10/25: Rooker - Garber, Irishman '60 MOTY, Branch Steps Down, KD Deal; HBD JJ, Danny, Pete, Nanny & Hoosier Schoolmaster
- 1893 – RHP Vic “Hoosier Schoolmaster” Aldridge was born in Crane, Indiana. He only tossed three of his nine MLB seasons for the Pirates (1925-27), but bookended those campaigns with World Series appearances. Vic, who possessed a dandy curveball, went 40-30-2/3.99 for the Pirates, starting 86 times, and went 2-1 in his four Fall Classic starts, claiming both his wins in 1925 against the Senators’ Stan Coveleski. After his retirement from baseball, he was a big man back home, serving as a state senator in the General Assembly and selected to the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. And yes, he was an Indiana schoolmaster before he became a hurler.
- 1918 – Utilityman Froilan “Nanny” Fernandez was born in Wilmington, California. Nanny played for Boston in 1942, went off to the service and put in a couple of more seasons with the Braves. A quiet bat got him sent back to the farm and eventually swapped into the Pirate system. Fernandez shifted to third base and made it back to the majors with Pittsburgh in 1950, playing 65 games as a backup to Stan Rojek (he played SS, 3B & OF) and batting .258. Fernandez was sent to Indianapolis in 1951 and then played from 1952-55 in the PCL.
- 1939 – RHP Pete Mikkelsen was born on Staten Island. He tossed for Pittsburgh from 1966-67, posting a line of 10-10-16/3.46 from the pen in 103 outings. Pete played for five different clubs over a nine-year career through 1972 despite suffering from a chronic back injury he received as a Pirate when a truck rear-ended his car in 1967. He’s also a card collector’s mystery man of sorts. Mikkelsen got into a dispute with Topps, and the company didn’t issue a card for him during the last four years of his career.
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| Branch Rickey – 1960 Fleer |
- 1955 – Hall-of-Fame executive Branch Rickey stepped down as the Pirates’ general manager, replaced by Joe L. Brown. During Mahatma’s five-year tenure, Pittsburgh’s “Rickey-Dinks” had three 100-loss seasons. Rickey was, however, credited with developing a solid farm system for the Pirates and stayed with the organization as an advisor. Brown filled some holes with vets via the trade route to supplement the farm and was paid off with a strong ‘58 campaign and eventually claimed the World Series title in 1960.
- 1955 – RHP Danny Darwin was born in Bonham, Texas. DD tossed for 21 years and one of his nine teams for a brief spell was Pittsburgh. He signed with the Pirates in 1996 at the age of 40, and they traded him to the Astros for a second tour of duty at mid-season for Rich Loiselle after he put up a solid line of 7-9/3.02. Darwin was known as the “Bonham Bullet” as a nod to the hometown and was dubbed “Dr. Death” by Houston teammate Nolan Ryan because of his feistiness and occasional flyin’ fists. He retired after the 1998 season and coached as a member of the Reds organization. Darwin now coaches youth and clinic baseball between hunting, fishing and “chasing grandkids.”
- 1960 – UPI named Danny Murtaugh the NL Manager of the Year by an 18-6 count over the Cards’ Solly Hemus. The Whistling Irishman’s charges won the 1960 World Series while Hemus brought the Redbirds home in third place. Bob Friend (18-12/3.00) took UPI’s NL Comeback Player of the Year award, outdistancing Stan “The Man” Musial, Ernie Broglio, Curt Simmons and Ed Roebuck.
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| Danny Murtaugh – 1960 Press/John Johns |
- 1972 – Pittsburgh traded RHP Gene Garber to the KC Royals for LHP Jim Rooker. Rook pitched eight seasons for the Pirates, winning 82 games (with a huge ‘79 WS effort) with a 3.29 ERA before becoming a Buc announcer who once took a charity trek from Philly to Pittsburgh thanks to a Bucco defeat, a hopeful politico, dog trainer, childrens’ book author…he covered a lot of ground. Garber tossed out of various bullpens until 1988, winning 96 games and saving 218 more with a 3.44 ERA. Over his 19-year career, he saved 20+ games five times, with a high water mark of 30 close-outs in 1982 for the Atlanta Braves.
- 1978 – OF Jerry “JJ” Davis was born in Glendora, California. A first round draft pick in 1997 (eighth overall), Davis made very little noise in the show, playing in just 53 games from 2002-04 for the Pirates and batting .163, mostly as a pinch hitter. He was competing with Jason Bay and Brian Giles for a corner outfield spot in Pittsburgh and then got into manager Lloyd McClendon’s doghouse, with both situations limiting his opportunities to crack the lineup. He spent 2005 in the Washington Nats and Colorado Rockies systems before calling it a career.
- 1990 – After rejecting KDKA’s offer in April, the Pirates agreed to continue flagship radio rights and a 50-game TV deal for the coming season, guesstimated to be in the $2.5M range, a slight bump from last year, with the broadcaster. Neither side would say if the earlier proposal was sweeter than the one reached, but the Pirates were known to be looking for a better deal with other outlets without any luck, so KD’s deal was as good as it was going to get. The team in the booth remained unchanged with Kent Derdivanis, Lanny Frattare, Steve Blass and Jim Rooker.
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2024/10/1025-rooker-garber-irishman-60-moty.html
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