#498 Bud Black

About the Front: That's one unflattering photo of Bud Black. In general, I think he's better-looking now than he was in his playing days. Some guys just age gracefully.

About the Back: Daughter Jamie went on to attend Oregon State University and is now an interior designer. Daughter Jessie was a collegiate gymnast at the University of Maryland, and graduated in 2014 with a degree in math and kinesiology.

Triple Play:

1. Bud had a knack for historical moments. He surrendered Reggie Jackson's 500th career home run, and Mike Piazza's first.

2. His father Harry was a minor league hockey player.

3. He spent several seasons as the Angels' pitching coach before the Padres hired him to be their manager in 2007. His San Diego clubs peaked with a 90-72 season and a second-place finish in the NL West in 2010, earning him Manager of the Year honors. He was fired in mid-2015, but in 2017 guided the Rockies to a surprise Wild Card appearance in his first season as their skipper.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: I loved the book Lords of the Realm by John Helyar, which detailed the long and contentious labor history between baseball players and ownership. Still love it, actually. Anyway, there was an anecdote about the supposedly exorbitant four-year, $10 million contract given by the Giants and GM Al Rosen to mediocre veteran Bud Black prior to the 1991 season. He was considered the poster boy for runaway player salaries, and that offseason was referred to sarcastically as the "Bud Black Market". If you're curious, that translates to $16.75 million in today's economy. Still seems comparatively tame to me.

Bill James Said: "Helped put the Giants in front with an 8-1 record through the All-Star break, but went out with tendonitis (which sportswriters for some reason spell "tendinitis") in his elbow." Yeah, why DO they spell it like that?

On This Date in 1993: February 22. The United Nations Security Council votes on Resolution 808, deciding to establish a tribunal to prosecute international law violations in Yugoslavia.