Pirates lighting up Clayton Kershaw evokes unfortunate MLB Draft memory

It's safe to say the Pittsburgh Pirates enjoyed the Los Angeles Dodgers' visit to town. The cellar dwellers in the NL Central took it to the reigning World Series champions, sweeping the Dodgers for the first time in a decade.

In particular, the Pirates really got to legendary southpaw Clayton Kershaw in the first game of the series, hanging four runs in five innings on the longtime Dodgers ace.

That destruction of Kershaw was fun in the moment, but it also brought up some harrowing memories for Pirates fans, who remember all too well how close Pittsburgh was to acquiring the lefty nearly 20 years ago.

Pirates can't escape painful history even after crushing Dodgers

That 2006 MLB Draft was a defining one for the sport, as the Tampa Bay Rays fatefully selected third baseman Evan Longoria, who would propel them to their maiden World Series appearance just a few years later.

Of course, the Pirates followed suit by taking Brad Lincoln, a highly-touted starting pitcher out of the University of Houston. He became a Top 100 prospect in the following years and even appeared in the Futures Game in 2009, though his career never really got off the ground in Pittsburgh.

In 51 appearances with the Pirates (22 starts), Lincoln tossed 159 2/3 innings while authoring a 4.62 ERA. He made it less than three years into his MLB tenure before the Pirates shipped him to the Toronto Blue Jays at the 2012 trade deadline for Travis Snider.

Now, in Lincoln's defense, he's not an all-time bust like some of the other Pirates' draft picks in recent memory. However, his career hardly holds a candle to that of Kershaw's, whom the Dodgers took just three picks later.

In his career, the future Hall of Famer has won three Cy Young awards, five ERA titles, an MVP award, two World Series rings, and has been named to 11 All-Star teams. He has a 2.53 ERA in 2,836 career innings, and he's one of 20 pitchers ever to join the 3,000 strikeout club.

Just in case you want to rub a little more salt in that wound, I'll point out that both Tim Lincecum (No. 10 overall) and Max Scherzer (No. 11) were also taken shortly after Lincoln. Like Kershaw, they are both multi-time Cy Young winners who also have World Series trophies to their name.

So, that's eight Cy Young awards, seven World Series rings, and 23 All-Star appearances that the Pirates passed on to take Lincoln fourth overall.

At least they beat Kershaw and the Dodgers 19 years later?