BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1851 Ed Caskin
So I started digging into this Danvers, MA native. I know he was in the US Army chasing Native Americans but must have played ball back home or in the Army because as soon as he was discharged he was playing locally. More importantly, while he was playing he was known as Ed Caskins and not Ed Caskin. Why the change?
1856 John Morrissey
1877 Charlie Miller
1878 Clarence Currie
1888 Ovid Nicholson
Nicholson got a brief tryout with the Pirates in 1912 and batted .455 in the few games he got to play. Nicholson set a minor league record with 111 stolen bases in the 1912 season while with Frankfort thus earning his trip to Pittsburgh. Despite playing well, Nicholson was returned to Louisville because the Pirates thought the raw kid was too small.
Nicholson married his wife, Nelle Donlea, whom he met while playing ball in Bedford, Indiana before heading off to World War I. Then, he returned to his minor league nomadic life, playing and managing throughout the Midwest. On a sad note, the Nicholsons lost their daughter, Donna Rose, to illness before her fifth birthday in 1926. After that, the Nicholsons returned to Indiana to live among family and friends for the remainder of their lives.
1889 LaRue Kirby
1890 Jim Viox
Pirates second baseman at the end of the Honus Wagner era – spent most of his days in the Cincinnati area.
1892 Tom Connolly
1901 Dick Porter
His nickname is listed as both Wiggles and Twitchy… Must have been a nervous fellow, huh?
1905 John Pomorski
1906 Ray Prim
1919 Pete Layden
1923 Harry Elliott
1929 Bill Taylor
1930 Milt Graff
1931 Frank Torre
1935 Sandy Koufax
1944 Jose Morales
1944 Bob Schroder
1945 Tom Murphy
1953 Steve Davis
1955 Keith MacWhorter
1967 Archie Corbin
1969 Steve Gajkowski
1970 Ben Blomdahl
1970 Bart Evans
1971 Travis Baptist
1973 Ralph Milliard
1975 Santiago Perez
1976 Brad Voyles
1976 A. J. Pierzynski
1977 Grant Balfour
1982 Jim Hoey
1985 Sean Gallagher
1988 Drew Rucinski
1988 Danny Burawa
1988 Bryce Brentz
1989 Erik Johnson
1989 Tyler Anderson
1991 Cesar Vargas
1993 Wyatt Mathisen
1995 Derek Hill
OBITUARIES:
1894 Jack McMahon
One of the last left-handed catchers. McMahon’s demise was sad and quick. In 1893, his middle and forefingers on his right hand were badly injured by an Amos Rusie pitch and there were fears that the fingers would need to be amputated. He never played again. The following spring, McMahon came down with what was thought to be Bright’s disease, but he appeared to be regaining health by the end of 1894 only to learn he had a kidney stone in his bladder. He survived the surgery to remove it, but he was running a fever afterward and died at the age of 25.
“Bridgeport’s Boys,” The Sporting Life, October 6, 1894: 1.
“Another Gone,” The Sporting News, January 5, 1895: 1.
1896 Dave Birdsall
1898 Bill Stearns
1903 Dan Leahy
1906 Henry Porter
1913 Joe Neale
1916 Reddy Mack
1934 George Henry
1946 Pat McGehee
1949 Doc Watson
1951 Bob Kinsella
1958 Glenn Spencer
1959 Lew Whistler
1962 Joe Boley
1963 Wilbur Good
1965 Jim Hickman
1968 Dick Marlowe
1974 Al Shaw
1980 Stuffy Stewart
1981 Josh Billings
1993 Tom Alston
1998 Jack Graham
2005 Bobby Stevens
2011 Ted Beard
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!
No games or odd attractions to note…
TRANSACTION WIRE:
1943 Pittsburgh trades Babe Phelps to Philadelphia (NL) for Babe Dahlgren. Phelps would never play in the majors again, but Dahlgren had three more decent seasons with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
1958 Los Angeles released Pee Wee Reese.
1970 Montreal acquires Ron Hunt from the Giants for Dave McDonald.
1995 The Yankees sign free agent pitcher Kenny Rogers.
2002 The Yankees sign free agent pitcher Roger Clemens.
2015 The Dodgers sign free agent pitcher Scott Kazmir.
Mighty Casey Baseball 