Rule 5 Pickup

The Rule 5 draft has been fairly kind to the Pirates over the years.  It gave the Pirates one time All-Star Evan Meek, and some guy named Clemente, as well as a smattering of middling pieces who appeared in a few games here and there.

One of those "pieces" is time traveler extraordinaire Miguel Batista.  Yes, that Miguel Batista.  A Pirate.

Surprised?  That's probably because he pitched exactly one game for the Pirates.  Batista was a Rule 5 pickup by the club, and apparently showed enough during the Spring to make it onto the Opening Day roster for a team that would eventually reach the NLCS.

On April 11th, Batista was called on to pitch in the 5th game of the season, with the Pirates down 5-1 to the Phillies entering the 7th.  Batista served up a 2 run HR to current Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, but pitched through the rest of the 7th and 8th unscathed. 

On April 23, he was returned to Montreal without seeing action again in a Pirates uniform.

Batista wouldn't find his way back to the majors until 1996, but has stuck around ever since.  Since I have been unable to find any photos of Batista's two innings in black and gold, this Harrisburg Senators minor league card may never be upgraded.  The Senators were affiliated with the Pirates through 1990, so there's at least some tangential Pirates connection.  Or so I'd like to tell myself.