Bullpen coach Justin Meccage might have found his calling as a coach, but he was a player first, and one of his fondest memories of his time in the game was the summer of 2002.
After being drafted by the Yankees in the 32nd round of that year's amateur draft, he went directly to their short-season Class A club in Staten Island. That ended up being a pretty good team, anchored by future eight-time All-Star Robinson Cano and future Cy Young award runner-up Chien-Ming Wang. There were nine future major leaguers on that team, and the group would go on to win the New York-Penn League championship.
Derek Shelton was manager of that club. It had been 18 years since Meccage had worked with him, but he still sees the same guy from those Staten Island days.
"One of the things that stood out most about Shelty was his ability to connect with people and really dig down deep into who people are and establish relationships," Meccage said. "To this day, I think that's probably still his strength. That ability to connect with people and motivate people to be as good as they possibly can be."
From there, the two went their separate ways. Meccage pitched through the next season before becoming a coach. Shelton would go on to the Indians' organization and became their major league hitting coach in 2005.
Their paths crossed again this past offseason. The Pirates cleaned house following a last place finish, and after president Travis Williams and general manager Ben Cherington were put in place, the focus shifted to finding a field manager.
Shelton previously had interviewed with the club before Williams' and Cherington's hirings, and was a front-runner when the new regime restarted the search. Meccage's future with the club was unclear, but Shelton's name jumped off the page.
"I thought, 'this guy's a perfect fit,' " Meccage said.
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