Comments on: Pirates sign Australian pitcher http://www.piratesprospects.com/2009/08/pirates-sign-australian-pitcher.html Wed, 22 May 2013 02:45:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: JohnDreker http://www.piratesprospects.com/2009/08/pirates-sign-australian-pitcher.html#comment-14641 JohnDreker Sun, 29 Apr 2012 03:01:00 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/2009/08/pirates-sign-australian-pitcher.html#comment-14641 Not long ago, teams used to play their minor league teams in season. The Pirates played in Altoona in May of 2000. That game was on a Monday after a Sunday day game and before a Tuesday night game that was in Cincinnati. They also used eight minor leaguers on the Pirates roster and two coaches played in the game so it wasn’t quite the real Pirates playing. Now there is a rule in the CBA against in season exhibition games

]]> By: Randy Linville http://www.piratesprospects.com/2009/08/pirates-sign-australian-pitcher.html#comment-14640 Randy Linville Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:44:00 +0000 http://www.piratesprospects.com/2009/08/pirates-sign-australian-pitcher.html#comment-14640 It’s only been in the last 20 or so years that teams completely abandoned this practice. If you read any of the diary books from the 1960s (Ball Four comes to mind), you’ll hear about players griping about a mid-season exhibitions. The Reds and Tigers played an exhibition to benefit the Kid Glove Foundation (called the Kid Glove Game) every year when I was a kid. Not sure when the Detroit/Cincy match ups stopped, but the Kid Glove Game is now a multi-game event held during regular season contests at GABP. 

I think they even finally stopped playing the Hall of Fame game in Cooperstown.

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