Pirates Exchange Managers for Last-Place Farm Clubs (1959)

From The Sporting News, August 5, 1959, page 43:

In a switch of pilots by the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, Walter Millies of Dubuque (Midwest) and Al Kubski of Roswell (Sophomore) were instructed to exchange places, July 29. Both clubs were in last place at the time the pilots were traded.

Kubski remained in Roswell until Millies arrived to take over the club. In the meantime, Johnnie Armstrong, former minor league player from Dubuque, handled the reins until Kubski made his appearance. BILL O’NEILL

According the the Sporting News Guide for 1960, Syd Thrift relieved Armstrong on July 31, and Kubski arrived on August 3. A quibble, really.

Found this while trying to determine whether the two John Armstrongs associated with Dubuque were actually the same person–as, indeed, they were. Also found Armstrong’s obituary; he passed away on April 30, 1960 in his Dubuque home.

And, from the same August 5 page:

When Dubuque outslugged Paris, 14 to 12, on July 25, one of the highlights of the game was furnished by an unidentified Dubuque fan, who hurdled a fence, charged Plate Umpire Frank Petron and shot at him–with a water pistol. The game also produced two oddities when Terry Jones of the Packers singled into a double play in the sixth inning and Gene Petty of the Lakers singled into the final putout in the ninth, both because of base-running blunders by their teammates.