2019 Pittsburgh Pirates Draft Recap

The 2019 Major League Baseball draft took place a few weeks ago, and I’m happy to present my annual(-ish) recap of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ selections. Please note that if you’re looking for serious, in-depth assessments of the players selected, you’ve come to the wrong place. This post is for entertainment purposes only. Actually, even places with serious, in-depth analysis of the Pirates’ picks should be for entertainment only, so maybe you have come to the right place. Welcome!

In the over 130-year history of the Pittsburgh Pirates, no player has ever had a first name beginning with the letter Q. There have been several players with the last name starting with Q including pitcher Chad Qualls, shortstop Rey Quinones, and who can forget second baseman Joe Quest from the team's 1884 season. In addition, every other letter has been accounted for in Pirates history including one player with the first name starting with U (U.L. Washington). This is why I applaud the team for taking Quinn Priester, a pitcher from Cary-Grove High School in Illinois with the #18 overall pick in the first round. Sure the Pirates could have taken University of Kentucky pitcher Zack Thompson, who was ranked #14 and taken with the next pick by the St. Louis Cardinals, but I understand that the team couldn’t pass up this opportunity to make history, especially with Quinn being ranked #19.

After taking outfielder Matt Gorski (OF from Indiana University) in the 2nd round and Matt Fraizer (OF from Arizona University) in the 3rd round, I feel like there was a directive not to select any more "Matt"s in the draft. An entire draft of Matts would have been very confusing.

Although I’m about 15 years late, I started watching the HBO series Deadwood. Sixth round pick pitcher Will Matthiessen from Stanford sounds like the perfect name for a Deadwood character. (By the way, I used a similar observation when the team selected Wyatt Mathisen in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft. Hopefully this Matthiessen with more letters in the last name works out better.) Meanwhile, sneaky pick by the Pirates here. Even though they were told not to draft anyone else named Matt, they picked someone with Matt in his last name. Very clever!

With their 5th round pick, the Pirates chose pitcher Grant Ford from the University of Nevada. Since his first name is the last name of the 18th President and he shares the last name with the 38th President, I feel like it’s only appropriate that his middle name should be Harding. (I don’t actually know his middle name, but we can dream right?) By the way, KevinInABQ deserves credit for the Harding reference.

As someone with young children, it’s hard not to see the team draft outfielder Chase Murray from Georgia Tech in the 13th round and think that he’s on the case.

In the 11th round, the Pirates picked Jase Bowen, an outfielder from Toledo Central Catholic HS. Jase can also be on the case.

I applaud the Pirates for selecting players with Pittsburgh ties. For example, Blake Sabol, an outfielder from USC and the team's 7th round pick, is Troy Polamalu’s cousin. The team also picked Pittsburgh sportscaster Guy Junker's son, Cameron Junker in the 10th round, former Pitt basketball player Chevy Troutman's nephew, Ryan Troutman in the 26th round, former Pirate Pedro Alvarez's cousin's roommate Andres Alvarez in the 22nd round, and Deion Walker from Hillgrove High School (named for Pitt and Steelers broadcaster Bill Hillgrove) in the 35th round.

In honor of this Saturday's Faith Night, the team also went with a biblical theme by selecting Eli (Wilson), Samson (Abernathy), Elijah (Dunham), Jasiah (Dixon; we’ll just say that this is close enough to Josiah), and of course, the famous prophet highlighted numerous times in the Bible, Dawson (McCarville).

The Pirates’ scouting department clearly watched a lot of late night television and were inspired by this State Farm commercial. How else can you explain the team drafting three players named Jake? 20th round pick Jake Snider, 32nd round pick Jake Wright, and 36th round pick Jake Sweeney?



In the 28th round, the team picked pitcher Bear Bellomy of Wright State University. What a cool name! Unfortunately, Tiger Thompson was taken earlier by the (you guessed it), Marlins.

Another cool name. catcher Ethan Goforth from Carson-Newman College. I can just see his manager telling him, “Ethan, goforth and call for a slider on this pitch.”


As always, I highly recommend checking out Pirates Prospects for actual in-depth information about the players mentioned above.

To see more of my draft recaps of the Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins over the years, please click here.

What Ever Happened to Jerome Bettis?

Perhaps you have heard of this former Steelers running back who retired after winning a Super Bowl in his hometown of Detroit. So where is Jerome Bettis now?



Even though Bettis has been retired for nearly three years now, he still seems to get mentioned regularly. Over the past few months, Jamal Lewis, Mewelde Moore, Le'Ron McClain, Michael Turner, Brandon Jacobs, LenDale White, and even Tunde Ogun of Division III's Christopher Newport and Frankie Hejduk of the Columbus Crew have all been compared to Bettis.

Tennessee Titans' coach Jeff Fisher - Yeah, [Jamal Lewis is] an emotional runner. He's enthusiastic. He is kind of like the old Jerome Bettis where he'll get up after a big play, jump up. Yeah, he's fun to watch. Not fun to play against, but fun to watch.

Pats Fan.com after the Patriots lost to the Steelers - Mewelde Moore, filling in for the injured Willie Parker, looked like Jerome Bettis and caused severe tackling problems for the Patriots.

ExtremeRavens.com - In my mind, [Le'Ron]McClain looks more and more like Jerome Bettis every week he gets to carry the ball. That's not a bad thing.

Los Angeles Times - They are both men of girth, RBs packing some extra lbs., so the comparison is a belt-line cinch: Is Tennessee Titans running back LenDale White the next Jerome Bettis?

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard - "Other than maybe (New York Giants running back) Brandon Jacobs and possibly Steven Jackson, we haven't seen a guy like this since we faced Jerome Bettis in Pittsburgh (in 2004). Look at [Michael] Turner's thighs. They're like tree trunks."

USA Today - The closest thing to The Bus in today's NFL comes to Heinz Field on Sunday with the New York Giants in the person of 264-pound running back Brandon Jacobs.

Asbury Park Press - In just his fourth season, Jacobs running style has already drawn comparisons to some of the big, punishing backs of the past, including Jerome Bettis, the former Steeler, Christian Okoye and Natrone Means.

Washington and Jefferson coach Mike Sirianni - There's no way he's 6-foot, 218 (pounds)," Sirianni said, citing [Christopher Newport's Tunde] Ogun's listed height and weight in CNU's media guide. "Being from the Pittsburgh area and having Jerome Bettis here, he looks like Jerome Bettis. But he's bigger. He's as good of a back as I've seen in a long time in Division III. Not only is he physical and hard to bring down, but he's got great feet. He can run past you."

Deadspin - So, Sunday was Hejduk's Jerome Bettis moment as a club player—Hey, Frankie's from Southern California, that's where our game is being played—when the Columbus Crew beat the New York Red Bulls 3-1 in MLS Cup.



While many people seem busy comparing Bettis to other athletes, Steelers fans miss #36 the running back as a Post-Gazette reader asked Ed Bouchette earlier this fall if the Steelers need another Bus.


In addition, everyone seems to want Jerome's opinion

On Notre Dame's Charlie Weis in the Chicago Sun Times:
'I'm a fan of Weis,'' former Irish and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis said. ''He's done a great job in getting the players there, and now he's got to win. You've got the first half right, in terms of getting some top talent there. Now the second part is you've got to get that talent to win.'

On Hines Ward in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:
"Hines is not dirty," former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis recalled. "Hines was not the kind of guy in practice who beat up on his own teammates. He waited until game day, and you saw something totally different out of him."

On Adrian Peterson in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune:
"He is the best running back in the game," Jerome Bettis said. "After talking to him, it seems to me that he's a student of the game and as he develops and learns more he's going to get even better. That's scary."

On athletes and guns following the Plaxico incident:
"Athletes are targets. Some players like to splurge on very expensive items; rings, watches, bracelets and chains, so there have been a lot of instances where players have been robbed."

So besides numerous interviews, what does Jerome Bettis do these days as a retired athlete?

He inspires people through Sharing Miracles, a 30-minute public affairs television program that tells the compelling and inspirational stories of real patients. This month's episode featured Bettis -- known in the sports world as "The Bus" -- who was 14 years old when he was first diagnosed with asthma. He says: "Initially I thought that with asthma, I couldn't be involved in any sports or other activities. Thankfully, my mother encouraged me, instead of discouraged me, to play. She said, 'As long as you take your medicine, the doctor told me that you will be fine.' But, as I got older, I had to take serious steps to control my asthma."

He likes to golf.



He speaks in Erie, PA:

It wasn't until he officially became a champion that Jerome Bettis realized he had been one all along. That was the message the former Steelers running back had for a crowd of more than 2,000 Thursday at Penn State Behrend's Junker Center. Bettis, appearing as part of the college's award-winning speakers series, urged attendees, including dozens of children clad in Steelers jerseys and caps, to follow his example of passion, hard work and singular focus in their life's pursuit. Any chance it is the Guy Junker Center?



Bettis participated in the annual U.S. Marine Corps "Toys for Tots" drive when they launched their "Stuff the Bus" campaign.

He also has the restaurant Jerome Bettis' Grille 36 and the "Bus Stops Here" Foundation.

Bettis is also married and has two kids.

So to answer my original question, I guess Jerome Bettis is everywhere. Who knew? I also heard that he's on some kind of NFL television show.

Steelers-Browns and Other Stuff

Before I write about this Sunday’s Steelers-Browns game, take a quick look at the date of this post. I can’t believe that it has been seven years since that horrific day. Please take a moment of silence or reflection today to remember those who lost their lives in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania seven years ago today.


Thank you.


I feel like it’s time to revisit my post from September 2007 when I wrote that the Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns series is no longer a rivalry. Since returning to Cleveland in 1999, the Steelers are 16-3 against the Browns including the Wild Card round win during the 2002 season. The last time Cleveland defeated Pittsburgh was October 5, 2003. That’s not a rivalry. Until the Browns hire Bill Cowher, win the division or defeat the Steelers more than three times in nine years, it’s just another divisional game no more or no less important than the games against Baltimore or Cincinnati.


Finally, when you have a few minutes, check out the following terrific links:

Mondesi’s House interviews Stan Savarn and Guy Junker.

Fast Company has a feature about Dr. James Andrews, arguably the most famous doctor in the country.

DJ Gallo of ESPN.com writes about the Pirates 16th consecutive losing season, tying them for the longest streak in professional sports history. It seems like it has been almost that long since I last wrote about the Pirates.