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Brendan McKay may be the greatest WPA athlete ever and nobody heard of him

Sean Miller Fan

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Oct 30, 2001
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The Blackhawk product who finished up his career at Louisville by winning the College Baseball version of the Heisman hitting 18 HR with 57 RBI and .341 batting average this season. However, he may be a better pitcher. He has a career ERA of 2.23 with 391 Ks and a 32-10 record.

You could make the case that McKay was the best hitter AND the best pitcher in college baseball and I'm not sure anyone could have made that case.

He was the #4 pick in the recent draft and scouts still don't know if he's going to be a pitcher or a field player.
 
You have out done yourself as far as stupidity is concerned. No one should be surprised......

He may end up being a stud. He may flame out.... in all likelihood. ....he will have a solid major league career with ups....downs.....

He hasn't even seen one pitch as a professional player let alone a major leaguer and you have annointend him as a better athlete than musial....groat......griffey......pryor......montana...

Yea he is the top college player. What exactly does that mean if and when he gets to the show????

I'll answer for you......nothing......

Please SMF

Your idiocy is not some thing to be proud of
 
You have out done yourself as far as stupidity is concerned. No one should be surprised......

He may end up being a stud. He may flame out.... in all likelihood. ....he will have a solid major league career with ups....downs.....

He hasn't even seen one pitch as a professional player let alone a major leaguer and you have annointend him as a better athlete than musial....groat......griffey......pryor......montana...

Yea he is the top college player. What exactly does that mean if and when he gets to the show????

I'll answer for you......nothing......

Please SMF

Your idiocy is not some thing to be proud of


So let me get this straight. You just ripped Cathedral Lawn Frisbee for suggesting that Paris Ford would not have helped us as a True Freshman. Yet you turn around and criticize SMF for suggesting that McKay might be a good pro? Even though you're doing that with Ford. I'm just having a tough time understanding your logic here because both are unknowns.
 
The Blackhawk product who finished up his career at Louisville by winning the College Baseball version of the Heisman hitting 18 HR with 57 RBI and .341 batting average this season. However, he may be a better pitcher. He has a career ERA of 2.23 with 391 Ks and a 32-10 record.

You could make the case that McKay was the best hitter AND the best pitcher in college baseball and I'm not sure anyone could have made that case.

He was the #4 pick in the recent draft and scouts still don't know if he's going to be a pitcher or a field player.
Talk about over rating someone.
 
So let me get this straight. You just ripped Cathedral Lawn Frisbee for suggesting that Paris Ford would not have helped us as a True Freshman. Yet you turn around and criticize SMF for suggesting that McKay might be a good pro? Even though you're doing that with Ford. I'm just having a tough time understanding your logic here because both are unknowns.

The evidence would suggest that ford will.play immediately and help the Pitt team.

There is no evidence whatsoever that this kid McKay will end up being the greatest athlete to ever come from W PA.

Happy to help.
 
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I am not saying this guy is the best athlete to come out of Western PA, but underrated for sure. Matt Clement played 9 years in the pros and made an All Star Game. He was a pretty good basketball player in HS, and currently coaches at Butler.
 
I am not saying this guy is the best athlete to come out of Western PA, but underrated for sure. Matt Clement played 9 years in the pros and made an All Star Game. He was a pretty good basketball player in HS, and currently coaches at Butler.


a far more realistic and reasonable approach
 
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You could make the case that McKay was the best hitter AND the best pitcher in college baseball and I'm not sure anyone could have made that case.


You could try to make that case, but it would be a really, really dumb one.

As far as your overall point, doesn't he have to at least play one game at the professional level before we declare him the greatest athlete ever from Western PA? I mean it's not like there isn't a certain color commentator on the Pitt basketball games who was a multiple time all star in major league baseball AND a multiple time all american who was one of the best players ever at one of the most historic programs in America as a college basketball player who also played professional basketball. McKay has a long, long way to go to become anywhere near the overall athlete that Dick Groat was.
 
You could try to make that case, but it would be a really, really dumb one.

As far as your overall point, doesn't he have to at least play one game at the professional level before we declare him the greatest athlete ever from Western PA? I mean it's not like there isn't a certain color commentator on the Pitt basketball games who was a multiple time all star in major league baseball AND a multiple time all american who was one of the best players ever at one of the most historic programs in America as a college basketball player who also played professional basketball. McKay has a long, long way to go to become anywhere near the overall athlete that Dick Groat was.
Groat was the best from Western PA, and probably Top 5 of all-time in this country.

Kevan Smith would be another addition to the underrated list from Western PA. Starting QB at Pitt and currently playing in the big leagues. The longer his career in MLB, the more his resume gets a boost.
 
There have been quite a few players big leaguers from the Pittsburgh area, with a surprising number coming from Beaver County. Jack Clark, Tito Francona, John Burkett, and George "Doc" Medich are all from Beaver County.

Former Pitt player, Ken Macha, is from Gateway High School. And if we go back further, one of the greatest players of all time, Honus Wagner, was from the Carnegie area.
 
The Blackhawk product who finished up his career at Louisville by winning the College Baseball version of the Heisman hitting 18 HR with 57 RBI and .341 batting average this season. However, he may be a better pitcher. He has a career ERA of 2.23 with 391 Ks and a 32-10 record.

You could make the case that McKay was the best hitter AND the best pitcher in college baseball and I'm not sure anyone could have made that case.

He was the #4 pick in the recent draft and scouts still don't know if he's going to be a pitcher or a field player.

I don't know about crowning him yet, but I will give you that I had no idea he was a WPIAL product. A slightly better example at the moment might be Ian Happ from the Cubs. Mid-first round draft pick in 2015 from Upper St. Clair.
 
The Blackhawk product who finished up his career at Louisville by winning the College Baseball version of the Heisman hitting 18 HR with 57 RBI and .341 batting average this season. However, he may be a better pitcher. He has a career ERA of 2.23 with 391 Ks and a 32-10 record.

You could make the case that McKay was the best hitter AND the best pitcher in college baseball and I'm not sure anyone could have made that case.

He was the #4 pick in the recent draft and scouts still don't know if he's going to be a pitcher or a field player.
I don't know about being the 'best' hitter and pitcher but I know there are college players that shine at both. Can't remember his name, who was the stud hitter from Kent State that the Pirates drafted in the 1st round a good number of years ago but had the bright idea to make him a pitcher because they thought he had more potential there. Never worked out and I think they even tried moving him back to a hitter later on.
 
You have out done yourself as far as stupidity is concerned. No one should be surprised......

He may end up being a stud. He may flame out.... in all likelihood. ....he will have a solid major league career with ups....downs.....

He hasn't even seen one pitch as a professional player let alone a major leaguer and you have annointend him as a better athlete than musial....groat......griffey......pryor......montana...

Yea he is the top college player. What exactly does that mean if and when he gets to the show????

I'll answer for you......nothing......

Please SMF

Your idiocy is not some thing to be proud of

Hence why I said "may" instead of "is." At this point in his career, he's up there with Marino, Dorsett, Arrington, and Groat.

How many Western PA products have been drafted higher than McKay in any sport?
 
Hence why I said "may" instead of "is." At this point in his career, he's up there with Marino, Dorsett, Arrington, and Groat.

How many Western PA products have been drafted higher than McKay in any sport?

And i will repeat, his collegiate career has nothing to do with whether or not he will be one of the greatest athletes from our area
 
Hence why I said "may" instead of "is." At this point in his career, he's up there with Marino, Dorsett, Arrington, and Groat.

How many Western PA products have been drafted higher than McKay in any sport?

And i will repeat, his collegiate career has nothing to do with whether or not he will be one of the greatest athletes from our area

Most supreme athletes have dominating college careers. Not all, but most. So yes, McKay "may" be a future HOF baseball player and "may" be the greatest WPA athlete ever. What he did at Louisville is incomprehensible.
 
I am not saying this guy is the best athlete to come out of Western PA, but underrated for sure. Matt Clement played 9 years in the pros and made an All Star Game. He was a pretty good basketball player in HS, and currently coaches at Butler.
Dwight Collins. Football (NFL) hoops (Started at PG for the PA team in the Dapper Dan, after 4 years at C in HS), Baseball....All-State, Maybe?? ... T&F: Won states in the 100 & 200.
Never realized his potential.
 
Hence why I said "may" instead of "is." At this point in his career, he's up there with Marino, Dorsett, Arrington, and Groat.

How many Western PA products have been drafted higher than McKay in any sport?
There have been quite a few high draft picks, names off the top of my head that I had to look up their draft placement.

Groat - 3rd in NBA draft
Arrington - 2nd
Collins - 5th
Covert - 6th
Dorsett - 2nd
Ditka - 5th
Griffey Jr - 1st
Namath - 1st/12th

Then you have people like Billy Conn, Jack Ham, Honus, Unitas, Marino, Montana, Musial, Palmer, and Jim Kelly.

Yes he "may" be the greatest athlete in Western Pa history, but you know as well as anyone that it's a ridiculous statement to make at this point in his career. If all top 5 MLB picks turned into all-time greats, the Pirates would be leading their division by now after having 6 straight a few years ago.

You titled your thread to sound like it was pulled straight from one of those clickbait ads at the bottom of a news article. Is your next post going to be titled "You'll never guess the name of the number two Western Pa Athlete!!"
 
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Yes he "may" be the greatest athlete in Western Pa history, but you know as well as anyone that it's a ridiculous statement to make at this point in his career.


That 12 year old kid down the street who dominates the local little league and is the best basketball player in town "may" be the greatest athlete in western PA history when all is said and done as well.
 
And the twins (??) Last year took a kid from plum in the first round.


A kid from Norwin who was probably the best hitter in the PAC12 playing for Arizona this year just got drafted in the second round as well.

This is actually a really good time for baseball in Western PA. And yet somehow none of those top players seem to end up at Pitt. Hell, none of them ever even consider Pitt.
 
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A kid from Norwin who was probably the best hitter in the PAC12 playing for Arizona this year just got drafted in the second round as well.

This is actually a really good time for baseball in Western PA. And yet somehow none of those top players seem to end up at Pitt. Hell, none of them ever even consider Pitt.
Scott Barnes.
 
There have been quite a few high draft picks, names off the top of my head that I had to look up their draft placement.

Groat - 3rd in NBA draft
Arrington - 2nd
Collins - 5th
Covert - 6th
Dorsett - 2nd
Ditka - 5th
Griffey Jr - 1st
Namath - 1st/12th

Then you have people like Billy Conn, Jack Ham, Honus, Unitas, Marino, Montana, Musial, Palmer, and Jim Kelly.

Yes he "may" be the greatest athlete in Western Pa history, but you know as well as anyone that it's a ridiculous statement to make at this point in his career. If all top 5 MLB picks turned into all-time greats, the Pirates would be leading their division by now after having 6 straight a few years ago.

You titled your thread to sound like it was pulled straight from one of those clickbait ads at the bottom of a news article. Is your next post going to be titled "You'll never guess the name of the number two Western Pa Athlete!!"

Johnny Unitas, 9th round, pick 102 when there were only 12 teams. That would be a fourth round today with 32 teams.
 
There have been quite a few players big leaguers from the Pittsburgh area, with a surprising number coming from Beaver County. Jack Clark, Tito Francona, John Burkett, and George "Doc" Medich are all from Beaver County.

Former Pitt player, Ken Macha, is from Gateway High School. And if we go back further, one of the greatest players of all time, Honus Wagner, was from the Carnegie area.

Don't forget about the Mick.
 
Do you really mean the best "THAT nobody every heard of??

Changes the meaning dramatically from just saying he is the best AND nobody has heard of him. That would just be absurd at this point
 
The same thing could be said for wrestling. Might we detect a pattern here?


One difference is that western PA has pretty much always been a hotbed of high school wrestling. High school baseball in western PA is normally pretty bad. But the last four or five years have seen some really good high school baseball players come out of this area.

I believe there were three western PA high school players drafted this year in the later rounds. All of them have sign LOIs with colleges. None of them are going to Pitt. The PG had their all area baseball team in the paper today. They don't have colleges for all of them, but among the ones who have either signed with colleges or are juniors who have verbaled to someone already there are two guys going to Virginia Tech, one to Wake Forest, one to North Carolina and one to Oklahoma State. None are Pitt commits. Contrast that with the all area softball team, where they have schools listed for seven of the players and three of them are Pitt commits.
 
Dwight Collins. Football (NFL) hoops (Started at PG for the PA team in the Dapper Dan, after 4 years at C in HS), Baseball....All-State, Maybe?? ... T&F: Won states in the 100 & 200.
Never realized his potential.

There's a great quote by Tony Dungy when he was working for the Steelers and they had Dan Marino come in for an informal workout. He said Dwight Collins and Julius Dawkins came over w/ him to run routes. "Marino threw the ball on the money and these guys dropped every ball. I remember thinking to myself why Marino had a bad year (1982). These guys can't catch".

Once again... the truth of the 1982 season comes out. Jackie Sherrill never recruited good enough receivers to go along w/ the greatest college QB of the time.
 
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There's a great quote by Tony Dungy when he was working for the Steelers and they had Dan Marino come in for an informal workout. He said Dwight Collins and Julius Dawkins came over w/ him to run routes. "Marino threw the ball on the money and these guys dropped every ball. I remember thinking to myself why Marino had a bad year (1982). These guys can't catch".

Once again... the truth of the 1982 season comes out. Jackie Sherrill never recruited good enough receivers to go along w/ the greatest college QB of the time.
Yep, this was discussed at that time. I'm not defending the receivers, but Danny had that amazing bazooka for an arm, and he didn't have the touch that came later. His passes were usually various degrees of heat. Fortunately, he eventually had the "Marks Brothers" - Duper and Clayton - when he got to the Dolphins, and they caught everything.
 
One difference is that western PA has pretty much always been a hotbed of high school wrestling. High school baseball in western PA is normally pretty bad. But the last four or five years have seen some really good high school baseball players come out of this area.

I believe there were three western PA high school players drafted this year in the later rounds. All of them have sign LOIs with colleges. None of them are going to Pitt. The PG had their all area baseball team in the paper today. They don't have colleges for all of them, but among the ones who have either signed with colleges or are juniors who have verbaled to someone already there are two guys going to Virginia Tech, one to Wake Forest, one to North Carolina and one to Oklahoma State. None are Pitt commits. Contrast that with the all area softball team, where they have schools listed for seven of the players and three of them are Pitt commits.

I laughed when I saw this. When Bryce Harper was drafted a few years ago someone on here denigrated him coming from the College of Southern Nevada and stated that a JC in Las Vegas was probably a step below the quality of play in the WPIAL.

Maybe the most uninformed statement ever made on these boards.
 
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There have been quite a few players big leaguers from the Pittsburgh area, with a surprising number coming from Beaver County. Jack Clark, Tito Francona, John Burkett, and George "Doc" Medich are all from Beaver County.

Former Pitt player, Ken Macha, is from Gateway High School. And if we go back further, one of the greatest players of all time, Honus Wagner, was from the Carnegie area.


FWIW.....Dale Murphy.....former MVP with the Braves was born in Bethel Park and I believe his father was a Pitt graduate

Also....Lance Parrish.....former catcher with the Detroit Tigers grew up in Clairton. For you old timers.....Parrish at one time was a bodyguard for 70's porn star Seka......
 
FWIW.....Dale Murphy.....former MVP with the Braves was born in Bethel Park and I believe his father was a Pitt graduate

Also....Lance Parrish.....former catcher with the Detroit Tigers grew up in Clairton. For you old timers.....Parrish at one time was a bodyguard for 70's porn star Seka......
Yoi! And Double-Yoi!! I wonder if being Seka's bodyguard included any......fringe benefits? :eek:
 
There's a great quote by Tony Dungy when he was working for the Steelers and they had Dan Marino come in for an informal workout. He said Dwight Collins and Julius Dawkins came over w/ him to run routes. "Marino threw the ball on the money and these guys dropped every ball. I remember thinking to myself why Marino had a bad year (1982). These guys can't catch".

Once again... the truth of the 1982 season comes out. Jackie Sherrill never recruited good enough receivers to go along w/ the greatest college QB of the time.
Actually, those 2 WERE great receivers....proven by the NFL regard. The issue in 82 wasn't that they dropped balls, but because they simply wouldn't run crossing routes. Danny was frustrated all the time. Sherrill wouldn't put up with that....Foge did.
 
I don't know about crowning him yet, but I will give you that I had no idea he was a WPIAL product. A slightly better example at the moment might be Ian Happ from the Cubs. Mid-first round draft pick in 2015 from Upper St. Clair.
Mt. Lebanon
 
A kid from Norwin who was probably the best hitter in the PAC12 playing for Arizona this year just got drafted in the second round as well.

This is actually a really good time for baseball in Western PA. And yet somehow none of those top players seem to end up at Pitt. Hell, none of them ever even consider Pitt.
:(
 
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