Notes: Bucco Bits, Postseason Pieces

In the last three days...

• Dan Szymborski of Fangraphs posted "Elegy for '18 -  Pittsburgh Pirates," that warns "In a lot of ways, the Pirates are a bit of a cautionary tale for rebuilding teams."
• We don't know how this will influence the FO's thinking during the winter, but 40% of the runs scored in baseball last year were the result of a homer (and that percentage has held true through the postseason). The Pirates were 25th in MLB and last in the NL Central in long balls during the 2018 campaign. Surprisingly, the Cubs only hit 10 more taters than Pittsburgh; maybe that's part of the reason they fizzled down the stretch. Seems like muscle matters...

Hometown hero Kimbera Bartee (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

• Pirates coach Kimera Bartee was inducted to the Omaha Public School Hall of Fame; he's believed to be his school's first MLB player.
• Gary Varsho's son, Daulton, is catching in the D-Back system and in the Arizona Fall League. His dad played outfield, coached, and is now a scouting exec with Pittsburgh. Another local touch: his minor league manager is old Bucco backstop JR House.
• Per Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs, the Phillies have hired Josh Bonifay as their new Farm Director. Bonifay was a field coordinator and coach in the Houston and Texas systems. Josh is the son of Cam Bonifay, former Pirates GM, and played for seven seasons in the Bucco farm system.
• MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince collected some favorite playoff moments, including the Buc's 2013 wild card win against Johnny Cueto. There are lots of guys who played for the Pirates whose memories are included, too.
• JR Radcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel looks at World Series droughts after the Brew Crew fell to the Dodgers; the Buccos make the story.
• Surprise - Dave Littlefield didn't make it to the next round of the Mets GM search.
• A few fun tidbits regarding the last time the Dodger-Red Sox franchises met in the World Series from MLB.com. Some old-timey names (Babe Ruth, Casey Stengel) and places are involved, since their only other meeting for all the marbles was held in 1916!