Once he was back in the starting lineup, he was there to stay. Young was declared ready to play by June 14th by manager Pie Traynor, but he didn’t start another game until June 30th. He had to regain his starting spot after he injured his hand on May 31st. It wasn’t his job the entire year though. Young was given the second base job in 1936 and that’s the only position he played all year. He was mostly at second base, but he also saw some time at shortstop, third base, left field and right field. When the season ended, he had started 121 of the final 125 games. He followed that with ten hits over the next five games. Young started at second base on May 18th and picked up a hit and a run scored. When Lavagetto got off to a slow start, Young took advantage of an opportunity to play. A young infielder named Cookie Lavagetto was the starting second baseman, while Tommy Thevenow was filling in for Traynor at third base. Pie Traynor was no longer an everyday player and Tony Piet was no longer around. There were changes in the infield that year and it helped him get playing time. The 1935 season started the same for Young, who was used just five times during the first five weeks, all of them being pinch-running appearances. Nearly two full seasons spent in Pittsburgh and he had played 42 games, with a total of three starts. Young was back in September and played a total of 17 games for the Pirates in 1934, getting just 17 plate appearances. He was also sent to the minor leagues in early August when the Pirates signed Hall of Fame pitcher Burleigh Grimes. He had three starts during the season, one at shortstop and two at second base. The 1934 season wasn’t much different for Young as far as playing time, though he came about it in a different way. (Photo by Sporting News and Rogers Photo Archive via Getty Images) His big highlight was getting to bat twice in a game one time as a pinch-hitter when the Pirates batted around in the ninth inning. If you’re scoring at home, that means that he never started a game during the year. He had two chances in the field all season. Young played shortstop once for one inning and second base once for three innings. He remained in two of those games as a defensive replacement. He was used 18 times as a pinch-hitter and seven times as a pinch-runner. He had just 20 plate appearances all season. It would be good training for his 1933 season.ĭespite being with the Pirates for the entire season, Pep played a total of 25 games in 1933. Once those exhibition games started, Young was basically glued to the bench, usually coming in very late for a pinch-hit at-bat. The Pirates played intrasquad games at the beginning of Spring Training back then, before trimming their roster and moving on to exhibition games. Young showed solid defense at second base early that spring, while also putting together some nice at-bats. Young beat out Bill Brubaker during Spring Training for the last infield spot on the roster. They had four strong starters and a backup who would start on most teams. Tony Piet was a solid second baseman at that time, while Tommy Thevenow was a veteran infielder who could play all four spots if needed. The Pirates had Young competing for the second backup infielder spot on a 1933 team that had Pie Traynor and Arky Vaughan on the left side, and Gus Suhr, who set the National League consecutive games played streak, playing first base. 284 over 144 games, with 45 extra-base hits. He spent the 1932 season playing for the Tulsa Oilers of the Western League, where he hit. He was with the Pirates during Spring Training of 1932, but a bad finger injury in early March ended his chance of making the team before it really got started. In 1933, Young was 25 years old and he had no prior big league experience. He was also called Whitey Young in some early references during his second Spring Training with the team. From his first days with the Pirates, Young was known by the nickname Pep. However, six big league players have had the middle name Lemuel, including Bill Hall, a catcher for the Pirates in the mid-50s. Pep Young is the only Major League player with the first name Lemuel, which doesn’t seem surprising to me, since I’ve never heard the name before. His name rarely comes up, but he was with the team for a significant amount of time and deserves a little recognition here. His entire big league career lasted just 730 games. From 1933 until 1940, he played 697 games with the Pirates. You won’t find too many players who spent eight years with one team and they’re as obscure as Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Pep Young.
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