Where Are They Now?: A Tribute to the Lloyd McClendon Era

By Marks and Lil Marks

The year is 2001.  Fans around Pittsburgh are optimistic about a fresh start as the Pirates move into a new stadium called PNC Park.  People convinced themselves that things would be better.  Surely a new stadium will bring in enough revenue to start fielding a contender.  Enter former Bucco sensation, Lloyd McClendon.  We have compiled a list of what Lloyd’s former players are up to these days.  Enjoy.

2001 Pittsburgh Pirates

Jimmy Anderson: Works with Bobby McKinney in a batting and pitching clinic in Virginia.  As shown in this picture, he is best described by his nickname from an article on Deadspin, “Jabba the Jimmy Anderson.”

Joe Beimel: This left hander currently pitches for the Colorado Rockies.  If you have never seen “The Legend of Joe Beimel,” do yourself a favor and listen to how he gained a cult following in Los Angeles.

Mike Fetters: Now that he is no longer intimidating hitters with his neck jerk pitching ritual, he is a sports agent in Beverly Hills.  Interestingly, we discovered that the reason for his huffing and puffing, also known as controlled hyperventilation, is to help him relax and overcome asthma problems that have caused him to hyperventilate between innings in the past.

Mike Lincoln: After missing nearly four years with two different ulnar collateral ligament surgeries, Lincoln returned to the Majors in 2008 with the Cincinnati Reds.  Lincoln recently played a role in the Reds meltdown, where the team blew a 9-1 lead against the Braves on May 20^th.  Although this Wikipedia entry was immediately taken down from the website we have to believe it has some validity, “a fan in Coldwater, OH was arrested that afternoon for hanging an effigy of Lincoln in his front-yard tree. Matt Loughridge's neighborhood will never be the same.”  We could not find an article that would either confirm or deny these allegations.


Josias Manzanillo: Manzanillo suffered a gruesome injury in 1997 while pitching for the Seattle Mariners.  He took a Manny Ramirez line drive to the groin without a cup on, which led to an operation to remove one of his testicles.  Manzanillo claimed that he never pitched the same again after Manny exploded his nut sack.  He honorably retired in 2005 after not making the cut for the Boston Red Sox.  On December 13, 2007, Manzanillo was one of many athletes mentioned in the Mitchell Report.  Kirk Radomski, who dealt steroids and HGH to many major league baseball players, claimed that Manzanillo was the only player he ever witnessed taking steroids.  Fun fact: Manzanillo is the 17th of 18 children.

Terry Mulholland: He is currently part owner of a biker bar in Scottsdale, AZ called “Dirty Dogg Saloon.”  That title leaves a lot to the imagination, so I’ll let anyone that is curious have a look at the Dirty Dogg Crew.

Todd Ritchie: Todd has children named Karley (15), Kyndall (10), Kamdyn (8), Kallyn (6), Kannon (3) and Krayton (3).  It is speculated by some that the 7^th child will be named Krayon.

Scott Sauerbeck: On May 30, 2006, Scott Sauerbeck and Lily Miller were arrested by police after his 1966 Lincoln Continental convertible, driven by Miller, was observed weaving at 3:45 a.m.  Police allege that Miller and Sauerbeck attempted to avoid arrest by parking the car and hiding in some bushes in a residential backyard.  Sauerbeck claims that he was looking for the command of his curveball. 

Ryan Vogelsong: Some might remember that WHYGAVS referred to Vogelsong as “The White Flag” since when he entered the game it was like throwing the white flag.  Well the White Flag has just finished with his third stellar season in Japan, where his career record overseas was 11-14.  He played for the Orix Buffaloes in 2009 after completing two seasons with the Hanshin Tigers in 2007 and 2008.  Vogelsong is currently playing for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.  So far in the 2010 season, he has a 1-1 record with a 4.08 ERA.  Vogelsong was relegated to the bullpen two weeks ago after his first seven starts resulted in an ERA of 4.81 and only one outing where he lasted six innings.

Dave Williams: After struggling in 2006 and 2007, Williams chose to sign a contract with the Yokohama BayStars in 2008.  He was released after seven starts and was last pitching in Washington’s farm system in 2009.

Kevin Young: He now lives in Arizona, where he helps the Scottsdale Cal Ripken Baseball league and is the Director of Baseball for Protégé Sports.  At the time of his retirement in 2003, he was the last player to leave the Pittsburgh Pirates who had played on a winning team with the club (he was a rookie in 1992).  Not only was he named as an HGH user in the Mitchell Report, but some suspect that his bat was juicing as well.

Humberto Cota: He tested positive for PED on May 28, 2008, but that hasn’t stopped him from trying to get back into the big leagues.  Since leaving the Pirates, Cota has signed minor league contracts with the Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, and Cincinnati Reds.  Surprisingly he has not made a major league squad since leaving the Pirates in 2007.  He is currently a desirable free agent for any team that needs an average defensive catcher with a .233 career batting average with no power.

Keith Osik: Owns and operates "Keith Osik's Major League Instruction (MLI)," a private indoor baseball teaching facility.  Osik is also currently the head baseball coach at Farmingdale State College, (Division III).

Abraham Núñez: On March 5, 2010, Nunez signed a contract to play for the New Jersey Jackals of the independent Canadian-American League.  This league has six teams and only plays 92-96 games per year.  This level of play is comparable to AA.


Emil Brown: After not playing in the majors from 2002-2004, Brown enjoyed a career year in 2005 with the Royals.  Despite leading the team in RBIs for three consecutive years (Carlos Beltran is the only other Royal to ever achieve this feat), the Royals did not make Brown an offer for the 2008 season.  Since then he has played briefly with the Oakland Athletics and New York Mets. 

On July 30, 2007, Brown shot Kansas City reporter Karen Kornacki in the eye with a BB gun.  From the video, you can see that the reporter was talking to his teammate, Tony Peña Jr.  The Royals called it "an accident."

Derek Bell: On April 20, 2006, Derek Bell was charged with felony cocaine possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, after police found a warm crack pipe in the back seat of his car during a traffic stop.  He was arrested again on December 2, 2008, facing three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of failure to appear in court on another charge of possession of drug paraphernalia from earlier in the year.

Go Figure…Pittsburgh Pirates facts from the 2001-2005 seasons

120

Total players that have been on the 25 man roster

7

Players that have remained on the team for all five years

5

Total All-Stars (league minimum)

.430

Lloyd McClendon's career managerial win-loss percentage

Join us next week as we continue our three part series, Where Are They Now? A Tribute to the Lloyd McClendon Era.

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