Konnor Griffin mania is sweeping the burgh and the boys of summer have yet to travel north. The big question everyone wants to know is whether or not he’ll be on that plane with the other scallywags looking to take a bite out of the big apple when the Buccos face the Mets on Opening Day.
In my humble opinion, the Pirates have nothing to lose by bringing him along. I have gathered a collection of teenage who’s whos that have found themselves in similar situations at such a young age. Take a look at the historical evidence and see which group you think Konnor falls in.
Three names that immediately come to mind for me when trying to compare apples to apples are Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr, and Alex Rodriguez. High praise I know, but that’s where we are. All highly touted and debuted as teenagers, and all cases support my thesis. Junior was the one who stayed in the majors after his debut, which would be great if Konnor followed suit. The Mick and A-Rod both traveled to the show and rode the bus again after their debuts before triumphantly returning. I’d say things worked out pretty well for them despite the initial set back. If Konnor comes up, and there’s struggles (which I’m sure there will be), then there’s no reason to hit the panic button. Send him back down to gain some experience and bring him back up to set the league on fire.
That’s certainly the top end of outcomes. If you want to scale down and just see Pittsburgh Pirates history with teenagers, then we can. Let’s explore.
Andy Dunning: In 1889 at age 17, he made his debut as a right handed pitcher. He didn't have a long or good career with Pittsburgh, only pitching in two games. But he resurfaced with the New York baseball Giants and lowered his ERA from 7.00 in 1889 to 4.50 in 1891. After this stint in the show, he went on to run a successful coffee and tea business which doesn’t get you into Cooperstown, but still serves a need.
Charlie Heard: In 1890, at 18 years old, he went 0-6 with an 8.39 ERA, batted .186 no RBIs, and made 6 errors in the field. The Alleghenies went 23-113 that year. I’m chalking Charlie’s rough numbers up to bad defense, poor run support, and no protection in the lineup. If Konnor plays on that team, they might play in October. I Heard that.
Bill Keen: In 1911, at 18 years old, Bill was a pinch hitter and first baseman. Apparently during this timeframe, there was a revolving door at first base (sounds familiar), and Pittsburgh was keen on plugging that hole. They found some young talent in Bill and unfortunately he didn’t pan out the way they’d hoped. But, during his career he struck out only four times at the plate. Unfortunately he only had seven plate appearances. He finished his career with one walk, never recording a hit.
Jim Waugh: Jim pitched at ages 18 and 19 for the Pirates in 1952-1953. It’s nice to have some post WW2 data. Waugh threw a complete game in his debut becoming the youngest Pirate to earn a win. Unfortunately, Jim had injury struggles and was born much too soon to reap the benefits of modern medicine. He finished his career 5-11 with a 6.43 ERA. WHENT WAUGH.
Sam Nicholl: Sam was a 19 year old outfielder and one of the few major leaguers from Northern Ireland. He played for Pittsburgh in 1888 for 8 games, batting .045. What did you expect? I have a feeling he wasn’t given a real opportunity because his accent was too thick. He performed much better in AA Columbus under Manager Gus Schmelz, who wouldn’t? But ultimately Sam failed to find a spot in Pittsburgh beyond those 8 games in his 19th trip around the sun.
Miguel Diloné: Last but certainly not least we get to Miguel. Out of every Pittsburgh teenager (19), Miguel was the most consistent major leaguer. He came from the Dominican Republic as disco dominated the charts. He played over 100 games three times in his career but none of those came in his first four seasons (1974-1977) in black and gold. Poor guy was just a few years too late and a few years too early to win a World Series with the Pirates. There was talk of him suiting up at DT for the Steelers in the 74 super bowl to assist an ill Dwight White but that never materialized. He bounced around the outfield for 9 seasons with the Pirates, Athletics, Indians, White Sox, Expos, and Padres.
If you want to change gears and talk about different teenager species, we come to Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo, and Raphael (not Flores). I don’t have a lot of clear stats on this group but certainly an impressive bunch of teenagers. One thing is clear, Konnor Griffin has the make up to help this team right now. If he turns out like the Pittsburgh group, it will hurt as bad as anything has in Pittsburgh Pirates history. If he turns out as good or better than the first group of legends, then we can all say we bought him his first legal IC light in two years. Pencil him in against the Mets, what do we have to lose?
