12/17 Birthdays: HBD Cy, Rebel, Jim, Charlie, Marvell & Steve

• 1879 - RHP Fred “Cy” Falkenberg was born in Chicago. He worked his 1903 rookie campaign for the Pirates, going 1-5 with a 3.86 ERA. It would be the fewest wins and highest ERA compiled in a single season for ol’ Cy, who tossed 12 big league years, winning 130 games (20+ victories twice) with a 2.68 lifetime ERA. Those 20-win tallies in 1913-14 were sparked by a new pitch that he came up with - a scuffed “emery” ball. The delivery was declared illegal after the 1914 season, and Cy was out of MLB two years later (in justice, hitting the age of 38 probably had as much with his descent as did the rulebook). So far as the Cy moniker, SABR’s Eric Enders speculates that it was another Cy Young knock-off, the old-timey ace whom many promising youngsters were likened to.

Rebel Oakes 1915 Cracker Jack

• 1883 - CF Ennis “Rebel” Oakes was born in Lisbon, Louisiana. He played five years for the Reds and Cards, then jumped to the Federal League when it was established in 1914. After two seasons as the player-manager for the Pittsburgh Rebels, perhaps named in his honor, the league folded and Oakes never returned to MLB despite his .295 BA. SABR writer Phil Williams believes “Rebel Oakes was effectively blacklisted” after the Federal League’s demise. Btw, he didn’t earn his nickname by being particularly iconoclastic. When he was in the minors, an Iowa sportswriter dubbed him Rebel because of his Deep South birthplace.
• 1896 - C Jim Mattox was born in Leesville, Virginia. Jim was a back-up in 1922-23 for the Pirates, hitting .253 off the bench. He was released after the year and retired rather than report to the minors again. Jim may have missed his true calling - in 1919, he was an All-Conference quarterback at Washington and Lee.
• 1947 - C/PH Charlie Sands was born in Newport News, Virginia. Charlie played for the Bucs in 1971-72, going 5-for-33 (.192). He hung around the league for three more seasons, but only got into 63 more games.

Charlie Sands 1972 Topps

• 1959 - CF Marvell Wynne was born in Chicago. He started his career with the Pirates, playing from 1983-85. Projected as a leadoff hitter, he stole 46 sacks but batted just .245 with an OBP of .297 before being traded to San Diego for Bob Patterson. Marvell’s last season was 1991, played in Japan. His son, also named Marvell, became a pro jock, too, but as a MSL soccer player.
• 1967 - RHP Steve Parris was born in Joliet, Illinois. Steve started his eight-year MLB run in Pittsburgh between 1995-96 with a 6-9/5.82 slash as a starter. After a year in the minors, he tossed three solid seasons with the Reds and three not-so-solid seasons with Toronto and Tampa Bay.

12/17 Moves: King, Ward & Correia Sign; Broxton to Milwaukee; New Orleans Joins the Flock

• 1947 - The Pirates bought the AA New Orleans Pelicans, including 37 players (none of which ever made the Bucco roster), for an estimated $200K. In an era when farm systems were deep, The Big Easy became the Pirates 19th farm club in 1948. Oddly, in 1947, the club didn't field a Class AA team and only had one Class A squad, so it was a needed upper-level addition.

Jeff King 1994 Studio

• 1993 - 3B Jeff King avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $2.4M contract. He lost an arbitration hearing the previous year, asking for $2M but being awarded $675K. He hit cleanup during the season, batting .295 with 9 HR and 98 RBI to earn the pay bump.
• 1997 - OF Turner Ward was signed to a two-year, $1.6M contract after hitting .353 off the bench during the season. Ward earned the money when he turned in a highlight-reel play in the ‘98 campaign when he crashed through the wall at TRS. He batted .262 in 1998 and was released in August of 1999 after posting a .209 BA. He rebounded to have a great season with Arizona to help them win the NL West, then played two more years before retiring after 2001. In all, he had 12 big league years with a .251 career BA.
• 2010 - RHP Kevin Correia signed as a FA with Pittsburgh, agreeing to a two-year, $8M deal. In those two seasons, he would post a line of 24-22/4.49 before joining the Twins after losing his spot in the rotation to Wandy Rodriguez. He started 54 games, appeared 59 times, represented the Pirates at the 2011 All-Star Game and was their Opening Day pitcher that same season. KC worked for three more teams afterward, retiring after the 2015 season.

Jason Rogers 2016 (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

• 2015 - The Pirates sent CF Keon Broxton and RHP Trey Supak to the Milwaukee Brewers for 1B Jason Rogers. The speedy Broxton hit .242/.354 OBP and swiped 23 sacks for the Brewers in 244 PA while Roger’s 2016 MLB chance was effectively blocked when the Bucs later signed David Freese. Jason got just 33 PAs and hit .080.

12/16: Not-So-Big-Deals, HBD Rick & '02 Rule 5 Hits

• 1938 - The Boston Bees traded catcher Ray Mueller to the Pirates for C Al Todd and OF Johnny Dickshot. Todd had a couple of good seasons left, while Dickshot wouldn’t hit his prime until his last two seasons in 1944-45 during the war for the White Sox. “Iron Man” Mueller (he picked up his nickname in the early forties after catching 233 consecutive games for the Reds) played 90 games in Pittsburgh as a reserve catcher, hitting .269. Factoid: Mueller was from Pittsburg - Pittsburg, Kansas, which was named after our fair town.
• 1956 - Coach Rick Sofield was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He was a #1 draft pick and outfielder for the Twins, worked in the minors (he was the Pirates' minor league field coordinator in 2002) and managed in college. Sofield was brought back to the Pirate fold by long-time bud Clint Hurdle, managing at West Virginia for a season before joining the big league staff in 2013. After a couple of ill-advised windmills at third base (he also coached the runners), he was released after the 2016 campaign.

Bobby Schantz 1962 Topps

• 1960 - The Bucs sent UT Harry Bright, 1B RC Stevens and RHP Bennie Daniels to the expansion Washington Senators (now the Texas Rangers) for veteran curveballer LHP Bobby Shantz. Daniels was a useful starter in DC for several seasons, while Shantz lasted a year in Pittsburgh before being lost to the Houston Colt .45s in the 1961 expansion draft. He went 6-3-2/3.22 in 43 games with the Pirates, and pitched fairly effectively afterward, his career lasting until the end of the 1964 season. Schantz won 24 games in 1952 as a starter for the Philadelphia Athletics and was voted the AL MVP, but arm injuries drove him from the rotation to the bullpen.
• 2002 - The Rule 5 Draft took RHP DJ Carrasco, C Ronny Paulino and RHP Chris Spurling from the Pirates. Carrasco tossed for eight MLB seasons (including 2010 as a Bucco), Spurling for four and Paulino was returned to the club in the spring, going on to catch for eight years in the show, the first four with Pittsburgh (2005-08/.278). They also released LHP Jimmy Anderson. 

Benito Santiago 2005 Pirates Promotional Card

• 2004 - The Pirates acquired C Benito Santiago and cash from the Royals for RHP Leo Nunez (Juan Oviedo). The 30-year-old Oviedo served a 2012 suspension after pitching for seven seasons because of name fraud; he went by Nunez to make it appear he was younger. Santiago, 40, got in six games before his release and never played in the majors again.

12/15: HBD Jimmy, Art & Jim; Rule 5 Massacre; Vic Willis, Jim Bunning & Other Deals...

• 1884 - 1B Jim Nealon was born in Sacramento. He’s one of the Buccos sadder “coulda-been” stories. Nealon played from 1906-07 for the Pirates, and in his rookie season tied for the NL RBI lead (83) while hitting .255. Jim hit .257 the next season, then contracted tuberculosis. He went back home to California, played a couple of years of minor league ball and died of typhoid pneumonia in San Francisco in 1910 at the age of 25.

Vic Willis 1986 TCMA All-Time

• 1905 - In one of their better deals, the Bucs picked up Hall-of-Famer RHP Vic Willis from the Boston Beaneaters for journeymen UT Dave Brain, IF/OF Del Howard, and P Vive Lindaman. Willis won 20+ games in each of his four years (1906-09) in Pittsburgh, with a slash of 88–46/2.08 ERA and was part of the 1909 World Series championship club. The “Delaware Peach” (he went to Delaware College) was a workhorse throughout his career, completing 388 of his 471 starts. 1906 - IF Wallace “Bucky” (a childhood nickname) Williams was born in Baltimore and moved to Pittsburgh at the age of six months. After stints with the Pittsburgh Keystone Juniors and Monarchs, he played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1927–32; 1937-39) and the Homestead Grays in 1936, and was named an honorary member of the Negro League Hall of Fame in Kansas City. Bucky also played for his employer as part of the Edgar Thomson Steel team after his pro career; his sandlot squad once defeated the Grays in an exhibition game. He went to Holy Rosary and Crescent Elementary before leaving school for work, and rests now in Calvary Cemetery.
• 1944 - Pirate manager Jim Leyland was born in Perrysburg, Ohio. Leyland was the fiery, chain-smoking manager of the Bucs from 1986 to 1996. He won two Manager of the Year awards (1990 and 1992) and finished as runner-up in 1988 and 1991. Under Leyland, the Pirates went to the NLCS three straight seasons (1990-92) but lost all three, with the latter two going the full seven games against the Atlanta Braves. He did win a title in 1997 as the skipper of the Florida Marlins and also managed the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers. Leyland became a Pittsburgh boy; he still lives in Mt. Lebanon.

Art Howe 1975 SSPC

• 1946 - IF Art Howe was born in Pittsburgh. He began his career with Pittsburgh in 1974-75 as a utility infielder, batting .195, before being traded to the Astros, where he became a regular for six seasons beginning in 1977. He played for 11 years in all with a .260 BA, and managed for 11 more years after his playing days, winning a pair of AL West titles with the Oakland As.
• 1952 - Vic Janowicz was signed to a $75,000 contract by the Pirates a bonus baby. Janowicz was a Heisman-winning running back at Ohio State in 1950, but Pittsburgh saw his future in baseball. As a bonus baby, he had to be carried on the MLB roster for two years. Vic hit .252 as a C in 1953, but dropped to .151 as a 3B’man the following year, for a two-year line of .214 with two HR and 10 RBI in 215 PA. He left the team after that season and jumped to the NFL Washington Redskins, where he played two years before a car accident ended his sports career.
• 1964 - The Bucs sent P Earl Francis and OF Ted Savage to the St. Louis Cardinals in return for OF’s Ron Cox and Jack Damaska (from Beaver Falls HS). Francis sputtered through his last big league season while Savage was the only player that had any MLB impact, serving as a bench bat through the 1971 season. Neither of the players the Pirates received made it to the majors.

Don Money was a popular guy 1965 Topps

• 1967 - Pittsburgh traded for RHP Jim Bunning, sending the Phillies pitchers Woodie Fryman‚ Bill Laxton and Harold Clem along with IF Don Money, who would be the Phils regular 3B until Mike Schmidt arrived and then become an All-Star with Milwaukee. Money had been targeted by the White Sox also, but the Pirates wanted RHP Joel Horlen in exchange, who Chi-town wasn’t about to surrender. Fryman lasted 18 years in the show, many as a solid mid-level starter and twice an All-Star. Bunning, who the Pirates hoped would be the veteran rotation piece to put them over the top in 1968, stayed in Pittsburgh for 1-½ seasons, slashing at 14-23/3.84.
• 2002 - Well-traveled Matt Stairs (he played for three teams just in 2002) signed a one year/$900K contract with the Bucs, pending a physical, and was penciled in as Craig Wilson’s platoon mate in right field. He proved to be a nice addition, hitting .292 and playing corner OF and 1B for the Pirates before moving on to Kansas City.
• December 15, 2003 - The Pirates lost five players in the Rule 5 draft, 1b Chris Shelton, OF Rich Thompson, LHP Frank Brooks, RHP Jeff Bennett and 3B/OF Jose Bautista, who they traded RHP Kris Benson for to get back in July, 2004. Oddly, the Pirates had three openings on the 40-man roster, but GM Dave Littlefield told the local media that the need to add free agents to the lineup for next season was more important than keeping players the club believes would not make an immediate impact. The rest of baseball thought a bit differently as the five Pirate farmhands went in the first six picks of the draft. Littlefield also removed pitchers Duaner Sanchez and Matt Guerrier from the 40-man roster to protect Mike Gonzalez and John Grabow, so he had more future talent on hand than he suspected.

12/14 TRS-PNC Era: HBD Adam; Mike, Brant, Scott, Wil & Lyle Buc Up; Tax Cut

• 1991 - UT Adam Frazier was born in Athens, Georgia. Frazier was called up in 2016, hitting .301 and playing 2B, 3B and all three OF spots and looks like a good bet to land on the active roster when camp breaks in 2017.

Adam Frazier (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

• 1993 - The State legislature cut the City’s amusement tax from 10% to 5%; one state senator said that the Pirates had informed him that without the lower rate that they could be forced to leave the City in two years. GM Mark Sauer told the Post Gazette that the team wouldn’t be cutting ticket prices (neither did the Steelers) and ticked off a financial wish list of revenue sharing and a salary cap from the MLB to go with a new stadium and lease for the team. They got three-out-of-four wishes granted eventually; good luck on the cap.
• 1995 - Pittsburgh signed 35-year-old free agent CF Mike Kingery to a two year/$1.5M contract, planning to use him as a platoon/bat & glove off the bench player. It didn’t quite work out; Kingery, who had been a .272 lifetime hitter before the deal, hit .246 in 117 games and was released after the season. He opened Solid Foundation Baseball School the year after he retired, and makes appearances with the Kingery Family, a gospel/bluegrass group.
• 1998 - RHP Jon Lieber was traded to the Chicago Cubs for OF Brant Brown. Lieber tossed nine more years in the show, winning 20 games for the Cubs in 2001 while Brown was one and done in Pittsburgh. After his breakout campaign, workhorse Lieber had TJ surgery and only reached the 30-start, 200 IP mark once more in his career.

Jon Lieber 1994 Fleer Update

• 1998 - The Pirates chose LHP Scott Sauerbeck from the New York Mets in the Rule 5 draft. Sauerbeck stuck with the Pirates until 2003, going 19-15-5/3.53 in his 4-½ year Bucco career before he was traded to Boston. Sauerbeck missed 2004 after surgery, and after a fairly ineffective campaign in 2006, the LOOGY’s MLB career ended.
• 1999 - “Wil Cordero, a good hitter who has had difficulty staying healthy and out of trouble, signed a $9 million, three-year contract yesterday with the Pittsburgh Pirates, his fourth team in four years...” per the New York Times. Cordero, in reality, was a good pick up, as he banged 16 HR with 51 RBI before he was traded in late July to the Indians for Alex Ramirez (who hit .209 and was out of baseball the following year) and Enrique Wilson, a reserve infielder who hit .262 in a 1-½ Pirate seasons. Cordero ended up having one more strong year left in him as a Montreal Expo in 2003.
• 2010 - The Pirates agreed to terms with 1B Lyle Overbay on a one-year, $5M contract; he was waived in August after hitting .227. The Bucs also signed 32-year old OF Matt Diaz to a two year deal worth up to $5M. He was sent back to the Braves at the deadline for P Eliecer Cardenas after hitting .259 with no homers.

12/14 Expo Park-Forbes Field Era: Heinie & Kitten Traded; HBD Charlie, Willie, Jerry & Lefty; More...

• 1896 - C Charlie Hargreaves was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He caught for Pittsburgh at the end of his career from 1928-30, and was a solid two-way guy for the first two seasons before fading in 1930, putting up a .273 BA over that period. Charlie did rejoin the organization briefly, managing the Bucs’ Class C Keokuk Pirates squad of the Central Association in 1949.
• 1898 - 2B Henry “Heinie” Reitz was traded by the Washington Senators to the Pirates for OF/3B Jack O'Brien, IF Dick Padden and OF Jimmy “Rabbit” Slagle. It wasn’t a very good deal for Pittsburgh; Reitz played 35 games and was traded at the end of the 1899 season. O’Brien was a journeyman, Padden had three solid seasons remaining, and rookie Slagle went on to have a 10-year career, mainly with the Cubs, and a lifetime .268 BA.
• 1911 - Pirate owner Barney Dreyfuss proposed that each team in the World Series turn over one-fourth of its share of the gate to the league, to be divided among the other teams. It marked the beginning of changes that ultimately gave players of the top finishing teams a larger share of the World Series money. Dreyfuss had actually added his owner’s cut of the 1903 World Series gate receipts to the players' share, so the Pirates earned a larger payout than the winning Boston team. Barney not only talked the talk but walked the walk in rewarding the players.

Willie Pope (photo via Negro League Baseball Players Association)

• 1918 - RHP Willie Pope was born in Birmingham and raised in Library. A 6’4’ hurler known as “Wee Willie,” Pope began his career as a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1946 but was mostly known for playing with the Grays during the 1947-48 seasons. During the 1947 campaign, the righty notched a 6-7 record, but pitched a no-hitter against the New York Cubans. In the 1948 season, he was a major contributor to the Grays team that won the last Negro National League Pennant and won the Negro Leagues World Series against the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. He played a couple of years in the minors while his brother Dave played for Cleveland and Baltimore. Willie remained in the City after his career as a player in Pittsburgh ward politics and a local black baseball historian. He passed away in 2010 at the age of 91.
• 1943 - C Jerry May was born in Staunton, Virginia. May was a back-up catcher from 1964-70 (he started in ‘67-68) for the Bucs, hitting .237 in his seven-year Pittsburgh stint. He was signed by Syd Thrift out of high school and tossed several no-hitters as an American Legion pitcher; the Bucs converted him to catcher and he was behind the dish for Dock Ellis’ infamous 1970 no-hitter. May was bumped out of the starting role by Manny Sanguillen. Jerry was a good tactician and glove guy throughout his 10 year MLB career, throwing out 42.57% of the base runners who tried to steal a base on him, good for 11th on the all-time list. He led NL catchers in 1970 with a 50% caught stealing percentage.
• 1923 - LHP Paul “Lefty” LaPalme was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Lefty began his career in Pittsburgh (1951-54) and was a starter in the last two seasons, with a Pirate line of 14-33-2 and a 4.99 ERA. The knuckleballer was traded to the Cards in 1955, converted to a reliever, and put together several decent seasons from the pen.

Lefty LaPalme 1952 Topps

• 1961 - Baseball players may be rolling in long green now, but for many decades, even the stars had a winter job. ElRoy Face earned a Post-Gazette sports column mention on this date by selling Christmas trees from his Indiana PA farm at the corner of Bouquet Street and Forbes Avenue in Oakland, a block from the ballyard.
• 1963 - The Pirates sent P Harvey Haddix to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for SS Dick Yencha and cash. The Kitten, then 38 and a reliever, spent the last two years of his career in Baltimore, going 8-7-11/2.63 before retiring because of arm problems, while Yencha never made it past AA. Haddix later followed his rookie mentor Harry Brecheen (as St. Louis teammates, veteran Breechen was “the Cat” and his protege, the young Haddix, was “the Kitten”) as a pitching coach, working with the Mets, Reds, Red Sox, Indians, and Pirates before passing away in 1994.

12/13 Birthdays: HBD Bill, Joe, Dale, Jeff & Josh

• 1904 - 1B Willis “Bill” Windle was born in Galena, Kansas. Windle attended Missouri University where he played football and baseball as a two-sport star, but his MLB career consisted of just three games played for the Bucs between 1928-29 with Bill going 1-for-2 with a double and run scored. He played in the minors until 1933, retiring to Corpus Christi where he became a successful apartment owner and a model citizen, with ties to the Boy Scouts, Kiwanis and different civic boards.

Joe Christopher 1961 Topps

• 1935 - OF Joe Christopher was born in Frederiksted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. He played for Pittsburgh from 1959-61 sparingly, hitting .244 before being lost in the expansion draft to the NY Mets, although he did score twice in the 1960 World Series as a pinch runner. Christopher is thought to be the first player from the Virgin Islands to play in the majors. Joe should remember his first start. He was called up to replace an injured Roberto Clemente and made his big league debut playing right field during Harvey Haddix’s 12 inning perfect game.
• 1956 - Dale Berra was born in Ridgewood, NJ. The SS, the first round pick of the 1975 draft (20th overall), spent eight years in Pittsburgh (1977-84) and started the last three, but his bat (.238 as a Pirate) never came around and to boot, he testified that he was a coke user during the 1985 trial. Berra still makes the highlight tapes thanks to a 1985 baserunning blooper with Bobby Meacham while with the Yankees. With Meacham at second and Berra at first, Ricky Henderson drilled a ball into the corner. Meacham slipped rounding the bases, so he and Berra came home at virtually the same time. Sadly for them, Ozzie Guillen’s relay beat them to the dish and Carlton Fisk tagged them both out - a double turned into a double play!

Jeff Robinson 1989 Donruss

• 1960 - RHP Jeff Robinson was born in Santa Ana, California. He tossed for the Bucs from 1987-89. His first two seasons were strictly out of the pen, but he got 19 starts in 51 appearances in ‘89. Overall, Robinson went 20-19-17 for Pittsburgh with a 3.78 ERA. He went to the Yankees in the Don Slaught deal, but couldn’t replicate his Pittsburgh success. Robinson tossed for three teams from 1990-92 and then was out of baseball.
• 1976 - RHP Josh Fogg was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. He pitched for Pittsburgh from 2002-05 with a record of 39-42 and a 4.79 ERA. Josh finished seventh in the Rookie of the Year vote in 2002 and won double figure games for three straight seasons, but was released after the 2005 campaign and pitched four more years before ending his career in 2010.

12/13 Happenings: Eddie, Kip, Josh, Damaso & The Joker become Bucs; Cobra Settles; Mitchell Report

• 1988 - The suits and Dave Parker settled a 2-½ year battle over the Cobra’s 1979 contract. The Pirates believed his drug involvement voided $5.3M in deferred payments; Parker disagreed. A few weeks from trial, the two sides settled with Parker getting a lump sum payment of an undisclosed amount. It was less than the original total, and a week later the team said its 1988 operating profit was impacted favorably by the settlement.
• 1996 - SS Jay Bell and 3B Jeff King were traded to the Royals for 3B Joe Randa (called "The Joker" after the grinning Batman villain), LHP Jeff Wallace, LHP Jeff Granger and RHP Jeff Martin in a salary dump, or maybe in an effort by the clubs to set a record for Jeffs (or just “J” first names in general) packaged in one deal.

Josh Fogg 2002 Fleer

• 2001 - The Pirates sent P Todd Ritchie and C Lee Evans to the White Sox for pitchers Kip Wells‚ Sean Lowe‚ and Josh Fogg. Ritchie struggled for Chicago and then was injured the following year, effectively ending his career. Fogg and Wells were mainstays in the Pirate rotation for three years but never blossomed beyond journeyman status.
• 2005 - The Bucs acquired LHP Damaso Marte from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for INF/OF Rob Mackowiak. It was the lefty’s second go-around with Pittsburgh, and after an injury to Matt Capps in 2006, Marte became the closer. He was traded to the New York Yankees with Xavier Nady at the deadline for José Tábata, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Dan McCutchen. Mack was strong for the White Sox from 2006-07 (.285 BA), but after being traded back to the NL at the 2007 deadline he faded badly, and his career ended after the 2008 campaign.
• 2007 - The Mitchell Report was released, a 20 month investigation led by former US Senator George Mitchell into performance-enhancing drugs’ MLB inroads. The report covered the use of PEDs by players with recommendations on how to handle the epidemic. The report named 89 MLB players who were alleged to have used PEDS, including several ex-Pirates (every team had at least one played implicated). The findings stiffened the MLB’s spine, and they, along with the MLB Player’s Union, implemented a testing program with stiff penalties for violations.

Eddie Volquez 2014 Topps First Edition

• 2013 - RHP Edinson Volquez was signed as a free agent to a one year, $5M contract. He was quite the bargain, going 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA during the season. He signed a two year, $20M guaranteed deal with the KC Royals after reestablishing his value, then went to KC on a two year, $22M deal.

12/12 TRS-PNC Era: Frankie Inked, Tudor & Ground Chuck Traded, Capps Non-Tendered, Arb '06, Helms & Vasquez Added

• 1975 - Houston sent veteran IF Tommy Helms to the Pirates for a PTBNL (IF Art Howe). Helms was at the end of his days here, while Howe went on to have a solid career with the Astros and Cards, playing for 11 years with a .260 career BA.
• 1984 - The Bucs traded LHP John Tudor and OF Brian Harper to the St. Louis Cardinals for UT Steve Barnard and OF George Hendricks. Tudor won 21 games with the Cards while tossing ten shutouts the next season and won two World Series games. Hendricks hit .230 and lasted until August, when he was sent to the California Angels. Barnard never made it out of A ball.

Grabow made the cut - 2009 Upper Deck

• 2006 - The Pirates had a class of eight arb-eligible players and tendered them all. They were IF’s Freddy Sanchez & Jose Castillo, OF’s Xavier Nady & Jody Gerut, and hurlers Mike Gonzalez, John Grabow & Shawn Chacon along with C Humberto Cota. Six stuck with the team; Gonzalez was traded in January and Gerut was cut during camp.
• 2008 - The Pirates signed IF Ramon Vazquez, the only player with major league experience added to the roster during the winter meetings, to a two-year deal worth $4M. He hit .230 in 2009, then was released the following April, ending his nine-year MLB career with the Pirates eating $2M in salary.
• 2009 - The Bucs non-tendered RHP Matt Capps, allowing the closer to walk as an uncompensated free agent. He signed a one-year deal with Washington for $3.5M and became an All-Star. Capps then went to the Twins and closed, but shoulder inflammation derailed him there in 2012, and a year later he had surgery. He hasn’t pitched in MLB since that time.

Frankie gets his - 2014 Bowman Silver Ice

• 2014 - The Pirates officially announced Francisco Liriano’s three-year, $39M contract, the biggest FA contract in franchise history, after Frankie passed his physical. The financial terms of the deal were: $2M signing bonus, $11M in '15, $13M in '16, $13M in '17 plus sundry bonuses. The free agent had been 2014’s opening-day pitcher for the Bucs, winning 23 games in 2013-14 for the Bucs. He went 41-36, 3.67, during his four campaigns with Pittsburgh with 659 K in 623+ IP before being moved to Toronto.
• 2015 - Pittsburgh sent RHP Charlie Morton to the Phils for minor league RHP David Whitehead. Charlie was one of the league’s better ground ball pitchers (55.3% in his career), earning him the nickname “Ground Chuck,” but was often hurt and underperformed as a Bucco, though he possessed some great stuff. In seven seasons with Pittsburgh, he went 41-62/4.39 and never made 30 starts in any single campaign. The move was made to free up some money for the 2016 season; Morton was due $8M in 2016.

12/12 Expo Park-Forbes Field Era: Bucs Get Kremer, French & Lindstrom; More Wheelin' & Dealin'; HBD Phenomenal & Clyde

• 1864 - P Phenomenal Smith was born in Philadelphia. He had a couple of brief stops in Pittsburgh in 1884 & 1890, compiling a 1-4 record. He was actually born John Francis Gammon, but got his nickname when he struck out 16 batters in a no-hit game in 1885 while pitching for minor league Newark, with no batter hitting the ball out of the infield. Only two runners reached base, one on a walk and one on a dropped third strike – and Smith picked both of them off.
• 1899 - The Pirates sold OF’er Jack McCarthy to the Chicago Orphans for $2,000. McCarthy hit .276 for Cincy in his first two campaigns and .286 as a Pirate from 1898-99. After being sold, he put in eight more big league seasons, finishing his 12-year career with a .287 BA.

Ed Konetchy 1914 cross-training at camp (photo via Deadball Era)

• 1913 - The Pirates traded P Hank Robinson, OF’ers Chief Wilson & Cozy Dolan and IF’ers Art Butler & Dots Miller to the St Louis Cardinals for P Bob Harmon, 1B Ed Konetchy and 3B Mike Mowrey. The Cards got two or three good seasons out of their new acquisitions, but the Bucs weren’t so lucky. Harmon was keeper, tossing for four seasons and going 39-52 with a 2.60 ERA. But Konetchy and Mowrey both had so-so 1914 seasons for the Pirates, skipped to the outlaw Federal League’s Pittsburgh Rebels in 1915 and then signed with different clubs in 1916.
• 1917 - C Clyde Kluttz was born in Rockwell, North Carolina. Clyde spent 1947-48 with the Pirates with a .258 BA, hitting well in his first season and not so well in the second. He had a nine-year career in the show, afterward becoming a longtime scout with the Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees. He was later director of player development of the Baltimore Orioles, serving the Birds from 1976 until his 1979 death.
• 1923 - The Pirates traded IF Spencer Adams, along with pitchers Earl Kunz and George Boehler, to the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League in exchange for RHP Ray Kremer. Kremer was a Pirate lifer, pitching from 1924-33 with a 143-85-9 slate and 3.76 ERA. The workhorse went 200+ IP and won double-digit games (hitting 20 wins twice) for eight straight years, plus was the NL ERA leader twice. Kremer went 2-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 1925 & 1927 World Series games.

Larry French 1934 Goudey

• 1928 - The Pirates bought LHP Larry French from Portland of the Pacific Coast League. From 1929-34, the knuckleballer went 87-83 with a 3.50 ERA for Pittsburgh and in a 14-year MLB career won 197 games. French, like a lot of players, joined the Navy in 1942. Unlike most, he became a career swabbie, retiring in 1969 with the rank of Captain.
• 1932 - Giant CF Freddie Lindstrom ended up a Bucco in a three-way deal. New York sent CF Chick Fullis to the Phillies. Pittsburgh sent RHP Glenn Spencer to the Giants and OF Gus Dugas to Philadelphia, who shipped OF Kiddo Davis to New York. Lindstrom hit .302 in two seasons at Pittsburgh, playing between Lloyd and Paul Waner on his road to the Hall of Fame. For the cost of two reserves, the Bucs got two years of a Hall-of-Famer.
• 1941 - The Bucs traded SS Arky Vaughan to the Brooklyn Dodgers for IF Pete Coscarart, RHP Luke Hamlin, C Babe Phelps and OF/1B Jimmy Wasdell. Only reserve infielder Coscarart stuck with the team past 1942. In ten seasons, Hall of Famer Vaughan hit .324 for Pittsburgh. He later had a couple of strong seasons for Brooklyn, then left the team and worked his ranch for three years after, according to baseball lore, a dispute with manager Leo Durocher (although his family said he ran the spread because his brother Glenn was drafted and there was no one else to do the job.) Whatever the reason, he didn’t return to baseball until 1947, after Durocher was suspended for gambling.