1/29 Through 1964: Bob Signs, Swift - Phillips, Murry Joins, Simon Sez, Lloyd ?, Max & Hans HoF, '39 Rooks; RIP Specs, HBD Frank & Denny
- 1848 – Harmar Denny McKnight, son of local politico Robert McKnight, was born on Western Avenue in Allegheny City. He founded the Allegheny Baseball Club of Pittsburgh on October 15th, 1881, making him the father of the Pirates. McKnight managed the club during the 1884 season and was also the first president of the American Association. The Alleghenys bolted to the NL in 1887 following a flap over signing Sam Barkley, after which McKnight sold the club to William Nimick.
- 1882 – OF Frank Delahanty was born in Cleveland to a baseball family – his brothers, Ed, Jim, Joe and Tom all played in the show. After a four-year run in MLB as a bench player, Frank jumped to the Federal League in 1914, starting briefly with Buffalo and closing out his big league time with the Pittsburgh Rebels in 1914-15, batting .239. He went on to a life of turmoil after baseball, becoming a politician who retired after a bribery scandal and then turned to bootlegging. He saw the light at age 50, found a legit job and became a regular fan of his hometown nine, the Indians, before passing away after a serious fall at the age of 82.
- 1914 – C Mike Simon jumped from the Pirates to the St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League. He was a light-hitting (.244 BA) backup caddy for five years to George “Mooney” Gibson and joined the grass is greener exodus to the upstart league in search of PT. He spent two seasons in the FL, moved to the Brooklyn Tip-Tops in 1915, and hit just .196 over three-years to end his big league career.
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| Can Lloyd Keep On Keepin’ On…Lou Wollen, Press, 1/29/1928 |
- 1928 – The Pittsburgh Press’ sports page lede was “Lloyd Waner: Can He Continue Dazzling Pace?” A couple of column inches beneath the banner, the article pondered “Fans Wonder if Youth Will Lose Luster After Year of Brilliance” following a rookie campaign that saw Little Poison finish third in batting with a .354 BA and lead the league in runs, plating 133 times. They needn’t have fretted during the winter – Lloyd patrolled center field for 17 seasons in Pittsburgh with a .319 BA while laying the groundwork for his entry into the Hall of Fame.
- 1932 – RHP Billy Swift was traded by the Kansas City Blues of the American Association to the Pirates for RHP Bob Osborn and C Eddie Phillips. It was a good deal: Osborne never pitched in the majors again and Phillips played for three more seasons while Swift worked eight years for the Bucs, posting 91 wins. Swift was a pitch-to-contact guy; he didn’t walk many hitters (1.9/9 innings) and struck out almost no one (3.4/9 innings) to post a solid 3.57 ERA in Pittsburgh.
- 1936 – Honus Wagner, along with Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson, was selected by the BBWAA to become the first Hall of Fame class. They had to wait until July 12th, 1939, for the enshrinement, though, until the museum in Cooperstown was opened and first four inductee classes were installed en masse in a legendary who’s who debut for the HoF.
- 1939 – Before the Pirates headed for camp, UPI published an article on six rookies to watch. Three ended up pretty good ballplayers – Bob Elliott was a six-time All Star, Frankie Gustine played in the Midsummer Classic three times and Ken Heintzelman pitched for 13 years in the show. Alas, the other three players – Fern Bell, Mel Preibisch and Jack Juelich – managed parts of just five major league seasons among them, none lasting past 1940.
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| Murry Dickson – 1950 Redman |
- 1949 – The Pirates purchased RHP Murry “Dick” Dickson from the Cardinals for $125,000. During his five-year stay in Pittsburgh, he went 66-85 with a 3.83 ERA and had a 20-win season in 1951 while the Pirates won only 64 games that year. In fact, during his Pittsburgh years, he accounted for nearly 25% of the Pirates wins (66-of-274) before being traded to the Phillies. Known as a soft thrower with a variety of pitches and a rubber arm, he worked more than 200 innings in 10 straight seasons, beginning when he turned 31 in 1947.
- 1959 – RHP Bob Friend signed a contract for $30,000, making him the highest paid Pirates pitcher to date, surpassing Rip Sewell’s $21,500 salary during the 1940s. Friend certainly earned the deal, with a 22-14/3.68 slash, his second All-Star bid and a third place finish in the Cy Young balloting in 1958.
- 1961 – OF Max Carey was voted into the Hall of Fame by the veterans committee and inducted on July 24th. In 17 seasons with Pittsburgh, he collected 2,400+ hits, batted .287 and stole 688 bases. Carey joined the Bucs with the intention of becoming Pittsburgh’s everyday shortstop, but thanks to Honus Wagner, Max spent the entirety of his long Pirate career as an outfielder.
- 1963 – RHP Lee Meadows passed away in Daytona Beach, Florida, of heart disease at the age of 68. “Specs” (he was one of the first ball players to wear glasses in MLB) spent the last seven campaigns of his 15-year career as a Pirate, slashing 88-52-1/3.50 after 157 starts (183 outings) with 58 wins from 1925-27 and tossing for two Bucco World Series clubs. A bad arm and other injuries bit him beginning in 1928, and he retired in 1932 after serving time in the minors, did a little coaching and then became an IRS clerk.
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/01/129-through-1964-bob-signs-swift.html
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