In 2022, Mike Easler, a member of the 1979 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates, contacted them about becoming their batting coach. He looked at their stats and saw they had nobody hitting above .275. (The Pirates would finish 2022 with Kevin Newman as their leader at .274, excluding a pair of minor league recalls who had a handful of at-bats.) “That’s unacceptable,” Easler told interviewer Joe Shuta. The Pirates never returned his call. “That’s their loss, not mine,” said Easler disgustedly. This story was unknown and unreported in any Pittsburgh media at the time or since.
“The Hit Man” lamented the state of hitting in baseball today. He feels there is undue emphasis on analytics, launch angles, and exit velocity, and not enough contact being made. His comments in full are in the brief video below.
Mike Easler Spurned as Pirates Batting Coach
Part of the Fam-A-Lee
This offer to become their batting coach wasn’t the first time Easler approached the Pirates about a post-playing career job. When the Pirates searched for a manager after firing Gene Lamont in 2000, Easler threw his hat into the ring. At the time, he was the batting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards were in Atlanta battling the Braves in the National League Division Series when Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy and general manager Cam Bonifay interviewed Easler in his hotel room. Describing the interview for Paul Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Easler’s bubbly personality jumps off the page. “It was beautiful,” Easler said. “They handled it exquisitely. They were perfect gentlemen.”
“It needs to be a family again,” Easler continued. He should know. He played for the Pirates at a time when they were known as the Fam-A-Lee. In 1979, their adopted theme song was “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge. Despite the unfortunate choice of a disco song when a far more interesting punk rock/new wave scene was raging throughout the world, the Pirates won the World Series. Meanwhile, the managerial job went to “Llegendary” Lloyd McClendon, who finished 336-446 in five seasons in Pittsburgh.
Easler Could Help Pirates as Batting Coach
The Pirates’ current batting coach is Andy Haines. After being dismissed by the Milwaukee Brewers, with whom he served in the same capacity, Haines joined the Pirates in 2022. Since his arrival, the Pirates have finished at or near the bottom in many important offensive categories. In 2022, the team batted .222/291/.364 and was last in the NL in batting average and OPS. It was just a little better in 2023 when they hit .239/.315/.392. As of the close of Sunday’s action, the team is hitting .225/.308/.334. An alarming trend has emerged where Bucs batters are looking at a high number of called third strikes. They’re not coming through with runners in scoring position.
In fairness to Haines, the Pirates don’t have any hitters who will be mistaken for Mookie Betts any time soon. Additionally, the Pirates’ brain trust isn’t doing Haines any favors by keeping Nick Gonzales and others in the minors. Even so, the club’s offensive performance hasn’t improved significantly over 2021, despite a better talent level today. Something’s not working.
One watches the Pirates today and has to wonder whether their hitters are coming to the plate overloaded with information. They seem to spend a lot of time looking at iPads and charts while in the dugout. Analytics have their place in the game. However, there’s also an old baseball axiom that says you don’t coach during the game. Prepare the players before the game, let them play the game, and correct things the next day. One wonders whether the Pirates might benefit from an old-school approach that Easler would bring as their batting coach.
“I’m Going to Kill It”
Easler played for six teams from 1973-87, including six years with the Pirates. For his career, the left-handed batter hit .293/.349/.454 with 118 home runs, 522 RBI, and an OPS+ of 118. He had a good eye at the plate and could hit to all fields with a quick, compact yet powerful swing. He went north with the Pirates from spring training in 1979 and was used mostly as a pinch hitter. The Pirates had Dave Parker, Omar Moreno, Bill Robinson, John Milner, and Lee Lacy, making Easler a sixth outfielder, something we don’t see in today’s era of four-man benches. (They also carried a seventh outfielder in Matt Alexander.)
Easler’s finest moment of that season – and of his career at that point – came on May 16 against the New York Mets at Three Rivers Stadium. He hadn’t seen much action in the first month and a half. He had yet to play a full season in the majors and had to be wondering about his status. In the bottom of the 13th inning with the score tied, 3-3, manager Chuck Tanner called on Easler to pinch hit. Mets pitcher Skip Lockwood was beginning his third inning of work.
A student of the game, Easler noticed that Lockwood was starting all the hitters off with fastballs. Those fastballs were getting fouled off into the stands. Easler told Pirates batting coach Bob Skinner, “I’m not going to foul it off. I’m going to kill it.” Easler got his first-pitch fastball and crushed a line-drive home run deep into the right-field stands. He was in the majors to stay. Playing regularly in 1980, he hit .338/.396/.583. He played in the All-Star Game in 1981.
HBD 🎂 11/29/1950 former #Pittsburgh #Pirates OF Mike Easler!
The Hitman played for the #Buccos, 1977-1983, batting .302/.354/.474 in 549 games.
Easler’s breakout season was 1980: .338 w/21hr! Here’s HR number 19 vs #Expos on 9/13/1980:#LetsGoBucspic.twitter.com/gJ11Q7Gifd
— 1986-92 Pittsburgh Pirates (@1992Pirates) November 29, 2023
The Hit Man
Easler is an experienced batting coach. Besides his stint with the Cardinals, he also served as a batting coach with the Brewers, Boston Red Sox (where his prize pupil was Mo Vaughn), Los Angeles Dodgers, and several minor league teams. He managed two unaffiliated teams as well. Today at age 73 with the familiar beard a thick gray, he still offers individualized hitting instruction, advertising on a Facebook page. (He says the page is managed by his daughters. He’s old school about social media, too.) Last year on said page, Easler expressed interest in the Yankees’ batting coach position, which went to Sean Casey.
Where Have the Fam-A-Lee Been?
That the Pirates rejected Easler in 2022 raises two issues. The first is the failure to even extend the courtesy of a return phone call to one of their former players. The second and more important issue is the Pirates’ reluctance over the years to have many of their 1979 champion players as coaches on the major league staff. From that 1979 team, Phil Garner went on to become a major league manager. Nine others have been major league coaches. Only Grant Jackson and Willie Stargell served as coaches for the Pirates. Incredibly, the Pirates let Stargell get away and follow Tanner to Atlanta to join his staff. “Pops” never looked right in a Braves uniform.
Perhaps the Pirates wanted to remove the stain of the cocaine trials that were associated with the Tanner era. However, that was 1985, and only Parker had any involvement in that trial among the 10 who became managers or coaches in the majors. It’s hard to believe that today’s players wouldn’t benefit from the experiences of a coach who has a World Series ring.
The Last Word
For now, the Pirates front office is 100 percent behind Haines, a hard worker by all accounts. However, if the offensive woes continue for much longer, one must wonder when Haines’ seat will start getting warm. Meanwhile, should the Pirates decide to search for a new batting coach, Easler is just a Facebook message away.
Photo Credit: © Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
