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April 9, 1979: A Rainout and a Minor Transaction

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The Pirates’ April 9 game in Philadelphia got rained out.  With an off-day scheduled the very next day, they played the makeup game then.

The Pirates made one move, but don’t get your hopes up.  They signed 26-year-old infielder Rod Gilbreath as a free agent.  Gilbreath was a weak hitter who’d put up a 74 OPS+ in 500 career games with Atlanta.  He never actually played for the Bucs, spending 1979 and 1980 with their AAA affiliate in Portland.  I only bring this up to show that actual good teams make moves like this.  I wonder whether the fans all launched tirades about this one . . . .

Anyway, I think there’ll be some more interesting moves eventually.  Just a guess . . . .

Wilbur Miller
Wilbur Miller
Having followed the Pirates fanatically since 1965, Wilbur Miller is one of the fast-dwindling number of fans who’ve actually seen good Pirate teams. He’s even seen Hall-of-Fame Pirates who didn’t get traded mid-career, if you can imagine such a thing. His first in-person game was a 5-4, 11-inning win at Forbes Field over Milwaukee (no, not that one). He’s been writing about the Pirates at various locations online for over 20 years. It has its frustrations, but it’s certainly more cathartic than writing legal stuff. Wilbur is retired and now lives in Bradenton with his wife and three temperamental cats.

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