- 1899 - RHP William “Buckshot” May was born in Bakersfield, California. The 24-year old appeared in his only MLB game as a Pirate, tossing a no-run, two-hit, one-strikeout frame in a 10-7 loss to the Boston Braves at Forbes Field in 1924. May never was given another chance (it was said that he got into a contract dispute with Barney Dreyfuss, and that spittin’ match with the boss put a brake on his career) though he did work 13 solid minor-league campaigns, winning 20 games three times. At age 35 in 1935, Buckshot left the mound for the rigs, retiring to a drilling supervisor job in the oil industry.
- 1904 - 1B Willis “Bill” Windle was born in Galena, Kansas. Windle attended Missouri where he starred in football and baseball, but his MLB career consisted of just three games played for the Bucs between 1928-29 with Bill going 1-for-2 with a double and a run scored. He played in the minors until 1933 before retiring to Corpus Christi where he became a successful apartment owner and a model citizen, with ties to the Boy Scouts, Kiwanis and different civic boards.
- 1935 - OF Joe Christopher was born in Frederiksted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. He played for Pittsburgh from 1959-61 sparingly, hitting .244 before being lost in the expansion draft to the NY Mets; his highlight was scoring twice in the 1960 World Series as a pinch runner. Christopher is thought to be the first player from the Virgin Islands to play in the majors. Joe should remember his first start. He was called up to replace an injured Roberto Clemente and made his big league debut playing right field during Harvey Haddix’s 12-inning perfect game.
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| Joe Christopher - 1961 Topps |
- 1941 - Coach Joe Jones was born in Lebanon, Tennessee. He played and managed in the White Sox minor league system from 1963-79 before leaving for the Royals. At KC, he coached a bit at the MLB level but was primarily a farm manager/field coordinator. Gene Lamont brought him to Pittsburgh in 1997 as his 1B coach, a post he held until June of 2000 when he and 3B coach Jack Lind were let go in a housecleaning move. Joe returned to KC in ‘01, lasting into 2007.
- 1947 - LHP Dave Hamilton was born in Seattle. He tossed for nine big-league seasons, splitting 1978 between the Pirates and Cards, the club the Bucs bought the lefty from in May. Dave pitched well enough, going 0-2-1/3.42 and then signed up with Oakland after the season, returning to the squad he had won three World Series titles with in 1972-74. He retired as an Athletic in 1980 and went on to coach high school ball and work as a project manager.
- 1949 - The Pirates purchased 1B/OF Marv Rickert from the Boston Braves for an undisclosed amount, but not thought to be much more than the $10,000 waiver fee. He was Beantown’s leading hitter in ‘49 with a .292 BA, but it was by far the 29-year-old platoon player’s (he was a LH hitter) best year, and after going 3-for-20 in the ‘Burgh, he was sold to the White Sox in May. He batted .237 in Chicago, and that ended his MLB career after six seasons and five teams.
- 1956 - Dale Berra was born in Ridgewood, NJ. The SS, the first round pick of the 1975 draft (20th overall), spent eight years in Pittsburgh (1977-84) and started the last three, but his bat (.238 as a Pirate) never came around and to boot, he testified that he was a coke user during the 1985 trial. Berra still makes the highlight tapes thanks to a 1985 baserunning blooper with Bobby Meacham while with the Yankees. With Meacham at second and Berra at first, Ricky Henderson drilled a ball into the corner. Meacham slipped rounding the bases, so he and Berra came home at virtually the same time. That little stagger allowed Ozzie Guillen’s relay to beat the pair to the dish and Carlton Fisk tagged them both out - a double turned into a double play!
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| Jeff Robinson - 1989 Topps |
- 1960 - RHP Jeffrey Daniel Robinson was born in Santa Ana, California. He tossed for the Bucs from 1987-89. His first two seasons were strictly out of the pen, followed by 19 starts in 51 appearances in ‘89. Overall, Robinson went 20-19-17 for Pittsburgh with a 3.78 ERA. He went to the New York Yankees in the Don Slaught deal, but couldn’t replicate his Pittsburgh success. Robinson tossed for three teams from 1990-92 and then was out of baseball. He barely preceded starter Jeff M. Robinson, a Bucco in 1992, who was a brother Californian and whose birthday fell just one day later.
- 1976 - RHP Josh Fogg was born in Lynn, Massachusetts. He pitched for Pittsburgh from 2002-05 with a slash of 39-42/4.79 after coming over from the Chicago White Sox as part of the Todd Ritchie deal. Josh finished seventh in the Rookie of the Year vote in 2002 and won double figure games for three straight seasons, but was released after going 6-11/5.05 during the 2005 campaign. Fogg pitched four more years before stepping off the slab in 2009 as a Colorado Rockie. And blow out the candles - he was traded to the Bucs on his birthday in 2001.
- 1988 - The suits and Dave Parker settled a 2-1/2 year battle over the Cobra’s 1979 contract. The Pirates believed his drug involvement voided $5.3M in deferred payments; Parker disagreed. A few weeks from trial, the two sides settled with Parker getting a lump sum payment of an undisclosed amount that was reportedly less than the original total due, confirmed a week later when the team said its 1988 operating profit was impacted favorably by the settlement.
















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