RIP Dock Ellis

Buck, it feels like 37 years since the Pirates had a decent team.

So when the Pirates won the Series in 1979, was Rennie the odd man out with Madlock, Garner, and Foli?

Shit, Frank Taveras started the 1979 season for the Pirates with 45 at bats and no walks? No wonder they traded for Foli.

 

Rennie was a shell of the player he was. Foli was tough as nails, I really liked him with the Expos. Madlock was a hitting machine.

 

Foli could bunt like crazy, right? He was a perfect fit for that team.

Omar gets on base steals second.
Foli bunts him over.
Madlock drives him in, and if he cannot you have Parker and Pops.

Foli and Madlock were great trades. Great freeking trades.

 

The decision was made after Taveras kicked a couple of easy ground balls. He could make spectacular plays, but he was erratic. The Pirates wanted someone more stable. The Mets gloated because they thought they fleeced the Pirates, unloading a SS with 60-year-old legs in Foli. But he was a perfect fit for that team as a No. 2 hitter and a dependable defensive SS.

 

Cosell referred to Foli as a great contact hitter, which he was. Choked up high on the bat, rarely struck out (I don't recall if he did against the Orioles). He and Garner made a great double-play combination (even though Garner made a two-run error in the first inning of Game 1 on a potential double play...which, of course, didn't matter anyway when the Series was over).

Pirates were pretty much strong all around the field that year...probably catcher (Ed Ott, Steve Nicosia, Manny Sanguillen) was the weakest link.

 

Yeah they were weak but they could hit.

 

I just loved the tree Sanguillen used to swing. Didn't he swing like a 42-once bat? I think he borrowed Parker's.

 

The bats that Parker and Stargell swung looked like toothpicks. And Dave Cash's bat was so small it could have been a splinter.

 

I just did some half-baked internet research and came up with a 37-ounce and 37-inch bat for Sanguillen.

I guess 42-ounces is the largest bat. Dick Allen is one of the more recent players to swing such a bat.

 

http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/equip5.htm

Scroll to the bottom and it lists some of the guys who swung large bats (many old timers; Ruth, Gehrig and Cobb)
Says Wee Willie Keeler's 32 oz. bat was the smallest ever.

 

I once asked Dick Allen about why he didn't swing a lighter bat and his reply was something like why should I? I can get around with this pretty well.

 

I have no idea why, but I really hated Tim Foli back in the day. One of the only '79 Pirates I didn't like.