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This Date in Pirates History: January 15

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On this date in 1969 the Pittsburgh Pirates traded outfielder Manny Jimenez to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for minor league infielder Ron Campbell and pitcher Chuck Hartenstein. Jimenez was a 30-year-old outfielder who had received limited playing time with the Pirates over the 1967-68 seasons. He started just five games in 1968 despite playing on the team the entire season. He was used as a pinch hitter 54 times that year and hit only .167 in that role but thanks to a 10 for 13 showing at the plate in games he started, he actually batted .303 that year. Campbell played three seasons for the Cubs from 1964-66 hitting .247 in 52 games but he had played the last two seasons in AAA and hit only .236 in 1968. Hartenstein had pitched the last three years with the Cubs, going 11-9, 3.43 in 78 relief appearances.

Banister pictured during his rookie season in 1986

The Cubs used Jimenez just six times the first two months of the season, all in the PH role and by the end of May his major league and baseball career was over. Campbell played two seasons in AAA for the Pirates before he retired as a player at age 30. Hartenstein pitched 56 times out of the Pirates bullpen in 1969, saving ten games and posting a 5-4 3.95 record in 95.2 innings. He didn’t pitch as well the next season and was put on waivers where he was selected by the Cardinals in late June. He actually pitched six full seasons in the minors before getting his next major league appearance with the expansion Toronto Blue Jays in 1977.

Former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date include:

Jeff Banister (1964) pinch-hitter for the 1991 Pirates. He was a 25th round draft pick of the Pirates in 1986 that got his one moment in the sun for the 1991 Pirates on July 23rd of that season. In the 7th inning of a 10-3 game with the Pirates ahead and at home, Jeff came to the plate for his major league debut, batting for Doug Drabek. With one out and no one on, he hit a 1-1 pitch from veteran Dan Petry between shortstop and third base for his first big league hit, a single. Two batters later he was left stranded at first base, returning to the dugout and he never played another major league game. Banister was injured in 1992, played in AA ball in 1993 before taking a managerial position in the minors for the Pirates in 1994. He has spent his entire 26 year pro baseball career with the Pirates and this past season he was the major league bench coach.

Edward Kinsella (1880) pitcher for the 1905 Pirates. He went 17-14 in his second minor league season while playing for a team called the Bloomington Bloomers before the Pirates purchased his contract in August of 1905. He made his debut in relief in early September then pitched a 2-2 tie on September 30th and a 4-1 loss on October 8th. Both games were the second game of a doubleheader and the second start was the last game of the season. After the season ended the Pirates sold his contract to Toledo of the American Association. He pitched four full seasons in the minors before getting his second and final shot at the majors with the 1910 St Louis Browns. He finished his career in the minors in 1914.

Jock Menefee (1868) pitcher for the 1892 and 1894-95 Pirates. He made his major league debut with the Pirates during the 1892 season and pitched poorly, allowing 10 hits and 6 runs in four innings during his only start. He pitched for Louisville in 1893 and part of 1894 until the Pirates reacquired him that year in exchange for pitcher George Nicol and cash in August. Menefee went 5-8, 5.40 in 13 starts with the Pirates to finish that 1894 season. In 1895 he pitched poorly in two games before being released by Pittsburgh. Jock didn’t pitch in the majors again until he started just one game for the Giants in 1898 but beginning in 1900 he spent four full seasons in the Chicago Orphans/Cubs starting rotation. He was a good enough hitter that he played 82 games in the field during his major league career at six different positions other than pitcher.

Mike Mansell (1858) left fielder for the 1882-84 Pittsburgh Alleghenys of the American Association. He started his minor league career with Syracuse of the League Alliance in 1877 and stayed with the team as they first moved to the International Association in 1878 and then when they were invited to the National League in 1879. He played with the Cincinnati Reds in 1880, a franchise in the NL that pre-dated the current Reds franchise which started in the American Association in 1882. That second Reds team was joined by the Pittsburgh Alleghenys in the first year of the AA. Mansell was the starting left fielder for Pittsburgh that year, in 79 games he hit .277 while leading the league in both doubles and triples. He had spent the entire 1881 season playing in the minors.

In 1883, He saw his average and power drop but he still managed to score 90 runs that year in just 96 games. In 1884 Mansell struggled with the Alleghenys who dropped him after a .140 average through 27 games. He played for two other American Association teams that year before returning to the minors to finish his career, playing until 1892. His brother Tom played five seasons in the majors, his brother John played one and all three played outfielder together for a minor league team from Albany in 1881

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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