4/5 Through 1984: Robinson Trade & Signing; Dravecky Dealt; Candy Wins Opener; Big Poison Back; Local Lookers; Rebel Bid; HBD Rennie, Wid & Chuck

• 1865 - Jack of all trades Chuck Lauer was born in Pittsburgh. He played for the Alleghenys twice, in 1884 when they were in the American Association and again in 1889 when the club was a NL team. Chuck caught, played outfield, first base and even pitched a little, but not all that well: he hit .133 as an Allegheny in 17 games with an 0-2/7.58 pitching line. He played minor league ball through 1892 and then presumably returned to his day job in the City’s stockyards. 
• 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. Conroy then jumped leagues to join the New York Highlanders, 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 neighborhood sandlot group like a widowed mother watched over her brood. 
• 1920 - Press sportswriter Ralph Davis reported in his column that Ennis ”Rebel” Oakes, who a few years earlier managed the Pittsburgh Rebels in the Federal League, was looking to pry the Pirates away from owner Barney Dreyfuss and was ready to offer $1.2M for the franchise. However, Dreyfuss had already turned down a springtime offer for more money, and Oake’s bid fell on deaf ears. Barney kept the club until he met his Maker in 1932, and then passed the club on to the family. 

Paul Waner - 1934 National Chicle

• 1929 - Paul Waner ended his holdout by signing a one-year deal with the Bucs after meeting for two hours with Buc owner Barney Dreyfuss at Fort Worth, where the Pirates were holding camp. The value of the agreement wasn’t disclosed, but earlier in negotiations, Waner had floated $18K as the amount he was seeking. Big Poison ended up a bargain no matter what the price - he hit .336 with 15 HR/100 RBIs and .424 OBP in over 700 plate appearances during the season. 
• 1949 - 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. He tried to make a comeback with Pittsburgh in 1989 but was cut during the spring. 
• 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, but they were the next wave of Bucco talent and were 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 playing outfield and the infield corners. 

Bill Robinson - 1977 Topps

• 1980 - The Pirates agreed to a two-year extension of jack-of-all-trades Bill Robinson’s contract through 1982. The financials weren’t disclosed, but Robinson, who as a five-and-ten year man had vetoed a trade to Houston in 1979, conceded an eight-team list of teams he would report to if swapped. It was also a good day in other ways for Robby - after he and the team were given their World Series rings in a ceremony before the game, his 10th inning homer gave the Bucs a 5-4 Opening Day win over the Cubs in a contest that was delayed four times for over two hours because of rain, played before a TRS crowd that started the damp day at 44,088. 
• 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 pro tenure cut short by a cancerous tumor in his arm. 
• 1983 - John Candelaria gave up just four hits and struck out 10 in a 7-1 Opening Day win over the Cards at Busch Stadium. Lee Lacy led off with a homer, Jason Thompson iced it with a three-run blast in the ninth while Dale Berra and Lee Mazzilli went long in between. For Mazzilli, it was a strong intro to his new team as he went 2-for-2 with two walks in his first game as a Pirate. It was a welcome sign for The Candy Man, too, whose nerve damage to his arm had turned him from a workhorse into a guy with just one complete game in 1981-82, but he couldn't replicate his durability, never reaching 200 innings or posting more than three complete games in a season after 1980.

4/5 From 1985: Gregory, Pablo Sign; Opening Days; Big Unit v Drabek; RIP Larry; HBD JHK & Lastings

• 1985 - OF Lastings Milledge was born in Bradenton, Florida. A first-round pick of the Mets, he played for NY and then Washington before he was traded to the Pirates by the Nats in 2009 with RHP Joel Hanrahan 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 pit stop with the White Sox. Milledge then spent five seasons in Japan and Mexico, and after an indie league stint, he retired in 2017. 

Jung Ho Kang - 2016 Topps

• 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. His career was short-circuited by the debris left by a DUI conviction during the off season. Kang won a reprieve in 2018, missing a lot of time due to injuries, and was re-signed for 2019, reclaiming the third base spot in camp. During the year, his 10 homers couldn’t overcome a .169 BA and JHK was released in August, returning to Korea the following year. He still hasn’t received the OK to play in the KBO. 
• 1989 - Doug Drabek and Randy Johnson hooked up in a pitcher’s delight, with the Bucs pulling out a 3-0 win at Olympic Stadium as Drabek tossed a complete game two-hitter and Johnson a three-hitter. The Pirates only plated one earned run off the Big Unit, and that wasn’t until the eighth inning. But he hurt himself; while Johnson K’ed nine, he also walked seven and two of them scored. 
• 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. Chuck Tanner hurled the opening pitch, with another ceremonial toss made by Mr. Rogers’ widow, JoAnn, with the Anthem sung by the Ebenezer Church Choir. Jose Mesa earned his 250th career save while Craig Wilson hit the first home run of the year for the Pirates. The bigger news was before the game, when Kevin McClatchy extended the contracts of GM Dave Littlefield and manager Lloyd McClendon. Littlefield was inked through 2007 and Lloyd was guaranteed through 2005 with a club option.

Kip Wells - 2004 Upper Deck

• 2010 - A trio of Buccaneers had big days to begin the 2010 campaign in front of 39,024 PNC Park faithful. Garrett Jones homered (one a splash-down in the Allegheny and the other an oppo field blast) in his first two at-bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers during an 11-5 win, becoming the sixth Pirate to hit two long balls on Opening Day. The Ryan’s had a big outing too, as Doumit and Church added three RBIs each, with Dewey chasing his runs home via a fifth-inning blast while Church plated his gang with a bases-loaded, pinch-hit double. Zach Duke got lots of support with runs and then five relievers coming on to get the final 12 outs. 
• 2011 - Ex-Bucco manager Larry Shepard passed away in Lincoln, Nebraska, at age 92. A minor league pitcher during his playing days, he joined the Bucs in 1953 as a farm coach, topping out with a six-year run at AAA Columbus. He left to join the Phils in 1967 before returning to the Pirates as skipper from 1968-69 (he went 164-155, finishing 6th and 4th) before being replaced by Alex Grammas late in 1969. He was then the pitching coach for the Big Red Machine from 1970-78 and the Giants in 1979. After Shepard retired, he served as an unofficial pitching mentor for the Nebraska Cornhusker nine. 
• 2012 - The Pirates signed Pablo Reyes, 18, of the Dominican as an amateur free agent for $90K. After two strong DSL campaigns, he was sent stateside in 2014 and continued to improve his game although often lost in the shuffle of more highly-projected prospects. The versatility dynamic worked to his advantage (he played five positions for the Bucs) as he made the 40-man roster, debuted in the majors in 2018, then left Florida as a member of the Opening Day roster in 2019 as a utility guy, batting .203 in 71 games. He was released in camp in 2020 and soon afterward given an 80-game suspension by MLB for PED usage. Pablo is now in the Oakland A’s system and is a regular in the Dominican Winter League. 
• 2012 - MLB 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 the ball to the track twice, but both drives died at the fence as Halladay tossed a two-hitter. 

Erik Bedard - 2012 Topps Update

• 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 that brought the potential 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. He’s shown flashes and hit bumps throughout his career, missing the end of 2018 with a bum shoulder that required surgery after he dislocated it during an awkward slide. Polanco came back in 2019, put up some lackluster numbers over three campaigns and was released in late August of 2021. He now plays in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants.

4/4 Through the 1970s: Sangy, Easler, Mota Trades; Bauers Out; Shifty; Money Back; LaRusso; HBD Jim, Les & Bill

• 1883 - OF Bill Hinchman was born in Philadelphia. He played for the Bucs from 1915-18 and again in 1920. Bill started the first two seasons on the strength of his stick, hitting over .300, but faded at the end, finishing his five-year Bucco stint with a .284 BA. Hinchman was a Pirates coach in 1923 and scouted for the club from 1921 to 1958, showing a pretty keen eye for prospects - he signed Lloyd Waner, Arky Vaughan, Rip Sewell, Cookie Lavagetto, and Billy Cox. 

Bill Hinchman - 1991 Conlon Collection/TSN

• 1903 - LHP Les Bartholomew was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Les got into nine big league games, with six coming as a 25-year-old rookie with the Pirates in 1928. He earned no decisions, ran up a 7.15 ERA and was let go after the season. He tossed three more games for the White Sox in 1932 and hung up the spikes. He spent just five seasons in organized ball before retiring. 
• 1938 - A half dozen Pirate players “were feeling playful” per Post Gazette writer Edward Balinger and got into a wrestling match while aboard a train. The result was that Russ Bauers, a big righty slated to work Opening Day, wrenched his knee. He didn’t start a game again until April 25th and didn’t pick up his first win until June 1st. That was the year the Bucs lost six of their last seven games to finish two games out of first; the loss of their workhorse early in the campaign to horseplay may have been the difference between the flag and staying home. 
• 1942 - IF Jim Fregosi was born in San Francisco. Jim spent the last season and change of his 18-year career with the Bucs in 1977-78, batting .263 as a bench guy. Pittsburgh released him at the Angels' request; they wanted him to become their manager, and Fregosi segued from player to skipper. He managed four MLB teams over 15 years (Angels, Phillies, White Sox & Blue Jays) with some downtime as a Triple-A helmsman before retiring from baseball in 2000. 
• 1954 - While the popularity of infield shifts has taken off in recent seasons, it’s not a modern stratagem. The Post-Gazette noted that the KC Athletics pulled a “Kiner shift” on young Pirate slugger Frank Thomas with three infielders on the 3B side of second base during an exhibition. The shift was made famous in the forties when it was employed against Ted Williams and dates back to at least the twenties; it’s now a hot topic in MLB circles. 

Shifty Frank Thomas - 1954 Bowman

• 1954 - Instead of sitting on an unexpected small windfall, the Bucs got into the tax refund spirit, announcing a ticket reimbursement of 19 cents/per box seat, 16 cents/per reserved seat and a thin dime per general admission for pre-season ticket holders after a federal levy had been cut in half. And the team didn’t just shuffle the money forward - the returns weren’t credited toward the purchase of future ducats; the Pirates paid their customers back in cold cash. 
• 1963 - OF Manny Mota was traded to the Pirates by the Houston Colt .45's for Howie Goss and $50,000. Mota spent six years as a Pirate, hitting .297 as a fourth OF’er/pinch hitter. He went on to a 13 year career with LA (he spent 20 seasons in MLB) as a pinch hitter deluxe, and when he was finished hitting, his 34 consecutive seasons as a Dodgers coach was the longest in team history and the second-longest streak in MLB history behind Nick Altrock. Howie played one season for Houston, hit .209, and never got back to the bigs. The caught-by-surprise Goss struggled to get in touch with his family who had left Florida just prior to the deal and were driving to Pittsburgh. The Florida Highway Patrol found them and redirected the Goss clan westward to Texas. 
• 1975 - The Pirates released minor league infielder Tony LaRussa after he hit .260 at Class AAA Charleston in 1974. He retired in 1977 and came back to haunt the Bucs as the manager of the St. Louis machine that ran roughshod over the NL Central during his tenure as skipper. 
• 1977 - OF Mike Easler was traded by the California Angels to the Pirates for RHP Randy Sealy in a minor league deal. The Hit Man spent six seasons with the Bucs, hitting .302 and earning an All-Star spot in 1981. The Pirates then sold him to the Red Sox after the 1978 campaign but traded a couple of minor leaguers to get him back before the 1979 season began. Persistent suitor Boston eventually got his services for the ‘84 season, sending John Tudor to Pittsburgh for Easler; apparently both clubs really liked the guy. Sealy, who had originally been drafted by the Pirates, spent seven years in the minors and finished his career pitching in Florida’s Senior Professional Baseball League. 

Manny - 1978 Topps

• 1978 - The Pirates sent OF Miguel Dilone, RHP Elias Sosa and IF Mike Edwards to the A’s for C Manny Sanguillen, who was traded to Oakland 17 months earlier for Chuck Tanner and cash. He spent three more seasons in Black & Gold, mainly as a bench player behind Ed Ott and Steve Nicosia as his heyday was in the rear view mirror. Dilone carved out a 12-year career, returning to the Bucs briefly in 1983. Sosa was also in the middle of a 12-year MLB run while Edwards played regularly for a couple of years for the A’s but was finished after the 1980 campaign. They also signed eight-year-vet OF Steve Brye a few days after Milwaukee released him; he hit .235 over the year as a bench piece and then was let go after the year, ending his big league days.

4/4 From 1980: Junior, JT Deals; Capper Signs; Posey HoF; Phantom Crowd; Game Stories; HBD Mitch & John

• 1986 - 1B Jason Thompson was traded to Montreal for a pair of PTBNL minor leaguers, IF Ron Giddens and OF Ben Abner. It ended up a very minor deal as Thompson fared poorly for the Expos in his last MLB campaign and neither prospect reeled in by the Pirates made it to the show. 
• 1990 - After spending parts of seven seasons with the Pirates sandwiched around a year-and-a-half as a Met, C Junior Ortiz and minor league righty Orlando Lind (Chico’s bro) were sent to the Minnesota Twins for LHP Mike Pomerans. Junior’s problem was that he was blocked by the Mike Lavalliere/Don Slaught duo behind the dish and due $350K. He had some years left in the tank, staying in the AL and playing through 1994. Pomeranz advanced no further than A Ball and is now a sports broadcaster, while Lind topped out at the upper levels of the minors. 

John Bormann - 4/30/2017 image/AT&T SportsNet

• 1993 - C John Bormann was born in Danville, Virginia. A 24th round pick in the 2015 draft from the University of Texas at San Antonio, the Class A Bradenton Marauder catcher got a call to the show in 2017 for a game while regular catcher Fran Cervelli was laid up briefly with a sore foot. He got one at bat and whiffed. Still, he was excited to get a chance to live the big league dream. As Clint Hurdle said "Imagine, when he woke up today, he was going to go on a bus to Port Charlotte (and instead) ends up playing in a major league game.” It was his only MLB outing; he retired in 2019. 
• 1996 - RHP Mitch Keller was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Keller was drafted by the Bucs in the second round of the 2014 draft out of Xavier HS and signed for a $1M bonus, foregoing his commitment to North Carolina. He rose to the top of the Pirates pitching prospects list and after the 2018 campaign was added to the 40-man roster. He made his MLB debut in 2019 against the Reds, getting banged around in the first inning and then retiring 10-of-11 before calling it a night. He finished the year 1-5, though he did show his stuff worked (sometimes) with 12 K per nine innings. Mitch got five more starts in 2020 and broke camp the following year as part of the rotation. He had a rough 2021 (5-11/6.17) but showed his former promise after an off season of tinkering. Kell went 5-12/3.94 in 2022, looking particularly sharp in the second half of the season and Shelty named him as 2023’s Opening Day starter. 
• 2000 - The Bucs drew a record announced crowd of 54,399 as Jason Schmidt lost, 5-2, to the Astros for TRS’s final home opener. Sadly, the butts in the seats didn’t match the attendance figure by a longshot even with Christina Aguilera on hand to sing the Anthem. There were an estimated 15,000 live fans on hand; the drizzly, 40-degree weather in Pittsburgh curbed most folks’ enthusiasm. 

Jason Schmidt - 2000 Fleer Ultra

• 2007 - The Pirates swept the Astros in Houston for the first time since 1991, winning their third straight match by a 5-4 tally at Minute Maid Park behind Tom Gorzelanny. The lefty went five frames while Shawn Chacon, Matt Capps and Solly Torres with the save covered the final four frames. Jose Bautista banged out three hits including a double and drove in three RBI to lead the attack. 
• 2008 - Closer Matt Capps agreed to a $3.05M, two-year contract that ran through 2009 and covered his first year of arbitration. Capps wasn’t tendered when the deal ran out - he had 27 saves in 2009, but with a 5.80 ERA - and moved on to the Washington Nationals. He didn’t toss more than 50 inningsin any season since 2010, and last pitched in the majors in 2012 for the Minnesota Twins as he was plagued by a series of shoulder injuries. The Mad Capper was selected to be part of a three-man rotating color crew (Kevin Young and Michael “The Fort” McKenry were to join him) for Bucco broadcasts in 2020, but that plan was pushed back a year due to the shortened season. 
• 2016 - Cumberland “Cum” Posey, the first black athlete at Penn State & Duquesne and a former player, manager, and owner of the Homestead Grays baseball team, was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He had been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, and thus became the only member of both the professional basketball and baseball halls. Posey, who was born in Homestead in 1890, played two hoop seasons at Penn State, then with the Loendi Big Five, an all-black basketball team that won multiple Colored Basketball World Championships, and later at Duquesne under the name "Charles Cumbert," leading the Dukes in scoring for three seasons from 1916-18. After Duquesne, he focused on baseball and helped build the Grays into a powerhouse club that won 10 of 12 pennants from 1937–1948. 

Cum Posey - Magnetic Negro League

• 2019 - The Pirates blanked the Reds, 2-0, at PNC Park. It was Jordan Lyles’ first start as a Bucco, and he put up five zeros on the board. Pittsburgh stranded 10 runners and didn’t score until the seventh, when back-to-back singles and a bleeder pushed across the first run and three eighth-inning raps produced a second to give Nick Kingham the win. It was rinse, lather and repeat the next day. Joe Musgrove tossed seven scoreless, three-hit innings before Sonny Gray gave up a run in the seventh on Jung Ho Kang’s two-out double; the Bucs added an insurance run in the eighth on a bunt single, sacrifice, and Adam Frazier’s double to clinch Big Joe’s win. Bucco pitching put up a 30-inning line of zeroes against the Reds, shutting them out in three straight games.

4/3 Through 1984: Pendleton Deal; Walk Signs; HBD Dewey, Bobby, Miguel, Alex, Dick, Larry & Guy

• 1856 - Manager and 1B Guy Hecker was born in Youngsville, in Warren County. He was the Alleghenys player-manager in 1890, and it wasn’t a great year for Guy’s resume - he hit .226 as the first baseman and the team finished 23-113, decimated by Player League roster raids. Guy compiled quite an overall resume, though. During his career he played for Louisville Eclipse prior to the Alleghenys and is considered by some baseball historians to be the best combination pitcher and hitter to play in the 19th century. The do-it-all Hecker remains as one of the only two pitchers in MLB history to hit three home runs in one game, along with Jim Tobin, and the only pitcher to win a batting title (.341 BA in 1886). In addition, he is the only pitcher in baseball history to get six hits in a nine-inning game. He could fling it, too - Hecker was the second pitcher ever in the American Association to pitch a no-hitter and led that league in Ks in 1884. 

Guy Hecker - image via John Thorn's "Our Game"

• 1919 - Manager Larry Shepherd was born in Lakeland Ohio. He managed in the Pirate system from 1953 to 1966, spanning the Sally to the International Leagues, and won three pennants along the road. He returned to the Bucs after a year off in 1968 to replace Harry the Hat Walker at the helm, and in almost two seasons put together a 164-155 record. Shepherd was replaced by Alex Grammas with a week to go in the '69 season despite an 84-73 slate. He then became the pitching coach for Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine and coach/scout for San Francisco. 
• 1921 - RHP Dick Conger was born in Los Angeles. The Rule 5 selection from Detroit got a pair of Bucco appearances in 1941 and two more in 1942, split between starts and relief appearances. In his 12+ IP, he had no record but posted a sharp 1.46 ERA. Small samples have their flaws, though, and in 1943 he went 2-7/6.09 with Philadelphia. It was his last MLB go-around as he entered the service the following year and then tossed in the minors until 1950 after his discharge. 
• 1926 - Coach Alex Grammas was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Grammas, who played as a major league infielder for a decade, served as a coach for the Pirates from 1965-69 and was the Bucs’ interim manager for five games in 1969 after Larry Shepard was fired. When Danny Murtaugh took over for 1970, Grammas caught on with Sparky Anderson at Cincinnati, and would eventually end up with a gig as the Milwaukee Brewers’ head man from 1976-77. He was later a long-time Tiger coach who retired from baseball in 1991. Alex passed on in 2019. 

Jim Pendleton - 1959 Topps

• 1957 - The Pirates swapped infielders, sending Dick Cole to the Milwaukee Braves for Jim Pendleton. Pendleton was a backup that got into 49 games in 1957-58, then was shipped to Cincy as part of the Smoky Burgess/Dick Hoak/Harvey Haddix deal. Cole played 15 games for Milwaukee and 1957. It was his last MLB season; he finished his days playing in AAA. 
• 1967 - LHP Miguel Garcia was born in Caracas, Venezuela. The Pirates got him from the Angels as part of the Johnny Ray deal. Miguel had brief big league visits from 1987-89 with the Bucs, going 0-2/7.71 in 13 outings, with ‘89 being his last stop in the show. After some time spent as a scout for the Marlins and Red Sox, he’s now Director of Latin American Operations for the Tigers. 
• 1978 - 2B Bobby Hill was born in San Jose. Part of the return from the A-Ram salary dump, he played in Pittsburgh from 2003-05. He hit .262 over that span and lost the second base job to Jose Castillo in 2005 in what proved to be his last MLB season after being the starter the year before. Hill has been the head coach of Mission College Baseball since 2015. 
• 1981 - C Ryan Doumit was born in Moses Lake, Washington. Dewey was drafted by the Pirates in 1999 in the second round out of high school and caught ‘n’ stuff for the Pirates from 2005-11, with Bucco career numbers of .271, 67 HR and 266 RBI. Unfortunately, in those seven years he never stayed healthy and he only got into 100+ games twice for Pittsburgh. He retired after the 2014 season with 10 MLB campaigns, taking his final spin with Atlanta. 

Bob Walk - 1986 Donruss

• 1984 - After being released by the Atlanta Braves, the Pirates signed RHP Bob Walk. Walk ended up spending 10 seasons as a Bucco twirler, going 82-61 with a 3.83 ERA and putting up a 2-1 record during the Bucs three NLCS series from 1990-92. He then made the transition to the Pirates’ broadcast booth, where he’s been a fixture since his retirement as a player.

4/3 From 1985: Hatcher, Patterson Deals; Openers & Early Wins; Littlefield Extension; Belle Bucks

• 1986 - RJ Reynolds became the second Bucco to lead off the Home Opener with a home run (Billy Cox was the first in 1947) and later added a double, but it wasn’t enough muscle as Doc Gooden and the Mets dropped the Pirates, 4-2, at TRS. Rick Reuschel took the loss. 
• 1986 - The Pirates sent OF Marvell Wynne to the San Diego Padres for RHP Bob Patterson. It was a win-win deal. Patterson eventually was effective as a reliever for the Bucs (he came to the club as a starter) over six seasons, and Wynne played fairly regularly for SD for the next four seasons. He was replaced in Pittsburgh by Barry Bonds and a year later, Andy Van Slyke. 

Bob Patterson - 1987 Donruss

• 1990 - The Bucs shipped OF’er Billy Hatcher, an 1989 deadline pick-up, to Cincinnati for IF Jeff Richardson, who got into six games as a Pirate in 1991, and RHP Mike Roesler, who appeared in five 1990 games. Hatcher, to add a little salt to the wound, helped the Reds sink the Bucs in the 1990 NLCS by hitting .333 and played six more MLB seasons as mainly a platoon outfielder. For Hatcher, the trade wasn’t the main event of the day. He was in the delivery room with his pregnant wife when he learned the news, and didn’t even ask what team he was traded to. Hatcher found his new destination after his daughter Chelsea was born, when Cincy GM Bob Quinn called to welcome him to the Reds. 
• 1997 - Per the Associated Press, for the first time in major league history, the salary of one player was more than that of a team. The Chicago White Sox paid Albert Belle $10M for the season, which was $928,333 more than the entire Pirate “Freak Show” payroll. The Pirates won 79 games that year while the White Sox won 80 and neither made the postseason, so pick your poison. 
• 2000 - The Pirates had a sold-out house of 50,000+ fans for the Home Opener, the final one for TRS, but Mother Nature didn’t cooperate. The team canceled the game against the Astros because of rain, causing the fans to litter the field with various ballpark debris. Then, to make matters worse, the crowd left to a massive traffic jam - the police who had directed the flow into the park were gone and not scheduled to return until the game was over, so people trying to get back home were left to their own devices in navigating an escape route until the officers could regroup. The game was played the next night in a gray drizzle, and a smattering of fans were treated to a loss. 

Reggie Sanders - 2003 Spectrum SPx

• 2003 - The Pirates completed a season-opening three-game sweep of Cincinnati at The Great American Ballpark with a 7-5 win. Former Red Reggie Sanders went deep twice for Pittsburgh, going 4-for-5 and adding five RBI. Sanders went 7-for-10 in the series as the Pirates jumped out to their first 3-0 start to a season since 1993. It wasn’t much of an omen - Pittsburgh finished the campaign with 75 wins, 13 games off the Cubs’ division-winning pace. 
• 2006 - GM Dave Littlefield received a one-year extension on his contract, carrying him through the 2008 season. Hired in 2001, he had put together a 314-407 (.436) record, but owner Kevin McClatchy cited the forward progress the team had made under Littlefield’s tenure. The endorsement didn’t have very long legs as he was canned after the 2007 campaign. Brian Graham (Player Development director) replaced him as the interim GM before Neal Huntington was hired three weeks later. Graham was let go shortly thereafter, along with manager Jim Tracy and suits Ed Creech (Scouting director) and Jon Mercurio (Baseball Operations director). 
• 2011 - The Pirates plated a pair of runs in the ninth to down the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 5-4. A walk to Garrett Jones, a single by Neil Walker and a Lyle Overbay bunt against Carlos Marmol left runners at second and third in the ninth for Pedro Alvarez, who rolled a ball softly to the left side hole. He beat it out for a hit as both Bucs scored, giving El Toro three RBI on the day. Jeff Karstens got the win in relief of Ross Ohlendorf, with Joel Hanrahan picking up the save. 

Pedro Alvarez - 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen

• 2016 - In the kickoff of the major league season shown on ESPN, the Pirates defeated the Cardinals, 4-1, in front of a sellout crowd of 39,500 fans at PNC Park. Frankie Liriano struck out 10 batters in six scoreless frames and also drove in the game’s first run with a single off losing hurler Adam Wainwright. Josh Harrison managed to hit into a sac fly/double play combo when with runners on first and third and no outs, his fly plated a run although the runner at first was cut down trying to retreat back to second after a taking a wide turn to draw the throw. Though the year started off on a high note for the Cisco Kid, he would be traded to Toronto at the deadline after posting a 6-11/5.46 slash during the campaign, returning to Pittsburgh for a bullpen role in 2019.

Notes: Season Opens, Roster, Injuries, Team News, Minor League CBA

Welcome to the 2023 campaign...

Notes:

• The Pirates whupped the Reds at GABP, 5-4, to win the Season Opener. Mitch Keller started, Rob Zastryzny got the win and David Bednar earned the save. Oneil Cruz homered and his sac fly brought in the winning run. It was their eighth straight win over Cincy, a streak that ended by dropping the next two games, 6-2 and 3-1.
• The active roster: SPs Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, Vince Velasquez, Rich Hill & Johan Oviedo. The bullpen will be righties David Bednar, Wil Crowe, Chase De Jong, Colin Holderman, Duane Underwood Jr. & Dauri Moreta along with southpaws Jose Hernandez & Rob Zastryzny. Cs are Austin Hedges & Jason Delay; 1B Ji-Man Choi & Carlos Santana; middle IF Oneil Cruz & Rodolfo Castro and 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes. OFs are Bryan Reynolds, Jack Suwinski & Cutch. Bench guys are Ji Hwan Bae, Canaan Smith-Njigba & Connor Joe. 

Graphic via the Pirates

• Pitchers JT Brubaker (elbow inflammation), Jarlin Garcia (nerve injury - left bicep) and Robert Stephenson (elbow discomfort) will start the year on the IL. JT and Rob (he's at Indy on rehab) are on the 15-day list (Brubaker was later moved to the 60-day IL); Jarlin on the 60-day. 
• Returnees from 2022's Opening Day roster are Ps Keller, Bednar, Crowe, Underwood Jr &  Brubaker (IL), OF Reynolds, and 3B Hayes. Reynolds and Hayes are the only two returning starters, with the injured Brubaker the pitcher. 
• The Bucs optioned IF Mark Mathias, C Tyler Heinemann & RHP Yerry De Los Santos to Indy while RHP Tyler Chatwood and IFs Drew Maggi & Chris Owings were reassigned to minor league camp. OF Ryan Vilade was DFA'd.
• The Pirates claimed righty reliever Edwin Uceta, 25, off waivers from the Tigers and optioned him to Indy as depth measure. They made 40-man room by transferring Brubaker from the 15 day IL to the 60 day IL; they're testing for a definite diagnosis of his elbow pain.
• Cutch's shoulder is OK; he had some soreness that limited him to DH'ing, but he started in RF on Sunday and made a nice running catch to prevent a gapper.
• The FO and Bryan Reynolds' people have been wrangling over a contract. The consensus numbers are eight years/$106.75M starting in '23 (he's already under contract for this year at $6.75 M, so in reality it's a seven-year, $100M offer). The hold up is B-Rey wants a 2026 opt out that the Pirates won't agree to provide; both sides have valid arguments to support their positions. We don't know if there are also trade limitations or if the payout front/back loaded, but apparently those items have been agreed on by the two sides. The talks have cooled in the past couple of days, so that last issue is a contentious one..

Bryan Reynolds - 2023 photo/Pirates

• The Pirates finished 9-18-3 this spring. It's tough to read the crystal ball, but the hitting looked a little better with added power while the pitching was pretty inconsistent; the staff still seems to suffer from the "one big inning" syndrome..
• Prospect injury report: 2B Termarr Johnson is in running rehab for his hammy but is till weeks away from baseball. IF Jared Triolo will have hamate surgery; his recovery timeline won't be set until after the procedure. OF Lonnie White Jr. had surgery on his thumb and will be out 7-9 weeks.
• On Saturday, Rich Hill became first 43-year-old pitcher to start for Pirates since Diomedes Olivo in 1962. He's also been named as the starter for the Home Opener against the White Sox on the 7th.
• Pittsburgh opens at home on April 7th when they take on the White Sox. It's a Friday afternoon game with a 4:12 PM start.
• The ushers are negotiating a new contract with the Bucs and are not happy.
• The Pirates Nike City Connect unis are scheduled to make their debut on June 27th at PNC Park, a Tuesday night game against San Diego.
• The MLB and MLBPA agreed on a minor league CBA which basically doubles the farm salaries along with some other tweaks. The players approved it in a landslide; now the owners get it for their approval.

4/2: Zachary Deal; Sudden Sam Signs; Sale Rumors; Cap'n Redbeard's Day; OT Game; Law Out; Strike Ends; Hans #2; Cotton Goes Home; WENS; HBD Wilmer, Hisanori & Jon

• 1922 - Jim “Cotton” Tierney had his homecoming celebration spoiled by the minor league Kansas City Blues of the American Association. KC rallied for three eighth-inning runs and held off a ninth inning Bucco rally in the pre-season match played at the KC Speedway to take a 4-3 victory. Cotton didn’t help himself much, going 0-for-3 at the leadoff spot. The KC battery had past ties to the barnstorming Bucs - Beltzhoover’s Otto Knabe did the Blue’s hurling (he also pitched in 1905 as a rookie for the Corsairs, then spent his last MLB season, 1916, as a Pirate) and Bill Skiff, who Pittsburgh had released, did the catching - who helped do in their ol’ mateys. 35,000 plus turned out to honor local-boy-done-good Tierney, whose hometown was just across the river in Kansas City, Kansas. 
• 1942 - The Sporting News released a vote of 100 former major leaguers and managers tasked with selecting the best player of all time. Ty Cobb won easily, with Buc SS Honus Wagner second. The Flying Dutchman handily outpolled both Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby. 
• 1954 - TV station WENS, the City’s first ABC affiliate, announced that it would broadcast 20-30 Pirates games during the season beginning with the April 17th Season Opener at Philadelphia. Bob Prince and Rosey Rowswell were the TV broadcast team with Joe Tucker taking over the WWSW radio mic when the Rosey-Gunner radio duo switched over for TV games. 

The Gunner & Rosey - 1990 Press

• 1958 - Just in case you thought rumors of selling the Bucco franchise started as an eighties/nineties thing, think again. Sportswriter Al Abrams in his Post Gazette “Sidelight on Sports” column asked club president John Galbreath about the rumors that New York interests wanted to buy the franchise to replace the Dodgers and Giants. Galbreath said “I didn’t get one offer, I got 20 offers. Some of them were tremendous (thought to be in the $8-10M range)...(But) I would like to put an end to this stuff once and for all...We didn’t sell the club or move out in our worst years when we could have without any trouble. I don’t see why we should now.” 
• 1963 - The Pirates left pitcher Vern Law at Daytona Beach to start the season so he could work on strengthening the lingering rotator injury he first suffered in 1960. What was hoped to be a two-week stay turned into a month, and Law made just 18 outings (12 starts), good for 76 IP and a 4-5/4.93 slash before he was shut down in early August. The long rest period paid off as he put together three solid seasons on the hill from ‘64-66, averaging a 14-10/3.20 line with 196 IP over that span and earning the NL Comeback Player of the Year award in 1965. 
• 1970 - RHP Jon Lieber was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Pirates picked him up at the 1993 deadline as part of a trade for Stan Belinda with Kansas City, and he pitched his first five (1994-98) seasons with the Bucs, going 38-47-2/4.36. Pittsburgh sent him to the Windy City for Brant Brown after the 1998 campaign. He spent another nine workmanlike years in the show for four clubs, winning 131 games in 14 seasons, including 20 dubs in 2001 for the Cubs. 

Chris Zachary - 1973 Topps

• 1973 - The Pirates picked up RHP Chris Zachary from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for a reluctant C Charlie Sands. Sands refused to report to AAA Toledo, and the Tigers gave him permission to make another deal if he could. He couldn’t, and Motown traded him to California two weeks later. As for Zachary, he spent most of his time at Charleston, going 0-1-1/3.00 in his six Bucco outings. He was in the Philly system in 1974 before hangin’ ‘em up at age 30. 
• 1975 - LHP Hisanori Takahashi was born in Tokyo. Takahashi spent a decade with the Yomiuri Giants before being signed by the Mets, where he was converted to the bullpen. He came to the Pirates thanks to Zack Greinke, then an LA Angel. Grienke came off the DL in 2012, Takahashi was released to clear roster room for him, and then was claimed by the Bucs in August. It wasn’t a very high octane move as Hisanori had no decisions and an 8.64 ERA in nine Pirates outings and was set free by Pittsburgh after the year. He had brief stops with the Cubs and Rox the following season before returning to Japan as a 38-year-old and retired from pro ball two years later. 
• 1975 - The Pirates signed pitcher Sudden Sam McDowell, a 32-year-old free agent who started out at Central Catholic. It would be the last hurrah of a 15-year career that saw him win 141 games and fan 2,453 batters, mostly with the Indians. Sudden Sam was The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year in 1970 when he worked 305 frames and punched out 304 batters. But his bouts with the bottle caught up with him; he pitched well for the Pirates but was released in June. McDowell later went through rehab and turned his life around. The character Sam Malone, the bartender on the TV show “Cheers,“ was said to be loosely based on Sudden Sam after the producers decided on Ted Danson rather than gridder-turned-actor Fred Dryer, causing a switch of sports in the storyline. 

Wilmer Difo - 2021 Pirates image

• 1992 - Utilityman Wilmer Difo was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. After spending six years with the Washington Nats, the Pirates signed him to a NRI contract for 2021. He didn’t break camp with the team but was called up during the first week of the season to replace the injured Ke’Bryan Hayes. He’s now part of the New York Yankees organization. 
• 1995 - The players’ strike ended after a court ruling undercut the owner’s position. The 1994–95 strike was the eighth work stoppage in baseball history as well as the fourth in-season work stoppage in 22 years. The strike began on August 12th, 1994, and resulted in the remainder of that season being canceled, including the postseason and, for the first time since 1904, the World Series. After spending 232 days walking the picket lines, the walk-out was the longest such stoppage in MLB history. 948 games were lost and the MLB became the first major pro sports league to lose an entire postseason due to labor struggles. Because of the strike, neither the 1994 or 1995 seasons were played in entirety; the strike was called after most teams had played 113 games in 1994 and 1995’s schedule was reduced to 144 games to accommodate the late settlement. 
• 2014 - The Pirates and Cubs hooked up for the longest baseball game ever played in Pittsburgh, a 16-inning marathon that lasted five hours and 55 minutes before the Bucs could eke out a 4-3 decision. Chicago tied it in the ninth and took the lead in the 12th, but the Corsairs knotted the score again on a two-out single by Starling Marte. Tony Sanchez ended the longest day with a knock to drive home Jose Tabata. Stolmy Pimentel got his first MLB win while Carlos Villanueva dropped his second straight game - he was the losing pitcher on Opening Day, another extra-inning affair played two days earlier. 

Stolmy Pimentel - 2014 photo Pirates/MLB.com

• 2018 - The Home Opener went the Buccos way thanks to an early grand slam by Colin Moran. It was his first at-bat in front of the home crowd, his second career homer, and his first curtain-call in Pittsburgh. The blast was only the third Home Opener granny by a Buc; Roberto Clemente (1962) & Ralph Kiner (1949) had the others. It gave the Buccos a 5-0 first inning lead over Minnesota, and the Pirates survived a four-run pitching meltdown in the sixth to hang on for a 5-4 win, their fourth without a loss. Jameson Taillon struck out nine Twinkies for the victory, with George Kontos earning his second career save. The game was played in front of 30,186, the smallest Opening Day crowd in PNC Park history, as a morning snowfall, low-40s temperatures and general malaise caused by the off season trades of fan favorites Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen took their toll. The Bucs sprinted out of the box with a mark of 11-4 by mid April, but finished up with an 82-79 slate, good for fourth place in the division and well out of the wild card race.

4/1 Through the 1970s: Lee Deal; Joe Goes; '72 Strike; Parrot Hatched; Spring Bonus; April Fools; Ump Eyes; HBD Masumi, Willie; Jake, Hugo & Fred

• 1858 - OF Fred Mann was born in Sutton, Vermont. The center fielder played two of his five-team, six MLB years with the Alleghenys from 1885-86. He hit .251 over that span, spent one more season in the show, then left baseball after toiling for three more years in the bushes to operate a hotel. He was the first major league ballplayer to hail from the Green Mountain state. 
• 1884 - Manager Hugo Bezdek was born in Prague, Bohemia, then part of Austria-Hungary empire and now part of the Czech Republic. While he coached at Oregon, he also moonlighted as a Pirates scout covering the West Coast. When 1917 Pirates manager Nixey Callahan was let go, Hans Wagner became the interim manager (a job he did not particularly care for and quickly gave up) before Barney Dreyfuss settled on Bezdek as the full-time skipper. The team went 30-59 the remainder of the year, but improved to 65-60 in 1918 and finished 71-68 the next campaign. Bezdek relied on his players' advice to overcome his lack of baseball experience, with two of them - Casey Stengel and Billy Southworth - becoming Hall of Fame field generals. Bedzek left the team after 1919 for his second love, football. He coached at Penn State where his football teams went 65-30-11 with two undefeated seasons and a Rose Bowl appearance. In addition, he was manager of the Nittany Lion nine, going 129-76-1 from 1920-1930. He spent a couple of seasons as the Cleveland Browns coach and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. 

Watty Lee - 1903 Williams-Breisch

• 1904 - In one of the earliest interleague player moves (some considered the first major deal) between the AL & NL after their 1903 truce, the Pirates bought Wyatt “Watty” Lee from Washington for $3,000. The P/1B had three solid seasons for the Senators, but was a flop for the Bucs, appearing in just eight games, five as a pitcher and three as a pinch hitter. Watty went 4-for-12 at the plate, but his pitching record left much to be desired with a slash of 1-2/8.74. It was the end of Lee's major league days though he soldiered on with a long minor league career. 
• 1911 - Just to prove that umps’ eyesight has always been under suspicion, according to Charlton’s Baseball Chronology “NL president Tom Lynch reveals he had asked all umpires to produce certificates as to their eyesight; tests showed all have perfect vision.” Wonder who tested the docs? 
• 1926 - RHP Jake Thies was born in St. Louis. As a 28-year-old, he spent 1954 and one lackluster start in 1955 with the Pirates, slashing 3-10/3.90 overall. He was dealt to Kansas City where he spent two years at AAA, returning to the Buc system for three games to close his pro days. 
• 1928 - The April Fool’s victim this year was the Pirates, who sold SS Joe Cronin to Kansas City of the American Association, which then flipped him to Washington in July. In Pittsburgh, he was blocked at SS by Glenn Wright and manager Donie Bush preferred vet George Grantham at second base, so the Pirates deemed him to be excess baggage. They deemed wrong; after a 20-year career, seven All-Star games and .301 BA, he earned a plaque in the Hall of Fame. 
• 1948 - 1B Willie Montanez was born in Catano, Puerto Rico. Willie spent part of 1981 and 1982 with the Pirates at the tail end of his 14-year career after he was swapped from the Expos for John Milner. He seldom made the lineup but hit .271 off the bench before the Bucs released him. He closed out his MLB stint in ‘82 with the Phillies, the last of nine clubs he played for. 

Willie Montanez - 1982 Fleer

• 1957 - The Pirates and KC Athletics played an 18-inning, 0-0, exhibition game before darkness put an end to the match. The two teams collected a combined 18 hits, 16 of which were singles, and only used three pitchers each; there were almost as many players as fans; the crowd at Fort Myers was 432 warm fannies. The contest was just shy of lasting four hours before the managers called it a day. Ron Kline and Bob Purkey did most of the tossing for the Bucs, with long-shot Purkey winning a spot on the staff after his 10-inning whitewash performance. 
• 1963 - The Titusville Herald’s headline screamed “Pittsburgh Pirates To Move Club To Titusville.” The April Fools gag drew a chuckle but no interest from ownership and the Bucs remained firmly rooted in Forbes Field. Titusville’s population per the 1960 census was 8,356 souls; Forbes Field had an average attendance of 9,675 in 1963; maybe there was a match to be made. 
• 1968 - RHP Masumi Kuwata was born in Yao, Japan. He ended his 21-year stay with the Yomiuri Giants (173 wins, 3.55 ERA) after the 2006 campaign because at age 38, he wanted to take a shot at MLB. He drew some interest from the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers, but chose the Pirates because he thought they offered the fastest track to the majors. He hurt his ankle in camp, went to Indy and got a call up in June. He lasted two months and 19 outings, tossing to a 9.43 ERA, and was outrighted. He refused the Indy assignment and returned to Japan, but then signed a minor league deal with the Bucs for 2008; apparently neither side believed that experience was a very good teacher. Kuwata didn’t make the 25-man out of camp and retired. The Pirates offered Kuwata a coaching job (Masumi’s performance may have been slack, but he was a pro at preparation and a willing mentor to younger guys), but he declined and went back to Nippon for good. He did make the Bucco annals, though, as the first Japanese player for Pittsburgh. 

Masumi Kuwata - 2007 Topps Rookie

• 1972 - The first players' strike in baseball history began and wiped six-to-eight games off the schedule, which were canceled upon settlement. This resulted in teams playing a different number of games during the 1972 season and led to the Detroit Tigers edging the Boston Red Sox by only one-half game (86-70 to 85-70) to win the AL East Division championship. The strike settlement required the team owners to add salary arbitration to the CBA and increased pension fund payments. 
• 1979 - The Pirate Parrot was “hatched” at Three Rivers Stadium as a response to the Phillie Phanatic, introduced the year before. The concept of a parrot came from Robert Louis Stevenson’s pirate tale “Treasure Island.” At first, the Parrot was a lean, mean bird dressed in pirate gear, but in the mid-eighties was transformed into the more child-friendly, goofy butterball in a team jersey and backward cap that we have today. The Green Machine is a mainstay of charity, community and childrens’ events and even hosts a Twitter account. The big bird has had its controversial moments, too, being involved in a drug scandal and violating team neutrality by showing up at a political event, but has managed to escape the occasional bad press with its feathers unruffled.

4/1 from 1980: '87 Cards Haul; Josh, JT, Odell Deals; SS Search; '06 Top Ten; Openers; RIP Jerry, Frankie; HBD Axman

• 1980 - RHP Odell Jones was traded back to the Pirates by the Seattle Mariners for a PTBNL and cash after spending a season in the Great Northwest. Jones had pitched in Pittsburgh from 1975 & 77-78, then went to Seattle as part of the Enrique Romo swap. Pittsburgh eventually sent Larry Andersen to the M’s in October to complete the trade. Anderson, who was lights out in AAA Portland after coming over from Cleveland, pitched through 1994 in the show. Jones yo-yo’ed between the minors and majors, appearing in 137 MLB games and 168 MiLB games through 1989; he pitched in Mexico after that except for a brief 1992 stop in the Angel’s organization to cap his 21-year pro career.

Odell Jones - 1977 Topps

• 1981 - 1B Jason Thompson was traded by the California Angels to the Bucs for LHP Mickey Mahler and C Ed Ott. Thompson took control of a muddled first base situation in Pittsburgh, which was transitioning from Pops Stargell (Doe Boyland and Eddie Vargas, the organizational heir apparents, never panned out), and held the starting job through 1985 until Sid Bream replaced him. The 29-year-old Ott was taken by surprise by the swap - he and the Pirates had been close to finalizing (at least in Ott’s mind) a six-year/$275K per season deal. Steve Nicosia and rookie Tony Pena shared the load after Otter’s departure eased the catching logjam. The deal was originally structured to be a three-teamer. The Yankees were to send the Pirates 1B Jim Spencer, two minor league pitchers and $850,000 for Thompson, with $450,000 earmarked to pay Spencer's salary, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn nixed that part of the swap because of the money involved; at the time, $400K was the max amount allowed to switch hands. That no-go decision worked out bigly to the Pirates advantage - the 33-year-old Spencer hit .182 over 1981-82 and then retired while JT lasted five seasons with the Pirates, posting a .259 BA with 93 HR and a 125+ OPS during that span. 
• 1983 - RHP John “The Axman” Axford was born in Simcoe, Ontario. Axford has 10 MLB campaigns on his resume, with two months spent as a Pirate in 2014. He was claimed off waivers from the Indians in August, where he had a workmanlike campaign, to strengthen the Bucco mid-inning pen during its playoff run. He slashed 0-1/4.14 and after the season signed with the Rockies; he was called up by Milwaukee very briefly in 2021 and is a free agent now. 
• 1985 - The Pittsburgh Press speculated that the Pirates were in the market for a shortstop with a void in the lineup following Dale Berra’s trade to NY. The hot stove league stoked trade rumors featuring Johnny Lemaster as Tim Foli was on his last legs and Rafael Belliard was considered to be no more than a good glove backup. The Giants, though, wanted an arm and leg for Lemaster, so the Bucs wisely passed. He ended up with the Indians, and Pittsburgh did grab him on May 30th in exchange for a career minor leaguer (Lemaster had three hits in 23 games between the Bay and Tribe, which dropped his price considerably). A change of scenery didn’t help as he hit .155 here and the Pirates ended up with Sammy Khalifa taking the job. There were six SS’s who started that year - Khalifa, Lemaster, Foley, Belliard, Bill Almon and Jerry Dybzinski. Pittsburgh didn’t fill that particular infield hole until 1989 when they added Jay Bell to the lineup. 

Johnnie Lemaster - 1985 Topps Traded

• 1987 - St. Louis sent OF Andy Van Slyke‚ C Mike LaValliere‚ and RHP Mike Dunne to Pittsburgh in exchange for All-Star C Tony Pena. Van Slyke thought it was an April’s Fool joke when first told of the trade, and Pena cried at the press conference when the deal was announced. AVS ended up being one of the core players in the Pirates early nineties resurgence, Spanky  formed a solid catching combo with Don Slaught and Dunne started strong before injuries derailed a promising career. Pena remained solid behind the dish but only hit above .263 once in his remaining 12 big league campaigns. 
• 1991 - Frankie Gustine died at the age of 71. The versatile infielder was a three-time All-Star who played a decade for the Pirates (1939-48) after signing as a 16-year-old, compiling a .268 BA. After his MLB career, Gustine coached at Point Park College from 1968-74 (he’s in the school’s Hall of Fame). He became a successful local business owner, too, operating a popular namesake Oakland restaurant on Forbes Avenue located just a Texas League bloop away from the ballyard (now Hemingway’s); he also held part ownership of the Sheraton Inn at Station Square. 
• 2006 - The Pirates Top Ten prospects going into the year were IF Neil Walker, 1B Brad Eldred, CF Andrew McCutchen, 3B Jose Bautista, LHP Tom Gorzelanny, IF Yurendell DeCaster, C Ronny Paulino, RHP Josh Sharpless, CF Rajai Davis and OF Adam Bouve, a collection of youngsters who covered the full spectrum of baseball achievement. Another riser with a bullet, RHP Matt Capps, who was expected to start the year with AA Altoona, instead went north with the big team. 
• 2011 - Neil Walker hit his first career grand slam on Opening Day at Wrigley Field off Ryan Dempster. He became the second player in team history to swat a grand salami on Opening Day, joining Roberto Clemente, who drilled one to start the 1962 season. It was the key blow in a 6-3 win over the Cubs, supplying enough offense to carry Kevin Correia and four relievers to victory. 

Jerry Lynch - 1966 James Elder Post Card

• 2012 - One of the games great pinch-hitters, Jerry Lynch, died at the age of 82. He started and ended his career as a Pirate, spending seven seasons with the Bucs. He came off the bench to collect 116 pinch hits during his career, 18 of which were homers. Lynch lived in Allison Park when he passed away and was part owner of Champion Lakes GC, along with Dick Groat. 
• 2021 - The Pirates got three innings from their starter, gifted the Cubs a run, ran themselves out of an inning, stranded 15 runners during a 3-for-20 w/RISP afternoon and still beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Opening Day by a 5-3 score. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a two-run homer, Adam Frazier, Kevin Newman and Jake Stallings had two hits each and Cub pitchers helped by walking 11 Buccos. But the key was a shutdown bullpen. In its six innings, six Pittsburgh relievers (Duane Underwood Jr., Clay Holmes, Sam Howard, Dave Bednar, Chris Stratton & Richard Rodriguez) gave up a run on a hit and walk with 11 whiffs to help the Pirates overcome their own selves and start the season on a winning note. Howard claimed the victory and Ric Rod earned the save. 
• 2022 - The Pirates traded 20-year old RHP Listher Sosa to Arizona for IF Josh VanMeter. The infielder had four years in the show, split between Cincinnati and the D-Backs with a .210 career. The move, though minor, was widely panned when JVM was added to the active roster as the Bucs were already knee-deep in infield prospects in the upper levels already fighting for time.