PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pitching coach Jeff Andrews and first base coach Lou Frazier were fired Monday by the Pittsburgh Pirates after only one season in their jobs.
Andrews, a former Pirates minor league pitching coach whose hiring was recommended by several of the club's pitchers, had season-long problems with one of the worst staffs in the franchise's history.The last-place Pirates didn't have a 10-game winner for the first time in 108 seasons and their 5.08 ERA was the fifth-highest in club history. The starting staff won only 33 games on a team that went 67-95.
The team's top two projected starters going into the season, Ian Snell (7-12, 5.42 ERA) and Tom Gorzelanny (6-9, 6.66 ERA), struggled all year. Gorzelanny, a 14-game winner, spent much of the second half of the season in the minors.
Frazier also was the team's outfield instructor.
Frazier and Andrews were the first two members of manager John Russell's staff to lose their jobs. Russell was hired less than a year ago.
