 In 1928, the Pirates acquired future Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, Burleigh Grimes, who was the last pitcher allowed to throw the spitball in the major leagues.Pirates manager, Donie Bush chose Gooch to be Grimes' personal catcher, due to his previous experience at catching the tricky spitball.After spending six and a half years with the Pirates, Gooch was traded in June 1928 along with Joe Harris to the Brooklyn Robins in exchange for Charlie Hargreaves, as the Pirates were seeking a right-handed batter.