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In 1979, Frank came to spring training and basically, out of nowhere, made the ballclub as a 21-year-old. At that time, it was very uncommon for a pitcher to make the Reds team without proving himself in Triple-A, and Frank had spent almost all of 1978 in Double-A. He started that season in the bullpen and struggled, went back to Indianapolis, and rejoined the Reds in late July as a starter. He had a tremendous stretch in August and September and by the time the playoffs began, he was the Reds Game 2 starter as a rookie.

As others recall, on opening day, 1980, Frank was a last minute emergency replacement for Tom Seaver and threw a three-hit shutout against the Braves. In his second start, he threw another complete game victory, allowing just one run. The Reds were 8-0 at that point. Pastore's fourth start of the season was his third complete game victory. How about coming out of spring training with three complete games in your first four starts?

He started that year by going 10-4 with seven complete games in 16 starts and was a candidate for the all-star game, but was not selected. He finished the season at 13-7, 3.27, completing nine of 27 starts. He was a frequent guest of Joe Nuxhall on Reds on Radio, either pre-game or the post-game Star of the Game show (they used to interview a player after every game) and was always great with the media, very well-spoken.

He went on to spend the next five years with the Reds and finished his career with the Twins in 1986.

The Reds in Pastore's early years were still a very strong club. They won the division in 1979 and of course, as many know, finished 1981 with the best record in baseball but failed to make the playoffs because of that season's unique split-season format caused by the strike. Pastore was part of a young group of starting pitchers that all showed tremendous potential as big leaguers prior to reaching age 25. Along with Pastore, Mario Soto, Mike LaCoss, Paul Moskau, Charlie Leibrandt, Bruce Berenyi, and Joe Price, you had a group of terrific young early 20's arms all pretty much at the same time, but unfortunately, only Soto really blossomed with the Reds (though some of those guys had big years after leaving the Reds).

Frank was certainly a big name in Reds history from roughly three decades ago. You did not hear much about him after his playing days, probably because of his dedication to his new career. Always came across as a very classy gentleman. Very sad news.

Rest in peace, Frank Pastore.