The name Sid Bream now brings shudders to long-time Pirate fans. There was a time, though, when he was beloved in Pittsburgh, even after he had signed with the Braves.
Bream came over to Pirates in the 1985 trade that sent Bill Madlock to the Dodgers. He immediately became the Bucs' starting first baseman, and remained so through 1990, although injuries limited the left-handed hitter to 19 games in 1989.
After the 1990 season, Bream became a free agent. In December he signed a three-year, $5.6 million deal with Atlanta, but said he'd have taken Pittsburgh's $4.5 million offer if the Pirates had included a no-trade clause.
"I was going to take a million dollars less money to sign with the Pirates," Bream said, "I didn't want to look like a fool by being traded to Atlanta a week later."
Pirate president Carl Barger said, "We can't get into that. We can't invest millions of dollars in players and be restricted like that."
Bream also said he'd have signed with Pittsburgh without the no-trade if the Pirates had matched the Braves' offer.
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