A few quick notes and thoughts for Sunday morning:
**My latest article at Baseball America is up, focusing on Nick Mears. I’ll have more on Mears in an upcoming article, expanding a bit on this article and looking at how he went from an undrafted free agent last August to pitching in Double-A and the AFL this year.
**I’ll have my thoughts on the new proposed changes to MLB and the minor leagues in tomorrow’s article. Wilbur had his thoughts on the subject yesterday.
**I’ll also resume my recaps tomorrow, looking at the catching position, which is going to be another disaster position to recap.
**After living six years in Florida, I forgot what it’s like to live in an area where there are seasons, and where the middle of fall is basically all of those seasons in the span of a week.
**I still need to see the Joker movie. I’m not a huge DC fan, but Joker stories are one of the few things I like from DC, especially with the new DC Black Label stories. I just read “Batman: White Knight” a few weeks ago, and it was fantastic.
**Speaking of comic book movies and shows, I definitely recommend watching “The Boys” on Amazon Prime. I watched the first season in the span of two days, and am currently starting through the graphic novels because I can’t wait for season two in July.
**That’s all I’ve got for today. Any questions for me? Leave them in the comments.
SONG OF THE DAY
DAILY QUIZ
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
By John Dreker
October 20th is a light day for Pirates history. Only two former players born on this date and no major trades or transactions. I’ve included the two biggest transactions below..
Jocko Fields, catcher/outfielder for the 1887-89 and 1891 Alleghenys. He was a .265 hitter over 186 games for Pittsburgh. He was mostly a catcher and outfielder, but he played every position except second base during his time with the Alleghenys. His best season came in 1890 when he (and many of his teammates) moved to the Player’s League for one season. He batted .282 with 103 runs scored and 88 RBIs that season.
Jose Veras, pitcher for the 2011 Pirates. During his one season in Pittsburgh, he posted a 3.80 ERA and set career highs with 79 appearances and 71 innings pitched. He played nine years in the majors, with all 440 appearances coming as a reliever. He picked up 27 career saves, with 21 of them coming during the 2013 season.
On this date in 1970, the Pirates completed an earlier trade for pitcher Jim “Mudcat” Grant by sending outfielder Angel Mangual to the Oakland A’s. Mangual played six September games off of the bench for the Pirates in 1969, then spent the entire 1970 season in the minors. He would end up playing six seasons for the A’s, mostly as a bench player, helping them to three consecutive World Series titles. Grant pitched well for the 1971 World Series champs, but was sold back to the A’s late in the season and missed out on the World Series title.
On this date in 1977, pitcher Terry Forster became a free agent. The Pirates acquired him as part of a four-player deal with the Chicago White Sox that included Hall of Famer Goose Gossage and outfielder Richie Zisk. In his one season with the Pirates, Forster had a 6-4, 4.43 record in 87.1 innings.
