Jul 3, 2002 4 min read

Brown out of outfield – and he may not be back PITTSBURGH (AP) – In only a month, Adrian Brown went from being the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting center fielder to being out of the lineup – and, now, possibly being on his way out of the organization.

Brown, who never did find a groove after missing most of last season with a shoulder injury, was sent outright to Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday. As his replacement, the Pirates called up outfielder Adam Hyzdu from the minors for the third consecutive season.

After bouncing around the Pirates’ farm system for seven years, Brown seemed to win a steady job while batting .283 in 1998 and .270 in 1999 as a spare outfielder and .315 in 2000 as the starting center fielder over the final four months of the season.

Last season, he played in only eight games last season before needing shoulder surgery. Then, despite getting more playing time than nearly every other regular in spring training, he never regained his batting stroke and was hitting only .192 – .135 as a right-handed hitter – before being sent down.

The move means the 28-year-old Brown is off the 40-man roster and can’t return to the Pirates unless he clear waivers.

“It’s very difficult to miss a year, as you saw with (Kris) Benson,” manager Lloyd McClendon said. “It takes time. He needs to play. It wasn’t doing him any good sitting on the bench here.”

McClendon agreed it was difficult for the Pirates to justify keeping a player who was producing as little as Brown was, with only nine extra-base hits in 172 at-bats and a .271 on-base percentage despite mostly batting leadoff.

“He just didn’t play well. We can try to analyze it, but he just didn’t hit the way he was capable of hitting,” McClendon said. “Sometimes going down and getting away from the pressure of the big leagues helps.”

The Pirates know what they’re getting with the 30-year-old Hyzdu, who showed during brief trials in 2000 and 2001 that can hit occasionally for power, with five homers in 72 at-bats last season.

Hyzdu and Rob Mackowiak may start occasionally, but it seems as if Chad Hermansen will get an even longer trial as the center fielder despite a batting average in the low .200s.

“Because of the injuries we’ve had, we haven’t had Mackowiak and (Craig) Wilson on the bench much,” McClendon said. “Late in games, you need some type of power threat. That makes the other team think about what might happen. Hopefully, Hyzdu and Mackowiak will help provide that.”

Hyzdu spent 10 years in the minors before getting a shot with the Pirates in 2000 following two productive seasons at Double-A Altoona, where he remains the most popular player in the team’s brief history. The team even had a Hyzdu bobblehead doll promotion.

The last player cut during the Pirates’ spring training camp in March, Hyzdu had 10 homers and 50 RBIs at Nashville despite a bothersome hand injury early in the season.

“The last couple of years, it’s kind of worked out.” he said. “Every team has a guy, like the 26th guy or whatever, and hopefully I was that. This call-up is maybe a product of that. I don’t know exactly what went on here and I don’t ask too many questions. I just come with a good attitude.”

NO NO-HITTER – FOR NOW: Kip Wells became the second Pirates pitcher to flirt with a no-hitter in PNC Park’s two seasons, only to take the loss in Milwaukee’s 2-0 victory Monday night.

Wells gave up only two hits and one run in eight innings, coming within five outs of a no-hitter, yet was outpitched as Jamey Wright shut out the Pirates on three singles.

McClendon will be surprised if it’s the only time the right-handed Wells takes a no-hitter late into a game.

“His slider, at times, is unhittable – and I didn’t think he had his best slider last night,” McClendon said Tuesday. “I could see him having a couple of no-hitters before his career is over.

“He followed his game plan pretty good and he’s throwing strikes.

In spring training, I was concerned about his ability to throw strikes consistently, but he’s certainly done that to this point.”

Last season, Todd Ritchie took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Kansas City on July 13 before settling for a one-hitter in a 1-0 Pirates victory.