On a very busy day of birthdays for former Pittsburgh Pirates players, we have ten players, plus two trades of note.
The Trades
On this date in 1956, the Pirates traded outfielder Bobby Del Greco and pitcher Dick Littlefield to the St Louis Cardinals for outfielder Bill Virdon. As a 24-year-old in 1955, Virdon won the National League Rookie of the Year award with his .281 average and 17 homers with 68 RBIs. He was hitting .211 in 24 games at the time of the trade. Del Greco was just 23 years old at the time, hitting .200 in 14 games for the Pirates. He played 99 games for Pittsburgh in 1952, but he had spent the next three years in the minors prior to resurfacing in 1956. At 30 years old, Littlefield was the veteran of the group. He had been with the Pirates since 1954, and in the majors since 1950. He had no record and a 4.26 ERA in two starts and four relief appearances with the 1956 Pirates. The year before he went 5-12, 5.12, splitting his time between starting and relieving.
After the trade, Littlefield pitched three games for the Cardinals before being included in a nine-player deal St Louis made with the New York Giants. He pitched until 1958, getting into 86 total games, 11 as a starter. Del Greco hit .215 in 102 games for the Cardinals. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs early in the 1957 season and spent parts of seven seasons in the majors after that deal. He was a .229 hitter in 731 games. Virdon became a star for the Pirates immediately, hitting .334 in 1956. He would play center field for ten seasons in Pittsburgh, helping them to the 1960 World Series along the way. He hit .266 with 667 runs scored in 1,415 games for the Pirates. In 1962, he led the NL in triples and won the Gold Glove award. Virdon also managed the Pirates during the 1972-73 seasons.
Exactly five years earlier, the Pirates and Cardinals hooked up on another deal. Pittsburgh sent shortstop Stan Rojek to St Louis in exchange for outfielder Erv Dusak and first baseman Rocky Nelson. Rojek was 32 years old at the time of the time, coming off a season in which he hit .257 in 76 games. Two years earlier, he finished tenth in the NL MVP voting after hitting .290 with 51 RBIs and 24 steals for the Pirates. He led the league in games played, at-bats and plate appearances. Dusak was 30 years old at the time and had played just 29 games in the majors since 1948. Nelson was 26 years old, with a career .233 average and 61 RBIs in 205 games with the Cardinals.
Many people remember Nelson’s heroics in the 1960 World Series, but that was actually during his second stint with the team. He was put on waivers and taken by the Chicago White Sox before the 1951 season ended. Dusak played only 41 games for the Pirates, spread out over the 1951-52 seasons, his last years in the majors. Rojek would play just 51 games for the Cardinals before he was put on waivers. His Major League career was done by the 1952 season.
The Players
Jose Guillen, Pirates outfielder from 1997 until 1999. The Pirates signed him as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic at the age of 16 in 1992. After spending the 1993 season in the Dominican Summer League (stats not available) he made the jump to the U.S. in 1994, playing in the Gulf Coast League, where he hit .264 with four homers in 30 games. In 1995, he played 66 games in the short-season New York-Penn League and ten games in Low-A. Guillen combined to bat .305 with 18 doubles and 14 homers. He reached High-A ball in 1996, where he hit .322 with 21 homers and 24 stolen bases for Lynchburg. Without ever playing Double-A or Triple-A, the Pirates put him in right field for Opening Day in 1997. Guillen played 143 games as a rookie that year, hitting .267 with 14 homers and 70 RBIs. He had a very similar season the next year, in which he played a career high of 153 games. Guillen had the same batting average as the year before, and his .712 OPS was exactly the same as well. He also hit 14 homers again, this time driving in 84 runs, while smacking 38 doubles, which would remain his career high until 2008. After hitting .267 with one home run through 40 games in 1999, Guillen was sent to Triple-A in mid-June. He did well there, hitting .333 with five homers in 33 games. On July 23rd, he was dealt to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, along with pitcher Jeff Sparks in exchange for two catchers, Joe Oliver and Humberto Cota. The Pirates were desperate for catching at the time due to Jason Kendall’s season-ending ankle injury. After the deal, Guillen hit .244 with two homers in 47 games for Tampa. In 2000, he hit .253 with ten homers in 105 games. That was followed by a .274 average and three homers in 41 games in 2001, with a low OPS due to drawing just six walks. He was released after the season and signed three weeks later with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2002, Guillen hit .229 through 54 games with Arizona, then got released in August.
Guillen finally reached his potential four years after leaving the Pirates, playing for his fourth organization. The Reds signed him three weeks after he was released by Arizona. He didn’t do much better in 2002, hitting .248 with four homers in 31 games, but that changed in 2003. He hit .337 with 23 homers for Cincinnati before they traded him mid-season to the Oakland A’s. He hit .265 with eight homers after the deal, finishing the year with a career high 31 homers. In 2004, he signed a free agent deal with the Anaheim Angels and hit .294 in 148 games, with 27 homers, 104 RBIs and 88 runs scored. That would be the only 100-RBI season of his career. After the season, Guillen was traded to the Washington Nationals. He hit .283 in 148 games in 2005, with 24 homers, 76 RBIs and 81 runs scored. He remained in Washington for the 2006 season, though he batted just .216 in 69 games before having season-ending elbow surgery in July. He was back healthy in 2007, signing a one-year deal with the Seattle Mariners as a free agent, where he batted .290 with 23 homers and 99 RBIs in 153 games. He signed with the Kansas City Royals in 2008 and he hit .264 with 42 doubles, 20 homers and 97 RBIs in 153 games that season. Guillen suffered a mid-July knee injury in 2009 that limited him to 81 games. He batted .242 with nine homers that year. He split his final big league season between the Royals and San Francisco Giants after an August trade. He hit .258 with 19 homers and 77 RBIs in 148 games that final year.
Guillen played a total of 1,650 major league games, hitting .270 with 214 homers and 887 RBIs. Despite stealing 24 bases in the minors in 1996, he stole a total of just 31 bases over his entire Major League career. With the Pirates, he batted .267 with 29 homers and 172 RBIs in 336 games. He had a strong throwing arm, one of the best in baseball, and a throw he made with the Pirates was recently rated the best of all-time by MLB Network. On July 27, 1998, Neifi Perez of the Rockies hit a ball to the right field wall that Guillen couldn’t catch. He picked up the ball near the warning track, and on the fly, threw out Perez, who was going for a triple. His overall defense was very poor, which kept down his value, even at his peak. Guillen finished his career with 6.4 WAR in 14 seasons. Considering that in his two best seasons (2003 and 2005) he had 8.4 WAR total, that tells you something about the majority of his career.
Pascual Perez, pitcher for the 1980-81 Pirates. He was signed by the Pirates as an 18-year-old amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic prior to the 1976 season. Perez began his career in the Gulf Coast League, posting a 4.66 ERA in 56 innings over ten starts. He then moved up to A-ball in 1977, going 10-5, 3.98 in 156 innings over 25 starts for Charleston of the Western Carolinas League. Perez moved up another level in 1978 and pitched well, going 11-7, 2.61 in 152 innings over 24 starts, earning a late season promotion to Triple-A, where he threw five scoreless innings. In 1979, he struggled in his first full season of Triple-A, putting up a 5.50 ERA in 103 innings, but he showed enough improvement the next season to earn an early season spot start for the Pirates, followed by a late season recall. Perez went 12-10, 4.05 in 160 innings for Portland of the Pacific Coast League that year, and he allowed five earned runs over 12 innings with the Pirates. He began 1981 in the minors, joining Pittsburgh in mid-May after five starts. In that strike-shortened season, he went 2-7, 3.96 in 13 starts and four relief appearances for the Pirates. Perez was back in Triple-A in 1982 until a June trade sent him to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for pitcher Larry McWilliams. Perez went 4-4, 3.06 in 79.1 innings for the 1982 Braves. He had a terrific first full season in the majors in 1983, going 15-8, 3.43 in 215.1 innings over 33 starts. He also made his lone All-Star appearance that season. Perez backed it up with another solid performance in 1984, going 14-8, 3.74 in 211.2 innings. Things came crashing down in 1985 when he went 1-13, 6.14 in 22 starts.
Perez was released by the Braves just prior to the 1986 season. After not pitching at all that year, he had to work his way back to the majors by pitching at Triple-A for the 1987 Montreal Expos. Perez was called up in August and finished the season with a 7-0, 2.30 record in ten starts. He had a strong 1988 season in Montreal, going 12-8, 2.44 in 188 innings over 27 starts. He pitched a rain-shortened no-hitter that season on September 24th against the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1989, he went 9-13, 3.31 in 198.1 innings, while setting a career high with 152 strikeouts. Perez became a free agent after the season and signed with the New York Yankees. He strained his shoulder on April 25th in his third start and didn’t pitch again all season except one rehab season in the minors. The shoulder injury, which required surgery, kept him out until May of 1991 and then his return lasted just four starts before stiffness in the shoulder kept him out until August. He made a total of 17 starts in two seasons with the Yankees, then got suspended for the 1992 season due to two positive tests for cocaine. That basically ended his career, with his only other pro experience coming in China in 1996. Perez finished his 11-year career with a 67-68, 3.44 record in 1,244.1 innings. He had two brothers, Carlos and Melido, who also pitched in the majors. Melido also pitched a rain-shortened no-hitter, two seasons after his brother. The family also had three brothers who played minor league ball.
Ozzie Virgil, catcher for the 1965 Pirates. He originally signed with the New York Giants as an amateur free agent in 1953 out of the Domincan Republic, and he made his big league debut three years later after working his way up from Class-C ball to Triple-A. Virgil is the first Major League player to be born in the Dominican. He hit .259 in 118 games during his first season, then moved to Class-B in 1954, where he hit .291 with 50 extra-base hits in 137 games. Virgil was with Dallas of the Texas League in 1955, where he hit .295 with 31 doubles and 17 homers in 159 games. A large majority of his minor league time was at third base, including most of his early work. His big league time was split over seven positions (not center field or pitcher), but he still played more third base than anywhere else. In 1956, Virgil put up a .702 OPS in 152 games for Minneapolis of the American Association, before getting a September trial with the Giants. He went 5-for-12 in three games. He spent the entire 1957 season with the Giants, seeing playing time at four spots, plus a lot of bench work. Virgil hit .235 with four homers and 24 RBIs in 96 games, setting career highs in each of the latter three categories. He had 226 at-bats that season without hit a double. In 1958, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers, where he put in three partial seasons and spent all of 1959 in the minors. He hit .244 in 49 games in 1958, then batted .227 in 62 games during the 1960 season. Virgil caught for the first time in 1959, though he played just one game at the position with the 1960 Tigers. During the 1961 season, Detroit dealt him to the Kansas City Athletics. Between the two stops, he batted .137 in 31 games.
Virgil was sold to the St Louis Cardinals after the 1961 season, but just six weeks later, he was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the Rule 5 draft. He played only one game for the Orioles in 1962, then spent the next two years in the minors. The Pirates acquired him in the 1964 minor league draft from the Washington Senators. In 1965, Virgil played 39 games for the Pirates. He started just seven games, despite being with the team for the entire season. It was the first full year he spent in the majors since 1961 and just the third time (1957 as well) overall that he spent the entire year in the big leagues. He caught a career high 15 games that season, though only three were starts. In 59 plate appearances, he had a .265 average and a .661 OPS. On December 1, 1965, the Pirates traded Virgil, along with pitcher Joe Gibbon, to the San Francisco Giants for outfielder Matty Alou, in what turned out to be a one-sided deal for Pittsburgh. Virgil got 89 at-bats for the Giants in 1966 and put up a .213 average. After spending two full years in the minors, he played one final Major League game in 1969, pinch-hitting on June 27th. He was a coach for the Giants that season, and continued to coach until 1988. He played a total of 324 games in the majors over nine seasons, with a .231 batting average and 73 RBIs. His son, who was also named Ozzie Virgil, caught 11 seasons in the majors (1980-90) and made two All-Star appearances. The elder Virgil turns 89 today.
Harry Riconda, shortstop for the 1929 Pirates. He began his pro career in 1916, but when the Pirates acquired him 13 years later, he had just 234 games in at the Major League level spread out over four seasons. Riconda debuted at 19 years old with Springfield of the Eastern League, where he spent his first two seasons, also seeing time with New Haven of the same league in 1917. He played independent ball in 1918 in Brooklyn, while also playing basketball in the off-season. He remained in independent ball (and basketball) until the 1921 season when he returned to New Haven to play. It was there in 1922 that he earned his first big league call. Riconda hit .335 with 43 extra-base hits in 116 games during the 1922 season, then debuted in the majors in 1923 with the Philadelphia A’s. As a rookie, he batted .263 with a .689 OPS in 55 games, seeing most of his time at third base. He played 83 games in 1924 (71 starts at third base) and he hit .253 with 21 RBIs and 34 runs scored. Riconda spent the entire 1925 season in the minors, then played four games for the Boston Braves in 1926, three games in April and one in August. He broke his leg in a home plate collision on April 15th. He was forced into action mid-game on August 21st, but never played again that year after going 0-for-2 with two errors. The entire 1927 season was spent with Milwaukee of the American Association, where he had a huge season. Playing 168 games, he hit .353 with 86 extra-base hits. That earned him a trip back to the majors, where he got his longest look. Riconda had hit .224 in 92 games for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1928, seeing time at SS/2B/3B. His .623 OPS was 118 points below average for the league. On December 11, 1928, the Pirates traded star shortstop Glenn Wright to the Dodgers for Riconda and pitcher Jesse Petty. It was an awful deal that only didn’t go bad because Wright got hurt and saw limited action after the deal. With the 1929 Pirates, Riconda spent two months with the team, but rarely saw the field. He got into eight of the first 51 games, four off the bench. He went 7-for-15 at the plate in his limited time, but that couldn’t keep him from being sent to the minors to finish the year. On June 26th, he was sold outright to Kansas City of the American Association. He played two more seasons before retiring from baseball, and his only other big league experience was one early season at-bat for the Cincinnati Reds in 1930 before being returned to Kansas City. Riconda hit .247 in 243 big league games, with four homers and 70 RBIs.
Hal Carlson, pitcher for the 1917-23 Pirates. He spent three years in the minors prior to his Major League debut with the 1917 Pirates. Carlson won 23 games and posted a 2.78 ERA in 1916 at 24 years old while playing for Rockford of the Three-I League. He pitched 291 innings that season, his third straight year eclipsing the 200+ inning mark. He was one of four players the Pirates acquired via the old Rule 5 draft at the end of the 1916 season. Carlson had a strong rookie season, while playing for a Pirates team that 103 losses in 1917. He went 7-11, 2.90 in 161.1 inning and didn’t allow a single home run. The next year he pitched just 12 innings over three games before taking up active military duty in WWI. He returned in 1919 to go 8-10 with a career best, 2.23 ERA over 141 innings, and once again he managed to go an entire season without giving up a home run. Carlson had his best season in a Pirates uniform in 1920, going 14-13, 3.36 in 246.1 innings. His numbers began to drop off the next season, going 4-8, 4.27 in 109.2 innings. He was moved to the bullpen for most of the year, where he made 21 of his 31 appearances that season. In 1922, he started 18 games and pitched 21 times in relief. He went 9-12, 5.70 in 141.2 innings. Carlson was sent to the minors just weeks into the 1923 season after being used four times in relief, giving up nine runs in 13.1 innings. It was said that his numbers dropped because he was a spitball pitcher and wasn’t allowed to throw the pitch after 1920, due to the rule baseball implemented making the pitch illegal. Teams had a limited number of players who they could grandfather into the rule, so some players suffered due to that cutoff. On May 21st, it was announced that he was being sent to Dallas of the Texas League, but Carlson balked at that move. Just days earlier it was said that the Pirates were trying to trade him to the Philadelphia Phillies. Two days after not wanting to play in Dallas, he agreed to be sold to Wichita Falls of the Texas League. Despite not joining the team until the end of May, Carlson won 20 games for Wichita Falls that year.
Carlson was drafted by the Phillies for the 1924 season, just months after the trade talks to Philadelphia surfaced. He pitched in Philadelphia until a 1927 trade sent him to the Chicago Cubs. In 1924, he went 8-17, 4.86 in 203 innings over 24 starts and 14 relief appearances. In 1925, he was 13-14, 4.23 in 234 innings, while leading the league with four shutouts. He was never much of a strikeout pitcher and that year he set a personal high with 80. In 1926, Carlson had the best season of his career. He went 17-12, 3.23 in 267.1 innings. He set personal highs in wins, starts, innings and complete games. In his final season with Philadelphia, he had a 5.23 ERA in 63.2 innings before his trade to Chicago. After the deal, he went 12-8, 3.17 in 184.1 innings. Carlson saw his workload drop significantly the next season, making just four starts in his 20 appearances, throwing 56.1 innings, while putting up a 5.91 ERA. He went 11-6 in 1929, despite a 5.16 ERA in 111.2 innings. He was pitching for the Cubs in 1930 when his health began to decline. On May 28, 1930 he complained of feeling ill and died suddenly in his hotel room with teammates by his side. He was 38 years old. Carlson finished with a 114-120, 3.97 record in 2,002 big league innings over 14 seasons. With the Pirates, he was 42-55, 3.64 in 829.1 innings.
Elmer Steele, pitcher for the Pirates during the 1910-11 seasons. He began his pro career in 1906 in the minors before making his Major League debut in September of 1907. At 22 years old, he debuted in pro ball in his hometown with Poughkeepsie of the Hudson River League. He moved up to the Class-B New England League in 1907, where he put together a 24-11 record for the Lynn Shoemakers. Steele debuted with the Boston Red Sox that September, pitching 11.1 innings over four appearances. He began the 1908 season back in the minors before rejoining Boston in July. He had a strong return to the majors, posting a 1.83 ERA in 118 innings. Steele spent most of the 1909 season with the Red Sox, going 4-4, 2.85 in 75.2 innings over eight starts and eight relief appearances. He spent the 1910 season pitching for Providence of the Eastern League, where he went 19-11 (ERA isn’t available) in 294 innings. The Pirates picked him up on September 15th because owner Barney Dreyfuss wanted someone who could give the team innings, calling Steele a “willing worker”. Steele made three starts for Pittsburgh that season, losing all three, although he pitched well. He had a 2.25 ERA and allowed 22 base runners in 24 innings. In 1911, he switched between the starting and bullpen role, making 16 starts and 15 relief outings. He went 9-9 with a 2.60 ERA in 166 innings. In the middle of September, he was lost on waivers to Brooklyn, where he made five appearances before the season ended. The Pirates placed Steele on waivers with the intention of selling him to the minors. They could have kept him once Brooklyn claimed him, but they decided to let him go for the waiver price. He never returned to the majors after 1911 and only played three more season in the minors, including the 1913 season when he was back in Poughkeepsie, playing Class-D ball. He played first base and hit .339 in 90 games that season. His pro career finished in 1917, although it was said he played baseball into his 50’s and was active among the sport in his hometown for many years.
Fred Woodcock, pitcher for the 1892 Pirates. On May 14, 1892 Woodcock was to make his Major League debut against the Cleveland Spiders, just one day after Cy Young shut the Pirates down. That game was rained out, so three days later against the Chicago Colts he finally made his debut, and made a little history along the way. The 24-year-old Woodcock became the first pitcher to make his debut as a starter on his birthday, something that didn’t happen again in the majors for another 67 years. He was a highly touted prospect, who pitched at Dartmouth University and Brown University prior to signing with the Pirates. While he had no known previous pro experience, there was word that he may have pitched under the name “Gleason” for the Woonsocket club of the New England League in 1891, which would have been done to keep his college eligibility. The Pirates announced his signing on November 13, 1891, saying that he made a name for himself by pitching well for Dartmouth during the 1889 season. In his big league debut the Pirates lost 7-5, although it was said that he pitched a remarkably good game, but he was hurt by five Pittsburgh errors. It seemed as if he had a bright future, but it quickly dimmed. His second start was said to be fair, although he was hit hard at times. There was poor fielding behind him again with five errors committed. Woodcock didn’t start again for two weeks, losing his third start by a 6-2 score. Two weeks later he made his last start in the majors. He gave up five first innings runs to Cleveland before he was replaced. His final big league game came exactly one month after his debut. He would pitch just one minor league game in 1893, then finished his career playing for the Fort Worth Panthers and Galveston Sandcrabs of the Texas Southern League in 1895. He served as a coach in 1894 in the college/school ranks. It was said that Woodcock refused to pitch games on Sunday. He almost didn’t join the Pirates. It was reported on April 5, 1892 by the local papers that he returned his advanced money to the Pirates and decided to continues his studies in college, although it was later said that he would join the team on June 15th instead. He received praise on April 24th for defeating Harvard by a 4-3 score. Exactly one month after the returned payment announcement, it was announced that he agreed to join the Pirates on May 15th. A week after his final game, he was given his ten days release. Back then it meant that the team paid a player for ten more days and occasionally, that player ended up staying with the team if he services became necessary. Woodcock was said to be unhappy at the time with his treatment and requested his release.
Frank Mountain, pitcher/first baseman for the 1885-86 Pittsburgh Alleghenys. When he joined Pittsburgh prior to the 1885 season, he was coming off a 23-17, 2.45 season for the Columbus Buckeyes. It was by far his best season. Prior to that year he played for five teams over four seasons, compiling a 34-60, 3.80 record. He debuted in pro ball at 20 years old in 1880, pitching for the Troy Trojans of the National League. Mountain has no known minor league stats, so it appears that his entire career was spent in the majors. He made just two starts during that first season, then had seven starts for the Detroit Wolverines of the NL in 1881, going 3-4, 5.25 in 60 innings. The next year was split between Worcester of the NL and Philadelphia of the American Association, during the first year of the new Major League. He combined to go 4-22, 3.76 in 213 innings. In 1883 he pitched 503 innings for Columbus, starting 59 of the team’s 97 games. He went 26-33, 3.60 and led the league in losses, hits allowed, earned runs and walks. Columbus folded after the 1884 season when the American Association went from twelve to eight teams. The Alleghenys purchased ten of their players for the 1885 season, among them was Mountain. He was joining a Pittsburgh team that used nine different starting pitchers during that 1884 season. Mountain was used as an extra pitcher, making just five starts over the entire season, appearing twice in May, twice in June and once in July. He went 1-4, 4.30 in 46 innings. The next year he made one start early in the season and one late in the year, but was used as a first baseman 16 times. He hit just .145, although he drew 13 walks. He went 1-6, 5.23 in 62 innings between his two seasons in Pittsburgh. His Major League career ended that 1886 season and he went on to manage in the minors in 1888. On October 19, 1886 it was reported that he asked for his release from the Alleghenys because he feared that his injured arm wouldn’t allow him to ever pitch again, which turned out to be true, at least as far as any professional games. Mountain came to Spring Training that year saying that his arm felt better than ever, but a month later he was dealing with a sore arm, which he tried to treat with a salt and sulfur bath. That resulted in blood poisoning, which kept him from pitching again for three months, but a sprained ankle in June kept him out until one final game in late August, which did not go well. His final career record was 58-83, 3.47 in 1,215.2 innings. He made 142 starts and completed 137 games. Mountain threw nine shutouts, all of them coming during the 1883-84 seasons with Columbus.
Henry Oberbeck, first baseman for the 1883 Pittsburgh Alleghenys. He spent two seasons in the majors, playing for four different teams in two different leagues and got into just 66 games. Oberbeck spent time at six different positions in the majors, seeing time at all three outfield spots, first base, third base and as a pitcher. A year before his big league debut, the 24-year-old St Louis native was listed as joining a team called the St Louis Reds, which was managed by someone else with the last name Oberbeck. He was their starting pitcher. On January 3, 1883, local St Louis papers noted that he signed to play with Pittsburgh as their first baseman, a position he never played before, but he would be valuable to the team as one of their extra pitchers. It was also noted at the time that John Peters, shortstop for the Alleghenys, was his foster brother and also the designated captain of the team, so he was able to sign Oberbeck. The two were teammates for a brief time in a postseason series played by a team called the St Louis Browns. He began his pro career with the Alleghenys on May 7, 1883, in the team’s third game of the season. He lasted just two games in Pittsburgh at first base, going 2-for-9 at the plate and handling all 25 chances in the field flawlessly, a somewhat impressive feat in the pre-glove era. He would play four games for the St Louis Browns of the American Association after signing with them on May 24th (15 days after his final game with Pittsburgh). It was said by the St Louis papers that his release by Pittsburgh seemed to be personal and not performance related, but he went 0-for-14 at the plate with the Browns. After the season it was announced that he had a lawsuit against the Browns for failing to pay his full salary. The next year, a third major league was formed, the Union Association. Oberbeck played 33 games at the start of the year for the Baltimore Monumentals, hitting .184 and spending most of his time in the outfield. He then moved on to the Kansas City Cowboys to finish the year. Oberbeck hit .189 in 27 games there while also going 0-5 as a pitcher. He also umpired three October 1884 games in the Union Association at the end of his career. In between his time with Pittsburgh and St Louis during the 1883 season, he spent time with Peoria of the Northwestern League, but he has no known records before or after his wild 1883-84 ride through the majors.
Billy Reid, left fielder for the 1884 Pittsburgh Alleghenys. He began his big league career in 1883, playing for the Baltimore Orioles of the American Association. Reid played 23 games at second base and made 23 errors. He also played one other game at shortstop and made one error there. In 24 games for the Orioles, he hit .278 with 14 runs scored. Reid finished the year in the minors playing for a team from Grand Rapids, Michigan in the Northwestern League. He remained in that league to start the next year, this time playing for the Minneapolis Millers. He hit .279 with 66 runs scored in 80 games. Reid was signed by Pittsburgh on September 13th and made his debut with the Alleghenys on September 16th. He played the final 19 games of the season, playing mostly in left field, starting 17 of his 19 games out there. He hit .243 with 11 runs scored and two doubles. He also played one game at second base and one at third base, making one error at each position, keeping up his error per game pace at all three infield positions. That 1884 season was his last season in the majors. The Alleghenys finished with a 30-78 record that year, and when Horace Phillips took over mid-season, he made wholesale changes, bringing in numerous new players. Most of them didn’t last into 1885 because the Alleghenys purchased the roster from the Columbus American Association team, which dropped out of the league, despite a second place finish. Phillips was experimenting with his lineup to end the season and Reid hit lead-off for a short time, batted clean-up and moved down the lineup as well. Reid bounced around the minors in 1885, playing for three different teams, then went back to the Northwestern League for 1886, joining the Duluth Jayhawks. His last known stop in pro ball was for the Sandusky Fish Eaters in 1888. Most of his minor league stats are completely unknown at this time or missing full categories.
