Just two former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date and no major transactions, so it is a light day for Pirates history. We have one game recap of note at the bottom, with a link to a full article.
Kenny Lofton, center fielder for the 2003 Pirates. He was originally drafted by the Houston Astros in 1988, taken in the 17th round out of the University of Arizona. He was mostly a basketball player in college, but his speed and athleticism helped him get drafted. Despite being a bit raw, it didn’t take him long to make the majors. Lofton batted .214 with 26 steals in 48 games of short-season ball in 1988. He played 56 games in 1989, splitting the year between the New York-Penn League and Low-A ball. He hit .292 and stole 40 bases, with better results at the higher level. He moved up to the Florida State League (High-A) in 1990 and batted .331 with 62 steals and 61 walks in 124 games. He skipped to Triple-A in 1991 and batted .308 with 17 triples, 40 steals and 93 runs scored in 130 games. Lofton made it to the majors by the end of 1991, where he hit .203 in 20 games. He was then was dealt in a one-sided trade to the Cleveland Indians that December. Lofton emerged as a star right away, leading the league in stolen bases five straight years and batting over .300 each season from 1993 until 1997. He made the All-Star team six straight years (1994-99) and won four straight Gold Glove Awards (1993-96). Lofton was a run scoring machine during his early years with the Cleveland Indians, averaging 106 runs scored per season during his nine full years with the team. Throughout his career, he was a constant in the post-season, reaching the playoffs in 11 of his 16 full seasons in the majors. Another constant in his career was the changing of teams. He played ten seasons in Cleveland, but even that was over three different stints. He also played part or all of one season with ten other teams, among them being the 2003 Pirates.
Lofton finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting in 1992. He had a .285 average, with 66 steals, 68 walks and 96 runs scored in 148 games. The next year he received mild MVP support after batting .325 with 81 walks, 70 steals and 116 runs scored. He pulled off an impressive feat in 1994 by scoring 105 runs and stealing 60 bases in 112 games during the strike-shortened season. He also put up a .349 batting average, which (along with his defense) helped him to a fourth place finish in the MVP voting. The 1995 season was also shortened slightly due to the strike and Lofton had another strong season. He hit .310 with 54 steals, a league leading 13 triples and 93 runs scored. The 1996 season saw him set career highs with 132 runs scored, 210 hits, 35 doubles and 75 steals, his fifth straight AL stolen base crown. He batted .317 and received mild MVP support. With one year remaining before free agency, Lofton was traded to the Atlanta Braves in the off-season. He put up a .333 average, with 64 walks and 90 runs scored. He saw his stolen base numbers drop to just 27 for the season, which came with 20 caught stealing, which led the league.
Lofton re-signed with the Indians in 1998 as a free agent and he helped them to the World Series by hitting .282 with a career high 87 walks, to go along with 54 steals and 101 runs scored. In 1999, he batted .301 with 79 walks, 110 runs scored and 25 steals. That ended up being the final (of six straight) All-Star appearance during his career. In 2000, he hit .278 with 107 runs scored. He set career highs that year with 15 homers and 73 RBIs, while stealing 30 bases. During his final full season in Cleveland, Lofton batted .261 with 14 homers, 16 steals and 91 runs scored in 133 games. He signed with the Chicago White Sox as a free agent in 2002, then was traded mid-season to the San Francisco Giants. After hitting .261 with 72 walks, 98 runs scored and 29 stolen bases between both stops in 2002, Lofton became a free agent again. He went all winter without signing a deal, finally settling for the Pirates at a discounted rate in March of 2003. He hit .277 in 84 games for the Pirates, scoring 58 runs and stealing 18 bases. In late July he was included in the disastrous Aramis Ramirez deal to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Bobby Hill, Jose Hernandez and Matt Brubaker. Lofton hit .327 in 56 games for the Cubs. He spent 2004 with the New York Yankees, where he batted .275 in 83 games. He rebounded with a .335 average and 22 steals in 110 games for the 2005 Philadelphia Phillies. The 2006 season saw him batted .301 with 32 steals for the Los Angeles Dodgers. His final season was split between the Texas Rangers and Indians. He batted .296 with 23 steals and 86 runs scored in 136 games.
Lofton finished his 17-year career with a .299 average, 2,428 hits, 1,528 runs scored, 622 stolen bases, 781 RBIs and 945 walks in 2,103 games. He played 95 postseason games during his career, stealing 34 bases, while scoring 65 runs. He should have received more Hall of Fame consideration, but he failed to reach the 5% of the votes necessary to stay on the ballot during his first year of eligibility. That’s despite 68.4 WAR during his career, which ranks him 118th all-time, tied with no doubt Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk and DH Edgar Martinez, who finally made it after ten years on the ballot
Joe Orsulak, outfielder for the Pirates from 1983 until 1986. He was drafted by the Pirates out of Parsippany Hills HS in the sixth round of the 1980 draft. Orsulak began his pro career the next year with Greenwood of the South Atlantic League. As a 19-year-old, he hit .315 with 80 runs scored and 70 RBIs in 118 games. Moving up to the Carolina League the next year, Orsulak hit .289 with 14 homers, 28 stolen bases and 92 runs scored. He jumped to Triple-A for 1983 and continued the strong play, hitting .286 with ten homers and 38 stolen bases. He actually had more triples (13) than doubles (12) that season. In September, the Pirates called him up and he went 2-for-11 at the plate in seven games. He began 1984 back at Triple-A, but was recalled after just a week when Brian Harper was placed on the DL. The Pirates had a lot of injury problems early in the year and Orsulak bounced between Triple-A and the majors three times during the first two months. After being sent down in early June, he returned in September when the rosters expanded, finishing the year with a .254 average in 32 games.
In 1985, Orsulak was with the Pirates the entire year, playing 72 games in center field, 41 in left and 16 in right field. He mostly batted lead-off, hitting .300 on the season, with 24 stolen bases and 54 runs scored. He had a huge home/road split, batting .370 at Three Rivers and just .239 during away games. He finished sixth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. In 1986, he played 138 games, seeing the majority of his playing time as a right fielder. He hit .249 with 60 runs scored and again stole 24 bases (he also had 11 times caught stealing in both seasons). The next year Orsulak was back in Triple-A and he had a rough season, twice missing time with foot injuries, which led him to play just 39 games all year. That December he was traded to the Orioles for Terry Crowley Jr and Rico Rossy. While neither of those players made it to the majors with the Pirates, Orsulak went on to play another ten seasons in the majors, a total of 1,196 games played after leaving Pittsburgh. He mostly played right field during that time, but also saw decent time in left field and he played a total of 215 games in center field during his career, though only 81 of those games came after leaving the Pirates. Despite stealing 48 bases during his last two seasons in Pittsburgh, he never had more than nine steals in a season after being traded.
Orsulak hit .288 with 21 doubles and eight homers in 125 games during his first season with the Orioles. His 1989 season was basically a repeat of the previous year. He batted .285 with 22 doubles and seven homers in 123 games. Baltimore was consistent with his playing time during his first three seasons. He played 124 games in 1990, hitting .269 with 11 homers and a career high 57 RBIs. His hit totals during those three seasons were 109, 111 and 111. He saw more playing time in 1991, but he also saw a drop in his production, posting a .679 OPS. His lowest OPS during his first three years in Baltimore was .740 (best was .771). Orsulak hit .278 in 1991, with 22 doubles and five homers in a career high 143 games. In 1992, he played 117 games and posted a .289 average. He became a free agent after the season and signed with the New York Mets, where he spent the next three seasons. He saw regular playing time during his first season in New York, hitting .284 in 134 games, with a .730 OPS. He dropped down to a .651 OPS in 94 games during the strike-shortened 1994 season, then hit .283 with one homer and one stolen base over 108 games in 1995. Orsulak saw frequent time off of the bench for the 1996 Florida Marlins, hitting .221 in 237 plate appearances over 120 games. He finished his big league career with the 1997, batting .227 in 170 plate appearances over 106 games. He had a .664 OPS in 302 opportunities as a pinch-hitter during his career. In 14 big league seasons, Orsulak was a .273 career hitter with 57 homers, 405 RBIs, 93 stolen bases and 559 runs scored. With the Pirates he hit .272 with 51 steals in 298 games.
The Game
On this date in 1905, the Pirates pulled off a comeback win down 9-6 in the bottom of the ninth, to win 10-9 on an RBI single by Hall of Famer Fred Clarke. The game recap here has a great note about the first home run of the season by the Pirates, as well as a decision that didn’t make any sense when awarding both the win and save to the two Pirates pitchers.
