Elmer Gray dies at 91

There was sad news this week when former Pirates scouting director Elmer Gray, one of baseball’s really good guys, died at the age of 91.
Gray started scouting in 1950 for the St. Louis Browns, who became the Baltimore Orioles four years later, and was still serving as a part-time scout with the Pirates as recently as last year.
He loved the game so much that he still came to games at PNC Park in the early part of this season despite being in declining health because he enjoyed being around baseball people so much.
During Gray’s tenure as scouting director, the Pirates drafted all-time home run leader Barry Bonds as well as such other notable players as Tim Wakefield, Jeff King, Orlando Merced and Stan Belinda.
In his typical humble fashion, though, I had to drag the story of the Pirates’ decision to select Bonds in the first round of the 1985 draft out of Gray when the left fielder was approaching the home run record in 2007.
“It wasn’t just me,” Gray insisted. “It was all of us. I don’t deserve any special credit.”
Actually, he does. The Pirates wouldn’t have won three straight National League East titles without the players Gray drafted.
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Baseball’s Steroids Era might be over, at least to hear commissioner Bud Selig tell it, but its effects remain.
Since the All-Star break, five members of the baseball media have asked if I thought Pirates super utility man James Harrison might be juicing because there is seemingly no other way to account for his breakthrough season and, in particular, his increased power numbers.
It doesn’t seem in Harrison’s character to be a cheater and it is extremely difficult not to get caught because Major League Baseball has a strong drug testing program.
Yet from now to eternity, any time a player’s statistics spike, the question will remain.
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Poor Jeff Inman.
The Class AA Altoona reliever has spent six seasons in the Pirates’ farm system and posted a sparkling 0.95 ERA in 19 games for the Curve this year.
He finally got the long-awaited call to Pittsburgh this week — to throw batting practice to Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen as a test to see if the reigning NL MVP was ready to come off the disabled list.
That was the ultimate bittersweet moment.