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4/5: Opening Day, Game Tales & Duels, Dravecky & Robinson Deals, El Coffee, Pablo, Bill & Waner Signs, Locals Shine, Not For Sale; RIP Larry, HBD JHK, Lastings, Rennie, Wid & Chuck

Saturday, April 5, 2025 7:01

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1865 – Jack of all trades Chuck Lauer was born in Pittsburgh. He played for the Alleghenys twice, in 1884 when they were in the American Association and again in 1889 when the club was a NL team. Chuck caught, played outfield, first base and even pitched a little, but not all that well: he hit .133 as an Allegheny in 17 games with an 0-2/7.58 pitching line. He played minor league ball through 1892 and then presumably returned to his day job in the City’s stockyards.
1877 – SS William “Wid” Conroy was born in Philadelphia. Conroy only played one year in Pittsburgh in 1902, hitting .244, but he started ahead of Honus Wagner at short. Actually, the Flying Dutchman began his career in the pasture; he was converted to part-time shortstop in 1901 by skipper Fred Clarke when Bones Ely had a forgettable year at the dish. Wid was the usual starter at short in 1902 with Wagner seeing some action too, but Conroy’s batting performance was the final straw for Clarke and he installed Wagner at the position full-time in 1903. Conroy then jumped leagues to join the New York Highlanders, playing ball through 1911 for them and the Washington Senators. The nickname “Wid,” short for “Widow,” dates to his youth. Sam Bernstein of SABR suggests that the name came about because Conroy watched over the younger members of his neighborhood sandlot group like a widowed mother watched over her brood.
1920 – Press sportswriter Ralph Davis reported in his column that Ennis ”Rebel” Oakes, who a few years earlier managed the Pittsburgh Rebels in the Federal League, was looking to pry the Pirates away from owner Barney Dreyfuss and was ready to offer $1.2M for the franchise. However, Dreyfuss had already turned down a springtime offer for more money, and Oake’s bid fell on deaf ears. Barney kept the club until he met his Maker in 1932, and then passed the club on to the family.
1929 – Paul Waner ended his holdout by signing a one-year deal with the Bucs after meeting for two hours with Buc owner Barney Dreyfuss at Fort Worth, where the Pirates were holding camp. The value of the agreement wasn’t disclosed, but earlier in negotiations, Waner had floated $18K as the amount he was seeking. Big Poison ended up a bargain no matter what the price – he hit .336 with 15 HR/100 RBIs and .424 OBP in over 700 plate appearances during the season.

Big Poison – 2023 Panini Prizm

1949 – 2B Rennie Stennett was born in Colon, Panama. Stennett played nine seasons (1971-79) with the Bucs as a sweet-fielding second sacker, hitting .278 BA to back up the leather. He was involved in a lot of good stuff, appearing in the 1979 Series, starting for the first all-black lineup in MLB in 1971, and collecting a record seven knocks in a nine-inning game against the Cubs in 1975. Sadly, he broke his leg in 1977 and never had a strong season afterward, even though the Giants signed him to a five-year deal worth $3M in 1980. They released him after two years while still in the hole for $2M. He tried to make a comeback with Pittsburgh in 1989 but was cut during the spring.
1954 – It was only a spring training game, but it had some notable local flavor to it. Mt Washington native and South Hills HS grad Bob Purkey tossed a six-hitter and Frank Thomas, who grew up in the shadow of Forbes Field in Oakland and was born at Magee Women’s Hospital, sent one over the wall as the hometown kids (Purkey was 24, Thomas 25) led the way to a 1-0 win over the KC Athletics in Mobile, Alabama. In other Pirates news of the day, the club cut 1B Dale Long, 3B Gene Freese and RHP ElRoy Face from camp, but they were part of the next wave of Bucco talent and were back for keeps in 1955.
1975 – The Pirates got OF Bill Robinson from the Phils for RHP Wayne Simpson. Simpson appeared in 34 MLB games in 1975 & ‘77 while McKeesport’s Robinson spent eight years in Pittsburgh as a platoon OF’er, hitting .276 with 109 HR. His highlight season came in 1977 when he hit .304 with career highs of 26 home runs and 104 RBI playing outfield and the infield corners.
1980 – The Pirates agreed to a two-year extension of jack-of-all-trades Bill Robinson’s contract through 1982. The financials weren’t disclosed, but Robinson, who as a five-and-ten year man had vetoed a trade to Houston in 1979, conceded an eight-team list of teams he would report to if swapped. It was also a good day in other ways for Robby – after he and the team were given their World Series rings in a ceremony before the game, his 10th inning homer gave the Bucs a 5-4 Opening Day win over the Cubs in a contest that was delayed four times for over two hours because of rain, played before a TRS crowd that started the damp day at 44,088.

Bill Robinson – 1980 Topps

1981 – Pittsburgh traded Youngstown native and Class AA Buffalo LHP Dave Dravecky to the San Diego Padres for utilityman Bobby Mitchell. Mitchell never made it out of the minors while Dravecky eventually carved out an eight-year MLB career with a 64-57-10 slate, 3.13 ERA, and an All-Star nod in a pro tenure cut short by a cancerous tumor that eventually cost him his arm.
1983 – John Candelaria gave up just four hits and struck out 10 in a 7-1 Opening Day win over the Cards at Busch Stadium. Lee Lacy led off with a homer, Jason Thompson iced it with a three-run blast in the ninth while Dale Berra and Lee Mazzilli went long in between. For Mazzilli, it was a strong intro to his new team as he went 2-for-2 with two walks in his first game as a Pirate. It was a welcome sign for The Candy Man, too, whose nerve damage to his arm had turned him from a workhorse into a guy with just one complete game in 1981-82, but he couldn’t replicate his durability, never reaching 200 innings or posting more than three complete games in a season after 1980.
1985 – OF Lastings Milledge was born in Bradenton, Florida. A first-round pick of the Mets, he played for NY and then Washington before he was traded to the Pirates by the Nats in 2009 with RHP Joel Hanrahan for OF Nyjer Morgan and LHP Sean Burnett. From 2009-10 he hit a respectable .282 for Pittsburgh but was playing behind Jose Tabata in LF and Garrett Jones in RF, with Andrew McCutchen in the pipeline. He left for free agency, but all he got was a pit stop with the White Sox. Milledge then spent five seasons playing ball in Japan and Mexico, and after an indie league stint, he retired in 2017.
1987 – IF Jung-Ho Kang was born in Gwangju, South Korea. After a winning posting bid of $5,002,015 for Kang from his Korean team, the Nexen Heroes, the Bucs signed the infielder to a four-year, $11M contract with an option year. He became the first KBO position player to make the jump to the MLB. Jung-Ho made the transition in style, hitting .287 with 15 HR while playing SS & 3B before he broke his leg in mid-September. He started 2016 late while recovering and then landed on the DL again with a shoulder injury, batting .255 with 21 dingers. His career was short-circuited by the debris left by a DUI conviction during the off season. Kang won a reprieve in 2018, missing a lot of time due to injuries, and was re-signed for 2019, reclaiming the third base spot in camp. During the year, his 10 homers couldn’t overcome a .169 BA and JHK was released in August, returning to Korea the following year. He still hasn’t received league permission to play in the KBO and hasn’t taken the field since then.

JHK – 2016 Topps

1988 – Darrell Coles had himself a day, belting a three-run homer and RBI triple to help Mike Dunne to a 5-3 Opening Day win over the Phils at Veterans Stadium. His long ball was a two-out blast set up by a rare Mike Schmidt error that extended the frame. Barry Bonds added three hits including a solo shot and Bobby Bonilla scored twice ahead of Coles to back Dunne’s effort. He lasted an out into the sixth and Jeff Robinson finished it off from there.
1989 – Doug Drabek and Randy Johnson hooked up in a pitcher’s delight, with the Bucs pulling out a 3-0 win at Olympic Stadium as Drabek tossed a complete game two-hitter and Johnson a three-hitter. The Pirates only plated one earned run off the Big Unit, and that wasn’t until the eighth inning. But he hurt himself; while Johnson K’ed nine, he also walked seven and two of them scored. DD took the opposite tack; he fanned just a trio but only yielded two free passes.
2004 – Kip Wells scattered five hits and struck out seven over six scoreless innings as the Pirates beat the Phillies, 2-1, on Opening Day at PNC Park. Chuck Tanner hurled the opening pitch, with another ceremonial toss made by Mr. Rogers’ widow, JoAnn, while the National Anthem was sung by the Ebenezer Church Choir. Game highlights were Jose Mesa earning his 250th career save and Craig Wilson going long. Some big bossman news was announced before the game as Kevin McClatchy extended the contracts of GM Dave Littlefield and manager Lloyd McClendon. The extensions bound Littlefield through 2007 and Lloyd’s agreement was guaranteed through 2005 with a club option.
2010 – A trio of Buccaneers had big days to begin the 2010 campaign in front of 39,024 PNC Park faithful. Garrett Jones homered (one a splash-down in the Allegheny and the other an oppo field blast) in his first two at-bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers during an 11-5 win, becoming the sixth Pirate to hit two long balls on Opening Day. The Ryans had a big outing too, as Doumit and Church added three RBIs each, with Dewey chasing his runs home via a fifth-inning blast while Church plated his gang with a bases-loaded, pinch-hit double. Working his second career Opening Day, Zach Duke got the win though it took a bullpen parade of five relievers to come in and get the final 12 outs.

Larry Shepard – 1968 Topps

2011 – Ex-Bucco manager Larry Shepard passed away in Lincoln, Nebraska, at age 92. A minor league pitcher during his playing days, he joined the Bucs in 1953 as a farm coach, topping out with a six-year run at AAA Columbus. He left to join the Phils in 1967 before returning to the Pirates as skipper from 1968-69 (he went 164-155, finishing 6th and 4th) before being replaced by Alex Grammas late in 1969. He was then the pitching coach for the Big Red Machine from 1970-78 and the Giants in 1979. After Shepard retired, he served as an unofficial pitching mentor for the Nebraska Cornhusker nine.
2012 – The Pirates signed Pablo Reyes, 18, of the Dominican as an amateur free agent for $90K. After two strong DSL campaigns, he was sent stateside in 2014 and continued to improve his game although often lost in the shuffle of more highly-projected prospects. The versatility dynamic worked to his advantage (he played five positions for the Bucs) as he made the 40-man roster, debuted in the majors in 2018, then left Florida as a member of the Opening Day roster in 2019 as a utility guy, batting .203 in 71 games. He was released in camp in 2020 and soon afterward given an 80-game suspension by MLB for PED usage. Pablo bounced back, spending two seasons with Milwaukee and now playing for the NY Yankees, his fourth club since leaving the Pirates.
2012 – MLB Opening Day drew the largest crowd to date in PNC Park history, 39,585, as the Bucs Erik Bedard lost a classic pitching duel to the Phil’s Roy Halladay, 1-0. The Bucs threatened in the first, but Andrew McCutchen’s 6-4-3 DP short-circuited the frame. Neil Walker took the ball to the track twice, but both drives died at the fence as Halladay tossed a two-hitter.
2016 – The Pirates officially announced they had signed RF Gregory Polanco to a contract extension that would carry him through arbitration and a year of free agency (2017-2021) worth $35M guaranteed with two team options that brought the potential total contract value up to $58M. The particulars: $3M signing bonus, $1M – ’17, $3.5M – ’18, $5.5M – ’19, $8M – ’20, $11M – ’21. $12.5M option/$3M buyout – ’22, $13.5M option/$1M buyout – ’22. The 24-year-old Polanco’s first full MLB campaign was 2015 when he hit .256 with nine home runs, 52 RBIs, 35 doubles, six triples and 27 stolen bases in 153 games. He also ranked second among all NL outfielders with 13 assists, trailing only teammate Starling Marte’s 16 throw-outs. He’s shown flashes and hit bumps throughout his career, missing the end of 2018 with a bum shoulder that required surgery after he dislocated it during an awkward slide. Polanco came back in 2019, put up some lackluster numbers over three campaigns and was released in August of 2021. He’s in his fourth year of playing in Japan and is now with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Source: https://oldbucs.blogspot.com/2025/04/45-opening-day-game-tales-duels.html

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