Drysdale could have been a Pirate

by Alleghenys on Apr 3, 2008 1:19 PM EDT Comment 6 comments

Baseball Digest Daily found this gem, which shows a scouting report from Branch Rickey (during his short stint as a PBC executive in 1954) that touts a young Don Drysdale and urges the Pirates to sign him.

Of course, Drysdale signed with the Dodgers. Rickey hand writes, after the fact: "Signed with Brooklyn; Father is a bird dog for them".

I love this line from Rickey: "It is probable that this chap is worth whatever it takes except that Pittsburgh is in no position to make him a bonus player." Maybe Littlefield was following PBC tradition when he bypassed Wieters!

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Interesting...

I read a biography of Stan Musial a couple of years back and apparently he could have become a Pirate several times. Growing up in Donora, PA, he always wanted to play for the Buccos.

by Deaner on Apr 3, 2008 7:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

My guess is

Most scouts who saw Musial passed on him just because of his weird batting stance. "Guy'll never hit in the bigs." ... Besides, as I recall, he started out as a pitcher and converted to outfield after an arm injury, didn't he? Something about an off-season gymnastics workout. I need to dig out my Historical Abstract ...

by bucdaddy on Apr 4, 2008 10:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You're right...

he did start out as a pitcher. There were rumors, however, of a trade to the Pirates after he was already an established major leaguer.

by Deaner on Apr 6, 2008 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bonus

Interesting thing on Drysdale - thanks for pointing it out.

The bonus thing might be a reference to a rule in place at the team, which required that a player receiving a signing bonus over a certain value be added to a team's 25-man roster. That rule is the reason why so many players from the '50s and '60s spent a year as a teenager sitting on a team's bench.

by Vlad on Apr 4, 2008 12:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs