Hinske and Maholm

It is funny that when the entire city is paying attention to that other professional team on the Northside, the Pirates go have flurry of activity in a very slow offseason. The news came down early in the day that they had reached a deal with Paul Maholm, buying out his arbitration and an option year, and they reached an agreement with Eric Hinske as well.

As of now terms are a little sketchy as nothing is completely finalized. Early reports from Dejan at the PG have Hinkse making $1.5 million, plus incentives. There is nothing really to speak of about Maholm's financial details.

Starting with Maholm, anytime a team can buy out the arbitration of a player, it is a good thing. The Pirates obviously feel that Maholm will be a keeper and will improve. It is best to make sure you know what you are going to be paying him for the next few years. The option is always interesting, as it may include some weird clauses like Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Doumit's. In my opinion there really is nothing to really worry about with Maholm's deal. I would worry if we were going to face arbitration with him for the next three years.

As for the Hinske deal, it definitely makes a lot more sense that bringing back Mientkiewicz or signing Luis Gonzalez. Hinske is younger, not that you would project much improvement, but it is a slight possibility, and he can play multiple positions. The flexibility of Hinske will go a long way to helping out the bench and in what seems like a rather affordable way.

We have question marks at some positions, necessitating the need for a guy with versatility, and it seemed as though there was no back up plan for Adam LaRoche. Management seems content to keep Steve Pearce in Indianapolis and Ryan Doumit is a full time catcher now. The signing of Hinske helps to fill that void, while leaving in the option of him becoming a semi-regular in the event of trades.

It remains to be seen who will be coming off the full 40 man to make room for Hinske. That should be interesting to see who gets moved for him.

#2 All- Time Teams - 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates

When looking through the history of the Pirates it is easy to see, what team had the best record in its history. Fred Clarke, who managed the early Pirate dynasty teams, said that the 1902 team was the best of all the teams he managed.

The 1902 team went 103-36 with a winning percentage of .741; it is the second best winning percentage in the 20^th century and easily the best for the franchise. The team won the National League by 27.5 games over the Brooklyn Dodgers, the best mark in National League history.

It should be noted that the National League in 1902 was far different from the National League of today or even 1952 for that matter. The most obvious was that there were no African American players in the majors and the upstart American League was offering much more money than their National League counterparts for its best players. The Pirates, with their visionary owner Barney Dreyfuss, were able to mitigate its loss of players by paying above NL maximum for players, notably Honus Wagner. (Funny how things have really changed since then.) Admittedly, many of the teams did not have much talent to compete with the Pirates, who had plenty.

The three hall of famers on the team, Jack Chesbro, Fred Clarke, and Wagner all had excellent seasons. The pitching staff, led by Jack Chesbro, carried this Pirate team the length of the season. Chesbro won 28 games that year with an ERA of 2.17 while leading the starting rotation. Chesbro was joined in the rotation by two 20 game winners, Jesse Tannehill and Deacon Phillippe. Interesting to note that in all but 11 games, the starters for the Bucs threw complete games, the stat that perhaps best illustrates this era. Sam Leever and Ed Doheny also had great seasons, winning 16 and 15 games respectively.

Wagner led the way for the hitters, while filling in at various positions for injured teammates during the season. Wagner, who had not yet settled in as a full time shortstop, hit .329, had 91 RBI and stole 43 bases. Clarke, the player-manager hit .321, but it was outfielder Ginger Beaumont, whose .357 average, led the Pirates and the National League. The Bucs also had the league home run champ in third baseman “Wee” Tommy Leach with an amazing 6 home runs, no doubt some of those ‘dingers’ were lost in the flooded outfield of Exposition Park.

Unfortunately, for the Pirates there would be no World Series until the next season and they would have to settle as just National League Champions. The 1902 team was indeed very great, perhaps epitomizing the Pirate dynasty of the turn of the 20th century. When looking back at what this team accomplished and looking the current situation, it make your head turn. The Pirates were a GREAT franchise, with GREAT players, coaches, and ownership. It is amazing how much baseball, Pittsburgh, and the Pirates have changed since 1902.

Gonzo

Today it is being reported that the Pirates are looking at free agent outfielder Luis Gonzalez. Yes the Luis Gonzalez of the Diamondback and Dodgers of a few years ago. Gonzo spent last season in Florida as a bench and role player for the young and up and coming Marlins. Appearantly Luis liked that so much he is looking for another opportunity similar to that, and the Pirates seem to fit the bill.

Gonzalez would probably be a good fit for the club. Granted he is past his prime so he would be no game changer, but he would provide a veteran presence to the club. At the very least he would be a huge upgrade over anyone else in the competition for a bench outfield spot. (Craig Monroe for example.)

Gonzalez's signing could be both a blessing and a curse, if they are looking to quiet fans still upset over Doug Mientkiewicz. One is that he would replace the gritty veteran player role Mientkiewicz filled so well, but it would create the opportunity for more jokes as the Pirates once again sign an aging ballplayer. Though in Gonzalez's defense he is an UPGRADE over the aging ballplayers they have signed or traded for since Kenny Lofton came to Pittsburgh. (see Randa, Joe; Burnitz, Jeromy; and Morris, Matt for examples.)

My only question is why bring in a guy to play on the bench that can only play one position?  Gonzo could also play first, but he has not done that since the mid 90's in Houston. He has been specifically an outfielder since then, and even though he would be a bench player it would create more of a logjam in the outfield. Our starters for the season look to be McLouth, Moss, and Morgan. Add in Steve Pearce and Andrew McCutchen, who both will probably get time in Pittsburgh and it gets crowded. It might be different if it looked as though we could trade Gonzalez at the deadline, but Florida did not deal him last year so one would wonder if he would be tradeable.

I'd rather look at other options myself, namely someone who has proven to play multiple positions for our bench, and perhaps someone who is right handed.

Prospect Flashback: Midre Cummings

Following their second straight NLCS choke, the front office of the Pirates and their fan base knew that the window of opportunity was about to close.  Rather then allowing John Smiley to walk away as a free agent with nothing to show for him, the then general manager Ted Simmons made a bold move to trade one of their star pitchers in the spring of ‘92 to the Twins for two highly regarded prospects.  One of them being left handed pitcher Denny Neagle, who was a talented Triple A pitcher who was coming off a good year and was expected to contribute almost immediately, the other being OF Midre Cummings who was virtually unknown to fans.

Despite being an unknown to most casual fans, Cummings as a 20 year old was coming off a season where he won a Midwest League batting title and was soon expected to take over the reigns for Barry Bonds.  Cummings wasted very little time showing the Pirates what they had gotten.  During that ‘92 campaign with the Salem Buccaneers he went on to bat .305 with 14 home runs, 23 steals and an OPS of .834.  It looked like he was well on his way to becoming the next great outfielder for Pittsburgh based on that season.  The ‘93 season saw him split time between Double A Carolina and Triple A Buffalo where he combined to hit 15 home runs and bat .286.  He even got a brief cup of coffee with the team but was over matched in his 36 at bats, hitting .111 but he did show some ability to draw a walk.  Unfortunately for him, it didn’t get much better for him over the coming years, 1994-1996 saw him split time between Triple A and the Big League Club.  The best season he had during that run was in 1995 where he hit .243 with 2 homeruns.  The Pirates gave him another 52 games to get things worked out.  With other talented young outfielders on their way up, the Pirates simply lost patience with the 25 year old and lost him on waivers to the Phillies.

Things didn’t seem to get any better for him, as he bounced around from team to team in 2001 where he found himself being a valuable pinch hitter for the Arizona Diamondbacks on their run to the World Series.  He went on to score the tying run for Arizona in the deciding game of Series.  That pretty much ended up being the high point of his career.

As unpopular as the Smiley trade ended up being with fans, knowing what was about to happen to the team I’m sure they would have made the move again.  Being able to get a young, toolsy outfielder and a potential front line pitcher for a player who is going to be a free agent at the end of the year is the type of move a team like the Pirates needs to make.  Grant you, Cummings didn’t go on to be the next Bonds or Van Slyke but he was the type of talent that the organization needed.  Though more often then not in recent years, these kind of deals always seem to backfire on the Bucs.  Hopefully they are finally turning a corner where we won’t always talk about deals like this being the norm, maybe something more like a rarity.

Major League Stats:

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
460	1113	136	286	60	8	22	124	9	6	94	200	.257	.318	.385	703

New Threads

The Bucs unveiled their new uniforms today and they are doing away with the sleeveless look. I must say, not that I am a fashionista, I kinda liked the sleeveless look. Instead the home and road jerseys, really will not change other than adding sleeves. There are white sleeves for the home and grey sleeves for the road.

The real change is that the McDonald's red uniform is gone and is replaced with a new black one the features the P on the left breast of the jersey.

The team will keep their pinstripe sleeveless jerseys for wear on Sundays.

Nothing really all that earth shattering, as they all seem to be OK. I guess anything is OK as long it does not involve those ugly red ones.

Arbitration Time

The Pirates managed to dodge a few bullets with the arbitration judge by coming to terms with Grabow, Duke, Yates, and Adam LaRoche. They however were unable to do anything with Nate McLouth and Paul Maholm, as the sides for those two players both seem to be far apart from what the Pirates want.

Looking at it from the players point of view, both McLouth and Maholm seemed to time their best seasons to date at the right time, right before arbitration. I am not suggesting this was on purpose, but both stand to reap much better rewards at this point in their careers. In a way I don't blame them both for trying to cash in on what they accomplished last season, it only seems natural.

The club on the other hand is obviously not sold on just one year's performance and would like to see more from both, maybe more so for McLouth as they have previously talked about extending Maholm before.

My gut says that Maholm may never go to arbitration, basically for the very reason I had just mentioned. The club seems to value him and would love to sign him to a longer term deal to keep him in the fold. I think that Neal Huntington sees a long term value in Maholm and would love to avoid the one year judgement from an arbitration judge.

McLouth on the other hand is a little more difficult to get a read on. While he has put together a rather impressive resume in one season, he plays a position where we seem to have some immediate depth in the minors. Both Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen can play center or anywhere else in the outfield that McLouth can. Signing him longer term may not be that great of an option, if they value the upside of the minor leaguers more.

This post at Pirate Revolution makes a great arguement for how much McLouth would cost now for a long term contract, versus if they had signed him long term prior to arbitration. Again the timing of McLouth's breakthrought is awkward for all. The Pirates want to see more, understandibly so, and McLouth would like to get paid like his peers (assuming the same production), and rightfully so. I'd like to think that they could settle prior to seeing a judge, but it does not seem likely, since they also have to deal with Maholm.

I guess we will have to wait and see if McLouth continues to be solid player, then we may have to revist his future in the organization. At the very least it seems to be a good problem to have. I mean we could have Adrian Brown in centerfield.

Pirates of the World Baseball Classic

Today the provisional rosters for each country participating in the World Baseball Classic were unveiled. Many who read here know that we very much like the international nature of baseball and will be watching the event closely.

I like that the event showcases the many ways that baseball is played around the world and to get a chance to see some of the better players around the world that do not play in the States. Players from the Asian countries are the ones that seem to intrigue the most, as it is a long and complicated process for them to come stateside.

Another interesting aspect is following the Pirate players in the WBC to see how they fare. Here is a list of players in the Pirate's organization that are going to be in the WBC:

Player	Country
Ray Chang	China
Chi-Hung Cheng	Taiwan
Luis Cruz	Mexico
Dave Davidson	Canada
Diomedes Garcia	Panama
Josh Hill	Australia
Eliecer Navarro	Panama
Gift Ngoepe	South Africa
Jamie Romak	Canada
Ciro Rosero	Panama
Ian Snell	Puerto Rico
Ramon Vasquez	Puerto Rico

The Bucs are fairly well represented from their minor league system, which makes a lot of sense. Whether all of these guys actually play in the tournament is another matter. I would say Chang, Cheng, Cruz, Davidson, Hil, Ngoepe, Snell, and Vasquez are perhaps fair bets to be on their respective final rosters. I am most surprised at our three Panamanians. I would have never thought of that country as a 'strength' for the team. Hopefully for the next WBC, we will see more major league level players being selected.

Spotlight: Scouting

Yesterday FSN ran another in their series of offseason looks at the management of the Pirates and this time they did the scouting department. There is one more planned with Neal Huntington later this winter.

Rob King sat down with Greg Smith and spoke to Rene Gayo about how the scouting department has been doing things differently and what they plan on doing going forward.

Both Smith and Gayo commented briefly on various players, but the more telling story from both of them was about money. Smith for instance talked about the financial commitment from ownership in the draft going a long way in helping to get talent into the system. For example they mentioned the ability to sign a Grossman, Cunningham or Miller and how that not only improves the farm system but also encourages the scouts in finding talent.

Gayo as well was asked about how the increase in funding for Latin talent made things easier and he was quick to also say how great it is to have money to be able to spend and compete with other teams for players. This is a contrast from what Gayo has said in the past, saying that money is not as important it is finding and developing talent.

The general feel that I, at least, got from this episode was that the commitment and money from ownership in the scouting area is a stark change from the past. Not that it was earth shattering to hear that, anyone paying attention to the Pirates over these past 16 years could have said that. I guess, at least hearing Gayo speak, it was an embracing of reality and new philosophy of developing players. A philosophy that a team like the Pirates should have been doing long ago.

#3 All-Time Teams - 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates

It seems that all of the Pirate World Series teams seemed to have a sort of drama to them, when they won. Every Pirate team that has won a World Series has gone to the pressure and drama packed game seven. The 1960 team clearly has the most dramatic finish and the teams from the 70's faced some of the best pitching staffs ever, but the 1925 team ran into one of the most dominant pitchers of all time and get the best of him.

Bill McKechnie had been managing his hometown team for a little over two seasons when he began the 1925 season. They had finished third the previous three years and a little pressure was on McKechnie. He trotted out a lineup everyday that featured three Hall of Famers. One you had one of the best third basemen of all time in Pie Traynor to build a lineup around. Second two thirds of the outfield were Hall of Famers, a common theme of this era for the Bucs, with Max Carey and Kiki Cuyler. Cuyler led the team with a .357 batting average and drove in over 100 runs.

The surprise offensive star of the club was shortstop Glenn Wright. The second year shortstop hit .308 -18 -121, garnering some MVP consideration. Around the rest of the horn you had catcher Earl Smith, first baseman George Grantham, second baseman Eddie Moore, and outfielder Clyde Barnhardt.

The starting rotation did not feature a pitcher with less than 15 wins. Lee Meadows paced the staff with 19 wins, while starters Emil Yde, Ray Kremer, and Johnny Morrison all had 17. Vic Aldridge brought up the rear with 15 wins. In the bullpen you had the old and reliable hand of Babe Adams and Tom Sheehan to pick up any slack from the rotation.

In 1925 the National League seemed to be a pretty tight race. The early favorite was the New York Giants who held first place for the first two months of the season. It was not until late June that Pirates emerged from a pack that included the Reds, Dodgers, and Cubs to contend with the Giants. It was then for much of the summer that the Bucs and Giants went back and forth in the race for the pennant. It was not until August 22 that the Pirates took sole possession of first place and never looked back, but it would be another month until they would clinch the National League pennant.


In the World Series the Pirates would face the Washington Senators, who also had season long race with the Philadelphia Athletics to win the American League pennant. The stage was set for Walter "Big Train" Johnson to go up against the top offensive team of the National League.

In Game 1 at Forbes Field the Bucs were dazzled by the Big Train. The only Pirate to produce a run was Pie Traynor, who hit a solo home run, the team's only run of the game. In Game 2 Glenn Wright hit a home run, but Kiki Cuyler's two run home run in the 8th, that broke a tie, won the game for Bucs. Vic Aldridge pitched all nine for the win.

When the Series shifted to Washington, Ray Kremer was bested in Game 3 by Alex Ferguson in a 4-3 ballgame. Game 4 the Senators sent out the Big Train again, who pitched a 6 hit shutout to put Washington one win away from the World Championship. In a rematch of Game 2, the Bucs jumped on Washington starter Stan Coveleski yet again to run away with a 6-3 win to head back to Pittsburgh.

In Game 6 Ray Kremer allowed two early runs, but none the rest of the way as Pie Traynor helped to lead the way to a Game 7, where the Bucs would surely go up against Walter Johnson.

Perhaps it was nerves, but Vic Aldridge did not get out of the first inning for the Bucs. He gave up 4 runs in the first and it seemed as though with the Big Train on the hill the Series would go to Washington. But Bill McKechnie was going to use all of his ace pitchers to ensure that would not happen. He brought in Johnny Morrison, who gave up another two runs, then Ray Kremer, on two days rest, who helped to stop the bleeding.

In the third the Bucs finally got to Walter Johnson as they smacked the ball around for three runs. They again added a run in the fifth and two more in the seventh. But after Kremer allowed another run in the top of the 8th, they were down a run. After Carson Bigbee drove in a run in the bottom of the 8th with two out, Kiki Cuyler, again with two out, hit a ground rule double to score to more and seal the victory.

The 1925 Bucs were an excellent team that showed a lot of grit in the World Series to win one of the more hard fought Championships in club history. The '25 team could have been the start of a dynysty, as they made the series again in 1927, but dissension from management, top players, and the 1927 Yankees made that almost impossible. Nonetheless the '25 club is one of the best in franchise history.

Happy Trails Kevin

I know that this story happened last week, but I feel that it is something worth talking about here. Last week Kevin McClatchy sold the remaining stake of the team that he held to the Nutting family, so he no longer holds any position with the Pirates, after being the point man of the organization for a decade.

While many will want to criticize McClatchy, I have taken a view over the last few years of McClatchy being a bit of a tragic figure in Pirate history. For starters he rode into town as the white knight saving the franchise from relocation to somewhere like Portland or Tampa. From what I have gathered from a lot of reading on the subject it is somewhat of a surprise that the young McClatchy was given the opportunity in the first place to buy the team.

He then created a vision of PNC Park and went to work making it happen. It probably took him a lot longer than he wanted, and it maybe became easier when the Rooneys wanted their own stadium as well, but he did create perhaps the best ball park in America.

While McClatchy is never given credit for his good deeds, he is usually derided for overseeing some of the worst baseball in the history of the game. McClatchy was never a baseball man and probably should have never run the team for that long. He put his trust in some wrong people, Dave Littlefield, and it was disastrous on the field.

Towards the end it seemed as though he was a puppet for the Nutting family, letting him take all the heat, and it seemed as though McClatchy had enough. While he left quietly, I think we should at least always think highly of McClatchy. He did save the team. He did build PNC Park. He did preside over all the losing. But in the end, considering all the possibilities, two out of three ain't bad.

#4 All-Time Teams - 1972 Pittsburgh Pirates

Coming off their victory over the favored Baltimore Orioles in 1971 the Pirates were again considered favorites for the National League pennant in 1972. The team returned many of the same players, but there was to be a change in the management of the team as Danny Murtaugh stepped down after the 1971 season. His hand picked successor, Bill Virdon, would take over the club.

Some may look at 1972 as the year Willie Stargell started to take over the leadership of the club. He was the most productive offensive player on the team, leading them in home runs and RBI. Roberto Clemente, in what would sadly be his last season, was still a very productive player at the age of 37. He batted .312 that season and got his 3000 career hit in his last at bat of the regular season.

The rest of the lineup also had terrific offensive seasons. Manny Sanguillen would lead the team in hits with 155. Richie Hebner, Al Oliver, and Vic Davalillo would all hit .300 or better. Dave Cash and Gene Alley would also form a dependable double play combination. The bench featured solid players like Rennie Stennett, Gene Clines, and Bob Robertson.

The pitching staff, battle tested from the 1971 playoffs featured 5 starters all aged 30 or younger. The ace of the staff was World Series hero Steve Blass, who went 19-8 that season to lead the team. Dock Ellis also had a strong season as he had 15 wins that year. Bob Moose, 13 wins, and Nellie Brilles, 14 wins, helped to solidify that rotation. Youngster Bruce Kison chipped in 9 wins in his first full big league season.

The bullpen featured closer Dave Giusti, who had 22 saves, and lefty Ramon Hernandez with 14 saves. Bob Miller, Bob Johnson and lefty Luke Walker provided the longer relief for skipper Virdon.

During the season the Bucs faced competition in the NL East from the Cubs and Mets. The Mets and Bucs went back and forth for the lead in the division until the Fourth of July, when the Pirates took the lead and did not look back, finishing 11 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs. Their opponent in the NLCS would be the Cincinnati Reds, who were just beginning their run in the 1970's. The Reds were a powerful opponent led by eventual MVP Johnny Bench.

Steve Blass frustrated the Reds in Game 1. He was able to limit the damage done by Reds hitters as they stranded 11 men on base. Al Oliver had a two run home run to help the Bucs win the first game of the series. In Game 2 Bob Moose was chased in the first inning as Bobby Tolan and Tony Perez both had two run doubles. The Buccos bullpen held the game together, but as it seemed to be within reach Joe Morgan hit a home run in the 8th as the Reds evened the series.

With the shift to Riverfront in Cincinnati, the Bucs turned to Nellie Brilles. Brilles was able to limit the Reds to just two runs leaving a tie ball game in the 7th thanks to a Sanguillen home run and Stennett RBI. Bruce Kison and Dave Giusti would hold the Reds scoreless as a Manny Sanguillen groundout gave the Pirates the win, one away from the World Series.

Things started for apart for the Bucs in Game 5, as the Reds jumped on Dock Ellis and the Pirates committed costly errors in the field. Reds starter Ross Grimsley baffled the Pirate lineup, as well as adding his own RBI to the Reds total of 7. The Bucs scored only one run, off a Roberto Clemente home run.

Game 4 foreshadowed what would happen in Game 5 for the Pirates. Richie Hebner and Dave Cash put the Bucs up early with two RBIs. The Reds got one back in the third on an RBI double by Pete Rose. Dave Cash again plated another run for the Bucs, but César Gerónimo cut the Pirates' lead to 3–2 with a homer in the fifth.

Needing only three outs in the ninth to get to the World Series Dave Giusti was called in from the bullpen. He served up a dramatic game-tying homer to Johnny Bench on a hanging change-up. From there things fell apart.

Tony Pérez singled and was replaced by pinch-runner George Foster. Denis Menke followed with another single, and the Pirates replaced Giusti with Bob Moose. A fly ball out advanced Foster to third. After Darrell Chaney made the second out on a popup, Moose threw a wild pitch to Hal McRae. Foster came home with the winning run, allowing the Reds to play in the World Series against the Oakland A's.

While the ending of the 1972 season was horrible, many forget about what happened that season as a few months later the team would lose Roberto Clemente in a plane crash. After an event like that baseball seemed to be the farthest thing from Pirate fans minds.

A result of the Clemente tragedy is that few remember the 1972 team or what happened to them, which is both good and bad. For one many tend to forget the way the season ended,  but they also forget how great of team they actually were.

Prospect Flashback: Freddy Garcia

Back in the mid 90’s when the Pirates were beginning their run of ineptitude; they seemed to grab a guy in the Rule 5 seemingly every year in an attempt to rebuild their depleted farm system. In December of ‘94, the Pirates took a young Dominican 3rd baseman named Freddy Garcia from Toronto with supposedly a plan in mind and an eye toward the future.

Prior to joining the Bucs, Garcia had played two seasons in US for the Jays.  In that time he showed some ability to draw a walk and flashed some long ball potential. At the age of 22 and never having played above Low A, there was a great deal of risk involved with taking Garcia but the potential rewards and the $50,000 to acquire him seemed to be more then worth the risk.

The Pirates were giving Garcia every opportunity to make the club and who can blame them? They were coming off a strike shortened season that saw them go 53-61 and Jeff King, the current 3rd baseman was known to have some back issues and playing on the turf of Three Rivers, there was no telling how long his career might last. The ‘95 season showed what most would’ve expected from Garcia, he played sparingly and was severely over matched by Major League pitchers. On the bright side, he did show some ability to draw a walk. The Pirates plan, if there ever really was one, had worked and they managed to keep him stashed away on the roster the entire year and would send him to the minors for the ‘96 season to get him the much needed at bats that he had missed out on.

The 1996 season saw Garcia at High A Lynchburg, where he seemed to crush with authority (21 HR, 86 RBI and 63 XBH).Surprisingly though, he didn’t get promoted at any point during the season. The 1997 season saw Garcia suffer a wrist injury in spring training. He started the season at Triple A Calgary where he struggled and was demoted to Double A Carolina. His power numbers were there during that season, but he was a little old to be playing at Double A and pretty much from that point on through the rest of his tenure with the Pirates you can see his K/BB deteriorate.

Garcia stuck around the Pirates system for a few more years, smashing homeruns but not doing much else. He was never able to establish himself as a consistent performer at the higher minor league levels, let alone the majors. Once Aramis Ramirez made the jump from the minors to the majors, any chance Garcia had of being a major league regular was finished. The Pirates also continued to take chances on guys like him in an attempt to add more and more talent to the organization, Emil Brown in ‘96 and Javier Martinez in ‘97.

I think this situation is interesting, one that we still see a lot of today and will continue to see in the future. The question of how much does carrying a young Rule 5 guy on a roster all year hurt their development? For every Josh Hamilton there are 5, maybe 10, Freddy Garcia’s. In the case of Garcia, he did lose out on a lot of at bats but he seemed to have more issues. It was strange to see his walk to strikeout rates plummet like they did. How much of that was due to him pressing too much or from him just being over matched by better pitchers?  Hopefully the Pirates will have better luck with the development of Evan Meek and Donald Veal.

Major League Stats:

Years	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1995, 97-99	175	401	53	89	18	2	19	56	0	3	33	121	0.222	0.283	0.419	702

#5 All-Time Teams - 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates

At the turn of the century the Pirates were the best team in the National League. They featured some of the games best players and were a strong force to be reckoned with. In 1903 the Bucs would be the first National League team to play in the World Series, facing the Boston Americans of the upstart American League.

The 1903 team was led by the star shortstop Honus Wagner. The Flying Dutchman led the National league in batting with a .355 average, 4 points higher than his teamate and manager Fred Clarke. Clarke led the National league in slugging, OPS and doubles. Complimenting Wagner and Clarke was outfielder Ginger Beaumont, who led the league in hits and sported a .341 batting average.

Also helping to power the offense were third baseman Tommy Leach, who hit .298, catcher Ed Phelps, first baseman Kitty Bransfield, second baseman Claude Ritchey, and outfielder Jimmy Sebring.

The pitching staff featured a pair of workhorses that led the way for the Pirates. In righthanders Sam Leever, 2.06 ERA, and Deacon Phillippe, 2.43 ERA, the Pirates got 50 wins from the two of them. Leever sported the better winning percentage as he went 25-7 to Phillippe's 25-9. Balancing out the starters was lefty Ed Doheny who would pick up 16 wins.

The rest of the regular pitching staff featured a handful of righthanders that sported some great baseball names. You had Bucky Veil, Cy Falkenberg, Kaiser Wilhelm, and Brickyard Kennedy. If anything the names may be the best of any Pirate staff.

The Pirates would have easily been considered the strong contenders for the National League pennant going into the season as they had won it the past two seasons. Their main competition would come from the New York Giants, who featured Christy Matthewson. On June 6th the Bucs would tie the Chicago Cubs for first place and would not look back as they would cruise to the National League pennant, besting the Giants by 6.5 games.

In September of 1903 it was agreed between Barney Dreyfuss and Henry Killea, that the Americans and Pirates would play in the first ever World Series, a nine game series. The first three in Boston, then four in Pittsburgh, and two more in Boston. Going into the series some thought the matchup was even as the Americans featured a strong pitching staff led by Cy Young, Bill Dineen and Tom Hughes. Many thought that they could slow the powerful Pittsburgh lineup, but as it turns out injuries and other problems besieged the Pirates.

Honus Wagner had nursed a bad thumb all season and had injured his leg in September, some thought he might not play at all in the Series. Sam Leever hurt his arm in a game, and hurt it more by competing in a trapshoot competition. Otto Krueger, the Bucs utility player off the bench was beaned in a September game and was ineffective in the series. The most bizarre was Ed Doheny being admitted to an insane asylum prior to the World Series.

Despite the ineffectiveness of their leader Honus Wagner, the Bucs behind Deacon Phillippe took Game 1 behind the first ever World Series home run by Jimmy Sebring. Boston would take Game 2, as Sam Leever left in the second inning of the game that Bill Dineen would win 3-0.

In Game 3, Fred Clarke went to Deacon Phillippe on one day rest to go up against Tom Hughes. Phillippe did not let Clarke down as he pitched yet another complete game for a Pirate win. When the Series shifted to Pittsburgh Clarke again asked Phillippe to pitch, his third start in four games. Deacon took the mound again and went nine innings to win his and the Pirates' third game.

In Game 5 Brickyard Kennedy would go up against Cy Young, with Young besting Kennedy for the American's second win in the Series. The next day Sam Leever, feeling slightly better to pitch, took the mound. Leever would go the distance, but Boston's Bill Dineen got the best of him.

Deacon Phillippe would be the only other pitcher that the Pirates would trot out in the World Series. He threw back to back complete games, but lost both. He was bested by Cy Young in Pittsburgh and Bill Dineen in Boston. Honus Wagner, heckled by the Boston fans all Series, struck out to end it.

Despite the fact that Pittsburgh had lost, Barney Dreyfuss gave the players his cut from the gate receipts and the Pirates ended up with more money than Boston's players. Wagner would take a lot of the blame for the loss, as he thought despite the injuries he still should have been able to perform better. He only batted .222.

This Pirates team is a big part of history, as they were in the first World Series. They had a great number of stars, both offensive and defensive, as well making them a really great team.

Sickels Top 20 Prospects

Many I am sure are aware of John Sickels and his website Minor League Ball.com. He does a great job of prospect analysis for all of the minor leagues. He has recently been going around the league posting his top 20 for each team. He finally got around to the Pirates and posted his thoughts on the Pirates system.

There are a  few players that I am little surprised to see in the top 20 like Romulo Sanchez and Matt Hague, but overall I think he did a good job with at least finding the top players in the system.

While I may not agree with all of his rankings, I do agree with his observations on the way that Huntington conducted his first draft, going for a mix of high school and college players. He seems to think that based on what Huntington did in his first draft things may start to look up for the Pirates.

More Winter League Baseball

A few weeks back we ran a story that updated you on the stats of the Pirates playing down in Latin America this winter. We know have even more information that many that follow the minor leagues closely will enjoy. In Venezuela there is two leagues, one that features mainly major leaguers and more advanced minor leaguers and another that features younger players.

The Pirates, along with the other major league teams that still have operations in Venezuela all field teams. Many of the players play on the Pirates' VSL team, but it also features the debuts of some of the Pirates' notable signings from the past summer.

Some of the more notable names playing on the team are Rogelios Noris, Carlos Leal, Exicardo Cayones, and Yhonathan Barrios. Cayones, the recent addition this year, has put up some great on base numbers for his first foray into professional ball. Barrios seems to be struggling in his debut as he has 14 errors in 29 games, but one could expect that for a 16 year old.

One name that jumped out that I don't recall seeing before was Michael Trinidad, he has 8 home runs, but since I have never heard of him before, I want to say that he might be an older player. I am not sure, but have not found anything more on him.

You can go here to see the roster and get their sortable stats for the entire team.

While researching the Liga Paralela, I found that there is a team that is not from the Western Hemisphere competing in the league. The ALB-Orkas are the first team from Europe to play. Originally to be an all Dutch team, players from other European countries were brought in players from Belgium, Germany, Canada, Columbia and Venezuela.

What makes this interesting from a Pirates' perspective is that the Dutch team held tryouts and practices in the Pirates' Venezuelan academy. (Original Un-Translated Page) Perhaps the agreement with the ALB-Orkas may lead to more international opportunuties for the Pirates down the line in Europe.