Some thoughts and notes for Sunday morning…
**There’s a chance the Pirates could add a new manager this week. I broke down the situation yesterday, along with what you might expect after a manager is added. We’ll have any updates on the manager decision as they come out.
**We’re also preparing for our mega announcement on Black Friday. If you missed the information on that, check out my update from earlier this week.
**There aren’t a lot of decisions that need to be made this week. However, a week from Monday is the non-tender deadline. The Pirates have ten players eligible for arbitration, so that should be a busy day. I think the most interesting decisions will be guys like Michael Feliz, Elias Diaz, Chad Kuhl, and Erik Gonzalez, who are all projected below $1.5 M. The old front office liked those guys, obviously, but we’re going to find out how Cherington feels in about a week.
**I’m finalizing my Baseball America top 30 today for the 2020 Prospect Handbook. I’ve already got the date when the top ten list will be announced, along with my date for the BA chat. I’ll share both dates when I can.
**My wife and I got together with some friends last night to have Friendsgiving. I always cook Thanksgiving meal, and love this as a practice run. We’ve got both sets of parents coming to our house this week, so there’s a chance I might not make it until that announcement on Friday. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving week!
SONG OF THE DAY
DAILY QUIZ
Everyone here should get the first one.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
By John Dreker
Nine former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, including one of the best pitchers in franchise history.
Bob Friend, pitcher for the 1951-65 Pirates. He won 191 games in Pittsburgh, including 22 in 1958, and holds the team records for innings pitched (3,480.1), strikeouts (1,682) and games started (477). Unfortunately for Friend, he also suffered through the early 50’s with some of the worst Pirates teams ever, so despite a 3.55 ERA during his time with the team, he lost 218 games. He won 18 games during the 1960 World Series winning season.
Al Martin, outfielder for the 1992-99 Pirates. He was a .280 hitter with 107 homers in 897 games over eight seasons with the Pirates. In 1996, he hit .300 with 18 homers and 38 stolen bases. He hit 24 homers in 1999, then was traded to the San Diego Padres for three players and ended up hitting just 25 more big league homers after the deal.
Kelvin Marte, pitcher for the 2016 Pirates. His big league career so far has consisted of two September relief appearances for the Pirates in 2016. He threw 3.1 innings, allowing five runs, though they were all unearned. He pitched in Mexico during the 2019 season.
Jeff Salazar, outfielder for the 2009 Pirates. After one season in Colorado and two in Arizona, Salazar saw his final big league time with the 2009 Pirates, going 1-for-23 at the plate in 21 games, while seeing time at all three outfield spots. He was a .232 hitter in 168 big league games.
Mike Edwards, third baseman for the 2006 Pirates. He played 14 games in Pittsburgh, going 3-for-16 at the plate, in what would end up being his final big league season. He also played 88 games for the 2005 Dodgers and debuted with four games for the 2003 Oakland A’s.
Ralph Comstock, pitcher for the 1918 Pirates. He went 5-6, 3.00 in 81 innings over eight starts and seven relief appearances with the Pirates. Comstock also played in the majors in 1913 and 1915, including time with the Pittsburgh club of the Federal League, which was considered a Major League at the time.
Harry Wolfe, infielder for the 1917 Pirates. He played just three games with Pittsburgh and 12 games total in his big league career. After nine early season games with the 1917 Chicago Cubs, he joined the Pirates and went 0-for-5 at the plate. Wolfe played eight seasons in the minors.
Ed Doheny, pitcher for the 1901-03 Pirates. The Pirates won three consecutive NL titles and Doheny was there for all of them, posting a 38-14, 2.75 record in 487.2 innings. Unfortunately for the Pirates, he had a mental breakdown and wasn’t available during the 1903 World Series, but things got worse after that. He had a violent incident in October of 1903 that led to him being put in an insane asylum for the final 13 years of his life.
Frank Smith, catcher for the 1884 Pittsburgh Alleghenys. He didn’t make the majors until he was 26 years old and then lasted just ten games, all with the 1884 Alleghenys. He went 9-for-36 at the plate with eight singles and a triple. Smith made seven starts at catcher and played one game at each of the three outfield spots.
On this date in 1886, the Alleghenys purchased outfielder Abner Dalrymple from the Chicago White Stockings. He would go on to become the first batter used by the Alleghenys in their first National League game on April 30, 1887 against the White Stockings.
