This quick post was going to celebrate the end of the Pirates’ .500 drought after 20 years. It sat as a draft for weeks, while the team went from division leader to wild-card contender to .500 team to below .500 team. Now that the team has again settled in below .500 for the 2012 season, I guess this post could serve as a tombstone for the hopes of Pirates fans. Anyway, here are some facts about the ’92 Pirates:
The oldest 1992 Pirate was reliever Dennis Lamp, born September 23, 1952. The youngest player: reliever Miguel Batista, born February 19, 1971.
The full roster:
Pitchers
Miguel Batista
Stan Belinda
Victor Cole
Steve Cooke
Danny Cox
Doug Drabek
Jerry Don Gleaton
Danny Jackson
Dennis Lamp
Roger Mason
Paul Miller
Blas Minor
Denny Neagle
Vicente Palacios
Bob Patterson
Jeff Robinson
Zane Smith
Randy Tomlin
Paul Wagner
Tim Wakefield
Bob Walk
Catchers
Mike LaValliere
Tom Prince
Don Slaught
Infielders
Jay Bell
Steve Buechele
Carlos Garcia
Jeff King
Jose Lind
Orlando Merced
Gary Redus
John Wehner
Kevin Young
Outfielders
Barry Bonds
Dave Clark
Alex Cole
Cecil Espy
Kirk Gibson
Al Martin
Lloyd McClendon
Will Pennyfeather
Andy Van Slyke
Gary Varsho
Each player who earned at least $1 million in 1992:
Barry Bonds $4,800,000
Doug Drabek $4,500,000
Andy Van Slyke $4,350,000
Steve Buechele $2,600,000
Zane Smith $2,525,000
Bob Walk $2,025,000
Jose Lind $2,000,000
Kirk Gibson $1,950,000
Mike LaValliere $1,850,000
Don Slaught $1,691,667
Three notable players among those who earned low salaries:
Orlando Merced $150,000
Denny Neagle $110,000
Tim Wakefield $109,000
Awards and honors for the ’92 Pirates:
Barry Bonds, National League Most Valuable Player Award
Jim Leyland, National League Manager of the Year Award
Randy Tomlin, National League Pitcher of the Month, June
Tim Wakefield, National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year
Andy Van Slyke, All-Star Game Starter
Barry Bonds, All-Star Game Starter
Two notable Pirates transactions in ’92:
May 5: Kirk Gibson was released by the Pirates two months after being acquired from the Royals in a trade for Neal Heaton.
July 31: Tim Wakefield called up from AAA Buffalo.
You can learn some more about the ’92 Pirates at Baseball-Almanac.
That Andy Van Slyke was a pretty good player. And Neagle would go on to pitch very well for the Braves for a year or two. Nice team. I really thought this would be the year they’d end the streak of losing seasons.
Good stuff,
Bill