4/9 Through the 1970s: Big Poison Signs, Grimes Dealt, Jeep Out, '63 Opener, Roofers, Cy Spring No-No, SI Cobra, Youth City, HBD Claude
- 1909 – RHP Claude Passeau was born in Waynesboro, Mississippi. Passeau worked 13 years in the show, getting his start in 1935 as a 26-year-old rookie for the Pirates when he got into one game and was hammered for four runs and seven hits in three innings. The Bucs gave up on him early (Passeau claimed he had a dead arm after tossing 244 IP in the minors before the Pirates brought him up in late September) and sent him to the Phils as a throw-in piece of the Al Todd trade. Claude ended up winning 162 games with a 3.32 ERA and made four All-Star teams. After he left the game, he only had one beef – he was rumored to throw a wet one but denied the charge, claiming it came about from his ability to change speeds and pitch movement. However, Claude was herky-jerky on the mound, always tugging his cap, smoothing his uniform, etc., and that likely helped fuel the suspicion that he loaded the horsehide with some hidden hurler’s helper.
- 1930 – After a contract clash and spring holdout, spitballer Burleigh Grimes was sent to the Boston Braves for lefty Percy Jones (who tossed nine games and was done) and “a considerable amount” of cash. Grimes was then flipped to the Cards later in the season. St. Louis made it to the Series in ‘30, losing to the Philadelphia Athletics and Lefty Grove. They took it all the following year as Grimes won 17 games and added another pair of victories in the Series as the Cards dethroned the Athletics in the rematch. Grimes had an in-and-out relationship with the Pirates; he started, spent the middle, and then ended his career with Pittsburgh, with five of his 19 MLB seasons spent here.
- 1937 – The 1936 batting champ‚ Paul Waner‚ ended his holdout and signed his 1937 contract. No official announcement was made of the amount, which was believed to be in the ballpark of $16,000. Big Poison went on to hit .354 and earn his last All-Star berth at age 34.
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| Jeep Handley – 1940 Play Ball |
- 1939 – The Bucco preseason wound down on a sour note when starting 3B Lee “Jeep” Handley was felled by a bean ball and taken to the hospital during a spring training game played three days before the opener. “The beaning caused an uproar in the Pirate camp that hasn’t been equaled in many years…” wrote Pittsburgh Press beatman Les Biederman as the Bucs boiled over the “intentions” of Cleveland hurler Johnny Allen, who caught Jeep in the temple with a sidearm fastball. Allen had just given up a homer and his next pitch nailed Lee, leading the Pirates to believe it was a purpose pitch (the Chicago catcher defended his guy by saying Jeep was crowding the plate). Handley recovered to hit .285 during the campaign but missed the first 10 games of the season while recurring complications from the incident caused him to sit out 52 games during the year.
- 1939 – Not only was Jeep beaned, but manager Pie Traynor may have cost Cy Blanton his career. Blanton tossed a no-no against the Tribe in the same exhibition game, going the distance in a meaningless contest because the skipper didn’t want to pull him with a no-hitter on the line. It’s been hotly debated whether or not this outing led to Blanton suffering torn ligaments three starts into the season. Afterward he was never the same. In the four prior years (1935-38), he started 122 games, tossing to a 3.23 ERA, and in his last four seasons, starting in 1939, he got just 42 starts with a 4.51 ERA. In brighter news of the day, Paul Waner, who in an annual rite of spring held out during camp, agreed to a new contract that reportedly cut his previous salary by $5,000. Big Poison was a week from reaching 36 and had his worst year as a Bucco in 1938, hitting .280 w/.331 OBP. He bounced back, batting .328, but was released by the Pirates after the 1940 season.
- 1953 – In an exhibition game at Forbes Field, 21-year-old rookie Mickey Mantle of the Yankees crushed a Bill MacDonald curve and launched it over the right field roof, joining the Babe and Ted Beard as the only hitters to date to carry the upper deck, which was added in 1925. In all, 18 balls were sent over the roof, seven put in orbit by Willie Stargell. The Mick proved his blast asn’t just a youthful fling when he cleared the stands again during the 1960 World Series.
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| Elroy Face – 1963 Topps |
- 1963 – The home season kicked off in grand style as the Benny Benack band provided the music, Jeanne Baxter sang the Anthem and Governor William Scranton tossed out the first pitch while Commissioner Bill McClelland, Mayor Joe Barr & Prothonotary Dave Roberts were at the yard. The game was pretty good, too, as the Bucs and Braves traded ninth inning runs as the Pirates rallied for a 3-2 walk off win in front of 29,615 Forbes Field faithful. With two down in the ninth, Pittsburgh got back-to-back-to-back hits from Bill Virdon, Bob Bailey and pinch-hitter Ted Savage to win the game for ElRoy Face, who had worked out a two-on, no-out pickle in the Milwaukee ninth. The first two Pittsburgh scores came on solo shots by old dawg Smokey Burgess and frisky pup Bailey.
- 1973 – Bob Prince and Nellie Briles (who sang a solo piece during the program) organized a two-hour benefit youth concert to help fund Roberto Clemente’s “Youth City” complex dream. It featured the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and was broadcast live from Heinz Hall by WIIC-Channel 11 while being recorded for a record album sold to help support the cause.
- 1979 – Dave Parker shared the cover and a “Who’s Best?” teaser on Sports Illustrated Baseball Special with Boston’s Jim Rice. The 1978 MVPs both did pretty well in ‘79 – All-Star Rice slashed .325/39/130 for a 91-win Bosox club while the Cobra also earned an All-Star berth with a line of .310/25/94; the World Series ring he won made him the winner of SI’s rhetorical question in our book.
Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2026/04/49-through-1970s-big-poison-signs.html
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