Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke?

In which I discuss a Pirate of the past and why I loved or hated them so much. There's no rhyme or reason to who I pick, the only rule is that I have to remember them. I'm not actually trying to find them. I think we can probably classify the Kinger as the very first Pirate uber-bust of the 1990s. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong in making that assertion. Jeff King was picked with the very first pick in the 1986 draft. Taken behind him in the top 10 were Matt Williams, and Gary Sheffield. It's not that King was a bad player, it's just that he only had a year or two as a really good one at a time when the Pirates needed him to "the man." If you will. After Bonds and Bonilla left and Van Slyke got hurt, they needed someone to fill the void. King just couldn't do it. He'd fit in quite well with the current Pirates I think: a solid major leaguer that would make a great utility guy, but is a starter because of circumstances. That's not to say K...

In which I discuss a Pirate of the past and why I loved or hated them so much. I'm not actually trying to find them. If this blog was run by my brother Dennis instead of me, it would be Where have you gone, Orlando Merced? instead of the WHYGAVS that exists today (does WHYGOM work?). I really like writing these things because I have certain perceptions of these guys that played in my youth and while writing them I always look them up at BBREF and see if what I remember actually matches reality. Most of the time it doesn't because, but that's OK. When I started thinking about Merced last night, here's what I remembered: a first baseman/outfielder from Puerto Rico that was incredibly honored to be a Pirate because he idolized Roberto Clemente. I remember that he was switch hitter but that he was the worst right-handed hitter in history so he rarely played against lefties, defeating the purpose of switch hitting. Eventually he just hit lefty all the time. I seem to recall...

In which I discuss a Pirate of the past and why I loved or hated them so much. I'm not actually trying to find them. What a curious career. The big lefty essentially had one big year as a Pirate, but it was a big year. In 1991 he went 20-8 and finished 3rd in Cy Young voting with a 3.08 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. The reason he never really duplicated that year was because he only struck out 129 batters in 207 and 2/3 innings, or less than 6 per 9 innings. He was pretty consistent the whole year, but after August 1st the Pirates cranked up the offense in his presence and he went 8-1. Of course you all remember what happened next. He crapped all over himself in the playoffs. He only made it two innings in his game 3 start, then only two-thirds of an inning in game 7. We lost both games and accordingly, the series. Smiley, likely unable to ever show his face in Pittsburgh ever again, was shipped off to the Twins that off-season for Denny Neagle and one of the first failed uber-prospects of th...

In which I discuss a Pirate of the past and why I loved or hated them so much. I'm not actually trying to find them. It was hard not to love the Pirates' catching platoon in the early '90s. Spanky and Sluggo. Slaught was the short half of the platoon when Mike LaValliere was in town, but he was always my favorite of the two. It may have had something to do with the fact that he was definitely a better hitter, but when my Minor League (that was the 8-10 year-old machine-pitch league back in the day where I'm from, Joseph's Paint rocked the house) made me the catcher and started calling me Sluggo it definitely sealed the deal. If any of you have Bill James' historical abstract (and I'm betting at least a few of you have it), Sluggo is in the top 100 (I don't recall where exactly and my copy is in Pittsburgh at the moment) and James makes the comment that had he played anywhere but catcher, he'd probably have turned into a really good hitter. Instead, ...

In which I discuss a Pirate of the past and why I loved or hated them so much. Oh, that's right. Curtis Wilkerson , or as my head fondly remembers him, "Lloyd McClendon without the talent." That's a faulty recollection though. I remember Wilkerson as a fifth outfielder, BRef tells me he was a utility infielder. Oh, well, time glosses over all things in our heads, I suppose. Anyways, Wilkerson is a special player. Not because he was good, but because of how much he sucked. His career batting line was .245/.286/.305. His career OPS+ was 63. Despite that, he played parts of 11 seasons in the big leagues. His hitting line is eerily similar to one John Wehner 's. His career highlight was probably in 1988 when the Rangers traded him, Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams and a bunch of other crappy players to the Cubs for Jamie Moyer and Rafael Palmiero. Wilkerson only played one season with the Pirates, 1991. As per his career stats, he sucked in 1991 going .188/.243/....

In which I discuss a Pirate of the past and why I loved or hated them so much. Ahh, now this is more like it. I opened with Doug Drabek, but guys like Espy are who I had in mind for this "Where have you gone..." feature. This is why Espy is important, because he is the first Pirate I ever remember thinking actually sucked. You see, when the Pirates were good, I was quite young. Thus, I had a favorable impression of everyone that wore black and gold in those times, no matter how bad they really were. I would name names, but that would ruin the fun of future WHYG... segments. The point is this: I never, for one second of my life, though Cecil Espy was a good baseball player. And for that, I will never forget the guy. A more objective glance at Espy's career shows that I was pretty much dead on as a six year old. In two years of partial duty as a Pirate, Espy hit .244/.281/.329 and .258/.310/.340. If you check out his gamelogs on BRef, you'll see that Espy was Chris Duf...

In which I discuss a Pirate of the past and why I loved or hated them so much. Doug Drabek was quite nearly my favorite Pirate as a child. In fact, this blog would have quite nearly been "WHYGDD" if not for all of the qualities that make Andy Van Slyke a 5-year olds favorite player. Still, who wouldn't love the mustache and the mullet to go with the dominant pitching that Drabek brought to the table. First things first. Drabek started the very first Pirate game I ever attended. The details of his start are murky, but he must've been good because I know the Pirates beat the Expos 6-1 that night. I distinctly remember getting a baseball card that off-season that said "Award Winners" on it with Drabek's picture and the caption "1990 National League Cy Young Winner." That lead to a discussion between me and my dad about what a Cy Young Award was. Funny what sticks with us, isn't it? I don't remember a lot about Drabek's 1990 campaign, b...