Let’s face first year expansion teams are generally bad…1969
was no exception, and every bad team has the disproportional loser…San Diego
had Clay Kirby 7-20 W-L record…Pilots had John Gelnar and Mike Marshall both with 3-10 records… the
sacrificial lamb for the KC Royals was Jim Rooker…Rooker toiled as a rookie for the first year Royals
with 4-16 record…Rooker, like Marshall, came from the pitching rich Tigers farm
system in the 1960’s…Jim faced three more inconsistent seasons for KC including
a send down to AAA Omaha two consecutive years…Then a Pirate trade appeared
over horizon…exchanged for then rookie Gene Garber…Revitalized his career....After a season as a spot starter and reliever Rooker was able to work his way in the Bucs rotation in
1974….not always pretty but was consistent winner for five season finishing his Pirates career with 82
wins 65 losses…Was known as a good hitter for a pitcher…. able to keep his
career average over .200.
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