Claim: Managed by Pie Traynor, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Cot Deal two years before his high school graduation.
Evidence: By then, the club was managed by Pie Traynor, who gave Deal his first baseball tryout. After signing with Pittsburgh two years before his high school graduation, he spent 1940 with the Hutchinson, Kansas team of the Western Association, hitting a .312 average while splitting time between the outfield and third base.