I like to do this every year, but this year especially there are a few under-the-radar ex-Pirates in these playoffs to keep an eye on. By my unofficial tally, here are the ex-Pirates in the 2009 MLB Playoffs:
Boston- The Red Sox have Jason Bay, of course, but an ex-Pirate playoff mainstay is missing this year as Tim Wakefield is off the ALDS roster and may not pitch at all in the playoffs.
Los Angelheim- Short-time Pirate Gary Matthews Jr. is on the Angels bench. And while he’s not an ex-Pirate, you all have my permission to root for John Lackey, the best named player in the bigs.
New York- Damaso Marte made the Yanks’ ALDS, though Xavier Nady obviously didn’t, since he’s out for the year. Also on the roster is near-Pirate Phil Coke, who was originally supposed to be part of the Marte/Nady deal before he and George Kontos were swapped out for Jeff Karstens and Dan McCutchen. It’s interesting that Coke has essentially become the LOOGY that Marte was supposed to be when the Yankees acquired him.
Minnesota- No players that wore black and gold are on the Twins’ roster, but their setup man Matt Guerrier was, at one point, in the Pirates organization. He was actually part of the return for the original Damaso Marte trade back in 2002, but he was waived after two years in Triple-A in which he put up nice peripheral numbers with a bad ERA. Which is to say, “Nice work, Littlefield.”
St. Louis- Dennys Reyes spent 10 1/3 awful innings over 12 relief appearances back in 2003.
Colorado- They’ve got Joe Beimel, former Pirate and only current Duquesne Duke in the Majors.
Philadelphia- Matt Stairs is on the roster despite an ugly 2009, presumably for his ability to swing as hard as possible and randomly run into pitches every once in a while.
Los Angeles- They have ex-Pirate farmhand Ronald Belisario who was let go last winter and since then has magically turned into a shutdown setup man. I’m serious when I say “magically.” Check out his numbers over two years in the Pirates’ system, and then check out his numbers in LA this year. How is that the same guy?
I’m sure I’m missing someone, so let me know in the comments and I’ll update.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
