12/14 Through the 1940s: Chief Yellow Horse-Kunz, Flynn Joins, Yde/Spencer Go, Cash Cut; HBD Jerry, Lefty, Willie, Heinie, Charlie & Ren

• 1861 - OF James “Ren” (Renwick was his middle name) Wylie was born in Elizabeth. His moment of baseball glory happened on August 20th, 1882 when the 20-year-old center fielder from Geneva College played in his only MLB game, going 0-for-3 for the Alleghenys. He went on to bigger and better things, becoming a successful banker, realtor and two-time Pennsylvania State Representative. 
• 1896 - C Charlie Hargreaves was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He caught for Pittsburgh at the end of his career from 1928-30, and was a solid two-way guy for the first two seasons before fading in 1930, putting up a .273 BA over that period. Charlie rejoined the organization briefly, managing the Bucs’ Class C Keokuk Pirates squad of the Central Association in 1949. 
• 1898 - 2B Henry “Heinie” Reitz was traded by the Washington Senators to the Pirates for OF/3B Jack O'Brien, IF Dick Padden and OF Jimmy “Rabbit” Slagle. It wasn’t a very good deal for Pittsburgh; Reitz played 35 games and was traded at the end of the 1899 season. O’Brien was a journeyman, Padden had three solid seasons remaining, and rookie Slagle went on to have a 10-year career, mainly with the Cubs, and a lifetime .268 BA. “Heinie” was a popular nickname for German baseball players, particularly those named Henry, or Heinrich in German. 
• 1909 - Pittsburgh purchased 1B John Flynn from St. Paul of the American Association for $4,000. He was solid in 1910, batting .274 in 96 games, but fizzled the following campaign and was sent back to the Paulies in August. They flipped him to Washington in 1912 where he played his last 20 MLB games. John then played or managed in the minors through 1926. 

Jim Flynn - 1911 The Sporting Life

• 1911 - Pirate owner Barney Dreyfuss proposed that each team in the World Series turn over one-fourth of its share of the gate to the league, to be divided as a bonus among the other top-finishing teams. It marked the beginning of changes that ultimately gave players of the top four teams in each league a share of the World Series money. Dreyfuss had put his money where his mouth was earlier when he added his owner’s cut of the 1903 World Series gate receipts to the players' share, so the Pirates earned a larger payout than the winning Boston team that year. 
• 1918 - RHP Willie Pope was born in Birmingham and raised in Library, just outside South Park. A 6’4” hurler known as “Wee Willie,” Pope began his career as a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1946 but was mostly known for playing with the Grays during the 1947-48 seasons. During the 1947 campaign, the righty notched a 6-7 record, but pitched a no-hitter against the New York Cubans. In the 1948 season, he was a major contributor to the Grays team that won the last Negro National League Pennant and won the Negro Leagues World Series against the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League. He played a couple of years in the minors while his brother Dave played for Cleveland and Baltimore. Willie remained home after his career, working in the City Controller's Office, being a player in Pittsburgh ward politics and serving as a local black baseball historian. He passed away in 2010 at the age of 91. 
• 1922 - In what looked like a big deal at the time, the Bucs sent RHPs Chief Yellow Horse & Bill Hughes, minor leaguers Harry Brown & Claude Rohwer, and $7,500 to Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League for RHP Earl Kunz, a “...real phenom...” per the Pittsburgh Press. The Chief and Hughes never pitched big league ball again, Brown and Rohwer proved to be career farm hands, and the 23-year-old Kunz went 1-2/5.52 during 1923 in his only major league campaign. 

Lefty LaPalme - 1952 Topps

• 1923 - LHP Paul “Lefty” LaPalme was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Lefty began his career in Pittsburgh (1951-54) and was a starter in the last two seasons, with a Pirate line of 14-33-2/4.99. The knuckleballer was traded to the Saint Louis Cardinals in 1955, returned to his original role as a bullpen arm and tossed for three teams before retiring after the 1957 season. 
• 1927 - The Pirates sold four-year man LHP Emil Yde and three-year vet C Roy Spencer to Indianapolis. Yde had won 41 games in his first three Pirates campaigns, but fell apart in ‘27, giving up 35 runs (32 earned) in 29-1/3IP. He had a last hurrah in 1929 with the Tigers, going 7-3/5.30, ending his MLB career. Spencer hung around for nine more seasons, getting regular time in the early thirties with Washington and Cleveland, before hangin’ up his mask. 
• 1943 - C Jerry May was born in Staunton, Virginia. May was mainly a backup catcher from 1964-70 (he started in ‘67-68) for the Bucs, hitting .237 in his seven year Pittsburgh stint. He was signed by Syd Thrift out of high school and tossed several no-hitters as an American Legion pitcher; the Bucs converted him to catcher and he was behind the dish for Dock Ellis’ infamous 1970 no-hitter. May was bumped out of the starting role by Manny Sanguillen. Jerry was a good tactician and glove guy throughout his 10 year MLB career, throwing out 43% of the base runners who tried to steal a sack on him, good for 11th on the all-time list. He led NL catchers in 1970 with a 50% caught stealing percentage.

12/14 From 1960: Lieber-Brown, Kitten Deal, Lyle-Wil & Mike Sign, Scott Rule 5, Roberto DD-MOTY, Face's Firs; HBD Fraze & Mark

• 1961 - RHP Jeff Mark Robinson was born in Ventura, California. He finished out his six-year career with a few weeks in the Bucco rotation after being claimed off waivers from Texas in June of 1992, getting seven starts (eight outings) with a 3-1/4.46 line and then being waived again in July. It was his last MLB campaign, and Robinson went on to become the pitching director, coach and instructor with the Natural Baseball Academy in Kansas. He just missed the three-year Pirates stint of fellow Golden State hurler Jeff Robinson (1987-89), saving all sorts of confusion of sportswriters, scorecard keepers and fans. The two were best identified by their middle initial - Jeff M was the starter and Jeff D the reliever. 
• 1961 - Baseball players may be rolling in long green now, but for many decades, even the stars had a postseason job. ElRoy Face earned a Post-Gazette sports column mention on this date by selling Christmas trees grown on his Indiana farm at the corner of Bouquet Street and Forbes Avenue in Oakland, a block from the ballyard where he plied his summer trade. He was a carpenter during the off season and it became his full-time job after he retired from baseball. 
• 1963 - The Pirates sent LHP Harvey Haddix to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for SS Dick Yencha and cash. The Kitten, then 38 and a reliever, spent the last two years of his career in Baltimore, going 8-7-11/2.63 before retiring because of arm problems, while Yencha never made it past AA. Haddix later followed his rookie mentor Harry Brecheen (as St. Louis teammates, veteran Brecheen was “the Cat” and his protege, the young Haddix, was “the Kitten”) as a pitching coach, working with the Mets, Reds, Red Sox, Indians, and Pirates before passing away in 1994. 
• 1966 - NL MVP Roberto Clemente won his second Dapper Dan Man of the Year award (he won his first in 1961) in a romp, leaving the runner up, his skipper Harry “The Hat” Walker, in the dust by a 59-19 count. Clemente was the eighth Pirate in the past dozen years to claim the honor; teammate Vern Law was the 1965 awardee to give the Bucs back-to-back winners. 

Fraze - 2025 Pirates image

• 1991 - 2B Adam Frazier was born in Athens, Georgia. He was selected from Mississippi State in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 2013 draft and was signed for the slot value of $240,600. Fraze was known for his 24/7 stick and it earned him a call up in 2016, slashing .283/.346/.420 during his six Bucco campaigns. He played a half dozen positions, but he claimed Josh Harrison's second base spot with a solid 2019 (.278 BA, +6 DRS) campaign. After an All-Star breakout in ‘21, he was traded to San Diego; the Padres flipped him to Seattle, from there he went to Baltimore and then to KC. Fraze came back home in 2025 as a free agent and started at 2B after Nick Gonzales broke his ankle. He was flipped in July to KC after hitting .255 and is a FA now. 
• 1993 - The State legislature cut the City’s amusement tax from 10% to 5%; one state senator said that the Pirates had informed him that without the lower rate that they could be forced to leave the City in two years. GM Mark Sauer told the Post Gazette that the team wouldn’t be cutting ticket prices (neither did the Steelers) and then ran down a financial wish list featuring revenue sharing and a salary cap from the MLB to go with a new stadium and lease for the team. Pirates ownership got three-out-of-its-four wishes granted eventually; good luck on the cap. 
• 1995 - Pittsburgh signed 35-year-old free agent CF Mike Kingery to a two year/$1.5M agreement, planning to use him as a platoon bat & glove guy off the bench player after fanning on efforts to land their top target, Lance Johnson, who inked a deal with the Mets. It didn’t quite work out; Kingery, who had been a .272 lifetime hitter before the contract, hit .246 in 117 games and was released after the season. He opened Solid Foundation Baseball School the year after he retired, and makes appearances with the Kingery Family, a gospel/bluegrass group. 
• 1998 - RHP Jon Lieber was traded to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for OF Brant Brown. Lieber tossed for nine more years in the show, winning 20 games for the Cubs in 2001 while Brown was one and done in Pittsburgh. After his breakout campaign, workhorse Lieber had TJ surgery in ‘02 and only reached the 30-start, 200 IP mark once more in his career. Brown’s slide downhill was just as dramatic. He hit .232 for the Bucs, then started the next year with the Florida Marlins after being traded for Bruce Aven. The Fish sent him back to the Cubs in June, where he couldn’t crack the Mendoza line, to end his MLB days. 

Scott Sauerbeck - 2002 Outback promo

• 1998 - The Pirates selected LHP Scott Sauerbeck from the New York Mets in the Rule 5 draft. Sauerbeck stuck with the Pirates until 2003, going 19-15-5/3.53 in his 4-1/2 year Bucco stint before he was traded to the Boston Red Sox. Sauerbeck missed 2004 after surgery, and after a fairly ineffective campaign in 2006, the LOOGY’s major league career ended. 
• 1999 - “Wil Cordero, a good hitter who has had difficulty staying healthy and out of trouble, signed a $9M, three-year contract yesterday with the Pittsburgh Pirates, his fourth team in four years...” per the Associated Press. But Cordero proved to be a good pick up, as the left fielder banged 16 HR with 51 RBI before he was traded in late July to the Indians for Alex Ramirez (who wasn’t such a great addition - he hit .209 and was out of baseball the following year) and Enrique Wilson, a reserve infielder who hit .262 in 1-1/2 Pirates seasons. Cordero had one more strong year left in him as a Montreal Expo in 2003. 
• 2001 - The Giants did what the Bucs couldn’t afford to do by signing RHP Jason Schmidt to a four-year/$31M contract (it became official on the 18th) after the Pirates had flipped him to the G-Men at the deadline of his 2001 walk year for Ryan Vogelsong. Jason wasn’t done mastering the art of the deal; he signed a three-year/$47M agreement with the Dodgers in 2006 after the SF contract expired. He earned about $92M in his career, with $8M from his five Bucco years. 
• 2010 - The Pirates agreed to terms with 1B Lyle Overbay on a one-year/$5M contract; he was waived in August after hitting .227. The Bucs also signed 32-year old OF Matt Diaz to a two-year deal worth up to $5M with bonuses. He was sent back to the Atlanta Braves, his prior club, at the deadline for RHP Eliecer Cardenas after hitting .259 with no homers. Following 2012 thumb surgery, Matt announced his retirement after the ‘13 season.

12/13 Through the 1980s: Richert Deal, Cobra Sees Bucs In Court; HBD Josh, Jeff, Dale, Dave, Joe J, Joe C, Bill & Buckshot

• 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. 

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! 

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.

12/13 From 1990: Marte-Mack, Ritchie-Wells/Fogg, Brown-Avens, Bell/King-KC Jays, Vince-Edinson & Steve Sign, Bucs & SNPgh, Mitchell Report; HBD Carson

• 1991 - Negotiating into the wee hours of the morning, the Pirates re-signed free agent 3B Steve Buechele to a four-year/$11M deal that included a $1M signing bonus; Buechele had sought a deal for $13M, but his agent admitted that the market wasn’t ready to support that figure. The agreement was announced a few hours later after the Bucs DFA’ed OF Cecil Espy to clear a 40-man roster spot for Buechele. Steve lasted into July before he was sent to the Cubs for Danny Jackson. GM Larry Doughty said that was near the end of the signings for next year; finalizing C Mike Lavalliere’s contract and bringing back RHP Bob Walk were the only items left on the Pittsburgh agenda. They were both re-signed and remained with the Buccos into 1993. 
• 1993 - RHP Carson Fulmer was born in Lakeland, Florida. The Chicago White Sox made the Vanderbilt ace the #8 overall pick in the 2015 draft, but he didn’t meet their expectations. In parts of five years as a starter and reliever, he tossed for CWS and the Tigers, posting a line of 6-9/6.57. The Pirates claimed him off waivers in late August of 2020 from Detroit, presumably to provide starting depth as they were shopping pitchers at the deadline. But none were moved and Carson became a man without a spot; he was waived in early September and claimed by the Orioles without appearing in a game for Pittsburgh. He was reclaimed by the Bucs two weeks later, released again, and spent 2021 with the Reds. The Dodgers took him in the minor league Rule 5 draft for 2022 before he left after the season, becoming an insurance policy for the Angels in 2023-24, and declared for free agency after he was outrighted. The Pirates re-signed him, stashed him in Indy and let him go in June. He returned to the Haloes, again became a FA and as of now, he’s still on the market. 
• 1996 - SS Jay Bell and 3B Jeff King were traded to the Royals for 3B Joe Randa (called "The Joker" after the grinning Batman villain; Joe had a permanent smile on his face), LHP Jeff Wallace, LHP Jeff Granger and RHP Jeff Martin in a salary dump, or maybe in an effort by the clubs to set a record for Jeffs (or just “J” first names in general) packaged in one deal. The trade cleared about $5M in salary, and also sent away the last starters from the playoff teams of the early 1990’s. In all, the Bucs traded away eight players worth $16.5M who were on the roster in August as Kevin McClatchy planned to operate the 1997 club with a payroll of $15M. On the same day, MLB projected that the Pirates would get $4.9M in revenue sharing for 1996 and $5.5M in ‘97. 

J's Jumbled - 1996 Score

• 1999 - The Pirates sent OF Brant Brown to Florida for OF Bruce Avens. Brant hit .232 in his year as a Bucco and it would get worse in 2000, his final MLB season. Aven hit .250 for the Pirates and was flipped to the Dodgers at the deadline, enjoying a couple of solid seasons in LA. 
• 2001 - The Pirates flipped RHP Todd Ritchie and C Lee Evans to the White Sox for RHPs Kip Wells, Sean Lowe, and Josh Fogg. Ritchie struggled for Chicago and then was injured the following year, effectively ending his career. Fogg and Wells were mainstays in the Pirate rotation for three years but never blossomed beyond journeyman status; neither made it through the 2006 season for the Bucs. Lowe worked for three teams in 2002-03 before ending his MLB journey. 
• 2005 - The Bucs acquired LHP Damaso Marte from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for INF/OF Rob Mackowiak. It was the lefty’s second go-around with Pittsburgh, and after an injury to Matt Capps in 2006, Marte became the closer. He was traded to the New York Yankees with Xavier Nady at the deadline for José Tábata, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Dan McCutchen. Mack was strong for the White Sox from 2006-07 (.285 BA), but after being traded back into the NL at the 2007 deadline he faded badly, and his career ended after the 2008 campaign. 
• 2007 - The Mitchell Report, a 20-month investigation led by former US Senator George Mitchell into performance-enhancing drugs’ MLB inroads, was released. The report covered the use of PEDs by players with recommendations on how to handle the epidemic. Mitchell named names - 89 MLB players were alleged to be users, including 11 ex-Pirates (Kevin Young and Denny Neagle were the Bucs’ big names; every team had at least one player implicated in the report). The findings stiffened the MLB’s spine, and they, hand-in-hand with the MLB Players Association, jointly implemented a testing program with stiff penalties for violations in both the major and minor leagues. 

Edinson Volquez - 2014 Topps

• 2013 - RHP Edinson Volquez was officially signed as a free agent after passing his physical to a one-year/$5M contract. He was quite the bargain, going 13-7/3.04 during the season. He signed a two-year/$20M guaranteed deal with the KC Royals after refurbishing his value, then skipped to Miami on a one-year/$9M deal. He underwent TJ surgery in 2017 and was on the comeback trail with Texas, getting 18 outings from 2019-20 that marked the close of his MLB career. 
• 2022 - The Pirates officially signed RHP Vince Velasquez, 30, to a one-year/$3.15M deal, finalizing a deal reached a week before during the winter meetings. He spent last year with the White Sox, going 3-3/4.78 in 32 appearances (nine starts). The Pirates were his fifth organization in eight MLB campaigns, six with the Phils, with VV posting an MLB line of 34-47/4.93. The Pirates plugged Velasquez into the rotation, and he started out solidly, going 4-4/3.86. Those eight outings were all they’d get from Velasquez, who had UCL surgery in early June and was lost for the remainder of the year. He wasn’t re-signed during the off season (recovery time for his surgery was estimated at around a year, so he’d be a mid-season add at best) and is now pitching in Korea. 
• 2023 - The Pirates became joint owners of SportsNet Pittsburgh with the Penguins, and planned to broadcast at the start of the new year with the Bucs guaranteed at least 150 on-air games. SNP had previously carried their games under the name AT&T SportsNet before Fenway Sports Group bought the regional sports network from Warner Bros. Discovery in late August. As with AT&T, the games will be available through cable, satellite and streaming services.

12/12 Through the 1960s: Arky, Don, Freddie, French, Kremer, Konetchy Deals, Law Signs; HBD Bill, Clyde, Hank, Diamond Joe, Tully & Phenom

• 1864 - LHP John “Phenomenal” Smith (John Gammon was his birth name) was born in Philadelphia. He made a couple of brief stops in Pittsburgh in 1884 & 1890, compiling a 1-4 record. He was actually born John Francis Gammon, but got his nickname when he struck out 16 batters in a no-hit game in 1885 while pitching for minor league Newark, with no batter hitting the ball out of the infield. Only two runners reached base, one on a walk and one on a dropped third strike – and Smith picked both of them off. Phenomenal played eight years of big league ball, then had a long minor league career as a player/manager until 1905, mostly manning the pasture rather than the hill.
• 1874 - RHP Tom “Tully” Sparks was born in Etna, Georgia. Out of Beloit College, Sparks spent 12 years in the show, with 1899 being his sole Bucco campaign. He was used as a swingman in Pittsburgh and went 8-6/3.86 in 28 outings/170 innings. Tully tossed in the MLB until 1910, mostly with the Philadelphia A’s, as a good pitcher on so-so teams, and closed out his pro career in 1913. 
• 1876 - OF “Diamond Joe” Rickert was born in London, Ohio. Joe played long and hard in the minors, toiling on baseball’s farm circuit from 1896-1915. Pittsburgh noticed him in 1898 when he was a 21-year-old with the nearby New Castle Quakers of the Interstate League and gave him a look, with Joe going 1-for-6 in two games. He didn’t impress the Bucs nor the Boston Beaneaters in a later 1901 audition of 16 games. Diamond Joe did put his years of baseball knowledge to use, managing the New Orleans Pelicans and the University of Tulane. 
• 1899 - The Pirates sold OF’er Jack McCarthy to the Chicago Orphans for $2,000. McCarthy hit .276 for Cincy in his first two campaigns and .286 as a Pirate from 1898-99. After being sold, he put in eight more big league seasons, finishing his 12-year, six-team career with a .287 BA. 

Ed Konetchy - Helmar Oasis

• 1913 - The Pirates traded LHP Hank Robinson, OF’ers Chief Wilson & Cozy Dolan and IF’ers Art Butler & Dots Miller to the St Louis Cardinals for RHP Bob Harmon, 1B Ed Konetchy and 3B Mike Mowrey. The Cards got two or three good seasons out of their new acquisitions, but the Bucs weren’t so lucky. Harmon was a keeper, tossing for four seasons and going 39-52/2.60. But Konetchy and Mowrey both had so-so 1914 seasons for the Pirates, then skipped to the outlaw Federal League’s Pittsburgh Rebels in 1915 and signed with different clubs in 1916. The deal was especially frustrating for the Bucs; they had been trying to get Konetchy for years, and it was said that manager Fred Clarke even dangled an aging Hans Wagner as bait to get him, but Ed ended up a one-and-done. The trigger was that Konetchy wanted a three-year, $7,500/season contract even after a sub-par .249 campaign (he did hit .285 in his remaining seven MLB years) and Barney Dreyfuss balked at those terms, leading to Konetchy's Federal League leap.
• 1914 - C Hank Camelli (Comolli) was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Hank spent 1943-46 with the Bucs and during that time he got into 108 games, hitting .229. He finished his big-league time with the Boston Braves and then followed up with a spot of minor-league coaching. 
• 1917 - C Clyde Kluttz was born in Rockwell, North Carolina. Clyde spent 1947-48 with the Pirates with a .258 BA, hitting well in his first season and not so well in the next. He had a nine-year career in the show, afterward becoming a longtime scout with the Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees. He was later director of player development of the Baltimore Orioles, serving the Birds from 1976 until he passed away three years later. 
• 1921 - OF Bill Howerton was born in Lompoc, California. He spent four years in the majors, joining the Pirates in 1951 as part of a big swap with the Cards. Bill hit .279 as a Bucco, leaving the club in May of 1952 to join the NY Giants. He closed out his big league career there and then spent a couple of seasons in the Pacific Coast League until retiring to become a trucker. 

Bill Howerton - 1952 Topps

• 1923 - The Pirates traded IF Spencer Adams, along with pitchers Earl Kunz and George Boehler plus $20K, to the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League in exchange for RHP Remy “Ray” Kremer. Kremer had been a PCL ace for several years, and the Cubs and Bucs were in a battle for his services, even though he would be 31 for the 1924 campaign. The start was bumpy as the player and team disputed if the sale cost went to the seller only or should be shared. But after that was settled, Kremer became a Pirate lifer, pitching from 1924-33 with a 143-85-9/3.76 line. The workhorse went 200+ IP and won double-digit games (hitting 20 wins twice) for eight straight years (1921-34) while finishing as the National League’s ERA leader twice. The Frenchman went 2-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 1925 & 1927 World Series games and was the hero in ‘25, winning games six and seven, the former as a starter and then claiming the finale with 4-1/3 scoreless IP from the pen. He spent much of 1933-34 with Oakland before retiring; then he became a mailman. Fun fact: Kremer spent eight years in the PCL (1916-23) before getting his MLB shot because he was considered by the east coast/heartland-based big league clubs to be a warm weather pitcher (he often had problems with rheumatism, making California a better clime for him). As for his nicknames, the newspapers called him the “Frenchman” because of his ancestry, and he also went by “Wiz”/”Bush Wiz” due to his long and impressive minor-league career. 
• 1928 - The Pirates bought LHP Larry French, 20, from Portland of the Pacific Coast League despite so-so numbers (31-36/4.65 in three minor league years) on the advice of scout Joe Devine. Joe’s eye was good - from 1929-34, the knuckleballer put up a line of 87-83-9/3.50 for Pittsburgh and won 197 games in a 14-year MLB career. French, like a lot of players, joined the Navy in 1942. Unlike most, he became a career swabbie, retiring in 1969 with the rank of Captain. 
• 1932 - Giant CF Freddie Lindstrom ended up a Bucco in a three-way deal. New York sent CF Chick Fullis to the Phillies, Pittsburgh sent RHP Glenn Spencer to the Giants and OF Gus Dugas to Philadelphia, who shipped OF Kiddo Davis to New York. Lindstrom hit .302 in two seasons at Pittsburgh, playing with the Waners. For the cost of two reserves, the Bucs got two years of a Hall-of-Famer. 
• 1934 - The Pirates sent RHP Leon Chagnon to the New York Giants for 21-year-old RHP Jack Salveson. Salveson never developed and was flipped to the White Sox after five so-so outings; following the ‘35 campaign, he reappeared in the majors for two more seasons during the war years. Chagnon had worked five years for the Bucs (19-14-2/4.61), but 1935 would be his last MLB hurrah. 

Arky Vaughan - 1941 Play Ball

• 1941 - The Bucs traded SS Arky Vaughan to the Brooklyn Dodgers for IF Pete Coscarart, RHP Luke Hamlin, C Babe Phelps and OF/1B Jimmy Wasdell. Only reserve infielder Coscarart stuck with the team past 1942. In 10 seasons, Hall of Famer Vaughan hit .324 for Pittsburgh. He later had a couple of strong seasons for Brooklyn, then left the team and worked his ranch for three years because of, according to baseball lore, a dispute with manager Leo Durocher (although his family said he ran the spread because his brother Glenn was drafted and there was no one else to do the job.) Both probably weighed in the decision, and he didn’t return to baseball until 1947 - the year Durocher was suspended by the Commissioner for loafing with gamblers. 
• 1950 - The Korean War put a stop to a Branch Rickey fishing expedition after he had placed 10 players on waivers, including RHP Murry Dickson, C Clyde McCullough, SS Stan Rojek and 3B Bob Dillinger. The UPI article said that “All were players generally past their peak and whom Rickey had placed on the waiver lists with the idea of getting ‘nibbles’ for deals...” but with the draft threatening to cut into his youth movement, he opted to keep some warm albeit creaky bodies available. It was a good decision by The Mahatma - Dickson won 20 times and McCullough played 92 games in ‘51. 
• 1959 - Vern Law became the first Bucco to sign a 1960 contract, agreeing to a deal that jumped his salary from $22,000 to an estimated $30K. Law had a breakout campaign in 1959, slashing 18-9/2.98 in 33 starts, then posted 20 victories in 1960 while winning the Cy Young and an All-Star spot. 
• 1961 - The Pirates shipped minor league OF/1B Tom Burgess to the Los Angeles Angels for C Don Leppert. Leppert spent two seasons as a backup in Pittsburgh, while the persistent Burgess, whose only prior MLB action was in 1954 with the Cards (he signed with them as an 18-year-old in 1946), got to swing it off the bench for the Angelinos in 1962-’63. Sadly, he didn’t bat his way above the Mendoza Line either season and hung ‘em up after a final year in the minors.

12/12 From 1970: Morton-Veras-Hendrick & Howe Deals, Rowdy-Frankie-Ramon & Grilli Signed, '06 Arbs Return, '23 IL, Roster Remix, Jimmy Moves; HBD Yerry & Joey

• 1975 - Houston sent veteran IF Tommy Helms to the Pirates for a PTBNL (IF Art Howe). Helms was at the end of his days here, while Howe went on to have a solid career with the Astros and Cards, playing for 11 years with a .260 career BA. Afterward, Art scouted, coached and managed the Astros (1989–93), Oakland Athletics (1996–2002), and New York Mets (2003–04). 
• 1984 - The Bucs traded LHP John Tudor and C/OF Brian Harper to the St. Louis Cardinals for UT Steve Barnard and OF George Hendrick. Tudor won 21 games with the Cards while tossing 10 shutouts the next season and won two World Series games. Harper was a late bloomer, but did break out in 1988 with the Twins. In his six years with Minnesota, he hit .306 with 111 homers and won a Fall Classic in 1991. “Jogging George” hit .230 and lasted until August, when he was sent to the California Angels. Barnard never made it out of A ball. 
• 1985 - Jim Leyland completed his staff with the hires of Bill Virdon (hitting coach), Mick Kelleher (1B coach) and Rich Donnelly (bullpen coach). They joined Gene Lamont (3B coach) and Ron Schueler (pitching coach) as members of Leyland’s first Pirates dugout brain trust. 
• 1991 - Jim Leyland and Bobby Bonilla got into a verbal spat when the skipper said he didn’t believe Bo, who went to the New York Mets, was ever planning to re-sign with the Pirates. That prompted an exchange of “cheap shot” charges between the pair, with Bobby Bo’s defense being that the Pirates front office never negotiated in good faith. A little bit me, a little bit you... 
• 1992 - UT Jose Osuna was born in Trujillo, Venezuela. He made his MLB debut with the Buccos in 2017, and in his four years bouncing around, he hit .241 w/24 HR in 660 ABs. The Pirates worked third base and the corner outfield into his resume while he hit .264 w/10 HR in 2019. He faded in 2020 and moved on to Japan. After a solid ‘21 campaign, Joey O signed a guaranteed three-year deal with Japanese League champs, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and is still there. 

Jose Osuna - 2018 Topps

• 1997 - RHP Yerry De Los Santos was born in Samana, Dominican Republic. A Pirates Latino signee who started out in 2015 in the Dominican Summer League, the reliever steadily climbed the Pittsburgh minor league ladder. He had a strong 2021 campaign (3-2-2/1.52, AAA + AA) in the upper levels, then continued to be impressive (2-0/1.72) during the opening weeks of 2022 at Indy, getting his call to the show in mid-May. He slashed 0-3-3-/4.91, wearing down at the end - he gave up just seven runs in his first 22 outings, but seven more in his final four appearances, leading to a season-ending trip to the IL with a shoulder sprain. He pitched a split season in ‘23 between the Bucs and Indy, was removed from the 40-man roster at the end of the year despite a 1-1/3.33 slash in 22 outings and was signed by the New York Yankees as a free agent. 
• 2004 - Pittsburgh was on the verge of a deal with Colorado for C Charles Johnson, but it fell through when Johnson wanted an extra year added to his contract. The Bucs shifted gears and four days later, they traded for Benito Santiago instead. He caught six games before he was released, not that Johnson would have been much of an upgrade - 2005 was his last MLB season, too. He lasted just 19 games with Tampa Bay, hitting .196. The club ended up using Humberto Cota, Ryan Doumit and David Ross during the campaign with Ronny Paulino on the horizon. 
• 2006 - The Pirates had a class of eight arb-eligible players and tendered them all. They were IF’s Freddy Sanchez & Jose Castillo, OF’s Xavier Nady & Jody Gerut, and hurlers Mike Gonzalez, John Grabow & Shawn Chacon along with C Humberto Cota. Six stuck with the team through the spring and into the campaign; Gonzo was traded in January and Gerut was cut during camp. 
• 2008 - The Pirates signed 32-year-old IF Ramon Vazquez during the winter meetings to a two-year deal worth $4M after he had hit .290 for the Rangers. Alas, he batted .230 in 2009, then was released the following April, ending his nine-year MLB career while the Pirates ate $2M in salary. 

Ramon Vazquez - 2009 photo Ron Modra/Getty

• 2009 - The Bucs non-tendered RHP Matt Capps, allowing the closer to walk as an uncompensated free agent. He signed a one-year deal with Washington for $3.5M and became an All-Star. Capps then went to the Twins and closed, but shoulder inflammation derailed him there in 2012, and a year later he had surgery, ending his career. He’s now a radio/TV broadcaster for the Pirates. 
• 2011 - The Milwaukee Brewers traded 3B Casey McGehee to Pittsburgh for RHP Jose Veras with the dominoes falling after the Brew Crew signed FA Aramis Ramirez. Veras put together a workmanlike campaign for Milwaukee while McGehee hit .230 and was swapped to the NYY for RHP Chad Qualls at the deadline. Casey went on to trip the light fantastic afterward, playing ball in the bigs, AAA and Japan in 2017, returning to the Nippon League in 2018 to end his career. 
• 2012 - The Pirates signed free agent reliever Jason Grilli to a two-year/$6.75M contract. Grilli, who found a home in Pittsburgh after being taken from AAA Lehigh in 2011, was supposed to have turned down a larger deal with the Jays to remain a Bucco. Good move; he became the closer in 2013 after Joel Hanrahan was dealt, saved 33 games and made his only All-Star outing. The wheels fell off next season and he was flipped to the Angels at the deadline. His four-year Bucco line was 3-11-47/3.01 with 44 holds and 222 punch outs in 161-2/3 innings. 
• 2014 - The Pirates officially announced Francisco Liriano’s three-year/$39M contract, the biggest FA contract in franchise history, after Frankie passed his physical. The financial terms of the deal were: $2M signing bonus, $11M in '15, $13M in '16, $13M in '17, plus sundry bonuses. The free agent had been 2014’s opening-day pitcher for the Bucs, winning 23 games in 2013-14 for the Bucs. He went 41-36/3.67 during his four campaigns with Pittsburgh with 659 K in 623+ IP before being moved to Toronto. He tossed in the playoffs for the Jays and then worked the postseason in 2017 with the Astros, taking home a WS ring, before moving to Detroit in 2018 and returning to the Buccos the following campaign. Frankie then signed with Philly, but ended up opting out of the 2020 season. He agreed to an NRI with the Blue Jays in 2021, was released and opted for free agency but couldn’t find any other offers, ending his big league days on the hill. 

Charlie Morton - 2015 Topps

• 2015 - Pittsburgh sent RHP Charlie Morton to the Phils for minor league RHP David Whitehead. Charlie was one of the league’s better ground ball pitchers (55.3% in his career), earning him the nickname “Ground Chuck,” but was often hurt and underperformed as a Bucco, though he possessed some great stuff. In seven seasons with Pittsburgh, he went 41-62/4.39 and never made 30 starts in any single campaign. The move was made to free up some money for the 2016 season; Morton was due $8M in 2016. It worked out well for Charlie - in 2017, he went 14-7 for Houston and beat the Yankees in the ALCS and the Dodgers in the WS followed with strong campaigns in 2018 & ‘19 (w/Tampa Bay) before moving on to Atlanta and finally retiring after the ‘25 campaign after tossing for seven teams over 18 MLB seasons. Whitehead tossed to a 7.52 ERA at Altoona and Bristol, and the Bucs released him. Philly reclaimed him, but let him go in 2017. 
• 2023 - The Pirates and 28-year-old 1B/DH Rowdy Tellez agreed to a one-year/$3.2M deal, with bonuses that could bring its value up to $4M that became official three days later. The Milwaukee Brewers non-tendered him after he hit .215 w/13 HR in 2023 after a career year for the Brewers in 2022, when he hit 35 homers w/89 RBIs in 153 games (.219 BA). There was hope for a bounceback; he suffered a forearm injury/broken finger during the dog days that cost him time and affected his hitting. He followed John Nogowski (2021), Yoshi Tsutsugo (2021-22) and Ji-Man Choi/Carlos Santana/Alfonso Rivas (2023) as plug-ins for the Buccos black hole at first base (20 different Pirates played multiple games at 1B between 2021-23) that was created after Josh Bell was traded. After an ice-cold start (his BA was below .200 into June), Rowdy rallied to post a .243/13/56 slashline but was released at year’s end as the Bucco search for a full-time 1B continued. 
• 2023 - The Pirates confirmed that C Endy Rodriguez had UCL surgery on his elbow and would be lost for the season, joining RHP Johan Oviedo, who earlier had year-ending TJ surgery. Endy was the Pirates starting catcher from late July to the end of the ‘23 campaign, and hurt himself while playing winter ball. Young gun SS Oneil Cruz missed all but nine games in 2023 while RHP JT Brubaker missed the entire season; it’s tough to retool when your building blocks keep breaking.

12/11 Through 1974: Ginger/Patsy/Claude-Abby, Buckshot Dealt, Haney Hired, Arriba Honors, Relo; HBD Derek, Jay, O'Briens & Dutch

• 1885 - C Art “Dutch” Wilson was born in Macon, Illinois. The backstop spent half a season with the Pirates in 1916, batting .258 in 53 games. The Bucs had purchased him from the Federal League’s Chicago Whales in February and traded him and 2B Otto Knabe to the Chicago Cubs for C Bill Fischer and OF Frank Schulte in July. Dutch played 14 big league seasons, mostly in the National League but with stints in the Junior Circuit and Federal League, too. 
• 1906 - The Pirates traded veterans OF Ginger Beaumont, LHP Patsy Flaherty and 2B Claude Ritchey to the Boston Beaneaters for IF Ed Abbaticchio. Beaumont had a great 1907 for Boston and followed with a pair of solid seasons. Flaherty and Ritchey also had two workmanlike years left in them. Abby stuck with the Pirates until 1910. He started for two years, but was a sub on the 1909 title team, backing up Hans Wagner and Dots Miller. He hit .253 in Pittsburgh. 
• 1928 - SS Glenn “Buckshot” (his arm was strong but not entirely accurate) Wright was sent to the Brooklyn Robins for LHP Jesse “The Silver Fox” (he didn’t make it into the big leagues until his 30s) Petty and IF Harry Riconda. Wright, one of the top SS of the era, suffered a major shoulder injury in 1929 which affected his play in the field, but didn’t hang up the spikes until 1935 with a lifetime .294 BA after 11 big league seasons. Petty was workmanlike in 1929, but the wheels fell off in 1930, and it was his final MLB season. Riconda got into eight games for the Pirates and then was sold to the minor league Kansas City Blues in June. 

Glenn Wright - 1925 photo/National Photo Co.

• 1930 - The O’Brien twins, Eddie and Johnny, were born in South Amboy, New Jersey. Utilityman Eddie - he played SS, 3B, OF and even pitched 16 innings - spent five years (1952, 1954-57) with the Bucs, hitting .236 to go with a 3.31 ERA and a 1-0 record. Johnny was a Pirate for five years (1953, 1955-58) and was a middle infielder/pitcher. He put up a .260 BA and went 1-3 with a 5.61 ERA. The O'Briens were the first twins in major league history to play for the same team in the same game. On a side note, the brothers were also strong basketball players at Seattle University, and scored 84 points between them when SU beat the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters in 1952. With teammate Dick Groat, they formed the best backcourt in baseball. 
• 1952 - Fred Haney was named as manager, replacing Billy Meyer. It was an unusual job search; Haney, the PCL Hollywood coach, was happy there (it was his home), but was the fall-back man when Branch Rickey couldn't land anyone on his short list. The Bucs finished in last place each season under Haney’s three year reign, compiling a 163-299 (.353) record, which was more an indictment of the Pirates' talent than Haney’s leadership. In 1957, he took a Milwaukee team that featured Henry Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Warren Spahn to the World Series title. 
• 1957 - Relocation rumors are old news to Pittsburgh and its small-market revenue stream. Team VP Tom Johnson denied a report from the Associated Press from the day before that had the Bucs moving to the Big Apple, saying “...Mr Galbreath (team owner John) received a feeler from New York Mayor Robert Wagner’s committee (to find a new NL team after the Dodgers and Giants moved to the coast)...I can assure you that Mr. Galbreath emphatically turned down the effort to move the Pittsburgh franchise. Pittsburgh is a great baseball city, something the fans have proved over and over again.” 

Jay Bell - 1990 Leaf

• 1965 - SS Jay Bell was born at Eglin AFB (Pensacola), Florida. Jay played SS for Pittsburgh from 1989-96, hitting .269, anchoring the infield of Jim Leyland’s 1990-92 division championship clubs and earning an All-Star spot in 1993. Bell also won a Silver Slugger award and Gold Glove in 1993, breaking a string of thirteen straight National League Golden Gloves claimed by shortstop Ozzie Smith and the first GG by a Pirates SS since Gene Alley took back-to-back honors in 1966 and 1967. After stints as a Reds coach and a Yankee minor league manager, Jay's now the skipper of the Mid-East based Baseball United club, the Karachi Monarchs. 
• 1968 - OF Derek Bell was born in Tampa, Florida. The Pirates signed Bell to a two-year/$10M deal in 2001; he hit .173 in the first campaign and was slighted when newswriters told him that he was going to face competition in camp to start in 2002. Bell replied “If it is (a competition), then I'm going into 'Operation Shutdown.' Tell them exactly what I said. I haven't competed for a job since 1991." Bell left the team on March 29th, was released on March 31st, and never played in the majors again. The Pirates ate the $4.5M still due to him as Bell pulled anchor on his yacht and sailed away. New York Post writer Tom Keegan described the incident by calling Bell "the perfect Pirate given that he lives on a boat and steals money." 
• 1973 - The Pirates agreed to play two exhibition games in San Juan for the next five years to help fund a Roberto Clemente Sports Complex. It was a team effort - the Expos, Yankees, Mets and Red Sox (twice) agreed to play the series and Eastern Airlines picked up the travel arrangements. General manager Joe Brown said “We are overwhelmed by the cooperation.” The Sports City opened in Carolina, a suburb of San Juan, on land donated by Puerto Rico in 1974, and is now involved in a battle with the government over who will control the site. 
• 1974 - Roberto Clemente was named to the Black Athletes Hall of Fame. He, Roy Campanella and Pop Floyd were the only black baseball players included among the 14 honored. The official presentation was made in March in Las Vegas.

12/11 From 1975: Rhodes-Lawton, Foli-Harper, Dock/Kenny/Willie-Doc, Doe & Nova Deals, Jordan-Charlie-Don-Bo Sign, Sid Goes & Then Wins Hutch; HBD Joe

• 1975 - The Yankees acquired RHP Dock Ellis, LHP Ken Brett and 2B Willie Randolph from the Pirates for RHP Doc Medich. Randolph suited up for 17 more seasons, was named to six All-Star teams and played in four World Series, but was blocked in Pittsburgh by Rennie Stennett, who, as fate would have it, broke his leg in 1977 and left Pittsburgh after 1979. Dock pitched for five teams over the next four years, ending his career with a final stop in Pittsburgh in 1979 after two solid years (29-20/3.41) in 1976-77. Brett remained workmanlike over the next six seasons, tossing for a half-dozen clubs. Doc went 8-11/3.51 in his only Pirates campaign, then was traded to Oakland (and not gladly; he was attending Pitt medical school at the time) as part of the Phil Garner deal, spending four of his next six campaigns with the Texas Rangers. 
• 1980 - RHP Joe Blanton was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Pirates bought the veteran reliever from Kansas City at the 2015 deadline and he went 5-0/1.57 in his time with the Bucs, turning a strong 21-game stretch run into a $4M free agent contract with the Dodgers. His last campaign was in 2017 with the Washington Nats, and he now runs a vineyard in California. 
• 1981 - SS Tim Foli was traded to the California Angels for Brian Harper. Foli was on the downside of his career while Harper spent three years in Pittsburgh as a utilityman, hitting .243. Crazy Horse (he was a fiery 100%'er) Foli returned in 1985 in a trade with the Yankees, but hit just .189 and was released in June. He became a coach for several teams (Rangers, Brewers, Reds, Royals, Mets, and Nats) after his playing days, managed in the minors, and now is a Christian speaker. The Bucs pulled off two swaps on the day, also sending 1B Doe Boyland to the Giants for veteran hurler Tom Griffin. Boyland was a seldom-used prospect who went 2-for-19 in short Pittsburgh visits over three years and never appeared in another MLB game. Griffin, who was starting his 14th season in the show in his age 34 season, was coming off an 8-8/3.76 campaign but went 1-3/8.87 for the Pirates and was released in mid-May, ending his major league days. 

Tim Foli - 1982 Fleer

• 1990 - Sid Bream, who overcame three knee operations to help the Pirates capture the NL East championship, was named the winner of the 26th annual Hutch Award. The award goes to a player who overcomes adversity to go on to further accomplishments, named for Fred Hutchinson. Bream hit .270 with 67 RBI after sitting out most of the 1989 campaign. It was his last bow as a Buc, as Bream had signed with the Atlanta Braves as an off-season FA the week before. 
• 2002 - Pittsburgh brought back RHP Brian Boehringer, 33, inking the reliever to a two-year contract with an option and $3.8M guaranteed. Boehringer was coming off a 4-4-1/3.39 campaign and appeared in 70 games, but he didn’t have to worry about that option coming into play. Brian went 6-5/5.42 in 2003-04 and was bought out at season’s end, finishing his MLB career. 
• 2004 - The Bucs swapped out LHP Arthur Rhodes to Cleveland for OF Matt Lawton less than a month after they had acquired him from the A’s. Cleveland also sent the Pirates an undisclosed amount of cash to help offset Lawton’s $7.2M salary. Lawton hit .284 with 10 HR and 44 RBIs before being flipped for the Chicago Cubs’ Jody Gerut at the 2005 trading deadline. 
• 2006 - Pittsburgh signed hometown utility guy Don Kelly, born in Butler and a Mt. Lebanon HS/Point Park College alum (he still lives in Mars with wife Carrie, Neil Walker’s sister), to a minor league contract. But it wasn't a home-sweet-home reunion; he got into just 25 games with the Bucs during his rookie 2007 campaign and hit .148 during his only local stint. Kelly seasoned in the minors for a year and then went on to play eight MLB campaigns with Detroit & Miami in a bench role, coached and scouted for the Astros and moved on up from Derek Shelton's bench coach to Bucco field boss. 

Don Kelly - 2007 Fleer Ultra Rookie

• 2013 - RHP Charlie Morton signed a contract extension for three years plus an option. He received $4M for 2014 (his last arb year), $8M in 2015 & 2016 plus a club option for 2017 of $9.5M and a $1M buyout, with $500K in possible bonuses. Morton went 15-21/4.21 the next two seasons, was traded to Philly, got hurt and inked a deal with the Astros. He won a WS game there and signed with Tampa Bay, where he became an All-Star in 2019. Charlie went 9-9 in 2020 and then signed with Atlanta in 2021, the organization he began his MLB journey with. After debating retirement, the Bravos picked up his $20M ‘24 option; he’s again considering the rockin’ chair vs the rubber. 
• 2018 - The Pirates shipped RHP Ivan Nova to the Chicago White Sox for prospect RHP Yordi Rosario, 19, and $500K international slot money. Nova was streaky since arriving from the NY Yankees at the 2016 deadline, stingy with walks but generous with homers allowed, and put together a 25-25/3.99 line with the Bucs in his 2-1/2 seasons. Rosario, from the Dominican Republic, was a lotto ticket projected as an eventual back-end starter as the Bucs restocked their lower level farm pitching. After stints in the Windy City & Motown, Nova pitched in Korea and the Dominican League from 2021-23 to close out his career. Rosario was let go by the Bucs in 2020 and pitched in the Los Angeles Angels system the following season before being released after the 2021 campaign. 
• 2018 - In another winter meeting deal, the club announced that it had signed free agent RHP Jordan Lyles (it became official on the 17th after his physical), 28, a guy with not much of a track record despite eight years in the league (31-52-2/5.28) with four other clubs, to a one-year/$2.05M deal. The converted starter did have a solid 2018 from the pen (1-0/3.32 in 28 outings), so that performance, no discernible split between L/R hitters, and an increased use of curves and sinkers won him a contract. The Pirates opted to start him, and after a hot beginning to 2019, he faded and was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2020, he jumped ship to the Texas Rangers for two campaigns, went to the Baltimore Orioles, worked for two seasons at Kansas City and became a FA in 2025.

12/10 Through 1985: Zisk-Goose, Friend-Mikkelson, Frankie Signs, The Riddler, Bo & Omar Go, No Wet One-No Expansion-No Deals; HBD Grant, Bob, Dolly & Frank

• 1866 - SS Frank Shugart was born in Luthersburg, in Clearfield County. He hit .268 for the Bucs between 1891-93, but booted 143 balls at short in 209 games in his first two seasons (which surprisingly was pretty close to league average), triggering a move to the OF and a mid-season trade in 1893 to the St. Louis Browns for SS Jack Glasscock. His MLB career ended when Shugart was blacklisted from baseball in 1901 after he punched an umpire. 
• 1888 - 1B Stan “Dolly” Gray was born in Ladonia, Texas. As a 23-year-old, he got into six MLB games for the 1912 Pirates, going 5-for-20, and that was the sum of his big league days. Per John Dreker of Pittsburgh Baseball History, Gray also pitched in the minors, and in fact came to 1913 camp as a hurler before a sore arm got him sent to the minors, where he finished his career in 1915. His moniker was a copycat; he was handed the nickname of Dolly Gray, a pitcher until 1911, to keep the torch moving along as a sort of legacy gesture. 
• 1919 - The National League, urged on by Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss, banned the spitball, which he believed was an unfair advantage against hitters. Old wet tossers were registered and spared through a grandfather clause. The AL initially resisted, then passed their own ban the following season. Off-and-on Pirate hurler Burleigh Grimes was the last of the legal spitballers, retiring following the 1934 season after a Hall-of-Fame career. 
• 1939 - RHP Bob Priddy was born in McKees Rocks and signed with the Bucs out of high school before the 1959 season. He spent his first two campaigns with the Pirates (1962, 1964; 2-2-1, 3.86 ERA, 37-1/3 IP), and went on to a nine-year journeyman career with the San Francisco Giants, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves with a 24-38-18/4.00 career line. Fun fact: Bob was signed as an infielder, but after a season in the minors (he hit .222 with a 33% strikeout rate), he was wisely converted to the mound. 

Bob Priddy - 1964 Topps Pirates Rookie Stars

• 1941 - Manager Frankie Frisch, whose contract ran through the 1942 season, had it extended by another year (terms undisclosed) to run through 1943 after guiding the Pirates to winning records in 1940-41. Frankie lasted until late in 1946, when he was replaced for three games by Spud Davis, with a 90-win, second-place finish in 1944 being his highlight. The top spot then went to Billy Herman for a campaign before being handed off to Billy Meyer. 
• 1947 - The Buccos bought 32-year old Elmer Riddle from the Reds. Riddle put up an All-Star season in 1948, going 12-10/3.49, but faded badly the following campaign, winning just once during his final MLB year. They also got his brother John as part of the same transaction but for a different reason; the Bucs wanted him not as a player but as their bullpen catcher. 
• 1947 - The Pirates came out in support of expansion to a pair of 10-team leagues. MLB was looking to plant some West Coast franchises, but more clubs wouldn’t become a reality until 1961. To temporarily vent some of the pressure, there were several relocations (Brooklyn Dodgers to LA, NY Giants to San Francisco, Boston Braves to Milwaukee, Philadelphia Athletics to Kansas City and the St Louis Browns becoming the Baltimore Orioles) in the fifties. 
• 1965 - The Pirates traded RHP Bob Friend, a four-time All-Star, to the New York Yankees for reliever Pete Mikkelsen and cash. Friend spent 15 years as a Pirate and won 191 games. He retired after the 1966 season, going just 1-4 for the Bronx Bombers. Mikkelson had a good year for the Bucs in 1966 out of the pen (9-8-14/3.07) but faltered the next year and was released. 
• 1967 - Scout Grant Brittain was born in Hickory, North Carolina. After an All-America career at Western Carolina and a considerably less successful stay in the minors, he turned to scouting. He worked as a bird dog for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, the Pirates (1994-2001, with his big signing being high school ace Zach Duke) and the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Al Oliver - 1975 Hostess

• 1975 - The press gang reported that the Pirates and Royals were that close to a four-player deal, with Pittsburgh sending Al Oliver & Art Howe to KC for Amos Otis & Cookie Rojas. Both the main lures, Oliver and Otis, were entering their age 29 campaign; Scoops was a better hitter and Amos the better gloveman, filling a need for each club. But as a 5-and-10 year man, Rojas vetoed the swap, and the trade fell through, triggering a pair of quick Pittsburgh deals for Doc Medich and Tommy Helms. Oliver was sent to the Texas Rangers two years later, and Otis signed with the Bucs in 1984, his last MLB season, as a 37-year-old. 
• 1976 - The Pirates traded OF Richie Zisk and RHP Silvio Martinez to the Chicago White Sox for pitchers Goose Gossage and Terry Forster. Except for minor-leaguer Martinez, the players were a year away from free agency, and all three took advantage to find new teams in 1978. But the big name rentals had a payoff: Zisk hit .290 with 30 homers and 101 RBI, and Gossage collected 11 wins, 26 saves and posted a 1.62 ERA with 10.2 K per nine innings. Both were named All-Stars. 
• 1982 - CF Omar Moreno bolted the Bucs for a five-year/$3.25M deal with the Astros, leaving a frustrated GM, Pete Peterson. He told the Post-Gazette’s Charley Feeney “I told Tom Reich (Moreno’s agent) that I didn’t think he did a good job of handling negotiations and I’m disappointed in some people in the Houston organization...” who apparently were aware of the Bucco bid, which Peterson said was just $25K less per season over the same length, and then topped it. Reich begged to differ, saying the contract was actually for $3.5M guaranteed w/$375K in bonuses, and that Pittsburgh wasn’t in the same ballpark after their final offer. Sticks and stones... At any rate, the Pirates replaced Omar with Marvell Wynn in center for three years, then Barry Bonds roamed the middle pasture for a year and finally Andy Van Slyke claimed the job in 1987. 
• 1985 - Bobby Bonilla, who the Bucs signed out of high school in 1981, was taken by the Chicago White Sox in the Rule 5 draft. The Pirates got Bobby Bo back in July of the following year, but it cost them RHP Jose DeLeon. Syd Thrift had signed him as a scout and reeled him back in as GM. It was worth it - from 1986 to 1991, Bonilla had a .284 BA with 114 home runs and 500 RBI's. He also made the All-Star team four years in a row before leaving town. It was a rough draft day for the Bucs, who also lost 2B/OF Leon “Bip” Roberts to the Padres. He put together a 12-year career, mainly with San Diego, and had a career .294 BA w/264 stolen sacks. To add injury to insult, a deal with the Tribe to move up and select a minor-league 3B (top-rated Ed Williams, left unprotected by Cincy) fell through. The scotched swap (a player for better position) left the Bucs with a full roster and no chance to draft without a 40-man vacancy.

12/10 From 1986: Ortiz-Horwitz, Joely-Antonio, Paulino-Jaramillo, Nicasio-Ward-Bell-Sveum-Pena-Redus Sign, GIBBY Winners; HBD Pedro

• 1986 - SS Pedro Florimon was born in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Pedro turned a good glove into a seven-year MLB career, starting for Minnesota in 2013, but his bat has relegated him to mainly a journeyman depth guy. In his two seasons with Pittsburgh (2015-16), he mostly stayed busy in AAA while getting into 42 games with the Pirates, hitting just .149 over that span. P-Flo appeared with the Phils in 2017-18, and that was his last MLB stop. 
• 1987 - GM Syd Thrift came home from the winter meetings empty-handed after trying to pry a corner infielder loose. Third baseman Brook Jacoby of the Indians was on his radar, but that deal never gained traction. Cleveland wanted a frontline hurler, and Doug Drabek, Mike Dunne and Brain Fisher were Pirates untouchables. Syd was also looking at 1B Bill Schroeder of the Brewers, in exchange for one of Mike Bielicki/Bob Kipper and a minor leaguer, then expanding the deal to include both if Milwaukee would include a minor league outfielder (one of Greg Vaughn, Darryl Hamilton or Lavell Freeman). It was just as well; Jacoby and Schroeder never came close to matching their 1987 career years again. 
• 1990 - OF/1B Gary Redus, 34, signed a two-year contract w/an option year for $1.425M after spending 1988-90 as a Bucco role player. He hit .250 in his two guaranteed campaigns, his option wasn’t exercised and he closed out his career by spending his two final years with the Texas Rangers. 
• 1992 - The Pirates signed 32-year-old RHP Alejandro Pena to a one-year/$1.35M contract. He had a strong four-year run before tendonitis laid him low in 1992, and the Bucs were counting on him to bounce back and solidify the back end of their pen. No such luck; he ended up with elbow surgery and missed all of 1993 (although he did voluntarily restructure the guaranteed money) and didn’t have much going in ‘94, when he was released after posting a 5.02 ERA. He finished his 15-year career in 1996 after stints with Boston, Atlanta and Florida. 

Dale Sveum - Mitchell Layton/Getty photo

• 1999 - Dale Sveum was signed as a free agent. He played three seasons for the Pirates (1996-97, 1999/.260 BA), and also managed at Altoona from 2001-03, winning an Eastern League Manager of the Year award before landing big league skipper jobs with the Brewers and Cubs. He was Kansas City’s bench coach through 2019, then spent two years as a special assistant before retiring. 
• 2000 - In a day they came to rue, the Pirates signed free agent OF Derek Bell of "Operation Shutdown" fame to a two-year contract worth $9.75M. Bell left the team during camp in 2002 after hitting .173 in his first campaign and never played in the majors again. He let it be known, after being told he had to earn a starting spot, that “I'm going into 'Operation Shutdown.' Tell them exactly what I said. I haven't competed for a job since 1991.” Bell left the team on March 29th and was released on March 31st rather than compete. The Pirates paid him $4.5M to go away when they cut him; Bell just moved onto his yacht and sailed into the baseball sunset. 
• 2003 - The Bucs signed veterans OF/1B Daryle Ward and RHP Juan Acevedo to minor league deals. Ward would get $600K and Acevedo $475K if they made the MLB roster, with both having a boatload of performance bonuses. Ward played until late July before a wrist injury laid him up, hitting .249 w/15 HR, and returned for 2005. For Acevedo, it was the end of an eight-year ride in the bigs. He spent 2004 in AAA Nashville as Buc insurance, and then Juan finished his career tossing in the Mexican League through 2013. 
• 2008 - The Pirates pulled off a swap of teetering catchers, trading Ronny Paulino to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jason Jaramillo. Paulino and manager John Russell weren’t on each other's Christmas card list after JR decided to go with Ryan Doumit as the everyday catcher, and Jaramillo had impressed Russell from his days as the Phils AAA manager. The change of scenery didn’t particularly help either player (or team). Ronny played for four more years, never sniffing 100 games/season, and hit .265 over that span while JJ caught three seasons for the Bucs with a .235 BA in 119 games, which ended up his only MLB tour of duty. 

Jason Jaramillo - 2020 Topps

• 2013 - Pittsburgh took three GIBBY (Greatness In Baseball Yearly awards): RHP Mark Melancon won the set-up player of the year, LHP Francisco Liriano took home the comeback player honors, and the postseason-bound Pirates were selected as the storyline of the year for their playoff run. 
• 2014 - The Pirates traded minor league LHP Joely Rodriguez to the Phillies for LHP set up man Antonio Bastardo. It was a domino effect deal, with Bastardo filling a hole in the bullpen created after southpaw Justin Wilson was traded to the Yankees. Bastardo put up a 4-1-1/2.98 slash in 66 Pirate outings while Rodriguez was removed from the Phil’s 40 man roster and assigned back to the minors after a rough 2015 AAA season. The Pirates lost Antonio to free agency in 2016, but brought him back to town in a deadline deal. He went 3-0/4.13 in his second coming before the wheels came off in 2017 and he was released with the Pirates eating the remainder of his $6.625M contract. He didn’t pitch in 2018 after a 140-game PED suspension, his second slap, and hasn’t had an MLB gig since. Rodriguez returned in 2020 and has tossed for the Rangers, Yankees and Mets during the 2020-22 seasons, signing with Boston for 2023. He’s been injury-bitten and the Red Sox DFA’ed him in August of ‘24, and he remains a free agent. 
• 2015 - The Bucs signed free agent RHP Juan Nicasio, who spent 2015 in the LA Dodgers' bullpen (1-3-1/3.86), to a one-year/$3M contract, with an arb season remaining for 2017. After a spotty stint in the rotation (5-5/5.05), Juan returned to the pen where he was 5-2 with a 3.88 ERA. To make room on the roster, the Pirates DFA’ed former #1 pick (fourth overall) of 2009, C Tony Sanchez, who played over parts of three seasons in 51 games, hitting .259. Nicasio had a strong 2017 campaign working exclusively from the pen (2-5-2/2.85), but the Pirates lost him, with no return, by placing him on irrevocable August waivers after passing up an earlier chance to move him on revocable waivers because he had been claimed by “a direct competitor” per GM Neal Huntington. Philly picked him up and quickly flipped him to the Cards, which may or may not have been that competitor, for a prospect. He spun for three more teams in the ensuing three seasons, and 2020 was his last MLB campaign after working a couple of brutal outings with Texas. 

Juan Nicasio - 2016 photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates

• 2020 - Pittsburgh used the first pick in the Rule 5 Draft to select RHP Jose Soriano, 22, from the Angels. He had TJ surgery in February and wasn't expected to be ready for action until at least May, 2021. The Pirates also reeled in RHP Luis Oviedo, 21, from Mets for cash or a PTBNL; New York got Oviedo from the Indians in today's lotto before flipping him. MLB Pipeline rated Oviedo as the organization’s 20th best prospect and Soria as 21st. Those two additions filled the Pirates 40-man roster. Oviedo made the team, even with injuries and big-league struggles but was waived in 2022. Cleveland claimed him and released him at the end of the ‘23 season; he started 2024 in Mexico, fared poorly and was released in July, moving to the Venezuelan League, his home for the past two campaigns. Soriano was returned to the Halos at the end of the year after undergoing a second elbow procedure and made his MLB debut in 2023. 
• 2024 - Pittsburgh sent RHP Luis Ortiz, 25, and a pair of young LHPs to the Cleveland Guardians for 1B Spencer Horwitz. The 27-year-old Horwitz is a left-handed hitter who batted .265/.357/.433 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs in 97 games for the Toronto Blue Jays last season. He was more than a rental with six years of contract control (four arb years) and an option remaining. The downside was he seems to be a platoon guy, batting just .195 v LHP, and in ‘25 he hit .272 overall, but only .186 v lefties. Ortiz was 12-13/3.93 in 59 appearances (34 starts) in three seasons here with a 7-6/3.22 slash in ‘24, but his career hit a wall with the Guardians after he was suspended for gambling allegations. The farm hands dealt were both in the Bucs’ Top 20 Prospect list. Michael Kennedy, 20, was a 2022-4th round prep pick who averaged 10.2 Ks/nine innings in 18 games between Bradenton and Greensboro while Josh Hartle, 21, was a '24-3rd round pick out of Wake Forest. Kennedy worked Hi A in 2024 and Hartle received a late promotion to AA. Per the Post-Gazette, RHPs Mitch Keller (11-12/4.25) and Jared Jones (6-8/4.14) were also available for the right bat. Keller remained with the Pirates while Jones was injured in camp and missed the campaign entirely.