Oliver Perez has signed a minor-league deal with the Mariners.
It's incredible that Perez is still only 30. I started blogging in 2004, a year in which Perez was one of only a handful of Pirates worth watching, along with Jason Bay, Jack Wilson, Mike Gonzalez, Jason Kendall and Craig Wilson.
Perez was fantastic most of the time, and he was worth the price of admission even when he wasn't, slamming his bat into the ground when he struck out (seriously, how many other pitchers sweat it when they strike out?) and pitching super-fun games like this one, in which he struck out 12 guys, walked four, and allowed three hits, all of which were home runs. Whee!
I wish you all the best, Oliver, and I'm sorry your career hasn't been half as fun as it might've been.
Zadoras and I saw this one:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT200404250.shtml
bucdaddy - January 19, 2012
And while I'm bragging:
The two of us went to the game on four free tickets I’d borrowed from my mom’s office. I tried, even walking up to random strangers to ask if they needed any, but I couldn’t give the other two tickets away.
That game was rain delayed for nearly three hours, part of which we spent in a private box thanks to a friend’s connections. Once it got underway (and the day turned out to be beautiful), there were maybe 3,000 people in the park. The Pirates said that to thank everyone for waiting it out, they were going to let everyone there trade in their rain checks for a future game. So I had four MORE free tickets that I used to go to two more games.
bucdaddy - January 19, 2012
how do you borrow tickets?
do you slip the stub back in the drawer and casually walk away?
white angus - January 19, 2012
maybe he means
“borrowed”
johnnycuff - January 19, 2012
OK,
They had a set of season tickets they used to wine and dine clients, and when they didn’t plan to use them they were available to civilian types like me. I sometimes offered a token of appreciation to the guy who was in charge of them but he always declined, said he didn’t pay for them, he just distributed them.
bucdaddy - January 19, 2012
Remember anything about the Umpiring?
Home plate ump is a friend. He already has a huge zone and I am sure it was much larger after sitting around for three hours.
NHpiratefan - January 19, 2012
I remember being at a game in that 2004 season where he racked up eleven strikeouts. Don’t remember any of the other specifics, only thinking that the trade to get Perez and Bay was a steal and that the prior could be one of the guys to make the Pirates a contending team. It really was so frustrating to see him fall to earth in the following years—he was very entertaining, and I had the highest of hopes for him.
(I mean, I was twelve; this losing was getting old.)
Kidspud - January 19, 2012
"It really was so frustrating to see him fall to earth in the following years"
That’s something I can certainly blame management for that.
Bradley James McEachern - January 19, 2012
There should have been a Pirate Pitcher Meltdown of the Year Award
for pitchers who posted one good season, looked promising, and then completely lost it:
Perez -2006
Duke, Gorzelanny – 2008
Snell – 2009
Ohlendorf – 2010
Who am I forgetting?
Central*Scrutinizer - January 19, 2012
Mike Dunne – 1987
Maybe Rich Loiselle, if you go by FIP instead of ERA.
WHYG Zane Smith - January 19, 2012
kip wells
mocasdad - January 19, 2012
It's a long
and depressing list. You could also make a case for Kip Wells(good in ‘02-’03, bad in ‘04, awful in ’05), Josh Fogg(ROY votes in ’02, 5.26 ERA in ’03), Todd Ritchie (good in ’99 bad in ’00), Kris Benson (good in ’00, hurt in ’01, bad in ’02), Francisco Cordova (good in ’97-’98, bad in ‘99’ awful in ‘00), Jimmy Anderson (not quite but at least an interesting debut in ’99 then he became…well…Jimmy Anderson), Steve Cooke (outstanding in ’93 then dreadful in ’94) and Tim Wakefield (’92 he looked like a guy who could maybe even win 200 big league games then in ’93…wait a minute).
KentuckyPirate - January 19, 2012
I attended the game
in Texas. Fogg pitched game 2 and got killed. Three game series turned to two because of rain. Looked so forward to the Pirates coming to Texas and it just sucked.
There’s a microcosm for ya.
NHpiratefan - January 19, 2012
I just hope he doesn’t turn into another Voglesong (sp?)
Not that I wish anything bad on him I’m just tired of seeing former Pirates becoming great players on other teams.
oldfrothingslosh - January 19, 2012
There actually haven't been that many. But certain "columnist" (term used loosely) like to harp on the few that do.
It’s really only bad if they become great right after leaving the Pirates, instead of many years later.
Aramis Ramirez is the only one who I can recall recently that became a superstar immediately after leaving (though he was pretty phenomenal hitter while he was here)
Jason Schmidt was already a solid pitcher when he left, but really turned it on the following seasons.
To me, I can’t get upset that Ryan Vogelsong has a nice year five years after leaving the Pirates.
Or Jose Bautista who was pretty bad for the next year and a half after leaving the Bucs.
impliedi - January 19, 2012
Schmidt killed me
Every year it was going to be “his year”, and every year he was… OK. And then he went to SF and turned into a stud.
It’s not a fair accusation, but he might be the one guy I’d accuse of dogging it as a Pirate only to turn it on once he left.
Incidentally, I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the trade to acquire him – I’d loved Denny (what a piece of work he turned out to be), but ESPN emphasized that the Bucs were getting real value in return. It kills me that DL managed to make Bonifay look like a good GM (instead of the bare competent he was).
JRoth95 - January 19, 2012
With the current structure of the game...
we can’t really criticize the Pirates when a player leaves as a free agent and becomes a great player. That happens to all teams.
When a player is released, or traded for little or no return, and then becomes a great player within the next year or two…that is when the barbs and arrows come in.
Thunder - January 19, 2012
that happens to all teams too
white angus - January 20, 2012
Chris Young, Leo Nunez, Barry Bonds as well
Mr. E - January 19, 2012
Leo Nunez...
I hate that traded him away for a washed up roid addict who didn’t even play a full year year.
I’m talking about Benito Santiago in case you didn’t know.
Bradley James McEachern - January 21, 2012
I don’t think he played a full month
Mr. E - January 21, 2012
I don't think so either, his time here was very short.
Bradley James McEachern - January 21, 2012
On the roster for a month...
played 6 games the first week of the season in 2005, was benched for David Ross to catch, and was released on May 5th. Ross was benched and replaced by Humberto Cota by June.
Thunder - January 24, 2012
The talent was there
But he could not keep his mechanics in order….
There were games during which he would have that unhittable slider working right from the get-go and then his fastball velocity would climb to 98 mph as the innings passed!
Sigh….
steve_z - January 19, 2012
I don't know why
but watching him skip over the third base foul line chalk always got me pumped.
Truck O'Saurus - January 19, 2012
In the words of Arnold I always thought he looked like a “Girley Man” skipping over the line like he didn’t want the wind to lift up his skirt.
oldfrothingslosh - January 19, 2012
"...I'm sorry your career hasn't been half as fun as it might've been."
Fair enough, though I’m sure he can take some small solace in the nearly $36MM he’s made thus far in his career…
cocktailsfor2 - January 19, 2012
and $36MM will buy a lot of ice cream
trut.
gonfalon - January 19, 2012
From the linked article:
“The Mets are 1-13 in the games in which he has pitched.”
after saying that he was mainly used as a mop up pitcher, how many of those games were already blow outs when he came in I wonder. He had 4 losses when the article was written. I’m not saying he pitched well by any stretch but to suggest he was the sole reason for that record seems pretty disingenuous.
MDBuc - January 20, 2012
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