On Wednesday I was looking through a minor league baseball set from 1988 and it led me to a terrific conversation on Thursday night with a former player in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system. The 1988 Augusta Pirates were the South Atlantic League affiliate of the Pirates and they had some great players. They had nine players make it to the majors, including Moises Alou, Orlando Merced and Carlos Garcia. They also had a 20-year-old right-handed pitcher named Joe Pacholec, who posted a 2.06 ERA in 148.1 innings, with 120 strikeouts. A pitcher with those stats now would be a top prospect in the system, but he never played pro ball after the 1989 season and that got me curious.
Morning Report: Times, They Have Changed
