11/22: Roberto Drafted; Pitching Deals; Quail Released; HBD Dick, Mike, Walt & John

• 1901 - RHP Walt Tauscher was born in LaSalle, Illinois. Walt only got 23 big league appearances spread out over two seasons, 16 of them with the Pirates in 1928, earning a save and tossing to a 4.91 ERA. But Tauscher was a baseball lifer, per Wikipedia: he pitched 23 seasons in the minor leagues as both a starter and a reliever, going 263-200 in 867 games. He reached the 15-win mark seven times and the 20-win mark twice, winning a career-high 21 games in 1934. Tauscher spent 13 of his 23 seasons playing in the American Association, spending nine years with the Minneapolis Millers. Walt managed Pirates farm clubs from 1947-51 and led the Tallahassee Pirates to a Georgia-Florida League championship in 1950. He didn’t shuffle off to the locker room in the sky until he was 91. 
• 1907 - IF Dick Bartell was born in Chicago. He began his 18-year MLB career with Pittsburgh (1927-30) and hit .301 as a Bucco before being traded to the Phillies after butting heads with Pirate owner Barney Dreyfuss; his nickname was “Rowdy Richard” because of his aggressive play and jousts with management (in fact, he selected that moniker as the title of his autobiography). He added 14 more seasons to his resume afterward, missing a couple of years during WW2, and made a pair of All-Star teams.

Dick Bartell - 1991 Conlon Collection (1929 season)

• 1934 - The Pirates acquired righties Guy Bush & Big Jim Weaver (he was 6’6”), along with 1B/OF Babe Herman, from the Cubs for LHP Larry French and OF Fred Lindstrom. French ended up the main man; he pitched seven years for Chicago, winning 95 games, while Weaver was a Buc for three seasons and won 36 contests before being sold to St. Louis. Lindstrom hit .272 during his last two MLB seasons on his road to Cooperstown.
• 1935 - The Bucs swung a conditional deal w/Louisville for RHP Jack Tising, who had led the American Association in strikeouts. Alas, he lasted 10 games (six starts), slashing 1-3/4.21 with 27 whiffs in 47 IP before returning to L-Ville. He was quite the AAAA workhorse, though - he tossed in the minors from 1924-46, winning 135 games and working over 3,500 innings in 472 games. 
• 1947 - RHP John Morlan was born in Columbus, Ohio. John spent two years with the Bucs, going 2-5, 4.16 from 1973-74. He was a two-sport athlete in high school, turning down a football scholarship offered by Ohio State’s Woody Hayes and instead going to Ohio U. where he could play baseball. He was drafted four times but wanted to get his sheepskin. After graduating with a teaching degree in 1969, John finally signed with the Pirates (he was their first round pick that year, chosen fifth overall), teaching school during the off-season. He planned well to have that fall back position; after his Bucco stint, he spent three more years in the minors before leaving pro ball. 
• 1954 - The Pirates, with the first pick, selected Roberto Clemente from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 draft, signing him to a $20,000 bonus and sending $4,000 to Brooklyn based on the recommendation of scout Clyde Sukeforth. It was money well spent for a Hall-of-Fame player with 3,000 hits, four batting titles, 15 All-Star games and 12 Golden Glove awards during his Pittsburgh career. The reason he was eligible for the draft was that the Dodgers had signed him to a $10,000 bonus in February, and by the rules of the day either had to carry him for the season on their major league roster or expose him to the draft. They rolled the dice on the latter and lost. 
• 1965 - CF Bill Virdon was officially released after retiring from the Bucs to begin his managing career in the Mets system. The Quail held down center field in the spacious Forbes Field for a decade after coming over from the Cards in 1956, winning a Golden Glove and batting .266 from the one-two hole. His retirement was a bit premature; he actually got into six more games in 1968 while coaching for Larry Shepard. Virdon managed the Bucs in 1971-73, winning a division title, and later coached off-and-on during the Jim Leyland era. Bill still lends a veteran hand during camp for the Pirates. 

Mike Benjamin - 2002 Upper Deck

• 1965 - IF Mike Benjamin was born in Euclid, Ohio. He spent from 1999-2002 with Pittsburgh (Benny missed 2001 due to elbow surgery), playing every infield position while batting .239. Mike ended his 13-year MLB run after the 2002 campaign. Oddly, the light-hitting glove guy tied the major league record for most hits in two consecutive games with 10, set a major league record for most hits in three consecutive games with 14, and tied another record for most hits in four consecutive games with 15 in 1995, pretty heady stuff for a player with a .229 lifetime BA.At last check, he was coaching in the Pioneer League. 
• 2000 - The Pirates signed RHP Francisco Cordova to a new deal after passing on his $3.85M option; he signed for an undisclosed lesser base with a boatload of incentives after tossing just 95 innings in 2000 with arm woes. He never got to collect any bonus bucks; he had TJ surgery in June without working a frame and missed the year. It marked the end of his MLB career as a brief comeback try with San Diego fizzled, and he spent the rest of his career pitching in the Mexican League.

11/21 Through the 1940s: Ned, Mace, Al Deals; HBD Stan the Man, Freddie, Daryl, Billy & Alex

• 1869 - IF Billy Clingman was born in Cincinnati. Billy played in parts of 10 big league seasons for seven teams, getting his first heavy dose of duty in Pittsburgh in 1895, playing at the hot corner in 106 games with the Alleghenys while batting .259. A good glove man who hit .246 lifetime, he retired in 1903 from the show, played through 1906 in the American Association and then got on with life in Louisville, Kentucky. He owned a print shop and an engraving business called Clingman Engraving Company, retiring in 1947 and passing on in 1958. 
• 1869 - P Alex Beam (no one recalls which hand he tossed with) was born in Johnstown. He pitched two major league games with the Alleghenys as a 19-year-old in 1889, both complete game starts, going 1-1, 6.50 with a couple of extreme stats: he walked more batters (15) than he allowed to reach via a hit (11), tossed three wild pitches and struck out one foe. His minor league record disappeared after 1892 and that’s all we know of Mr. Beam until his death in 1938 in Nogales, Arizona. 

Ned Hanlon - undated photo by Tomlinson Studios

• 1888 - Pittsburgh purchased CF Ned Hanlon from the Detroit Wolverines for $2,500. Hanlon played for the Allegheny in 1889 and the Pirates in 1891; in between, he was one of many who jumped to the Players League, spending the year with the Pittsburgh Burghers. Known as the “Father of Modern Baseball” and “Foxy Ned” for his many stratagems, he began his Hall-of-Fame coaching career in Pittsburgh as the player/manager during his three-year stay in the City. He was a skipper for five teams/19 years and won five National League pennants during the pre-World Series era. 
• 1905 - OF & Hall of Famer Freddie Lindstrom was born in Chicago. Acquired from the NY Giants along with Larry French, Lindy played two seasons in Pittsburgh, hitting .302, before being sent to Chicago. Lindstrom batted .311 during a 13 year career. The Pirates got him a couple of seasons after a back injury moved him off his third base position to the outfield. 
• 1920 - Hall of Famer Stan Musial of the Cards was born in Donora. Stan the Man compiled 3,630 career hits, ranking fourth all-time and first in a career spent with only one team. With 1,815 hits at home and 1,815 on the road, he also is considered to be the most consistent hitter of his era. He hit 475 home runs, was named the NL's MVP three times, and won three World Series championship titles. He shares the MLB record for the most All-Star Games played (24) with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Musial was a first-ballot inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. 
• 1934 - The Pirates bought the contract of RHP Mace Brown from Kansas City of the American Association. It was a good deal; as a multi-role hurler (he could start, close, and do everything in between), Mace went 76-57-29/3.46 for the Bucs over seven campaigns and earned a 1938 All-Star berth with 15 wins. 
• 1935 - The Phillies sent C Al Todd to Pittsburgh for C Earl Grace, rookie RHP Claude Passeau, who worked just one game for the Pirates during the season, and what Pittsburgh Post Gazette writer Ed Ballinger called “a healthy amount of cash.” Todd caught three years for the Bucs, hitting a solid .284 before being flipped to Boston for C Ray Mueller while Grace had a couple of seasons left in the tank. Passeau, who had pitched just once for the Bucs as a rookie in 1935, was the key figure, putting up a 162-150/3.32 line during his 13-year MLB career. 

Daryl Patterson - 1974 Topps Custom

• 1943 - RHP Daryl Patterson was born in Coalinga, California. Patterson worked off-and-on for five years in MLB, closing out his career with the Pirates in 1974, going 2-1-1/7.29. He joined the club after two years in the minors and appeared in his last major league game on September 14, 1974. Patterson ended his playing days at the Pirates' AAA Charleston Charlies in 1974-75. Patterson factoid: On July 14th, 1974, he was involved in a brawl with the Cincinnati Reds where he was bitten in the neck and had his hair pulled by Cincy’s Pedro Borbón. Patterson got a tetanus shot after the incident and Borbon was dubbed “Dracula” by Pirates announcer Bob Prince.

11/21 From 1950: Hill Traded; Pops Gets Hutch; Willie & Bonds #2, Groat #3; Bragan, Cooke, Hassler Inked; Roster Wiggle; Viet Tour; HBD Kid, Bill & Brian

• 1952 - IF Bill Almon was born in Warwick, Rhode Island. Bill played in Pittsburgh from 1985-87, batting .249, before being traded to the Mets for Al Pedrique. His last season was 1988 as a Phil, his 15th MLB campaign, before he retired and joined the family business. Trivia Pursuit: Bill Almon is the only Ivy Leaguer to be drafted first overall in any of the four major professional sports. The Brown grad was selected by the San Diego Padres with the first pick of the 1974 Draft. 
• 1952 - Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Joe Black, who posted a 15-4/2.15 slash, ran away with the NL Rookie of the Year. Another pitcher, Hoyt Wilhelm of the Giants, claimed second, followed by Bucs SS Dick Groat (.284) and Braves 3B Eddie Mathews.

Bobby Bragan - phjoto via Sports Memorabilia

• 1956 - Bobby Bragan was inked to his second contract as Bucco manager after his initial one-year audition ended, and though the terms weren’t revealed, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported he had received a ”substantial raise.” Hopefully he didn’t spend it all in one place; he was relieved of duties with two months remaining in the season. Ironically, Brash Bobby’s critics said that he was a fish out of water with such a young team and was better suited to lead a veteran club, but his greatest successes as field general were claimed as a minor-league skipper. In fact, Bragan became president of the Texas League and did so well in that post that he was elected president of the National Association, the governing group of MiLB. 
• 1969 - Ken Griffey Jr. of Seattle and Cincinnati fame was born in Donora. The Kid (a childhood nickname given to keep him sorted from his dad, Ken Sr.) was a 13-time All-Star, and his 630 home runs rank as the sixth-most in MLB history. Griffey also won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field. He's tied for the record of most consecutive games with a home run (eight games, along with Don Mattingly and Dale Long). His pop, Ken Griffey Sr., was born there and was a multi-sport star at Donora HS, graduating the year before it merged with Monongahela to form Ringgold. 
• 1970 - Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince, Willie Stargell, and Mudcat Grant, along with the O’s Merv Rettemund & Ed Watt plus the Braves Phil Niekro, began a tour of troops and hospitals in Vietnam. Richie Hebner left for a visit to the war zone in December. 1973 - Pete Rose won the NL MVP, edging out Willie Stargell by a 274-250 tally. Rose took his third batting crown with a .338 mark. Stargell led the league with 44 HR, 119 RBI, and a .646 slugging percentage while batting .299. Many in Pittsburgh still believe Captain Willie wuz robbed, victimized by the Charlie Hustle mystique. 
• 1975 - RHP Brian Meadows was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He pitched for Pittsburgh from 2002-05. The Bucs converted him to a reliever in 2003, and his line with the Pirates was 8-12-2/4.20. He went on to Tampa Bay in 2006 and retired the following season after failing to make it out of camp with the Reds. 

Brian Meadows - 2005 Fleer Tradition

• 1978 - Willie Stargell won the Hutch Award for persevering through adversity with the same competitive spirit as the honor’s namesake, Fred Hutchinson. Pops had lost the majority of the 1977 campaign to injury and illness, but bounced back in ‘78 to play 122 games and hit .295 with 28 homers & 97 RBIs during the Bucs down-to-the-wire chase of the Phillies. Captain Willie was the first Pirate to win the award, followed by Don Robinson (1984), Rick Reuschel (1985) and Sid Bream (1990). 
• 1979 - Free agent LHP Andy Hassler signed a six-year/$750K (+$25K bonus money available annually) contract with the Bucs. It was much ado about nothing for the Pirates. They sold the hurler in June after just six outings and a 3.86 ERA to California, where he strung together three solid campaigns with the Halos. He mostly struggled his last three seasons with the Angels & Cards, retiring after the deal expired. 1991 - The Brave's 3B Terry Pendleton, who hit .319 with 22 HR and 86 RBI, won the NL MVP over Barry Bonds, who hit .292, with 25 HR & 116 RBI by a 274-259 point count. Bobby Bonilla came in third and was thought to have split Bond's vote, leading to Barry’s somewhat surprising runner up finish. 
• 1996 - The Pirates took a low-risk flyer on LHP Steve Cooke, signing him for a one-year/$175K contract. Due to shoulder injuries, he had made only three MLB appearances in 1995-96. He did give them about league average performance in 1997, going 9-15/4.30, but was released at the end of the year and pitched just one more game in 1998 for Cincinnati to end his big league career. Cooke was 10-10/3.80 w/200+ IP in his rookie campaign of 1993 and looked like a potential rotation mainstay, but never enjoyed a healthy season afterwards. 
• 2002 - The Pirates added 2B Pat Meares and LHP David Williams to the 40-man roster from the 60-day IL, along with minor leaguers C Ryan Doumit, SS Jose Castillo, RHP Bobby Bradley and OF Walter Young. To make room, they released OF Armando Rios and DFA’ed LHP John Grabow, with OF Adrian Brown having been freed earlier. The shake and bake wasn’t quite over: Meares ended up back on the 60-day DL, with his career finished, while Grabow was re-signed and debuted in 2003. 

Bobby Hill - 2005 Topps Total

• 2005 - The Pirates sent 2B Bobby Hill, part of the ill-fated salary-dump deal with Chicago that made Aramis Ramirez a Cub, to San Diego for RHP Clayton Hamilton, a Beaver Falls native who went to Blackhawk HS and Penn State. Clayton never made it to the majors, although he did work a season or two in Japan. It was a wash; Hill, who been DFA’ed three days before the trade, never made another MLB appearance. 
• 2011 - The Pirates signed ex-Astros’ SS Clint Barmes to a two-year/$10.5M free agent deal, their first $10M+ free agent deal since they signed Steve Buechele in 1991. Barmes ended the Ronny Cedeno experiment, and they re-signed him in 2014 as a back-up after he had played 252 games in his first two campaigns as the bridge to Jordy Mercer. Barmes, a popular and respected clubhouse guy, tutored the young Mercer to make the transition painless. He lived up to his glovely rep with a +26 DRS (good thing; he only hit .224 as a Bucco), and gave the breakout Bucs an identity when made his walk up song “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, which became that club’s “We Are Family” 2013 variation on a theme as they finally broke their 20-year losing streak and made the playoffs. When he first returned to PNC Park as a Padre in 2015, he was greeted by the song and an ovation. Clint retired in 2016 after a 13-year MLB run.

11/20 Through the 1980s: Leyland Signs; Stu Trade; Law, Maz AS; Big Daddy Comeback Player; Joe Re-ups, Roy Resigns; HBD Jeff, Pinch, John

• 1880 - SS George “Pinch” McBride was born in Milwaukee. McBride put together a 16-year career, mainly with the Senators, but one of his early stopping points was in Pittsburgh in 1905, where as Honus Wagner’s sub, he hit .218 in 27 games (also his lifetime BA; George was a good field, bad hit SS) before being sent to St Louis for Dave Brain in July. Despite that sickly average, he earned his nickname because of his ability to hit in a pinch. McBride spent his final couple of years in Washington as a player/coach and was rewarded with the skipper’s job in 1921, but only lasted one season due to an odd injury - he was conked by a ball thrown by an OF’er during warm-ups and suffered dizzy spells the rest of the year. He resigned and left baseball until 1925, coached for a while and then retired for good, living to the ripe old age of 92. 

Pinch McBride - 1905 Chicago Daily News/History Museum

• 1887 - RHP John Scheneberg was born in Guyandotte, West Virginia. John got his only major league start in 1913, going six innings for the Bucs and giving up four earned runs (five overall) on 10 hits to take the loss. He got one more big league outing as a St. Louis Browns reliever in 1920, getting shelled for seven runs in two frames. John nevertheless had a long pro career, working from 1910-21 with time off during the war, and had better success on the farm, going 12-0 in 14 games for Class D Paris (Kentucky) in 1911 and winning 19 games for Joplin of the Western League in 1920. 
• 1950 - Pirates GM Roy Hamey resigned and was replaced by Branch Rickey. Hamey was a NY Yankee baseball exec who got his first GM gig in Pittsburgh in 1946. He hired Billy Meyer to manage and added players Tiny Bonham, Bob Chesnes and Hank Greenberg to go with holdover Ralph Kiner. What he didn’t develop was a farm system to stock a team lacking in depth, Rickey’s forte. Rickey would falter too, but his minor league spadework helped his 1955 replacement, Joe Brown, build the successful late-50s & 60s Pirates. 
• 1956 - 38-year-old GM Joe Brown was given a new contract after he had engineered a bit of a buzz both on the field and at the gate for the Pirates in his first campaign behind the wheel. Terms weren’t leaked, but Brown told reporters “I’ll be around for awhile” when quizzed on the length of the deal. He sure enough was; Joe lasted from 1956-76 and came back in 1985 to help transition a franchise that had sprung several leaks. 
• 1960 - RHP Vern Law and 2B Bill Mazeroski were named to The Sporting News MLB All-Star team, selected by the Baseball Writers of America Association. The NL continued to be well represented by winning eight of the team’s 11 spots. 
• 1962 - The Pirates traded 1B Dick Stuart and P Jack Lamabe to the Boston Red Sox for P Don Schwall and C Jim Pagliaroni. Pags appeared in 490 games over the next five years for the Bucs, batting .254 while Schwall became a multi-role pitcher, tossing four years for Pittsburgh with a 22-23-4/3.24 ERA. Stu hit 103 homers in the next three seasons and then faded away, while Lamabe lasted six more seasons in the show, with strong campaigns in 1966-67. 

Don Schwall - 1978 TCMA 60's series

• 1985 - 36 year old Rick Reuschel was named the NL’s Major League Comeback Player of the Year by United Press International. Reuschel went 14-8/2.27, starting the year with Hawaii in the Pacific Coast League after signing as a free agent with Pittsburgh in February. Rick went on to win 71 more games in the next five seasons with the Bucs and Giants before running out of gas and hanging up the spikes in 1991. 
• 1985 - Syd Thrift hired Jim Leyland to manage the Pirates, replacing Chuck Tanner after a 57-104 finish in ‘85. During his Pirate era of 1986 to 1996, Leyland won two Manager of the Year awards (1990 & 1992), finished as runner-up in 1988 and 1991, and led the team to three divisional titles (1990-92). 
• 1987 - LHP Jeff Locke was born in North Conway, New Hampshire. He joined the Bucs in 2009 as part of Nate McLouth’s trade, and the Redstone Rocket (nicknamed by a local paper, Redstone is his home neighborhood, and Jeff had a mean HS fastball, along with the timely association of NASA’s moon-launch from a Redstone Rocket) made his MLB debut in 2011, joining the rotation full time in 2013 and earning an All-Star berth that season. He was DFA’ed in 2016, tossed for Miami, and has sat out the past two seasons after a shoulder injury.

11/20 From 1990: King, Bell Rumors; JR Staff; Creech Hired; Roster Moves

• 1995 - The Pirates lost OF Micah Franklin and reliever Jeff McCurry to the Tigers via waiver claims and DFA’ed pitchers Rick White, Dennis Konuszewski and Gary Wilson to AAA Calgary. They added C Jason Kendall, OF’s Jermaine Allenworth, Trey Beamon and Charles Peterson to the 40-man. Later, they re-signed White, but he had arm surgery and missed the year. As it ended up, Kendall was the only true keeper; he debuted in April, got into 130 games and batted .300. 

Jason Kendall - 1994-95 Fleer Excel

• 1996 - The Bucs made a flurry of moves to set their 40-man roster. They added nine guys: OFs Adrian Brown, Jose Guillen & TJ Staton; IFs Jeff Cromer & Lou Collier and Ps Kane Davis, John Dillinger, Jeff Kelly & Jose Pett, none of whom ever stood out for Pittsburgh. There was also some addition by subtraction: IF Nelson Liriano was taken by the Dodgers (which had also snagged John Wehner a month earlier) and P Marc Pisciotta, who was lost to the Cubs, after being waived. Also in the air: rumors were flying that Jeff King and Jay Bell were being dangled (the Indians and O's were early frontrunners), and tho the teams involved were off, the rumors were right as they were both dealt to KC in December. 
• 2001 - The Pirates hired Ed Creech away from the Dodgers (he also worked for the Expos and Cards) and made him their new scouting director, taking over for Mickey White. He held that role until October of 2007, when the Pirates under Neil Huntington began to make their housekeeping changes (he was replaced by Greg Smith) and Ed moved on to the Giants. 
• 2003 - The Pirates added pitchers Sean Burnett, Mike Johnston, John Van Benschoten and Ian Oquendo (Ian Snell), their minor league Pitcher of the Year, to their 40-man roster after losing pitchers Duaner Sanchez and Matt Guerrier, along w/OF Walter Young, on waivers. The shuffling left the roster at 37 players. 
• 2007 - Newly hired manager John Russell started to put together his staff, naming Tony Beasley third base coach, Gary Varsho bench coach and Luis Dorante bullpen coach. He later added Jeff Andrews as pitching coach, Don Long as batting coach and Lou Frazier as the first base coach to complete his first staff. 
• 2018 - The Pirates sent RHP Tanner Anderson to Oakland for a PTBNL (RHP Wilkin Ramos). Anderson, 25, was a Harvard grad and had a six-game audition with the Pirates in 2018, going 1-0/6.35, with solid farm stats and a 60% ground ball rate. He was considered a potential mid-inning arm for the pen, but was caught in a 40-man roster churn and moved so the Bucs could add four pups to the list. He didn’t impress in Oakland and was DFA’ed in late 2019; he pitched some indie ball in 2020. Ramos was an 18-year-old lotto ticket, having pitched in the Dominican but not stateside as of the deal. He tossed very little in 2019, trying to work through a bum elbow, and was a non-camp minor leaguer in 2020 at last check. 

Ke'Bryan Hayes - 2019 Bowman Refractor

• 2019 - The Pirates added 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes, SS Oneil Cruz, 1B/OF Will Craig, and RHP's Blake Cederlind & Cody Ponce to the 40-man roster. They DFA'ed pitchers Dario Agrazal, Montana DuRapau, Luis Escobar and Williams Jerez to reach the 40-man limit. There was a lot of churn; the Pirates had eight players on the 60-day IL to restore (RHP Chris Archer, RHP Nick Burdi, RHP Kyle Crick, RHP Chad Kuhl, OF Jason Martin, OF Gregory Polanco, RHP Edgar Santana, RHP Jameson Taillon), and so prior to these moves, they let LHP Frankie Liriano, OF Melky Cabrera & OF/3B Lonnie Chisenhall walk, outrighted RHP James Marvel, RHP Alex McRae, RHP Yefry Ramirez, LHP Wei-Chung Wang, C Steven Baron, IF/OF Jake Elmore, IF Corban Joseph and sold RHP Parker Markel to the Angels.

11/19 Through the 1940s: HBD's: Bobby, Manny, Don, Uncle Al, Billys, Stu, Denny & Elmer

• 1847 - Albert G. Pratt, nicknamed "Uncle Al," was born in Pittsburgh (actually, he was from Allegheny City, now the North Side). Pratt was a pitcher who played for three top flight Pittsburgh indy teams, the Enterprise Club, The Allegheny Club and the Xanthus. The Civil War vet also tossed a couple of years for the professional Cleveland Forest Citys and then umpired afterward, but is best remembered locally as the skipper of the first major league club in Pittsburgh, the Allegheny, which joined the American Association in 1882. Uncle Al managed the club from 1882-83, going 51-56. He was also an organizer of the Union Association, and a part owner of the National League Pittsburgh club in 1890 during the Players League revolt. Uncle Al's biggest moment in history came on May 4th, 1871. In front of 200 paying customers, Pratt pitched in the first contest of the National Association, baseball's initial pro circuit. His Forest City nine lost 2-0 to Fort Wayne. He got his nickname, per Frederick Lieb, author of 1948's "The Pittsburgh Pirates," because of the affection the Pirates' rooters had for him.

Al Pratt - image via the Baseball Page

• 1855 - LHP Denny Driscoll was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He tossed for four big league campaigns with a pair as an Allegheny sandwiched in the middle. He led the American Association with a 1.21 ERA in 1882 for Pittsburgh and was the opening day starter in ‘83. But after spinning over 530 IP for the North Siders, he worked barely 100 frames and made just 13 starts for Louisville the next year. He didn’t pitch in 1885 and there would be no comeback as he passed away at the age of 30 from consumption in ‘86. 
• 1862 - OF Billy Sunday was born in Ames, Iowa. Sunday spent three seasons (1888-90) with the Alleghenys before being traded for two players and $1,100 as an early salary dump because the team was broke. He was a flashy outfielder and speedster, supposedly the fastest player of his era, but hit just .243 for Pittsburgh. His true calling was as an evangelical preacher, and from the turn of the century until his death in 1935 he was renown for preaching non-denominational Christianity across the country. He used his reputation as a ballplayer to promote his tent revivals during his early years of spreading the Good Word. 
• 1895 - OF Billy Zitzmann was born in Long Island City (Queens county, New York). He began his six-year MLB run with 11 games for the Bucs in 1919, going 5-for-26 (.192). Billy last appeared in the show in 1929 for the Reds, the only other big league he played for over the rest of his career. He didn’t get the game out of his system until 1937, retiring at the age of 41 as a player/manager, though he did take a couple of lengthy breaks in between campaigns. 
• 1904 - RHP Elmer Tutwiler was born in Carbon Hill, Alabama. Elmer’s MLB resume consists of two games with the 1928 Pirates, during which he gave up a pair of runs in 3-2/3 IP. The 23-year-old was sent to the Southeastern League, and then spun his final four campaigns in the Western League, stepping off the rubber after the 1932 campaign. 
• 1912 - IF Stu Martin was born in Rich Square,North Carolina. He got his start with Cardinals, earning an All-Star spot, and was sold to the Pirates for the 1941-42 campaigns after his stick began to wear down. He bounced back to hit .305, but struggled in ‘42, was sent to the minors and played his last season for the Cubs. He missed 1944-45 as a member of the Navy and like many guys who went to the service, Stu never made it back to the show but spent the rest of his days in the minors. Martin retired after the 1948 season after three years as a player/manager. The decision was easy after he was beaned by Whitey Ford, who was a Class D pitcher at the time, costing him six weeks of his final campaign. 

Don Leppert - 1962 Topps

• 1931 - C/coach Don Leppert was born in Indianapolis. Don made his MLB debut with the Bucs in 1961-62, catching 48 games (he appeared in 65) and hitting .266 before he was traded to Washington where he spent two more years (he was a 1963 All-Star) to play out his big league time. After he retired in 1966, Leppert managed a year in the minors for Pittsburgh and then was a Pirates MLB coach for nine more years. He also worked for Toronto, Houston and the Minnesota Twins. Fun fact: On June 18th, 1961, Leppert homered in the second inning of his MLB debut against the Cards’ Curt Simmons on the first pitch he saw as a major leaguer. 
• 1938 - OF Manny Jimenez was born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Manny was a solid minor league hitter and in parts of seven big league campaigns hit a respectable .272, but had a tough big-league row to hoe as a corner OF’er with an average glove and little power. He played for the Pirates in 1967-68, hitting .279, and he was sent to the Cubs for Chuck Hartenstein. 
• 1945 - OF Bobby Tolan was born in Los Angeles. Bobby spent 13 years in the show and made a brief stop near the end of his big league trail in Pittsburgh. He hit .203 in 49 games during 1977 after being released in June by Philadelphia. He spent 1978 in Japan and came back for 25 games with San Diego in ‘79 before hangin’ up the spikes.

11/19 From 1960: Groat, Lind Dealt; Awards Runaway; Roster Rummage; Good Guy Willie; Mickey to Sens; Money Trap; HBD Jonathan

• 1960 - Mickey Vernon was plucked from Danny Murtaugh’s staff to become coach of the expansion Washington Senators. It was a homecoming for Mickey, who had played 14 years in DC and won a pair of batting crowns as a Senator. He managed there from 1961-63, with a career record of 135–227. He returned to coach for the Pirates in 1964 and was a baseball nomad afterward, coaching for St. Louis, Los Angeles, Montreal and the Yankees. He managed at the AAA and AA levels of the minor leagues and served as a batting instructor in the Royals and Yankees' farm systems before retiring from baseball. 
• 1962 - Dick Groat was traded with P Diomedes Olivo to the St. Louis Cardinals for P Don Cardwell and IF Julio Gotay. Groat played five more years, making two All-Star teams, finishing second in the MVP vote in 1963, and won another World Series. Traded as part of a Joe Brown youth movement, Groat anticipated the deal but wasn't happy about it - he was born in Wilkinsburg - and didn’t associate with the team again until a 1990 reunion of the 1960 World Series Championship team.

Dick Groat left home - Post Gazette file photo 11/20/1962

• 1979 - Willie Stargell was recognized as a “Good Guy” at a luncheon in the Hilton by Gordon’s Gin Company, which presented him with a $10,000 check to fight Sickle Cell Anemia and sponsored a 12-city tour to raise funds and awareness regarding the disease. Among the speakers at his soiree were Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy and Pittsburgh Mayor Dick Caligiuri. Willie had his wife Delores with him; that seemed only fair, as it was their 13th wedding anniversary. 
• 1982 - LHP Jonathan Sanchez was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The lefty was a non-roster invite to camp in 2013 but when the team headed north, he had landed the #4 spot in the rotation. But what happens in Florida stayed in Florida in his case - he was rocked for seven HR in 13-⅔ IP (0-3, 11.85) and after his appeal of a six-day suspension for hitting Allen Craig was denied in late April, he was done in Pittsburgh and MLB. Sanchez had a strong 2010 campaign for the Giants but couldn’t follow up during his final three seasons, giving up 124 ERs in 180 IP on 187 hits, of which 27 left the yard, and 127 walks. He has since signed minor league deals with the Dodgers, Cubs, Reds and Royals, last pitching in the US in 2014, while working in the winter leagues. 
• 1986 - Pirates president Malcolm Prine refused to divulge how much the Pirates had lost during the year, just saying that it was “...less than in the prior period...” when the Galbreaths owned the club, citing an ongoing audit. However, reportedly the Pirates lost $8M in 1985 and $10M in 1986, which was a big deal. The Bucs were under their first year of public-private ownership and started the year with $24M to play with from the investors; if the team burned through that before five years were up, the TRS lease could be invalidated and the team would be free to move on to greener pastures. Spoiler alert: they would somehow muddle through. 
• 1990 - LF Barry Bonds won the NL MVP in a runaway by taking the top spot on 23 of the 24 ballots cast to top teammate and runner-up Bobby Bonilla (.280/32/120). Bonds hit .301 with 23 HR, 114 RBI, and had 52 stolen bases. The All-Star duo led the Pirates to 95 wins and a first place finish in the NL East, but Pittsburgh lost to the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS. His victory gave the Pirates a clean sweep of the top NL individual honors, though, with MVP Bonds, Cy Young winner Doug Drabek and Manager of the Year Jimmy Leyland. 

Adios Chico - 1992 O-Pee-Chee

• 1992 - The Pirates traded 2B Jose Lind to the KC Royals for LHP Dennis Moeller and RHP Joel Johnston. Chico was beset with personal problems and was out of baseball after the 1995 season. Johnston, once the Royals top prospect, had a solid 1993 season (2-4-2/3.38) but quickly faded and tossed his last MLB game in 1995; Moeller made 10 appearances in Pittsburgh (1-0/9.92) and those were his last big league outings. 
• 2004 - The Pirates released vet IF Abraham Nunez along with OF JJ Davis (who was eventually traded to Washington), OF Tony Alvarez and 1B Carlos Garcia. They added seven youngsters to the 40-man: OF’s Nate McLouth, Rajai Davis & Chris Duffy; P’s Jeff Miller, Leo Nunez and Matt Peterson, and 1B Brad “Big Country” Eldred. They had earlier released pitcher Nelson Figueroa while hurlers Jason Boyd, Mark Corey, Jim Mann & Pat Mahomes all became free agents. 
• 2010 - The Pirates DFA’ed LHP Zach Duke, 3B Andy LaRoche and IF Delwin Young to clear 40-man roster space for pitchers Michael Crotta, Jeff Locke, Kyle McPherson, Tony Watson and Daniel Moskos.

11/18 Through the 1940s: Pgh Joins NL; Hopp/Murtaugh Deal; Kiner in Dust; Original Reserve Rule Suit; HBD Rocky, Gene, Curt, Jim, Bill & Roy

• 1882 - The case of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys versus C Charlie Bennett was decided. Prior to the 1882 season, Allegheny gave Bennett $100 to sign an agreement binding him to a future 1883 contract with the club. Instead, Bennett re-signed with the Detroit Wolverines. The Western Pennsylvania District Court ruled in Bennett’s favor for several reasons, including restraint of trade and the lack of a concrete ‘83 contract agreed to by the parties. His case later was cited during the fight over the reserve rule during the 1889-1890 Players League battle. He played for the Wolverines for eight seasons, and they named their stadium after him. Charlie is also credited with the first chest protector; his was a cork-lined vest he wore under his jersey. Sadly, Bennett lost a foot and most of his other leg in 1894 when he was run over by a train. The accident ended his ball playing days; he ran a cigar store afterward. Detroit still loved him; he threw out the first pitch on Opening Day for 30 straight years. 

1887 Alleghenys, the original NL squad - Charles Gross postcard

• 1886 - The NL officially admitted the Alleghenys, who became the first franchise to jump from the American Association. The club made a reported profit of $160,000 in 1886 (per Wikipedia) and finished second in the AA, making the decision a no-brainer for the NL, which had a pair of franchises to replace. The 1887 Pittsburgh Alleghenys finished sixth in their first NL campaign with a 55-69 record. They played at Recreation Park that year and became unofficially known as the Pirates a few seasons later in 1891. (There was a season in 1890 when they were referred to as the “Innocents” because in the eyes of the local media, they played as if they were children who had never had seen a baseball, but Lou Bierbauer’s “piracy” changed that tag quickly enough). The Bucs, btw, date their history from their entrance into the NL, although the Alleghenys formed in 1882 and played in the American Association, a rival league that was considered to be major league at the time, with the two champions playing each other in the postseason from 1884-90 in loosely organized, albeit unofficial title bouts. 
• 1896 - RHP Bill Hughes was born in Philadelphia. Bill got to toss just two MLB frames, working as a Bucco on September 15th, 1921 and giving up a run with two whiffs. But Hughes made his living as a mound workhorse despite his lack of big league time. He pitched for 20 minor league seasons for 11 teams from 1920-39, winning 302 games while taking the bump for 761 outings and 4,803-2/3 IP. Bill won 20 games or more twice and notched double-digit wins in 18 of his 20 farm campaigns before retiring at the age of 42. 
• 1923 - RHP Roy Wise was born in Springfield, Illinois. The 20-year-old Wise worked three innings in two outings on back-to-back days in May with the Bucs in 1944. He gave up three runs on four hits with three walks and a whiff as his big league stat line. Wise was sent to Albany and appears to have continued his career in the Minnesota semi-pro leagues, a pretty active scene for town-based baseball in the late 40’s and 50’s. 
• 1924 - 1B Glenn “Rocky” Nelson was born in Portsmouth, Ohio. He got a cup of coffee with Pittsburgh in 1951, left and then later returned to platoon with Dick Stuart from 1959-61. He hit .270 as a Pirate, and in the 1960 World Series went 3-for-9 with a Game Seven homer and two RBI. Rocky may have been a MLB journeyman, but he was a minor league terror. In 1958, Nelson was voted the International League’s MVP after winning the triple crown while a Toronto Maple Leaf. He was inducted into the IL Hall of Fame and later into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He earned his nickname the hard way according to SABR: while in the St. Louis Cardinals training camp, Whitey Kurowski bounced a ball off Nelson's noggin during a pepper game without effect and then added insult to injury by afterward anointing him Rocky after the misadventure. 
• 1925 - Gene Mauch, long time MLB manager, was born in Salina, Kansas. He made a brief stop in Pittsburgh in 1947 as a 21-year-old infielder, batting .300 in 16 games after serving in the military for two years and spending another season in the Dodger farm system. His claim to fame was as a big league skipper/small ball advocate who won over 1,900 games (he lost over 2,000 times, too), though never claiming a pennant - his clubs finished one game shy of the flag three times during his four-team managing career that lasted from 1960-87. 

Curt Raydon - 1959 Topps

• 1933 - RHP Curt Raydon was born in Bloomington, Indiana. Raydon had a strong 8-4/3.62 line in his 1958 rookie season, but never pitched in the show again. He came up with a sore arm after the campaign and was only able to toss 15 AAA games in 1959. In spring training of the following season, his arm pain continued, so Curt gave up baseball and became a policeman; we assume he learned to twirl his nightstick as a lefty. 
• 1943 - LHP Jim Shellenback was born in Riverside, California. He was a seldom used reliever for the Pirates from 1966-67 and 1969, slashing 1-1-2/3.35 in 16 outings. He put together a nine-year career with some solid seasons for the Washington Senators, and afterward became a long-time minor league pitching coach for the Twins organization. 
• 1947 - The Bucs traded for 1B Johnny Hopp and 2B Danny Murtaugh, sending the Boston Braves C Bill Salkeld‚ P Al Lyons‚ and OF Jim Russell. Hopp played three years for the Pirates, hitting .310 but providing little power as a first baseman. Murtaugh’s career was stronger as a manager than player, but he started full-time around the infield in 1948, hitting .290, before finishing his playing career as a Bucco reserve in 1951. 1949 - Despite hitting .310 with a league-leading 54 HR and 127 RBI, Ralph Kiner finished fourth in the NL MVP balloting as Jackie Robinson, Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter won, placed and showed.

11/18 From 1960: Giles-for-Rincon; Russ Signs; Bay, Gonzo All-Rookie; Roster & Expansion Moves; J-Hay, Clint Honored; HBD Jamo & Mark

• 1965 - RHP Mark Petkovsek was born in Beaumont, Texas. A 1987 first-round pick of the Rangers in 1987, he came to the Bucs as a free agent in 1992. He spent a year at Indianapolis, then got a shot at the big club in 1993. Petko went 3-0 in 26 outings from the pen (he had been used as a starter prior to the call-up) but posted a 6.96 ERA/1.608 WHIP and was released after the year. Petkovsek came back with the Cards in ‘95 and tossed through the 2001 campaign, closing it out where he began with the Rangers.  

Brett made the cut - 1988 Fleer

• 1988 - The Pirates filled their 40-man roster to the brim by adding minor league pitchers Stan Belinda, Brett Gideon, Willie Smith & Mike Walker, OF’s Moise Alou & Jeff Cook and 3B Jeff King. To clear space, they released IF Al Pedrique & RHP Dave Johnson and sent RHP Vicente Palacios, who had August rotator cuff surgery, to AAA Buffalo. Also off the roster were recently declared free agents RHP Bob Walk, OF Gary Redus and LHP Dave LaPoint. It was the last day to set the roster before the minor league draft. They also named Cam Bonifay Director of Scouting; in five years, he would end up as GM. 
• 1991 - RHP Jameson Taillon was born in Lakeland, Florida. The high school righty was the second pick of the 2010 draft behind Bryce Harper after the Pirates FO debated on whether to select Jamo or Manny Machado. JT zoomed through the minors, and the Pirates had him slated for a 2014 debut. Instead, he had TJ surgery, followed by a sports hernia operation. Despite missing all of 2014-15, he arrived in Pittsburgh on June 8th, 2016, and claimed a spot in the rotation. 2017 continued his rocky physical road as he fought off cancer, but still put together a line of 8-7/4.44 in 25 starts. He broke out in 2018 after a slow start, going 14-10/3.20 with a streak of 22 starts giving up three earned runs or fewer starting on May 27th and running through the end of the year. But he got off to a slow start in 2019, and with good reason - he required another TJ surgery, and missed 2020. 
• 1992 - The Pirates began to clean up their 40-man roster and simultaneously cut salaries in a three-day frenzy. The first to be set free were RHP Vicente Palacios, who joined the Padres, and OF Gary Varsho, who inked a deal with the Reds. The Bucs then released OF Cecil Espy (Cincy took him, too) and RHP Roger Mason, who signed with the Mets, the next day. LHP Bob Patterson was given the Friday heave-ho, landing with the Rangers. They were among the dozen 1992 Buccos to date who found a new address via the expansion draft, free agency, trade or release. 
• 1997 - The Pirates lost P Jason Johnson to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays while P Clint Sodowsky and 3B Joe “The Joker” Randa went to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the expansion draft. Randa returned to the Pirate fold for his last MLB season in 2006, while rookie Johnson tossed 10 MLB seasons (albeit only one with an ERA south of 4.00) and Sodowsky worked one full campaign and three games in 1999 to finish his stay in the show. 
• 1998 - The Bucs sent LHP Ricardo Rincon to the Tribe for OF Brian Giles. In five campaigns with the Pirates, Giles would put up a line of .308/.426/.591 with 165 HR and 426 RBI and was twice named to the All-Star team. That deal began a chain reaction of swaps that eventually led to the Pirates acquiring Jason Bay, Ollie Perez, Xavier Nady, Jose Tabata, Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf, Daniel McCutchen and Bryan Morris; the trade tree grew when Connor Joe, who was selected as a draft pick obtained by Morris’ trade, was sent to Tampa for Sean Rodriguez before it finally quit bearing fruit. 

Brian Giles - 1999 Pacific Revolution

• 1999 - The Pirates shuffled the 40-man roster a bit, adding RHP Bronson Arroyo, C Humberto Cota, OF Tike Redman and IF Rico Washington to the list and DFA’ing pitchers Greg Hansell & Javier Martinez, along w/OF Ray Montgomery, to clear space. 
• 2004 - OF Jason Bay and LHP Mike Gonzalez were named to the manager-selected Topps MLB Rookie Team. Bay was on a roll; he had already won the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award after hitting .282 with 26 homers despite missing the early weeks of the season with a bad shoulder. Gonzo went 3-1-1/1.25 with 55 whiffs in 43-1/3 IP, appearing in 47 games after a late May call up from AAA Nashville. 
• 2011 - The Pirates added a half-dozen ball players to their 40-man roster. OF Starling Marte & SS Jordy Mercer became starters while LHPs Justin Wilson & Rudy Owens were rostered and eventually flipped to other clubs for C Francisco Cervelli and LHP Wandy Rodriguez. Two lesser lights moved to the list were RHP Duke Welker, who was part of the 1B Justin Morneau trade, and Matt Hague, who was waived after the 2014 season after hitting .222 as a Bucco. Duke tossed for the Giants AAA club in 2016 in his last stop while Hague last played in the Nats’ organization in 2018. 
• 2014 - Free agent C Russ Martin officially signed a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays after spending two playoff years behind the dish for the Bucs. Born in Toronto, it was a homecoming for the 31-year-old Martin, sweetened by a five-year, $82M contract. He played for the Dodgers in 2019 and is again a FA. 
• 2014 - Manager Clint Hurdle was given the Brooks Robinson Community Service Award and All-Star Josh Harrison was named the MLB recipient of the Heart and Hustle Award at the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) 15th annual Legends for Youth Dinner. Hurdle was recognized for his work with the Prader-Willi Association, while Harrison’s award was given to “an active player who demonstrates a passion for the game and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of baseball.” 

J-Hay, Heart & Hustle - 2014 Topps Heritage

• 2019 - Ben Cherington, whose appointment had been leaked earlier as Neil Huntington’s replacement, was officially named as the Pirates GM. Cherington told the media “I have always appreciated the passion of Pittsburgh sports fans...Pittsburgh is the ideal opportunity for me, and the only one I was interested in exploring. The four pillars that will drive our success are elite talent identification, acquisition, development and deployment.” And so started the second chapter of the Bob Nutting era, this one driven by Cherington/Travis Williams, after the original 2007 Huntington/Frank Coonelly tandem had faltered.

11/17 Through the 1980s: Red Lucas Trade; HBD Orlando, Tom, Jim, Ty, Jack & Don

• 1884 - 1B Jack Kading was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Jack got into eight games for the 1910 Pirates, batting .304 in 29 at-bats, and that was his biggest bite of the MLB pie. He also played a couple of years for Chicago of the Federal League. Jack served most of his five-year minor league career locally in the Canadian and Minnesota-Wisconsin Leagues, leaving baseball after 1914 at age 29 and returning to Waukesha. 
• 1892 - OF Don Flinn was born in Bluff Dale, Texas. Flinn played pro ball for a decade from 1914-26 with a couple of breaks, but his only big league time came with the Pirates in 1917 when he hit .297 in 14 games. He was a good hitter, amassing a .330 BA in a variety of southern leagues (five seasons in the Texas League) but still only got two part-time shots at the Class A and MLB level before racking the bat for the last time at age 33 in 1926. 

Red Lucas - 1938 George Burke photo

• 1933 - The Pirates traded OF Adam Comorosky and 2B Tony Piet to the Reds for RHP Red Lucas and OF Wally Roettger. Lucas was the key player. He lasted five seasons in Pittsburgh, going 47-32/3.77 and making 96 starts. After the trade, Lucas never lost a game against his old Cincinnati mates, going 14-0 against them during the remainder of his career. Red went 15-4 in 1936 with a 3.18 ERA in his top Bucco campaign and was also handy off the bench with a stick (he started his minor league career in the OF), posting a career .281 BA. Red’s nickname, "The Nashville Narcissus," was coined by Colonel Bob Newhall, a reporter for the old Cincinnati Tribune, who thought the young pitcher who was raised in Nashville was a blooming baseball beauty per SABR. 
• 1933 - RHP Orlando Pena was born in Victoria de Las Tunas, Cuba. He tossed for parts of 14 big league seasons, getting into 23 games and posting a 2-1-2/4.78 slash as a 36-year-old for the Pirates. When Pittsburgh picked him up, he was the Royals BP pitcher and had been out of the majors since 1967. But he had a big-time angel: Roberto Clemente had seen him play in the Caribbean Series and in the spring, liked his stuff and recommended him to Joe Brown. Orlando was eventually released in August and picked up by Baltimore; he hung around through the 1975 campaign, tossing for three teams with a line of 10-10-11/2.70 in that span. He scouted for the Tigers and then the White Sox through the 1990s and is a member of the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame. 
• 1947 - RHP Tom Dettore was born in Canonsburg. Tom tossed one year for the Bucs in 1973, putting up an 0-1/5.96 line and pitched the next three seasons for the Cubs. After his playing days, Dettore was a pitching coach in the Pirates minor league system (1988-95) before becoming the Pirates minor league pitching coordinator through 1998. 
• 1974 - RHP Jim Mann was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. He got into 25 MLB games in four seasons; his last two were as a Bucco in 2003, giving up two runs in 1-2/3 IP. Afterward, he was a AAA guy for Pittsburgh, the Yankees and Boston before spending his last three seasons (2005-07) in the indie leagues. 

Ty Taubenheim - 2008 photo Joe Robbins/Getty

• 1982 - RHP Ty Taubenheim was born in Bellingham, Washington. The Bucs picked Ty up from Toronto in the 2007 off season; he got one start in 2008, his last in the majors, and it was a good outing. He didn’t get the decision, but went six innings of two-run ball in an eventual 4-3 win over Tampa. The Bucs released him in early September, and he continued through 2010 in the minors and with a Mexican Winter League stint before stepping off the rubber for the last time.