Notes Before the Winter Meetings - Players Rap FO, Rumors, Moves & Stuff

Notes as we head into the Winter Meetings looking for a random log or two to toss into the Bucco not-very-hot stove:

• Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune-Review reports the Pirates have expressed some interest in non-tendered lefty Xavier Cedeno. He was effective for the Rays in 2015-16 as a set-up arm, but only got nine games (three IP) in last season before getting a PRP treatment and losing the year. Cedeno is tough on lefties (.226 lifetime) but not so much against righties (.301), and Clint is not a LOOGY fan, so we'll see.

Is J-Hay in someone's sights?

• The Mets are expected to kick J-Hay's tires at the winter meetings as they examine the second base marketplace. They seem to like Pirates 2B even though Neil Walker and Dilson Herrera didn't fill their bill.
• This doesn't qualify as a bona fide rumor, but a couple of New York outlets have mentioned in passing that the Yankees, pressed to the luxury tax limit with the acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton but short on pitching, can't dive very deeply into the FA pool and may try to work a deal for the more affordable Gerrit Cole.
• Felipe Rivero's agent hopes to sit with the Pirates front office during the meetings. Rivera is a Super Two (four years of arb, through 2021) and is open to a longer-term deal.
• S-Rod had an interesting interview with the Post Gazette's Liz Bloom; he takes a rap at the FO (while qualifying that he gets the business side) for personnel moves in 2016 that ate away at the Pirates core lineup. Sid Bream told Tim Benz of the Tribune-Review basically the same thing; the FO sometimes waves the white flag instead of sounding the charge.

Preach it, brother! (2017 Topps)

• Pittsburgh signed minor league FAs, RHP Richard Rodriguez and OF Todd Cunningham. Both will be non-roster invitees to spring training. Rodriguez, 27 (he'll be 28 in March), has been effective at AAA as a set-up guy with a 10.2 K/9 innings and 1.047 WHIP last year but was ripped in a handful of outings with the Orioles last season. Cunningham, 28 (he'll be 29 in March), has 130 MLB at-bats (.207) with his last sighting in 2016 with the Angels. He plays everywhere and has been an OBP machine in the minors for the past couple of seasons, with no power to speak of. 
• Wayne Cavadi of Minor League Ball says to watch these three guys - Jordan Luplow, Stephen Alemais and Luis Escobar.
• Neil Huntington quotes from FanFest:

  On Jung Ho Kang returning this season: "It would be huge. We don't think it's going to happen."
  On Cutch: “We want McCutchen to retire a Pirate. We also want to win World Series. At times those two are contradictory. The challenge becomes how do we sign McCutchen and then build around him?”
  On Juan Nicasio (sounding a bit revisionist): “We kept Juan through the deadline because we wanted to give team a chance.” His $600K salary savings, NH added, were put into this year's budget.

Don't hold your breath (2017 Topps)

• The Cards have signed RHP Miles Mikolas, who the Pirates had for a bit in 2013. He came over with Jaff Decker in the Alex Dickerson deal but was flipped quickly to Texas for 1B Chris McGuiness. Miles has spent the past three years kicking butt in Japan and he gives the Redbirds some depth in the rotation and some flexibilty if they do any wheelin' and dealin'.
• No surprise but Shohei Ohtani went to the Angels and Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees. They weren't heading here, so no loss, and didn't end up in Chicago or St. Louis, so their bidding wars ended about as well as the Bucs could hope. And now there may be some long looks at Cutch by the teams that lost out, especially SF.

12/10 From the 80s Forward: Dale, Derek, Jason, Bobby, Antonio & Juan Sign; Bo Goes; GIBBYs; HBD Pedro

• 1985 - Bobby Bonilla, who the Bucs signed out of high school in 1981, was taken by the Chicago White Sox in the Rule 5 draft. The Pirates got Bobby Bo back in July of the following year, but it cost them RHP Jose DeLeon. Syd Thrift had signed him as a scout and reeled him back in as GM. It was worth it - from 1986 to 1991, Bonilla had a .284 BA with 114 home runs and 500 RBI's. He also made the All-Star team four years in a row before leaving town.

Pedro Florimon 2016 (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

• 1986 - SS Pedro Florimon was born in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Pedro has turned a good glove into a seven-year MLB career, starting for Minnesota in 2013, but his bat has relegated him to a journeyman depth guy. In his two seasons with Pittsburgh (2015-16), he mostly stayed busy in AAA while getting into 42 games with the Pirates, hitting just .149 over that span.
• 1999 - Dale Sveum was signed as a free agent. He played three seasons for the Pirates (1996-97, 1999/.260 BA), and also managed at Altoona from 2001-03, winning an Eastern League Manager of the Year award before landing big league skipper jobs with the Brewers and Cubs. He’s now Kansas City’s bench coach.
• 2000 - In a day they came to rue, the Pirates signed free agent OF Derek Bell of "Operation Shutdown" fame to a two year contract worth $9.75M. Bell left the team during camp in 2002 after hitting .173 in his first campaign and never played in the majors again. The Pirates paid him $4.5M to go away when they cut him; Bell just moved onto his yacht and sailed into the sunset.

Derek Bell 2002 Fleer Tradition

• 2008 - The Pirates, in a swap of catchers, traded Ronny Paulino to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jason Jaramillo. Paulino and manager John Russell weren’t on each others Christmas card list after JR appointed Ryan Doumit as the everyday catcher, and Jaramillo had impressed Russell from his days as the Phils AAA manager. The change of scenery didn’t particularly help either player (or team). Ronny played for four more years, never sniffing 100 games/season, and hit .265 over that span while JJ caught three seasons for the Bucs with a .235 BA in 119 games.
• 2009 - The Pirates signed FA IF Bobby Crosby to a $1M deal with another $500K possible in bonus money. He hit .224, was traded to Arizona and was out of baseball after 2010. He left the majors with a whimper, but entered baseball with a bang, having won the AL Rookie of the Year Award with Oakland in 2005.
• 2013 - Pittsburgh took three GIBBY (Greatness In Baseball Yearly awards): RHP Mark Melancon won the set-up player of the year, LHP Francisco Liriano took home the comeback player honors, and the Pirates were selected as the storyline of the year for their playoff run.

Antonio Bastardo 2015 Topps

• 2014 - The Pirates traded minor league LHP Joely Rodriguez to the Phillies for LHP set up man Antonio Bastardo. It was a dominoes effect deal, with Bastardo filling a hole in the bullpen caused when southpaw Justin Wilson was traded to the Yankees. Bastardo put up a 4-1-1/2.98 slash in 66 Pirate outings while Rodriguez was removed from the Phil’s 40 man roster and assigned back to the minors after a rough 2015 AAA season. The Pirates lost Antonio to free agency in 2016, but brought him back to town in a deadline deal. He went 3-0, 4.13 in his second coming before the wheels came off in 2017 and he was released with the Pirates eating the remainder of his $6.625M contract.
• 2015 - The Bucs signed free agent RHP Juan Nicasio, who spent 2015 in the LA Dodgers' bullpen (1-3-1/3.86), to a one-year/$3M contract, with an arb season remaining for 2017. After a spotty stint in the rotation (5-5, 5.05), Juan returned to the pen where he was 5-2 with a 3.88 ERA. To make room on the roster, the Pirates DFA’ed former #1 pick (fourth overall) of 2009, C Tony Sanchez, who played over parts of three seasons in 51 games, hitting .259. Nicasio had a strong 2017 campaign working exclusively from the pen, but the Pirates lost him, with no return, on August waivers after the front office blew earlier chances to move him because of the dreaded paralysis by analysis.

12/10 Through the 1970s: Hello Goose, Elmer & Pete, Bye Bob & Richie; HBD Frank, Bob & Grant; Yes to Expansion, No to Spitter

• 1866 - SS Frank Shugart was born in Luthersburg, in Clearfield County. He hit .268 for the Bucs between 1891-93, but booted 143 balls at short in 209 games in his first two seasons (which was surprisingly near league average), triggering a move to the OF and a mid-season trade in 1893 to the St. Louis Browns for SS Jack Glasscock. His MLB career ended when Shugart was blacklisted from baseball in 1901 after he punched an umpire.

Frank Shugart 1899 (photo via Out of the Ball Park Development)

• 1919 - The National League, urged on by Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss, banned the spitball, which he believed was an unfair advantage against hitters. Old wet tossers were registered and spared through a grandfather clause. The AL initially resisted, then passed their own ban the following season. Off-and-on Pirate hurler Burleigh Grimes was the last of the legal spitballers, retiring following the 1934 season after a Hall-of-Fame career.
• 1939 - RHP Bob Priddy was born in McKees Rocks and signed with the Bucs out of high school before the 1959 season. He only spent his first two campaigns with the Pirates (1962, 1964; 2-2-1, 3.86 ERA, 37-⅓ IP), but had a nine-year journeyman career with the Giants, Washington Senators, White Sox, Angels and Braves with a 24-38-18, 4.00 career line. Fun fact: Bob was signed as an infielder, but after a season in the minors (he hit .222 with a 33% strikeout rate), he was converted to the mound.
• 1947 - The Buccos bought 32-year old Elmer Riddle from the Reds. Riddle put up an All-Star season in 1948, going 12-10, 3.49, but faded badly the following campaign, winning just once during his final MLB year. They also got his brother John in the same transaction but for a different reason; the Bucs wanted him not as a player but as their bullpen catcher.

Elmer Riddle 1949 Eureka Sports Stamps

• 1947 - The Pirates came out in support of expansion to a pair of 10-team leagues. The idea had some traction as the show was looking to plant some West Coast franchises, but more clubs wouldn’t become a reality until 1961. To temporarily vent some of the pressure, there were several relocations (Brooklyn Dodgers to LA, NY Giants to San Fran, Boston Braves to Milwaukee, Philadelphia Athletics to KC and the St Louis Browns becoming the Baltimore Orioles) in the fifties.
• 1965 - The Pirates traded RHP Bob Friend, a four-time All-Star, to the New York Yankees for reliever Pete Mikkelsen and cash. Friend spent 15 years as a Pirate and won 191 games. He retired after the 1966 season, going just 1-4 for the Bronx Bombers. Mikkelson had a good year for the Bucs in 1966 out of the pen (9-8-14/3.07) but faltered the next year and was released.
• 1967 - Scout Grant Brittain was born in Hickory, North Carolina. After an All-America career at Western Carolina and a considerably less successful stay in the minors, he earned his paycheck by scouting. He worked for the Tigers, Red Sox, Pirates (1994-2001, with his big signing being high school ace Zach Duke) and the Brewers.

Terry Forster 1977 Topps

• 1976 - The Pirates traded OF Richie Zisk and RHP Silvio Martinez to the Chicago White Sox for pitchers Goose Gossage and Terry Forster. Except for minor-leaguer Martinez, the players were a year away from free agency, and all three took advantage to find new teams in 1978. But the big name rentals had a payoff: Zisk hit .290 with 30 homers and 101 RBI, and Gossage collected 11 wins, 26 saves and posted a 1.62 ERA with 10.2 K per nine innings. Both were named All-Stars.

12/9 B-Days & RIP: HBD Doc, Hank, Adam, TVP, Mike, Handsome Joe, Bruce; RIP Branch

• 1871 - OF’er “Handsome Joe” Kelley was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He played for 17 MLB seasons, but only spent a partial campaign in Pittsburgh, hitting .239 in 56 games in 1892 as a wet-behind-the-ears 21 year-old. Pity the Bucs didn’t hang on to him - Joe was an early five tool player and part of the core of the powerful early Baltimore Oriole clubs (he was known as “Kingpin Kelly” with the Birds) and a Hall of Famer. He finished with a lifetime .317/.402/.451 slash and 443 stolen bases. Joe knocked in 100+ runs in five straight seasons, scored 100+ runs six times and had 212 assists from the OF; one story about his fielding prowess claims that he hid balls in the pasture so that if one got by him, he had another stashed away near at hand. When he retired, he stayed in the MLB mix as a manager, scout, and coach. As for his nickname, SABR’s Jimmy Keenan wrote “Dubbed ‘Handsome Joe Kelley’ by his multitude of female admirers in Baltimore, he kept a small mirror and comb in his back pocket in order to maintain his well-groomed appearance during games.” 

Handsome Joe 1980 Perez-Steele Hall of Fame Series

• 1879 - OF Mike Mitchell was born in Springfield, Ohio. Mike was known for his speed and strong arm, leading the NL in triples and outfield assists early in his career. He finished his MLB time in 1913-14, hitting .250 over that span for the Pirates before being waived to the Senators to complete his eight-year big league tenure.
• 1905 - OF Adam Comorosky was born in Swoyersville in Luzerne county. He played eight years (1926-33) for the Pirates with a line of .285/26/363. In 1929 and ‘30, he was one of the hot NL bats. Over that period, he hit .317 with 216 RBI and 198 runs scored, banging out 73 doubles, 34 triples (he led the NL with 23 in ‘30) and 18 homers. Adam is the only NL outfielder to register two unassisted double plays in a season, both within the span of a week in 1931. 
• 1914 - C Henry Camelli was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Camelli was a reserve during the war years (he only got three at-bats in 1945 due to service obligations) with a Bucco BA of .229 between 1943-46. Hank played just 159 games in his MLB career, but paid his dues with 13 minor league campaigns. He once caught six straight doubleheaders while on the farm. 
• 1948 - RHP George “Doc” Medich was born in Aliquippa and became a three-sport star at Hopewell HS. For a local boy (he played football and baseball at Pitt, starting on both squads), he didn’t get much Pirates love, pitching just one of his 11 big league season in Pittsburgh, going 8-11/3.52 in 1976. Doc (he MD’ed from Pitt medical school) lived up to his name. Twice as a player (once as a Pirate) he went into the stands to perform CPR on a fan, saving one of the victims. Doc was chosen as a member of the Beaver County Hall of Fame. 

Doc Medich 1977 Topps

• 1961 - RHP Bruce Tanner was born in New Castle. Chuck’s kid, Bruce got to toss one year in the show for the White Sox in 1985, his dad’s final year as Bucco skipper. After the 1989 campaign, Bruce gave up organized ball as a player and spent the 1990s as a minor league pitching coach for San Diego. He became the bullpen coach for the Pirates in 2001, a position he held through the 2005 season. In 2006, he served as pitching coach for the Williamsport Crosscutters, one of the Bucs' minor league clubs. He jumped to the Tigers the next year to become an advance scout and since 2009 has served Motown as a major league scout. 
• 1965 - Former Pirates GM Branch Rickey died of a heart attack. Famous for breaking the color barrier by playing Jackie Robinson while a Dodger exec and becoming the poster child for strong farm teams, Rickey was the Pirates GM from 1950-55 before he retired due to health issues. He walked the walk on farm systems, bringing in Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Dick Groat and company, a group that would help bring home the flag in 1960. Rickey was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1967.

12/9 Happenings: Bert, Purkey, Walker Go, Smith, Hernandez Arrive; Tener NL Prez; MVP Crowd; Scoop Rumors

• 1913 - Tyrone PA’s John Tener, a one-time pitcher who worked for the Pittsburgh Burgers of the Player’s League in 1890, became a congressman, and was currently serving as governor of Pennsylvania, was voted in as the National League president. John had maintained interest in the sport since his playing days, having founded the annual Congressional baseball game and then cracking down on baseball gambling as governor. He faced several player uprisings during his term (it became full-time in 1915 when his stint as governor ended) and quit the position in 1918 over a dispute with the AL. 

Kiki Cuyler 1925 Exhibits

• 1925 - Rogers Hornsby won the NL-MVP by defeating runner up Kiki Cuyler of the Pirates by a 73-61 count. That’s the year Rogers hit .403; Cuyler batted a mere .357 with 220 hits, 144 runs scored and 102 RBI. Other world-champion Buccos who got votes were SS Glenn Wright, 3B Pie Traynor, CF Max Carey and P Vic Aldridge. 
• 1957 - The Pirates traded RHP Bob Purkey to the Cincinnati Reds for LHP Don Gross. Gross won six games in three years as a Pirate while Purkey, a Pittsburgh kid who went to South Hills HS, won 124 games after the deal, appearing in a World Series and three All-Star games. GM Joe Brown later called it “the worst trade I ever made.” Purkey pitched his final season (1966) for the Pirates and then retired to Bethel Park, where he became a successful insurance broker. He died in 2008 at age 78 and was buried at Queen of Angels Cemetery. 
• 1959 - The Bucs sent RHP Dick Hall, IF Ken Hamlin and a PTBNL (C Hank Foiles) to the Kansas City Athletics for C Hal Smith. The deal paid dividends when Smith’s three-run homer in the eighth inning of the seventh game of the 1960 World Series set the stage for Bill Mazeroski’s legendary blast. 

Todd Van Poppel 1998 (photo: The Sporting News/Getty)

• 1976 - The Post-Gazette reported that Al Oliver was an item on the trade market, what the hottest rumor involving the Montreal Expos, which were said to be dangling C Gary Carter and P Dale Murray as bait. But GM Pete Peterson held onto Oliver through the 1977 campaign before sending him to Texas in the offseason. 
• 1980 - The Pirates traded RHP Bert Blyleven and C Manny Sanguillen to the Indians for P Bob Owchinko‚ P Victor Cruz‚ C Gary Alexander‚ and minor league P Rafael Vasquez. The California Angels were set aback by the deal, as they had offered 1B/OF Don Baylor and P Mark Clear to Pittsburgh for Blyleven plus C Ed Ott and thought they had made the better offer, per published reports. Halo GM Buzzy Bavasi said at the time “Blyleven wanted to come to California. The Pirates sent him to Siberia.” There may have been some truth to that as Buc GM Pete Peterson and Bavasi were not thought to be on the best of terms and Blyleven had burned his Pittsburgh bridges. At any rate, disgruntled Hall of Famer Blyleven was the key and he went on to pitch 11 more seasons while winning 148 more games. The righty requested the trade, saying that manager Chuck Tanner didn’t show any confidence in him by not letting him go deeper into games, although the Frying Dutchman (named because he loved setting teammates’ shoelaces on fire - the “hotfoot” prank - rather than his temperament) averaged 233 IP per season under Tanner’s watch. Sangy was at the end of his days and was released in spring camp. For the Bucs, Cruz split his time between the minors and the parent club, going 1-1-1, 2.65 in 22 games and was sent back to Cleveland the next season for SS Nelson Norman. Owchinko was flipped for Ernie Camacho, who tossed seven games for the Pirates (0-1, 4.98). It was Alexander’s last go-around in the show; he hit .213 in 21 games. Vasquez had originally been signed by the Pirates and sent to Seattle in 1978 as part of the Enrique Romo deal. He pitched in AAA for Pittsburgh and then spent several seasons in the Mexican League.

Roberto Hernandez 2006 Upper Deck

• 2005 - The Pirates agreed to sign free agent reliever RHP Roberto Hernandez, 42, to a one year‚ $2.75M contract (it was finalized a week later, on the 15th). The set-up man was flipped to the NY Mets, his old club, at the 2006 deadline as part of the Xavier Nady trade. 
• 2015 - The Pirates traded 2B Neil Walker to the New York Mets for LHP Jon Niese. The Pittsburgh Kid (he went to Pine-Richland HS) had been a Bucco since he was selected in the first round (#11 overall) of the 2004 draft and took over the second base spot in 2010. Along with Robinson Cano, he was the only 2B with double-digit dingers for six straight seasons. From 2009-15, Walker put up a .272/.338/.431 slash for the Bucs, with 93 HR. Niese fizzled and was shipped back to the Mets while Walker remained injury-bitten and ended up with the Brewers.

12/8 From the 70s Forward: Blyleven & Casey Deals; Lieber, Mulholland Sign; Non-Tenders '03; Bonds Goes...

• 1977 - The Pirates were part of a Rube Goldberg four-team deal: The Bucs sent OF Al Oliver and SS Nelson Norman to the Texas Rangers. The Atlanta Braves sent 1B Willie Montanez to the New York Mets. The Texas Rangers sent P Tommy Boggs, P Adrian Devine and OF Eddie Miller to the Atlanta Braves, OF Ken Henderson and OF Tom Grieve to the New York Mets, and P Bert Blyleven to the Pirates. The New York Mets sent P Jon Matlack to the Texas Rangers and 1B/OF John Milner to Pittsburgh. From Pittsburgh’s standpoint, they traded Oliver and Norman for Blyleven and Milner. While the trades were byzantine to pull off, Oliver-to-the-Rangers had been on the front burner of the hot stove rumors, stoked after Texas had inked Richie Zisk and Doc Medich in free agency and began showing public interest in Scoops. 

Bert Blyleven 1978 Hostess

• 1992 - The Barry Bonds era ended after playing seven seasons in Pittsburgh when he signed a FA contract with the San Francisco Giants worth a then-record $43.75M over six years, turning down a five year/$36M offer from the Yankees. Bonds' contract with the called for a $2.5M signing bonus and yearly guarantees of $4M, $4.75M, $7.75M, $8M, $8.25M and $8.5M. His sweeteners were a hotel suite when the team was on the road, bonuses for postseason awards and $500,000 deferred from each year's salary at 9% interest, starting in 1999. 
• 1993 - The dismantling of Jim Leyland’s clubs by the Bucco suits starting making its impact. The Post Gazette wrote that “The Pirates Great Salary Unloading seems to have worked. The MLB Player’s Associated reported that the Pirates fell from eighth to 21st in salary average, dropping from $1,206,012 to $761,073.” The Pirates went into 1993 without Barry Bonds, Doug Drabek, John Smiley, Jose Lind, Neal Heaton, Danny Jackson and Steve Buechele, all who had been on the 1992 roster. Bobby Bonilla had left after the 1991 season; Andy Van Slyke would leave after the 1994 campaign. 

Jon Lieber 1995 Bowman

• 1997 - The Pirates and RHP Jon Lieber agreed on a two-year contract worth $3.5M, bypassing his first two arbitration seasons. Lieber had 20 wins between 1996-97 to earn the deal, but after 8-14, 4.11 1998 campaign, he was traded to the Cubs for OF Brant Brown. 
• 2000 - The Pirates announced the signing of LHP Terry Mulholland from Uniontown and Laurel Highlands HS to a one-year, $2.75M deal, pending his physical. Terry got into 36 games for the Buccos and put up a 3.72 ERA in ‘01 before being flipped to the LA Dodgers at the deadline for Mike Fetters & minor leaguer Adrian Burnside. For Terry, it was just a couple more frequent traveler miles to add to the collection. He tossed for 11 teams over a 20-year career. 
• 2003 - The Bucs declined to offer salary arbitration to a boatload of players: P Julian Tavarez, OF Reggie Sanders, OF Matt Stairs, IF Pat Meares, IF Pokey Reese and IF Jeff Reboulet. None were brought back by the team. 

The Mayor 2006 Topps Heritage

• 2005 - The Reds traded 1B Sean Casey to the Pirates for LHP David Williams. “The Mayor” (he picked up the title in Cincinnati, where he was so popular he could have been elected mayor) was beset by injuries, but hit .296 with three home runs and 29 RBIs in 59 games for his hometown Bucs (Casey graduated from Upper St Clair HS) before being moved to the Tigers at the deadline. Williams won five games over the next two seasons, had surgery for a herniated disk and never returned to the majors while Casey retired after the 2008 campaign.

12/8 Through the 50s: The World's Greatest Trade; Swift, Cox, Roe, Gustine, McLish Moved; PCL; Clown Show; HBD Pags, Spoon & Jack

• 1856 - Utilityman Jack Rowe was born in Hamburg, Pennsylvania in Berks County. He spent his 11th year in the league with Pittsburgh in 1889, much to his disappointment. He was sold to the club with Deacon White and they refused to report, preferring to play for Buffalo where they had begun their career and made a their names. William Nimick, the Alleghenys owner, took a hard stand and the pair eventually joined the club in mid-season...and then bolted to Buffalo in 1890. After retiring from baseball in 1895, Rowe ran a cigar store in Buffalo where the sporting figures of the area would gather and chew the fat. 

Swap out that Louisville for a Pittsburgh, Hans! - 1898 Ultimate

• 1899 - Barney Dreyfuss traded a dozen players from the Louisville Colonels, which was being contracted out of the league, to Pittsburgh (Jack Chesbro, George Fox, Art Madison, John O'Brien and $25,000 went to Louisville for Fred Clarke, Bert Cunningham, Mike Kelley, Tacks Latimer, Tommy Leach, Tom Messitt, Deacon Phillippe, Claude Ritchey, Rube Waddell, Jack Wadsworth, Honus Wagner and Chief Zimmer, with Chesbro being assigned back to Pittsburgh for the 1900 season). He had taken over the Pirates prior to the deal, in effect transferring the core of his old team to his new one. They became one of the powerhouse clubs of the early 1900's thanks to the greatest deal ever swung by the Buccos. 
• 1902 - RHP Ernest “Spoon” Carter was born in Harpersville, Alabama. He tossed for 15 years in the Negro Leagues and made stops at both local clubs, working for the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1933-36 and later for the Homestead Grays from 1943-45. Spoon also pitched in the Cuban and Mexican Leagues and managed for a while. 
• 1927 - Washington Senators’ pitcher Al Schacht, the Clown Prince of Baseball, and his buddy, coach Nick Altrock, appeared for three days at the Sheridan Square Theater in East Liberty as part of a vaudeville revue, using a schtick they honed during games. Schacht only had a three-year MLB career but spent a dozen years on stage with Altrock and then opened a NY steakhouse where he sometimes performed. 

Jim Pagliaroni 1965 Jim Elder Postcard

• 1937 - C Jim Pagliaroni was born in Dearborn. “Pags” caught for the Bucs from 1963-67, sometimes starting and sometimes in platoon. He hit .254 during his Pittsburgh time and still has the record for most homers hit by a Pirate catcher in a season at 17, set in 1965. Injuries and reports that he wanted to be traded - he was playing in a rotation with Jerry May and Jesse Gonder - resulted in his contract being sold to Oakland in 1967. 
• 1939 - RHP Bill Swift was traded, along with cash, to the Boston Bees for RHP Danny MacFayden. Swift had won 91 games for the Bucs in eight years and MacFayden claimed 124 victories in his career, but both were at the end of the road and the deal ended up a wash. 
• 1947 - In a what-were-they-thinking move, the Pirates traded IF Billy Cox, IF Gene Mauch and P Preacher Roe to the Brooklyn Dodgers for P Hal Gregg, P Vic Lombardi and OF Dixie Walker. None of the former Dodgers lasted past 1950 in Pittsburgh, while Cox and Roe would become mainstays in Brooklyn. Dixie was the key to the deal, but he played just one year, hitting .318, and then retired. The rumor mill at the time had Wally Westlake as the Dodger’s main target, but the outfielder remained a Pirate until 1951. He played for six teams during his career, but never did suit up for Brooklyn. 

Clyde McCullough 1949 Bowman

• 1948 - The Bucs traded IF Frankie Gustine and RHP Cal McLish to the Chicago Cubs for LHP Cliff Chambers and C Clyde McCullough. Gustine was a three-time All Star for Pittsburgh at the end of his career; he would later open an Oakland restaurant on Forbes Avenue a few steps from Forbes Field. McLish would go on to win 92 games in the next 11 years, including 19 for Cleveland in 1959. The Pirates unloaded Chambers the following year, while McCullough spent four years in Pittsburgh, batting .258. 
• 1950 - The Pirates played musical chairs with their PCL partners when the San Francisco Seals moved with former Bucco GM Fred Hamey to become a Yankee affiliate and the Hollywood Stars joined Pittsburgh. The Stars had a working agreement with the Dodgers but like the Seals based their arrangement on a person - in this case, new Bucco GM Branch Rickey - rather than an organization. The independent league was a quality supplier of players, with the Seals sending Pittsburgh Gus Suhr, Paul Waner and Dino Restelli while Oakland would provide the Steel City with Gus Bell, Bobby Bragan, Bob Purkey and Lee Walls.

12/7 Birthdays: HBD Hal, Don, Tony, Bo, Long John, Vinnie, Bobby & Ken

• 1886 - C Bobby Schang was born in Wales Center, New York. Bobby spent 1914-15 with the Bucs, hitting .194. He was nothing if not persistent - he toiled in the minors for the next 12 years before getting five more MLB at-bats as a Cardinal at the age of 40 in 1927. He was the brother of catching great Wally Schang, who had a 19-year big league gig. 

Tony Piet 1983 Conlon 1933 All Star

• 1906 - 2B Tony Piet (Pietruszka) was born in Berwick, PA. Tony started his career with the Bucs, playing from 1931-33 and hitting a solid .298. He was traded in 1934 as part of the Red Lucas deal after he led the NL in games played in 1932 with 154. Name game: his son told UPI that “He changed his name to Piet because Pietruszka wouldn't fit on the scoreboard in Pittsburgh.” 
• 1915 - LHP Johnny Gee was born in Syracuse. In August 1939, the top minor league prospect was purchased by the Pirates for $75,000 and four players, the highest price paid by the Bucs for a player until the purchase of Hank Greenberg in 1947. Nicknamed “Gee Whiz,” he lasted parts of four seasons (1939, 1941, 1943-44) with the Bucs, winning five games. Also known as “Long John” (the bonus baby was also called the “$75,000 Lemon”), he never recovered his form after a 1940 arm injury. Gee was the tallest person at 6’9” to play MLB until 6’10” Randy Johnson debuted for the Montreal Expos in September, 1988. Not too surprisingly, he also went on to play pro hoops for the NBA Syracuse Nationals; he had been captain of his Michigan roundball squad. 
• 1915 - C Vinnie Smith was born in Richmond. Smith’s career was defined by WW2; his rookie campaign was in 1941 and then he was drafted into the Navy. He returned to the Pirates in 1946 and played in a handful of games (he hit .259 over the two seasons) before being relegated to the minors afterward. Smith got a taste of umping on the farm when a crew couldn’t get to the game and the players had to police themselves and found it to his liking. He began to umpire after he hung up his spikes in 1954 and returned to the majors in that role in 1957. Smith became part of Pirates history while in blue: he was behind the plate on May 26th, 1959 when Harvey Haddix threw his 12 perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves. 

Hal Smith 1960 Topps

• 1930 - C Hal Smith was born in West Frankfort, Illinois. Although the backup catcher only played two seasons (1960-61) in Pittsburgh, his three-run homer in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, overshadowed by Maz’s dramatic walk-off, may have been the key blow of the entire set. Mel Allen called it "one of the most dramatic base hits in the history of the World Series." It put the Bucs up 8-6 after eight innings and set the stage for Maz, whose blow nudged Smith from the history books. Hal retired after 10 years in the show, batting .267 overall and catching 75> games in seven of those campaigns. 
• 1930 - Scout Ken Beardslee was born in Vermontville, Michigan. Beardslee was called high school’s first ace - he set national records in strikeouts in a 9-inning game (26), threw eight no-hitters, won 24 of 25 games and set the national record for career strikeout average (18 out of every 21 batters) and season average (19 of 21 batters in 1949) while tossing two career perfect games for VHS. It led to six minor league campaigns before back injuries forced him off the mound. Beardslee went on to scout/supervise for the Pirates for 21 years, earning a World Series ring in 1971. He also went on to write eight books including novels, poetry and a pitching how-to titled “Making Every Pitch Count.” 
• 1935 - RHP Don Cardwell was born in Winston-Salem, NC. He spent four seasons (1963-66) in Pittsburgh, where injuries led to a lot of bullpen time. He was 33-33-1 with a 3.38 ERA in his time with the Pirates, winning 13 games in 1963 and again in ‘65 when healthy and starting, but was dogged by arm woes in 1964. Cardwell lasted 14 campaigns, tossing for five teams. He threw a no-hitter for the Cubs and won a ring with 1969 Mets. 

Bo Belinsky

• 1936 - RHP Bo Belinsky was born in New York City. He was the closest thing baseball had to Joe Namath and brought his glitter to the Steel City in 1969 after his playboy career had pretty well dissipated. He went 0-3, 4.38 and would pitch just one more major league game in the show. Bo did clean up his act later in life, getting clean and becoming a born-again Christian.

12/7 Moves: Woodling; Jackson, Flowers, Bayless Deals & More; Bedard Inked; Cobra, Gravedigger & Gott Go; AVS-GG; Mack to HoF

• 1937 - Connie Mack was announced as a selection of the Centennial Commission to the Hall of Fame and was installed on June 12th, 1939, when the Hall officially opened. Mack's last three seasons in the NL were as a player-manager with the Pirates from 1894 to 1896, compiling a .242 BA, close to his career average, and a 149–134 (.527) record as a field general. In 1901 he became manager, treasurer and part owner of the AL's first-year Philadelphia Athletics franchise. He managed the A’s through the 1950 season, compiling a record of 3,582–3,814 (.484) before he retired at 87. 

Connie Mack 1905 (photo via Field of Dreams)

• 1946 - The Indians sent OF Gene Woodling to Pittsburgh for veteran C Al Lopez. Lopez played just 61 games in 1947‚ and Woodling spent a season as a reserve, hitting .266 before the Pirates sent him to the minor league San Francisco Seals. Woodling joined the Yankees in 1949, and when he finally hung up his spikes in 1962, he had a 17 year career with three All-Star nods, five World Series rings and a lifetime .288 BA under his belt.
• 1973 - RHP Bob Johnson was traded by the Pirates to the Cleveland Indians for OF Bill Flowers, who played prep ball in Cincinnati with Dave Parker and was drafted 13 rounds ahead of The Cobra. Johnson won three games before ending his career while Flowers never made it out of the minors. In one of those close but no cigar scenarios, it was reported that a handshake deal had been been made to get 24-year-old Cecil Cooper from the Tribe, but the deal between Boston and Cleveland that would have made that possible fell through at the last minute. 
• 1976 - Richie Hebner signed a deal with the Phillies after nine campaigns in Pittsburgh. Per SABR, Buc GM Pete Peterson offered the FA $80,000, 90,000, and $100,000 across three seasons. Hebner received an offer from GM Paul Owens of the Phillies for $600K (Baseball Reference shows it at $550K) over three years on 12/6 and signed the contract a day later, and it became official on the 15th. But that superior bid didn’t stop the Pittsburgh FO from being steamed; The Gravedigger had promised they would get last crack at an offer. Ooops. But they eventually kissed and made up; Hebner returned to the fold in 1982.
• 1976 - Pittsburgh traded shortstops Craig Reynolds and Jimmy Sexton to Seattle for LHP Grant Jackson. It was a win-win; the surrendered Pirates prospects had solid MLB careers while Buck was a key part of the bullpen for five years and pitched shutout ball during the 1979 postseason for the World Champion Bucs. Fun fact: this was the first trade ever made by the Mariners. 

Grant Jackson 1978 Topps

• 1983 - After 11 years as a Pirate, OF Dave Parker ended his Pittsburgh era by signing a two year/$1.6M contract with the Reds. In Cincinnati, his hometown, he enjoyed his best season since he won the 1978 MVP with a .312 BA, 34 home runs, and 125 RBI. Parker finished second in 1985 MVP voting to Willie McGee. But the off season wasn’t all peaches and cream; he was a key witness the infamous coke trial held in Pittsburgh. The Cobra was originally suspended for a season as a regular user, but had the sentence reduced to community service and a 10% salary donation to drug treatment organizations. 
• 1988 - CF Andy Van Slyke won his first Golden Glove from The Sporting News. He would go on to win four more in the next four years.
• 1988 - The Twins sent pitching prospects Jeff Bumgarner, Steve Gasser and Toby Nivens to the Buccos for IF Wally Backman. It proved a quite minor deal - Wally had three seasons and 300 at-bats left to his career while none of the Minnesota gang progressed past AA ball. 
• 1989 - RHP Jim Gott opted to fly the Bucco coop and sign with the LA Dodgers. Coming off elbow surgery, both clubs offered the reliever a base salary of $300K with incentives to hike the deal to $1M, but the Pirates bonus was based on performance (innings, saves, etc) while LA’s bonuses were tied to roster time. With an untried wing, “The Mayor” (Gott had been deeply involved with the community during his three-year stay) felt the Dodger incentives, coupled with Bill Landrum returning as the Buc closer, were more attainable. Jim needn’t have worried; he pitched five years in LA, making 272 outings before closing out his career in Pittsburgh in 1995. 

John Bayless 2007 Upper Deck

• 2005 - The Pirates traded LHP Mark Redman to the Kansas City Royals for RHP Jonah Bayless and a minor league player, RHP Chad Blackwell. Redman had gone 5-5, 4.90 with the Bucs and was due $4.5M. He won 11 games for KC and an All-Star berth (tho he finished the year with a 5.71 ERA) and won four more games in 2007-08 to end his career. Reliever Bayless worked 50 games for the Bucs in 2006-07, going 5-4, 6.75, and never landed another MLB job. 
• 2007 - The Pirates dealt reliever Salomon Torres to the Milwaukee Brewers for pitchers Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts. In 2006, Torres was the Pirate set-up man, appearing in a record 94 games, and was anointed closer after the year. But after blowing four saves, he was replaced by Matt Capps and dealt in the off season. Torres tossed a solid season as Milwaukee's closer, saving 28 games, while Salas and Roberts floundered. 
• 2011 - The Pirates signed free agent LHP Érik Bédard to a 1 year/$4.5M contract. After going 7-14/5.01, he was released in August after beginning the year as the Opening Day pitcher. 14 of his 24 starts lasted five or fewer innings. His peripherals weren't bad, but the numbers didn't translate into very many Bucco victories. After a quick start - he had a 3.12 ERA at the end of May - the team lost 10 of his next 14 starts. They also inked former CF’er Nate McLouth to a one-year/$1.75M deal. He lasted for 34 games, batted .175 and was released on May 31st to be claimed by Baltimore.

12/6 Birthdays and a Death: RIP Hans; HBD Tim, Adam, Walter, Tun, Frank & Johnny

• 1867 - UT John Henry “Tun” Berger was born in Pittsburgh. He played for the Alleghenys in 1890, hitting .266 and playing all over the field for one of the worse teams (23-113) ever fielded. The following year, he became one of the original Pirates, hitting .239 and again playing just about everywhere. Tun played one more season, for Washington. He was a Pittsburgh guy all his life, working as a glassblower and dying at the early age of 39 from kidney disease. He was laid to rest at Mt. Royal Cemetery. As for his nickname, we can only speculate - a “tun” is an old-timey name for a large cask or barrel (usually holding wine or beer) and our Tun was listed at 5’9”, 209 lbs. Perhaps one of his teammates noticed the similarity in shapes (and maybe internal contents!)... 

Walter Mueller 1926 (photo Conlon/Baseball Magazine)

• 1894 - OF Walter Mueller was born in Central, Missouri. He is best known as the first player to hit a homer on the first pitch thrown to him in the major leagues, and the only Pirate to do so until Starling Marté repeated the feat in 2012. Mueller played his entire career (1922-24, 1926) for Pittsburgh, hitting .275 - and he only blasted one more long ball in those four years. 
• 1896 - OF Frank Luce was born in Spencer, Ohio. After a pair of .300+ minor league seasons and going 6-for-12 in a brief 1923 call up, Luce and Kiki Cuyler were the main candidates for RF in 1924. Kiki won the job and held it down for the next four years, blocking Frank. Luce hit .322 at the highest minor league level, AA, from 1925-29 but never got another call to the show. 
• 1940 - Coach Johnny McKee was born in Philadelphia. Johnny was a bullpen coach/catcher for Billy Herman in 1947 though discovering his bona fides is a task; it appears his only baseball was as a catcher for Villanova University followed by a tour of duty in the Army Aid Corp during WW2. The gig didn’t last long as McKee was released the following year when Billy Meyer replaced Herman at the Pirates helm. 

Tim Foli 1979 Topps

• 1950 - SS Tim Foli was born in Culver City, California. Tim played in Pittsburgh from 1979-81 with a brief return in 1985, hitting .269 and solidifying the Bucco infield with his glove after being flipped to the Mets for Frank Taveras. In 1979, his bat was hot in the NLCS and WS; he batted .333. Tim hit second for those clubs; his lack of speed and power was offset by his ability to move a runner along, and he always put the ball in play, whiffing just 49 times as a Buc in over 1,500 PAs. His 16-year career ended in 1985 when he played his final couple of months with the Pirates and retired. He managed in the minors and coached in the show until the 2006 season, when a heart condition led him to permanent retirement from baseball. 
• 1955 - Carnegie Hall of Famer Honus (his given name was Johannes) Wagner died at the age of 81 and was buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery. Considered by many (including Bill James) to be the greatest shortstop in history, Wagner batted .327 over a 21-year career and retired with more hits, runs, RBI, doubles, triples, games and steals than any other NL player. After retirement, Wagner served as a Pirate coach for 39 years, primarily as a hitting instructor. He crossed into films, playing in 1919's Spring Fever and 1922's In the Name of the Law. His sporting goods company operated until 2011. The Flying Dutchman’s number 33 was retired and his statue has graced Forbes Field, TRS and PNC Park. 

Adam Hyzdu 2003 Fleer Tradition

• 1971 - OF Adam Hyzdu was born in San Jose. A first round draft pick of the Giants in 1990, he was a reserve outfielder for the Bucs from 2000-03 with a .231 BA in Pittsburgh. He had his shining moment, though. Adam was the NL Player of the Week in July of 2002 when he hit .588 (10-for-17) with three homers, six runs and 11 RBI, with all 11 driven in during a two-game span when he homered three times against the Cards, including his first grand slam.