Brian Giles attended Granite Hills High School in his native El Cajun, California, and was drafted out of high school by the Cleveland Indians in the 17th round of the 1989 draft.
In the lower minors, Giles showed not much power, but had a knack for getting on base. In 1993, he hit .327 for AA Canton-Akron, and was moved up the ladder. His career took off at AAA Charlotte.
He batted .313 for Charlotte in 1994 and made the International League All-Star team. In 1995, Giles hit .310 for AAA Buffalo and got a September call-up to the Tribe. He was also an American Association All-Star.
Giles hit .355 in 51 games for the Indians in 1996 and hit .314 in 83 games with Buffalo, again making the American Association All-Star team. He also matured physically and developed a bit of a power stroke, hitting 51 long balls on the farm over those three seasons,
In 1997, Giles established himself as a major league regular, playing 130 games for the Indians and 112 games in 1998. He hit .268 and .269 with 33 homers and 127 RBI those two seasons, getting 727 at-bats as the Indians spare outfielder.
On November 18, 1998, he was traded to the Pirates for pitcher Ricardo Rincón. The Indians were concerned with the here and now, and Cam Bonifay had the lefty they wanted. As Mike Lange would say, after that deal, Cam was smilin' like a butcher's dog.
With the Pirates, Giles emerged as a middle-of-the-lineup outfielder who hit for average with great plate discipline. In 1999, he began a streak of four straight 30-homer seasons, never hitting lower than .298, and was named Pittsburgh Pirates Player of the Year from 1999-2002.
His debut season saw him put together a line of .315/.418/.614, with 39 homers, 115 RBI, and 109 runs. Giles walked 95 times and struck out 80. And he got better.
Giles led the 2000 club in doubles (37), triples (7), home runs (35), RBIs (123) and walks (114) while batting .315. He was eight RBI shy of Paul Waner's 1927 club record of 131. Giles became the first Bucco ever to hit .300 with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in back-to-back seasons.
His 114 walks were the most by a Pirate since 1992. Giles' 74 home runs in two seasons with club were the most in back-to-back seasons since Willie Stargell hit 77 in 1972-73. He was selected as a NL Player-of-the-Week and was co-winner one more time. Giles was named to All-Star squad.
In 2001 Giles established career highs in games played (160), at bats (576), runs (116) and hits (178). He tied career highs in doubles and triples. At the end of the season, Giles ranked tenth among NL players in runs, on-base percentage (.404, oddly enough his lowest as a Pirate) and slugging percentage (.590). He led the Pirates in batting (.309), home runs (37) and walks (90).
He tied Dave Parker's club record for most total bases (340) by a left-handed hitter. Giles hit his 100th career home run as a member of the Pirates on August 9, becoming one of seventeen players to homer 100 times as a Pirate. He was selected to play in the All- Star Game again.
He continued putting up monster numbers in 2002, though he hit a Pirate-era low of .298. Giles ranked second in the league in walks with 135. His .450 on-base percentage tied him for the second-best mark in the majors. Giles ranked second in the NL with a slugging percentage of .622, sixth in home runs with 38, second with 80 extra-base hits, tied for second in the league with 13 outfield assists and finished third in the senior circuit with 24 intentional walks. And he didn't make the All-Star team!
But he was in the second year of a five-year deal and did make $8,063,003. And we all know what that meant during in the Dave Littlefield era (and today, of course).
On August 26, 2003, he was traded to the San Diego Padres for Jason Bay, Oliver Perez, and Corey Stewart. And ya know what? It was a pretty sweet deal, unquestionably Littlefield's best.
Bay took over left field and the middle of the order nicely, Perez filled a rotation spot for awhile, and when it was time to turn them over, the Pirates ultimately ended up with Ross Ohlendorf, Jose Tabata, and Andy LaRoche, along with a bagful of trinkets.
Giles went on to have a couple of good seasons with the Padres, but his power disappeared and his knee turned arthritic. He got one more good contract, had miscrosurgery, and tried to catch on this year as a bench player for the Dodgers, but for naught. He retired before the Turk came calling.
During his career he played for the Indians, Pirates and Padres. He was a two-time All-Star, got MVP votes five times, and had a career line of .291/.400/.502 with 287 home runs, 411 doubles, 1,078 RBIs, and 1,183 walks in 1,847 games.
But it was as a Pirate that he shined. In 715 games, he had a line of .308/.426/.591, with an OPS of 1.170 - he was over 1.000 three of his four plus years in Pittsburgh - and added 165 homers, 506 RBI, and 501 runs scored.
Giles wasn't one of the more beloved Pirates; he wasn't great at PR, is currently involved in a nasty lawsuit with an old gal pal, and he and Jason Kendall led an old school frat-house locker room of card-players that loved hazing rookies, especially those with a little spunk, the best example being young Jack Wilson.
But when it came time to show up between the lines, he did. And to this day, he's the cream of the Pirate crop to play after the Bobby Bonds/Jim Leyland era closed.
Showing posts with label brian giles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brian giles. Show all posts
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Blow 'em up...
It's only one more loss out of many we've seen, but it's time. Blow them up and bring in some players. There are too many black holes in the lineup for a handful of guys to carry and too many back of the rotation/bullpen arms on the staff. Too often they look as if little leaguers have absorbed the fundamentals of the game more than they have.
We thought the Bucs would be competitive this year, and they still may be. There are some pieces here and sparsely scattered throughout the system. But there's a world of difference between competitive and championship. Forget .500 and get to work on a team built for a pennant.
On the minor league front: Chris Hernandez was promoted from AA Altoona to AAA Indianapolis yesterday. He had a better than 7:1 K:BB over 20-2/3 innings with a 2.61 ERA, .195 BAA and 0.87 WHIP. Hernandez had a 4-0 record and 4 saves in 14 appearances. The 27 year old righty could get a look as a middle reliever if the bullpen in Pittsburgh should falter later in the season, according to RotoWire.
On the draft front: John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times has chimed in with his draft day prediction:
"Though it smacks of Moses breaking one of the 10 commandments, Coonelly has given the Pirates’ front office to go-ahead to draft who they think is the best player when they select second behind Tampa Bay on June 5.
The players the Pirates are considering include Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez; Tim Beckham, a high school shortstop from Georgia; San Diego left-hander Brian Matusz; Florida State catcher Buster Posey and South Carolina first baseman Justin Smoak.
None of the five will come cheap and Alvarez, who is being advised by superagent Scott Boras, is said to be seeking a major-league contract worth at least $8 million.
Alvarez is the guy the Pirates want and appears they will get as Tampa Bay is leaning toward picking Beckham or Posey.
This time, the Pirates won’t make the same mistake. Alvarez will be their man, they will sign (him) and he could very well be their starting third baseman next season."
He also rubs a little salt in the wound by reminding the Pirate nation of the guys the past Bucco suits have considered and then passed on:
Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters last year, Tampa Bay's Scott Kazmir and B.J. Upton in 2002 (the excuse - they were high school players), and Stanford left-hander Jeremy Guthrie. They actually drafted the Boras-represented Guthrie in the third round of the 2001 draft, but never signed him. He was the Oriole's opening day pitcher this year.
If you're wondering if the Bucs can shore up their lack of depth up the middle in this year's draft, don't hold your breath. With a couple of exceptions, the middle infield is thought to be pretty pedestrian this year, and several of the top young guns are projected to end up in different positions by the time they reach the show because of size or range issues.
With the MLB draft being televised live for the second straight year, each club has been asked to send at least one team ambassador to Orlando, to represent the organization.
Chuck Tanner has long been one of the faces of the Pirates franchise, while Steve Blass is currently one of the voices for it. The team has selected the pair to be the club's spokesmen at the draft. Good choices, we think. Now if the draftees are only as good as the drafters...
On the ex-Pirates front: Salomon Torres tops the Brewer's bullpen staff with 28-2/3 innings pitched so far this season. He's had eight outings of at least two innings in his 22 games this year. Solly's record is 3-1 with a save and an ERA of 3.14.
He was a Pirate from 2002-2007, appearing in 358 games with a 26-28 record and 26 saves. Torres was traded to the Brew Crew during the off season for Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts after a spat with management over his baseball camp.
Jeff Suppan is slated to start Thursday for the Brew Crew. He's 2-3 with a 4.78 ERA, and shares the team innings pitched lead with Ben Sheets at 52-2/3. He has a 14-15 record overall in his second campaign with Milwaukee.
Suppan pitched in Pittsburgh in 2003, going 10-7 with a 3.57 ERA and netting the Bucs Freddie Sanchez and Mike Gonzalez from the Boston Red Sox in one of Littlefield's better deadline deals.
Jason Kendall is the Brewer's starting backstop, hitting .269 in 40 games. A first round draft pick of the Bucs in 1992, he played here from 1996-2004 and led the team in career games caught while batting .306. His salary was then dumped on Oakland, and Pittsburgh got Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes back.
He's done a nice job behind the dish, throwing out 16 of 34 base stealers, a 47% caught stealing rate (Ronny Paulino, by comparison, has only tossed out 20%.) Kendall's allowed 3 passed balls, one less than Ryan Doumit.
Padre GM Kevin Tower threw a hissy fit after San Diego's last loss and threatened to bring up a new group of players, en masse, to rejuvenate the team. Brian Giles could be on the list to go, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
Giles is hitting .311 and has a .403 OBP, but hasn't smacked over 23 dingers since leaving Pittsburgh, although his power numbers would look a lot better away from Petco. He earns $9M this year and has a $3M buyout for '09. He can block trades to eight teams and gets a $2M increase if dealt, and that could be a deal breaker.
But if the Padres are seriously looking to remake their lineup, he'd be an attractive player to dangle.
Giles was sent to SD late in 2003 for Ollie Perez and Jay Bay after 5 seasons as a Buc. Pittsburgh got him in 1999 from the Tribe for Ricardo Rincon - hey, not of all our deals were terrible. Giles hit 169 HR's and drove in 524 runs, never hitting under .299, during his Pirate years and made two All-Star games.
Infielder Abraham Nunez, 32, agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Mets and was assigned to Class AAA New Orleans. Nunez spent from 1997-2004 in Pittsburgh as a utility man, batting .238 in 630 games. He played another year for the Cards and for the past two seasons in Philly.
On the "Stan the Man" front: It took long enough, but on Sunday St. Louis dedicated Stan Musial Drive, renaming the street in front of Busch Stadium in honor of the franchise's greatest player. Musial, 87, was born in Donora. He's in the Hall of Fame after a 22-year career with the Cards, batting .331 lifetime with 475 homers and having both scored and drove in over 1,900 runs. Stan was indeed the Man.
We thought the Bucs would be competitive this year, and they still may be. There are some pieces here and sparsely scattered throughout the system. But there's a world of difference between competitive and championship. Forget .500 and get to work on a team built for a pennant.
On the minor league front: Chris Hernandez was promoted from AA Altoona to AAA Indianapolis yesterday. He had a better than 7:1 K:BB over 20-2/3 innings with a 2.61 ERA, .195 BAA and 0.87 WHIP. Hernandez had a 4-0 record and 4 saves in 14 appearances. The 27 year old righty could get a look as a middle reliever if the bullpen in Pittsburgh should falter later in the season, according to RotoWire.
On the draft front: John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times has chimed in with his draft day prediction:
"Though it smacks of Moses breaking one of the 10 commandments, Coonelly has given the Pirates’ front office to go-ahead to draft who they think is the best player when they select second behind Tampa Bay on June 5.
The players the Pirates are considering include Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez; Tim Beckham, a high school shortstop from Georgia; San Diego left-hander Brian Matusz; Florida State catcher Buster Posey and South Carolina first baseman Justin Smoak.
None of the five will come cheap and Alvarez, who is being advised by superagent Scott Boras, is said to be seeking a major-league contract worth at least $8 million.
Alvarez is the guy the Pirates want and appears they will get as Tampa Bay is leaning toward picking Beckham or Posey.
This time, the Pirates won’t make the same mistake. Alvarez will be their man, they will sign (him) and he could very well be their starting third baseman next season."
He also rubs a little salt in the wound by reminding the Pirate nation of the guys the past Bucco suits have considered and then passed on:
Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters last year, Tampa Bay's Scott Kazmir and B.J. Upton in 2002 (the excuse - they were high school players), and Stanford left-hander Jeremy Guthrie. They actually drafted the Boras-represented Guthrie in the third round of the 2001 draft, but never signed him. He was the Oriole's opening day pitcher this year.
If you're wondering if the Bucs can shore up their lack of depth up the middle in this year's draft, don't hold your breath. With a couple of exceptions, the middle infield is thought to be pretty pedestrian this year, and several of the top young guns are projected to end up in different positions by the time they reach the show because of size or range issues.
With the MLB draft being televised live for the second straight year, each club has been asked to send at least one team ambassador to Orlando, to represent the organization.
Chuck Tanner has long been one of the faces of the Pirates franchise, while Steve Blass is currently one of the voices for it. The team has selected the pair to be the club's spokesmen at the draft. Good choices, we think. Now if the draftees are only as good as the drafters...
On the ex-Pirates front: Salomon Torres tops the Brewer's bullpen staff with 28-2/3 innings pitched so far this season. He's had eight outings of at least two innings in his 22 games this year. Solly's record is 3-1 with a save and an ERA of 3.14.
He was a Pirate from 2002-2007, appearing in 358 games with a 26-28 record and 26 saves. Torres was traded to the Brew Crew during the off season for Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts after a spat with management over his baseball camp.
Jeff Suppan is slated to start Thursday for the Brew Crew. He's 2-3 with a 4.78 ERA, and shares the team innings pitched lead with Ben Sheets at 52-2/3. He has a 14-15 record overall in his second campaign with Milwaukee.
Suppan pitched in Pittsburgh in 2003, going 10-7 with a 3.57 ERA and netting the Bucs Freddie Sanchez and Mike Gonzalez from the Boston Red Sox in one of Littlefield's better deadline deals.
Jason Kendall is the Brewer's starting backstop, hitting .269 in 40 games. A first round draft pick of the Bucs in 1992, he played here from 1996-2004 and led the team in career games caught while batting .306. His salary was then dumped on Oakland, and Pittsburgh got Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes back.
He's done a nice job behind the dish, throwing out 16 of 34 base stealers, a 47% caught stealing rate (Ronny Paulino, by comparison, has only tossed out 20%.) Kendall's allowed 3 passed balls, one less than Ryan Doumit.
Padre GM Kevin Tower threw a hissy fit after San Diego's last loss and threatened to bring up a new group of players, en masse, to rejuvenate the team. Brian Giles could be on the list to go, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
Giles is hitting .311 and has a .403 OBP, but hasn't smacked over 23 dingers since leaving Pittsburgh, although his power numbers would look a lot better away from Petco. He earns $9M this year and has a $3M buyout for '09. He can block trades to eight teams and gets a $2M increase if dealt, and that could be a deal breaker.
But if the Padres are seriously looking to remake their lineup, he'd be an attractive player to dangle.
Giles was sent to SD late in 2003 for Ollie Perez and Jay Bay after 5 seasons as a Buc. Pittsburgh got him in 1999 from the Tribe for Ricardo Rincon - hey, not of all our deals were terrible. Giles hit 169 HR's and drove in 524 runs, never hitting under .299, during his Pirate years and made two All-Star games.
Infielder Abraham Nunez, 32, agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Mets and was assigned to Class AAA New Orleans. Nunez spent from 1997-2004 in Pittsburgh as a utility man, batting .238 in 630 games. He played another year for the Cards and for the past two seasons in Philly.
On the "Stan the Man" front: It took long enough, but on Sunday St. Louis dedicated Stan Musial Drive, renaming the street in front of Busch Stadium in honor of the franchise's greatest player. Musial, 87, was born in Donora. He's in the Hall of Fame after a 22-year career with the Cards, batting .331 lifetime with 475 homers and having both scored and drove in over 1,900 runs. Stan was indeed the Man.
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