Ten former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, including two top pitchers of their era.
Jerry Reuss, pitcher for the 1974-78 and 1990 Pirates. He was signed as a second round draft pick of the St Louis Cardinals in 1967 out of high school in St Louis. That first year in pro ball, the Cardinals gave the 6’5″ lefty 65 innings in the low minors, calling the 18-year-old up to Triple-A at one point, where he allowed six runs in his only inning of work. In 1968 he was in Double-A, going 7-8, 2.17 in 112 innings. He made his return to Triple-A in 1969, winning 13 games, with a 4.06 ERA in 186 innings of work. Reuss made his Major League debut at the end of that 1969 season, pitching seven shutout innings in his only start. He was back in Triple-A to begin 1970, getting recalled in June for 20 starts, posting a 7-8, 4.10 record and throwing two shutouts. Reuss made 35 starts in 1971 for the Cardinals, going 14-14, 4.78 in 211 innings, which was well above the team average for an ERA on a pitching staff with Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton. Reuss would be traded to the Houston Astros in the off-season, in a deal that netted the Cardinals two pitchers who threw a total of 17 games in St Louis.
Reuss had a 9-13, 4.17 record in 192 innings during his first year in Houston. He was a workhorse for the 1973 Astros, making a league leading 40 starts. He went 16-13, throwing a career high 279.1 innings. On October 31, 1973, the Pirates traded catcher Milt May to the Astros to acquire Reuss. The trade was a steal for the Pirates. Reuss stepped into the Pirates rotation and went 16-11, 3.50 in 35 starts that first year, pitching a total of 260 innings. He was even better in 1975, winning a career high 18 games, with a 2.54 ERA in 237.1 innings, which was nearly a run lower than any previous year. He tossed 15 complete games, which was a career high, and he set a personal best with six shutouts. He was selected to his first All-Star team. His ERA and win total placed him fourth in the National League in each category. Despite the 34 wins over his first two seasons in Pittsburgh, Reuss had trouble in the playoffs. He lost all three of his starts and the Pirates couldn’t make it past the NLCS either year.
Reuss had another strong season in 1976, with a 14-9, 3.53 record in 209.1 innings, but he slipped down to a 10-13, 4.11 record in 1977. It was his only losing season in Pittsburgh and his highest ERA since joining the team. The 1978 season turned out to be even worse for him, as shoulder problems limited his usage and effectiveness. He pitched 82.2 innings with a 4.90 ERA, making just twelve starts. It broke a string of five straight 200 IP seasons and seven straight years in which he made at least thirty starts. Reuss wasn’t happy about his role for the upcoming 1979 season and asked to be traded. The Pirates dealt him on April 7, 1979 to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher Rick Rhoden.
Both teams made out well in the deal. Reuss was used in a bigger role for Los Angeles, making 21 starts in 1979, then had perhaps his best season in 1980. He went 18-6, with a 2.51 ERA and a league leading six shutouts. He finished second in the Cy Young voting that year and made his second All-Star appearance. In 1981, Reuss went 10-4, 2.30 in 152.2 innings over 22 starts during the strike-shortened season. He also picked up a World Series ring, as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees that year. He won game five of the series. He would win 18 games in 1982, matching his career high from both 1975 and 1980. He had a 3.11 ERA and pitched 254.2 innings that season.
Reuss went 12-11, 2.94 in 223.1 innings in 1983. He split the 1984 season between starting and relief, putting up a 5-7, 3.82 record in 99 innings. He bounced back in 1985, going 14-10, 2.92 in 212.2 innings. Reuss saw limited work in 1986, making 13 starts and six relief appearances. He was 2-6, 5.84 and he pitched just 74 innings, while failing to complete any games. The 1987 season was split between the Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and California Angels. He had trouble in all three spots, combining to go 4-10, 5.97 in 119 innings. He had another bounce back season, this one with the Chicago White Sox in 1988. Reuss went 13-9, 3.44 and he pitched 183 innings. He split the 1989 season between the White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers, compiling a 9-9, 5.13 record in 140.1 innings.
Reuss landed back in Pittsburgh in 1990 to end his career. He was in the minors, pitching for the Astros until early July, when the Pirates were able to sign him as a free agent. He pitched 14 games (nine starts) in Triple-A before joining the Pirates in September for the pennant run. Reuss pitched four games, including a start on the last day of the season, in what turned out to be the last game of his career. He finished his career with a 220-191, 3.64 record. He had a 61-46, 3.52 record in 1,005 innings while he was with the Pirates. In his 22-year career, he pitched 3,669.2 innings over 547 starts (and 81 relief appearances) and he threw 39 career shutouts.
Bill Swift, pitcher for the 1932-39 Pirates. Swift played four seasons in the minors, winning a total of 58 games, before making his big league debut with the 1932 Pirates at 24 years old. He was originally signed by the St Louis Browns in 1927 and they farmed him to the minors for the 1928 season. He played for three different clubs in his first year, going 11-7 in 191 innings over 29 games. Most of that time was spent in Class-C ball in the Western Association. His career had an interesting start though, one in which almost ended it as soon as it started. He was originally sent by the Browns to Muskogee of the Western Association, but they released him after he won two games and he had to go to another team in the league (Springfield) to ask for a tryout. The manager of Springfield (Robert Wells) was also the team’s catcher and an 18-year veteran of minor league ball at the time, so Swift had to throw a bullpen to him to earn a job. Swift later told the Pittsburgh media that Wells promised to sell him to a Double-A team by the end of the year if he listened to his teaching instructions and that’s exactly what happened, though he didn’t stick in the upper level until late in 1931. Swift moved to Class-B in 1929, playing most of the year for Augusta of the South Atlantic League, where he had 13-13, 2.95 record in 226 innings. The 1930 season was spent mostly with Springfield of the Three-I League, where he pitched briefly during the previous season. While there, Swift had a 17-7, 3.78 record in 205 innings. He went 16-7, 4.54 in 204 innings for Kansas City of the American Association in 1931 before the Pirates acquired him in a trade on January 29, 1932 for Eddie Phillips, Bob Osborne and cash.
Swift was used as a starter and reliever, excelling in both roles during his first five seasons. As a rookie in 1932, he went 14-10, 3.61 in 214.1 innings, making 23 starts and 16 relief appearances. He repeated the 14-10 record in 1933, but he improved to a 3.10 ERA in 218.1 innings. In 1934, he went 11-13, 3.98 in 212.2 innings over 25 starts and 12 relief outings. Swift had his best season in 1935, going 15-8, 2.70 in 203.2 innings. He made 22 starts, 17 relief appearances and he threw three shutouts. That’s nearly half of his career total of seven. Swift had his most active season in 1936, but he also posted his highest career ERA. He went 16-16, 4.01 in 31 starts, 14 relief appearances and 262.1 innings. In 1937, he moved more to a bullpen role with occasional starts, but still pitched a total of 443.2 innings over his last three seasons with the Pirates. Swift went 9-10, 3.95 in 164 innings in 1937. He did well in the role in 1938, posting a 3.24 ERA in 150 innings. He was down to just eight starts and 129.2 innings in 1939, when he had a 5-7, 3.89 record.
On December 8, 1939, Swift was shipped to the Boston Bees, along with cash, for veteran pitched Danny MacFayden. For Swift, the trade would nearly mark the end of his Major League career. He spent most of the next three seasons pitching for St Paul in the American Association. He pitched 9.1 innings for the Bees in 1940 after the trade, then 22 IP for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1941. He actually did well during his short time in Brooklyn, posting a 3-0 record and a 3.27 ERA. After spending all of 1942 with St Paul, where he went 12-15, 3.15 in 220 innings, he finished up his pro career with 18 games for the 1943 Chicago White Sox. Swift had a 4.21 ERA in 51.1 innings during that final season. He was traded to the minors after the 1943 season, but never played again.
Swift finished his time in Pittsburgh with 91 wins, which ranks 21st in team history to this day. His 1,555 innings ranks him 17th in team history. No pitcher on the Pirates since his outstanding 1932 season, has posted a lower walk rate over a full season than Swift, who walked 1.09 batters per nine innings that year . He was a decent hitting pitcher throughout his career, with his best season coming in 1936 when he hit .295 with 15 RBIs. His first career homer came on June 17, 1936 off Max Butcher, who would go on to pitch seven seasons in Pittsburgh. In 1935, Swift went the entire season without committing a fielding error. His final career record in 11 seasons was 95-82, 3.58 in 1,637.2 innings, with 165 starts and 171 relief appearances.
Dusty Brown, catcher for the 2011 Pirates. He was a 35th round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in the 2000 out of high school shortly before his 18th birthday. He ended up being a draft-and-follow signing, joining the Red Sox in May of 2001 right before the signing deadline. He went to the Gulf Coast League his first season and hit .254 with no homers in 36 games. Brown repeated the level in 2001, doing much better the second time, which earned him a late promotion to the New York-Penn League. He hit .308 that season in 66 games. He would see more time in the outfield than behind the plate in 2002, the only season that happened during his career. He batted .263 with 17 doubles and two homers in 87 games. Brown moved up to High-A in 2004, though he was limited to 38 games and struggled with a .229 average in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. He batted .253 in 62 games in 2005 at High-A, while hitting eight homers, which was double what he hit in his first four seasons combined. Brown spent 2006 in Double-A with Portland of the Eastern League, where he batted .224 with 17 doubles and five homers. He went to the Arizona Fall League after the season and hit .239 in 20 games. In 2007, he spent most of the year in Double-A and went back to the AFL again, after a brief stint in Triple-A. He hit .260 with 18 doubles and nine homers during the season and .273 in 15 games in the fall. The 2008 season was spent in Triple-A and he did well, batting .290 with 12 homers and 55 RBIs in 84 games, though he followed that up by batting .220 in 42 games in the Dominican winter league.
It took nine seasons in the Boston system before he finally got his first shot at the majors in June of 2009. It was a short-lived first cup of coffee, as he caught the ninth inning of a blowout loss before being sent back to the minors after just four days. Brown came back in September, going 1-for-3 in six games, with his first Major League hit being a home run. He got two more brief call-ups with the Red Sox during the 2010 season, getting into seven games. He was granted free agency after the season and signed with the Pirates a month later. He played 54 games for Indianapolis in 2011, hitting .285 with 28 RBIs. He was called up to the Pirates at the end of May, playing 11 games over three weeks. At the plate, he went 3-for-28 (.107) with three singles and two runs scored. He became a free agent at the end of the year, signing with the Texas Rangers. He played pro ball until 2014 without making it back to the majors. After playing for the Rangers in 2012, he only played winter ball in 2013, then split the next season in the minors between the Oakland A’s and Cleveland Indians.
Willis Roberts, pitcher for the 2004 Pirates. He originally signed with the Detroit Tigers as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic. After spending his first season in the Dominican Summer League in 1992, he played the next two years with Bristol of the Appalachian League. Roberts had a 1.38 ERA his first year, then he was limited to just four starts in 1994. In 1995, he made the jump to Low-A ball and had a 2.70 ERA in 80 innings. He moved up to the pitcher-friendly Florida State League in 1996, where he went 9-7, 2.89 in 149.1 innings. Roberts went to Double-A in 1997 and hit a major roadblock. He had a 6-15, 6.28 record in 149 innings over 26 starts. That caused him to move to relief in 1998 and the change paid off. He had a 2.19 ERA in Double-A and spent more than half of the year in Triple-A, where he posted a 4.61 ERA in 54.2 innings over 39 appearances. Roberts did not fare well in Triple-A in 1999, going 5-8, 6.26 in 92 innings over 12 starts and 19 relief appearances. It was a rough year, but it had one major highlight. It took seven years for him to make the majors, and in his only appearance with Detroit, which occurred on July 2, 1999, Roberts gave up four runs in 1.1 innings.
Roberts was released by the Tigers in early 2000, then signed with the Cincinnati Reds and spent the entire season in the minors. After being released again, he signed with the Baltimore Orioles and made their 2001 Opening Day roster. After playing just one Major League game over his first nine seasons, Roberts spent three full years in the majors with the Orioles. He would pitch a total of 138 games, with 18 starts (all coming in 2001) and a record of 17-15, 4.57 in 246.1 innings. His best work came in 2002 when he had a 3.66 ERA in 75 innings over 66 outings. The next year he had a 5.72 ERA in 26 appearances. He became a free agent after the 2003 season and signed with the Pirates in January of 2004. Roberts began the year in Triple-A, going 6-3, 5.87 in 35 relief appearances before being called up in July. For the Pirates, he would make nine appearances out of the bullpen, giving up seven runs in 12 innings of work. He didn’t allow a run during his first six outings, then gave up six runs during a blowout loss to the San Diego Padres. Shortly after his last game for the Pirates in mid-August, he was released. Willis pitched the next two years in the Mexican League before retiring. His big league career totals show a 17-15, 4.64 record in 259.2 innings.
Doug Mientkiewicz, first baseman for the 2008 Pirates. He was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 12th round of the 1992 draft out of Westminster Christian School in Miami, Florida, the same school that produced Alex Rodriguez the next year. Mientkiewicz decided to attend Florida State, where he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round in 1995 and spent seven seasons in Minnesota at first base to begin his Major League career. He debuted in High-A in 1995, then ended up spending the entire 1996 season there as well. In a pitcher-friendly league (Florida State League), Mientkiewicz hit .291 with 36 doubles, 79 RBIs and 66 walks. The next year he played in Double-A for New Britain of the Eastern League, where his average dropped to .255, but he drew 98 walks. He hit 15 homers and stole 21 bases. He repeated Double-A in 1998, hitting .323 with 16 homers, 88 RBIs and 96 walks in 139 games. Mientkiewicz was called up by the Twins in September and he batted .200 in eight games. He spent 1999 in Minnesota, batting .229 with two homers in 118 games. Mientkiewicz played just three games for the Twins in 2000. The rest of the year was spent in the high-offense environment of Salt Lake City of the Pacific Coast League (Triple-A), where he hit .334 with 18 homers, 96 RBIs and 96 runs scored. Back with the Twins in 2001, he hit .306 with 39 doubles, 15 homers, 74 RBIs and 67 walks in 151 games. His numbers dropped off a bit in 2002, down to a .261 average with 29 doubles, ten homers and 74 walks in 143 games.
Mientkiewicz bounced back in 2003 with a .300 average, 74 walks, 38 doubles and 11 homers. He was sent to the Boston Red Sox at the 2004 trading deadline, where he helped them to their first World Series title since 1918. At the time of the deal, he was hitting just .246 with five homers in 78 games. In seven seasons with the Twins, Mientkiewicz hit .275 with 43 homers, 266 RBIs and 273 runs scored over 643 games. He didn’t do any better in Boston, but they still won it all. He batted .215 with one homer in 49 games, then went 4-for-9 in 11 playoff games. Mientkiewicz would spend the next five years jumping from team to team each season. He spent 2005 with the New York Mets, batting .240 with 11 homers in 87 games. He spent 2006 with the Kansas City Royals, where he hit .283 with 43 RBIs in 91 games. The 2007 season was with the New York Yankees, where he had a .789 OPS in 72 games. He was with with the Pirates for one season in 2008 and he became more of a utility player than in the past. He played 33 games at third base and ten games in right field, two positions he had played a combined total of four times during his first 11 seasons. Mientkiewicz hit .277 with 30 RBIs in 125 games for the Pirates. He was used 53 times as a pinch-hitter that year, excelling in the role with a .326 average and seven RBIs. He finished his career with 20 games as a bench player for the 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers. In his career, Mientkiewicz batted .271 in 1,087 games, with 405 RBIs and 422 runs scored. He had a career .996 fielding percentage at first base, the seventh highest percentage all-time.
Butch Davis, outfielder for the 1987 Pirates. He was originally a 12th round pick of the Kansas City Royals in 1980 out of East Carolina University, one of just 16 Major Leaguers to attend that school. One of the other players from that school was his teammate on that 1987 Pirates team (Bob Patterson), although they were only in Triple-A at the same time during the season. He spent his first season in pro ball in the Gulf Coast League, where he hit .315 and stole 31 bases in 61 games. That led to him being skipped to the Florida State League and he handled the jump well, hitting .300 with 40 extra-base hits, 44 steals and 70 RBIs. He was in Double-A in 1982, where he batted .256 with ten homers and 17 steals in 122 games. The 1983 season started in Double-A, but he worked his way through Triple-A and to the majors with the Royals, hitting .344 with 18 RBIs in 33 games. That led to him making the 1984 Opening Day roster. That year he got sent down in early May for six weeks, then lasted just over a month his second trial later in the year. He was not recalled in September. He finished with a .147 average in 41 games with the Royals. Davis struggled a bit in Triple-A in 1985, hitting .263 in 109 games. At the end of Spring Training of 1986, he broke his right fibula, causing him to miss the entire year. He was released by the Royals in October of 1986 and signed with the Pirates two months later.
Davis spent most of that 1987 season playing for Vancouver in Triple-A, where he batted .271 with 57 RBIs and 22 stolen bases in 111 games. Davis was called up to the Pirates for three weeks in June, going 1-for-7 at the plate with three runs scored. He was granted free agency following the season and signed with the Baltimore Orioles. From 1988 until 1994, he spent parts of five seasons in the majors, playing for three different teams. He spent 13 games with Baltimore in 1988, then saw just six games in 1989. All of 1990 was spent in Triple-A with the Los Angeles Dodgers, as was a large majority of the 1991 season. He played just one big league game that year. The 1992 season was spent all in Triple-A, where he saw one game with the San Diego Padres and 134 with the Toronto Blue Jays. After barely playing in the majors over the previous eight seasons, Davis only played in the majors in 1993, hitting .245 with three homers and 20 RBIs for the Texas Rangers. He played four games for Texas in 1994 and spent the rest of the year in Triple-A, in what ended up being his final season of pro ball. Davis played a total of 166 Major League games over eight seasons, batting .243 with 50 RBIs. Since retiring, he has been a manager, coach and instructor in the Baltimore Orioles system.
Johnnie LeMaster, shortstop for the 1985 Pirates. He was drafted in the first round by the Giants in 1973 out of high school in Kentucky, and he would end up spending 11 seasons in a San Francisco uniform. He made it through the minors fairly quickly and debuted in the majors not too long after his 21st birthday. LeMaster started in short-season ball and didn’t exactly do great, hitting .244 with 19 steals in 70 games in 1973. He split the 1974 seasons between two levels of A-Ball, combining to hit .263 with 17 doubles and 30 steals in 125 games. He skipped over Double-A in 1975, though he ended up seeing Triple-A time during each of the 1975-77 seasons. LeMaster hit .189 in 22 games during his first cup of coffee in the majors. In 1976, he batted .210 in 33 games for the Giants, though his OPS was 62 points lower than his 1975 total, despite the higher average. In 1977, he batted just .148 in 68 games. He finally stuck in the majors in 1978 when he hit .235 with one homer in 101 games. LeMaster set a career best with his .254 average in 1979. He played 108 games and tied for his best OPS (.627), which was set during the previous season.
LeMaster batted .215 with 31 RBIs in 135 games in 1980. During the strike-shortened 1981 season, he hit .253 with 28 RBIs in 104 games. He hit .216 in 130 games in 1982, then batted .240 with a career high of six homers in 1983. That year he also set career highs with 141 games played, 128 hits and 81 runs scored. After stealing 37 bases through his first eight seasons, LeMaster stole a career high 39 bases in 1983. He finished his career with just 94 steals. In 1984 he played 132 games, hitting .217 with 17 steals in 132 games. In 1985, he played 12 games for the Giants, going 0-for-16, before they dealt him to the Cleveland Indians in early May. LeMaster played 986 games for the Giants, staying in the lineup due to his solid defense and not his bat obviously. He was a .225 hitters with 21 homers, never batting higher than .254 or slugging more than .335 in a season. Cleveland held on to him for only 11 games before trading him to the Pirates at the end of May for pitcher Scott Bailes. For Pittsburgh, LeMaster played 22 games, hitting .155 with six RBIs. He was injured in June running out an infield hit, spraining his ankle. While rehabbing, he required minor knee surgery due to fluid buildup and missed nearly the entire rest of the season. LeMaster was released by the Pirates at the end of Spring Training in 1986, then signed with the Montreal Expos two months later, although he lasted just a month in the minors before being released again. He finished his career in 1987, hitting .083 in 20 games for the Oakland A’s. He had the dubious distinction of playing for three teams in 1985 that lost 100+ games. He played 992 career games at shortstop and just 68 innings at other positions, with almost all of that time coming during his final year with A’s.
Fernando Gonzalez, third baseman for the 1972-73 and 1977-78 Pirates. He was originally signed by the Seattle Pilots at 18 years old out of Puerto Rico before the franchise played their first game. Gonzalez was released in April of 1970 after playing just 88 games in A-Ball during his only season with the team. He was out of baseball for all of 1970, then signed with the Pirates in January of 1971. He hit .308 in the Carolina League during his first year with the Pirates, then followed it up with a big season playing for Sherwood of the Eastern League (Double-A). In that 1972 season, Gonzalez batted .333 with 42 doubles and 86 RBIs, earning a September call-up. He played three games and struck out in both of his plate appearances. He made the Pirates Opening Day roster in 1973 and he was used mainly in a pinch-hitting role. He was with the team until early July, before going to Triple-A until he was recalled in September. He played 37 games that year, the last 24 were off the bench, hitting .224 in 49 at-bats. He made four starts at third base during the first two months, his only starts during his first stint with the Pirates. On December 4, 1973 he was traded to the Kansas City Royals as part of a five-player deal that included Nelson Briles going to the Royals.
Gonzalez played nine games in Kansas City in 1974 before being sold to the New York Yankees. Ten months later, he was released during Spring Training. He hit .204 with a .523 OPS in 60 games in 1974. After being released, he went to the Mexican League to play. The Pirates re-signed him in July of 1975 and he spent the rest of that year, and all of 1976 in the minors. He made the 1977 Pirates Opening Day roster, spending the first half of the year in a limited bench role. Gonzalez began to play regularly in August, finishing the year with a .276 average and 27 RBIs in 80 games. He played nine games for the 1978 Pirates before being put on waivers, where he was picked up by the San Diego Padres. Gonzalez spent two season in San Diego, seeing regular time at second base, where he hit .233 with 11 homers and 63 RBIs in 215 games. He batted .250 in 101 games after joining the Padres in 1978, then hit .217 in 114 games in 1979, which was his final season in the majors. He finished his playing career back in the Mexican League, remaining in baseball until 1984, with a brief stint in Double-A for the Yankees during his final season. For the Pirates, he was a .257 hitter in 129 games, with five homers and 32 RBIs. Gonzalez 404 big league games over six seasons, hitting .235 with 17 homers and 104 RBIs. A large majority of his playing time in the majors was spent at second base, but he also played third base, shortstop and both corner outfield spots.
Don Gutteridge, pinch-hitter for the 1948 Pirates. He spent the first nine years of his Major League career playing in St Louis, five years for the Cardinals, followed by four years with the Browns. During that time, Gutteridge played a total of 1,071 games, hitting .259 with 380 RBIs and 558 runs scored. His pro career began with two seasons of Class-D ball and he did well, hitting .325 and .360 during the 1932-33 seasons for Lincoln of the Nebraska State League. He moved up to Houston of the Texas League (Class-A) in 1934, where he hit .272 with 35 extra-base hits in 149 games. Gutteridge moved up one more level to Columbus of the American Association in 1935, hitting .291 with 34 doubles in 121 games. He remained with Columbus in 1936 and hit .298 with 51 extra-base hits in 147 games. He joined the Cardinals in September and played every day, hitting .319 with 11 extra-base hits and 16 RBIs in 23 games. That earned him a regular spot in 1937, where he spent most of his time at third base. In 119 games, he hit .271 with 26 doubles, ten triples, seven homers and 61 RBIs. In 1938, Gutteridge split the season between third base and shortstop, hitting .255 with 45 extra-base hits in 142 games. He was the everyday third baseman in 1939, hitting .269 with seven homers and 54 RBIs in 148 games. While his .699 OPS in 1940 was typical of his production, he became a bench player that season and played just 69 games.
Gutteridge was sent to the minors for the entire 1941 season after his five years with the Cardinals. He returned to the majors in 1942, playing well enough at second base for the Browns to finish in the top 20 in MVP votes during each of his first three seasons. He batted .255 in 147 games in 1942, while drawing 59 walks. That walk total was more than his two previous best seasons combined with the Cardinals. He batted .273 with 35 doubles, 73 runs scored and 50 walks in 132 games in 1943. In the 52-year history of the St Louis Browns in the American League (they’re now the Baltimore Orioles), they made the World Series just once. That was in 1944 and Gutteridge hit .245 with 20 steals, 41 extra-base hits and 89 runs scored. He hit .143 in the World Series, which was lost to the crosstown rivals (they actually played in the same stadium), the Cardinals. He saw his average drop to .238 in 143 games in 1945, which temporarily put him out of a big league job.
Gutteridge began the 1946 season in the minors, before the Boston Red Sox purchased him from the Browns in early July. He spent two seasons in Boston, hitting .185 in 76 games, with most of that time coming as a backup infielder in 1947. During Spring Training in 1948, the Pirates purchased his contract and he made the Opening Day roster. He was used twice as a pinch-runner and twice as a pinch-hitter, striking out in both at-bats, before being sent back to the minors a month into the season. He played in the Pirates farm system for three more seasons before retiring after the 1950 season. Gutteridge managed the Pirates Triple-A team in 1951, then moved on to other coaching and managing jobs, including two years at the helm of the Chicago White Sox. He remained in baseball until 1992 as a scout. He was the cousin of Pirates catcher Ray Mueller. Gutteridge played 1,151 games over 12 seasons in the majors, hitting .256 with 200 doubles, 39 homers, 391 RBIs and 586 runs scored.
Harry Daubert, pinch-hitter for the Pirates on September 4, 1915. He was a light-hitting shortstop in the minors, who got just one pinch-hit at-bat during his Major League career. On September 4, 1915, the Pirates were down 5-2 in the ninth inning of the first game of a doubleheader at Forbes Field. With pitcher Herb Kelly due up, manager Fred Clarke went to his third pinch-hitter of the game, calling on Daubert to make his Major League debut. Facing Hippo Vaughn that day, winner of 21 games in 1914 and 20 more in 1915, Daubert went back to the bench with his first career strikeout, ending the game. That would end up being his entire Major League career. He spent the 1915 season in the minors, splitting the season between Charleston of the Ohio State League and Rocky Mount of the Virginia League, hitting a combined .240 in 103 games, which ended up being his highest single season average in the minors. The Pirates purchased his contract on August 7, 1915 and he reported to the team after his minor league season ended, just in time for his first and only official game. He started at shortstop on September 9th in an exhibition game against the Chicago White Sox and he went 0-for-2 with five plays handled in the field before being pinch-hit for in the sixth inning. A finger injury he suffered during practice caused him to be sent home on September 19th, two weeks before the season ended. On November 28, 1915, it was announced that he was released back to the minors, ending his time in Pittsburgh. He played minor league ball until 1917 before retiring, ending a seven-year pro career. His career began at 19 years old in 1912, playing in the Class-D Ohio State League for the Lima Cigarmakers, where he hit .211 in 127 games. Daubert would end up playing for five different teams in the Ohio State League before his career was over. He had the nickname “Demon Jake” in the minors, where he was said to have a strong arm and the local papers said he was one of the best fielders to ever play in the Ohio State League. When he was signed, there were claims that he was the brother of Jake Daubert, a star outfielder for Brooklyn at the time, but it wasn’t until after he left to go home for the winter that the local papers let the fans know that they weren’t related at all.
