History

The Pirates' vaunted trading desk was busy at the trade deadline, as usual. The nature of the trading was very different from last year. The Pirates' core will likely benefit, rather than suffer, from the deals.

They were not deals of core Pirates, but rather peripheral players. The Pirates exercised more discipline, and made better trades, instead of just engaging in a giveaway motivated by salary dump considerations. They did a much better job of making "stealth" trades that caught people by surprise instead of telegraphing their intentions.

The Milwaukee Brewers obliterated the Chicago Cubs on Monday Night by a score of 18-1. During the course of the game both Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder collected five hits with Corey Hart only getting four, seven players scored two or more runs, and Fielder and Casey McGehee combined for nine RBI.

On the homemade page-of-the-day calendar that I made my wife as a Christmas present, today's page reads as follows:

"On this date in 2006, Bobby Abreu was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees for, well, not much. Although the deal was heavily criticized at the time, the Phillies have since enjoyed the winningest period in their history, winning three division titles, making two trips to the World Series, and winning the 2008 World Championship.

All right, the Pittsburgh Pirates CAN win on the road.

At least they did so against the Colorado Rockies. Two out of three, anyway. In quite good fashion I might add, especially considering the first-inning injury to Ross Ohlendorf on Wednesday that required more than eight innings of bullpen work.

On a night when it rained on Alex Rodriuez's 600th home run quest, Jorge Posada's milestone RBI stole the spotlight.

After a base clearing three run double by Robinson Cano in the top of the first inning,  Posada followed with an RBI double of his own, and thus reached 1,000 RBI's in his career.

With his milestone RBI tonight, Posada is now the 12th Yankee to do so, joining fellow catchers Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey, as well as long time teammate Derek Jeter.

But it's not just Yankee legends that he's joining.

It was one of the biggest gambles in World Series history.

Matty Alou was on third base with the potential tying run. Willie Mays was on second base with the potential World Series winning run. There were two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Willie McCovey was the batter with Orlando Cepeda on deck.

New York Yankees' manager Ralph Houk went to the mound to talk to right-handed starter Ralph Terry. It would be Terry's choice.

Terry decided to face McCovey.

The American League expanded from eight to 10 teams in 1961 when the Los Angeles Angels and Washington Senators were created. A year later, the National League added the Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets.

In 1962, the Mets were a joke. In 1969, they were the World Champions.

George Weiss was the Mets' first general manager, and Casey Stengel was their first manager. Weiss had built the Yankees' dynasty after World War II, while Stengel managed them to seven World Championships, including the all-time record of five in a row from 1949-1953.

Frank "The Original" Thomas was a fine hitter and versatile defensive player whose career spanned the 1950s and 1960s. Frank was on the National League All-Star team three times.

Doc Friend: Mr. Thomas, you made your major league debut in 1951. What is the most significant difference between the game in the 1950s and the game today?

Frank Thomas: Money.

Ralph Houk managed the Tigers when the team was in suspended animation.

The Tigers were between eras when GM Jim Campbell tabbed Houk to replace the fiery but out-of-control Billy Martin.

It was just after the 1973 season.

It was a comment that received little attention during spring training, but it might have been a turning point for Mickey Mantle.

Some New York Yankees' rookies were showing off their skills at St. Petersburg in 1956. Mickey watched the hopefuls a few minutes and then the Yankees' 24-year-old veteran turned to a reporter.

"A lot of these young kids of ours are going to be good ballplayers."

This was a new Mickey Mantle.