News arrived this week of the passing of Woodie Fryman at the age of 70. I was amazed to see in the news report that Fryman's big league career lasted an incredible 18 seasons (1966-83) with six different teams (Pirates, Phillies, Expos, Tigers, Reds, and Cubs). He finished with a record of 141-155 and an ERA of 3.77.
I can remember Fryman as a rookie sensation with the Pirates back in 1966. He went 12-9 that season with 9 complete games and three shut outs. I specifically recall a game against the Mets where he gave up a lead off single and the runner was then immediately thrown out trying to steal second. He then set down the next 26 Mets batters. Her faced the minimum of 27 batters over nine innings. It was great.
RIP Woodie Fryman of Ewing, KY.
And while we are talking about Pirates pitching, how about Ross Ohlendorf winning an arbitration award against the Pirates this week? In case you missed it, the arbiter ruled in Ross' favor and as a result, his salary will go from 2010's $429,000 to $2,025,000 in 2011. Yes, you read that right, $2.025 MILLION.
This is coming off a season wherein Ohlendorf went 1-11 with a 4.07 ERA and had two trips to the disabled list. Is this a great country or what?
Of course, you know what this means: if Ohlendorf shows ANY sign of being a quality pitcher (which, btw, I think he can be, despite last year's record), he will be the primary piece of trade bait when GM Neal goes on his annual July 31 salary dump/trading purge.
I saw the mention of the Ohlendorf arbitration decision in our local fish wrap and my immediate reaction was WTF? (Winning the Future!) It's a world gone mad - too many disconnects between standards of excellence and a million bucks. Even Kevin Correira thinks the arbitrators are overly generous. If the GS is inferring that Ohlendorf has potential then he fulfills the definition admirably; one who hasn't done anything. The Pirates must have liked what they saw to come up with their $1.4MM offer.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the West Coast still has its local "fish wrap", the stars are still on their courses, and the world will be ok.
ReplyDeleteI believe the Pirates got exactly what they asked for. If you recall last year the Pirates kept defending Ross in every way possible. Stating 'He is much better than his record indicates. He just isn't getting the run support other pitchers get.' So to defend themselves by trotting a guy with one win out there every 5 days, it ended up biting them right where they don't want it. I guess they figured there was no way he would take them to arbitration with his won-loss record. But in this day and age of greedy ballplayers, I didn't blame him at all. Heck the Pirates had been propping him up all year. How in the heck could he lose? I bet his agent brought with him each and every article with these statements. The arbitrator took one look at them and said 'You win Ross. Bucs you lose.' Maybe next time the Pirates won't try to b.s. the fans and the media. If your player stinks, tell us he stinks. We all know it anyway.
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