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7/3: Cole Deal; 2-Way Bo; Locke-d In; Boss Hugo; Starg Shot; Chief Cycle; Blass, Clemente, Kiner Covers; Game Tales; HBD Tuck, Eddie, Moises, Luke, Bunny & Chet

Saturday, July 3, 2021 7:01

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1892 – OF Anthony John Greszkowski (“Bunny Brief”) was born in Remus, Michigan. He ended his four-year career as a bench player for the Pirates in 1917, hitting .217. Bunny wasn’t much of a major-leaguer, but he ruled on the farm. After his show days, Brief played in the minors until 1928. Though he never hit more than two home runs in any of his big league seasons, Bunny holds the all-time record for home runs in the American Association (by then, a minor league) with 256 and his eight AA home run crowns are tied for the most ever with Ken Guettler. How did Tony Greszkowski become Bunny Brief? The Bunny part is easy; it’s a take-off of his childhood nickname of Bundy. As for the Brief, well, you can thank Ellis Island. According to Major-Smolinski’s “Favorite Baseball Nicknames,” his parents were immigrants and when they were processed by a clerk who wrestled with their long Polish name, Papa Greszkowski suggested that the registrar Americanize the name. “Just change it to something brief,” he said. The official did, literally, as related by Joe Brief, a great-nephew of the ballplayer.
1897 – RHP Chet Nichols was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Chet, a three-sport star in high school, was a big-time prospect when the Bucs bought him from New Haven of the Eastern League, but his minor-league chops never carried over. He began his less-than-distinguished six year career (1-8/7.19) with the Bucs, tossing from 1926-27 and slashing 0-3/6.37. He spent his last three campaigns with Philadelphia, leaving the game after the 1932 season with a bum arm. Chet went on to coach at Woonsocket HS and the University of Rhode Island.
1904 - RHP Luke Hamlin was born in Ferris Center, Michigan. Luke had been a 20-game winner for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1939, but age caught up to him. He had become a role pitcher by the time the Pirates got him in 1942 as a 38-year-old, going 4-4/3.94 in 23 outings (14 starts). Luke was sometimes called “Hot Potato” because he liked to juggle the ball while getting ready to pitch, much like a man handling a hot potato.

Luke Hamlin 1941 – Play Ball

1910 – Owen “Chief” Wilson hit for the cycle at the Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati as the Pirates and Howie Camnitz took a 10-2 decision from the Reds. Howie was dented for 12 hits, but the Pirates answered with 14 of their own. Fred Clarke added three knocks while Hans Wagner, Tommy Leach and Bobby Byrnes had a pair. The Reds chipped in, too, committing four errors.
1917 - Bohemian-born Bucco scout Hugo Bezdek was named Pirate manager, replacing the short-lived skipper Honus Wagner. He managed the Pirates through 1919, compiling a 166–187 record, while also coaching Penn State football from 1918-29 during the offseason. He was known for his rigorous, gridiron-inspired workouts and per Baseball Reference’s Bullpen, he “…had a good rapport with his players, whom he relied upon to make some key decisions given his lack of baseball experience. Two of those players would go on to be among baseball’s most famous managers – Casey Stengel and Billy Southworth.”
1926 – The Pirates scored eight times in the fourth inning and rolled over the Cards at Forbes Field 12-3. Pie Traynor had a homer and double in the big frame and drove home four runs to help Vic Aldridge cruise to a win. All nine Pirates had at least a hit and run scored; a half-dozen Buccos plated a run or more.
1948 - Baseball Digest featured Ralph Kiner on its cover. The 25-year-old outfielder was on the way to his third straight home run title (he would claim seven straight NL crowns and six consecutive MLB championships) while on the road to becoming the 12th big league player/first Bucco to cross the 300 homer threshold. He entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975.
1966 - OF Moises Alou was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Alou was the second overall pick of the 1986 draft by the Pirates and a good one, although his Pirate career consisted of just five at-bats in 1990. Moise was the PTBNL in the Zane Smith deal with Montreal later that season; Smith helped the Pirates win the pennant while Alou went on to a sterling MLB career. He played for 17 seasons with a BA of .303, 2,134 hits, 332 home runs, 1,287 RBI and six All-Star berths. Alou holds the record for stringing together a 30-game hitting streak for the Mets in 2007, the longest for a 40-year-old player in MLB history. Moises, a member of the storied Alou baseball family, also got to play under his dad, Felipe, who managed from 1992-96 with the Expos.

Moise Alou – 1990 Score Rookie

1967 - Willie Stargell’s estimated 500’ home run (it landed in the little league field behind the LC wall by the Mary Schenley fountain, both of which are still there today) helped the Pirates to a 5-2 win over Don Drysdale and the LA Dodgers at Forbes Field. Pops had two round trippers and three hits, Bill Mazeroski added a pair of knocks and three RBI and Gene Alley doubled twice. Tommie Sisk went the distance for the win, spinning a five hitter.
1967 – Roberto Clemente was featured as the cover story of Sports Illustrated in an article titled “The Big Hitters Are Back.” Pretty good choice – The Great One had 209 hits and a league-leading .357 BA, with 23 HR, 110 RBI, 103 RS and an OPS of .954.
1970 - The Bucs bashed six homers to outlast the Cubs 16-14 at Wrigley Field. Roberto Clemente and Gene Alley each had a pair of bombs and four RBI each (Alley went 4-for-4 and also scored three times), while Al Oliver and Bill Mazeroski also went yard. Seven Pirates had multiple hits to tie a club record, five scored more than once and five more chased home multiple runs. The two clubs banged out 40 hits and went through a dozen pitchers before Dave Giusti struck out Ron Santo to end it with the tying runs aboard for Chicago. Needless to say, the wind was blowing out in Chicago at 15 MPH. The Cubs added a pair of long flies and five doubles during the souvenir hunters happy hour.
1972 - Steve Blass was featured as the cover story of Sports Illustrated in an article titled “League Leader.” Steverino had a great season, making the All-Star team and going 19-8 with a 2.49 ERA, but would be struck down by the “Blass disease” the following year.
1983 – RHP Edinson Volquez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Eddie had a rebound season with the Buccos in 2014, going 13-7/3.04 after signing a one year/$5M contract. As a free agent after the season, he landed a two-year deal with the Royals worth $20M, then moved to the Marlins and last tossed for the Rangers in 2020.

Eddie Volquez – 2014 Topps First Edition

1987 - Bobby Bonilla became the first Pirate to homer from both sides of the plate in a 6-0 win against Los Angeles at TRS, collecting five RBI. Rick Reuschel tossed a five-hit shutout for the victory. 24-year-old Bobby Bo, in his second big league season, was a year away from making the first of four straight All-Star outings for the Pirates.
1992 – The Pirates sent minor leaguers OF Tony Mitchell, who led the Buc farm system in HRs, and 19-year-old RHP John Carter to Cleveland for OF Alex Cole. The time was ripe as the speedster had been on Pittsburgh’s radar for a while, Jim Leyland needed help at leadoff, and the price was affordable as he had dropped to the Tribes’ fifth OF spot, so GM Ted Simmons pulled the trigger. In a bit of a surprise, slumping 27-year-old Jeff King (.231) was sent to Buffalo to clear a roster spot for Cole, but played just seven games for the Bisons before being called back to Pittsburgh for good. Cole did fill the bill in his 64 games as a Pirate, batting .278 with an OBP of .335 and seven steals. The Pirates lost him in the 1992 expansion draft during the off season, and Cole never quite broke through as a MLB starter though he slashed .277 BA/.357 OBP over the final four years of his career (1993-96). Mitchell made it to Mexico and Japan, but not the show while Carter spent seven years in the bushes, reaching AAA for just 15 games.
1996 - SS Cole Tucker was born in Phoenix, Arizona. A first round pick in 2014 from Mountain Pointe HS ($1.8M bonus), he rose steadily through the ranks when he was beckoned to the big team in late April of 2019 after starting SS Eric Gonzalez broke his collarbone. He was rushed to the bigs; his glove was ready, but he only had 13 AAA games before reaching the majors, and it showed at the dish. However, he did homer in his first MLB game, banging a two-run homer that proved the game-winner. He was sent back to Indy after an extended look in Pittsburgh, batting .211 after 159 PA’s, to sharpen his eye. His bat has kept him yo-yo’ing between Indy and Pittsburgh.

Tuck – 2020 MLB Players League

2012 - Journeyman Drew Sutton was the hero of the day. He hit a walk-off homer, his first long ball since 2010 and one of his three knocks on the day, off Wesley Wright’s hung slider to give the Bucs an 8-7 win over the Astros at PNC Park. Pittsburgh battled back from a sixth inning 6-2 deficit against their favorite whipping boys to take a late lead and earn the win for Joel Hanrahan, who had blown the save in the ninth when he gave up a two-out double to Jason Castro. The victory moved the Pirates into a tie for first in the NL Central. As for Drew, he went 3-for-4 and lifted his BA to .360.
2013 - Jeff Locke won his eighth straight decision by a 6-5 score over the Phils at PNC Park. Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-3 with two walks while Pedro Alvarez hit a three-run homer in support. Locke put together his winning run over 16 starts (the Pirates were 1-7 in the games he started w/o a decision) and lowered his ERA from 4.09 to 2.12 during that time before losing his next outing to Oakland 2-1.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2021/07/73-cole-deal-2-way-bo-locke-d-in-boss.html

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