Seven former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, three recent and three born in the 1800s.
Kyle Lobstein, pitcher for the 2016 Pirates. He was purchased from the Detroit Tigers in December of 2015 after spending parts of two seasons in the majors. He was originally a second round pick in 2008 by the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Tigers picked him up via the 2012 Rule 5 draft (via the New York Mets). In Detroit, Lobstein went 4-10, 5.33 in 103 innings, making 17 starts and three relief appearances. In his only season with the Pirates, he went 2-0, 3.96 in 25 innings over 14 relief appearances. He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles on August 31, 2016 and hasn’t appeared in the majors since, spending time with four different teams.
Jhan Marinez, pitcher for the 2017 Pirates. He debuted in the majors at 21 years old in 2010 and has played for seven different teams over five seasons, also seeing big league time in 2012 and 2016-18. Marinez played with three teams during the 2017 season, starting with the Miwaukee Brewers, before joining the Pirates as a waiver pickup in mid-May. He was with the Pirates until August, when they lost him on waivers to the Texas Rangers. In Pittsburgh, he made 24 relief appearances and he posted a 3.18 ERA in 34 innings. Marinez has pitched 103 games in the majors, all in relief. He has a 1-5, 3.56 record in 134 innings.
Jose Tabata, outfielder for the 2010-15 Pirates. He was a top prospect at a young age, who never fully reached his peak. Despite that fact, he still played 509 games in the majors and had a 1.9 WAR. Tabata was acquired in a six-player trade in July of 2008 with the New York Yankees that saw the Pirates give up Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte. He debuted in the majors two years later and batted .299 in 102 games during his rookie season, finishing eighth in the Rookie of the Year voting. Tabata’s average dropped below .300 in his final at-bat and final game of the season. He ended up setting career highs in runs (61), hits (121), doubles (21), RBIs (35) and stolen bases (19) that season. In each of his other four years, he was constantly hobbled by minor injuries. He spent part of the 2015 season in the minors before he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mike Morse. Tabata never appeared in the majors after the deal. In 509 games with the Pirates, he hit .275/.336/.377 with 17 homers, 126 RBIs and 47 stolen bases.
Paul Carpenter, pitcher for the 1916 Pirates. He was signed by the Pirates in mid-July of 1916 after his minor league team, the Chillicothe Babes, disbanded. For Pittsburgh, he was a seldom used reliever, pitching five times during the rest of the season, all in relief, for a total of 7.2 innings. He pitched well in one of his last games, going 3.2 innings without an earned run on August 28th. His last appearance was in a mop-up role during the second game of a doubleheader. Even at that point, over two months into his time with the team, he was referred to as the “Ohio State League busher” for his lack of significant pro experience before joining the Pirates, plus the lack of playing time he was seeing with Pittsburgh. In his five outings, he allowed just one earned run, leaving him with a 1.17 ERA, in what turned out to be his only Major League experience. His minor league records are spotty, but he played at least two more years of pro ball after the 1916 season. Paul’s nephew, Woody English, was an All-Star infielder during his 12-year career with the Chicago Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers.
Wyatt Lee, pitcher for the 1904 Pirates. He was purchased by the Pirates from the Washington Senators on March 30, 1904, two weeks before the start of the season. Lee was not only a good pitcher, he could also hit and play outfield. In 1902 he played 96 games between the three outfield spots and threw 98 innings. He won 16 games as a rookie in 1901, but his rookie season should’ve been two years sooner, and he should’ve started with the Pirates. Before he played a pro game, he was all set to sign with Pittsburgh, when the Reds made him a higher offer. That started a bidding war between the two clubs, which ended with Lee pricing himself out of both club’s price range. Finally with the Pirates in 1904, he was brought in to replace Ed Doheny in the rotation. Over the off-season, Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss promised to bring in a star pitcher, and while it took nearly the entire off-season, Lee was thought to be that man.
In 1903 for the Senators, Lee went 8-12, 3.08 as a pitcher and played 47 games in the outfield. Despite the success and versatility, his time with the Pirates lasted just two months before he was released. He made three starts, including his last one on May 26th, which was a 9-1 loss to the Reds. The Pirates had a strong rotation, then added a college star named Mike Lynch to the group in June, marking the end for Lee. He went 1-2, 8.74 in 22.2 innings and never played outfield for the Pirates, although he did pinch-hit. He went to the minors, finishing the 1904 season with Toledo of the American Association, where he played outfield the rest of the year. He didn’t resume pitching until 1906, but would go on to win 127 minor league games over a ten-year (1906-15) stretch.
Andy Dunning, pitcher for the 1889 Pittsburgh Alleghenys. Early in the 1889 season, the Alleghenys were without two of their better pitchers, Pud Galvin and Ed Morris. They signed three young pitchers to fill their spots, hoping that at least one of them would work out. Between Andy Dunning, Al Krumm and Alex Beam, they got five starts over a two-week period and won one game. Dunning was just 17 years old at the time, in his third year of pro ball. His Major League debut was with Pittsburgh on May 23, 1889, during a 6-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. Dunning threw a complete game, allowing eight hits and seven walks. He was said to be very erratic and hard for the catcher to handle. In his second appearance a week later, he was even wilder, walking nine batters, allowing 12 hits and losing 13-6 to the Philadelphia Phillies. That would be his last appearance for the Pirates, as Morris and Galvin would soon return to the rotation. Dunning started one game for the New York Giants two years later and only lasted until the second inning before being pulled. He pitched in the minors until 1893, his baseball career over at the ripe old age of 22. He’s the youngest player in franchise history, debuting at 17 years and 284 days.
Dan Lally, right fielder for the 1891 Pirates. He had a 19-year minor league career that stretched from 1887 until 1905, playing with teams from coast to coast and nearly every stop in between. However, his Major league career consisted of 41 games for the 1891 Pirates and 88 games for the 1897 St Louis Browns. He didn’t make his debut until August 19th of that 1891 season, but over the last two months of the season, he saw plenty of playing time in right field and a few games in center. Lally hit .224 with 17 RBIs and 24 runs scored. His fielding wasn’t strong, with nine errors, very little range and only two assists. Even when he played in 1897, he had trouble fielding, committing 24 errors. He hit one homer for the Pirates, but it came off a pretty good pitcher named Cy Young. In an odd coincidence, he hit two homers with the Browns, both coming off the same pitcher (Ted Lewis) but they occurred over three months apart from each other. Lally replaced Fred Carroll on the Pirates, a player who originally joined the team in October of 1884, and in 1889 he had the highest OPS (.970) in the NL. Carroll wasn’t hitting well at the time and the release ended his Major League career. In 1897 for the Browns, Lally hit .284 with 42 RBIs and 57 runs scored.
