd in PNC Park history, 39,585, as the Bucs Erik Bedard lost a classic pitching duel to the Phil’s Roy Halladay 1-0.