2/19: AJ Deal; Simon Signs; '83 Camp Backstories; Roberto Signs w/Dodgers; HBD Stewie, The Poet, Dana, Chris & Home Run Joe

• 1876 - Utilityman “Home Run Joe” Marshall was born in Audubon, Minnesota. A prodigious slugger in the lower levels - he once bashed 26 long balls, a huge number in the dead ball era - his power never translated into the show. He got a brief look in Pittsburgh in 1903, getting into 10 games and hitting .261 with a double and two triples, but no dingers, then another lengthier chance with the Cards in 1906, but again w/no homers. Joe did play 17 pro seasons before retiring in 1913 and worked a variety of jobs afterward - ump, clerk, & miner were all on his resume - until he passed away at age 55. 
• 1944 - RHP Chris Zachary was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. Chris closed out his nine-year, five-team MLB stay in 1973 with the Pirates, arriving in a trade with the Tigers for C Charlie Sands. He went 0-1-1, 3.00, in six outings from the pen after spending most of the year at AAA Charleston as a starter. Following the season, he was swapped to the Phils for 1B Pete Koegel, played a year of AAA ball and retired. Chris went on to run a horse farm and was recognized as a member of the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame. 

Roberto in 1956 - photo Sports Illustrated

• 1954 - 19-year-old Roberto Clemente signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers for one year at $5,000 with a $10,000 signing bonus. The Dodgers got his John Doe in competition with the NY Yankees, NY Giants and Milwaukee Braves, which made a larger offer but dangled it after Clemente had already signed on with Brooklyn. It was a pyrrhic victory as the Bucs claimed Roberto in November’s 1954 Rule 5 Draft. He was unprotected because he was a bonus baby (any player signed to a bonus over $6,000) who wasn’t carried on the Brooklyn MLB roster during the year as the rules of the time required, and so had to be offered in the draft. Clemente was the first player taken and cost the Pirates $4,000. 
• 1967 - Pirates scout Dana Brown was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Pirates hired the former minor league OF away from the Phils in 1993; he moved on to Montreal in 2002 as scouting director and left to become a special assistant to the GM with Toronto in 2009. As a Bucco bird dog, he was responsible for signing Ian Snell and Chris Young. 
• 1971 - RHP Miguel “The Poet” Batista was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The outfielder-turned-pitcher began his 18-year, 12-team career by tossing a pair of innings for the Bucs in 1992. After his modest Pittsburgh beginnings, he chilled his heels in the minors until 1996 before becoming a MLB fixture from 1998 through his last game with Atlanta in 2012. His nickname came about because of his love of literature. He even published a book of poetry - a lifelong interest of his - titled "Feelings in Black and White (“Sentimientos en Blanco y Negro”) in 2002. 
• 1982 - C Chris Stewart was born in Fontana, California. He joined the Pirates via trade in 2014 and hit .294 as Russ Martin’s caddy (he batted .250 in four seasons w/Pittsburgh) while providing solid defense. Stew signed a two-year contract with a club option in 2016 as the backup to Francisco Cervelli. He was familiar with the drill; he played behind Cervelli and Martin as a Yankee, too. After several visits to the DL, he became a free agent and signed with the Braves in 2018; he retired in 2019. 
• 1983 - The Pirates opened camp for pitchers and catchers. The big story early on was whether old San Diego ace Randy Jones, late of the Mets, still had some gas in the tank (he didn’t) and in a slow developing saga, Enrique Romo was absent, with his story being that one of his kids had chicken pox. The truth was Ricky was still seething over a fine and suspension handed out by Chuck Tanner the season before, and though there was some give-and-take, Romo reneged on the two years and $700-800K left on his contract and retired at the end of March at age 34, never to appear in another MLB contest. 

Romo No Show - 1983 Fleer

• 2004 - The Pirates signed 1B Randall Simon to an $800,000 FA contract months after trading him to the Cubs following his sausage-swatting incident in Milwaukee, with thoughts of making him a platoon first sacker with Craig Wilson. Instead, he spent 26 days on the DL with a bad hammy, hit .194 upon his return and was released in August. Simon got brief looks with Tampa and the Phils, ending his MLB days in 2006. He also played in Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands WBC team (he was born in Curacao) and the indie leagues through 2010. 
• 2012 - The Pirates officially had RHP AJ Burnett drop in their laps (the deal had been announced a couple of days before). The Yankees sent him to Pittsburgh for farm hands Diego Moreno and Exicardo Cayones and agreed to pay $20M of the $33M remaining on the last two years of his contract. AJ went 26-21 with a 3.41 ERA in Pittsburgh before joining the Phils for an injury-plagued 2014 season. He returned to the Bucco fold in 2015 (9-7/3.18 ERA) for his farewell campaign, agreeing to a team-friendly $8.5M deal after refusing to exercise a $14.75M Philly option.

 

2/18: Jason, John, AVS, Sid Sign; Bob Walks Away; The King & Clemente; HBD Bruce, Bob, Dal, Manny, Cal, Luis & Sherry

• 1891 - LHP Sherrod “Sherry” Smith was born in Monticello, Georgia. He got his career off to an inglorious start in Pittsburgh, giving up seven runs in 4-⅔ IP in his three 1911-12 outings. But after a couple years of minor league seasoning and a change of scenery, he blossomed to win 114 games in the next 12 years for the Brooklyn Robins and Cleveland Indians. In 1980 Smith was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and a decade later he was honored with a state historical marker ("Mansfield's Famous Southpaw") near his home. 
• 1927 - LHP Luis Arroyo was born in Penuelas, Puerto Rico. “Tite” (a Latino nickname for Enrique, his middle name) was a screwballer who got a lot of ground outs. He tossed for the Bucs between 1956-57, with 12 starts in 72 appearances and a 6-14-2/4.69 ERA. After a year in AAA, he was converted full time to relief and spent his last four seasons in Yankee pinstripes, winning a World Series game and earning an All-Star nod in 1961. 

Luis Arroyo - 1957 Topps

• 1929 - C Cal Neeman was born in Valmeyer, Illinois. Neeman came off the bench for most of his seven-year career (he made the The Sporting News’ All Rookie squad in 1957 as a Cub but never was the top man after that year), and appeared in 24 games for the 1962 Buccos, hitting .180 after earning a spot on the club as an NRI in camp. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for utility player Bob Burda after the season. After he retired in 1963, he returned to college and worked a variety of jobs, including HS baseball coach. 
• 1938 - OF Manny Mota was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The pinch hitter supreme spent six seasons (1963-68) with Pittsburgh as a fourth outfielder early in his career, hitting .297 during that span. It wasn’t until 1974 that the Dodgers used him solely as a bench bat and he came through in spades, smacking 150 career pinch hits. 
• 1939 - IF Dal Maxvill was born in Granite City, Illinois. Dal joined the Bucs toward the tail end of his MLB days for parts of 1973-74, hitting .188 before being released. “Maxie” finished his 14-year career with Oakland after the Pirates let him go, playing his last game in 1975. Dal coached and was the Card’s GM afterward, retiring from baseball for good when he was fired from that job during a messy transition following Gus Busch’s death. 
• 1939 - RHP Bob Miller was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Miller spent 18 years in the show, tossing for the Bucs in 1971-72 (6-4-6/2.19) and pitching in two NLCS sets and a World Series. He later managed in the Padres organization and was pitching coach for the Blue Jays and Giants. Miller pitched in an era that featured three Bob Millers, all tossing in the majors starting in the late 1950s, and in fact was teammates with one of them in 1962 with the Mets. 

Buster - 1976 Topps

• 1950 - RHP Bruce Kison was born in Pasco, Washington. The righty pitched nine years (1971-79) for the Bucs and his career bookended Pittsburgh World series titles; he was 4-1 in the postseason, including a memorable 6-1/3 shutout innings stint against the Orioles in game #4 of the 1971 Fall Classic. He was part of the rotation for three years, but was used mostly as a spot starter and long guy, putting up a Pirate pitching line of 81-63/3.49. 
• 1967 - Eddie Feigner, headliner fastpitch softball hurler of the King and his Court, appeared in a charity softball game at Dodger Stadium and struck out six MLB players in a row, including Roberto Clemente, reportedly tossing a 104 MPH underhand heater. 
• 1988 - The day before it was scheduled, 1B Sid Bream avoided an arb hearing and agreed with the Bucs on a one-year/$360K deal w/All-Star, Golden Glove and MVP bonuses. Bream had asked for $485K and the Pirates had countered with $300K after a .275/13 HR campaign in 1987; Sid reluctantly accepted the deal (he thought he deserved to be close to $400K) rather than go through a hearing. RHP Randy Kramer also signed; he would make his MLB debut in September. 
• 1989 - All-Star outfielder Andy Van Slyke dropped his demand to be paid if there was an owners' lockout when the CBA expired in 1990 (there was, but it was settled in mid-March) and signed a three-year/$5.5M contract with the Pirates, avoiding a looming arbitration hearing. Van Slyke's contract included a $600K signing bonus and salaries of $1.95M in 1989 and 1991 and $1M in 1990 with $270,000 per season available in incentive bonuses. Before this deal ran out, he would sign a three-year extension in 1991 worth $12.65M, making him the Pirates' highest paid player. 
• 1992 - The Pirates and pitcher John Smiley, who had gone 20-8 and earned an All-Star berth during the 1991 campaign, agreed on a $3.44M + incentives deal hours before they were due to face off at an arbitration hearing. The two sides met in the middle; Smiley had asked for $4.1M and Pittsburgh had countered with $2.7M. It was a $2M raise (the lefty earned $1.4M in ‘91) and a ticket out of town: a month later, Smiley was traded to the Twins for Denny Neagle and Midre Cummings. 

John Smiley - 1992 Donruss

• 1994 - The Pirates opened camp without a familiar face as Bob Walk retired after 14 MLB seasons (10 with the Bucs). He had turned down an earlier bullpen deal with the Buccos, looking for a more lucrative starting job offer that never came. But the Whirly Bird landed on his feet, making a quick transition to the broadcast team four days later. 
• 1998 - RHP Jason Schmidt signed a three-year contract that would carry him to his final arb year after posting a 10-9/4.60 line in 1997. The first year was worth $750K, including his signing bonus, the second for $1.4M and the final season guaranteed $2.4M with some performance sweeteners. Schmidt went 26-30/4.30 over the life of the deal, signed a one-year deal in 2001 and was shipped to San Francisco at the deadline.

2/17: BB Loses Arb Twice; Split Decisions in '90; Nate, Zane Sign; OFs Swapped; Spring Choo Choo; Pace of Play; Groat Honored; DDE Letter; HBD Dave, Whammy, Ed, Eddie & Rivington

• 1890 - IF Rivington Bisland was born in New York City. He got his first big league game with the Pirates in 1912, going 0-for-1 as a September pinch hitter after hitting .287 for Springfield of the Central League. Bisland was taken in the Rule 5 draft by the St. Louis Browns in 1913 and then got another shot with the Cleveland Naps the following season after reneging on an oral agreement with the Pittsburgh Rebels. That was it for him. In 31 games, he hit .118, and after being released in June spent the next two years with the Atlanta Crackers, where the club paid him $350 per month, well over the league limit, to keep him from jumping to the Rebs. He retired after the overpay was discovered rather than face the league’s music (a suspension), played a year of semi-pro ball and then went on to be a fairly successful boxing promoter. (Thx to Diamonds in the Dusk for filling in his background story.) 
• 1901 - C Eddie Phillips was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Phillips caught for parts of six MLB campaigns and got his most work as a Pirate in 1931. He started behind the plate for 100 games, batting .232, and was traded to Kansas City as part of the Bill Swift deal the next season. He retired after the 1943 season following 17 years of pro ball and became a minor league manager. 
• 1905 - LHP Ed Brandt was born in Spokane, Washington. In his final two MLB seasons (1937-38), he tossed for Pittsburgh and went 16-14-2/3.23. He was mostly a good pitcher on bad big league teams. In 11 MLB years, Ed’s record was 121-146/3.86. He started 278 games and finished 150 of them. After his 1939 retirement, Brandt ran a hometown hunting lodge and tavern. He was killed on November 1st, 1944, when he was struck by a car while crossing a street at the age of 39. 

Ed Brandt - 1937 photo Retro Archive Collection

• 1909 - With an early “pace-of-play” reg, the NL made it mandatory that a relief pitcher face one batter with a five-pitch warm up limit. The rule countered managers who would yank a pitcher, bring in another (slowly) to kill a little time, and then pull him if they didn't like the hitting match or when the guy the skipper really wanted on the mound was good and loose. It eventually became Rule #6.2.2. 
• 1912 - The Pirates switched outfielders, sending Vin Campbell to the Boston Braves for Mike Donlin. Both players were solid hitters but neither were one trick ponies. Campbell was a successful businessman while Donlin was a vaudevillian (he carried around an old theater program with him as a good luck talisman), movie actor and all-around bon vivant. Both left baseball for periods of time to hold out for bigger salaries knowing they could pay the bills with their side jobs. Donlin hit .316 in 77 games for the 1912 Pirates while Campbell hit .296 and led the league in at-bats for the Braves that season. After the season, the 34-year-old Donlin was waived and claimed by the Phillies but refused to report and retired. He came back in 1914 after sitting out a season to play for the Giants, but his bat deserted him and 35 games later, his career was finished. Donlin was nicknamed “Turkey Mike” due to his red neck and distinctive strut (It’s said many fans even imitated his way of walking). It wasn't a moniker that Mike particularly cared for; go figure. Campbell, who was expendable in Pittsburgh after the emergence of Max Carey, was also out of baseball for a year and then played out his string in the upstart Federal League, hitting .315 in 1914-15. His nickname was “Demon,” a carryover from his college football days. 
• 1932 - The Pirates hopped the train, chugging from the Pennsylvania Station to Paso Robles, California, to start spring camp. From camp’s end until the season started, the Buccos barnstormed in San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Fort Worth, Dallas and Memphis before stopping in St. Louis for Opening Day. That was followed by a trip to Cincy before finally reaching home to meet the Cards for the Home Opener on April 20th, two months and 6,884 miles later. 
• 1935 - RHP Charles “Whammy” Douglas was born in Carrboro, North Carolina. Whammy only got 11 starts in MLB, all in 1957 with the Bucs, going 3-3/3.26. He was sent back to AAA Columbus for the ‘58 campaign, posting a 16-10/3.35 line and was traded to the Reds in 1959. His promising career was dead-ended by elbow and shoulder problems. One physical impairment that didn’t bother him, tho, was the fact that he was blind in his right eye after a childhood accident. Branch Rickey pressed him on the handicap, and Douglas replied that “You have one hitter. He’s got one bat. And I have one ball.” As for his moniker, Douglas recalled “I was striking everyone out, so they just started calling me ‘Whammy.’” The first to dub him as such was Burlington Times-News writer Bill Hunter and the nickname followed Douglas around. 

Whammy Douglas - 1958 Topps

• 1941 - OF Dave Wissman was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The Bucs signed him out of the University of Bridgeport in 1961, and he got his only pro shot in 1964, playing in 16 games for the Pirates and hitting .148. Wissman played AAA ball for the Pirates and Tigers over the next three years and hung up the spikes after the 1967 campaign. 
• 1954 - A week before Honus Wagner’s 80th birthday, President Dwight Eisenhower sent Hans a letter that read in part "Realization that you now count your years at the four score mark reminds me, with something of a shock, that it was fifty years ago that I used to follow your batting average with the keenest of interest." Wagner was one of Ike’s childhood sports heroes when DDE was growing up in Abilene, Kansas. Eisenhower was a high school and local semi-pro ballplayer and as a youth had declared his ambition “to be a real major league ballplayer, a real professional like Honus Wagner.” 
• 1990 - The Pirates split a pair of arb decisions.They won the big case, beating Barry Bonds, who was asking for $1.6 M but had to settle for the Buccos offer of $890K. Billy Hatcher won his decision, being awarded $690K rather the Pittsburgh tender of $525K, giving him a bigger salary than fourth OF RJ Reynolds, who also went to arbitration but lost, accepting a $535K payday despite hitting .270 to Hatcher’s .213. The FO was 3-3 in arb cases, winning Bonds, Reynold’s and Bobby Bonilla’s challenges but dropping Hatcher’s, Bob Kipper’s and Rafe Belliard’s bids. They had two more hearings to go and lost them both, with Doug Drabek ($1.1M) and John Smiley ($840K) both coming out on top. 
• 1991 - Barry Bonds lost to the Pirates in arb, being awarded $2.3M after his MVP campaign (.301 BA, 33 HR, 114 RBI, 170 OPS+) after pleading his case for $3.25M. Over the next two years, he hit .301/59 HR/219 RBI/181 OPS+ before signing with the Giants. 

Barry Bonds - 1991 Upper Deck Collectors Choice

• 1996 - The Pirates brought back LHP Zane Smith after he had left the fold for Boston on a one-year/$400K deal. The lefty had been a Bucco from 1990-94 with a couple of nice seasons during that span, but this was to be his last rodeo. The 35-year-old slashed 4-6/5.08 and was released in July to end his MLB career. 
• 2009 - CF Nate McLouth signed a three-year/$15.75M contract with an option that bought out his arbitration years. It guaranteed his salary but not his home; he was traded to Atlanta in June to open a starting spot for Andrew McCutchen. He returned to the Bucs briefly in 2012, then played in Baltimore and Washington before taking his final bow after the 2014 season. 
• 2016 - Dick Groat was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 80th annual Dapper Dan Dinner. In 1960, Groat hit .325, was named NL MVP for the WS winners and earned three All-Star berths as a Bucco SS. He was also a two-time All America at Duke as a hoopster.

2/16 Through the 1980s: #33 Retired; No Go Robby; HBD Jorge, Jerry, Luis, Ray, Kip & Mike

• 1873 - C John Sullivan was born in Chicago. John had a 14-game showing with the Tigers in 1905 and then settled in with the minor league Kansas City Blues; he got one more call to the majors sandwiched inside that KC stint by the Bucs, catching for three frames in 1908. He gave up a stolen base, committed an error and went 0-for-1 before returning to KC, and he retired from pro ball in 1910 at age 37 after 11 years behind the plate. 
• 1889 - RHP James “Kip” Dowd was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Dowd, out of Holy Cross, got into one game for the Pirates in 1910, his only big league outing, and gave up four runs in two innings, although in his defense they were all unearned, to leave him with a spotless career ERA. Aside from getting his name on a major league scorecard, he can also add to his resume that he worked against HoF hurler Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown on that day. He tossed in the minors for five campaigns (1911-15) afterwards. Kip is the grandfather of Emmy-winning actress Ann Dowd. 
• 1912 - RHP Ray Harrell was born in Alexandria, Louisiana. He tossed for the Bucs in 1940, getting into three games (3-1/3 IP) with an ERA of 8.10. Ray spent a total of six years in the show, returning in 1945 to take a final bow with the wartime NY Giants after working the intervening seasons in the PCL. He retired in 1950 after an 18-year pro career.

Honus Wagner - 1948 Leaf

• 1952 - Carnegie’s Honus Wagner’s #33 was retired after he bid farewell as a Pittsburgh coach at the age of 77 following 39 years with the team. The Bucs also honored him by giving him a lifetime pension at full pay. Hans’ number was the first the Pirates retired; other Buccos to join him in the honor were Billy Meyer (1), Ralph Kiner (4), Willie Stargell (8), Bill Mazeroski (9), Pie Traynor (20), Roberto Clemente (21) and Danny Murtaugh (40). The Flying Dutchman finished his career with a .329 average and won eight NL batting titles, ranking among the Pirates' top 10 in 11 offensive categories. He was a coach with the Pirates between 1933 and 1951. Honus was also part of the first Hall-of-Fame class ever selected, along with Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and Babe Ruth. 
• 1952 - Jerry Hairston was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He was sold to the Pirates by the White Sox in June of the 1977 campaign, and in 51 games he hit .192, mostly as a pinch hitter. Jerry played parts of 14 MLB seasons, all spent with the White Sox except for his brief Bucco stint. Hairston was a baseball legacy link - his dad Sam, brother Johnny and son Jerry were all big league players. 
• 1974 - IF Luis Figueroa was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. After playing for the Puerto Rican national team, he was signed by the Bucs in 1997 and played four games with the club in 2001, going 0-for-2. Luis was waived and claimed by the Mets. In 2006-07, he got in 14 games for the Blue Jays and Giants, his only other outings as an MLB player. But he had a long career, playing 16 years of pro ball and spending numerous campaigns in Puerto Rico, both in the winter league and with their international squad. Since 2014, he’s been a fielding coach in the Yankee organization. 
• 1980 - The Pirates announced that five-and-10-year veteran OF’er Bill Robinson was traded in principle to Houston for pitcher Joaquin Andujar, but the deal hit a bump a couple of days later when the Astros wouldn’t rework Robinson’s contract and he vetoed the trade. It’s hard to project how the swap would have worked out. Robinson had a strong 1980 campaign and then faded while Andujar wouldn’t hit his prime until 1982, winning 61 games and two All-Star berths between then and 1985 as a St. Louis Cardinal, who got him early in 1981 for Tony Scott. 

Jorge Rondon - 2016 photo Pirates

• 1988 - RHP Jorge Rondon was born in Calabozo, Venezuela. Jorge has spent small parts of three seasons in MLB, with two of his 16 big league outings coming with the Pirates in 2016 after a solid stint at AAA Indianapolis. It didn’t work out so well, with a 17.18 ERA/2.727 WHIP in 3-2/3 IP. He was DFA’ed five days after his call-up and signed with the Chisox, then took his services to Japan for the 2017 campaign.

2/16 From 1990: AJ, Ron, Tommy, Leo Sign; Bo Loses; Spring Freese-Out; Trade Churn; Breakfast of Champs

• 1991 - OF Bobby Bonilla lost his arbitration hearing, making do with the Pirates $2.4M offer rather than his $3.475 request. He and his agent had earlier turned down a Bucco package for four years/$15.5M; their meter began running at $19M. Bobby Bo, whose asking price was the highest ever presented in an arb session, was philosophical about it. He told the Post Gazette’s Paul Meyer “Who am I to cry? I’m getting $2.4M. That’s more than anybody I grew up with is making.” 
• 1996 - General Mills put out a Wheaties cereal box commemorating Negro League stars Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell to celebrate the league's 75th anniversary. All three legendary figures played for Pittsburgh and/or Homestead at some point in their Hall of Fame careers. 

• 1999 - Paul Meyer of the Post Gazette published a rumor that the Pirates were ready to send Al Martin and Tony Womack to Arizona for Bernard Gilkey and a prospect if they could work out some financial wrinkles in Gilkey’s contract (mainly big deferred money), while also looking into signing free agent Pat Meares to solidify the infield. They did land Meares, but the Gilkey deal eventually fell through, and probably a good thing it did - he had a very nice 1999, but he never got more than 241 PA’s as age caught up to the 33-year-old. The Bucs still sent Womack to the D-Backs (his salary and Meare’s basically balanced out) for P’s Jason Boyd and Paul Weichard in a good deal for the Snakes, which got five years/.269 BA out of Tony and a World Series title during his run in the desert. 
• 2000 - The Pirates signed RHP Leo Nunez out of the Dominican Republic. He never twirled for the Bucs, being traded to KC in 2004 and made the news in 2011 when he admitted to being Juan Carlos Oviedo, not Leo Nunez, a fake ID he used to shave a year off his age and make him a more desirable prospect to Pittsburgh. He pitched thru 2011, served a lengthy suspension to start 2012 and then blew out his elbow during rehab, requiring TJ surgery. Juan/Leo returned to the show in 2014, but hasn’t appeared on a MLB hill since that season. 
• 2000 - Tommy Sandt, a popular field coach during Jim Leyland’s tenure from 1987-96 who left the team with Leyland, rejoined the club as a minor league roving instructor. The reunion didn’t last very long; Sandt stayed through the 2002 campaign and then left again to manage for the Padres organization. 
• 2002 - RHP Ron Villone signed a one-year/$900K FA contract with the Bucs, making Pittsburgh one of his 12 MLB stops during a 15-year career. He went 4-6 with a 5.81 ERA for the Pirates and was released at the end of the year, but hung around through the 2009 season before retiring. Villone has been a pitching coach in the Cubs’ organization since 2012. 
• 2014 - Free agent RHP AJ Burnett signed a one-year/$16M deal that included an option for 2015 with the Phils after coming off a pair of strong seasons (26-21/3.41) for the Bucs that resurrected his brand. He chose Philly over the Pirates because the ballyard was located 90 minutes from his Maryland home. "It was about my wife. It was about my kids. It was about playing somewhere where I'm at home,” the pitcher explained. But he returned to Pittsburgh the following season, signing a contract that was $4.25M less than the option he declined. He told the press that he had one more year left in the tank and “There’s no other place I want to finish my career (than Pittsburgh).” 

Truth to power - David Freese photo 2018 Joe Guzy/Pirates

• 2018 - In one of the Pirates more memorable camp outbursts (maybe only second to Jim Leyland’s f-bomb scold of Barry Bonds in 1991), David Freese threw some darts at the “environment” in Pittsburgh. He tossed out zingers like "When you’re losing 10-2 in the pouring rain against Joe Maddon and you’re laughing, that’s not good. That says a lot.” Also “This is a different organization, where if you get drafted, you look at a guy like Jameson Taillon. It sucks that if you pan out, you have your future written for you in an organization like this. You either fold and sign a team friendly deal, or you’re bounced.” And finally "You look at the Steelers, Penguins and you’ve got the Pirates. If I’m kind of handling this situation, I’d be losing sleep trying to compete with those other two teams. To have all three teams in a city like Pittsburgh be on top of each league, that would be incredible." He explained that he thought the FO and his teammates had the desire to win, but had to move beyond analytics and focus more on intangibles to provide that winning environment for the Pirates. "You’ve got to have urgency. You’ve got to have accountability...I’ve been here for two years, and we just kind of lacked in that department a little bit. We’ve got to pick that up.”

2/15: DD Signs; Watson Arb; Vic Sold; Kiner Deal Nixed; Lockout; 'Bama Bypassed; HBD Russ, Rob, Don, Barry, Princeton Charlie & Al

• 1867 - 3B “Princeton Charlie” (for the town, not the school) Reilly was born in Princeton, New Jersey. Charlie spent eight years in the show and was the Bucs starting hot corner guy in 1891, after jumping from the Columbus nine (along with P Mark Baldwin) to join the Pirates. It didn’t end up a marriage made in heaven; he batted .219 and was released after the year. He picked up his hitting (his average was .265 over the second half of his career) and spent four years with the Philadelphia Phillies. Charlie had a 20-year pro run, including playing during the initial year of the PCL, and retired after the 1905 campaign at the age of 38. 
• 1892 - LHP Al Braithwood was born in Braceville, Illinois. Not much is known about Al as it appears he mostly hurled for semi-pro clubs, but his big league time was spent as a Pittsburgh Rebel in 1915. He was pretty sharp, too, tossing three perfect frames in two relief outings with a pair of whiffs, and compiling those three frames while only facing eight batters (we’re assuming he got a DP/caught stealing to his credit after inheriting a runner.) 

Vic Willis - 1911 Turkey Red/American Tobacco

• 1910 - The Pirates sold RHP Vic Willis to the Cardinals. Vic was a 20+ game winner for the Bucs during his four-year stint, going 89-46 with a 2.08 ERA from 1906-09. But the 34-year-old Willis was running on empty. He won nine games for St. Louis, and 1910 was his big league swan song. 
• 1953 - The Pirates and Reds continued talking turkey regarding a possible Ralph Kiner trade, as the Bucs were eager to dump his $75,000 contract. The Reds, according to Les Biederman's Pittsburgh Press report, were dangling 1B Joe Adcock, IF Alex Grammas and 2B Grady Hattan along with a pair of yet undetermined pitchers. Pirates GM Branch Rickey wanted either 1B Ted Kluszewski or SS Roy McMillan tossed into the deal, a pair that Cincinnati GM Gabe Paul considered untouchable. Though Big Klu would join the Bucs on the downside in 1958 and Grammas would eventually coach in Pittsburgh, no agreement was reached. Kiner was moved in June when he was sent, along with Joe Garagiola, George Metkovich and Howie Pollet, to the Chicago Cubs for Bob Addis, Toby Atwell, George Freese, Gene Hermanski, Bob Schultz, Preston Ward and $150,000. 
• 1956 - The Pirates and the Kansas City A's canceled a pair of exhibition games in Birmingham‚ Alabama‚ because of a city ordinance barring integrated play. The two teams moved their spring games to New Orleans. 
• 1963 - RHP Barry Jones was born in Centerville, Indiana. He began his career in Pittsburgh after being selected in the third round of the 1984 draft. From 1986-88, Jones went 6-9-6/3.81 with the Bucs before being traded to the White Sox for Dave LaPoint. After an eight-year career, he moved to Murrysville and spent several months helping to build PNC Park as a project manager for the concrete contractor. 

Barry Jones - 1988 Topps

• 1980 - IF Don Kelly was born in Butler. Kelly went to Mt Lebanon HS and Point Park College before signing with the Bucs and making his debut in 2007, getting into 25 games and hitting .148. From 2009 onward, he played with the Tigers before joining the Marlins system briefly. In 2017, Don hung up the uni and became a Pro Scout/Assistant to Player Development for the Tigers. Kelly then moved along to Houston and came home to join Derek Shelton's staff in 2020. He married Carrie Walker in 2007; his brother-in-law is Neil and his father-in-law is former big league pitcher Tom. The Kellys live in Wexford. 
• 1983 - C Russ Martin was born in East York, Ontario, Canada. The free agent pickup was with the Pirates from 2013-14, hitting .256 and rated highly behind the dish in all the defensive metrics and intangibles. The Toronto Blue Jays signed him to a five-year, $82M FA contract during the 2014 off season after Russ had a career year at the plate. 
• 1987 - RHP Rob Scahill was born in Winfield, Illinois. The reliever was traded to the Bucs from the Rockies after the 2014 season for Shane Carle and got into 28 games with a 2.62 ERA in 2015. He’s been with the Brewers and the White Sox since then. 
• 1990 - The owners refused to open spring training camps without a new Basic Agreement with the Players' Association, beginning a lockout that lasted 32 days and delayed the start of the regular season by one week. The beef was over an owner's plan to cap payroll at 48% of the league revenues; the MLBPA and Donald Fehr wanted no part of a cap. They eventually settled on “Super Two” arb, a raise in the minimum salary and adding an extra player to the active roster as the cap plan was sentenced to death by committee. 

Doug Drabek - 1992 Topps

• 1992 - On the Saturday before a scheduled Monday arb hearing, RHP Doug Drabek and the Pirates agreed on a $4.5M contract, after first rejecting a four-year, $18.5M deal. DD had been seeking $4.9M and the Bucs counter was $3.685M, so DD won this round after making $3.335M in 1991. The righty won the Cy Young in 1990, went 15-14/3.07 in 1991 and would go 15-11/2.77 in 1992, so he was well worth the price. 
• 2017 - In the only Pirates arb hearing of the off season, LHP Tony Watson and the FO argued about the paycheck before a three-man hearing panel. The Pirates offered Tony $5.6M; Watson countered w/$6M. On the following day, it was announced that the Bucs won had the decision, but it was still a nice bump for Watson, who earned $3.45M in 2016. It proved too rich for the Bucs taste; they traded Tony to the Dodgers at the deadline for youngsters SS/3B Oneil Cruz & RH closer Angel German, giving the closer’s job to Felipe Rivero.

News & Notes: Wolters, Goodwin Sign; Top 100; Exes Move On; Game Times; Indy Stays In the Fold

 Spring campin' stuff...

• The Pirates signed C Tony Wolters to a minor league deal/NRI thought to be worth $1.4M if he makes the roster. Wolters, 28, started for the Rockies in 2019-20 and hit .230. He's a lefty batter and has a .238 lifetime BA in five MLB campaigns.
• They also inked OF Brian Goodwin to a minor-league deal with an invite to camp. Goodwin, 30, has played five big league seasons with a .250 career BA and is another left-handed swinger. He's played all three OF spots (best suited as a corner) and played for the Angels and Nats in 2020, hitting a combined .215 for the two clubs. He signed for $1.6M w/$900K in possible bonuses if he breaks camp with the club.

Nick's Been Making Some Noise - photo 2020 Pirates

• Six Pirates are on Kiley McDaniel's ESPN Top 100 prospects list (behind a paywall): #6 - 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes;  #28 - SS Oneil Cruz; #66 - 2B Nick Gonzales; #79 - OF Travis Swaggerty; #87 - RHP Quinn Priester and #91 - SS Liover Peguero.
• RHP Mark "The Shark" Melancon has signed on with the Padres, pending his physical.
• LHP Brandon Waddell was DFA'd by the Twins. He was drafted in 2015 by the Bucs and got into a pair of games last year. Ironically, he was inducted into the Cavalier's Baseball Hall of Fame just two weeks ago. 
• The Pirates have announced game-starting-time changes for 2021: in April, May, and September night games will start at 6:35, while all Sunday games will begin at 1:05. Both were moved up 1/2 hour from the usual times.
• Indianapolis and Pittsburgh have agreed to 10 more years of affiliation.

2/14 Through the 1950s: Barr Sold; Keystones & NCBBL; HBD Will, Frank, Earl, Admiral, Jack, Morgan & Harry

• 1867 - C Morgan Murphy was born in East Providence, Rhode Island. Murphy lasted for 11 seasons in the show, mostly as a reserve catcher. He spent five games of that career with Pittsburgh, going 2-for-16 after a trade with the Browns and was released after a month with Philadelphia claiming him. Murphy was best known as a sign-stealer supreme, and was busted with the Phils in 1900 for running a telegraph wire underground from the third base box to the outfield wall, where he sat with binoculars to watch the catcher. He would then buzz a simple code to the coach who would feel the vibes through his feet. Tricky, but not tricky enough; it was found out during a game when an opponent tripped over a bit of the wire while rounding third. Prior to that, Murphy would sit behind an ad sign and reposition one of its letters to tip the batter. 
• 1873 - P Harry Jordan was born in Titusville (or maybe Pittsburgh; there’s some disagreement among biographers). Pirates manager Connie Mack pulled him out of the New England League to help his short-handed staff finish the 1894 season and then from the Iron and Oil League the following year, again to plug a pitching gap as the campaign neared the tape. Harry went 1-2/4.15 in his three career MLB starts, not a bad slash for a semi-pro hurler. 

Admiral Berry - 2010 Tri-Star Obak

• 1880 - C Claude “Admiral” Berry was born in Losantville, Indiana. He had a fairly undistinguished MLB career from 1904-07, playing three years and getting into 21 games. But when the Federal League started in 1914, the 35-year-old was apparently well rested - he signed on with the Pittsburgh Rebels and caught 221 games in the league’s two seasons, batting just .219 but throwing out 214-of-445 would-be base stealers, a 48% CS rate. In 1904, while playing for the Chicago White Sox, Claude became the first major league catcher to wear a protective cup. He also caught Frank Allen’s no-hitter against St. Louis in 1915. The Admiral closed out his career with a couple of years of AA ball. His family said that Berry got his nickname because he was a flashy dresser, with his outfits sporting enough bling to compete with an admiral’s dress uniform. 
• 1884 - Utilityman Jack Lewis was born in Pittsburgh’s South Side. He had an 18 game audition with the Red Sox in 1911, then got back in the groove with the Filipinos/Rebels of the Federal League, playing five positions and batting .245 from 1913-15, earning a spot on the Fed All-Star team in 1913 when it was still an indie league. Jack did play a lot of ball in his day; his career in the bushes began in 1901 and he didn’t quit playing until after the 1921 season. He didn’t retire voluntarily, either - he hung ‘em up after being banged up in a car accident. 
• 1884 - In the first transaction in franchise history, the Alleghenys sold RHP Bob Barr to the Washington Nationals for $100 after he slashed 6-18/4.38 in his rookie campaign. Bob would pitch four more scattered seasons and win 43 more games, notching 28 of those victories for Rochester in 1890, it's only season in the American Association (they were a replacement team during the Player’s League year of existence and were relegated back to minor league status when the PL folded). The genie quickly escaped - Barr got four more starts the next year for the NY Giants to end his big league career. 
• 1887 - Per Wikipedia, the National Colored Base Ball League, the first attempt at a professional Negro League, was organized at a meeting in Baltimore. Eight clubs were represented, including the original Pittsburgh Keystones. The league quickly folded (the Keystones finished 3-4), but set a foundation that would eventually allow the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays to enter the baseball scene. The Keystones went semi-pro, then were revived professionally from 1921-22 to play in the Negro National League. Their home field was Central Park (also known as Keystone Park or Chauncey Street Park), located in the Hill at the corner of Chauncey Street and Humber Way. The park was built by black architect Louis Bellinger, who would later design Greenlee Field for the Pittsburgh Crawfords. 
• 1897 - C Earl Smith was born in Sheridan, Arizona. Smith spent five of his 12 big league years in Pittsburgh from 1924-28, hitting .315 over that span. He was a member of the 1925 World Series-winning club (he hit .350 v Washington) and the 1927 Series team that lost to the Yankees. Smith was suspended for a spell in 1925 for brawling with a fan in Boston; not only did he lose time to the league, but he was laid up briefly after the fact when a second fan clunked him with a chair! 

Earl Smith - 1925 photo Bain/Library of Congress

• 1901 - C Frank Duncan was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He played for 19 years in the Negro and Latin leagues, mostly with the KC Monarchs. He spent 1932 with both the Homestead Grays (they used seven catchers that year) and Pittsburgh Crawfords (they went through five w/Duncan serving as Josh Gibson’s main backup), batting a combined .242. He retired in 1943 after a stretch of semi-pro ball, lost some time to WW2, then managed for three years, umpired a bit and then settled in to run his KC tavern. 
• 1952 - LHP Will McEnaney was born in Springfield, Ohio. After some strong work for the Reds, he failed to impress at his next stop in Montreal and was sent to the Bucs in 1978 for RHP Tim Jones. McEnaney lasted until June, but gave up 11 runs in 8-⅔ IP for a 10.38 ERA and was sent to AAA Columbus. After compiling a 6.24 ERA there, he was released. He was bedeviled by drinking and drug problems after a divorce, the death of his mother, and a serious car wreck at the end of the year. The crash was his final straw; Will straightened up after that and tossed solidly one more year for St. Louis in ‘79 before bowing out of baseball.

2/14 From 1970: Jason Signs; DD Wins Arb; Coach Kitten, Scout Teke; Dave Martin In The Booth; McClatchy Bucs; Jordano Honored; HBD Damaso

• 1975 - LHP Damaso Marte was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He pitched for the Bucs in 2001, coming over from the Yankees for Enrique Wilson and then traded to the White Sox for Matt Guerrier after the season. He returned for 2006-08 after spending four years with Chicago in exchange for Rob Mackowiak. Damaso went a combined 7-8-5 with a 3.52 ERA and struck out 200 batters in 186-⅔ IP. In 2008, Marte and Xavier Nady were traded to the Yankees for four prospects: José Tábata, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Daniel McCutchen. 
• 1979 - Harvey Haddix filled out Chuck Tanner’s staff when he was named pitching coach, replacing Don Osborn, who was in poor health. A couple of players also added their John Doe to contracts on this day: SS Frank Taveras and P Ed Whitson. Neither player made it through the season; they became parts of deals that brought Tim Foli and Bill Madlock to Pittsburgh. 

Coach Harvey - 1982 Donruss

• 1980 - Everyone remembers Lanny Frattare taking over for Milo Hamilton, but many forget the Dave Martin era following Milo’s departure, which the team announced on this date. That’s understandable as Martin only lasted a year as Lanny’s broadcast partner despite a resume that included stops with the Expos, A‘s, Indians and Red Sox. Lanny told Dave Finoli for The Pirates Encyclopedia “Dave came to Pittsburgh with a number of misconceptions about the team and market and struggled...” Amen; it was Martin’s last MLB booth gig. 
• 1983 - Coming off a .284/31/101 campaign, the Pirates signed 1B Jason Thompson to a five-year/$5.5M deal with a $400K signing bonus, an option and several incentives from weight to MVP. The deal deferred $200K annually, a contract ploy used by the Bucs in the 80’s that eventually led to cash problems in the form of “dead money” for the club. Thompson never had another big year after the deal; he hit .252 with 47 HR from 1983-85, partially due to bad knees and partially due to a power outage against LHP, and was traded to Montreal. 
• 1991 - Happy Valentines Day to Doug Drabek, who won his arb case to the tune of $3.335M, leaving Pittsburgh’s $2.3M counteroffer in the dust. DD became the first $3M awardee in baseball arbitration history and the Pirates highest paid player ever in one fell swoop. He had made $1.1M in 1990, but went 22-6/2.76 and won the Cy Young, and that was worth the bump per the hearing judge Ray Goetz.
• 1996 - Kevin McClatchy and partners (and he needed to hustle to find one more warm body, as a few days before his offer was finalized, an investor bailed on him at the last minute) purchased the Pirates from the Pittsburgh Associates for $90M with the understanding that a baseball-only stadium be built within five years. McClatchy had entered the fray about 10 months prior to the agreement, jumping in after John Rigas’ bid was rejected by MLB. He made a formal bid in September 1995 that twisted, turned and mutated until it finally passed muster. The sale saved the franchise from being moved out of Pittsburgh by other lurking buyers and greased the wheels for a new ballyard, but proved a mixed competitive blessing under the perpetually cash-strapped McClatchy, who eventually gave way to Bob Nutting. 

Kevin McClatchy - 1996 photo/Associated Press

• 2006 - The Pirates, who had gone three seasons without an advance scout, filled that hole by hiring old fireman Kent Tekulve to fill the role. Teke had no formal dealing with his old club since the 1990 campaign when he worked as a community relations guy, then spending seven years as a Phillies’ announcer and several more seasons working with the indie Washington Wild Things. But manager Jim Tracy wanted the position manned again and knew Tekulve from Ohio, so things fell into place. Teke moved to the TV side in 2008 with a break for a heart transplant in 2014, and remained a talking head until 2017, when he retired in September. 
• 2018 - Pitt head baseball coach Joe Jordano was named to the staff of the 2018 Collegiate National Team, as announced by USA Baseball. Jordano was in his 21st season as the Pitt skipper and ranked among the top-25 active winnings Division I coaches. It was a big year for JJ - he also coached his 1,500th game and was inducted into the National Italian Hall of Fame. He resigned after the season with a school-high 588 wins and is now the head coach at IMG Academy in Bradenton.

2/13 Through the 1930s: Blow Out the Candles Pete, Stretch, Rocky, Oadis, Herman, Harl, Crazy & Bill

• 1864 - C/OF Bill Farmer was born in Philadelphia (Baseball Reference cites his DOB as as 2/27 and sources seem split as to whether he came from Philly or Dublin, Ireland). Either way, he got into five MLB games, two with the 1888 Alleghenys, going 0-for-4. He had spent some of 1887 in the Central PA League and likely showed enough to get a look from Pittsburgh. It was a tough lineup for a catcher to crack as Fred Carroll was still playing and Doggie Miller had the top job locked down. Bill finished his big-league days with a short stay with the Philadelphia Athletics and retired a couple of seasons later after playing for St. Paul of the Western Association. 
• 1866 - LHP Frederick “Crazy” Schmit (often misspelled Schmidt) was born in Chicago. The lefty was unleashed on baseball first by the Pittsburgh Alleghenys in 1890, when Crazy went 1-9/5.83 in his rookie campaign. He tossed for five MLB seasons with a 7-36/5.45 line and 185 career walks to 93 K. One of Crazy’s idiosyncrasies was to warm up with a ball soaked in water so that when he got to the mound, a game ball would feel like a feather. He was also credited with being the first to keep an actual book on hitters out of necessity; it was said his memory was too poor to keep the info stored in his head so he wrote it down. One oft-told story has Crazy pitching against Cap Anson by the book. Schmit pulled his notes from his back pocket, looked up Anson, followed his finger and muttered “walk,” then tossed him four wide ones. His nickname was due to his eccentricities like the wet warm up ball, his book and also Schmit’s overblown sense of his abilities as a pitcher. He also answered to “Germany.”

Al Demaree cartoon - via Baseball History Daily

• 1883 - OF Harl Maggert was born in Cromwell, Indiana. He got his first taste of the majors when he played two games for the Bucs as a 24-year-old in 1907, going 0-for-6, though he did walk twice and scored. He wouldn’t get another shot until five years later in 1912 with the Philadelphia Athletics, doing better by batting .256 in 74 games, but it wasn’t enough to earn any more big league time. From 1913-20, he played in the PCL when he got embroiled in a fixing scandal; he was acquitted in court but expelled by the league, ending his pro career while he squeezed out a few more seasons with outlaw league teams. His son Harl (not a junior, different middle names) got in a year of MLB ball, too, hitting .281 in 1938 for the Boston Bees. 
• 1901 - OF Herman Layne was born in Gallipolis, Ohio. His big league time totaled 11 games for the Bucs in 1927, spent mainly as a pinch hitter/runner, going 0-for-6 with a walk and three runs scored. Herman did cobble together a 13-year pro career, playing mostly for Toronto of the International League along with Louisville & Indianapolis of the American Association. He was a star there, hitting .327 with 2,097 hits and 315 stolen bases in 1,696 games.The WVU grad hit over .300 for 11 consecutive years and played on five pennant winners. 
• 1915 - RHP Oadis Swigart was born in Archie, Mississippi. Oad spent his brief MLB career as a Pirate, going 1-3/4.44, from 1939-40. His ball playing days were short-circuited by Uncle Sam. The 26-year-old was with the Pirates for spring training in 1941 but was called into the Army on May 1st as the first Bucco player to be drafted. He wasn’t released from active duty until the 1946 season when he was 31, and he failed to make it out of camp. 
• 1919 - IF Bobby “Rocky” Rhawn was born in Catawissa, Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. He got parts of three seasons in the show, with his final year of 1949 being especially hectic as he went from the NY Giants to the Pirates (three games, 1-for-7) and finally to the White Sox. The Bucs got him and P Ray Poat from the Giants for P Kirby Higbe, then released Rhawn to Chicago 10 days later. 1949 was the last year of MLB ball for Shawn and Poat; Higbe lasted into July of 1950. 
• 1921 - IF Pete Castiglione was born in Greenwich, Connecticut. He played seven years (1947-53) for the Bucs, mainly as a reserve, and hit .258 for Pittsburgh. Pete actually signed with the Pirates in 1940, but he joined the Navy in 1943 while in the minors and served two years in the Pacific. He participated in campaigns at the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Palau Islands, Philippine Islands and Okinawa, and was stationed at Wakayama, Japan, at the end of the war, so his best work may not have been at Forbes Field, but in the Pacific theater. 

Pete Castiglione - 1952 Bowman

• 1930 - LHP Al “Stretch” (he was 6’4”) Grunwald was born in Los Angeles. He was a guy that flitted between positions. Grunwald was a first baseman in the minors for the first five years, then converted to pitcher. He tossed for the Pirates during the 1955 season (three games, 4.70 ERA) and then with the Kansas City Athletics in 1959. Grunwald put in 14 pro seasons between 1947-62 with stints in Mexico and Japan, returning to 1B during his final two seasons. He posted a 41-31/3.96 ERA in 160 appearances and a .295 BA/111 home runs in 1,392 games during that time.