4/28 Through the 1970s: Kirby Deal, One By One, Trip Debuts, Glenn's 1st, Game Days; HBD Mark, Pedro, Tom, Red & Walt
- 1875 – RHP Walt Woods was born in Rye, New Hampshire. After playing for Chicago and Louisville (he tossed their final MLB game), he came to Pittsburgh in 1900, got into one game and was hammered. He was strictly pitch-to-contact (1.07/K per nine innings!) guy, depending on guile, and was a back-end rotation arm who saw his MLB days end when the league contracted in 1901, a move that sent a lot of hurlers to the unemployment line. While he was primarily a pitcher, he also played second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions, although with a lifetime .206 BA, he never threatened anyone’s job in the field. He did enjoy a long career in minor league baseball, playing from 1895-1914. He retired to become a grocer and later a mailman.
- 1902 – RHP Red Lucas, The Nashville Narcissus (his nickname was penned by Colonel Bob Newhall, a reporter for the old Cincinnati Tribune, when Red was a fast blooming player with the Redlegs, per SABR’s Al Quimby) was born in Tennessee. The righty spent the last five years of his career (1934-38) with Pittsburgh after coming over in a deal with the Reds. He put up a 47-32/3.73 line for the Bucs. Lucas was also a good stickman; he pinch hit in more games as a Pirate than he pitched, though his .238 BA was well below the .300 average he carried with Cincy. And he remembered well the team that traded him – he was 14-0 against the Reds during his Pirate stint.
- 1910 – The Pirates sent RHP Sam Frock and 1B Bud Sharpe to the Boston Doves for RHP Kirby White. It ended up a wash: White won 10 games (10-9-2/3.46) for Pittsburgh, Frock won 12 contests (12-19-2/3.21) for Boston, and Sharpe took over first base for the Doves, batting .239. By May of 1911, all three were toiling in the minors, and they never made it back to the show.
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| Glenn Wright – 1925 photo Bain/Library of Congress |
- 1924 – Rookie SS Glenn Wright hit his first homer off Vic Keen in a 7-4 victory over the Cubs. Wright was also noted for his mitt and set a MLB record during the season with 601 assists, a mark that lasted until 1980, when Ozzie Smith had 621 Astroturf assists. Though a rangy infielder with a rifle arm, he earned the nickname “Buckshot” because his throws had more zip than accuracy. He was the Pirate SS until 1928 when he was traded to Brooklyn Robins for LHP Jesse “Silver Fox” Petty after batting .298 during his years as a Buc, topping the .300 mark three times.
- 1930 – RHP Tom Sturdivant was born in Gordon, Kansas. Nicknamed “Snake” because of his nasty curve, he was an outstanding pitcher for the Yankees until he suffered a rotator cuff injury in 1958 that planted a speed bump over his promising career: after posting 16 wins in 1957, he never again reached double-figures in single-season victories. The righty persevered as a seven-team journeyman over 10 seasons, working through the 1964 season. Snake hurled for the Bucs from 1961-63 with a 14-7-3/3.49 slash, appearing in 65 outings and making 23 starts.
- 1935 – RHP Pedro Ramos was born in Pinar Del Rio, Cuba. A 15-year vet, the Pirates signed him at the tail end of his career in 1969 as a 34-year-old. He made five appearances, put up a 6.00 ERA and was let go. He finished the year with the Reds, then was released in late April after a couple of 1970 outings with the Senators, ending his MLB days. Pete was an All-Star once and had a great stretch run as the closer for the Yankees in 1964; he also led the AL in losses four times.
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| Bob Friend – 1952 Topps |
- 1951 – Bob Friend started against the Cincy Reds at Forbes Field, later relieved by Con Dempsey, who took the loss, and Bill Koski in a 4-2 defeat. All three hurlers were making their MLB debuts during the opening stages of the Rickey rebuild. Koski was 19, Friend 20 and Dempsey the old-timer at 28 with Friend as the lone keeper; the other pair made just 16 outings in the bigs, all in 1951.
- 1960 – OF Mark Ryal was born in Henryetta, Oklahoma. He spent six years in the show with five clubs as a bench bat and closed out his career as a Pirate in 1990, going 1-for-12 in nine games as a late season call-up from AAA Buffalo. Ryal went on to spend two more seasons in Japan before hanging up the spikes. He’s spent the last 30 years coaching and managing softball at the college level.
- 1966 – The Pirates scored one run in each of the final five innings of regulation and added four more in the 10th to outlast the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 9-6. The tying run scored with two out in the ninth. Roberto Clemente fell behind Ted Abernathy 0-2, worked the count full and drew a walk after fouling off eight straight pitches, then came around on Willie Stargell’s double. The Bucco 10th was highlighted by a delayed double steal, with Clemente swiping second and Manny Mota home.
- 1970 – The Bucs 6-1 victory at Forbes Field ended Chicago’s 11-game winning streak. Winner Luke Walker, Bruce Dal Canton and Dave Giusti combined for a three-hitter while Manny Sanguillen hit a pair of homers and had three RBI. Gene Alley went 3-for-4 while three other Pirates collected a pair of knocks.
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/04/428-through-1970s-kirby-deal-one-by-one.html
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