Posts by John Dreker

John Dreker

1982 posts

This Date in Pittsburgh Pirates History: November 27th, Dave Giusti Leads a Very Busy Day

This Date in Pittsburgh Baseball History

1 hour ago

Nine former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, including a key member of a World Series winning club. Before I get into those, current outfielder Jared Oliva turns 26 today. He debuted with the 2020 Pirates and hit .188 in six games. He batted .175 in 20 games for the…

Card of the Day: 1976 Topps Dave Giusti

Card of the Day

1 hour ago

With nine birthdays of former Pittsburgh Pirates on November 27th, I planned on going away from the headline player today. Then I noticed that it has been over a year since Dave Giusti appeared in one of our Card of the Day articles, so he got his spot back. He…

This Date in Pittsburgh Pirates History: November 26th, Bob Walk, Richie Hebner and Bob Elliott

This Date in Pittsburgh Baseball History

Yesterday at 1:51 pm

Eight former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, including a pair of strong third basemen and a current broadcaster for the team. Richie Hebner, third baseman for the 1968-76 and 1982-83 Pirates. The Pirates signed him as a first round draft pick out of high school in 1966, selected 15th…

Card of the Day: 1973 Topps Richie Hebner

Card of the Day

Yesterday at 12:01 am

Today’s Card of the Day is a player who surprisingly hasn’t been here in a solo article yet, before today obviously. Richie Hebner put in nine full seasons and two partial seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He debuted in 1968 at 20 years old, and he moved on as a…

Card of the Day: 1953 Topps Jim Waugh

Card of the Day

25 Nov at 12:01 am

Today’s Card of the Day features Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jim Waugh, who threw a total of 142.2 innings in the majors during the 1952-53 seasons. They all came with the Pirates, and that time was not only his entire big league career, he did all of that work before his…

This Date in Pittsburgh Pirates History: November 25th, Big Jim Weaver Headlines a Group of Seven Players

This Date in Pittsburgh Baseball History

25 Nov at 12:01 am

Seven former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date Octavio Dotel, relief pitcher for the 2010 Pirates. He played 15 seasons in the majors, making 758 appearances and picking up 109 saves. Dotel played for 13 different teams, although he spent five seasons with the Houston Astros. He was originally signed…

Card of the Day: 1959 Topps Bob Friend All-Star

Card of the Day

24 Nov at 12:01 am

Exactly one year ago today, we took a look at the 1953 Bowman card of Bob Friend. That was special for a few reasons, as it was the first look at that set, the first solo article appearance for Friend, and he was born on this date in 1930. He…

This Date in Pittsburgh Pirates History: November 24th, Al Martin, Bob Friend and Ed Doheny

This Date in Pittsburgh Baseball History

24 Nov at 12:01 am

Nine former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, including one of the best pitchers in franchise history. We also have one early transaction of note. Bob Friend, pitcher for the 1951-65 Pirates. He won 191 games in Pittsburgh, including 22 in 1958, and he holds the team records for innings…

Card of the Day: 1992 Donruss Rookies Al Martin

Card of the Day

23 Nov at 12:01 am

This has to be one of the biggest coincidences I’ve had while picking cards for this series and I swear there was zero planning. I actually found out this fact after I already started this article. This is the second time we are using a 1992 Donruss card. The first…

This Date in Pittsburgh Pirates History: November 23rd, Luis Tiant, Dale Sveum and Chief Zimmer

This Date in Pittsburgh Baseball History

23 Nov at 12:01 am

Eight former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, including one of the all-time great pitchers not in the Hall of Fame. Luis Tiant, pitcher for the 1981 Pirates. His time in Pittsburgh was short, but he won 229 games over a 19-year career, including four season with 20+ victories. He debuted…