Four former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, plus one news item of note.
The News
On this date in 1975, Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman/manager Billy Herman was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a player by the Veteran’s Committee. He was joined that year by manager Bucky Harris, Cleveland Indians star Earl Averill, Negro Leaguer Judy Johnson, and also Pirates outfielder Ralph Kiner, who was elected earlier in the process by the baseball writers. Herman was the Pirates manager in 1947, staying with the team until the last day of the season when he was replaced by Bill Burwell, who managed his only career game that day. Herman actually didn’t play much, getting into 15 games throughout the entire season. He was a career .304 hitter over 15 seasons, and he was elected to ten straight All-Star games from 1934-43. He becomes the third member of the 1947 Pirates to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Along with Kiner, the other one was Hank Greenberg, who had been elected by the baseball writers 19 years earlier. Just like Herman, Greenberg only played with the Pirates during the 1947 season.
The Players
Austin Davis, pitcher for 2020-21 Pirates. He was a 12th round draft pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2014 out of CSU-Bakersfield. Davis started his pro career in the Gulf Coast League, where he had a 2.59 ERA and three saves in 31.1 innings, with seven walks and 27 strikeouts. He moved up to Lakewood of the Low-A South Atlantic League in 2015, where he went 5-6, 3.76, with a 1.29 WHIP and 81 strikeouts in 95.2 innings, spread over 11 starts and 22 relief outings. He missed the early part of the 2016 season due to injury. After rehabbing in the Gulf Coast League, he split the remainder of the season between Lakewood and Clearwater of the High-A Florida State League. Davis had a 2.51 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and 39 strikeouts in 32.1 innings that year. He had a 2.01 ERA in 22.1 innings with Clearwater in 2017, followed by a 2.87 ERA in 47 innings for Reading of the Eastern League. Between both stops, he went 6-2, 2.60, with 75 strikeouts in 69.1 innings. The 2018 season saw him pitch four times four Reading, 24 times for Lehigh Valley of the Triple-A International League, and 32 times for the Phillies. He had a 1-2, 2.82 record and 50 strikeouts in 38.1 innings during his minor league time that season. Davis went 1-2, 4.15 in 34.2 innings, with 38 strikeouts and a 1.36 WHIP during his first stint in the majors.
Davis spent most of 2019 with Lehigh Valley, where he had a 2.75 ERA, 64 strikeouts and a 1.28 WHIP in 52.1 innings. He played 14 games with the Phillies that season, putting together a 6.53 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 20.2 innings. During the shortened 2020 season, he saw brief time with the Phillies and Pirates. He gave up seven runs in three innings in Philadelphia. After the Pirates acquired him via trade in late August for minor league pitcher Joel Cesar, Davis allowed one run in 3.2 innings over five outings. He missed some time in 2021 due to injury, and he pitched 13 minor league games as part of his rehab work. He pitched ten times for the 2021 Pirates, posting a 5.59 ERA in 9.2 innings. The Pirates sent him to the Boston Red Sox at the trading deadline for infielder Michael Chavis. After the deal, Davis had a 4.86 ERA in 16.2 innings over 19 appearances. He spent the majority of the 2022 season with the Red Sox, going 2-1, 5.47, with 61 strikeouts and a 1.56 WHIP in 54.1 innings over 50 appearances. The Red Sox placed him on waivers, where he was picked up by the Minnesota Twins. He pitched just two games for the Twins, allowing three runs and four walks in 1.2 innings. He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Houston Astros in November of 2022. Through his five partial seasons in the majors, he has a 4-5, 5.61 record and 159 strikeouts in 144.1 innings over 136 games.
Joe Coleman, pitched for the 1979 Pirates. During the first amateur draft in baseball in 1965, Coleman was the third overall pick, taken out of high school by the Washington Senators. He was just 18 years old at the time, but he debuted in the majors later that same year. In fact, he made two starts and pitched complete games victories in both games. The rest of his first season was spent with Burlington of the Class-A Carolina League, where he went 2-10, 4.56 in 75 innings over 12 starts. He allowed three runs over 18 innings during his big league time. The next year was limited to one start for Washington (on September 26th), and it too was a complete game victory. He pitched the regular season with York of the Double-A Eastern League, suffering through a 7-19 record, despite a 3.75 ERA in 199 innings. Coleman saw regular mound time for the next four seasons in Washington. He made four starts for York in 1967, then spent the rest of the year in the majors, where he went 8-9, 4.63, with a 1.50 WHIP in 134 innings over 22 starts and six relief appearances. He had a 12-16, 3.27 record, 139 strikeouts and a 1.18 WHIP over 33 starts in 1968, with 12 complete games, two shutouts and 223 innings pitched. Coleman posted a 12-13 record in 1969, while matching his 3.27 ERA from the previous season. He threw 247.2 innings over 36 starts (four relief outings), with 12 complete games and four shutouts. His 182 strikeouts that year ranked fifth in the American League. He had an 8-12, 3.58 record in 218.2 innings during the 1970 season, with 29 starts and ten relief appearances. He had 152 strikeouts and a 1.28 WHIP.
Coleman went 43-50, 3.51 in 850.1 innings over six seasons for the Senators, before being traded to the Detroit Tigers just days after the 1970 season ended. The change of scenery, and going to a better team, really paid off. Coleman pitched 280+ innings in each of his first four years in Detroit, while putting together a 76-50 record during that stretch. He went 20-9, 3.15 in 1971, with a 1.18 WHIP and a career best 236 strikeouts, which ranked third in the American League. He set a career high with 16 complete games (38 starts) and he threw 286 innings. He was an All-Star in 1972 (his only mid-season classic), when he put together a 19-14, 2.80 record in 280 innings over 39 starts, with 222 strikeouts and a 1.16 WHIP. Coleman won a career high 23 games in 1973, yet he didn’t get a single Cy Young vote, though he saw mild MVP support, finishing 23rd in the voting. He finished the year 23-15, 3.53 in 40 starts, with a career high 288.1 innings pitched, along with 13 complete games, two shutouts and 202 strikeouts. During the 1974 season, he went 14-12, 4.32, in a career high 41 starts. He had 11 complete games, two shutouts and 285.1 innings pitched. He had 177 strikeouts, which was the start of a sharp decline in that category. Coleman allowed a ton of base runners that year, with 272 hits, 158 walks and 13 hit batters. He didn’t come close to that many walks in any other season.
Coleman had a rough 1975 season, going 10-18, 5.55 in 201 innings over 30 starts, with a 1.59 WHIP and 125 strikeouts. He then played for six teams over the next four years. He had brief stints with the Chicago Cubs, Oakland A’s, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and then the Pirates. The 1976 season was split between 12 starts with the Tigers and 39 games (four starts) with the Cubs. He combined to go 4-13, 4.45 in 143.2 innings, with four saves, 104 strikeouts and a 1.52 WHIP. That was his last of nine straight seasons with 100+ strikeouts.. The A’s acquired him in a 1977 Spring Training trade, and he remained there for the entire season, going 4-4, 2.96 in 127.2 innings over 12 starts and 29 relief appearances. He had two saves, 55 strikeouts and a 1.28 WHIP. The A’s released him in May of 1978 after going 3-0, 1.37 in 19.2 innings over ten games. He signed on with the Blue Jays, where he remained for the rest of the year, going 2-0, 4.60 in 60.2 innings over 31 games. He signed with the Giants on April 1, 1979, but his entire stay there lasted just 20 days, despite a 0.00 ERA in five appearances. Even though he was in his 15th season in the majors, he was just 32 years old when he joined the Pirates on May 8, 1979.
Coleman went to the minors for the first time since 1967 after joining the Pirates. He went 5-1, 2.78 in 55 innings over 32 appearances with Portland of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. He was called up by the Pirates in late July, and ended up pitching ten games in relief over the remainder of the season, posting a 6.10 ERA. That 1979 season would be the end of his MLB career. He pitched three more seasons in the minors with Spokane of the Pacific Coast League (where he also coached) before retiring as a player. He had a 1.64 ERA in 22 innings for Spokane in 1980. That was followed by a 4.38 ERA in 39 innings in 1981, and a 4.04 ERA in 35.2 innings in 1982. He finished up his big league career with a 142-135, 3.70 record and 1,728 strikeouts in 2,569.1 innings. He started 340 games, pitched 144 times in relief, ending up with 94 complete games, 18 shutouts and seven saves. Coleman is the son of Joe Coleman who pitched for ten seasons in the majors between 1942 and 1955 (missed three years serving during WWII). He is the father of pitcher Casey Coleman, who spent parts of four seasons in the majors. That makes them one of just a few three-generation families in MLB history, and the only one to include only pitchers. Joe Coleman (the middle one) turns 76 years old today.
Freddie Toliver, pitcher for the 1993 Pirates. He pitched in the majors for four different teams between 1984 and 1989, then reappeared in the majors four years later with the Pirates. Toliver was drafted in the third round by the New York Yankees out of high school in 1979. He debuted in pro ball at 18 years old with Oneonta of the short-season New York-Penn League, where he went 10-2, 2.10, with 71 strikeouts in 77 innings over 13 starts. He spent most of 1980 with Greensboro of the Class-A South Atlantic League, going 6-8, 2.86 in 126 innings over 20 starts. He also made three starts with Fort Lauderdale of the Florida State League, where he allowed 15 runs in eight innings. He had 99 walks and 100 strikeouts that season. The 1981 season was spent back with Greensboro, where he had a 5-3, 3.49 record in 80 innings. The Yankees traded him to the Cincinnati Reds in December of 1981 for Ken Griffey Sr. Toliver spent most of 1982 with Cedar Rapids of the Class-A Midwest League. He had a 6-7, 4.23 record and 117 strikeouts in 115 innings before joining Triple-A Indianapolis of the American Association for four starts. He had a 3.92 ERA in 20.2 innings with Indianapolis in 1982, then spent the entire 1983 season there, going 8-10, 4.54 in 166.2 innings over 26 starts. He had 136 strikeouts over his 135.2 innings in 1982, but finished with 110 walks and 112 strikeouts in 1983. Toliver spent the 1984 season with the new Cincinnati Triple-A affiliate in Wichita of the American Association, where he went 11-6, 4.83 in 164 innings, with 116 walks and 113 strikeouts in 23 starts and nine relief appearances.
Toliver made his big league debut three years after being acquired by the Reds, giving up one run over ten innings during a September trial in 1984. He spent most of 1985 in Triple-A Denver of the American Association for the Reds, before he was traded on August 27th to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he spent the majority of his big league time. He went 11-3, 3.24 in 122.1 innings over 19 starts for Denver before the trade. He played parts of three seasons in Philadelphia, before the third trade of his career sent him to the Minnesota Twins. Toliver made three starts and eight relief appearances for the 1985 Phillies, going 0-4, 4.68 in 25 innings. His 1986 season was limited to six starts in Triple-A (Portland of the Pacific Coast League) and five starts for the Phillies, where he went 0-2, 3.51 in 25.2 innings. He suffered a fracture in his arm when he was hit by a pitch in late May. Toliver made four starts and six relief appearances with the 1987 Phillies, going 1-1, 5.64 in 30.1 innings. The rest of the year was spent in Triple-A as a starting pitcher with Maine of the International League, where he went 6-9, 4.62 in 124.2 innings. The Phillies traded him to the Twins in February of 1988 for a minor league catcher (Chris Calvert) who never made it to the majors.
Toliver had his best big league season in 1988, going 7-6, 4.24 in 114.2 innings over 19 starts and two relief appearances for the Twins. In June of 1989, he was traded to the San Diego Padres for veteran reliever Greg Booker. Toliver combined to go 1-3, 7.53 in 43 innings over five starts and 11 relief appearances, with poor results in both spots. His minor league time that year saw him post an 8-2 record in 13 starts, with 72 strikeouts in 84 innings. On September 27, 1989, he was traded back to the Yankees. Despite two stints in New York, he never pitched in the Bronx. He was let go during Spring Training in 1990, then spent the next two years playing minor league ball for the California Angels, which included time down in High-A ball. He had an 8-3, 3.78 record in 83.1 innings during the 1990 season, which was mostly spent with Edmonton of the Pacific Coast League. He spent the entire 1991 season in Edmonton, going 7-4, 4.15 in 95.1 innings over 18 starts. The Pirates purchased Toliver’s contract from an independent minor league team (Salinas of the High-A California League) on July 23, 1992, and sent him to Double-A Carolina of the Southern League, where he worked out of the bullpen for the rest of the season. He went 5-8, 3.49 in 123.2 innings over 20 starts for Salinas, then had a 4.19 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 19.1 innings with Carolina.
Toliver began the 1993 season in the minors with Carolina, but in late May he was called up to the Pirates for a five-week stretch that saw him mostly work mop-up duties in long relief. He was replacing an injured Randy Tomlin on the roster. Toliver had a 3.74 ERA in 21.2 innings with the Pirates before being sent back down to the minors, returning to Carolina, before ending up with Buffalo of the Triple-A American Association for 13 appearances. He combined to go 3-5, 3.27 in 52.1 minor league innings that year, with 13 saves and 59 strikeouts in 46 appearances. He pitched the next three years in China for Wei Chuan, starting with a 4-3, 2.86 record in 78.2 innings in 1994. That was followed by a 9-11, 3.42 record in 173.2 innings in 1995, and a 5-5, 4.46 record over 11 starts in 1996. Toliver briefly made a comeback in the U.S. in 1998, pitching seven games in the independent Western League for Tri-City, where he had a 3.29 ERA in 27.1 innings. In seven seasons in the majors, he had a career record of 10-16, 4.73 in 270.1 innings, which were spread out of 37 starts and 41 relief appearances.
George “Live Oak” Taylor, center fielder for the 1884 Alleghenys. Before joining Pittsburgh, he had played briefly in the majors with the Hartfords of Brooklyn in 1877 (two games) and the Troy Trojans in 1879 (24 games), both National League teams. He went 3-for-8 at the plate during his first trial in 1877, and then hit .216/.224/.258. with ten runs, four doubles and eight RBIs in 97 at-bats, while playing in Troy. There were three Major Leagues all running at the same time in 1884. Besides the National League, the American Association and the Union Association also existed. In addition to the extra league (the Union Association only existed in 1884), the American Association also expanded to 12 teams from eight, so there were a lot of extra big league jobs, and it led to watered down talent. It allowed Taylor to return to the majors with the Alleghenys, where he hit .211/.255/.250, with 22 runs, four doubles and a triple in 41 games. He was a left fielder originally, but struggled in center field with Pittsburgh. He made 19 errors during that era of no gloves and ruthless official scorers, giving him a fielding percentage well below league average.
Taylor started Spring Training in 1884 as one of the reserve players for the Alleghenys, which was sort of like having a Triple-A team play in town against the reserves of other American Association clubs, as well as some semi-pro/amateur teams in town to keep them in game shape. It was an idea that didn’t last long because the reserves failed to draw crowds big enough to cover their salaries. Taylor got released by the team on July 10th (along with pitcher Frank Beck), then rejoined the Alleghenys two weeks later when Jimmy Woulfe was said to be having problems with his eyes. Taylor played his final game in Pittsburgh on July 30th, then was released the next day, along with Woulfe, who requested his own release. The two releases left the Alleghenys with 12 players signed to contracts on August 1st. Taylor played some minor league ball after his big league career was done, but he didn’t live long after his playing days, passing away from consumption in 1888 at the age of thirty-seven. He lived in San Francisco, California and played most of his pro ball there, where most of the statistical records are impossible to find. He played in the east earlier in his career, and could be found in 1878 with a club from Manchester in the International Association, as well as a team called the New York Atlantics in 1882. He did some umpiring during his playing days as well. The 1880 California League consisted of four teams in San Francisco, and he played for two of them. That’s his only listed minor league time, though he played regularly before and after his big league time. He played for the San Francisco Californias of the California League in 1883, the San Francisco Pioneers of the same league in 1885 and 1887, and the San Francisco Stars in 1886.
Taylor was actually fairly famous as a ballplayer in California and was often referred to just as “Live Taylor”, or by his middle name, Edward. He was often singled out for his amazing defensive plays. In his obituary, he was called “the best left fielder in the state (California)”. A benefit game for his family played three weeks after his passing netted his wife and child $2,000. Taylor was a .218 career hitter in 67 Major League games. There is no known explanation for the Live Oak nickname, though it was usually just a name given to someone with a hot bat. It was not used often throughout his career, especially compared to the shorter “Live” nickname.
