TWB: Pittsburgh Pirates, A New Era

[ifspuds]

1908: Where Did THAT Come From?

Top Hitter: RF Scott Podlasek (.307, 10 HR, 71 RBI)
Top Pitcher: Dave Zike (23-10, 2.52 ERA)
Top Prospect: CF Ray “Ray of Light” Brown

Team Record: 92-62, 1st place, lost World Series to NYA 4-2
Awards: Gold Gloves: P Sam Covallini (4th), SS Travis Hunt (4th, 4th straight), RF Scott Podlasek
Trades: None.

The Pirates put off their run for a season. Apparently, they were just storing up. In an amazing worst-to-first turnaround, the Pittsburgh Pirates gathered up all the disappointment of the first 7 seasons and tossed it out the window, racing to their first pennant by 8 games over the Chicago Cubs. What was the reason for their amazing season? Pitching, pitching, pitching. The Pirates had 4 20-game winners, led by Dave Zike. Who’s Dave Zike, you ask? Nothing other than a 5th round draft pick in 1902 who came out of nowhere to join the starting rotation in 1908 after tossing 27 innings in relief in 1905-1907. All told, the 4 primary starters for the Pirates had 20 or more wins, including a breakout season from Derek Callery (20-11, 2.56 ERA). After a 10-11 April, the Pirates stormed back in May and June to keep pace with the Phillies, finishing the month of June in a tie for first. It was July that saw them surge into the lead, riding an 18-7 month to a 4.5 game cushion. They struggled in August, but so did the rest of the National League, and they finished strong, 17-7 in September.

How did the team fare in their first World Series action? In the end, they fell in 6 games to the favored New York Highlanders, who’d obliterated the American League with 102 wins. The series began in Pittsburgh, where the visitors took game 1 in extra innings on Justin Tucker’s RBI single in the 10th. Game 2 was just as exciting, as the Highlanders tied it 2-2 in the top of the 9th, but Michael “Succotash” Borkholder ripped an RBI double in the bottom half to tie the series at 1. As the series shifted to New York, the Pirates took a 6-2 lead in the 7th inning of game 3, only to see New York come storming back in the 7th and 8th to take a 7-6 win. Game 4 failed to play to form, as the Highlanders knocked Sam Covallini around en route to an 8-2 win and a 3-1 series lead. The Pirates weren’t giving up though, again riding Dave Zike to a close win, this one by the score of 2-1. But New York had the last laugh, getting a shutout from Jassen Nelson to win the 1908 World Series. Pittsburgh would be back, though.

[ifspuds]

Well, there's some good news on the Time Warp front. It looks like the league will be saved in some capacity. We had a sim yesterday, and there will be more forthcoming. So, with that said, here's the latest on the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates of Time Warp Baseball...

At the All-Star break, the Pirates trailed the Mets by a game, and the Cubs were right there in the thick of it all as well. As chronicled earlier, the second half of July saw the Pirates get red-hot, and that one-game deficit turned into a 7.5-game lead over Chicago and 10 over the Mets.

The first game of August was a 21-2 shellacking of the Giants, which featured a 9-RBI game from Ben Trome, who also scored 4 runs, and while the team didn't stay quite that hot, they did sweep 3 from the Expos and split a four-game series with the Phillies that started them on their most recent hot streak, a 7-game stretch that included a 2-game sweep of the Cubs and a 4-game sweep of the Cardinals.

The same stretch wasn't as kind to either the Cubs or the Mets, and the Pirates -- who own the best record in baseball at 84-38 -- now rest atop a cushy 14.5-game lead. George Adkison and Levi Sellers are still pacing the pitching staff. Adkison is considered one of the favorites for the 1971 Murphy Award in the National League. His 19 wins lead the league, his 1.85 ERA has him tied with Cincinnati's Charlie Lendon for first and his 198 strikeouts are second only to Cincinnati's Ron Arvizu, who has 199. Sellers, who has found the fountain of youth after a poor 1970, is 18-3 with a 2.25 ERA and has fanned 188 batters. At the plate, Asa Booker never ceases to amaze, as the 3-time Batter of the Year is enjoying his best year since the 2nd of those two awards, 1967. Hitting .312/.365/.512, he's swatted 28 doubles, 12 triples and 13 homers, numbers we've come to expect from Cannonball, though those 28 doubles have him on pace to set a personal record. He's about to collect his 2700th career hit, and with 8 more stolen bases on top of the 22 he already has, he'll crack the all-time top 10 in steals. He just might rack up another 100-RBI, 100-run season as well.

Pittsburgh faces a tougher schedule in the second half of August, visiting the top three teams in the NL West after opening with a 3-game home set against the 3rd place Astros. That 14.5-game lead has Pirates faithful breathing a whole lot easier about the dying days of summer.

[ifspuds]

The Pirates didn't stay quite as blazing hot as they were starting the month, but an 8-7 sim record against some tough competition is nothing to sneeze at, and going into the final month of the 1971 season, they enjoy a 12-game lead over the Cubs with the Mets 13.5 back in third.

I'm feeling uninspired, so I'll just go series-by-series:

8-16 to 8-18: vs. Houston (2nd place, NL West)
8/16: WIN, 6-5 (12 innings)

If you'd told me we scored 4 off Perry Wanklen, I'd normally be thrilled. But Jack Hassery gave up 5 in 4.1 IP thanks to 9 hits allowed, and it took a Fred Tackett solo homer with 1 down in the bottom of the 9th to send it into extras. Bottom 12, three straight singles loaded the bases to start the inning, and Asa Booker drew the bases-loaded walk to force in the winning run.

8/17: Loss, 3-1

Tim Crusher hit a pair of doubles, but both were with the bases empty, and Houston's Adam Brannen fanned 10 Pirates for the win.

8/18: Loss, 2-1

Levi Sellers took the hard-luck loss, giving up a 2-run 5th inning homer to Pasqual Nava. His teammates couldn't bail him out, getting 9 hits -- all singles -- but failing to draw a walk off Astros pitching. Still, Sellers lost for only the 4th time, against 18 wins.

8-19 to 8-22: at Cincinnati (3rd place, NL West)

8/19: WIN, 6-4

Always showing a flair for the dramatic, the Pirates bailed out starter Harry Cutshall with 3 in the top of the 9th, thanks to 4 singles, a walk and a sac fly. Veteran relief ace John Patterson closed it out in classic fashion, retiring 3 batters on 8 pitches (including a strikeout).

8/20: WIN, 7-3

George Adkison continued his brilliant season, tossing 8 innings of 1-run ball and picking up his 20th win. Cap Marcrum and Asa Booker hit 2-run homers and Alberto Val doubled twice as part of the Pirates' 13 hits.

8/21: WIN, 5-3

The Pirates again salvaged a win out of apparent defeat, scoring 3 in the top of the 9th once again. Four straight singles did it this time, with Henry Cruz driving in the winning runs with the fourth of the four. Lynn Willmon gave up a leadoff single, but shut the door after that.

8/22: WIN, 7-0

No heroics needed this time, just a complete-game 6-hit shutout from Hippo Castillo as the Pirates record the 4-game sweep. The Pirates only got 7 singles, but drew an astounding 10 walks off Reds pitching, including three by leadoff man Alberto Val.

8-23 to 8-25: at Atlanta (1st place, NL West)

8/23: Loss, 5-2

Levi Sellers was not sharp, allowing 5 in 5.1, but credit goes to Atlanta southpaw Tito Garcia. We struggle a little more against lefties, as most of our lineup either bats from the left or switch-hits.

8/24: Loss, 2-1

Harry Cutshall pitched 8 innings of 1-run ball, but the Pirates defense abandoned them as two errors contributed to the Braves plating the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.

8/25: WIN, 10-1

6 of the Pirates' 10 hits were doubles, and backup outfielder Hank Bailey had two of those along with 4 RBI to pace the team. Salvaging a win against their likely NLCS opponents was important, as was getting George Adkison his 21st win, which lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.79.

8-27 to 8-29: at Houston (2nd place, NL West)

8/27: WIN, 8-4

Tim Crusher hit a bases-loaded double in the top of the 10th as the Pirates exploded for 4 in extra innings off Houston relievers. Bash Mahoney picked up 3 hits.

8/28: WIN, 7-2

Bash Mahoney had three more hits, including a solo homer as Levi Sellers got back in the win column (his 19th) with a strong effort. Eric Wellman, filling in for the injured Melchior Cifuentes in center, drove in a pair.

8/29: Loss, 8-7

The never-say-die Pirates scored 3 in the top of the 9th on a 2-run homer from Tim Crusher and a solo shot from catcher Fred Tackett, but pinch-hitter Kenny Bluel popped out to end the game one run short of another epic comeback.

8-30 to 8-31: vs. Philadelphia (4th place, NL East)

8/30: Loss, 4-3

George Adkison was victimized by 2 unearned runs as the Phillies took game one of a three-game series. Bash Mahoney hit another homer and won Player of the Week honors for the NL.

8/31: Loss, 11-7, 10 innings

This time it was the other team sticking it to the Pirates in extras. 10th inning homers by James Bosler and Don Baker contributed to a 4-run 10th for the Phillies.

[ifspuds]

Pirates Crack Century Mark, Close In On Division Crown
by Langford Thomason
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"The rumors of our demise," said Pirates manager Vic Gorin, "appear to have been overstated."

No truer words could be spoken about the Pirates that have steamrolled their way through the National League in the second half of the season. Perhaps they weren't called old and washed-up to their faces, but the mutters around the league were beginning to build. After an epic run of five straight trips to the postseason, four World Series appearances and two world titles, the Pirates had serious competition from two fronts in the young New York Mets and the perennial rivals from Chicago. The Pirates silenced the mutters with an incredible romp through July and August and now find themselves among elite company in league history.

In the last ten seasons, the Pirates have finished with 100 or more wins seven times, including a stretch of six straight seasons -- the sixth of which was clinched with a 3-0 shutout of the Montreal Expos on September 12th. The other three seasons? No fewer than 95 wins. With twelve games remaining, the Pirates' magic number to read the postseason for the sixth year in a row has shrunk to a miniscule two, and while there's no chance the team will break its league record for wins set in 1969, you won't find a Bucs player complaining.

"Did folks count us out?" said Levi Sellers, whose resurgent 1971 after a miserable 1970 is a significant factor in the Pirates' success this year. "Yeah, I think they probably did. We ain't the type of team to panic though. There's too much talent on this team to get all a-flutter. We knew we'd get our chance, put it together at some point. I just want to keep playing as long as I can. I know I ain't got too many more pitches in this right arm of mine, so I'm gonna make darn sure they count."

Vic Gorin agreed with his longtime ace. "What could I have told these guys that I haven't already told them over the years? They know what they have to do. I just make sure nothing blows up, and the rest takes care of itself," said the four-time manager of the year (twice with St. Louis, twice with the Pirates).

If the season were to end today, the Pirates would face the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. The Braves, a franchise that hasn't seen October baseball in forty years, boast long-time Pirates nemesis Jed Williams, a strong candidate for Batter of the Year honors and a terrific one-two punch in the rotation of Joe Cardinan and Mick Vagness, who recently pitched his second career no-hitter. Pittsburgh won the season series 7-5, but just about anything can happen when the pressure's on in the playoffs.

One thing's for sure: the Pirates will know how to handle it.

-----

September 16, 1971
Overall Record: 101-49, 1st place, 11.5 games in front of Chicago

Top Hitter: Bash Mahoney has been hot after a post-BotY year-long slump, but Asa Booker, our old standby, has been even hotter: .426/.491/.617. If he can keep up a .400+ pace over the last 12 games, he might just pull off a fourth Batter of the Year award. He's 8th in average (.315), 4th in doubles (33), tops in triples (12), 4th in runs (95), tied for first in RBI (97), 2nd in steals (27) and 4th in OPS (.882).

Top Pitcher: George Adkison lost the league lead in ERA to Cincy's Charlie Lendon, but he has a healthy lead in wins (23) and is five strikeouts behind Cincy's Ron Arvizu for the league lead there. He still ranks 2nd in ERA with a 1.93. He's possibly the top candidate for the Andrew Murphy Award in the NL.

Injury News: CF Melchior Cifuentes is still out, but should be back for the postseason. Levi Sellers is day-to-day with a sore arm, but he's expected to be 100% for the postseason as well. Good thing, since he's been rocked for 6 runs in 2 of his last three starts.

Development News: Not much going on on this front, and with this veteran team, that's a good thing.

High Points: You read about them above. Just being able to write about this team and this league again is the high point of all high points.

Low Points: I can't think of any. The team's success this season has been a pleasant surprise, and nothing bad's happened lately.

[ifspuds]

The 1971 postseason matchups are set. The American League Championship Series will pit the New York Yankees against the Oakland Athletics, while the National League Championship Series matches the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Atlanta Braves.

Here's a preview of the NLCS...

Pittsburgh Pirates (107-55, 9.0 games ahead of Chicago)
Batting Average: .261 (6th overall)
Homeruns: 126 (8th overall)
Walks: 571 (T-7th overall)
Stolen Bases: 48 (21st overall)
Runs Scored: 773 (4th overall)

Pitching ERA: 3.09 (3rd overall)
Opponents' Average: .228 (3rd overall)
HR Allowed: 112 (13th overall)
Walks Allowed: 418 (4th overall)
Runs Allowed: 541 (T-1st overall)

The Pirates are in the postseason for the 6th straight season. 4 of the previous 5 trips have taken them to the World Series, 2 of which resulted in championships. Prior to that, they were arguably the worst franchise in league history, without a pennant between 1912 and 1966. They finished with the best record in baseball this season.

Atlanta Braves (94-68, 5 games ahead of Houston)
Batting Average: .247 (13th overall)
Homeruns: 128 (7th overall)
Walks: 590 (4th overall)
Stolen Bases: 108 (7th overall)
Runs Scored: 684 (14th overall)

Pitching ERA: 3.15 (4th overall)
Opponents' Average: .231 (5th overall)
HR Allowed: 107 (10th overall)
Walks Allowed: 411 (3rd overall)
Runs Allowed: 575 (4th overall)

The Braves had the league's longest postseason drought until this season, making their last trip to the playoffs in 1931, which was the second longest such stretch in league history, behind their NLCS opponents. Record-wise, they had the fewest wins of any team still playing.

The Matchups

The Braves scored nearly 60 fewer runs than the Pirates, but in terms of offensive skills, the two teams aren't so far apart. The Pirates have a solid lineup from top to bottom, with six players hitting between 13 and 19 homers, led by outfielders Asa Booker (.316/.374/.504, 18 HR) and Cap Marcrum (.297/.374/.443, 19 HR). The Braves boast primarily two stars, catcher "Big Wally" Hanham (.282/.345/.475, 28 HR) and center fielder Jed Williams (.329/.418/.486, 15 HR).

On the pitching side, the Pirates have the likely Murphy Award winner in ace George Adkison (25-5, 1.97, 250 K) and two other quality starters in Hippo Castillo (17-13, 2.60, 143 K) and Levi Sellers (20-9, 3.04, 228 K). Sellers fought some arm troubles in the last two weeks and is coming into the NLCS with a couple of poor recent outings. The Braves have one of the best 1-2 punches in the league at the top of their rotation in Joe Cardinan (16-5, 1.88, 173 K) and Mick Vagness (15-4, 2.03, 175 K), which makes them a very strong playoff team, when 3-man rotations are the norm.

Despite the 13-win difference between the two teams, this is a very close matchup. The 5-game series makes it even harder to predict. The pitching is very close, with the expected Adkison-Cardinan matchup in game one a near tossup, and the offenses closely matched. The ability of the Pirates to string together rallies as they've done all year will be key, as they have greater depth in the lineup than the Braves, and neither bullpen is particularly lights out outside of the relief aces Brian Northington (ATL) and Lynn Willmon (PIT).

Prediction: Pirates in 5.

[ifspuds]

Pirates Escape, Move On To Oakland
by Langford Thomason
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Even the normally unflappable Vic Gorin looked like a kid with a new bicycle under the Christmas tree. The Pirates manager had just guided his team to the most unlikely of comebacks in the National League Championship Series and still couldn't quite believe that it had happened. "Down two games to none, George (Adkison) on the shelf, headed to Atlanta against Cardinan? I'm not even sure I gave us much of a shot. I didn't think these guys could amaze me any more," said Gorin, grinning from ear to ear in the clubhouse after a game five win that saw Melchior Cifuentes club his second game-winning homer of the series and Lynn Willmon gut out three dominating innings, striking out Big Wally Hanham to end the game and cap an unbelievable series.

"I think people underestimated just how important Chucho (Melchior Cifuentes) was to us this year," said Gorin. "Yeah, he hit .187. But when the game was on the line, when we needed a big hit, he dug down and found something extra." Cifuentes's three-run homer in the 5th inning of game five put the Pirates up 9-5, runs they needed when the Braves scored 2 in the top of the 6th. Gorin's assertion is backed up by some surprising numbers. In the late innings, Cifuentes hit .317, and hit much better with runners in scoring position than he did in other situations. "I go up looking for a ball I can do good things with," said the center fielder, who missed the last two months of the season with a bum knee. "Sometimes I get lucky." As dramatic as his game five shot was, it was nothing compared to the game four bomb. With the game tied 2-2 going into the 9th, Cifuentes came up with two down and Eric Wellman and Bash Mahoney at the corners. Facing new pitcher Lance Slaughter, Cifuentes sent a towering fly ball over the fence in right-center to clear the bases.

If there has been one theme this team has played on all season long, it's drama. Time and time again during the regular season, they turned on the late-inning heroics to turn losses into improbable wins. The National League Championship Series was no different. With ace George Adkison nursing a sore back after 3 and two-thirds ineffective game one innings, the rest of the staff turned in some of their best work. Even though he was torched in game two, not even escaping the first inning, Hippo Castillo came back on short rest in game 4 and pitched seven strong innings to earn the win. Levi Sellers matched Atlanta's Joe Cardinan, nearly ten years his junior, pitch for pitch in a nail-biting game three that turned on Bash Mahoney's two-out, two-run 11th inning homer.

"I don't think my heart can handle much more. I'm an old man," said Vic Gorin as the celebration in the clubhouse began to wind down. The 62-year old Gorin isn't about to hang up his cap just yet though. He's got another World Series to manage, the seventh of his illustrious managerial career. And knowing his Pirates squad, they've got even more heart-stoppers in store for him.

[Vris]

Fantastic series. Lance Slaughter probably isn't very welcome back home in Atlanta today.

[ifspuds]

No, I imagine not. Giving up Bash's homer in game 3 and Cifuentes' homer in game 4, he's probably not Atlanta's favorite son.

On the other hand, he'd be welcome in Pittsburgh any time he needs to get away.

It was a great series. Like I said on the TWB boards, you've got my sympathies. I've got a healthy dose of winner's remorse.

[ifspuds]

1971 World Series

Oakland Athletics (100-62)

vs.


Pittsburgh Pirates (107-55)

It'd be hard to find two teams more closely matched than these two. The Athletics held off the California Angels, the 1970 division champs, by six games, but that margin and their overall record is deceptive: they were under their projected record by an astounding 10 games. That's usually a recipe for frustration and eventual heartbreak, but the fact that they still won the division by six games and had the best record in the American League tells you something about how good this team is. Like their opponents from the National League, the A's came back from a 2-0 deficit in the League Championship Series, roaring back to win three straight against the New York Yankees and reach the franchise's first World Series since 1958, when they hailed from Kansas City and downed the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.

The side-by-side numbers:

                OAK              PIT
Batting Avg.   .270 (2nd)       .261 (6th)
Home Runs       141 (4th)        126 (8th)
Walks           584 (5th)        571 (T-7th)
Stolen Bases    156 (1st)         48 (21st)
Runs Scored     792 (3rd)        773 (4th)

ERA            2.92 (1st)       3.09 (3rd)
Opp. Avg.      .219 (1st)       .228 (3rd)
HR Allowed      105 (8th)        112 (13th)
Walks Allowed   378 (1st)        418 (4th)
Runs Allowed    541 (T-1st)      541 (T-1st)

The Pirates' pitching numbers are skewed slightly down from where they were much of the second half, but as you can see, the Athletics are just slightly better in every category except stolen bases, where they have a distinct advantage. The only significant stolen base threat in the Pirates lineup is Asa Booker (28 steals), while the A's had 6 players with at least 10 steals, led by Frankie Mercado with 55.

A lot has been made of the Pirates' pitching over the years, but in Bob Day (23-9, 1.94 ERA, 267 K in 297.2 IP) and Gary Blaise (22-9, 2.09 ERA, 314 K in 297.1 IP), the Athletics' rotation is just as good, and probably a bit better. David Kelly (3-2, 4.19 ERA, 20 K in 36.2 IP) was in the 3 spot for the ALCS with Rob Vanderbilt (15-8, 2.61 ERA, 181 K in 231.1 IP) on the disabled list. Don't let Kelly's 1971 numbers fool you: he was 13-10, 3.24 in 1970 and has a career 3.38 ERA in five seasons.

This series is very likely a tossup. The speed of the Athletics will put Pittsburgh's Henry Cruz into the starting lineup behind the plate. Cruz's arm, which has earned him 6 Gold Gloves, trumps Fred Tackett's slightly better bat. In addition, Pittsburgh's ace George Adkison won't be able to take the hill until game three, thanks to a balky back, which puts Jack Hassery (11-8, 4.47 ERA, 155 K in 201.1 IP), the enigmatic and mercurial 5th starter, into the rotation for game two. The Pirates' hopes could very well hinge on how well Hassery pitches. The start likely would have been Harry Cutshall's (11-3, 2.75 ERA, 55 K in 150.1 IP), but Cutshall tossed 40 pitches in relief in game 5 of the NLCS and is not expected to be rested for a game two start.

Prediction: Normally, the Pirates could send Adkison out for games 1, 4 and 7, but his limited availability will hurt. Both teams come in a little tired from their dramatic LCS wins. The Pirates are the old hands at the pressure of the World Series, in their fifth Fall Classic in six seasons, while the younger Athletics are here for the first time. It should be a terrific series, but I'm going with Athletics in seven.

[ifspuds]

Originally Posted by renner

Jeff - Great stuff. I see that TWB is having their draft, how have the Pirates done the last 5,6,7 years in the draft ?

I brought this over from the Time Warp: The Return thread, since it's more applicable to this thread.

Interesting question, Renner. Teams in the hunt in Time Warp often don't hold on to their drafted players very long, swapping them for established players that will help now. Since we've been in the hunt for several years now, it's interesting to see what's happened to our draftees. I'll run through the first rounders, and point out any late-round surprises. We'll start 7 years ago, with the 1967 draft.

1967: P Lou Hamberrez: Hamberrez was drafted as a high-endurance reliever and turned into a starter in the minors. In 1967, he spent the year at AA and went 6-12, 3.10 with a 1.21 WHIP. Not too bad. He was sent to St. Louis the following season with backup OF Ray Eshelman for middle infield prospect Darrel Watson (who happens to be my father). Watson will probably spend most of the '72 season with the Pirates, but might be waiting for Tim Crusher or Ben Trome to finish their careers before he becomes a starter.

No late round surprises in '67.

1968: "Golden" Joe Prentice: He wasn't the #4 prospect in the game when he was drafted, that's for sure. Prentice was swapped a couple months into the '68 season for super reliever John Patterson. We needed one more solid relief arm in the pen to complement Lynn Willmon, and Patterson was it. A one-for-one swap that's turned out well for both teams. Prentice has been slow to develop, though he's got tremendous talent: he's never pitched above AA and is 24 years old.

Remarkably, Prentice is the only player we drafted in '68 not to get big league action. 2nd round pick Terrell Phillips spent the '71 season as a platoon partner with longtime 2B Alberto Val and looks like a solid contributor. He's rated 7/6/5/9/5 against 7/7/5/10/6 talents. RF Hank Bailey was pressed into emergency duty as a backup outfielder in '71, which is all the higher he'll ever get. 4th rounder Dave McDonald looks like he'll be a quality middle reliever (5/4/5 over 9/5/6) and got 1 inning in September of '71.

1969: Joe Horan: Horan is looking like the heir apparent to Henry Cruz and Fred Tackett behind the plate. Rated 5/5/2/4/5 over 7/7/3/9/4, he ought to be a dependable bat, but he's a little weak-armed behind the plate. I can deal with that. A good hitting catcher is hard to find.

No surprises in 1969.

1970: Rod Yantis: The second-to-last pick in the first round was swapped instantly to the Red Sox for catcher Fred Tackett. Henry Cruz hadn't hit well, and we needed another catcher that wouldn't be an automatic out. Yantis hasn't been anything special for the Red Sox, and Tackett's filled in nicely as a sometime-starting catcher for us.

No surprises in 1970 either.

1971: Terry Barrak: One of those tantalizing swingmen that might have the stamina to become a starter, Barrak is rated 4/3/4 over 7/8/6 talents. He's been starting since he joined the organization, and put up a 2.89 ERA in 13 starts at single-A his first season. He got 3 AA starts and went 1-2, 4.50. He might just be a dependable back-of-the-rotation starter.

No surprises from the 1971 draft yet.

1972: Antonio Calvo: This year's first round pick is a rangy center fielder with slightly better than average speed but not a lot of smarts on the basepaths. His bat is average, but a bump up in any talent could make him a useful player.

[ifspuds]

I'm going to try to get back to this thread more regularly starting with the upcoming 1974 season, but in the meantime, here's a little piece I wrote after the Pirates won the 1973 World Series.

-----

The Unlikely Champions
by Langford Thomason
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

I have written this column no fewer than fourteen times already, and each time I'm forced to admit that there just aren't any fancy words to describe the 1973 World Series.

Magical? Yes.

Nervewracking? Absolutely.

Liable to put the faint of heart into mortal danger? Without question.

Possibly the perfect cap to what has become one of baseball history's greatest runs by any team, any time? Well... that depends on who you ask.

"Is this the end? Not if I have anything to say about it," said third baseman Ben Trome, who like many of his clubhouse mates, has been around for every brilliant moment and bitter disappointment since that first breakthrough year of 1966. "Look around this room. Every single person in here wants to be right back here again next year. People say we're getting old, but let me tell you... nothing makes you feel younger than winning."

Ask Levi Sellers, the proud ace of so many Pirates teams both horrible and fantastic, now in the twilight of his career and relegated to bullpen duty. Lest you forget, it was Sellers who entered game 5 with runners on first and second and no outs and the Pirates nursing a 2-run lead. Sellers got out of the jam in classic fashion, long fly balls that dropped harmlessly into the gloves of his outfielders and a near double-play that scored California's final run. Ask him if it's the end and you get a different story. "I'm tired," he'll tell you. "Something like this makes it a lot easier to go home, if that's what it comes down to."

He might be the only Pirate to feel that way though.

Here's Asa Booker, whose inexplicable error turned a likely Pirate win in game 2 into a bitter defeat, who found redemption a half-inning later with the game-tying RBI single, who struggled so mightily in the NLCS after such a sublime September. Booker, the quiet pillar of strength around which this franchise has reversed its fortunes, who staved off Father Time's insistent prodding to notch his 3000th hit this season. "I've never been so excited to see a new season on the horizon," said the future Hall of Famer. "Spring training can't get here soon enough. I feel like I'm 25 again."

Which is saying something, since most of us feel about 20 years older after the roller coaster ride that was the 1973 World Series. Understand this: every game of the World Series except the final one saw at least 3 ties or lead changes. Every game was either decided in the 7th inning or later, including two extra inning gems, or was within a run of being tied. Twice the Pirates scored at least 2 runs in their last at-bat to send the game into extra innings, including a three-run rally in the bottom of the 9th in game 3, staring a potential 3-0 deficit in the face.

Perennial post-season darling Bash Mahoney put it succinctly, "After game 3, we knew we were going to win it."

"After that bottom of the 9th," said manager Vic Gorin, "I seriously started listening for ambulances coming to the park to take away people that had fainted. I was worried for George (Baldwin, Pirates general manager)'s ticker."

Baldwin, who pulled off the trades that brought Jerome Gabbert, Dennis Gill and Chuck Hart, all of whom performed brilliantly in the Series, had no need to worry about his heart, which gave him such trouble last year. His team had plenty of heart they'd have been happy to loan him.

[ifspuds]

One of the stalwarts of the 1960s Pirates teams that turned this downtrodden franchise's fortunes around retired in the offseason, so I thought I'd give a retrospective. Expect to see some more of these in the near future as some of the longtime Pirates begin retiring.

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Alberto Val
Infielder, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1959-1973

Career numbers: .287/.376/.392, 2033 H, 342 2B, 44 3B, 104 HR, 743 RBI, 1093 R, 1007 BB, 805 K.

All-Star Selections: 1962, 1964

With Alberto Val, you always knew what you were going to get: a good average, truckloads of walks and a fiery, no holds barred, spikes flying game. Traded three times before he ever saw major league action, Val was originally in the Cleveland Indians organization, a 2nd round draft pick in 1957. He was traded later that season to the Chicago Cubs and early in 1958 to the Baltimore Orioles. In 1959, the rebuilding Pirates shipped pitcher Gene Houk and outfielders Anthony Carver and Ronnie Kwok, none of whom amounted to too much for the Orioles, for Val and pitchers Alex Jones and Bud Ulrich. With the Pirates, Val finally found an organization that would tolerate his mercurial personality and his below-average defense -- because there was no question the kid from California could hit.

He hit the majors with a vengeance in 1959, winning Player of the Week in his first week of action, and hitting a robust .379/.411/.552 in 48 games. Such an auspicious debut might have raised unfair expectations, as he struggled to a .290/.337/.394 line in 1960. That .337 OBP would be his lowest in a full season throughout his career though, and his 1961 and 1962 seasons were excellent. Val always got on base very well, though the low offense years in the late '60s made his numbers look worse on the surface than they really were. While Val was never the stereotypical base stealing leadoff man, he was a smart baserunner -- swiping 64 bags at a solid rate -- and had a way of getting in opponents' heads by taking the extra base whenever he could and going in as hard as he could, daring fielders to get in his way.

Val's best season, 1966, coincided with the Pirates' first World Series win in over 50 years. Settled in at second base, Val hit .289/.388/.466 with a career high 34 doubles and the second most homers of his career, 14. In the 1966 World Series against the Boston Red Sox, he was a constant irritant, hitting .409 and slugging .682 in the series. In his career, he hit .277/.321/.399 in 173 postseason at-bats.

Alberto Val's last full-time season was 1970, his best season since that 1966 campaign. He hit .304/.423/.395, a career high in OBP, but the writing was on the wall. The Pirates had a star second base prospect in Terrell Phillips coming up through the organization, and management approached Val in the offseason about a platoon role to ease Phillips into the majors. Val accepted the role surprisingly graciously, though some of that grace might have been because he still got the lion's share of playing time, and played well: .301/.392/.389. He handed the full-time role to Phillips in 1972, getting 234 AB at several infield positions, and faded quietly into the background in 1973, picking up just 88 at-bats and hitting a paltry .170. It was a calm end to a career that was anything but calm.

[ifspuds]

Reposted from the main Time Warp thread...

Star Outfielder Perishes in Plane Crash
Huntsville, AL (AP)

A chartered plane carrying Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Asa Booker and four other passengers went down near Huntsville, Alabama late last night, leaving no survivors. The Birmingham, Alabama native Booker, 38, a three-time Batter of the Year award winner for the Pirates, had chartered the plane to visit his home state after the tornado outbreak that devastated the northern part of the state as well as many states across the central and eastern United States over the last two days.

Booker and his companions were in the process of delivering relief supplies to the residents of northern Alabama when a combination of continued poor weather and mechanical problems is believed to have brought down the plane. Local residents reported the plane flying extremely low before a series of four explosions ripped it apart. Emergency crews, already strapped by the demands of tornado-stricken communities, were on the scene as quick as possible, but could find no survivors.

The Pirates are scheduled to play their season opener in St. Louis against the Cardinals today. An official statement from Major League Baseball and the front office of the Pirates and Cardinals indicated that the game would go on as scheduled, with a moment of silence observed before the game in honor of the Pirates' fallen star.

Asa Booker was born January 28th, 1936, first came up to the big leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1956, and made his first of 10 All-Star teams in 1958. Traded to Pittsburgh prior to the beginning of the 1960 season, it is with the Pirates that Booker became famous, winning Batter of the Year awards in 1962, 1967 and 1968 and leading the Pirates, long one of baseball's most miserable franchise, to World Series wins in 1966, 1967 and 1973, along with appearances in the playoffs every season between 1966 and 1973. In his career, Booker amassed 3048 hits (22nd all time), 469 doubles, 216 triples, 291 home runs, 1465 RBI, 1567 runs and 735 stolen bases (9th all time), hitting .304 for his career.

[ifspuds]

The Story Will Never Finish
by Langford Thomason
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Walk through the Pirates clubhouse. The locker between Ben Trome and Terrell Phillips hasn't changed. The #8 jersey still hangs there. There's a battered black leather outfielder's glove, cleats, the usual paraphernalia of the ballplayer's clubhouse home. They wait for their owner to come back and don the tools of the trade, to flash them in the transcendent fashion they have come to expect over the long seasons.

There are few words I've had to write that are harder than these:

He will not be back.

Asa Booker is gone from us, from his teammates, his fans, his opponents, his family. That absent locker is an unmistakeable emblem of the hole the tragic, senseless accident of April 4th left in all of our lives.

The joy, so infectious and invigorating after the improbable march to the 1973 World Series championship, is utterly absent from this place. Conversations are quiet, when they occur. Most can't even look at the place where Asa Booker used to stand and provide his dry wit to his teammates before games, after wins and losses alike. "Book never raised his voice," says Ben Trome. "He never had to, you just found yourself wanting to listen. He could see right to the heart of something and deliver some comment that'd have you howling, laughing on the floor. Even if it was about you."

Trome sits at his own locker, rubbing the palm of his glove with a calloused right hand. "It rubs -- rubbed, I guess -- some guys wrong, first time they come in here. They want the same fire and passion he left on the field. That's just it though, he left it all on the field. Outside of playing baseball, he just wanted to be."

I think back to the jubilant celebration after the 1973 World Series, when Asa Booker told me that he couldn't wait for spring training to arrive. Like Trome said, when I first met Asa Booker I found him aloof, cold. As I came to understand him better, I knew better. Still, I had never seen such giddy glee in his eyes as I did that night. He told me he felt like he was 25 again, that he could play for 10 more years. I want to shake my fists at the sky and demand the universe explain itself, that it would rob us of one of the most electric, proudest, most brilliant players ever to grace this beautiful game.

Newly minted general manager Victor Boudet recalls the conversation he had with Booker before that fateful plane flight. "He didn't say much. He came in and said, 'Vic, I'd like to go home and help. Please.'" Boudet shakes his head, eyes down. "I offered to charter him a plane myself, but he wanted to take care of it. That's the way he was. He never wanted anyone to do anything for him that he could do just fine on his own. Maybe if I'd insisted, he'd still be here."

We're all -- everyone even peripherally associated with the Pirates franchise -- wondering if there was anything we could have done to prevent it. It's consumed the 25 men in the clubhouse since Opening Day, clearly the reason the team is sleepwalking through the early 1974 season.

"Me and Book had it all planned out," says Levi Sellers. "Another year, maybe two, when we're both retired, we're gonna spend a month sitting on a boat in the middle of some lake, middle of nowhere, and not say a damn thing. Just put a line in the water and let it all wash over us." Sellers shakes his head. "It's gonna be a long damn time before I can put that boat back in the water," he murmurs, and then face lights up. "Man, he could fish. You should have seen this time me and him..." The story never finishes.

The story of Asa Booker and what he gave to us all will never finish. I hope and pray that it's never forgotten.