Eight years makes a lot of difference when you're old

[DavidGee24]

For shits and giggles I decided to see how many 1969 Pilots and 1977 Mariners are dead.

30 out of 53 Pilots and 8 out of 43 Mariners. HUGE difference, wow.

Diego Segui was counted twice as he pitched for both teams.

The youngest to go was Miguel Fuentes of the Pilots, at 23. On 1/29/70 in Puerto Rico he was at a bar and the bathroom was out of order so he went outside to take a piss. Apparently somebody thought Fuentes was too close to his car so he shot and killed him. Fuentes had the distinction of throwing the final pitch in Pilots history. Seems fitting considering that the Pilots themselves died just two months later.

[D-train]

For shits and giggles I decided to see how many 1969 Pilots and 1977 Mariners are dead.

30 out of 53 Pilots and 8 out of 43 Mariners. HUGE difference, wow.

Diego Segui was counted twice as he pitched for both teams.

The youngest to go was Miguel Fuentes of the Pilots, at 23. On 1/29/70 in Puerto Rico he was at a bar and the bathroom was out of order so he went outside to take a piss. Apparently somebody thought Fuentes was too close to his car so he shot and killed him. Fuentes had the distinction of throwing the final pitch in Pilots history. Seems fitting considering that the Pilots themselves died just two months later.

Diego died twice? Wow, talk about bad luck...

[DavidGee24]

Diego died twice? Wow, talk about bad luck...

Poor guy had to pitch for both those Seattle teams, plus several years in the '60s for the Kanas City A's, and when he was with the Oakland A's in the early '70s, they traded him in early 1972 right before they won those three straight WS titles. He did get to pitch in game five of the 1975 WS for the Red Sox though.

[AT Fresno]

Maybe this doesn't belong here but David Gee got me remembering , thinking about the Pilots, and in hindsight a couple lost opportunities. we could have had Lou Pinella and screwed it up.

Lou Piniella was selected from the Cleveland Indians in the 1968 expansion draft, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals on April Fool's Day 1969 (before the regular season), for outfielder Steve Whitaker and pitcher John Gelnar. He never played a game for the Pilots. Of course in 1969 he won AL Rookie of the Year (.282, 11 HR, 68 RBI), had a long productive career (including with the Yankees), and later obviously managed the Mariners to their 2001 116-win season and multiple playoff appearances.

The Pilots also fucked up trading away pitcher, Mike Marshall.He was drafted by the Pilots in the expansion draft, he went 3-10 with a 5.13 ERA in 1969 (mostly as a starter) suffered injuries and contraversy over his screwball. His contract was sold to the Houston Astros after the season; he later became the first reliever to win a Cy Young Award (1974 with the Dodgers), he also set records for innings and appearances (including 106 appearances and 208⅓ relief innings that year).

[D-train]

Travesty that after considering his playing career AND his managerial career he still isn't in the HOF. If you recall he to a mid Reds team to the WS in 1990 and swept the powerhouse A's 4-0. Some guys I interact with said he wasn't very good because he didn't win a WS with us despite having 4 HOFers.

So I showed them how horrid our pitching staffs were sans Randy and they got very silent after that. lol

[DavidGee24]

Maybe this doesn't belong here but David Gee got me remembering , thinking about the Pilots, and in hindsight a couple lost opportunities. we could have had Lou Pinella and screwed it up.

Lou Piniella was selected from the Cleveland Indians in the 1968 expansion draft, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals on April Fool's Day 1969 (before the regular season), for outfielder Steve Whitaker and pitcher John Gelnar. He never played a game for the Pilots. Of course in 1969 he won AL Rookie of the Year (.282, 11 HR, 68 RBI), had a long productive career (including with the Yankees), and later obviously managed the Mariners to their 2001 116-win season and multiple playoff appearances.

The Pilots also fucked up trading away pitcher, Mike Marshall.He was drafted by the Pilots in the expansion draft, he went 3-10 with a 5.13 ERA in 1969 (mostly as a starter) suffered injuries and contraversy over his screwball. His contract was sold to the Houston Astros after the season; he later became the first reliever to win a Cy Young Award (1974 with the Dodgers), he also set records for innings and appearances (including 106 appearances and 208⅓ relief innings that year).

There's actually footage of three Pilots games vs the Red Sox in 1969. Here's one where Marshall hit his only career home run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjHBRL9LeCg