Welcome to my annual-ish Pirates draft recap! As always, this is completely for entertainment and should not be used for actual analysis of these players. Please note that this post does not include all of the Pirates draft picks and is in no particular order.
Jason DeCaro - 3rd round, University of North Carolina, Pitcher
If you've listened to pop music over the last 15-20 years, you've heard songs by Jason Derulo, who sings his name in many of his songs.
Maybe the Pirates front office regularly listens to Derulo's music and thought it would be fun to draft a guy with a similar name. I really hope that DeCaro sings his name after recording a strikeout!
Alex Overbay - 8th round, Arizona State University, Pitcher
Overbay is the son of former Pirate great(?), Lyle Overbay. You might remember Overbay from his 103 games with the Bucs in 2011 where he hit .227 with 8 home runs and 37 RBIs. Fun fact: Alex Overbay is not a crocodile. (Unless, it's like a Teen Wolf thing where Overbay turns into a crocodile when there's a full moon or something.)
Andruw Giles - 4th round, Basic HS (Nevada), OF
Please be the son of Pirates great (no question mark needed) Brian Giles. Please be the son of Brian Giles. Please be the son of Brian Giles. Nope. Seems like his dad is Mark. Although Brian Giles has a brother, Marcus, who played in the majors, doesn't seem to be the same person. I guess we can settle on the fact that this Giles goes to a basic high school.
Griffin Stieg - 13th round, Virginia Tech, pitcher
Stieg spent the summer of 2023 playing for the Bethesda Big Train, part of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League in the Washington DC area. While not as well-known or prestigious as the Cape Cod League, there are some really talented players in this league, and it's a lot of fun attending Big Train games at Shirley Povich Field. Close seats and a terrific environment. If you're in the DC area, I highly recommend checking out a Big Train game.
Tyler Fay - 6th round, University of Alabama, Pitcher
Bryson Moore - 7th round, Florida State University, Pitcher
One of my favorite TV shows from the last 15-20 years (basically since the arrival of Jason Derulo on the music scene) was the show Happy Endings. Such a fun and funny show. The back-to-back picks of Tyler Fay and Bryson Moore reminded me of this.
Nathan Helman - 17th round, Kennesaw State University, Pitcher
Although Nathan probably likes all types of condiments, we all know that he's a big mayo fan, and Duke's Mayo isn't his favorite brand.
Rohan Lettow - 12th round, San Diego State University, Pitcher
First, S-D-S-U, SDSU, Aztecs fight. Next, you don't mess with the Rohan!
This post is just filled with references from the late 2000s and early 2010s!
Spencer Evans - 11th round, TNXL Academy, Pitcher
Spencer (is) for hire. Just wanted to make a reference from the 20th century!
Tre Phelps - 9th round, University of Georgia, 3B
Phelps' aunt is Angel Robinson who played college basketball at Georgia and three seasons in the WNBA with the Seattle Storm in 2014 and Phoenix Mercury in 2017-2018. Based on his first name and family history, Phelps might be good at shooting from a long distance. Maybe from behind a certain line.
Chris Rembert - supplemental 2nd round, Auburn University, 2B
Rembert could be a work of art for the Pirates!
Okay, trying to connect Rembert with Dutch artist Rembrandt is definitely a stretch, but this post is about more than sports. Did you know that Rembrandt's name is actually Rembrandt van Rijn? And pictured above is arguably his most famous work, The Night Watch, painted in 1642. Feel free to tell all your friends that The Night Watch is your favorite work from the Dutch Golden Age!
Dakota Stone - 20th round, University of North Florida, Pitcher
This is clearly a fake name. I mean, Dakota Stone just sounds cool. Can't be real. Oh, maybe he' s related to former Steelers wide receiver Dwight Stone. Need to continue to balance out my references from 10-15 years ago with those from the 1980s!
Damarcus Rideout-Carter - 14th round, Heart Lake Secondary School (Ontario), Pitcher
While Rideout-Carter is also a cool name, let's focus on Canada. There were 10 Canadian-born players drafted this year. 4 of the 10 played college baseball in the United States. 3 of the 10 are position players. This means that in the entire MLB draft, there were only 3 high school pitchers drafted out of Canada. Of those 3 pitchers, Rideout-Carter is the only one from Ontario. While kind of neat, to paraphrase Dark Helmet, this means absolutely nothing.
Bonus pick: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (or whatever name they're using now)
In the 4th round, the Angels drafted Rylan Lujo, a pitcher from the University of Georgia. I know what you're thinking. Sean - Why are you including an Angels draft pick here? You don't even know their team name! Well, Lujo's grandfather is Rennie Stennett who was part of the Pirates 1971 and 1979 teams that won the World Series (though Stennett didn't play in the '71 series).
I hope you enjoyed this draft recap. Please feel free to check out draft recaps like this from previous years.
If you’re of a certain age, you’re familiar with the MTV
show, Jersey Shore. Even if you didn’t watch the show, the names Pauly D,
Snooki, and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino were unavoidable.
Facebook and Instagram regularly show content and reels that
I never requested. Sometimes it’s advertisements, but generally it’s seemingly
random. I feel like I never see posts from my friends and the people I follow.
With all of that written, there are times when the randomness is good. And this
is an example. I saw this picture on Instagram over the weekend.
It’s Mike the Situation with his family all wearing Ithaca
College T-shirts. It’s unclear what connection the family has with Ithaca
College, but this seems like a great excuse to start a brand new series,
Celebrities in Ithaca College gear. While I doubt this will have the depth and
history of my Celebrities in Pittsburgh Gear series, I have to start
somewhere!
I'm so bad at creating blog post titles. Anyway, in less than a week, I got to attend two Washington Nationals games. That's not the story though. For the first time since 1999 or 2000, I went to Fenway Park to see the Boston Red Sox. We just happened to see them play the Nationals since tickets were half the price than they were for Boston's previous series against the New York Yankees. Is it okay to write that Fenway Park is magical? A little too much? The stadium opened in 1912, and while there have been renovations over the years, it's a historic venue. While I think that the Pierogi race in Pittsburgh and the Presidents race in Washington is fun, particularly for kids, there aren't those types of gimmicks at Fenway Park. You're there to watch a baseball game. And sure your primary view of the game is the outfield if you sit straight in our seats about 20 rows up from the right field foul pole (meaning that you need to turn your body to the left to see actual at-bats), but that's part of the stadium's charm.
Okay, one gimmick is great. Singing Sweet Caroline!
I'll admit that I don't watch many Red Sox games on TV, but sports betting advertising on the Green Monster is a bit much.
As for the second Nationals game, I saw Washington host my Pittsburgh Pirates. It was hot. Really hot. 100 degrees at first pitch. While I've seen dozens of Nationals games over the years, a few notes from this one.
The national anthem was sung by DC Washington. Perfect name for an anthem singer for a game in Washington DC and a terrific voice. Not sure if DC Washington would be as successful in Baltimore.
My biggest complaint (besides the heat) is the primary scoreboard. Look at this picture and tell me what inning it is.
Is this any better? I mean, the math doesn't math.
(The answer was the 7th inning.)
I also got to see Pirates phenom Konnor Griffin play for the first time. He seemed to enjoy the post-game fireworks.
Unsure if Griffin met the 1st overall pick of the NBA draft, AJ Dybantsa who threw out the opening pitch.
The Nationals defeated the Pirates 9-5, but the Pirates won the last two games of the series. Interesting note. Two Nationals players (Luis Garcia Jr. and Daylen Lile) both hit two home runs. Not sure I've attended a game where teammates hit multiple home runs. Meanwhile, the Red Sox defeated the Nats 6-3 in a game that featured three home runs in the first inning though the Nats won the last two games of the series.
In Boston earlier this week, my family and I visited a quaint neighborhood cafe called Dunkin. Seems to be popular among locals. We ordered three donuts, an iced coffee, and a bagel. Then, I asked for a cup of water. The guy working at Dunkin replied that his manager said that he needs to charge for water. When I asked how much it would cost, he said $1 plus tax. I then asked about the price of a bottled water which was $2.85. Reluctantly, I paid for the tap water in an enormous cup.
About a minute later, a woman who had already ordered coffee and was holding a small dog in her arm (why was there a non-service dog in Dunkin?) asked a different employee for a cup of water when she received her beverage. The customer added that it was for her dog. The female employee handed the customer a small cup of water for no change. I immediately made sure to mention to the male employee who took my order that she didn’t get charged for water. He didn’t respond, and I really didn’t want to fight over $1. I feel like I was right in this situation, but what would have been the successful outcome? The store demanding $1 from the other customer? Or putting $1 back on my credit card? It wasn’t worth it. In my head though, I was thinking "I have not yet begun to fight," even though I probably would have been as successful as the black knight.
Maybe a little karma though for dog woman and the employee who gave her the free water. Dog woman spilled some of her water because of course she did. She was holding the dog and two drinks! Although she made a passing attempt at drying the water with napkins, the floor was still wet when she left the restaurant. Therefore, the female employee then had to get a mop out for the rest.
There’s no moral of the story here. I mean maybe don’t try to carry a dog and two cups at the same time. Or maybe charge nothing at all or a nominal fee like 25 cents for a cup of water for all customers.
Welcome to Sean's Ramblings! If you're looking for thoughts on pop culture, music, fun and informative links, random DC and Pittsburgh info, sports (particularly Pittsburgh sports), and just what's going on in my life, then you're come to the right place.
Any questions, comments or links? Contact me at seanramblings[at]yahoo[dot]com.
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