Indians ship Jason Michaels to Pirates

Cleveland Indians outfielder Jason Michaels was traded Thursday to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named.

Cleveland further committed to paying a large chunk of the $1.68 million US remaining on his $2.15-million US deal.

“He brings a lot of experience to the table,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said.

Michaels, 32, is hitting just .201 with nine runs batted in and three runs scored in 21 games this season.

MLB: Q&A with Neal Huntington

Huntington...curing the genetic disorder of the Pirates.

I am a big fan of Matt Morris as a person, but am glad that you released him. What was your thinking of releasing him versus moving him to the bullpen?

The release of Morris was not an easy decision, Robert, despite his early-season struggles. Matt is a consummate professional and his clubhouse presence will be missed.

As we weighed our options with Morris, it became evident that there was little to be gained in moving him to the bullpen. The best answer was to release him and create an opportunity for some of our younger pitchers that we hope will be a part of the picture for years to come.

What is your position regarding the value of advance scouting in person vs. the current video system?

Having first-hand experience with both types of advance scouting, I can comfortably state that advance scouting via video has certain advantages over advance scouting live in person, and vice versa.

Essentially, it comes down to the Major League coaching staff and the information they require to best help our players prepare to compete on a nightly basis. As we prepared for the 2008 season, we discussed the positives and negatives of each program and chose to utilize the video advance process for this season. We are fortunate to have such a quality person in Adam Lewkowicz doing the video advance for us this season.

Post-Gazette: Inside the McLouth breakout

Warning! Zoonosis outbreak expected!

Nyjer Morgan, a September call-up, quickly captivated Tracy by making highlight-reel catches in center. Tracy not only benched McLouth but also wondered publicly how much better the Pirates might have been all season if Morgan had been promoted sooner.

McLouth, never one to complain publicly, did seek counsel back home. “It wasn’t easy for him, and we talked about it,” Rick McLouth said. “We were all pulling for Nyjer, and we still do. But for Nate to go right back to the bench there just didn’t seem fair. It made him wonder what he had to do.”

The key, as it played out, was turned by owner Bob Nutting in firing the Pirates’ entire management team, Tracy included, by year’s end.

New general manager Neal Huntington, as part of an exhaustive evaluation of all players over the winter, assigned a video assistant to splice together footage of every defensive play McLouth and Morgan made in 2007. And not just fly balls.

The determination, one that might have surprised more observers than Tracy a few months ago, was that McLouth was, in the words of one team official, “just as good, maybe better.”

The Black (and Gold) Spot: Things that make me crazy

Me being Vlad. Things = crazy being Jonah Keri’s “The failure dynasties” article.

I shouldn’t get so upset about this kind of stuff, but I still do, years after the fact. Whenever a national writer doesn’t care enough about the Pirates to get the story right, it’s a microcosm for every time the team has been ignored or slighted by the national media. Every undeserving outfielder who went to an All-Star game while Brian Giles watched the at home. Every time that ESPN didn’t bother to show highlights of the game during SportsCenter, so we could get another five minutes of Yankees-Red Sox fluffery. Every sub-literate message board trade proposal where the Yankees give us three utility infielders and a broken bat for Ian Snell. The worst part about it is that Keri was, of all things, an Expos fan. If anyone should understand how irritating it is to be marginalized and ignored, it should be him.

I guess we can take solace in the fact that we saw the young Kendall playing when he was in all his plate-blocking, base-stealing, line-drive-to-the-gap glory. If some writer wants to retroactively try and cut that memory down to convince himself that he was right not to pay attention, then screw him. He’ll never know what he missed.

PIT Post-Gazette: [Prospect Olivo] Astacio attacked teammate with bat

The reason the Pirates released pitching prospect Olivo Astacio, two sources confirmed yesterday, was that he attacked another player with a bat earlier in the week during extended spring training in Bradenton, Fla.

Astacio and the other player were having an argument, the sources said, and Astacio struck the player’s leg with a swing of his bat. He swung again and missed before the incident was broken up.

The other player—who was not identified—is not seriously injured, and no charges have been filed. But Pirates management, already wary of Astacio’s troubled past throughout his professional career, promptly released him Thursday.
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Astacio, 23, was an expensive Latin American signing for Boston in 2002, but the Red Sox suspended him for disciplinary reasons in 2005, and he sat out the entire season.

Ray Knight: Pirates worst defensive team seen in 13 years

I don’t know that I know a manager in Major League baseball that plays the infield in, ah, in the second inning with runners at second and third. You usually have the infield back - and this allowed a two-rbi single. Because, if [Sanchez is] back, he’s able to make this play and at least knock the ball down at second base. But, that’s a strange play…

Would Jim Tracy have done that? Or Lloyd McClendon? Or any National League manager in the last, oh let’s say, five decades?

In the same post, Ray Knight is heard quoting a ‘coach’ saying the Pirates are worst defensive team seen in thirteen years.

Poor Dan Fox.

Yahoo: Andy Van Slyke talks slugging Bonds, coaching first

Here comes Van Slyke! Here’s the punch to the nose! He is...naff!  Van Slyke wins! Van Slyke wins! Van Slyke wins!  Van Slyke wins!...Van Slyke wins!

Q: There’s an urban legend in Pittsburgh that, from center field, you tried to wave Barry Bonds in to play more shallow in left before Francisco Cabrera’s famous game-winning hit in the 1992 NLCS.

AVS: That’s not a legend, that is not a rumor, that is an absolute, 100-percent, truth that I did.

Q: Was he just ignoring you?

AVS: I always felt that I got a sixth sense on the field that, as an outfielder, I had these premonitions that seemed to come true about half the time. I just felt, given when I saw, that Cabrera was going to hit the ball to left field and nowhere else. Based on scouting reports, based on the count, and that he had just ripped the ball down the left-field line foul when it was 2-0. I was trying to make Barry move in to not let the winning run score from second. He chose to ignore me. Now, if he had moved in two steps, I don’t know if it would have made a difference. I’ll never know that. It might have been a harder play for him because the ball was hit to his left a little.

Q: Maybe he could have trusted you?

AVS: Barry was a great player. It’s sort of like, dealing with Barry made me a greater player in center. But also, it was sort of like being a catcher with a pitcher. He made the last decision. He chose not to move. The unfortunate thing was, if the ball had been hit 10 more feet to his right, I have no question he would have thrown out Sid Bream.

...Q: Seriously, why didn’t Bonds just move in?

AVS: Because he’s a [bleeped by request].

Post-Gazette: Morris, Pirates could be parting ways

Hey, I thought we went through the Monty Hall problem already.

The Pirates will recall starter John Van Benschoten from Class AAA Indianapolis this morning and, thus, must make another move to clear roster space. And indications were very strong last night that, in some way, that will involve Morris.

Management met shortly after Morris’ latest implosion, six runs over 1 2/3 innings that led to an 8-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park, and two options were believed to have been laid out:

1. Move Morris to the bullpen and replace him in the rotation with reliever Phil Dumatrait.

2. Release Morris, even though it would mean eating the remainder of his $10,037,283 salary, as well as the $1 million buyout of his 2009 option, all of it guaranteed. That would be slightly more than $10 million.

...There is a third option, of course, but this one is in Morris’ court: He could elect to retire at age 33, allowing the Pirates to keep all or some of that money—depending on whether a buyout would be sought—and exiting with the same class he has demonstrated throughout what remains an exemplary career in Major League Baseball.

That scenario should not be ruled out.

SHAZAM! SHAZAM!...Matt Morris released.

Seamheads: Lynch: Was Clemente Really Slighted by MVP Voters in 1960?

Dunno...but how did Pancho Herrera manage one vote?

The other night I was watching a documentary about Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente, which stated that Clemente was bitter about not being named N.L. MVP after the 1960 season, so much so that he refused to wear his World Series ring (what his ring had to do with the outcome of the MVP Award is beyond me, but I digress). Not only did Clemente feel snubbed by the voters, but he felt the outcome was racially biased, especially in light of the fact that Pirates shortstop Dick Groat, a singles-hitting white shortstop with a decent glove, won the award. Groat, the acknowledged leader of the Pirates, was said to be affable with the press, with whom he enjoyed a friendly relationship. Clemente, who finished eighth in the voting, was said to be misunderstood and moody, and he openly discussed his injuries, leading the writers to label him a hypochondriac.

One of the historians interviewed for the documentary insisted that there was no way there were seven National Leaguers better than Clemente in 1960. I knew Groat had won the award and I remembered that Clemente hit .351 in 1961, but I wasn’t aware of their 1960 numbers, and I was curious to see how many Win Shares each had produced that season. What I found was interesting.

Not only was Clemente not the most valuable player in the National League in 1960 (at least in terms of Win Shares), it can be argued that there were at least five Pirates who were as valuable, if not more so.

174 pitches in 7.2 IP?

Tom Gorzelanny has evidently thrown 174 pitches in his last 7.2 innings of work. The blogger also said Gorzelanny threw 172 pitches in 8.2 innings in two previous games this year.

Thursday Gorzelanny walked seven while in the middle of a no-no bid.

This is new for the Pirates. Traditionally they blew out arms in the minors but since their pitching coach came from their farm, maybe there is a bigger lesson to be learned here?

Country Genius: Cobb’s Player of the Day: Bert Blyleven

Ricky Cobb on hot feet, curveballs, and whether Bert Blyleven really belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Did he achieve his potential?

If one were to answer this question “no” he would essentially be setting the bar on Blyleven’s potential at a Thor, God of Thunder-like level. And yet you can’t help but wonder if he should have won 300 games. His peripherals suggest over 300 wins and immortality in the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, Bert didn’t have the (guts) of a Jack “I’ll Rip Your Head Off, #### Down Your Neck, and Beat You 8-7” Morris.*

*Then again, perhaps it was because he didn’t get nearly as much run support.

Post-Gazette: Huntington says Pirates will stick by Matt Morris … for now

Meh, I remember sticking by (paying into) the Leopard Gecko Sub-Flopish 45 rekid club...long after they stopped production.

“As long as we feel there’s still an ability in there to get people out, we’re going to continue to let Matt be a starting pitcher for us,” general manager Neal Huntington said last night. “If we get to the point where we just don’t think he can compete, then we obviously have to make a move at that point.”

Are they getting close?

“At this point, we’re not all that close, which I know the fans don’t want to hear. We’re not close to deciding that Matt is done, because that’s essentially what you’d be deciding. Maybe he could go somewhere else and click. We want to make sure we exhaust all opportunities right here.”

...Morris recalled feeling more optimistic in the afternoon than at any point in the season, partly because of his work with pitching coach Jeff Andrews, partly because of a 20-minute pep talk Russell gave all players in the clubhouse shortly before the game.

“It’s funny because I had a lot of faith in today, a lot of positive thoughts, a lot of letting the past go,” Morris said. “To get out on that rubber and ... I mean, that’s possibly one of the worst games I’ve ever pitched. And being in this situation, that really magnifies it.”

Post-Gazette: Kiner’s launch 58 years ago unforgettable

Don’t worry it’s not another story about Doris Day’s landing pad...it’s about Tom Hennen, SABR, and the longest homer ever.

From the moment Kiner’s clout kissed the sidewalk that day, Hennen figured he was one of the few people who’d seen its entire arc, and eventually resolved to pace it off one day to measure it precisely.

“Then they tore the place down and I thought, ‘Oh, there goes my story.’ But then last August I saw in the paper where someone had written a book about Forbes Field. There on page 123 I found a picture I’d been looking for for 57 years.”

An aerial shot taken from behind the right-field wall shows the sidewalk, the grove, and most of Oakland, providing enough visual relativism for Hennen and Norden to have calculated a flight path of 570 feet.

“That’s conservatively,” Norden said. “I’m an educator who just likes baseball and I just helped Tom with some of the physics. We’ve got some power point slides to show, but I’ll be turning this over to Tom. He’s the star of the show. I’ll just talk briefly about the myth-making associated with some of these homers.”

PIT Post-Gazette: Cubs rout Pirates, 13-6

Zach Duke lasted only four innings—during which he allowed eight hits and five runs—and the Pirates lost another blowout to Chicago today, 13-6. The eight hits Duke allowed raising the opponents’ batting average against him to .347.

The Pirates have lost five straight games and been outscored, 48-12.

Ryan Doumit hit two solo home runs. Nate McLouth extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a first-inning single.

The Cubs have won all six games against the Pirates this season.

Rocky start puzzles Pirates’ Matt Morris

“A bull, a stud, a tiger, a bulldog, a stallion--a whole zoo in one pitcher! Our Matty, always a Cardinal in our hearts.” ( hilaripusiness from the Matt Morris page)

Every time Matt Morris takes the mound, he’s hoping to discover why he has struggled so much this year. Three starts into the season, and all he and the Pirates’ coaching staff have are more questions.

..."It’s not puzzling. It doesn’t matter what pitch you throw, it’s just location and how sharp it is,” Morris said. “The second time around and the third time around, my location has been off, so that’s where the trouble has been.”

..."You’ve just got to continue with what you’re doing in the first,” Morris said. “I don’t know why I’m not as sharp later on, but obviously them seeing more pitches as the game goes on gives them an advantage, so the location’s really important at that point.”

Morris and pitching coach Jeff Andrews have gone over every possible scenario and perused hours of video, to no avail.  “It’s something that you don’t want to stop looking for answers and stop looking for solutions and keep analyzing,” Andrews said. “He remained aggressive and was very efficient through the first three innings (Tuesday). He went back out and had the same attitude and approach he had the first three innings. It just didn’t work.”

PIT Post-Gazette: McLouth’s ninth-inning blast ignites Pirates

One of these days, Nate McLouth is going to come back and touch Terra Firma.

Not quite yet, apparently. He stepped to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning, his team down a run, two aboard and one of the game’s finer closers, Los Angeles’ Takashi Saito, on the mound.

Crack! Three-run home run. Thirteen-game hitting streak.

And, after closer Matt Capps went 1-2-3 in the bottom half for his fourth save, the Pirates had their most uplifting victory of the young season, 6-4, last night at Dodger Stadium.

And a four-game winning streak, one shy of their 2007 high. And a record one game above .500 at 7-6.
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McLouth’s remarkable batting average is .383 and his RBI count, despite batting leadoff most nights, is tied for the team high at 14.

Pirates sign Craig Wilson to minor-league deal

The Pirates today signed Craig Wilson, a first baseman and outfielder in their organization for nearly a decade until 2006, to a minor-league contract. He will be assigned to Class AAA Indianapolis.

The mighty Thor is finally back where he belongs.

PIT Post-Gazette: Pirates overcome seven-run deficit but lose home opener

The Pirates overcame a seven-run deficit but lost to the Chicago Cubs, 10-8, on a botched bit of baserunning in the ninth inning and reliever Evan Meek’s wild showing in the 12th—five walks and two wild pitches framed Aramis Ramirez’s decisive sacrifice fly—this afternoon at PNC Park.
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Brian Bixler ran for Doumit, and he took third on Xavier Nady’s deliberate grounder to the right side. Doug Mientkiewicz was intentionally walked, and Bautista tried a squeeze bunt up the first-base line toward Derrek Lee.

It was a play the Pirates rehearsed often in spring training and executed once successfully last week in Atlanta, but it failed this time. Bixler briefly broke from third, hesitated, then went back. Bautista was tagged by Lee for an easy second out.
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“It’s a play that, if he breaks, we get a run out of it,” Bautista said. “I don’t know what happened on the other end. I couldn’t tell you.”

“It just kind of caught me off guard,” Bixler said. “I didn’t really expect it. I just kind of stopped and let the play go as it did.”
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“If he takes off right away, it’s over,” [Manager John] Russell said. “Bixler just froze.”

From the other side, Lee acknowledged the game would have ended if Bixler had taken off.

Post-Gazette: Snell strikes out 10 … with a snarl

I’d say!

Ian Snell strode off the Dolphin Stadium mound, fresh off a 95-mph fastball to fan Florida’s Robert Andino. Chin up, chest out and eyes flaring. As if he were looking for a fight.

“He was mad,” first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz recalled.

...Snell, predictably, had his own explanation: He apparently did not appreciate the demeanor of some Florida hitters when the Marlins took the first two games of the series on dramatic home runs.

“I saw how they were walking around against our pitchers when they got hits, showing our pitchers up,” he said. “So, today, I just felt like I wanted to get them out in a big way. I just wanted them to know we’re serious this year. We’re not to be played around with.”

Always something, right?

“Always.”

AP: Pirates closer Matt Capps agrees to $2.85 million, 2-year contract

Pittsburgh Pirates closer Matt Capps agreed Friday a $2.85 million, two-year contract that runs through 2009 and covers what would have been his first year of arbitration eligibility.

The Pirates and Capps discussed a longer-term deal during spring training but were unable to reach an agreement. Previously, Capps was given a $435,500 salary for this season, but this contract overrides that.

He gets a $250,000 signing bonus, $500,000 this year and $2.3 million in 2009. Capps can earn $150,00 in performance bonuses in 2009: $50,000 each for 50, 55 and 60 games finished.

“This contract provides the club cost certainty, gives Matt some financial protection and will allow the Pirates to avoid the arbitration process following the season,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said.

Joe Posnanki Blog: Clemente vs. Kaline (Bill James Version)

Bill James (and when did he become so popular?) answers with a super essay on the Poz Clemente/Kaline question.

The difference between Kaline and Clemente is, in a sense, the difference between Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabar. Clemente, like Wilt, was visually stunning, and there is a mythic quality to him. Kaline, like Kareem, was less stunning but a better percentage player. Clemente was the Vladimir Guerrero of his time, and God knows I love Vladimir, but no one ever described Vladi as a percentage player. Clemente could hit anything, and because he could hit anything he would swing at anything. He did it with a collection of neck jerks and shoulder twitches that suggested he had ants in his jock strap.

It was the difference between marrying a woman who looks good in a negligee, and marrying a woman who will be there when you find yourself in trouble. Clemente had that fantastic arm, and it was easy to exaggerate the value of a great arm because, at the time, no one really knew. It was easy for people to say that Clemente threw out 15 or 20 runners every year, but the real value of the arm was the hundreds of runners who didn’t go first to third on a single against him, and who didn’t score from second, and who didn’t score from first on a double. It’s a different world now; we know how many of those plays there are. It’s a couple of dozen bases a year; it isn’t hundreds.

Ten Questions with Kyle Stark

Looks like the Pirates are implementing hard pitch counts up through AAA now, added ASMI as consultant’s and plan to utilize their biomechanical lab, have started a ‘priority bullpen system’ in the farm, and began an ‘RSC’ process for developing their players.

Now if they just had some players to develop and professional instructors in their system…

PIT Post-Gazette: Pirates survive opener against Braves, 12-11

It was, beyond a doubt, one of the most extraordinary openers in the 122-year history of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club. Just as surely, it was one of the most exhilarating, in its own exceptionally bizarre way.

Damaso Marte and Matt Capps blew a five-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning—yes, five-run lead—but Xavier Nady’s second home run—yes, second home run and fourth hit—in the 12th inning as the Pirates outlasted the Atlanta Braves, 12-11, last night at Turner Field.
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Once it was 9-4 entering the ninth, victory appeared plenty secure.

But Marte made a mess, walking two around a strikeout. And Capps was uncharacteristically wild when summoned right after him, walking his first batter two batters—nearly impossible to imagine for a pitcher who had six total un-intentional walks in all of 2007—to bring in a run.

That brought the tying run to the plate. Chipper Jones’ single scored two and made it 9-7, with still only one out. Mark Teixeira flied out.

So did Brian McCann… or so it appeared. But his high pop inexplicably dropped between Jason Bay and McLouth as each looked skyward in vain. Two more runs scored, and it was, unbelievably, 9-9.

Dugout Central: Is Jeff Francoeur the Next Roberto Clemente?

Dunno...but I doubt Mariniss is leading the charge to have #7 retired by MLB.

I think it’s reasonably fair to expect Frenchy to put up OPS+ numbers similar to Clemente through the age of 31.  Between the ages of 25 and 31, Clemente had a .326 AVG, a .369 OBP, and a .490 SLG.  For Frenchy to have the same OPS+ impact in this era, he will probably need to average a .300 AVG, a .360 OBP and a .550 SLG, with somewhere around 35-40 doubles and 35-40 home runs per season.

Frenchy likely won’t hit for the same high batting average Clemente did in his prime for two reasons. First, Frenchy just doesn’t have the same ability when it comes to his batting eye. Second, he’s playing in an era that values OBP and SLG more than AVG, so he’ll take more pitches to earn more walks and see better pitches he can drive.  What he’ll sacrifice in strikeouts and batting average through increased selectivity, he should make up for with a better OBP and SLG.

Even if Frenchy matches Clemente in OPS+ through 31, we can’t expect him to duplicate Clemente’s OPS+ thereafter. The freakish OPS+ numbers Clemente put up after 31 cannot be expected of many human beings.

PIT Post-Gazette: [Sean] Burnett to be final cut

To start, they will cut Sean Burnett, multiple sources confirmed last night.

That is expected to happen today, along with the formal naming of Franquelis Osoria, Phil Dumatrait and Rule 5 draft pick Evan Meek to fill out the bullpen and, thus, the full roster for Monday in Atlanta. Injured outfielder Chris Duffy still is in the fold, too, but he will be assigned to minor-league camp soon.
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This much is set regarding the 2008 Pirates: Their opening-day, major-league payroll will be $49,377,000, an increase of more than $11 million above the opening-day figure of $38,537,833 from last year, but still projecting to be the fourth-lowest in Major League Baseball.

By the time 2007 was finished, the actual amount the Pirates spent was $51,360,907, largely because of the addition of pitcher Matt Morris’ $9.5 million salary July 31.

The current payroll includes $47,789,500 committed to player salaries and bonuses, plus $390,000 committed to minor-league pitcher Yoslan Herrera and option buyouts of pitcher Tony Armas ($500,000) and infielder Cesar Izturis ($300,000). The Pirates have made two buyouts this spring—pitchers Byung-Hyun Kim ($300,000) and Juan Perez ($97,500)—but those will count toward next year’s payroll, as per MLB’s accounting procedures.

Surplus relieved by trade of Yates - Braves acquire Pirates prospect

Yates knew it could be a bad day. Especially when he entered the clubhouse Wednesday and pitching coach Roger McDowell approached.

“I walked in and Roger said, ‘We need to talk to you,’ “ Yates said. “I thought, ‘Oh, God.’ “

The Braves traded Yates to Pittsburgh for minor-league pitcher Todd Redmond, a 22-year-old right-hander who will begin the season in Class AA Mississippi’s rotation.

PIT Post-Gazette: The unkindest cut of all

First, the team made several more roster moves, including the acquisition of veteran reliever Tyler Yates from the Atlanta Braves for pitching prospect Todd Redmond, the buyout of reliever Byung-Hyun Kim, the cutting of reliever Jaret Wright and five others, the retirement of reliever Masumi Kuwata and the long-anticipated addition of utilityman Doug Mientkiewicz.
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As expected, the Pirates paid the $300,000 buyout to Kim early in the morning. His one-year, $850,000 contract would have been guaranteed if he had not been unconditionally released by 2 p.m.

“Obviously, it’s a financial hit,” Huntington said. “We felt like we brought him in to try to make our club, and he didn’t. We want to take the best 12 pitchers north.”

It was not clear what Kim will do next, but this much is certain: He will do so with new representation. It was learned yesterday that he has replaced super-agent Scott Boras, who negotiated the contract with the Pirates, with Jeff Borris of the Beverly Hills Sports Council.
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Mientkiewicz was added to the 40-man roster after a spring in which he needed to make a team as a bench player for the first time in his career… “I have mixed feelings, to be honest, because I still see myself as an everyday player,” he said. “But I’ll give everything I have to be a valuable piece to this team.”

Pirates acquire Yates from Braves

Right-hander Tyler Yates was just the arm the Pirates were looking to add to their bullpen this spring.

With his 6-foot-4 frame, above-average fastball and complementing slider, Yates will be considered as a possible setup man for closer Matt Capps. The Pirates acquired Yates by trading pitching prospect Todd Redmond to the Braves Wednesday.

Baseball-Intellect: What Happened to Jason Bay?

An analysis that looks for answers as to why Jason Bay fell off as much as he did last season.  The article compares Bay’s mechanics from 2006 and 2007, and while it is difficult to pin-point exactly the reason for Bay’s loss of power, the mechanics are clearly different. 

Bay’s struggles began to effect him mentally as the season wore on.

Services Thursday for ex-major league player

Former ML outfielder Roy Foster.

Foster died Friday. He was 62.

Foster was the Sporting News’ selection as the 1970 American League Rookie of the Year. After being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers three days before the season opener, he batted .268 with 23 homers and 68 RBIs. In his first major league game, Foster homered off Baltimore’s Dave McNally.