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2/3: Mike, Tony, Stu, Rip Sign; Martin, Billy HoF; Dapper Willie; Last Legs; Adios Angel; Caribbean HoF; Plan B Gets A+; RIP Bob, Tom; HBD Austin, Freddie, Joe & Live Oak

Saturday, February 3, 2024 6:59

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1851 – OF George “Live Oak” Taylor was born in Belfast, Maine. He spent the majority of his brief career with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys in 1884, playing 41 of his 67 big league games for the North Side nine. Taylor hit .211 and made a bundle of errors in center field, moving on to the Western League the next season. He finished out his pro career playing minor league ball in San Francisco, where he lived, and passed on from consumption in 1888 at the young age of 37.
1901 – Pirate utility man Tom O’Brien, who was born in Verona, died from pneumonia contracted while weak from typhoid at the age of 27 (buyer beware – we’ve also seen the 4th and 9th cited as his final day, so…). It’s said that the fatal combo was brought on by drinking seawater as a seasickness remedy while on a Cuban barnstorming trip. He was set to start after hitting .294 between 1899-1900, and his death left a void in the Buc lineup ultimately filled by Kitty Bransfield.
1947 – RHP Joe Coleman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. It took Joe 15 years of big league pitching before he landed with the Bucs in 1979. Though just 32, the mileage on his arm showed as he went 0-2/6.10 after being called up from the minors in mid-July. Coleman appeared in his final major league game on September 24th as he didn’t make the cut for the postseason roster, then twirled for three more seasons in the PCL. Joe’s been a scout, coach and manager at the minor and major league levels for a variety of clubs since he hung up his mitt. He’s the middle man of an MLB baseball family – his dad Joe pitched in the forties & fifties while his son Casey tossed from 2010-14.
1949 – RHP Rip Sewell agreed to his 12th Bucco contract, signing for an undisclosed sum. The 41-year-old was coming off a 13-3/3.48 campaign, but 1949 would be his last hurrah, though it was successful – he went 6-1/3.91, with his ERA still around league average. He and the ol’ eephus pitch retired with 143-97-15/3.43 line, 243 games started (he pitched 390 Bucco outings overall), 137 complete games, 2,119-1/3 IP and three All-Star outings as a Pirate.

Dick Stuart – 1959 Topps

1959 – After rejecting the first two offers, 1B Dick Stuart and GM Joe Brown had a two-hour sit down and finally came up with a one-year/$11,000 agreement. Big Stu hammered 16 homers in 67 games as a rookie in 1958 and would go on to post a line of .297/.362/.549 with 27 HR in ‘59, getting into 101 contests while sharing the first base job w/Rocky Nelson and Ted Kluszewski.
1961 – RHP Freddie Tolliver was born in Natchez, Mississippi. Tolliver worked 78 games in seven MLB years with his last big league stint as a Pirate in 1993 when he went 1-0/3.74 in 12 outings. Freddie truly lived out of a suitcase: he played for 10 different teams bouncing between the minors and the show from 1989-93; no wonder he called it a day after that season.
1975 – The Special Veterans Committee selected 2B Billy Herman (Cubs, Dodgers, Braves and Pirates) for the Hall of Fame. He spent his final season in 1947 as a Bucco player/manager, getting into 15 games and hitting .213. Billy played 15 years, hit .304 and was considered the best defensive second sacker of his time. He was inducted into the Hall on August 18th.
1977 – The Hall of Fame’s Special Committee on the Negro Leagues selected Cuban star Martin Dihigo into the Hall, where he was inducted on August 8th. Dihigo, who at one time or another played every position on the field, was with the Homestead Grays from 1927-28 and is the only man who’s been selected to the Cuban, Mexican, and United States Baseball Halls of Fame.
1980 – Willie Stargell was given the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year honor for 1979. Cap’n Willie was the NLCS MVP, World Series MVP and NL’s co-MVP (with the Cards’ Keith Hernandez) in ‘79 after banging 28 bombs during regulation, then slashing .415/5/13 in 10 postseason contests. It was his second DD award – he shared the 1971 honor with Danny Murtaugh and Roberto Clemente.

1982 – Minor league C Angel Rodriguez‚ 20, who played for the Pirates’ Alexandria club (Carolina League), was suspended for one year for telling opposing Latino batters what pitches were coming, tipping them off in Spanish. Rodriguez had been suspended by the Pirates during an August 19th game against Lynchburg, and baseball added its punishment after investigators had obtained incriminating eyewitness accounts/written statements from eight umpires and several managers. He returned in 1984, but never made it past the AAA level.
1984 – C Tony Pena agreed to a four-year pact with the Pirates worth $4.15M, avoiding a scheduled arb hearing (he had asked for $780,000; the Bucs offered $625,000; the new contract earned him a midpoint $700,000 for year one). It was a good deal for the Pirates; Tony was an All-Star for the next three years and two-time Gold Glove winner, then was flipped to the Cards for Andy Van Slyke, Spanky LaValliere and Mike Dunne in 1987.
1989 – The Pirates tried to splash Rennie Stennett, 38, and Gateway HS lefty Tim Conroy, 28, who started his MLB career at age 18, with some of Ponce deLeon’s Fountain of Youth elixir by signing the pair to minor league deals. Alas, Rennie, who had sat out the past eight years, and Tim, whose last big league outing was in 1987, had short-lived comebacks: Stennett went 2-for-3 as a spring pinch hitter but had lost his range and was cut at the end of camp, and Conroy got a couple of outings in AAA Buffalo before he hung ‘em up for good.
1993 – LHP Austin Davis was born in Scottsdale, Arizona. Drafted by the Phils in 2014, the reliever made his debut in 2018 and did OK (1-2/4.15, 32 appearances), had a shaky 2019, then was hit hard in a couple of outings in 2020 and DFA’ed; the Pirates swung a PTBNL (RHP Joel Cesar) deal to land him. The Bucs called him up on September 11th off the taxi squad as a mid-inning arm and he appeared briefly with the big club again the following year. He was traded in the 2021 off season to the Boston Red Sox for multi-purpose player Michael Chavis. Davis is now with the San Diego Padres organization.

Austin Davis – 2020 MLB.com

1999 – “Plan B” passed the Pennsylvania legislature, assuring state money to complete new stadiums in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, a process that began for Steel City leaders back in 1991. It locked in some team payback (one state aide said the deal was neither a grant nor a loan, but a “groan”) after suffering setbacks in both Harrisburg back rooms and Pittsburgh voting booths. As a result, the cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all Three Rivers Stadium was finally replaced by PNC Park and Heinz Field, both of which opened in 2001.
2001 – RHP Mike Lincoln joined the Pirates from the Twins after being released in the off season. The Bucs converted the starter to a bullpen role, and in three years with Pittsburgh (2001-03), he went 7-9-5 with a 3.50 ERA, closing briefly in 2003. He had a bruised shoulder in his last season, working just 36-1/3 IP, and was non-tendered after the campaign. Lincoln went to the Cards, but had TJ surgery during the 2004 season. It took four years for him to bounce back, but he did rally for a final three-year tour (2008-10) with the Reds before retiring.
2015 – The Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame inducted six new members, including Roberto Clemente. He joined former Buccos Manny Mota, Tony Armas Sr., George Brunet, Juan Pizarro, Vicente Romo, and Luis Arroyo as members. The following year, ex-Bucco catcher Tony Pena was also inducted into the Hall. Later, a pair of short-term Bucs, Luis Sojo and Armando Rios, were also inducted.
2019 – RHP Bob Friend passed away at the age of 88 from cardiac arrest. Friend toed the slab for the Pirates for 15 years (1951-65), winning 191 games and was an ironman, never appearing in fewer than 32 outings in a year while posting an 11-year streak of 200+ IP. He holds the franchise mark for innings pitched (3,480-1/3), games started (477) and strikeouts (1,682). Bob spent his last season with the Yankees and Mets and returned to Pittsburgh, working an insurance business and becoming a two-time County Controller. He also was one of the founders of the Pirates Alumni Association.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2024/02/23-mike-tony-stu-rip-sign-martin-billy.html

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