January 2- Pittsburgh Pirates

Amongst the large assortment of hats I own, I decided to throw on something that I hadn’t had a chance to wear. The biggest reason why I brought this particular hat to Miami with me was simply because of the shirt that I had packed along with it. The Pittsburgh Pirates font “Portland” tee is the creation of one of my friends, Jason Cobb (JasonMCobb), whom I worked with for many years for Just Sports (@JustSportspdx) in Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR. Of all the shirts he’s created over the years, this was one of my favorites.

While I could have gone with an array of Pirates hats to pair with it, I couldn’t think of one better than the 2000 Sunday cap with the red outline on the “P” and a red bill. For as awesome as the hat is, I’ve always found it a bit strange that the Pirates only used it so rarely and for one season. Therefore, keeping with the theme, I had to choose numbers which were prevalent on Sundays during their 5^th place, in the National League Central, finish of 69-93 under then manager, and current 3^rd base coach for the Detroit Tigers Gene Lamont.

The first option I had debated was #69. Very few people would understand this reference in Pirates history, but I found it especially funny because the person who sported this number for this season was then rookie pitcher Bronson Arroyo. With that, I looked up his stats. I honestly don’t even recall seeing any starts on Sundays so I sadly had to pass up on the opportunity. The next two were easy choices and the only two guys who did consistently well on Sundays, and were household names for the Pirates during their tenures...

#18- Kendall’s best years at the plate came with the Pirates as he never matched the power numbers he posted in Pittsburgh. In 2000 he hit a career best 14 home runs on top of his .320 AVG, which is the third best had posted, playing over 125 games a season.

#24- Giles had always been a pretty consistent .290 hitter; however, the best year of his career came in 2000 when he batted .315/35/123. The previous year he had swatted 39 home runs and posted the same average, but had 61 less plate appearances. Impressive nonetheless. 

On top of their offense, both players will stellar defenders. Therefore, there really wasn’t a pair better to honor.