Aug 28, 2011 3 min read

As an employee of the Milwaukee Brewers, John Shelby tried his best not to root for the enemy when his team visited PNC Park this past week to play the Pirates in a four-game series.

However, when Pirates rookie infielder Josh Harrison lashed a ball into the gap on Monday night for his first major-league triple, Shelby tried hard not to crack a smile from his perch in the press box, where he was serving as the National League Central-leading Brewers’ “eye in the sky.”

When Harrison hit his first big-league home run the next night, it was a losing battle for Shelby, a special assignment coach for manager Ron Roenicke. A smile creased his face as Harrison rounded the bases.

Harrison is Shelby’s nephew, the son of his sister.

“I’m so proud of him because he’s a little guy and the odds have always been stacked against him,” Shelby said of the 5-foot-7 Harrison. “He’s worked really hard to make himself into a major-league player and it’s great to see him playing in the big leagues. He’s earned this opportunity.”

Shelby was a major-league outfielder for 11 seasons from 1981-91 with Baltimore, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit. He was also the Pirates’ first base coach from 2006-07 under former manager Jim Tracy.

“It’s great to have an uncle who played in the major leagues,” Harrison said. “I’ve learned so much about the game from him and it’s good just to have someone with his kind of experience in the game to talk to. He’s a great guy and I hope I make him proud.”

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This week’s Name to Remember is outfielder Raul Fortunato, whose claim to fame was putting together a 34-game hitting streak for the Pirates’ entry in the Dominican Summer League this season.

Fortunato, 20, finished the season with a .329 batting average, seven home runs, 29 RBIs, 34 stolen bases, a .421 on-base percentage and a .491 slugging percentage in 61 games. The Pirates signed Fortunato as a free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2009.

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The Pirates were on Fox’s Saturday Game of the Week for a third consecutive week yesterday when they played the Cardinals in St. Louis. That comes after the Pirates had not appeared on a Fox game since 2004.

It seemed like a good idea last month when Fox added the Pirates to its schedule. However, it turned out that the Pirates were 11 games out of first place when they played at Milwaukee on Aug. 12, 14 1/2 games out when they hosted Cincinnati on Aug. 19 and 17 games behind before facing the Cardinals on Saturday.

John Perrotto is the national writer for Baseball Prospectus.com.