Six former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, plus a manager to mention. Starting with the most recent first and working our way back.
Ian Snell, pitcher for the 2004-09 Pirates. The Pirates drafted him out of high school in 2000, selecting him in the 23rd round. He went by the last name Oquendo (his father’s last name) during the first few years of his pro career before switching it to Snell (his mother’s last name). He pitched just 7.2 innings in the Gulf Coast League in 2000, allowing two runs while striking out eight batters. Playing at two levels of short-season ball in 2001 (GCL and Williamsport of the New York-Penn League), he went 10-0, 1.18 in 83.2 innings, with 69 strikeouts and an 0.98 WHIP. Snell spent the entire 2002 season with Low-A Hickory of the South Atlantic League, where he posted an 11-6, 2.71 record in 139.2 innings over 24 games (22 starts), with 149 strikeouts and a 1.23 WHIP. He then went 14-3, 3.00, with 145 strikeouts in 153 innings in 2003, splitting his season between High-A Lynchburg of the Carolina League (20 starts) and Double-A Altoona of the Eastern League (six starts), with better stats after the promotion. Snell spent the 2004 minor league season in Altoona, where he had an 11-7, 3.16 record in 26 starts, with 142 strikeouts and a 1.24 WHIP in 151 innings pitched. He debuted in the majors on August 20, 2004, though he still made 18 starts at Triple-A in 2005 before sticking in the majors. He had a 7.50 ERA over 12 innings in his brief trial in 2004, making one start and two relief appearances. He went 11-3, 3.70 in 18 starts at Indianapolis of the Triple-A International League in 2005, with 104 strikeouts in 112 innings. Snell joined the Pirates as a reliever in late June, and remained in that role until mid-August. After returning to the minors for a month, he returned in mid-September to make three starts. He finished that season with a 5.14 ERA in 42 innings over 15 appearances for the Pirates.
Snell spent the entire 2006 season in the majors, going 14-11, 4.74 with 169 strikeouts in 186 innings over 32 starts. His best year in the majors was 2007, though it didn’t show in his record, mostly due to the fact that the Pirates finished with a 68-94 record. He had a 9-12, 3.76 record in 32 starts, setting career highs with 208 innings and 177 strikeouts. He had a dramatic drop-off in production in 2008, going 7-12, 5.42 in 164.1 innings over 31 starts. He allowed 201 hits and issued a career high 89 walks, while picking up 135 strikeouts. Things didn’t get any better in 2009 when he started the season 2-8, 5.36 in 80.2 innings over 15 starts. The Pirates optioned him to Indianapolis in late June of 2009, where he struck out 17 batters in his first start. The Pirates sent him to the Seattle Mariners at the 2009 trade deadline, along with veteran shortstop Jack Wilson, in exchange for five players.
Snell went 33-46, 4.75 in 693 innings over 116 starts and 12 relief appearances in his six seasons with the Pirates. He had a 4.20 ERA in 64.1 innings over 12 starts after the trade for the 2009 Mariners, but he had 39 walks and 37 strikeouts. He then went 0-5, 6.41 in 46.1 innings in 2010, before spending the second half of the season in Triple-A Tacoma of the Pacific Coast League, where he went 3-4, 6.66 in 48.2 innings over nine starts. He became a free agent after the season and signed a deal with the St Louis Cardinals in January of 2011, but they released him three months later without pitching a regular season game. Instead, he pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Triple-A during the 2011 season, where he had an 11.05 ERA in 22 innings for Albuquerque of the Pacific Coast League. After not playing in 2012, he pitched 50 games as a reliever in independent ball in 2013, posting a 4.56 ERA in 51.1 innings for Long Island of the Atlantic League. He then finished out his pro career by playing winter ball in Puerto Rico during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 off-seasons. Snell had a 60-21 win/loss record during his time in the minors with the Pirates.
Houston Jimenez, infielder for the 1987 Pirates. He played parts of four seasons in the majors, though 108 of his 158 games came with the 1984 Minnesota Twins. Jimenez began his pro baseball career at 16 years old in Mexico in 1974. He played in the Mexican League that year, which was considered to be on the same level as Triple-A baseball, just not affiliated with any big league teams. He batted .212 in 20 games with Puebla during that first year. At 17 years old in 1975, he played for the Chicago Cubs affiliate in the Florida State League, where he hit .215 with 63 runs, 24 extra-base hits, 34 RBIs, 105 walks and a .655 OPS in 132 games for Key West. The next five years were spent back with Puebla, with one brief stint back in the Cubs system in 1978 for 13 games with Triple-A Iowa of the American Association. Jimenez batted .230 in 131 games in 1976, with 51 runs, 20 extra-base hits, 42 RBIs and a .619 OPS. In 1977, he hit .303 in 145 games, with 66 runs, 29 extra-base hits, 56 RBIs and a .726 OPS. He batted .268 in 142 games for Puebla in 1978, with 74 runs, 25 extra-base hits, 26 steals and a .646 OPS. He had a .557 OPS in his brief time with Iowa. There are no stats available from his time with Puebla in 1979.
Jimenez was signed by the Minnesota Twins in 1980, though he didn’t debut in their system until 1982. He batted .244/.305/.295 in 75 games for Puebla in 1980. He had no stats listed for the 1981 season, but on April 1, 1981, he was sold to a team in the Mexican League, where the Twins purchased him back from in July of 1982. It took just a brief time in the minors with the Twins before he made his big league debut at 25 years old. Jimenez hit .226/.303/.252 in 37 games for Toledo of the Triple-A International League in 1982, then batted .250/.368/.438 with three homers and six RBIs in 22 games at Toledo in 1983. He made his Major League debut on June 13, 1983, and batted .174/.207/.256 in 36 games with the Twins that season, seeing all of his time at shortstop. The scouting report on Jimenez said that he was a great fielder, but the bat lagged behind. He said shortly after joining the Twins that the umpires in Mexico had a very inconsistent strike zone, so he went from a patient hitter (those 105 walks in 1975 at 17 years old), to someone who swung at everything. In his own words, once he got used to the strike zone in the U.S., he thought he would be a .250 hitter in the majors. The 1984 season was the only full year in the majors for Jimenez. He played 108 games that year and made 101 starts at shortstop. He had a rough time at the plate, batting .201 with 28 runs, 11 doubles, no homers, 19 RBIs, 15 walks and a .483 OPS.
Jimenez spent the entire 1985 season back in Toledo, with just a slight improvement in his stats over his big league time. He hit .223 in 113 games, with 47 runs, 15 doubles, three homers, 25 RBIs, 12 steals and a .573 OPS. He was released by the Twins in April of 1986 and went back to Mexico (no stats are available from 1986), before joining the Pirates on January 20, 1987 as a minor league free agent with an invite to Spring Training. His playing time in Pittsburgh was very limited, though he stayed with the team from May 4th until May 31st. When he was called up to replace infielder Denny Gonzalez, who was being sent to Triple-A, Jimenez had a .209 average in Triple-A with Vancouver of the Pacific Coast League. He played just five games with the Pirates as the backup to Rafael Belliard, going 0-for-6 with a walk, while starting once at shortstop. He went back to Vancouver to finish the year and was released after hitting .237/.311/.290 in 47 minor league games that season. He played briefly for the Cleveland Indians in 1988, going 1-for-21 at the plate in nine games, in what ended up being his last year in the majors. He also .753 OPS in 22 games with Colorado Springs of the Pacific Coast League during his time with the Indians. Jimenez played pro ball in Mexico until 2001, including time as a player-manager during the 1999-2001 seasons. He managed for 12 seasons in Mexico and was still active in that role as late as 2018. Only his 1999 stats are available during that entire time after leaving Cleveland until his retirement as a player. He batted .299 in 108 games that season, 45 runs, 52 RBIs and a .769 OPS. His final big league stats show a .185 average in 158 games, with 34 runs, 16 doubles, no homers and 29 RBIs. His real first name is Alfonso, but he preferred “Houston”, a nickname given to him because he watched a lot of westerns (movies) when he first arrived in the U.S. He was one of 17 children in his family.
Lee Tunnell, pitcher for the 1982-85 Pirates. He was a second round draft pick in 1981 out of Baylor University, who made it to the majors just 15 months later, debuting with the Pirates on September 4, 1982. He made one start in the Gulf Coast League to begin his career and he threw four no-hit innings. He then jumped to Double-A with Buffalo of the Eastern League, where he had a 4.44 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP in 71 innings over 12 starts to finish the season. He spent his first full season of pro ball in Triple-A in 1982, going 12-9, 3.46, with 112 strikeouts in 189.2 innings, with nine complete games and two shutouts for Portland of the Pacific Coast League. The Pirates called him up when rosters expanded in September and he made three starts and two relief appearances, posting a 3.93 ERA in 18.1 innings, though he struck out just four batters. Tunnell won an Opening Day job in 1983, and he went 11-6, 3.65 in 177.2 innings over 25 starts and ten relief appearances. He threw five complete games, two shutouts and his 95 strikeouts were his career high. He finished ninth in the Rookie of the Year voting. That would end up being his best season by far in the majors.
Tunnell struggled as a starter in 1984 and was moved to the bullpen for most of the season. He finished 1-7, 5.27 in 68.1 innings over six starts and 20 relief appearances. He missed time in July due to a sore shoulder, while a slow start and rain outs led to him pitching just two games in May. Tunnell returned to starting in 1985, where he went 4-10, 4.01 in 132.1 innings over 24 games (23 starts). He saw some Triple-A time early in the season with Hawaii of the Pacific Coast League, where he had a 2.31 ERA in 46.2 innings over seven starts, which led to him returning to the majors. He spent all of 1986 in Hawaii, where he posted a 4-11, 6.01 record in 142.1 innings over 26 starts and one relief outing. The Pirates released him after the season, though he was eventually re-signed with Pittsburgh, and was then sold to the St Louis Cardinals on April 6, 1987. Tunnell finished 17-24, 4.06 in 396.2 innings over 57 starts and 33 relief appearances for the Pirates in four seasons. His only other big league experience was with the 1987 Cardinals and a brief stop with the 1989 Minnesota Twins.
Tunnell went 4-4, 4.84 in 74.1 innings over nine starts and 23 relief appearances during his season with the Cardinals, while also making seven starts in the minors. He spent all of 1988 as a starter in Triple-A for St Louis, going 6-8, 3.86 in 135.1 innings with Louisville of the American Association. He signed a free agent deal with the Twins in February of 1989. His final big league season amounted to a 6.00 ERA in ten relief appearances for the Twins. The rest of the year was spent with Portland of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, where he had a 2-4, 2.71 record in five starts and 20 relief appearances, finishing with 58 strikeouts in 66.1 innings. Despite pitching his last big league game in June of 1989, he was active in pro ball until 1995. Tunnell for the Houston Astros in Triple-A during the 1990-91 seasons, splitting his time between starting and reliever for Tuscon of the PCL. He went 6-7, 4.78 in 124.1 innings in 1990, followed by a 5-3, 3.84 record in 72.2 innings in 1991. Tunnell spent 2 1/2 seasons pitching in Japan (1991-93) for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. He had a 6-2, 3.19 record in 90.1 innings in 1991, then dropped to a 2-9, 6.70 record in 90 innings in 1992. Despite those results, he returned for 1993 and had a 2-8, 4.82 record in 74.2 innings, with 28 strikeouts. He returned to the U.S. in 1994 and played in the minors for the Colorado Rockies during his first season back. He had a 1.86 ERA in 29 innings with New Haven of the Double-A Eastern League, and he gave up 14 runs in 10.1 innings with Colorado Springs of the PCL. Tunnell finished up his career in Triple-A with the Detroit Tigers, posting a 3.14 ERA in 14.1 innings with Toledo of the International League. His final career stats in six seasons show a 22-28, 4.23 record in 483 innings, with 66 starts and 66 relief appearances. His first name is Byron, but he went by his middle name.
Bobby Bragan, manager for the 1956-57 Pirates. He had a 102-155 record at the helm of the Pirates before being replaced mid-season in 1957 by Danny Murtaugh. Bragan managed a total of seven seasons in the majors and also had a seven-year career as a player, while missing two years due to WWII. His played three seasons in the minors (1937-39) before debuting in the majors with the 1940 Philadelphia Phillies at 22 years old. After three seasons in Philadelphia and two with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Bragan missed the 1945-46 seasons during the war. He returned to the Dodgers in 1947 and played a total of 34 games over his last two seasons in the majors. He topped 100+ games played each season in Philadelphia, then never reached that number with the Dodgers. Bragan debuted in pro ball with Panama City of the Class-D Alabama-Florida League in 1937, where he hit .285 with 33 extra-base hits in 117 games. He moved just down the road to Pensacola of the Class-B Southeastern League for the 1938-39 seasons and did well at the plate. He hit .298 with 31 extra-base hits in 137 games in 1938, followed by a .311 average, 29 doubles, ten triples and 12 homers in 137 games in 1939. As a rookie with the 1940 Phillies, he hit .222 in 132 games, with 36 runs, 14 doubles, seven homers and 44 RBIs. He played a career high 154 games in 1941, missing just one game all year. He batted .251 that season, with career highs of 37 runs scored, 19 doubles and 69 RBIs. His playing time dropped to 109 games in 1942, due in part to a .218 average and a .548 OPS.
Bragan was traded to the Dodgers in March of 1943 and he hit .264 in his first year with Brooklyn, while setting a career best with his .652 OPS. He batted .267/.304/.327 in 1944. Despite the solid batting average each year, he had a total of 486 at-bats over the 1943-44 seasons, playing 74 games in 1943 and 94 in 1944. While most of his defensive time in the majors was at shortstop, his primary position in 1943 was catcher. He batted .188 in his final 34 games after his return from the service and only played catcher during that time, though much of his work came off of the bench. He finished out 1948 in the minors and played pro ball full-time until 1955. He had a brief return in the minors in 1959. He began managing in 1948 during his return to the minors. and he was a player/manager for four seasons (five if you count his brief return in 1959). Bragan batted .240 in 597 games over seven seasons, with 136 runs, 62 doubles, 12 triples, 15 homers and 172 RBIs. He ended up catching 107 games total, while playing 415 games at shortstop. He saw action at third base in five of his seven seasons, but he played just 24 games total at the position.
The Pirates under Branch Rickey (who was in Brooklyn with Bragan), hired Bragan to manage their minor league affiliate in Hollywood of the Pacific Coast League in 1953. After three season at the helm in the minors, he moved up to the majors for the 1956 season. He went 66-88 in his first year with the club, then was let go after the team started 36-67 in 1957. Danny Murtaugh was his coach at the time and took took over the managerial role, leading the team to a 26-25 finish over the rest of the season. Bragan led the Cleveland Indians to a 31-37 record during the first half of the 1958 season. He then had three straight winning season with the Milwaukee Braves (1963-65) and he was their manager during their first season in Atlanta before being let go mid-season with a 52-59 record. In 1963, he led the Braves to an 84-78 record, which was only good enough for a sixth place finish. He improved to 88-74 in 1964, yet they still finished in fifth place. That was one of the closest pennant races ever and the fifth place Braves weren’t officially eliminated until their 155th game of the season. The overall record as far as the pennant race is a bit misleading, as they went 13-2 to finish the season, so they were teetering on being eliminated for nine days before it finally happened. The Braves finished 86-76 in 1965 and that season was the opposite of the 1964 finish, with the Braves just 1.5 games out on September 6th, before finishing 11 games out of first. Bragan finished with a career 443-478 record in seven seasons as a manager.
Tony Ordenana, shortstop for the 1943 Pirates. He was a Cuban-born player who played 11 seasons of pro ball, though just one of those games came while in the majors. On October 3, 1943, in the final game of the season for the Pirates, he went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs, then never played in the majors again. He was with the Pirates for Spring Training in 1944 and even made the team, though on May 5th he was released outright to Portsmouth of the Class-B Piedmont League without getting into a game. Ordenana was purchased by the Pirates on September 7, 1943. He was recommended by scout Carlton Molesworth, which led the Pirates field director Bob Rice to go see him for himself and sign him. The scouting reports were mostly about his speed and defense, with a comparison to Pie Traynor mentioned, which was clearly a stretch, but the Pirates also got Traynor from Portsmouth, so there was a natural connection. He joined the Pirates from Portsmouth on September 21, 1943 and was called the Havana Antelope due to his speed and defense at shortstop. The Pirates had him working with Honus Wagner, who was a coach with the team at that time. It was noted at the time that manager Frankie Frisch wanted to use Ordenana, but the Pirates were playing for second place and that was no time to throw in a rookie. A second place finish back then came with a bonus for the players, with the money coming out of the World Series splits.
Ordenana debuted in pro ball at 23 years old in 1942, playing a total of 27 games, putting up a .200 average and three extra-base hits, with his time split between Columbus of the Class-B South Atlantic League and Burlington of the Class-D Bi-State League. With Portsmouth in 1943, he batted .250 with 80 runs, 17 doubles, six triples, 46 RBIs, 30 steals and a .617 OPS in 125 games. After being let go by the Pirates, he ended up with Toronto of the Double-A International League (highest level of the minors at the time), where he hit .229 in 132 games, with 42 runs, eight extra-base hits, 45 RBIs and a .535 OPS. He moved down a level in 1945 to Atlanta of the Class-A Southern Association, where he put up a .303 average, 59 runs and 54 RBIs in 108 games. From there, he went to Mexico for part of 1945 and all of 1946 (no stats available), then rejoined Atlanta for the 1947 season, where he hit just .206/.223/.217 in 54 games. He dropped down in action in 1948, this time going back to Portsmouth for the season, where he hit .243 in 138 games, with 48 runs, 13 extra-base hits and 59 RBIs. Over the next three seasons, Ordenana played for seven teams in six different leagues, playing every level from Class-D to Class-A.
Ordenana spent most of the 1949 season with Concord of the Class-D North Carolina State League, where he hit .292 in 91 games, with 48 runs, 43 RBIs and a .680 OPS. He also saw some time with Sherman-Denison of the Class-B Big State League. The 1950 season was split between Jacksonville of the Class-A South Atlantic League and Havana of the Class-B Florida International League. He combined to hit .203 in 46 games that season. Ordenana played for Tyler of the Big State League, Galveston of the Class-B Gulf Coast League and Greenville of the Class-C Cotton States League in 1951, seeing brief time with all three clubs. He returned to pro ball briefly in 1954 to play for Morristown of the Class-C Mountain States League. While there are a small amount of stats from the lower levels missing from his career, he doesn’t have a single home run to his credit in 758 games of pro ball. His most common nickname was Mosquito, and he was just 5’9″, 158 pounds.
Lefty Wilkie, pitcher for the 1941-42 and 1946 Pirates. He spent his entire big league career with the Pirates, missing the 1943-45 seasons due to service in WWII. Wilkie went 8-11, 4.59 in 194 innings for the Pirates, with most of those stats coming before he missed time. He gave up nine runs over seven outings and 7.2 innings after returning from WWII, then spent the next 5 1/2 seasons in the minors. He debuted in pro ball at 22 years old in 1937, playing for Tacoma of the Class-B Western International League, where he went 15-13, 3.91 in 237 innings, with 213 strikeouts. He moved up to the highest level of the minors at the time in 1938, playing for San Francisco of the Double-A Pacific Coast League, where he went 1-8, 3.93 in 110 innings, working mostly in relief. Wilkie saw less time in 1939 in a similar role with San Francisco, going 3-1, 6.32 in 57 innings. He pitched four games in 1940 for Oklahoma City of the Class-A Texas League, while spending the rest of the year with Seattle of the Pacific Coast League, where he went 13-5, 2.69 in 144 innings over 19 starts and nine relief outings. The Pirates acquired Wilkie from Seattle on August 28, 1940 for one future player and “a sum of money” that was in the five-figure range. He remained with the Seattle club to finish the season, then joined the Pirates during the following Spring Training.
The Pirates used Wilkie mostly in relief during his first two seasons, giving him six starts each year. He went 2-4, 4.56 in 79 innings over 26 appearances in 1941. He saw a little more work in 1942, posting a 6-7, 4.19 record in 107.1 innings over 35 games. He wasn’t much of a strikeout pitcher, finishing with a combined total of 77 walks and 34 strikeouts during the 1941-42 seasons. He began working a wartime job on October 19, 1942 and didn’t plan on playing in 1943, but that decision was made for him when he was inducted into the Army. Wilkie announced to the Pirates in late November of 1945 that he would soon be discharged from the Army and he would be rejoining the team. He was in Europe at the time. He was mostly doing mop up work in 1946, pitching just seven times in the first six weeks of the season. While he posted a 10.57 ERA during that time, he threw shutout ball in five of his seven appearances. Wilkie was optioned to Hollywood of the Pacific Coast League (then Triple-A) on June 14, 1946. The Pirates officially parted ways with him on May 8, 1947, when he was sent to Oakland of the Pacific Coast League as part of the payment for the contract of Wally Westlake.
Wilkie went 9-7, 2.85 in 142 innings for Hollywood in 1946. His 1947 season saw him pitch five games for Indianapolis of the Triple-A American Association before he was sent to Oakland. He had a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings with Indianapolis, and he had a 7-7, 4.67 record in 135 innings with Oakland. In 1948, he spent the entire season with Oakland, going 11-6, 3.79 in 185 innings, finishing with 70 walks and 56 strikeouts. He split the 1949 season between Kansas City of the American Association and Beaumont of the Double-A Texas League. He pitched 23 games for Kansas City (only available stat) and he went 3-3, 3.10 in 58 innings with Beaumont. Wilkie’s final two seasons of pro ball were spent right back where he started, spending the 1950-51 seasons in the Class-B Western International League. He went 10-12, 4.41 in 206 innings with Victoria in 1950, and 11-12, 3.76 in 201 innings with Salem in 1951. He was born in Canada and his real first name was Aldon, which is how he was commonly referenced in the local press.
Pete Conway, pitcher for the 1889 Alleghenys. He pitched for four teams over a five-year career that ended at 22 years old due to injury. Conway never pitched minor league ball. His only experience before his big league debut was with amateur/semi-pro teams in Kellyville, Pa. starting in 1883, and a team called the Philadelphia Solar Tip Club, which is where he was playing before his first big league game. He debuted in pro ball in the majors with the Buffalo Bisons, a National League team at the time, pitching his first game when he was 18 years old in 1885. He went 10-17, 4.67 in 210 innings, completing 26 of his 27 starts. It sounds like he was a regular on the team, but he didn’t debut until August 10th, less than a month after Pud Galvin was sold to the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. The two would be teammates during the 1889 season in Pittsburgh. Conway split the 1886 season between two National League teams, playing for the Kansas City Cowboys and the Detroit Wolverines, combining to go 11-20, 4.95 in 271 innings, with much better stats during his shorter time in Detroit. He completed 30 of 31 starts, while also pitching three times in relief. He improved to a 2.90 ERA in 146 innings with the Wolverines in 1887, though his record stood at 8-9 that season in 17 starts, with 16 complete games. Conway joined Pittsburgh after going 30-14, 2.26 in 391 innings for Detroit in 1888. He started 45 games that season, completed 43 of those contests, and he threw four of his five career shutouts. His 176 strikeouts were a career high, which ranked him sixth in the league that season. His 0.95 WHIP was second best in the league. Detroit folded after the 1888 season (just one year after winning the NL championship) and the Alleghenys were able to purchase a few of their players after the season. The cost of Conway was said to be $5,000.
Conway won his first two starts with the Alleghenys, then injured his arm in his third game, which ultimately ended his career. Pittsburgh signed him for two years, $7,000 total, but he only got paid a small portion of that amount. The team suspended him for being out of shape, even though his issue was injury related. Despite being 22 years old at the time of his suspensions, he managed to throw 1,040 innings in the majors. In mid-June while working out with the team in an attempt to return to action, it was said that he “snapped a cord” in his arm and would be out of action for several weeks or longer. That “longer” turned out to be the entire season. Prior to the 1890 season, Conway asked for $500 advance on his salary during the second year of his contract. That happened often during those days when players made low salaries. The Alleghenys balked at the request, though they offered to give him $100, which was upped to $150. Conway dropped his final offer to $250 and the two sides decided to part ways. He then signed to play in the newly-formed Player’s League in late March, agreeing to a deal with the Brooklyn Ward’s Wonders. Conway said in December of 1889 that he would have signed to play in the PL, but the fact that he had a two-year contract meant that he wasn’t eligible. He originally asked for his release from the Alleghenys, which wasn’t granted at the time, then noted that he would honor his league (NL) deal for one season, before joining the PL. Unknown at that time was that the PL would last just that one season, so he would have never had a chance to make good on that promise.
Conway was with Brooklyn for two months without pitching due to the fact that the other pitchers on the team were doing so well, but he was practicing with the club and said to be in great shape. Shortly after that point, he contracted malaria and had to return home, where he ended up staying due to a setback when he started to get back into shape. Conflicting reports said that he didn’t draw a salary at all during the season, but it appears that he was only paid for about half of the season. After the PL folded, Conway’s rights were still held by the Alleghenys, though he never returned to pro ball. They released him in mid-February and he began coaching baseball at the University of Michigan. His brother Jim Conway pitched three seasons in the majors, playing for three different clubs in the American Association. Pete Conway’s final record stood at 61-61, 3.59 in 126 games, with 123 starts, 117 complete games, five shutouts and 1,040 innings pitched. He finished with 428 strikeouts.
