Good stuff here from Anthony. I remember this game well even though I was not even 10 at the time and didn't care about the either the Pirates or Braves. (I was, and still am, a Reds fan). But my brother was a huge Pirates fan because way back when, he somehow had chosen Barry Bonds as his favorite player. Hey, he was a young kid then. To his credit -- at least in my opinion -- he stuck with him until the day he retired. Anyway, I now do follow the Pirates because a friend, Ross Ohlendorf is in the starting rotation. We'll get him on here or at SB Nation Pittsburgh for an interview sometime soon. The Pirates are undefeated at 1-0 as of tonight! - Michael B. -

**************

In honor of the start of the 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates baseball season, I thought I'd take a small break from football and talk about the most depressing loss I have ever experienced as a fan: The 1992 National League Championship Series. I know the Steelers have always been my first love, but believe it or not, I have a big soft spot in my heart for the Pittsburgh Pirates and there was a time, way back in the late 80's and early 90's, when I actually loved Major League Baseball. The Pirates had a young and exciting team and employed some of the best players in the game. I rarely missed a Pirates game on television, and when the game was only on the radio, I would sit and listen to the whole thing. Can you imagine that?

I never did have great timing when becoming a diehard fan. I fell in-love with the Steelers right before Super Bowl XIV and that was nice and all, but it was also the beginning of the end as far as their 70's dynasty was concerned. Same thing with the Pirates. They won the World Series in 1979 led by Willie "Pop" Stargell and I followed them somewhat in the early 80's when they were still contenders, but it wasn't until 1984 that I became permanently invested in them emotionally. It was also the first of three straight last place finishes for the ball club. The only reminder of that epic "We Are Family" '79 season was their funky array of uniforms. They must of had 17 different combinations of black and gold.

1985 was rock-bottom for the team. Not only were they having one of their worst seasons on the field (104 losses) but they were doing so with washed-up has-beens like Steve Kemp and Joggin George Hendrick. Several Pirates were also losers off the field and were implicated in the infamous baseball drug trials in September of  that year.

There were even rumors that the team would relocate to Denver.

It was a horrible time to be a Pirates' fan. However, in 1986, things started to change. The charismatic Syd Thrift was brought in as the new general manager and one of his first duties was to hire the then unknown Jim Leyland to be the new field manager.

Thrift immediately started to revamp the Pirates system by adding young players like Sid Bream, RJ Reynolds, Bobby Bonilla and Doug Drabek to the ranks, and along with future superstar Barry Bonds, the fans at least had some hope for the future.  Leyland brought a new energy to the clubhouse and even though the team would, yet again, finish in last place in '86, it was becoming quite obvious that Jim Leyland was no loser.

Just before the '87 season, Thrift dealt away popular catcher Tony Pena to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Andy Van Slyke, catcher Mike Lavalliere, and pitcher Mike Dunne. The trade immediately started to pay dividends as Van Slyke and Lavalliere became part of a young and exciting ballclub, but despite the young talent, the Pirates were still mired in last place in the late summer of '87 before calling a players only meeting in-which they set a goal of winning 25 of their last 38 games. The team immediately got hot and even exceeded their mark by winning 27 of 38 down the stretch and finished 80-82 and in 4th place in the National League East.

There was great optimism for the team in 1988 and they didn't disappoint, finishing 2nd in the division behind their long time rivals, the New York Mets. The day they officially clinched 2nd place, believe it or not, there was a wild celebration in the clubhouse complete with the now famous Jim Leyland "tears of joy".

Because of injuries, the club suffered a setback in 1989, finishing in 5th place, but by 1990, the Pittsburgh Pirates had arrived. The team would fight with the Mets tooth-and-nail down the stretch, but on September 30th in Busch Stadium, behind a masterful pitching performance by Cy Young Award Winner Doug Drabek, the Pirates clinched their first NL East title since 1979. Seeing the Pirates celebrate that day in St. Louis is a moment I will never forget. Pittsburgh came up short to the Cincinnati Reds in a hard-fought NLCS, but there was still much hope for the future. This team hadn't even hit its stride.

They proved to be even better in 1991, winning the NL East by a whopping 14 games and were favorites to go all the way. Unfortunately, they came up against another young team in the NLCS, the surprising Atlanta Braves, who went from worst to first in the NL West in '91. Despite holding a 3-2 series lead with the last two-games at Three Rivers Stadium, the Pirates didn't score a run in games 6 and 7, and for the 2nd year in a row, had to watch another team celebrate the National League pennant, this time on their own field.

The Pirates were two-time NL East winners, but weren't expected to have the same kind of success in 1992. All-Star Bobby Bonilla left as a free agent to sign with the hated Mets, and 20-game winner John Smiley was shipped off to the Minnesota Twins in Spring Training.  

But the team wasn't done. 1992 was again magical. Behind Barry Bonds, Doug Drabek, and Andy Van Slyke, the Pirates won the NL East for a third year in a row.

The Braves won the NL West again and, this time, were considered huge favorites over the Pirates in the NLCS. I was attending the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in  the Fall of '92, and like a lot of times in my youth, I could hardly concentrate on school because of sports. I had postseason fever. I just knew that the team would turn the tables on the Braves this time.

Things didn't start off so well for the Buccos. They lost the first two games in Atlanta by scores of 5-1 and 13-5 and the only thing even remotely memorable about game 2 was seeing KDKA reporter Harold Hayes standing out on the sidewalk, part of a crowd watching the contest on a tv through a department store window . 

The series looked like a complete mismatch. The experts were now predicting a sweep.

Game 3 would be back at Three Rivers Stadium and the afternoon of the game, I was walking to my bus stop in Downtown Pittsburgh when a kid wearing a Pirates hat was knocked over by a bike-messenger while crossing the street. Everyone was okay, but talk about a bad omen. The Pirates were very vulnerable at  this point, and even the fans were coming under criticism because a few thousand seats were empty for game 7 of the previous year's NLCS. The people mocking the Pirates fans the most were the Braves broadcast crew. I never really did like the Braves announcers. They were pretty pathetic in the mid-to-late 80's when the Braves were a laughing-stock, but now that their team won a couple of division titles, they thought Atlanta was baseball-central. Three Rivers Stadium was huge, especially for baseball, and the City of Pittsburgh was relatively small and filling nearly 60,000 seats was much tougher than filling 45,000. Karma would prove to be a.......years later when Braves fans would come under the same criticism for lack of fan support in the postseason, but I digress.

Back to '92. The Pirates fans were challenged and they came out in full-force. Three Rivers stadium wasn't this loud since the days of Brashaw-to-Swann. There wasn't an empty seat in the house and the air was simply electric. 

The only thing that stood in the way of the Braves taking total control of the series was rookie knuckle-ball sensation Tim Wakefield who went 8-1 for the Pirates after being called up and was now a key member of their starting rotation. Wakefield proved to be masterful on this night, but the Pirates offense was, once again, stifled. Former Pirate Sid Bream opened up the scoring with a home run, but catcher Don Slaught answered with one of his own. I was watching the game with my brother and we both went nuts when Slaught went deep. The Pirates scratched and clawed their way to a 3-2 win with Wakefield going the distance and getting Bream to pop up on the in-field for the final out. I don't think I was ever as pumped up and excited for the Pirates as I was that night.

The next night, the Braves did take control of the series with John Smoltz not only pitching a great game, but also getting a couple of timely hits. The Pirates offense, led by 1990 and 1992 NL mvp Barry Bonds, could do very little. In fact, Bonds, Van Slyke, and Bonilla ('90 and '91) were mostly non-factors when it came to crunch-time in the postseason. Up to that point, Bonds hadn't even had a postseason extra-base in his entire career. It was so bad that after game 5, KDKA's Bob Pompeani quipped: "The way Bonds is going right now, he couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat."

It looked like the Pirates were going down in five games, especially with Steve Avery on the mound for the Braves.  Avery was the mvp of the previous year's NLCS and with as putrid as the Pirates' offense was, everyone feared that Three Rivers would, again, be the host of another Braves' National League championship celebration.

However, things would be different on this night. The Pirates knocked out Avery in the first inning, scoring 4 runs. Bob Walk pitched a complete game 3-hitter and the Pirates won easily, 7-1.  Bonds even ended his extra-base hit drought with a double.

It was on this night that I had decided that the stars were aligned for Pittsburgh and fate was on the side of the Buccos. You see, Bob Walk, the veteran right-hander, was summoned to start game 5 even though he was moved to the bullpen for the series. It was a very similar scenario to the 1979 World Series when veteran Jim Rooker was chosen to pitch for the Pirates in game 5 at Three Rivers stadium with the team facing elimination. Rooker kept the Pirates in the game and they eventually pulled away. What was the score of that game? 7-1. And the Pirates were going to have to win games 6 and 7 on the road just like they had to do in '79.

I could not wait for game 6. Tim Wakefield started for Pittsburgh and, once again, proved to be masterful. The Pirates offense continued its hot-streak and chased another Braves pitcher from the game early. This time it was Tom Glavine who was gone after the Pirates put up an 8-spot in the 2nd. Bonds started the inning off with his first and only homerun in the postseason as a member of the Pirates. Jay Bell finished the inning off with a three-run shot and the Pirates were in total control, 8-0, and would go on to win 13-4 as Wakefield pitched his second complete game of the series. Funny story: After Bell hit his three-run shot, I grabbed a foam basketball and threw it at my sister who was just walking into the room. Why did I do that? Just being a jerk, I guess. The playoffs bring out the stupid in us all, right?

I was now more confident than ever that the Pirates would win the series. Sitting in class at the Art Institute that day, I fantasized about the Buccos finally shedding the label of "postseason choke artists" and celebrating an NL crown that night at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.

The game was in the responsible hands of Doug Drabek, who almost always came through in the big games. Atlanta countered with Smoltz, a right-hander, and many wondered if Leyland would go with his normal platoon lineup against right-handers that consisted of Orlando Merced, Cecil Espy, and Mike Lavalliere, or stick with his lineup that he normally used against left-handers that consisted of Gary Redus, Lloyd Mcclendon, and Don Slaught, the lineup that was red-hot and responsible for the biggest outbursts of the series. In-fact, Mcclendon owned Braves pitching pretty much his entire career. However, Leyland stuck with his season-long plan and started his normal platoon line-up that he used against right-handers.

I thought that if the Pirates could get off to a fast start, the Braves and their fans would be deflated. Pittsburgh did load the bases in the first inning, but could only score one-run on an Orlando Merced sacrifice fly. For whatever reason, I had a tough  time watching this game. Right after the first inning, I left my grandparents house and walked the streets near my house only occasionally checking in to get an update. The Pirates didn't do much more on offense, but the Braves did nothing and Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 9th inning.

By this time, I was back at my grandparents watching the game with my uncle and grandfather. I remember watching the commercials and thinking that in just a few minutes, I would get to see the Pirates clinch the NL pennant. I'll never forget that moment, and those feelings, as long as I live.

Terry Pendleton started the 9th for the Braves with a double. I must confess, I chickened out and left. I couldn't watch. I went over my mom's and waited about ten minutes before turning her tv to the game. I was stunned to see that the bases were loaded with nobody out. What I missed was an error by the spectacular, gold-glove second baseman Jose "Chico" Lind and a walk to Sid Bream. Drabek was removed from the game and replaced by Stan Belinda, their side-winding closer.

Belinda got one out on a Ron Gant sacrifice fly to make it 2-1, but walked Damon Berryhill in a controversial at-bat. Randy Marsh had replaced an ill John Mcsherry behind the plate earlier in the game and looked to be squeezing Belinda with a narrow strike zone.

Belinda got Brian Hunter to pop out and now it was down to the little used Francisco Cabrera.  Unfortunately, Cabrera smacked a 2-1 pitch into left-center field and Sid Bream, of all people, beat Barry Bonds' throw to the plate and had just demolished the collective heart of the City of Pittsburgh with the series clinching run. Being the wuss that I can sometimes be in crucial sports moments, I turned the television off after the Berryhill walk and missed the heartbreaking moment. Instead, after waiting a few minutes, I turned the radio on to the voice of Lanny Frattare sadly announcing that the Atlanta Braves were, once again, National League champions. I started to cry. I remember going downstairs to the living room and saying to my mom, "I can't function. It's horrible."

 

I went back over my grandparents and was beside myself. My uncle overheard me emotionally say, "They're never going to win again!" He made fun of me for years.

I wasn't the only one brought to tears. KDKA anchorwoman, the late Patti Burns, had mascara smeared all over her face, a sure sign that she was crying her eyes out right before she had to go on the air that evening.

When I woke up the next day, it was the most depressed I had and have ever been the day after a disappointing loss. It felt like someone died, and I'm not just saying that for effect, that's literally how I felt. Riding the bus to the Art Institute that morning, you could hear a pin drop. Downtown was the same, it was like people were in mourning.

In class, all anyone could talk about was the agonizing defeat, and one student shared a story about hearing moans, cries and expletives from every dorm room in his building the second Sid Bream was called safe at the plate the night before.

Later that night, still depressed, I tuned into Sportsbeat with Stan Savran and Guy Junker and listened as one fan after another called in to describe just how dejected they were. Beano Cook came on the show and said that, in his opinion, it was the most devastating loss in professional sports history.

Here we are almost two-decades later, and I still can't watch that game without cringing. There are Youtube links of the Cabrera hit that I refuse to click on.

To this day, anytime someone says, "Go Steelers!" before a big playoff game, I think it's bad luck because the day of game 7 in '92, my brother and I were talking on the phone about the huge game that night and he ended the conversation by saying, "Go Bucs!"

You know the story of the Pirates since then: 18 straight losing seasons. Some say that when Sid Bream slid-safely across home-plate that night in October of 1992, it was the night baseball died in Pittsburgh.  I don't know about that, but I do wonder if I'll ever have a chance, as a fan, to see the Pirates make up for that miserable evening 19 years ago.

October 14th, 1992. This is the date of the last meaningful game the Pittsburgh Pirates played.

Doug Drabek versus John Smoltz. Drabek had held the potent Atlanta offense to no runs through eight innings. In the ninth he loaded the bases. Later in that inning the bases were cleared—the details of this meltdown are still too fresh and maddening for a Pirates fan to recount. And the Pittsburgh Pirates lost their third NLCS in three years.

Since that season they have lost no fewer than 83 games in any year.

At the beginning of any season, there are probably anywhere between 20-25 teams that legitimately have a chance at making the playoffs. Maybe 10 of those are confident they can make a decent playoff run. Five or six of those have a real chance of advancing all the way to the World Series.  

The Pirates are not one of these teams.

There are no guarantees in life except death, taxes and the Pirates not making the playoffs. In spite of several changes in ownership, front office personnel, managers, and venue (PNC Park opened in 2001), the Pirates haven't sniffed the playoffs since 1992 and have finished in the basement of the NL Central for the last five seasons. 

This is tragic for a city that loves sports as much as Pittsburgh. Folks often say that Pittsburgh is too much of a football town—that even if the Pirates were good they wouldn't sell out games (like the Tampa Bay Rays). But these people forget the 1970's when Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente were as big as Terry Bradshaw and Jack Lambert.

They forget the early 1990's when Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke were heroes on par with Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. This is a city that would love baseball if it were given a team to love. Hell, Pittsburghers would love baseball if they were given a team that was merely competitive.

But last year the lowly Bucs dropped a staggering 105 games, setting a franchise record for single-season futility in the 162-game era. There is no reason to believe this year will be any different.

Pirates fans have been told for the last 18 years—since the departure of Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla—that the team is "rebuilding." This is a term that Bucs fans have become quite familiar with since 1996, when Kevin McClatchy purchased the Pirates. "Rebuilding." It is a term that current owner Bob Nutting continues to use today.

But why does it take so long to rebuild? In the nearly two decades the Pirates have been "trying" to piece together a competitive roster they have let countless proven veterans and promising prospects get snatched up by teams that were willing to spend money. The Pirates are so cheap, in fact, that their 2010 payroll of $34,943,000 is only $2,353,822 more than they spent on their 1992 roster, when they spent $32,589,167 (or, roughly what Albert Pujols wants to get paid per year).

Let that sink in for a minute. 

One would think that if a team can only afford to spend so little that they must be in pretty deep financial trouble. However, in financial documents released by Deadspin last August it was revealed that in 2007 the team made a profit of just over $15 million (they went 68-94 that season), and in 2008 the organization netted $14,408,249 (for a record of 67-95).

So the question becomes: if Bob Nutting and company can earn that kind of money with the worst product in the sport, what is their motivation to field a competitive team that will invariably cost them more money?

In fairness to the organization, there are signs that the Bucs brass is spending a little more than in past years—it's just not on the field. In April of 2009 the Pirates announced that they had opened a multi-million dollar training facility in the Dominican Republic in an effort to more effectively develop and scout prospects in Latin America.

The early fruits of this labor have blossomed in the person of Jose Tabata—the 22-year-old Venezuelan who hit .299 for the Pirates in his rookie campaign last year and is expected to be one of the offensive leaders of the club going forward. 

But if Tabata does develop into the superstar the Pirates hope he will become, will the team be willing to pay the money to keep him? Or will they trade him away for more prospects like they did with Brian Giles, Aramis Ramirez, etc. Only time will tell, but ultimately the Pirates are going to have to dust off the checkbook for some on-field talent if they ever expect to be competitive again.

In the meantime the Pirates take the field today knowing that the only thing they will be playing for this year is to stay out of last place. Baseball Prospectus places their odds at making the playoffs at a scant 0.8%. It is sad to say, but we all know they are being generous. The Pirates making the playoffs is more unlikely than VCU's NCAA tournament run. 

And it will likely be that way for a long time to come.  

The Pirates get made fun of all the time for good reason. Once the owners of some of the greatest talent to ever play baseball they have fallen on hard times since Barry Bonds took his act elsewhere. You could not find a franchise with greater players then the players below:

                                                                            
Player             OPS+    G From   To   Age   BA  OBP  SLG   OPS        Pos
Brian Giles         158  715 1999 2003 28-32 .308 .426 .591 1.018     *78/9D
Ralph Kiner         157 1095 1946 1953 23-30 .280 .405 .567  .971      *7/83
Honus Wagner        152 2298 1901 1917 27-43 .325 .392 .462  .853 *63/957481
Barry Bonds         147 1010 1986 1992 21-27 .275 .380 .503  .883      *78/9
Willie Stargell     147 2360 1962 1982 22-42 .282 .360 .529  .889     *73/98
Arky Vaughan        141 1411 1932 1941 20-29 .324 .415 .472  .887      *6/75
Fred Clarke         137 1373 1901 1915 28-42 .301 .380 .420  .799    *7/9685
Richie Zisk         136  578 1971 1976 22-27 .299 .366 .477  .842        *79
Paul Waner          136 2154 1926 1940 23-37 .340 .407 .490  .896     *9/387
Kiki Cuyler         135  525 1921 1927 22-28 .336 .399 .513  .912        978
Bobby Bonilla       134  843 1986 1991 23-28 .284 .357 .481  .838    *59/738
Jason Bay           131  719 2003 2008 24-29 .281 .375 .515  .890     *7/8D9
Dave Parker         131 1301 1973 1983 22-32 .305 .353 .494  .848    *9/8734
Roberto Clemente    130 2433 1955 1972 20-37 .317 .359 .475  .834    *9/8745
George Grantham     129  913 1925 1931 25-31 .315 .410 .491  .901     *34/75
Elbie Fletcher      128  916 1939 1947 23-31 .279 .403 .412  .815         *3
Ginger Beaumont     128  740 1901 1906 24-29 .324 .369 .406  .776         *8
Mike Easler         127  549 1977 1983 26-32 .302 .354 .474  .828       *7/9
Andy Van Slyke      124 1057 1987 1994 26-33 .283 .353 .458  .811      *8/93
Jason Thompson      124  671 1981 1985 26-30 .259 .376 .432  .808         *3
Richie Hebner       121 1140 1968 1983 20-35 .277 .350 .442  .792     *5/937
Dick Stuart         121  559 1958 1962 25-29 .273 .326 .512  .839       *3/7

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/16/2010. 

 

Pirate management has accumulated a fair share of other teams disappointing high draft picks hoping to resurrect a career among a group of players who at one time were as hyped as any prospects in baseball. Below is the list of players they have taken on plus their own high draft picks:

 

Player	Age	Original Draft Team	Round	Year Drafted	High In BA Ranking
Neil Walker	25	Pirates	1 (11th)	2005	43 / 2006
Pedro Alvarez	23	Pirates	1 (2nd)	2008	12 / 2009
Jose Tabata	22	Yankees	FA	2004	27 / 2007
Andrew McCutchen	24	Pirates	1 (11th)	2005	14 / 2008
Lasting Milledge	25	NY Mets	1 (12th)	2003	9th / 2006
Andy Laroche	27	Dodgers	39th	2003	19th / 2007
Bobby Crosby	30	Oakland	1 (25th)	2001	32 / 2004
Jeff Clement	27	Seattle	1 (3rd)	2005	42 / 2008
Chris Snyder	29	Arizona	2nd	2002
John Bowker	27	Giants	3rd	2004
Charlie Morton	27	Braves	3rd	2002
James McDonald	26	Dodgers	11th	2002	56 / 2009
Brad Lincoln	25	Pirates	1 (4th)	2006	69 / 2007
Joel Hanrahan	29	Dodges	2nd	2000

 

As we do our prospect ranking for the Dodgers only,  take a gander at how Baseball America had these failed prospects ranked. Understand this is normal not unusual, for all the fanfare we give our prospects, the odds are that they will fail. The odds that someone not even ranked in top 100 will fail is of course much higher.

Lasting Milledge once considered the 9th best prospect in all of baseball now looks like he will be lucky to have a fourth outfielder role.

Andy LaRoche once considered the 19th best prospect in all of baseball now looks like he will not even be on a major league roster come April 1st, 2011.

Jeff Clement the 3rd overall pick of 2005 will be joining Andy LaRoche looking for major league work come next April.

Bobby Crosby is now old and shot but once he was also a highly touted number one pick who simply never developed and will also be looking for major league work come April.

Brad Lincoln was the Pirates own number one pick, fourth overall in 2006.  He disappeared off the prospect lists faster then a Jansen fastball.

Soon the Dodgers might have a few players from our prospect list join the BA top 100 and we will celebrate. But really the only celebration should take place when these "prospects" actually perform at the major league level for a sustained period of time, or get traded for players who have already proven they can.

As we hit the arbitration clocks for Loney and Martin we realize that even those who immediately strike it big can quickly lose their luster. At this point only Clayton Kershaw has been a consistent performer since hitting the major leagues. It is possible that Loney, Martin, Broxton, and even Kemp have already seen their better days come and go in a very short period of time. We can all envision a 2011 without all of them, and that might be a good thing. It is a sad thing, but the reality is that none of them were any good in 2010.

Maybe they should be Pirates.

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance concluded their award
season today by naming the best player in each league for 2010. When
all the votes were tallied, two men were comfortably ahead.Texas
outfielder Josh Hamilton, who hit 32 home runs and fashioned an OPS of
1.044 while leading the Rangers into the playoffs, won the award
in the American League. Hamilton received sixteen first place votes
and 261 points overall, which put him ahead of his nearest competitor,
Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, by roughly 70 points.

In the National League, helping Cincinnati to an unexpected divisional
title paid off for first baseman Joey Votto. After a season where he
cracked 37 home runs and posted a 1.024 OPS, Votto also received
sixteen first-place votes toward his total of 252 points. He also
denied St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols the chance to win
back-to-back BBA awards. Pujols was selected as MVP by the BBA in
2009, but placed second with 197 points in this year’s voting.

Winners of other Alliance awards also received votes in the Musial balloting. In the American League, Walter Johnson winner Felix Hernandez received 21 points, while Goose Gossage selection
Rafael Soriano had a single mention. On the senior circuit, Walter Johnson winner Roy Halladay placed fourth in the voting with 101 points.

The complete voting results are as follows (first place votes in parenthesis):

American League
Josh Hamilton, Texas (16) 261
Miguel Cabrera, Detroit (4) 188
Robinson Cano, New York 158
Jose Bautista, Toronto (1) 146
Adrian Beltre, Boston 107
Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay (1) 102
Paul Konerko, Chicago 65
Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay 56
Joe Mauer, Minnesota 50
Shin-Soo Choo, Cleveland 44
Felix Hernandez, Seattle 21
Vladimir Guerrero, Texas 13
Justin Morneau, Minnesota 12
Delmon Young, Minnesota 10
Cliff Lee, Seattle/Texas 8
CC Sabathia, New York 8
Alex Rodriguez, New York 7
Clay Buchholz, Boston 4
Mark Teixeria, New York 3
Jon Lester, Boston 2
Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle 2
Nick Swisher, New York 2
Jim Thome, Minnesota 2
Kevin Youkilis, Boston 2
Brett Gardner, New York 1
David Ortiz, Boston 1
Rafael Soriano, Tampa Bay 1

National League
Joey Votto, Cincinnati (16) 252
Albert Pujols, St. Louis (3) 197
Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado (1) 118
Roy Halladay, Philadelphia (1) 101
Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego 98
Troy Tulowitski, Colorado 98
Ryan Zimmerman, Washington 93
Matt Holliday, St. Louis 84
Aubrey Huff, San Francisco 32
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis 17
Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado 16
Josh Johnson, Florida 16
Dan Uggla, Florida 16
Jayson Werth, Philadelphia 16
Ryan Braun, Milwaukee 13
Prince Fielder, Milwaukee 10
Ryan Howard, Philadelphia 9
Martin Prado, Atlanta 7
Jason Heyward, Atlanta 6
Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee 5
David Wright, New York 5
Adam Dunn, Washington 4
Kelly Johnson, Arizona 4
Andres Torres, San Francisco 1

The
Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in the fall of 2009 to encourage
cooperation and collaboration between baseball bloggers of all major
league teams as well as those that follow baseball more generally. As
of this writing, the organization consists of 233 blogs spanning all 30 major league squads as well as general baseball writing.

The
BBA is organized under a similar structure as the Baseball Writers of
America, where blogs that follow the same team are combined into
“chapters” and only two votes from the chapter on an award
are counted. The blog chapters that are focused on general baseball
were allowed two votes as well, which they could use both on the same
league or split between the two leagues.

Chapters
generally followed one of two methods when casting their ballot.
Either representatives of the chapter were given the ballots for
voting or a “group ballot” was posted, accounting for both of their
votes.

Ballots are posted on the respective blogs and for this award,
were tabulated on a 13-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 point scale for first through
tenth place. In the interest of transparency, links are given below for
the ballots. Chapter affiliation is in parenthesis. Those chapters
that decided on the group method are noted with an asterisk.

American League
Camden Crazies (Baltimore)*
The Bottom Line (Boston)*
The Tribe Daily (Cleveland)*
Motor City Bengals (Detroit)
Switch Hitting Pitchers (Detroit)
One Royal Way (Kansas City)*
Twinkie Talk (Minnesota)
Seth Speaks (Minnesota)
Bronx Baseball Daily (New York)*
Contract Year (Oakland)
Rise of the Rays (Tampa Bay)
Infield Fly (Toronto)
The Blue Jay Hunter (Toronto)
Advanced Fantasy Baseball (Fantasy)*
Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (Other)*
Misc. Baseball (History)*
Blogging From The Bleachers (General)*

National League
Blog Red Machine (Cincinnati)
Marlin Maniac (Florida)
Marlins Diehards (Florida)
Feeling Dodger Blue (Los Angeles)
The Eddie Kranepool Society (New York)*
Dugger’s Corner (Philadelphia)
Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? (Pittsburgh)*
The Outfield Ivy (St. Louis)
Pitchers Hit Eighth (St. Louis)
Friar Forecast (San Diego)*
22gigantes (San Francisco)*
Advanced Fantasy Baseball (Fantasy)*
Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (Other)*
Misc. Baseball (History)*
Ron Kaplan’s Baseball Bookshelf (Miscellaneous)*
Blogging From The Bleachers (General)*


Prior Winners: 2009: Joe Mauer, Minnesota; Albert Pujols, St. Louis

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Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke is less than impressed with the Pirates’ managerial interviewees so far: One of the less inspiring names the Pirates have interviewed so far, I think. Tosca managed the Blue Jays before John Gibbons. At this point, anyone not interviewed by the Pirates should be personally offended. I suppose [...]

Andy Van Slyke had a great career, most of which he spent with the Cardinals and Pirates. Today, he is of greatest significance when you hold an "obscure baseball player naming contest." If your opponent's opening salvo is Andy Van Slyke, you know you are probably up against someone who never really watched baseball. In other words, he's the most obscure baseball player to people who were never baseball fans.

Anyway, as SB Nation Pittsburgh notes, Van Slyke seems interested in managing the Pittsburgh Pirates, though the Pirates aren't confirming talks in any official capacity. Some might wonder whether Van Slyke, who has never managed, is qualified, but I'm pretty sure that the required credentials are similar to the credentials you need to operate the trash compactor in the back room at Target.

If Van Slyke were to manage the Pirates, it would carry massive implications for at least one blog.

With Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke?, an excellent Pirates blog, the problem is pretty obvious. Pat Lackey might have to change it to, He's Right There, He's In The Dugout. If he ends up being a terrible manager, it might be, Why Don't You Go, Andy Van Slyke?

Or, hell, maybe the name could remain the same. Its meaning would just be more abstract. Regardless, for the sake of Pirates blogs such as WHYGAVS and Bucs Dugout (sportswriting rule: bad teams make good writers), I hope the team does what it must to turn things around. Losing season streaks, mathematically speaking, cannot last forever, even if Zach Duke were to remain in your rotation for 45 years.

Pirates president Frank Coonelly stopped by MLB.com today for his monthly chat with fans. With the Pirates' season over, the questions focused on the team's upcoming winter. Here are the highlights from the chat: The Pirates' have the capacity to "meaningfully increase" their payroll for next season, after spending $44MM on their 2010 roster. Coonelly shot down rumors suggesting that Andy Van Slyke has interviewed for the Pirates' managerial opening. The club has only interviewed Eric Wedge so far, and is still in the process of compiling a full list of candidates. Coonelly didn't rule out some of Pittsburgh's coaches...

With John Russell gone, the top priority is now on selecting a new, hopefully winning, manager for the team. There are several good candidates, some of whom have strong Pittsburgh ties.

That should not be a litmus test, but could be a useful tiebreaker, if aptitudes are otherwise comparable.

The early favorite is Eric Wedge. He certainly has "ties," although they're not necessarily Pittsburgh ties. He worked with Neal Huntingdon when the latter was in Cleveland, which is to say that they'd be reunited. That's fine, if the Pirates have made a firm decision to keep Huntingdon. But if that's not the case, and Huntingdon leaves, Wedge might be a misfit.

Another candidate is Phil Garner, who actually was on a World Series winning team, in 1979, which is to say, as a Pirate. He's now managing the Houston Astros, but reportedly wants to come back to Pittsburgh. Given that he won a National pennant with a normally weakish team, he might be the objectively strongest candidate.

Ken Macha is a native Pittsburgher from Monroeville, who was made available, first by the Oakland A's, and more recently by the Milwaukee Brewers. Those are borderline winning teams that might represent the Pirates' "next stop."  From a professional point of view, he is a "technician" who will execute strategy set by others, and not lock horns with Huntingdon.

Andy Van Slyke and Tony Pena are former Pirate players with managerial experience, although they may be less obviously qualified than some of the others.

Even players should be considered for their Pittsburgh ties, if only because that might make them easier to sign during their free agent years.

We did well to draft Neil Walker, whose father, Tom, was a close friend of the late Roberto Clemente. The father was slated to go on that ill-fated flight with Clemente on New Year's Eve, but was spared when Clemente refused to let him go.

Likewise, the Pirates should have drafted Kyle Drabek, son of Doug, in 2006, rather than Brad Lincoln. Drabek is a better pitcher than Lincoln, and in addition, has a Pittsburgh tie.

As a "tiebreaker," it might have made sense to trade for Andy LaRoche in 2008 while his older brother Adam was on staff. But in this case, that wasn't a good idea because it wasn't really "close." Both LaRoches were easily superseded by other, better candidates.

 

As of Monday morning, he is out as the Pirates manager. Russell was the third full-time manager since 2001, not counting Pete Mackanin's stint as interim manager after the departure of Lloyd McClendon.

So, after the Gene Lamonts, the McClendons and the Jim Tracys, who is suitable to manage this team and, dare I say it, turn this mess around?

Here are my op five candidates that I feel the Pirates should look at to fill the position.

1. Tony Pena

I believe Pena is the de-facto candidate for this team. As a matter of fact, he probably should have been manager a long time ago. Pena is very familiar with the organization. He began his career as a catcher with the Bucs in 1980 and was traded prior to the 1986 season in a deal that involved my next candidate.

He is no stranger to turnarounds either. He was hired as the Kansas City Royals manager in 2002. The franchise had been losing since 1994 and it only took Pena until 2003 to get the team over the .500 mark. He has been the first base coach for the New York Yankees since 2007. He even was interviewed for Joe Torre's vacancy.

2. Andy Van Slyke

How fitting would it be for the favorite player of an entire generation of Pirate fans that have never experienced this team win? Van Slyke still has a deep connection with Pittsburgh as we've heard in many interviews over the summer, and has a few years as a first base coach under his belt for Jim Leyland's Detroit Tigers before not returning as coach after 2009.

I realize that this pick would be a serious risk, but how much worse can the team get? They need someone who preaches defense and Van Slyke has five consecutive Gold Gloves to his credit.

3. Eric Wedge

Wedge was the first favorite in my eyes before I actually did some research. He's the third-best candidate on my list, but he's most likely the favorite in the eyes of Neal Huntington. The two do have a history together in the Cleveland Indians organization. Wedge was given the Indians managerial job in 2002, the same year Huntington was named assistant general manager.

Wedge was the Tribe's skipper all the way up until 2009, when he was given the axe. I still think he was given a bad wrap in the whole thing, but the fact remains that he had that team one win away from winning the American League Pennant. (Yes, I just was overcome with guilt and sadness as I wrote that word.)

It also helps that Wedge was named AL Manager of the Year in 2007. I would be more than happy to see him hired. He wouldn't be the first coach from Cleveland to bring success to this city.

4. Dale Sveum

Come on, you have to remember Sveum from his playing days here in Pittsburgh. He managed the Pirates Double-A affiliate from 2001-2003, accumulating a record of 213-211. He then was the third base coach for the Boston Red Sox under Terry Francona (who grew up in New Brighton) from 2004-2005. In 2006, Sveum was the Milwaukee Brewers bench coach.

By 2008, he had been promoted to third base coach and served as interim manager after Ned Yost was fired. He was the Brewers manager in the NLDS that year, before the Brewers fell to Philadelphia.


5. Phil Garner

Everyone remembers Ol' Scrap Iron from the 1979 World Champion Buccos. In his managerial days with the Houston Astros, he led them to two-straight NL Wild Card berths, and a World Series appearance in 2005 where they were swept by the Chicago White Sox.

Did I mention that the Astros had never won a playoff series until they had Garner on the bench as manager?

Andy Van Slyke, a former major league outfielder, recently wrote his first novel, "The Curse," with with the St. Louis sportswriter Rob Rains, in which the Cubs are churning toward their first World Series since 1945 before fate intervenes.

Andy Van Slyke, a former major league outfielder, recently wrote his first novel, "The Curse," with with the St. Louis sportswriter Rob Rains, in which the Cubs are churning toward their first World Series since 1945 before fate intervenes.

Where Have you Gone, Andy Van Slyke reviews the up and down Pirates career of Zach Duke. Zach reminds me of Bill James writing about Tommy John lefties in his 1980s Abstracts. Tommy John’s numbers reflected his team. On a good team he was a very good pitcher, and on a bad team he was [...]

... the boundaries here by which it is acceptable to use quotes. We might as well quote everything, Chris Farley-style. Anyway, whenever it’s 1999, and I’m trying to gain additional valuable information on Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Darren Dreifort, I turn to the only viable source I know -- a former Pittsburgh Pirates player who retired in 1995: Former star Andy Van Slyke has said of his...

Source : The Baseball Card Blog

The Pittsburgh Pirates will not have a winning record this season.

And water is still wet. The sun still rises from the east. Telemarketers still call at the dinner hour. Wile E. Coyote still hasn’t caught the Road Runner.

You know how whenever you watch a boxing match, no matter how little-known the fighters are, they always have winning records? This defies logic, because somewhere out there must be a fighter with a record of like 5-45. A tomato can with gloves.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are that tomato can.

It’s 18 in a row and counting—the Pirates’ streak of losing seasons. The last man to guide them to a ledger where the left hand column read higher than the right one was none other than the Tigers’ own Jim Leyland, back in 1992.

That was about 18,000 packs of Marlboros ago.

It was also when George Bush—the first one—was president. Steve Yzerman was 27 years old and wondering if he’d ever win a Stanley Cup. VHS tapes were still all the rage. The Lions were good.

In 1992, when the Pirates sported a 96-66 record and went to their third straight NLCS, Barry Bonds was still in the Dr. Banner stage of his career, pre-Hulk. He could actually fit through a doorway without turning sideways.

Leyland had dark hair and lighter lungs. Lloyd McClendon was one of his players. Andy Van Slyke, too. The Pirates played in Three Rivers Stadium, along with the Steelers, who were still being coached by Chuck Noll.

The Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies weren’t even teams yet. The Milwaukee Brewers played in the American League. Randy Johnson was still young.

Tigers fans grouse that their team has been disappointing since 2006, when Leyland led them to the World Series in his first year in Detroit. 2006 did in fact end an 18-year streak of playoff-less baseball in Motown.

But the Pirates fan has the Tigers fan beat because at least the Tigers had two winning seasons among those 18 (1988 and 1993).

A typical Pirates season means being out of contention by Easter. And that includes the years when Easter has fallen in March.

There should be a sign outside of PNC Park: The Bucs Stop Here.

Baseball seasons can be cruel and heartbreaking, like kids on the playground or your college girlfriend.

Baseball seasons can tease and give you a come-hither look and motion for you to come upstairs, and when you get there you see skeletons of the men before you—like that Monty Python sketch with the milkmen.

The baseball season is arduous and long and has more peaks and valleys than the Dakotas.

Except in Pittsburgh.

In Pittsburgh, there never is any hope. There’s no teasing. Just mocking.

The calendar flips to February, the Pirates gather for spring training, and already the folks there are talking about the Steelers’ chances or girding up for the next Penguins playoff run.

Then comes March and the exhibition games come, and the people up north in the Steel City plead with the media down in Florida not to let them know of all the tripping over the shoelaces and the throwing to the wrong base and the striking out with the bases loaded—because there’ll be plenty of time for that between April and September.

The Pirates are usually something like 8-17 in April, and by the time the kids get out of school in June, the Games Behind First column in the standings is in the 20s and growing faster than Pinocchio’s nose at a game of liar’s poker.

At the end of the season the Pirates are always 67-95. It’s uncanny.

For 18 seasons now, the Pirates have been playing the role of the team that all the others feel they should beat. The other 15 teams in the National League have two different kinds of vacations on their schedule: the All-Star break and whenever they play the Pirates.

As is always the case with losing franchises, it’s never a case of lack of trying (unless you’re the Los Angeles Clippers). The Pirates try. But when the Pirates try, it’s like when George McGovern tried to beat Richard Nixon. Or when Chuck Wepner tried to beat Muhammad Ali.

About that.

The Pirates don’t win because they never have enough talent. Their last decent catcher was Jason Kendall, and that was eons ago. They used to have Jason Bay, if that floats your boat.

The Pirates, since 1993, have been like an expansion team stuck in the baseball version of Groundhog Day. They’re always young, inexperienced, and made up of minor leaguers. Every year. Again, uncanny.

Actually, one thing has changed. The Pirates used to finish last in the NL East. Now they finish last in the NL Central. So there’s that.

Pittsburgh hasn’t seen baseball this bad since the early 1950s, when Joe Garagiola was the Pirates catcher. Back then, the Pirates would go 50-104, and the only attraction was Ralph Kiner. Today the Pirates go 67-95, and they’d kill for someone half as good as Kiner.

With a history of 90-plus-loss seasons dotting the past 18 years, you’d think the Pirates would be using the revolving door method of hiring managers. But since Leyland’s last season in Pittsburgh in 1996, the Pirates have only had four skippers—and two of them sit in the Tigers’ dugout as coaches today: Gene Lamont and Lloyd McClendon.

It’s on the roster where there’s been the revolving door. The names change, but not the talent level. The Pirates rosters have been a Who’s Not Who of baseball.

This year the Pirates even outdid themselves in their mediocrity. They hit loss No. 82—thus guaranteeing a losing record in the 162-game schedule—last week, which is a new record for them in terms of promptness. They typically don’t lose their 82nd game until about a week or so later than that.

As I write this, the Pirates are 43-84. They’re on pace to lose about 107 games—even more Piratian than usual. Their roster, as usual, is filled with 20-somethings who are household names—they’re only known in their own household.

Ba-dum-BUM!

But the Pirates have one thing going for them. They have a player who has the best name in baseball: outfielder Lastings Milledge.

Just call him Last for short. Seems appropriate.

Congratulations on ensuring your 18th birthday following Friday night's loss, which gave the Pirates their 82nd loss. You're still the oldest consecutive losing season streak in the history of major American professional sports, and while one's 18th birthday is an exciting time, what follows is one of the most important years of your life.

Sit down for a moment. There are some things you should know about being 18.

At school, they're going to make you register a Selective Service form. This is so the military has your information in case there's a draft. I know this is sort of scary, but don't freak out. It's little more than a formality these days.

Gillette is going to send you a razor in the mail. Make no mistake -- they aren't genuinely happy for you, they simply want to coerce you into purchasing their expensive razor blades. Just buy the cheapest razor you can find. It doesn't really matter.

You're old enough to smoke now, but please don't. You're still a kid and... I don't know, you think you're invincible. You think you'll be able to quit whenever you want, but it's easy to under-estimate just how hard it is to quit. If you're not careful, you'll be smoking a pack and a half a day by the time you're forty. You'll save a bunch of money, you won't have to stand outside the bar shivering for the sake of your addiction, and you can walk around without smelling like an ashtray. Keep this in mind.

Excuse me for getting sentimental. I remember when you were born, you know that? The very night you were born. It was Game 7 of the NLCS, and Andy Van Slyke urged Barry Bonds to shift his position in left field. Bonds ignored him. Then Francisco Cabrera managed to make contact and hit the grass, and then Sid scored... it was quite a moment.

During the first few months of your life, we weren't sure if you were going to make it. Boy, were your folks frightened. You had to undergo Barry Bonds removal surgery in order to survive. But look at you now. A .328 winning percentage? That's the envy of losing streaks half your age.

I know you don't want me to get all sappy here, but... I'm proud of you, sport. Make the right choices. Live smart. I know you will.

P.S. The Royals' consecutive losing season streak is turning seven next month. Any ideas for his birthday? Maybe take him to see his first ball game? That'd be a lot of fun.

Read more about the Pirates at Bucs Dugout.

Nine-time Grammy winner and lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan Sheryl Crow recently visited MLB.com’s studios in New York to take part in its on-going Major League Artists series. Sheryl and her new band played songs from her new album, 100 Miles From Memphis, for a performance that will be available exclusively on MLB.com/Entertainment beginning today. 100 Miles From Memphis was released on A&M Records July 20^th and debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 chart behind Rick Ross and Eminem.

In a two-part interview with MLB.com Sheryl reflects on her favorite St. Louis Cardinals memories, her home town team growing up, from attending games at Busch Stadium to watch players such as Ozzie Smith and Andy Van Slyke to singing the National Anthem prior to the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis and on the rich musical history of Memphis, her inspiration for 100 Miles From Memphis. Other interactive content available from Sheryl’s visit to MLB.com includes an exclusive photo gallery and sample tracks from 100 Miles From Memphis. Additional promotional video from the recorded studio content at MLB.com will be available cross-platform at MLB ballparks and MLB Network.

Watch the exclusive performances & two-part interview here!

The retired Gold Glove center fielder is now a novelist.

I had intended to write this review this morning, and when I was ready to get started I noticed this FanShot which, among other things, accuses Andy Van Slyke, who played for two big rivals of the Cubs (the Cardinals and Pirates) in the 1980's and 1990's, of just trying to make a buck off the Cubs, or of playing off a "Cubs curse".

Neither is true. I had a chance to meet Van Slyke at a news conference for this book yesterday, and he's not the typical ballplayer-who-hired-a-ghostwriter-for-his-book.

Though he never played for the Cubs, nor does he have any connection with Chicago (he's originally from upstate New York), Van Slyke said he always enjoyed playing in Wrigley Field as a visitor and would have loved to play for the Cubs if he'd had the opportunity. He said he enjoyed the ballpark and the energy that the fans brought to the games. He claimed to have had a .370 lifetime average in Wrigley Field; like a lot of ballplayers, his memory doesn't match the facts, although his numbers in Wrigley were the best he had in any ballpark: .316/.397/.540 with 15 HR in 366 career plate appearances. Van Slyke did say at the news conference that he thinks day games do hurt the Cubs; he says the constant schedule-shifting could be the issue. Since he never played here, his opinion is anecdotal from his experiences as a visiting player. The schedule, for example, didn't stop the Cubs from winning 96 games in 1984 with an all-day game home schedule, or 97 games in 2008.

The book has nothing to do with any "curse", really -- I think it's a rather unfortunate title, probably designed to sell books. But the idea and concept are clearly Van Slyke's. One of the primary characters is named after Van Slyke's high school baseball coach, a man he said had an incredible influence over his future baseball career, and a man who in the book overcomes many obstacles to succeed. The co-author, Rob Rains, is a longtime St. Louis sportswriter who Van Slyke knew from his days as a Cardinal. This novel is clearly a collaboration, though, not simply a ghostwritten book using an athlete's name. After the jump, a review of the book itself.

"The Curse" is one of the better baseball novels I've read. It weaves real-life people in with the fictional ballplayers and peripheral characters invented for Van Slyke and Rains' scenario, which involves tragic events that change the course of a first-place Cubs season. The authors said the book was originally intended to come out in 2008, the 100th anniversary of the last World Championship, but got delayed.

Instead of being sold by the Wrigleys to Tribune Co. in 1981, the novel has the team sold in that era to an individual who appears to be a Cubs fan, but in reality, there's a lot more going on in this man's life than just owning a baseball team. The authors do a nice job of weaving real-life events and people that we all know about the last 30 years of Cubs history in with the fictional setting and characters of the novel.

When the tragedy happens -- and I won't spoil it for you by telling you what it is, although there's a clue in the cover photo above -- the book becomes a pretty good whodunit as well as a lesson in how people can overcome tough or tragic incidents in their own lives. That's what Van Slyke said in the news conference -- that he hoped the book would be a positive portrayal of baseball and human relationships.

Many of the portrayals of characters in the novel will seem to you to be composites of people you have heard of or know of in real life. The Cubs manager, in particular, is someone who we'd all probably want to manage the team in the future (and at this juncture, I might take a fictional character to manage the Cubs instead of Lou Piniella). There are also a few players who play for the ersatz Cubs who resemble real players (not necessarily Cubs) from the current era.

Don't judge this novel by its title. It's well-written, thought-provoking and entertaining and definitely worth your time. You can find it at this Amazon link. Full disclosure: the publisher sent me a copy of this book for review.

Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke documents the great Pirates-Pierogi scandal. At this point, it’s much more interesting than the team.

In reply to Game Preview: White Sux (26-33) vs. Cubs (27-33):

Look, we have five good outfielders, here - what am I going to do? Soriano has to play, even if he's batting .225 over half the season, you got to play him. Then there's Fukudome - who when I don't put on the lineup card, which he can't read because the first names are the last names anyway, he just jogs out to right field when the game starts. Byrd is leading the league in hitting, and does needless dives better than Andy Van Slyke ever did, and Nady is a proven vet who, I think, charged the beach at Normandy. How can I take him out of the lineup now that he can overthrow third with the best of them? Colvin is the only guy who does what I tell him to do, so he sits out most nights. What else can I do?

At least they played Xavier Nady tonight, right? It looks as though the Cubs have decided to revert to the old days of playing the Pirates. By old days, I mean the Andy Van Slyke, Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds, Mike...

Because the Iowa Cubs and the Peoria Chiefs were both rained out tonight and because I'm not in any better mood than any of you are, I'm going to take this time to say something that gives me no pleasure to say.

Bob Brenly is full of it.

Now I like Bob, but he is prone to "Old Ballplayers" disease from time to time. Tonight he was (justifiably) complaining about the fundamental mistakes made by Starlin Castro and Hanley Ramirez, but then he said something stupid. He said "It used to be that you were expected to play at least 500 games in the minors [before getting called up to the majors] to learn the fundamentals" or words very close to that. I was eating dinner at the time so I didn't write down the exact words, but that's what he said.

What he said was complete nonsense.

Besides the fact that Hanley Ramirez actually played 400 games in the minors, it's complete nonsense. That has never been the case.

Bob didn't give a time frame for this "old baseball rule," but I think from context it's pretty clear the era that Brenly was speaking of. It was the 1970s and 1980s, when ballplayers were men who played the game right and waited their turn to take the field.  It also just happened to be the era that Bob himself toiled in the minor leagues. Frankly, it couldn't have been much earlier than that because the draft doesn't start until 1965 and before that any player who signed a bonus was expected to go straight to the majors because of the "Bonus Baby" rule. Besides, I don't think Bob knows much about the minor leagues of the 1950s and 1960s. If you go back before that, you enter the era of the "Free Minors" when major league clubs didn't get to decide when a player went to the majors. They had to purchase the player from a minor league team willing to sell to them. (OK, there were rules in place that said minor league teams had to sell a player for a certain price, but let's not get too technical here)

So let's get back to the era when Bob Brenly was in the minors. The 1970s.

Sure enough, Mr. Brenly played almost 600 games in the minor leagues before he got the call. He spent one season in rookie ball, three years in A ball, one in AA and two in AAA.  But as Bob likes to point out constantly, he wasn't much of a prospect. He was an undrafted free agent who was just signed to fill out a roster. Every once an a while, a guy like that turns himself into an All-Star. That was Bob. But those guys aren't just handed the keys to a major league locker room. They have to prove themselves at every level, often more than once, just to prove that the scouts who wrote them off as no prospect in the first place were wrong.

So good for Bob as he got called up to the majors when the players returned from the Great Strike of 1981. If you look at the roster of any team in the 1980s when Bob was playing, you'll see lots of players who played more than 500 games in the minors.  His teammate on the Giants, "Hackman" Jeffrey Leonard, played over 500 games in the minors before getting the call and over 700 before he finally stuck. Of course, Leonard was also an undrafted free agent, and he was also still 17 when he started in the minors. His fellow rookie on the '82 Giants, Chili Davis, played 450 games in the minors. So not quite 500, then Bob, but still a lot.

But while Brenly, Leonard and Davis all turned themselves into good players, Bob isn't talking about ordinary players. One of the players he's talking about is Hanley Ramirez, who's probably the second-best player in the National League. The other is Starlin Castro, whom we have no idea how he's going to turn out, but is certainly considered a much better player in the minors than Brenly, Leonard or Davis were. (Leonard was so highly regarded, he was traded twice.)

But Robby Thompson, who Bob also played with, played 287 games in the minors--two and a half years. Will "The Thrill" Clark was a huge star at Mississippi State and played a grand total of 74 games in the minors.

But we've only looked at one organization: the Giants. I think it's safe to say that the three biggest stars for the Cubs in the 1980s were Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson and Mark Grace. They're good examples because Sandberg came up with the Phillies, Dawson with the Expos and Grace with the Cubs. Sandberg played 450 games, but Dawson only played 186 minor league games and Gracie checks in at 270.

Look at any of the big stars of the 1980s, and you'll see that most of them played far fewer than 500 games in the minors. Dale Murphy played 434. Darryl Strawberry played 312. Mike Schmidt played 205. Fred Lynn played 174. Ricky Henderson played 252. Robin Yount played 64 games. So did Paul Molitor. Ozzie Smith played 68 games.

Even a guy like Ted Simmons played only 333 games in the minors. Andy Van Slyke played 395.

Dave WInfield and Bob Horner played zero games in the minor leagues. Remember that, Bob?

Now again, you can argue that all those guys (well, with maybe the exception of Horner) were exceptional players, at least Ray Lankford Hall of Famers if not actual guys in Cooperstown. (Lankford himself played 476 minor league games.) But we don't know how good Starlin Castro is going to get and the other guy he was complaining about was Hanley Ramirez. You want to compare Hanley to Johnnie LeMaster?

It's clear that Starlin Castro was nervous tonight. It's also clear that even in the minors, he made more errors than you'd like. It's also clear that Starlin Castro is very young and probably wouldn't be in the majors if the Cubs weren't in full panic mode right now.

But even so, Castro has played 264 games in the minors. Two-hundred and four if you don't count the Dominican Summer League. That's more than a lot of the stars on that list.

That's no reason for Bob Brenly to go off on him and Ramirez for not knowing the fundamentals like he did back in the day. We're all frustrated. Bob's frustrated. But in case Bob forgot, he spent over 600 games in the minors and that didn't stop him from making four errors in one inning which is a major league record. (OK, he was playing out of position.)

It's absolutely false that players in the past spent more time in the minors, just as the idea that players "back in my day" knew the fundamentals better than the players of today. That statement is also hilarious to those of us who can remember the 1980s and remember the players from the 1950's and 1960's go off on them and say how lacking they were in the fundamentals. Just like the guys in The Glory of their Times complained about the players of the fifties and sixties.

So Bob, next time you're frustrated with the Cubs, stop yelling at Castro to get off your lawn.  The guy is a kid and he's going to make mistakes. I would have liked to see him play in the minors longer to work on things like his defensive consistency. But the players and organizations back in your era weren't any different.  In fact, they were probably more likely to call up a big shot prospect early than we are today.

When they say that there’s no crying in baseball, they aren’t referring to the fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s okay to cry if you are a Bucco’s fan. We’ve been crying for years. Decades. Even The Onion knows that we’re hurting. While they have various giveaways and fireworks at games all throughout the season, Fan Euthanasia Night really doesn’t seem all that bad. I mean, we really do need to be put out of our misery, don’t we? I was raised a Pirates fan. Really, I was raised a Pittsburgh fan. I bleed black and gold, whether that’s the Steelers, the Penguins or, yes, even the Pirates. (Additionally, I don’t care about basketball. Ever.) I remember attending a game at Three Rivers Stadium  in which a fellow softball teammate and I held up a sign that read, “Will you marry me, Andy Van Slyke?” Who cares that he would have been jailed for statutory rape? Those were the good old days. I miss those good days. I miss Andy Van Slyke. So does the guy behind Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke, aka WHYGAVS? I miss being proud of my team. God, I miss winning. I mean, yes, we beat the Cubs. In fact, we swept those Cubbies. One of those times was even a significant win. But the 20-0 loss during the Brewers series is still fresh in our minds. I’ve entered the Make Room for Crazy poll and I actually bet that This! Is! The! Year! At least the money goes some place worthwhile. Right? RIGHT? Fans may be frustrated. I’m not. You know why? Pittsburgh Pirates shirts for my boys this year were 50% off at the beginning of the season. 50 percent off. Of clearance price. I’ll always be a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. But, man, I love me a sale. If they have a winning season (it could happen, right?), that means that the shirts next year might be only clearance price, not 50 percent off of the lowest possible price. Hopefully the recession will be over by that point. In fact, perhaps we should just blame the recession on the Pirates. Why not?

I know this comes off as kind of a "hater" thread, but I was just thinking, after listening to the latest Black Rebel Motorcycle Club cd, that all their albums are interchangeable. Some good songs here and there, but nothing very memorable. I buy each successive cd with the hopes it will be that knockout classic album, and it's the same old mediocre stuff. In baseball terms, these bands are kind of like Sid Bream, Andy Van Slyke or Keith Hernandez. Solid, with some high points, but journeymen who never reached that next level. (And yes, I know Hernandez shared the MVP with Stargell in 1979, but that was a fluke. Pops should have won it alone.) So here is my top 5 list of recent mediocrity. My criteria is they had the potential to put out a classic album, but never did. BRMC (the aforementioned) Sterophonics: First album was probably the best, downhill from there Ben Harper, although Lifeline was pretty good Starsailor The Bravery

It was a different world back in 1987.  No one had a cell phone.  The internet had not been invented.  GM wasn’t broke.  Barry Bonds had a normal sized head.  And that’s when I learned to hate baseball mascots.

Me and some buds had tickets to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Metsies.  Now, mind you, getting a Bucco’s ticket back then was not the hardest row to hoe:  The team was having trouble drawing in crowds to cavernous Three Rivers Stadium, which had all the charm of a Soviet era housing complex. 

But these seats were behind the dugout, way past the budget of me and my Iron City brew drinking cohorts, who went to nearly every game that season in nose bleed nirvana.  However, we had scored them for free from one of my customers at the bar I worked at back then, while slogging through grad school.

The Bucs had put together a young, good club that would go on to win three straight division championships starting in 88' under manager Jim Leyland. The team had the aforementioned Bonds with a normal noggin’, along with Bobby Bo, Andy Van Slyke, Sid Bream, and Doug Drabek.  Plus, we we're all looking forward to a Mets team that was just off of an 86' series championship, what with Mookie, Hernandez, Daryl, and Dwight in their heyday. 

So we sat down to watch the game, and the friggin’ Pirate mascot got up on the dugout in front of us.  Again and again and again.  We spent a good portion of the game trying to peer around some schmoe who thought he was being cute and entertaining.

Siddown, will ya!?

Mascots are part of the dumb ass side of baseball.  The marketing stuff that teams engage in to “spice it up” and make it “jazzy” for a generation of fans who can’t enjoy life without the Ritalin they grew up ingesting.  They got started with the Philly Phantic and San Diego Chicken (what the heck a chicken has to do with a man of the cloth is anyone's guess).  Like fire ants and kudzu, which are also annoying, the trend seems to have spread through the majors unchecked.

Now I’m a big fan of minor league ball.  And somehow, the schmaltzy marketing crap doesn’t bother me as much at that level.  It is the minors; after all, I expect some sideshow carney stuff. 

But the majors? 

Have some standards.  It’s the show.

Here’s my list of things that make a major league game less major.  Signs of the continued decline of our civilization.

Mascots.   I love you, you love me, we’re a dysfunctional family.  If you want to watch big furry things, watch Barney on TC.  What's next, free teething ring night?

We will rock you, and a bakers dozen of other really, really bad rock tunes played over and over and over again at the ball park. 

At DC-10 volume. 

What the heck ever happened to the organ, and conversing about the game during play?  Nah.  Let’s listen to some dead guy from England who wouldn’t have known a bunt from a swizzle stick back before he took the big dirt nap tell us how he’s gonna “rock us” whenever it’s rally cap time.  Bleeech.  Same goes for the stupid “Hey” song, sung by a guy who was convicted of pedophilia.  Can it bring back the organ?

Different colored jerseys.   I’m watching the Rangers play the White Sox, and I can’t tell which team is the home squad!  Why?  Because the Rangers have on bright red jerseys, and the Sox, for God knows why, blue.  They look like a couple of softball teams.  I kinda expected to see “Dizzy’s Tavern” or something like that emblazoned across the front. 

The absolute WORST is the Red Sox wearing green, it’s just plain wrong.

Keep the classic uniforms classic.  Home in white, away in gray.

Yeah, I know that other teams have created uniform visual assault in the past, the Chi Sox in shorts, Pirates in the 70’s with those goofy ass hats, and the old Astros LSD inspired togs come to mind, but aren’t we supposed to learn from our mistakes instead of perpetuating them?

The wave.   Is stupid. 

It was invented by drunk, stupid people in Seattle for the purpose of creating something to do during pro football television time outs. Encouranging people to do it at baseball is also a dumb thing.

Dot races or any variant thereof. 

Is three card Monte really so exciting?  Watching people cheer to see the red dot beat the blue dot beat the green dot on a computer animated scoreboard is, at best, an appalling demonstration of how the educational system in America has completely and utterly failed our society.  I mean, they’re friggin’ dots on a friggin’ scoreboard that are friggin’ computer generated.   Mental masturbation without the orgasm.  Go home and stare at some test patterns or something.

A member from every team on the All-Star squad.   Classic case of the marketing guys overwhelming the common sense nodes of the brains that run the game.

Sometimes a team sucks and really don't deserve to have a member on the team.  Like the Pirates.  It's not little league soccer, where everyone wins and we don't want to hurt anyone's self esteem.  Best players should be on it.  End of story.

No beer after the 7^th inning.  This one is always marketed as "family friendly."

The mommy state strikes again.  If someone is drunk and disorderly, toss em’.  Otherwise, allow us grown ups to drink beer until the end of the game if we choose to.  Unless we're moving to Sharia law here in the states.

Instant replay.   Brought to you by the robotic, control freak NFL where everything must be controlled by Big Brother.

Except, you know what? Surprise, replay isn't perfect.  But at least when it was just the umps, it didn’t take 5 minutes to call it.  The replay can guarantee 100% accuracy, but that thing pretty much does guarantee there will be a long delay.

I wouldn’t mind, however, for some brave marketing person to do a re-run of that mother of all baseball promos gone bad, disco demolition night. 

Just to see some stuff git blowed’ up.

Anyone that's been a WHYGAVS for a long time probably remembers the Andy Van Slyke quote that used to adorn the top of the blog: “Every season has its peaks and valleys. What you have to try to do is eliminate the Grand Canyon.” A four-game losing streak that includes that Brewers series and a loss to the Astros is scraping very dangerously close to the canyon. Chris Jakubauskas gets his...

Source : Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyk (subscribe)

Cards-Mets a great NL rivalry:

nymetsfans:

Where it all started…

I still remember hating The White Rat. I also remember somewhere around that time hating the Pirates and Andy Van Slyke.

Yes, there actually was a time where the Mets and Pirates could somehow be considered rivals.

 

 

Year	Age		Team	PA	AB	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ISOP	BB%	K%	BABIP	GB%	LD%	wOBA
2005	20	A+	Vero Beach	330	288	15	3	7	32	81		0.247	0.324	0.392	716	0.145	9.70%	24.50%	0.32			0.312
2006	21	Wint	North Shore	125	108	5	0	2	15	34		0.213	0.304	0.315	619	0.102	12.00%	27.20%	0.292	53%	19%	0.282
2006	21	A+	Vero Beach	519	470	23	3	13	38	114		0.285	0.337	0.43	767	0.145	7.30%	22.00%	0.353	53%	16%	0.329
2007	22	Wint	Peo Saguaros	115	105	4	0	0	9	28		0.248	0.304	0.286	590	0.038	7.80%	24.30%	0.338	49%	16%	0.272
2007	22	AA	Jacksonville	481	422	21	2	11	48	112		0.291	0.362	0.429	791	0.138	10.00%	23.30%	0.375	55%	17%	0.347
2008	23	AAA	Las Vegas	506	443	28	5	9	43	96	17	0.316	0.372	0.463	835	0.147	8.50%	19.00%	0.388	48%	19%	0.359
2009	24	AAA	Albuquerque	129	116	10	2	2	10	22	8	0.328	0.372	0.500	872	0.172	7.80%	17.10%	0.391	41%	21%	0.368
2009	24	MLB	LA Dodgers	16	14	1	0	1	2	4	0	0.214	0.313	0.500	813	0.286	12.50%	25.00%	0.222	44%	11%	0.346

 

The ultimate organizational soldier Paul has worked his way to the top rung but can't quite get over the hump. In 2009 he had a great spring, and impressed the brass enough to get the first call when they needed an extra outfielder.  Once he got the call  injuries and staph infections wiped out the rest of his 2009, and the Dodgers never considered him as a backup outfielder in 2010, bringing in multiple veterans to handle that role.

Just like Jason Repko, Paul will have to do some time with the Isotopes this season while hoping something breaks his way, and he gets another chance to play with the big club. I don't think anyone questions the fact he'd be the best option for the number four or five outfield spot other then the fact the Dodgers want him to get full time at bats since he missed so much time last year.

With an arm almost equal to Repko he can also play all three outfield positions, seems to handle the corners well and could handle CF if he had to.  With the oncoming onslaught of Travon Robinson, Andrew Lambo, Scott Van Slyke, Gerry Sands, and Kyle Russell, Paul has a very limited time to be a Dodger.

As you can see from the numbers above, he's been improving in two key areas. His K rate has dropped below 20% and his isolated power (ISOP) has been trending upward. Though it should given the hitting environment he has been playing in. I would not get carried away with what looks like promising offensive numbers in AAA the last two years. Those numbers were created in one of the most friendly offensive environments in all of minor league baseball.

Future: It is doubtful that Paul is anymore then a fourth outfielder but then Randy Winn had a quite a career with the same profile.  I don't see much of a future for Paul on the Dodgers as he does not have enough bat to replace Manny in 2011. I'd be content to see him become our all around utility outfielder but the Dodgers don't seem to let kids handle that role.

I'm not asking for community projections for Paul, as the odds are high he will garner very few at bats for us this year.

As we gear up for the 2010 baseball season, we continue our daily, team-by-team previews with the renovated Detroit Tigers. Vegas has set their odds of winning the World Series at 20/1.

By Kurt Mensching of Bless You Boys

-----

Introduction

Let's first dispense of a meme that I think Tigers fans are getting sick of hearing and reading, because it's just not true.

Early in the offseason, someone in the media came up with the idea that the Detroit Tigers were going to be in cost-cutting mode this offseason. Like every urban legend, it was based on a kernel of truth. Of course the Tigers had to cut their salary. I mean, just look at how much they're spending! And besides, the Michigan economy stinks.

Not that it was an original thought to this offseason. Ever since Miguel Cabrera signed a contract that pays him about $20 million a year, some in the media have had this idea the Tigers couldn't afford him and would soon trade him. (No, Bill Simmons, you can't have him.) Why they'd sign him to a deal worth $160 million and immediately trade him, I don't know. Before that, national "experts" were crowing the Tigers would hold a "fire sale," probably before the season was even 25 percent completed in 2009.

How'd that go?

I bring this up because despite all evidence to the contrary, some people continue to insist the Tigers have been inconsistent in their offseason plans to "reduce their budget."

In November, Tigers CEO, President and General Manager Dave Dombrowski was quoted by MLB.com's Jason Beck saying:

"We're not having a fire sale."

Before the winter meetings, Dombrowski told Knobler:

"We're going to continue trying to win in 2010."

Dombrowski had this to say to Beck after the big offseason trade:

"The reality is, no matter what, we needed to make some adjustments. In almost any scenario, it's a necessity. But it's also one of those where we're in a very good situation with a quality owner that projects to have a really solid payroll as we go forward. But at some point, adjustments needed to be made, and this was the time to do it for us."

So, while everyone continues to point out the Tigers traded All-Star center fielder Curtis Granderson's $5.5 million salary to the Yankees only to add Johnny Damon for $8 million, it was never about saving money this season. It was always about setting up the team for the future while continuing to compete in a weak American League Central in the present.

So that's what they did by trading for four cost-controlled players, including three pretty good, major-league ready prospects. The other big move of the offseason, letting Gold Glove second baseman Polanco walk, made way for the Tigers' top positional prospect to make his MLB debut.

We can certainly argue whether all the moves will work out -- and we do.

But we can't say Dombrowski or the Tigers were inconsistent about their offseason plans.

They did exactly what they said they'd do.

Position Players

While Granderson and Polanco may be gone, in their places debut well-hyped rookie Austin Jackson, who prowls the outfield just as well as his predecessor, and rookie Scott Sizemore, whose bat was too strong to keep in the minor leagues for another season.

Of course, what manager Jim Leyland has decided to do with the two is counterintuitive (or maybe the word I'm too nice to say is counterproductive). The better-hitting Sizemore will start lower in the lineup to avoid putting too much pressure on him. Meanwhile Jackson will take over as the leadoff hitter, despite the fact he has never had a major league at-bat, either. This is either genius or insane. I'm leading toward the latter.

The lineup that will likely debut on April 5th, barring any injuries or late-spring trades:

Austin Jackson, CF
Johnny Damon, LF
Magglio Ordonez, RF
Miguel Cabrera, 1B
Carlos Guillen, DH
Brandon Inge, 3B
Gerald Laird, C
Scott Sizemore, 2B
Adam Everett, SS

And if the manager continues to make decisions like he has since arriving in Detroit, that lineup will be written onto the card about five times all season.

One reason is that there are too many right-handers. The only two lefties are Damon and the switch-hitting Guillen. So being intermixed in the lineup off the bench are a bunch of lefties, highlighted by utility infielder Ramon Santiago, also a switch hitter. And …? Well, it's too early to tell. Possibly superutilityman Don Kelly makes the team. Maybe outfielder Clete Thomas does. And almost certainly backup catcher Alex Avila will be with the Tigers.

Admittedly, this lineup is not going to score a lot of runs. But it probably doesn't have to, because the team is stacked with solid defenders behind good pitching.

Rotation

The Tigers' ace Justin Verlander needs no introduction. Nor does 21-year-old Rick Porcello, who announced himself to any remaining doubters by striking out eight Twins in about five innings of work in the AL Central-deciding Game 163 last season. And when you get right down to it, most people know the high potential of Max Scherzer, who came over in the big offseason trade. The former first-round pick struck out more than a batter per inning during his first full major league season.

Of course, it's not quite so pretty behind that. But fortunately the Tigers aren't playing in the AL East, either. With Jeremy Bonderman, Dontrelle Willis and Nate Robertson all trying to bounce back, the Tigers may or may not have decent, innings-eating pitcher behind the top three. Two of the three, or possibly Armando Galarraga or Eddie Bonine, should fill out the rotation. Right now it's easy to be pessimistic about that bunch, but if one of the five can put together an average season, the Tigers are sitting pretty there.

Bullpen

The bullpen has the potential to be pretty good. With Jose Valverde joining the team as closer, Joel Zumaya throwing well in spring training and Ryan Perry hopefully showing improvement as he enters his second season, the late innings should be a bit less stressful this season for Tigers fans. As well, the lefties Phil Coke, Bobby Seay and Fu-Te Ni should give Detroit the opportunity to battle the AL Central's strong left-handed hitters. Zach Miner rounds out the bullpen as the long man.

In The System

I know a lot of people will want to know when left-handed starter Casey Crosby is going to make his pitching debut. Maybe he gets a spot start this year, but I wouldn't put high odds on it. He's more likely to be battling for a rotation spot next March than anything.

In the meantime, Detroit has plenty of arms in the minors in case anyone in the bullpen stumbles. Lefty Daniel Schlereth is said to have closer potential, but will have to work on his command more. Robbie Weinhardt is a nice right-handed arm and closed out the championship game in the Arizona Fall League.

For lineup help, Ryan Strieby carries a big bat and can help the Tigers score some runs, but he has no real position to field, other than first base. And that one isn't going to open up any time soon, national experts. Left-handed batting outfielder Brennan Boesch should make his debut at some point, too. He is a capable corner outfielder with a nice bat, too.

Miscellaneous

The only other offseason change to note is the exit of first base / outfield coach Andy Van Slyke. He has been replaced by Tom Brookens. This will not likely result in any notable changes on the field, but it's important because of the possible implications heading forward. Brookens was already the rising star among minor league coaching personnel, as he worked his way up through the managing ranks. He led Double-A Erie last year. He is likely the successor to Jim Leyland, who is signed through 2011.

Conclusion

I don't care what Vegas thinks of the Tigers' chances of winning the World Series, and I don't know what Vegas thinks about Detroit's' chances to win the AL Central. Setting those numbers is as much about enticing bettors as anything. But I think Detroit is going to be right in the thick of a three-team race. It should be an exciting season for fans of the White Sox, Twins and Tigers.

And if anyone tells you the Tigers are going to have a fire sale in May, just stop listening. They don't know what they're talking about.

The catcher’s gear dangled and hung on him like dad’s suit on a kid playing make believe. Thanks to the ill-fitting chest protector and shin guards, he looked like the loser of a bet as he traipsed from the dugout.

He took his position behind home plate as the Tiger Stadium crowd murmured. He was the answer to the question from the half-inning before: Who’s going to catch NOW?

Tommy Brookens was the funny-looking guy wearing those tools of ignorance that day, when injuries and the game’s personnel jockeying left manager Sparky Anderson with no one to function as catcher.

In a 15-inning marathon on July 20, 1985, Brookens, the "Pennsylvania Poker" third baseman, had to don the gear and catch the final five innings against the Texas Rangers. He did so flawlessly. Retrosheet.org tells us that Tommy caught five innings, made seven putouts (all strikeouts), and committed no errors.

The Rangers stole two bases against him, but neither hurt the Tigers, who won 6-5 in walk-off fashion.

The "Pennsylvania Poker" moniker was given to him by Ernie Harwell, a nod to Brookens’ being born in Chambersburg, Penn.

Brookens looked like a PA Poker. He was a stub of a man who choked up and had a short, compact swing. He poked the ball, alright. If he hit a home run, it was by the accident of physics, not due to any great power.

Brookens never played in a clean uniform. I swear he’d run out to his position at third base at the start of the game, and by the time he took his spot, his threads were dirty.

Brookens was the primary third sacker for the Tigers from 1980 to '88, though he was mainly a defensive replacement during the storied 1984 season. He was a career .246 hitter who never hit more than 13 home runs in a season.

Yet he was behind the plate that July day in 1985, because no one else wanted to do it, basically. Sparky asked around, and Brookens raised his hand. So he switched from his comfort zone at the hot corner and moved behind the plate. From the frying pan into the fire.

It was that kind of attitude and team-first approach that ingratiated Tommy Brookens with the baseball fans in Detroit. The PA Poker became a favorite, because the people around town could relate to him: Not the most talented guy in the world, but someone with a heart as big as Belle Isle.

Tommy could play some third base, too. He wasn’t Brooks Robinson, or even Aurelio Rodriguez, but he wasn’t an iron glove, either. He had some range and could throw guys out more often than not.

Tommy would hit his .250 and accidentally smack his eight homers and knock in his 50 runs and not hurt you in the field too much. He came to play everyday, and he didn’t bitch.

Brookens played 12 years in the big leagues because of that last sentence.

Now he’s back with the Tigers, as first base coach and tutor of the outfielders, and it’s about damn time.

The spot was created when Andy Van Slyke chose not to return, and manager Jim Leyland didn’t wait too long before naming Brookens as AVS’s replacement. Brookens had been managing several years in the Tigers’ organization, and he made no secret of his desire to do so at the big league level.

Leyland, no stranger to minor league managing himself, has known Brookens for over 30 years, and he was more than happy to add Tommy to his staff.

“I’ve known Tom for 30 years,” Leyland told mlive.com's Steve Kornacki when he hired Brookens last November. “He’s been around in spring training and has been a great manager for us in the minor leagues. Tom is a tremendous baseball person with tremendous people skills.”

Brookens, 56, said he began thinking about getting back to the big leagues in 2003, taking a job at the lowest level of the minor leagues, managing at Oneonta, in order to pursue that goal.

“I’ve been a player who went through the good and the bad. I started and sat the bench,” Brookens told Kornacki after being hired by Leyland to coach first base. “I’ve run the whole gamut. Teaching the fundamentals will take care of itself, but I’m capable of relating to players better from my experiences. Coaching is about relationships and trust.”

I’m not the first to play this hunch, but don’t be surprised if the next manager of the Tigers is the Pennsylvania Poker. And something tells me that that would be just fine.

Where have you Gone, Andy Van Slyke lists some stories to watch during the Pirates training camp: Speaking of Clement, keep an eye on Jeff Clement’s defense. Actually, just keep an eye on how often the team and the media-types refer to him as “uncomfortable.” If that’s happening a lot, I’d wager it’s not a great [...]

Where Have you Gone, Andy Van Slyke links to an interview with Bob Nutting about the upcoming Pirates season. Nutting remains optimistic about the team. Here’s his take on the low salary number: Q: Why not, some might say, just take some heat off yourself and have a $50 million-$55 million payroll? A: Well, what [...]

If tomorrow were April 4 and the Yankees were opening their season in Fenway Park their outfield would be very suspect.

The projected fly shaggers right now are Brett Gardner in left, Curtis Granderson in center, and Nick Swisher in right.

Brian Cashman has said in as many ways as he possibly can that he is not going after a big name to fill in at left field so you can forget Matt Holiday.

The Giants just signed Mark DeRosa which took away one possibility that many thought would be a viable upgrade to the Yankees' outfield.

Jermaine Dye has been suggested and I suppose Johnny Damon is still a possibility even though Cashman seems to think Damon's asking price through mouthpiece Scott Boras is just too high.

So those of us who are Yankees fans may be left with Gardner, Granderson and Swisher.

Granderson has a career average of .272, but hit only .249 last year. He has a career on base percentage of only .344 and has a 162 game average of 149 strikeouts.

Nick Swisher has a career average of .245, a career on-base percentage of .357 and has averaged 142 strikeouts for an average season of 162 games.

Gardner has only played part of two years. His average is .256, although he did raise that to .270 in that part of the 2009 season in which he played. Gardner's career on-base percentage is .345 and he has averaged 76 strikeouts over 162 games.

So the Yankees could feature an outfield that has a combined batting average of about .250 with an on-base percentage of .350 or so. And they figure to combine for about 365 strikeouts.

With the signing of Nick Johnson, he figures to take Johnny Damon's place in the two hole behind Derek Jeter. Mark Teixeira will bat third, Alex Rodriguez fourth, Jorge Posada fifth and Robinson Cano may move up to the six slot.

That will leave the last three hitters as Swisher, Granderson and Gardner. Not much to put fear in the pitching staffs of American League teams.

On defense, Gardner has been somewhat erratic, has not played left field consistently which is a hard place to play in Yankee Stadium.

Granderson is thought by many, including former coach Andy Van Slyke, as not a pure centerfielder and might be better positioned in a corner.

Nick Swisher is always an adventure on defense. Swisher was not acquired following the '08 season to play as a regular outfielder, but that is where he is now and he is the worst the team has had at that position in many, many years.

If some rabbit is not pulled out of the trade hat or Cashman does not get permission to spend some more of George's money on Holiday, the Yankees will have one of the least productive outfields in the major leagues as they open the season in Boston.

Dedicated to hustle, integrity, and upholding the traditions of the game

Andy Van Slyke used to be on Jim Leyland's coaching staff in Detroit. Safe to say he was pretty fond of Curtis Granderson .

The news that the New York Yankees had traded for Detroit’s Curtis Granderson caught a lot of Yankee fans by surprise. 

 

Casual fans may know little about Granderson and most of what has been said about the deal at this point centers on the fact that Granderson is an All Star centerfielder.

 

But Andy Van Slyke, a former major league center fielder himself, and a coach with Jim Leyland’s Tigers teams while Granderson was there does not speak highly of Granderson as a center fielder. 

 

While Van Slyke praised Granderson highly as a person and a teammate, saying if he had a daughter he would want her to marry Granderson, his thoughts of the outfielder's skills were not as great.

 

In today’s New York Post, Van Slyke was quoted as saying that Granderson is not a pure center fielder and would be better positioned at one of the corner outfield positions. 

 

If Van Slyke is right about Granderson, then the question has to be asked whether the Yankees will be better on defense by replacing Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner in center field with Granderson.

 

That leaves some speculation as to whether Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman has had in mind the entire time putting Granderson in left field to replace Johnny Damon if he is not resigned by New York.

 

Analysts at ESPN were asking some of the same questions today, pointing out that Granderson was not great in center for the Tigers last year and had numerous times when he seemed not to track the ball very well in the outfield.

 

So if Granderson is not an upgrade in center field, is his offense such an improvement that it warranted the Yankees giving away a promising stud in Austin Jackson, a first round draft pick starter in Ian Kennedy and a left handed reliever in Phil Coke?

 

Comparing Granderson to either Damon or Melky Cabrera still leaves a lot of questions unanswered. 

 

Over the past three seasons Granderson has had fewer hits, doubles, home runs and RBI than Damon.  He has also walked less than Damon, had a lower batting average, on base percentage and OPS+ than Damon.  The only area where Granderson has surpassed Damon is in runs scored, where he has scored 30 more runs over the three year period.

 

The biggest advantage that Granderson seems to have over Damon is that he is eight years younger and his future may arguable be brighter than the aging Damon.

 

Granderson’s comparison with Melky is not much better.  In 2009 Melky hit 25 points higher for average, had a higher on base percentage and the OPS+ for the two players was almost equal, with Granderson only one point higher than Melky.

 

Melky had 485 at bats compared to 631 for Granderson.  Yet Melky scored 66 runs while Granderson scored 91.  Melky had 68 RBI compared to Granderson’s 71 and Melky struck out only 59 times compared to Granderson’s 141.

 

So it would not appear that Granderson is going to be a major upgrade offensively over Melky Cabrera.  The only place where Granderson is significantly better than Cabrera is in home runs, where he hit 17 more.

 

For the second season in a row Cashman has brought in an outfielder who was coming off a down year, is prone to strikeout too much and has serious questions in the outfield. 

 

Nick Swisher won a lot of fans in New York, but undoubtedly would have had a much smaller role if Xavier Nady had remained healthy.  Granderson’s success remains to be determined.

 

Serious concern has to plague fans who consider the number of strikeouts that Granderson and Swisher together will rack up in 2010 if they play in the same outfield. 

 

Neither general managers nor fans have crystal balls.  Only time will tell how good a deal Cashman made in acquiring Granderson.  Many questions will remain until that time unfolds.

Andy Van Slyke used to be on Jim Leyland's coaching staff in Detroit. Safe to say he was pretty fond of Curtis Granderson.