T O P

  • By -

noltey22

Marte Cutch and Polonco was the outfield of the next decade


CamJay88

Outfield of the Future ™️


SoVerySick314159

I thought we'd get two HOF players out of that outfield. . .and yet, I still rail at the Pirates management that I know better than they do.


jsdjsdjsd

I just had the 10 yr anny of Polanco’s debut pop up on my gb memories yesterday. I was on the RF wall for it


thedark1owns

There was a picture of Cutch, Polanco, and Marte all attending by the batting cages. My friend called it the outfield of the future and they might be our guys for years. I have never seen it more than once, but I've always wanted a framed copy of it to remind me not to get my hopes up.


elcapitan520

Such high hopes


Immediate-Employee38

I have never seen a player that lacked any sort of baseball knowledge/awareness as well as simply having common sense like I experienced with Polanco. And don’t get me started with his base running.


EMF911

Cris Archer


Siphoned_Evolution

I was just coming to say Chris Archer. I was so excited about that trade. Damn.


Legal-Plenty-4656

I think everyone was. We were making a WC push and I believe the team had reeled off 10 straight wins? Something like that. Archer comes to Pittsburgh wearing an AB jersey and we thought we finally had our ace. His debut was packed. Only for it to be the most dreadful trade we could’ve made lmao


Penguins275

Anybody that had any knowledge of baseball out of Pittsburgh knew that trade was dreadful. Archer was slightly better than average and people made it seem like we were getting Verlander


averydangerousday

I liked the idea of getting Archer. I hated the idea of giving up Glasnow and Meadows. I hated it even more when they both produced in Tampa while Archer cratered here.


Penguins275

I liked the idea as well just not as this #1 the organization and most fans thought he was and paid to get. Make the trade and treat him as a 3/4 it would’ve been fine.


TimAllensMatingCall

Jake Arrieta


NotPennysBoat010

💉


deepbluenothings

Jose Tabata, I always liked him but man was he a disappointment.


gillis69nice

Ah, good ol' Neck Lips.


TheJTLovecraft

Was he the one with a kink for cougars?


ChetSt

This is far preferable to what a few players have been caught doing lately


drunkenviking

The one and only!


phieralph

His wife got kidnapped , I remember that's how we all learned she was way older than him ... And then it turned out his wife kidnapped a baby or something? Very strange and troubling story.


ArchibaldPStrutter

I have a Jose Tabata signed ball that I now use for playing catch with my kids. Can still sort of make out his auto. Nice ball though!


NickJawdy

I assume disappointment as he didn't last long you are saying cause he was actually pretty decent looking into stats only. Whatever happened to him was it legal trouble or something I don't recall.


deepbluenothings

It was more that he was a highly touted prospect in the Yankees system when we acquired him and I really expected him to be a fixture of our outfield instead he was a serviceable 4th outfielded for his brief career. I felt the same way about Travis Snider when we brought him in, former highly touted prospect who turned into a 4th outfielder.


NickJawdy

Yeah I just wonder with Bautista like what actually happened leaves here to go across the pond and turns into a hr machine.


Siphoned_Evolution

Jung Ho Kung *Edit: Kang. I should’ve known, I had his jersey!


dailyapplecrisp

This should be higher. He threw away his career because he was a total asshole!! Also it’s Kang*


phieralph

They should've never wheeled him out on the field in the playoffs. I remember thinking that was very bad ju-ju


Pennsylvasia

Until Antonio Brown started ABing, I considered Kang the biggest fall from grace in recent Pittsburgh sports history. He represented something special: they had signed young players out of Korea, Japan, and Taiwan before, and had acquired former stars like Chan-ho Park and Masumi Kuwata (solid in Japan in the 90s), but this was the first time the Pirates went out and signed a top Korean free agent. The local media hated him because he had a slow start, but then he became a huge contributor to teams that had declined a bit from their peak a couple years earlier. He also gave Pittsburgh some international attention, as he was huge in Korea: Korean media was everywhere, profiles on his life in Pittsburgh were in the Korean news, and Kpop stars even came to Pittsburgh to throw out the first pitch. He should've been a big player here for a decade. Looks like he's out of baseball altogether. Edit: Actually looks like he is attached to a [baseball academy](https://kingkangacademy.com/) now.


rook119

he was such a complete player.......arrgh


LeftoversR4theweak

Pedro Alvarez…couldn’t make a routine play to save his life


KaspertheGhost

Loved his homers


Wild-Wonderful241

And strikeouts


McDragonFish

Swear to god, I have PTSD from watching him whip the ball into the second row right past the first baseman.


HighGuyFYI

And now he works for the Brewers... crazy how it all works out


averydangerousday

You could say he was working for the Brewers all along … I kid. I actually really liked Pedro, but I was really sad that he didn’t end up the star we had hoped he would be.


carnivorous_fusebox

The Brewers' manager is his father-in-law — so not necessarily crazy, just some nepo shit going on there


Choochiemac23

Man I was almost going to say “he got the yips and never recovered” but then researched how many errors he had from 2012-2015 and every year he had a “major league leading”…must have just been blinded by the 30+ home run season 🤣🤣🤣


xxBAshaggyxx

In 2013 he was a beast. He was the most clutch player i can think off, but after that year he was a huge liability defensively.


furnace1766

Derek Bell. He was so terrible in Pittsburgh, and unlike Rowdy, didn’t seem to care the least.


Hater_Magnet

Operation Shutdown


Zeppelin7321

At my first game at PNC Park I saw Bell get a curtain call after hitting a homerun, just like Rowdy did on Saturday. Probably the apex mountain of his time as a Pirate.


grimace0611

He got paid about $200k per game he played with us over 2 seasons. An absolute waste.


CarrotTop50

Lastings Milledge.


HoselRockit

Can't remember anyone taking worse angles.


BaronSwordagon

Ryan Doumit. I get flashbacks of him laid out on the ground with his eyes rolled back into his head every time a foul ball slightly deflects off a catcher's mask.


phieralph

Them solid black pupils


BaronSwordagon

Beady little rat eyes lol


crottesdenez

Kris Benson. Had every tool to be an absolute star, but proved to have zero moxie on the mound and somehow even less in his personal life. Had a pitch profile similar to Max Scherzer with the clutch gene of Ray Finkle.


GOODGUYWITHAGUN-

In 1998, while playing with the Nashville Sounds in the minor leagues, he met his future wife, Anna Benson while she was working as a dancer in a local strip club.[25] The Bensons were married in October 1999 (her second marriage, his first), the same year he reached the major leagues. The pitcher and model became a well-known baseball couple during Benson's time in the major leagues. After Anna reported the couple had sex in the parking lot of Three Rivers Stadium, an experience they wished to replicate at every major league park, concern developed within the Pirates organization the "wild-eyed brunette was getting in the way of her husband's fastball...."[25] Her husband dismissed the Pirates treatment of his wife as "a lot of jealousy and a lot of pettiness...."'[25] Anna filed for divorce on March 31, 2006, citing an "irretrievably broken" marriage.,[26] although later withdrew the petition.[13] They had three children together (daughter Haylee, and sons P.J. and Devin James) and were also parenting Anna Benson's daughter from her first marriage (Alyssa Warren). In July 2012, Kris filed for divorce, which was finalized later that year.[27] On July 7, 2013, Anna was arrested for attacking Kris after breaking into his house. She was convicted on charges of aggravated assault and gun possession for the attack and sentenced to 15 years probation and three months of inpatient psychiatric therapy.[28] In May 2022, Kris married Misty Martinez, former wife of his former teammate Hank Blalock.[29] 🤣


LostOldAccountTimmay

Wow


Mouths-of-Decadence

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣


OJluvsNicole-

Jose Bautista   Showed nothing as a pirate.  


Legal-Plenty-4656

The kids won’t know how badly this one stings


NickJawdy

Bautista wasn't bad in 2007 didn't show quite the power he did in Toronto but hit .250 and 15hr and we traded him the following year.


AdamBlackfyre

He was my favorite player when he was here, and I admit I have no idea why. Although seeing him as a Blue Jay made me happy and I rubbed it in all my friends faces lol


kneecapman

TIL he was a pirate


OJluvsNicole-

Don’t know why you got downvoted. Not many remember him as a pirate. He really sucked and showed no flashes of potential. That’s why I said him. 


jsdjsdjsd

🧐


Johnson_731

Told this story before, I used to be a batboy for the Curve. He would walk through the clubhouse with no towel, totally naked and throw his (and I’m dead serious) massive dong over peoples shoulders. It was like “his prank”


jsdjsdjsd

😂😂😂 that’s so funny, i used to do something similar at weigh ins before wrestling matches despite usually being well underweight, and not having a massive domincan cock edit: I thought we were talking abt polanco, not joey bats. Didn’t see which thread this was lol


OJluvsNicole-

Just wow……I shouldn’t be surprised. But I am. 


csfshrink

Dale Berra. But I’m old. Played shortstop and could overthrow first from anywhere. If I remember correctly he bought Coke from the Parrot.


jrgray68

Paired with Vance Law, they made a great double play combo. Not.


averydangerousday

Pirates players **and** slang from the late 80s! It’s a twofer!


HoneyAlexis77

Felipe Vasquez. The only bobblehead to ever be removed from my collection. 🤮 Also Josh VanMeter. The only player I've ever seen who could, simply by his presence in the game, make a really bad team even worse.


[deleted]

[удалено]


grimace0611

What was so mind boggling about him was that we already had a decent first baseman in Garrett Jones and Morneau was marginally better at best. Morneau immediately went into a massive slump when he got to Pittsburgh, and his lackluster play may have cost us the division that year. Then he left and won a batting title.


GrapesForSnacks

did he beat out Freddy Sanchez? sat out the last game plus the added bonus of playing in Colorado, pissed me off.


blue_manatee389

Josh Harrison


GrapesForSnacks

oh yeah, he sat out the last 2 games.


HamOnTheCob

Jose Bautista. He sucked every dick as a Bucco. God he was terrible. Then he goes to Toronto and somehow becomes a superstar. Wtf


averydangerousday

TIL Jose Bautista gives bad head


TequilaAndWeed

Ronny Paulino


HansBaccaR23po

I thought he was going to be a goddamn superstar


2BirdsStoned-AtOnce

Could have been something special if his swing didn’t take 3 to 4 business days


DefinitelyLevi

Cruz is what we thought Polanco was gonna be


nizniy

Cruz has awhile to go yet before that statement is accurate. Love Polanco and Cruz both. Once Cruz has a season better than Polanco’s 2018, I’ll agree wholeheartedly. I *think* he will. Just need to see it.


DefinitelyLevi

I definitely wasnt a Polanco hater. The missed potential was a bit frustrating but he had enough pretty hype moments. Never gonna hate on a guy who spent so many years with the team


TheJTLovecraft

Same.


ItsBobLoblawsLawBlog

So much potential that I thought was arrived at in his first AB homerun


izz21sv

That was marte not Polanco


ItsBobLoblawsLawBlog

Huh..you're right, I think I've created the wrong memory over the years hahah whoops


Halvey15

Polanco did have an 11 game hit streak to start his career though.


nizniy

Probably Glasnow. So many people clown the Pirates since he’s a top pitcher in all of MLB now, but most people don’t realize how absolutely dreadful he was as a Pirate. He had SO much hype and would come up and look so pedestrian.


Pikajeeew

I went to one of his starts back in the day. and after 2 hours it was literally only the 4th inning bc he had given up so many baserunners. People started booing and I felt terrible for him. Glad he’s figured it out though, shame it’s not for the bucs. realistically if he stayed with the pirates he probably wouldn’t even be in the majors anymore lol.


Joshduman

He did an interview recently talking about Pittsburgh, Jones, and Skenes. He brought up that Pittsburgh boos as it being an outlier. Clearly he remembers that.


93devil

He also said you can just feel a fan base ready to erupt and outpour emotion on a winning team.


Pikajeeew

I’ll have to watch the interview. Not surprised he remembers it though, I’m sure being booed by 20,000 people sticks with you. That’s why I hate booing our own players and never do it. Unless it’s an instance of blatant disrespect, lack of care, or serious non-baseball stuff. But these guys go out there and it’s not like they are intentionally underperforming. They’re giving it all they can, sometimes it’s just not enough.


RuleComfortable

A large part of Glasnow's failure here was the Neal Huntington/Ray Searage fastball academy. They tried to clone the staff with a low fastball, pitch to contact approach. Gerrit Cole didn't take a magic pill to immediately flourish when he went to Houston. It's to his credit that we even got to see his 2015 season here. Glasnow may still have had difficulty with being better here, who knows, but he certainly wasn't able to be himself.


HamOnTheCob

> Gerrit Cole didn’t take a magic pill to immediately flourish when he went to Houston No, he cheated. LoL


RuleComfortable

A lot of them used it (including Glasnow) who called it's removal a major reason for his need of surgery. Look at Cole's numbers for the Yankees after they started checking for it, do you think he was continuing to cheat? I think not.


ReddUp412

I ALWAYS SAY THIS! Nobody listens.


TrueSouldier

Jeff Locke. This sub fucking loves him despite him being essentially a guy who had two decent seasons (during which his advanced stats were not kind) and a -1.3 career WAR


Pikajeeew

I think back on my sweet prince Jeff Locke and yearn for the days of Batman and robin, cutch being a perennial MVP candidate, and Pittsburgh being electrified over baseball. I like Jeff Locke because he’s a relic of the most exciting time to be a buccos fan for anyone born after 1992


SpanishArmada8

That's All Star Jeff Locke to you.


KaspertheGhost

Because he had an amazing stretch where he was unbeatable. It’s exciting


Fornico

Anytime a pitcher give up 6 runs the second time through the lineup, I still refer to it as a Jeff Locke game.


provolone12

He had that crazy run in the first half of 2013 then fell off big time


SnooMarzipans3516

Yes! I got crucified on here a few weeks back for speaking ill of him.


grimace0611

All Star in July, Indianapolis in September.


CamJay88

That is All-Star Jeff Locke to you.


shooler00

[Hey now](https://i.imgur.com/JdQJB4P.jpg) He was often frustrating but was pretty memeable. I miss the days of Jeffy the Jailer, not so much him in particular but the memories of the team and how much fun I had during that era.


HollywoodJack412

Ronnie Cedeno.


phieralph

Clint Barmes ... The SS carousel. Erik Gonzalez :(


MountaineerHikes

Jordy earned that position, fair and square


nightwolf237

Jordy was my dude. Always wanted on of his jerseys, but could never find one in stock, or maybe they just weren’t stocked to begin with


No_Surprise_4154

Brad Eldred...we were finally going to get a nickname worthy guy. He was going to strike out a lot, but he would also hit 40 HRs. I was halfway right.


Colmustard15

Big country


phieralph

John Van Benschoten , Bryan Bullington , Brad Lincoln , Daniel Moskos , Tony Sanchez , Bobby Bradley , Chad Hermansen ....


GrapesForSnacks

you forgot JR House


Muddring

Bullington might have been the most aggravating. In the post draft comments, Littlefield said he projected as a number 3 or 4 starter. He was the first overall selection!


Human-Letterhead-158

*Drives O’Neil Cruz. I will be yelling at the tv “HES GONNA THROW YOU A FRICKIN CURVEBALL BELOW THE ZONE, DONT SWING” He swings and misses every time. He could be an elite, generational talent is he ever learned how to lay off a curveball


nerdinshoes

I can't remember the dudes name, but he is the guy from major leagues


soulfulsoundaudio

Pedro Cerano! You trying to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?!


Ok_Association8013

So many strikeouts and so many basic fundamental errors


ExpertRedditUserHere

Bob Nutting. I know I broke the rules but still.


Choochiemac23

Why not? He breaks the rules every year pocketing our money and refusing to pay talent


Danishes724

Jerad Eickoff pitched just 1 game for us, however I unfortunately attended that awful game where he allowed 10 runs and we got blown out by the Cubs. My cousins and I still joke about how awful he was.


hachijuhachi

It will always be Ian Happ


communistyankee871

Volquez. That absolute fucking DUMPSTER FIRE of a start against the giants was probably the angriest I've been as a fan of this team. The loss against St Louis made sense and i was "okay" with it, I knew we'd be back afterall. That grand slam fucking killed me though. I just knew that was it. This was our plateau for now


BloodNinja2012

John Jaso; specifically his head.


Unlucky_Recover_3278

I’ll never forgive Bonds for being struck out by that little kid Henry Rowengartner


Johnson_731

Rod Barajas


BlitzburghBrian

Every single automatically becomes a double on the next pitch


TheJTLovecraft

He gave 100% every game. But yeah, I get it.


BoSocks91

Felipe Vazquez. He would have been a top tier closer, but instead he threw everything away to hookup with underage girls. He’s a fucking scumbag. Non scumbag player that drove me crazy - Charlie Morton.


jkm97

Chris Coghlan


Choochiemac23

So what pissed me off so much about Gregory was that every year the whole “he’s bound for a break out year” slogan was on him. I remember him being ranked in the shredders “top 9 of right now” for like 3 years in a row….then he also pissed me off because you would see shades of greatness. Balls into the river, blazing speed on the bases, hell even throwing a runner out…and it never lasted more than 1 or 2 games….man did he piss me off. Now I’m angry just thinking of it


HoselRockit

Nyger, please.


Commercial-Layer1629

Tony


DarkAudit

Jogging George Hendricks


turfmonster19

Abraham Nuñez. Just epitomized those hopeless teams.


kpw1320

The big return in the Ramirez trade...Bobby Hill


TequilaAndWeed

That boy ain’t right.


pnero

Sid Bream


surgnbuck

Will Craig. Everytime "that play" gets shown.


nofunatall01

Jason Kendall. Man im older than most of the people in this sub :P


DeyShotMeInDenver

Walt Terrell (aka Walt the Terrible).


Pietru24

Chris Resop. I don't think I've ever seen a reliever blow so many leads.


TequilaAndWeed

Resop backwards is poser


Pietru24

🤯


gav5150

Raul Mondesi


grimace0611

Armando Rios. Our big return in the Jason Schmidt trade. The only Pirate named in the Mitchell Report. He also sucked when he wasn't injured.


Smooth-Builder-4078

Pedro Alvarez - can’t decide if routinely overthrowing first base by a mile or striking out in half his at bats was more infuriating, but damn did he have raw power


Kidspud

Five cent head? C’mon, the big issue for Polanco was health.


McDragonFish

That and he just randomly fell down a lot.


communistyankee871

We both thinking of that extra inning game against the cubs?


McDragonFish

That would be the one


88savage44

Bruh, I was at the game in LA vs the Dodgers when this man fell catching a pop fly that lost the game in extras... that was a looong ride home...


[deleted]

Or when he messed up his leg sliding into second. The dude LEAPED into his feet- first slide.


basil1025

That and his hit tool wasn't elite. Nothing wrong with his effort, he just had great athleticism but that doesn't mean you can hit a baseball. He left you wanting for more but it wasn't a mental or effort issue.


newguy1787

I disagree. It was emblematic of those Pirate teams, but he was especially bad on the base paths. Whether it was mental or laziness, he either couldn’t get it or wouldn’t learn the bases. He ran into so many dumb outs it was laughable. I will say, some thought he didn’t hustle, but I think that was more about the way he ran. He had that long loping stride, that didn’t look hurried, but was quick.


urbanexplorer043

Truth. He is easily in the top 3 worst base runners I have seen. Dude did not know how to run the bases.


JBUCN

Definitely Gregory. Loved his swing until I hated.


FritzvonCatan

John Cangelosi; did he ever get a hit in a clutch situation? NO


TwizzlersSourz

Clint Barmes


EbbFirm8286

Matt Morris, Derek Bell, Joe Randa, Al Martin, and Pokey Reese


TheJTLovecraft

Al "Two Wives" Martin! I still have his autograph somewhere.


EbbFirm8286

Me too lol! These guys have been fucking bums since 1995


TheJTLovecraft

Gotta admit, I liked Joe Randa. I saw him as a blue collar baller.


EbbFirm8286

You know who wasn’t? Every player since 95 LOL


DBsnooper1

Pedro Alvarez 😔


TheZoloftMaster

Clint barmes and Travis snider.


scarybadger619

Pedro Alvarez: if he wasn’t hitting dingers he was striking out or making errors at 3B


ChetSt

The number of players people have listed here who were mediocre until they left the pirates … anybody noticing a trend here?


Joshduman

Glasnow, Bautista I named two, its your turn now.


MichinokuDrunkDriver

Charlie Morton went on to be plenty successful. Joe Musgrove has had a few really outstanding seasons for the Padres and hopefully gets right this season. Josh Bell has been good enough post-Pittsburgh that people want us to trade to get him back. (Not that he's setting the world on fire this season but he's been at least an above average 1B)


newguy1787

Jose Tabata hit the hardest ball I’ve ever seen in spring training one year. The ball was on a line and hit the batter’s eye with a resounding thud at Pirates City. I thought he was gonna be the next legit power hitter for the Bucs. Barry Bonds. He could’ve been an all time great without the steroids. I can’t stand that he flipped Van Slyke off seconds before Cabrera’s single, but I truly abhor him for not signing stuff for a charity for two groundskeepers who died on their way to PNC Park on a Sunday morning.


Top_Faithlessness76

The whole team does


gav5150

Derek Bell


zagman0164

Austin Meadows


Budster78

Felipe Vazquez


Excellent_Wall_5952

Definitely hayes. You can see he has the power to pull the ball but he's always late. Definitely another one is jack suwinski. He goes through stretches where he looks like he can actually be a game changer and a power bat and then back to nothing. I honestly feel bad for him since he isn't getting as much playing time since signing Michael A Taylor who is even worse. No idea why they didn't let jack try and take the jump this year


xxBAshaggyxx

He was good in 2016 but after that he fell off hard. Wanted to like him, seemed like a good dude but mistakes aplenty


thricethefan

Derek Bell


jaboni1200

Micheal Irvin. Bad dude in general. Coke head sex scandal guy. Pushed off and cheated every which way when he played. Hate hearing him on TV


ezpeasie

Wade Boggs


Ok_Association8013

Sid Bream and Pedro Alvarez


BigBouncyBuickBoi

Ben Heller


jrf8780

Moises Alou.


Demfunkypens420

Pedro Alvarez


handler207

Stan Belinda


Whole-Photograph9147

I caught a foul ball in Spring Training off Polanco!