By 81omar_moreno

Former Pirates born on this date include Monty Basgall, who was a light hitting second baseman for parts of 3 season from 1948-51. Born in 1922, Monty originally signed with the Dodgers as a teenager, but never played for them in the majors. He made the Pirates out of spring training in 1948, but appeared in just 38 games, many as a pinch hitter / pinch runner or defensive replacement. In 22 games at 2nd base, Basgall was flawless in the field. In 51 at-bats he hit .216 with 6 RBI's and 12 runs scored.

By 81omar_moreno

Former Pirates players born on this date include Juan Pizarro, who had 2 stints with the Bucs. Born in 1937, the left-handed pitcher joined the Bucs in 1967, his 11th season. From 1961-64 Juan won 61 games, but went just 14-9 the 2 seasons prior to joining the Pirates because of arm problems. Pizarro was acquired for Wilbur Wood from the White Sox and Wood went on the have some pretty good years for the Sox. Being used primarily as a reliever Juan pitcher 50 games in 1967 for the Pirates and he went 8-10 3.95 with 9 saves.

By 81omar_moreno

Born on this date in Pirates History is the player who had the uneviable task of replacing Roberto Clemente in right field in 1973. Richie Zisk, who was born in 1949, had seen limited time with the Pirates the previous 2 seasons, but in 1973, Zisk and Manny Sanguillen played the majority of the games in right field. Richie batted .324 in 103 games with 54 RBI's and he finished in the NL top-10 in triples for the only time in his 13 year career. In 1974, Zisk had the everyday RF job and in 149 games he hit .313 with 100 RBI's and 75 runs scored. The Bucs made the postseason and Zisk batted .300 in a losing effort to the Dodgers.

By 81omar_moreno

On this date in Pirates History in 1992, the Bucs named Ted Simmons as their new GM replacing Larry Doughty. During his playing days he was a great hitting catcher, recording 2472 hits in 2456 games, with 1389 RBI's and a .285 average. One of his biggest deals while the Bucs GM was the trade of John Smiley to the Twins for Denny Neagle and Midre Cummings. He also traded for Kirk Gibson, Alex Cole, Steve Buechele, but the Pirates also lost Barry Bonds, Jose Lind and Doug Drabek while he was in charge. Jason Kendall was also drafted while Simmons was GM. The Pirates would win their 3rd straight pennant while under Simmons in 1992. He would resign on June 19, 1993 just days after suffering a heart attack and be replaced by the ever popular Cam Bonifay.

By 81omar_moreno

On this date in Pirates History in 1890 George Bostic Whitted was born. If you look in the record books you wont find a George Whitted because he was known as "Possum" to everyone in baseball. He started his career as a Sept. call up in 1912 and was a third baseman for the Cardinals, but by the next year Possum would be an everyday player without a position. He started games at all 3 outfield position and all 4 infield positions too. In 123 games, he batted just .220 with 38 RBI's. Twenty games into the next season he was dealt to the Braves, a team now known as the Miracle Braves for their amazing World Series title that year out of nowhere. Possum batted .261 on the season and .214 in the 4 game W.S.

By 81omar_moreno

On this date in Pirates History in 1975, Billy Herman,who finished his career as a member of the 1947 Bucs,was elected to the Hall of Fame. He was acquired from the Braves along with Whitey Wietelman, Stan Wentzel and Elmer Singleton in exchange for Bob Elliot. Despite the seeming one-sidedness of this trade it was actually a bad trade on the part of the Bucs. Wentzel never played for the Bucs, while Weitelman had one unspectacular year as a backup infielder. Singleton pitched 2 years, as a reliever, but was below average at best.

By 81omar_moreno

On this date in Pirates History, 5 different former Bucs over 4 different years gained Hall of Fame inductions. The most prominant is the player who I consider to be the best player to ever wear a Bucs uniform and that is Honus Wagner. He was a member of the Pirates from 1900-1917, and in his career he batted .327 with 3430 hits, 1736 runs and 1732 RBI's. He's also 3rd all-time in triples and 8th in doubles.

Wagner was elected in 1936, and was part of the greatest hall of fame class ever which included, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. Also 3 years to the day prior, Wagner was named coach of the Pirates, rejoining the team for the first time since he retired and he would stick with them till early 1952 as a coach.

By 81omar_moreno

Former Pirates players born on this date include Cecilio Guante, who played for the Pirates from 1982-1986. He got called up to the majors May 1, 1982, just 2 years after making his minor league debut, and in 10 games that year he posted a 3.33 ERA in 27 innings. The next season after starting in the minors he pitched 49 games for the Pirates, going 2-6 3.32 with 9 saves. After posting a career low 2.61 ERA in 27 games in 1984, Cecilio had his best season the next year, appearing in a career high 63 games with 5 saves. He also set highs in innings and strikeouts.

By 81omar_moreno

On this date in Pirates history, 4 different players over 4 different years were elected to the Hall of Fame. In 1977, Al Lopez who played for the Bucs from 1940-46 gained his election. He was inducted for his managerial record which included 10 2nd place and 2 first place finishes in his 15 full seasons. He did have a good playing career as a catcher. He was a 2 time All-Star who caught 1,918 games, and he was the Pirates main backstop from his acquisition midseason 1940 till the 1946 season when the Bucs used 4 different catchers.

By 81omar_moreno

On this date in 1959, the Pirates traded Frank Thomas, Jim Pendelton, Johnny Powers and Whammy Douglass to the Reds in exchange for Harvey Haddix, Don Hoak and Smoky Burgess.

Frank Thomas had played all 8 of his years in the majors with the Bucs and he was coming off his best year, when he set career highs in HR (35) RBI's (109) and runs scored while batting .281. He lasted just one year for the Reds and struggled hitting just .225 with 12 HR's. Whammy Douglass had only appeared in the majors with the Bucs in 1957, and he never made it back after the trade. Johnny Powers was a 4 year veteran, spending his whole career as a backup outfielder / pinch hitter with the Pirates. After the trade he played just 43 games with the Reds, with 43 at-bats and 4 RBI's,hitting .256 that year. Jim Pendelton played just 2 partial seasons for the Bucs, and after joing the Reds he too lasted just 1 year, hitting .257 in 65 games with 9 RBI's.