DUNEDIN, Fla. — Kimera Bartee most recently played in the major leagues in 2001. Independent ball extended his playing career through 2004, but by spring 2005 he planned to return to school and finish his degree.
Midway through spring training in 2005, the Baltimore Orioles, who drafted Bartee out of Creighton University in 1993, offered him a job as a coach in the Class A South Atlantic League. He took it to keep his insurance.
“Lo and behold, three years after that, I was a coordinator with the Pirates,” Bartee, 44, said. “Things happen for a reason.