The Pirates lost 94 games last year. Believe it or not, that was a slight improvement over the 95 they lost the past two years. This year, they actually went out and did something about it; they fired GM Dave Littlefield, most of his front office staff, and manager Jim Tracy. Then, faced with a choice to make about their next manager, they picked ex-third base coach John Russell, a man who lead a AAA team to a 55-88 record last year. Honestly, I don't even think Russell's a bad choice for the job, given the other finalists, but it's pretty clear that most other Pirate fans don't agree with me (check out this chat that Bob Smizik of the Post-Gazette had with fans after the announcement of the hiring today). Say what you will about the hire, but at least it's clear that the Pirates aren't doing things just for PR purposes anymore.
Actually, that kind of encourages me as a Pirate fan. The old front office of the team was known for making moves that looked good to casual fans, but made little or no baseball sense. Maybe Russell will be a good manager and maybe he won't, but at least Neal Huntington and company picked him because they thought he was the best guy for the job and not because they thought the fans would think that.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-05-2007 @ 10:06PM
petejayhawk said...
How much less could the Pirates care, Pat?
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11-05-2007 @ 11:36PM
GreatR said...
Pittsburg is a reverse dynasty. They hire a manager that can't get to .500 in the minors to ensure they stay the laughing stock of the National League for the next 5 years. Then they have a manager in A ball that they are grooming for the future, he is 23-105 career. He's their kind of guy.
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11-06-2007 @ 1:36AM
Tom said...
Nobody including me or the so called experts knows what kind of manager John Russell will be. I do know that even the best managers don't always win championships. What makes the most difference is having guys on the field who are good ball players. Personnel wise the Pirates haven't had many good players for the past 15 years. The Yankees always win because of having good pitching and hitting. Joe Torre may be a good manager but he isn't a miracle worker. He's always had the players. I'd like to see the Pirates build from within, then keep their players in Pittsburgh. That's easier said than done when you don't have smart ownership.
Tom
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11-06-2007 @ 10:11AM
Martin said...
Jim Tracy did a good job for the Dodgers (getting the most out of his players). I suspect he did a good job of getting the most out of the Pirates as well. However, you can have a great manager, but when you have one of the lowest payrolls in the league, you are generally going to end up near the bottom of the standings.
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11-06-2007 @ 11:45AM
Nick said...
The expression is couldn't care less. As in: I could not possibly care less about the Pirates.
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11-06-2007 @ 11:46AM
Pat Lackey said...
Actually, the Pirates probably COULD care at least a little less if you want to get hung up on technicalities, but, yeah, I always get that damn phrase wrong. Which probably means I should refrain from using it in titles.
But seriously, if you don't care about the Pirates, why take the time to comment?
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11-23-2007 @ 8:59AM
Mark Gennaro said...
But seriously, if you're too lazy to get it right, why should anyone bother to read?
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