The Anti-Nutting

New DL Same as the New DL

2008-07-25T20:42:00.001-04:00

Welcome to ARAM II.

Pirates deal Nady and Marte for Bobby Hill, Jody Gerut, Ryan Vogelsong, and Brian Meadows.

2007-10-05T15:47:00.000-04:00

Pirates fire manager Tracy, 3 in front office

Friday, October 05, 2007

By Dejan Kovacevic and Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pirates today fired manager Jim Tracy after two losing seasons, as well as director of baseball operations Jon Mercurio, director of player development Brian Graham and scouting director Ed Creech.

Pirates fire manager Tracy, 3 in front office

Friday, October 05, 2007

By Dejan Kovacevic and Paul Meyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tracy, 51, went 135-189, including 68-94 in the season that ended Sunday, since former general manager Dave Littlefield hired him Oct. 11, 2005. Littlefield was fired earlier in the month, and the decision regarding the manager was left up to his replacement, Neal Huntington. Team president Frank Coonelly also was heavily involved in the process.

Tracy was informed of the decision in a meeting at PNC Park this morning.

Tracy had a year left on his three-year contract at a salary of $1 million. The fate of the rest of his staff --- pitching coach Jim Colborn, hitting coach Jeff Manto, first base coach John Shelby, third base coach Jeff Cox, bench coach Jim Lett and bullpen coach Bobby Cuellar --- remains unknown, even though all have contracts that expire at the end of this month.

Also, assistant general manager Doug Strange was demoted to special assistant under Huntington.

"Since my appointment as general manager, I have worked diligently to gather information about the inner workings of the organization," Huntington said. "After a systematic evaluation of that information, I have come to the difficult conclusion that, to transform the culture and chart the course for future success, these changes needed to be made."

"I fully support Neal's decisions and share in his opinion that these changes were necessary to provide a new voice and a new direction for the baseball operations department," Coonelly said. "We are now fully engaged in putting together a new leadership team that will implement our vision for the club's future. I am confident that we will attract outstanding baseball professionals to these open positions who will institute the systems, principles and philosophies necessary for us to acquire, develop, retain and teach our young players. Although the challenges that we face to restore the pride of the Pirates are real, I firmly believe that we are well on our way to changing the culture of the organization."

The firing of Graham, 47, came as perhaps the most significant surprise, a month after he was named interim general manager upon Dave Littlefield's firing. At the time, owner Bob Nutting called Graham "a tremendous asset." He oversaw the minor-league system for six years.

Mercurio, 42, just completed his 20th season with the Pirates, his 12th in baseball operations.

Creech, 55, joined the Pirates as scouting director in November 2001 and oversaw six drafts that most in the industry viewed as poor.

Tracy's tenure included the 14th and 15th consecutive losing seasons for the Pirates, matching the second-longest droughts in professional sports history. The longest is 16, set by the 1933-48 Philadelphia Phillies.

Before coming to Pittsburgh, Tracy was the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers for five years, with a 427-383 record and one first-place finish in 2004.

The next manager will be the Pirates' 38th overall and the fifth in the 11 years since Jim Leyland left in 1996.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

First published on October 5, 2007 at 12:44 pm

Grade Neal Huntington

2007-09-27T13:31:00.000-04:00

This is going to be an ongoing process which I will link to the right for future references.

Basically what is going to be done is Neal Huntington's moves and decisions are going to be graded on a point scale. People leaving recommendations in the comments section for grading will be accepted and put towards Huntington's Point Grade for that specific move/decision.

This Point system is not etched in stone. If there are any recommendations, feel free to leave a comment...

10 points Maximum for a Trade. A great Trade = 10 points. A Littlefield-esque Trade = 1
10 points Maximum for Free Agent Signings.
10 points Maximum for 1st Round Draft Pick.
10 points Maximum for overall Draft thought. If you think his overall draft was a success he gets a 10 if you think it sucked he gets 1 and so on...
10 points Maximum for a Hire or Fire. Based on whether that Hire or Fire was a good decision, 10 Being good, 1 being bad.
10 points Maximum for making the Pirates a true player in South America (includes the Dominican)
10 Points Maximum for making the Pirates a true player in Japan
50 Bonus points for the Pirates reaching .500 or finishing with a record above .500
50 additional Bonus points if the Pirates win the division.
40 Bonus points if the Pirates make the playoffs via Wildcard.
100 Bonus points for each Pirates Playoff Series win.
250 Bonus points if the Pirates make it the World Series.
500 Bonus points if the Pirates win the World Series.

The Plan

2007-09-26T16:18:00.000-04:00

We're going to talk about THE PLAN. The Plan hasn't been unleashed in it's fullest but we can discuss what we know from things that Bob Nutting, Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington have said.All of the recent actions by Bob Nutting leaves me believing that he truly had no clue about how this Organization was run. Bob Nutting was mainly the guy that approved a specific budget just as his Father did before Bob took over this process. The Pirates had another guy dealing with the Organization in Kevin McClatchy dealing with off the Baseball and Franchise things. At some point Bob Nutting decided to become more involved. At what point isn't clear. He could've been attending all of the All-Star Festivities in Pittsburgh in 2006 and got to talking to many people that told him that his Organization was a complete joke. This sounds probably because it took him less than 5 months to take the Chairman position of this team (January 2007).

Since Bob Nutting has come into the Public spotlight and has taken on more of a role for this Organization everything he has promised has come true. He forced former Chairman and CEO, Kevin McClatchy out. He fired GM, Dave Littlefield. His replacement for Kevin McClatchy was an out of left field hire by highly regarded and respected Frank coonelly who appears to know everybody in the MLB from Organization staff members to all of the upper management guys in MLB itself. Frank Coonelly hired an out of left field guy in Neal Huntington who was a Number 4 guy with the Cleveland Indians organization. Afterwards it has become very apparent that Frank wants to model the Pittsburgh Pirates after the Cleveland Indians. If this would have been business as usual as some speak about Bob Nutting, we'd have some old retreads in these positions like Ed Wade as the Pirates GM, however Bob Nutting went outside of conventional thinking and so did Frank Coonelly. Both Coonelly and Huntington are younger guys, and young minds. They are what people refer to as the "New Breed".

The first order of business for these men is to turn around the Organization in just about every aspect. South America needs more attention, Dominican Republic needs a real facility, The Pirates need more International Scouts and even more U.S. Scouts, the minor leagues need addressed when it comes to player development and talent evaluating, the Organization as a whole needs improvements in talent evaluating, scouting and player development. All of these things, Bob Nutting, Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington have stressed.

Now, diehard Pirates fans can easily write this off as just useless babble. Bob Nutting and his new minions are just spewing spins to buy more time to reap more profits. The problem with that thinking is that all of these guys are saying the wrong things if that is the case. Let's face it, there aren't many die hard Pirates Fans left. The majority that go to PNC Park go as Family Outings and/or for Free hand outs, lousy post game concerts and Fireworks. They don't care about what the Pirates do in South America, the Minor Leagues or in Japan. Even die hards appear to not care that much as we have seen by the Protests. Nutting, Coonelly and Huntington could have just said that they are going to bring more talent to the team and WE WILL win, but they have all outlined the same direction for bringing success to this team. Things that most people don't care about. Things that die hards know about. It is my belief that the Pirates are on the correct path.

The one thing that both casual fans and die hard fans know about is that the Pittsburgh Pirates do not spend money. They do not spend the amount of money that teams in similar markets spend on player payrolls. Sports writers from bob "Bozo The clown" Smizik to talk show hosts like Mark Madden say one thing - The Pirates are cheap and won't win until they spend a lot more money. Frank Coonelly has said that the Pirates next season can be competitive and win with a payroll of $45-50 million. If you are trying to win over a fan base and media, saying things like that aren't going to help out your cause. Neal Huntington took it a step further saying that he's been assured that resources will be made available in the future as far as payroll is concerned.

What we have is basically Frank Coonelly saying that the team as it is constructed now, is not good enough to plug in a few Free Agents and become division winners and World Series contenders. If you consider what players make in Free agency and that the Pirates are near the $50 million mark in payroll salary now, this appears to make sense. The Pirates would first have to shed salary. Doing this would take away some of their most productive players like Jason Bay and Jack Wilson. Contracts like Matt Morris' is going to be more difficult to get rid of because he stinks and nobody wants him. Simply put, the Pirates are more than a coulple holes away from being World Series champs and upping payroll by $20 million into the realm of the Milwaukee Brewers isn't going to guarantee the Pirates much. There's practically little depth in the minor leagues as it stands, the starting rotation is putrid after the 3 inconsistent starters of Gorzelanny, Snell and Maholm. The bullpen reeks. The Pirates have nocatchers in the majors or minors, no Power hitting prospects, a bunch of injury plagued players, a Third Baseman with little power for that position... I could go on, but basically this team needs more than what $20 million in Free agency will get them and to spend that right now would almsot be foolish because the Pirates aren't going to get much further..

However, if the Piraes can trim some fat on the roster, replace guys like Ronny Paulino with better talent (not all0-Star talent) for the cheap, get rid of some contracts and fill holes with some risky gambles in Free Agency and in South America, the Pirates could be a more improved team next season. Add a new Manager and Coaching staff that doesn't operate like it's 1978 half of the time and the other half like they're in a coma and the Pirates could come within reach of .500. It will take shrewd moves, risky moves, unpopular moves like Neal huntington pointed out in his interviews and good Talent Evaluations, but it can be done. Us Pittsburgh Pirates fans have just never seen it be done, so we don't believe it and likely won't until we do.

On to the part about Neal Huntington stressing that the money will be there and he was assured that it would be there in the future to retain players. This makes sense. It appears that bob Nutting is willing to pump more money into payroll, just that this team and Organization as it currently sits needs more than money to be fixed and to dump an additional $20 million now would end up in spending more money on another loser. The Plan from how I see it is to build from the ground up. To be a major player in South America/Dominican Republican and Japan. Neal Huntington talked about Free Agency and Rule 5's. You also have the Aamteur Draft. The Pirates plan on being major players in all of these areas, to build a team for the future and continue pushing out prospects in the system. Sounds reasonable. Sounds like what other successful teams do. Once the Pirates put together some decent teams and some good talent, the money will be there to keep some of these players and allow Neal Huntington to hit free Agency as well to fill a couple of holes.

As with anything, seeing is believing when it comes to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Right now, the correct things are being said. A lot of it is being met with skeptisism and rightfully so. you have to believe that bob Nutting, Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington know this and expect this. Transforming this organization is about action instead of talk. Making die hard fans and the media believers will be a result of actions rather than talk. so far the talk as been good.

Neal Huntington Named As New Pirates GM

2007-09-26T15:50:00.000-04:00

This isn't exactly news anymore but yesterday - Tuesday September 25, 2007 the Pitsburgh Pirates announced the hiring of Neal Huntington to replace Dave Littlegield as the Pittsburgh Pirates GM.

Neal Huntington has spent much of his time with the Cleveland Indians...Huntington started off his career in 1995 as Assistant Director of Player Development for the Montreal Expos Minor Leagues. Here is an outline of what Neal Huntington's job duties have been throughout his career -

1995 - Assistant Director Player Development | Montreal Expos Minor Leagues
1996-1997 - Assistant Director Player Development And Scouting | Montreal Expos Minor Leagues
1998 - Assistant Director, Minor League Operations | Cleveland Indians
1999-2001 - Director, Player Development | Cleveland Indians
2002-2004 - Assistant GM | Cleveland Indians
2005-2007 - Special Assistant to GM | Cleveland Indians

As you can see, Neal Huntington has done basically a little bit of everything. He's developed minor leagues, players, he's been a talent evaluator, scout, he was an Assistant GM for 3 years. We won't pass by the fact that his most recent work has come with the Cleveland Indians, a team with low payroll that has built the most impressive stock of young players. The talent evaluations, scouting and player development in Cleveland has been nothing short of excellent. All of those things in which Neal Huntington has had a big hand in.

Most people, including Pittsburgh Pirates beat writers are cautious about this hire due to the fact that Neal Huntington was seemingly demoted from his position of Assistant GM in Cleveland to Special Assistant to GM. After being asked about this, Neal Huntington has explained that he approached Cleveland Indians GM - Mark Shapiro about moving back into a position of Scouting, Talent Evaluation and player development. His job has been more of scouting others team and the Indians for games and evaluating players on both sides. It is curious in either way, why he chose to take a lesser position.

One thing about the Cleveland Indians is that they have a logjam of "Assistants" to the GM. This is something you don't see often. There appears to have been 3 people under Mark Shapiro with the one closest to Mark Shapiro being Chris Antonetti who is the Vice President of Baseball Operations and then John Mirabelli being the Assistant GM. It appears that Neal Huntington was pushed out of his role as Assistant GM but nobody knows why. Neal Huntington in recent interviews claims that he was not demoted and Mark Shapiro has said that Neal Huntington was one of the most important voices in the Club House. It is also being said in small circles that Mark Shapiro recommended Neal Huntington as being easily ready for a GM position as new Pirates CEO - Frank Coonelly was conducting his interviews.

It is interesting as to why Neal Huntington ended up with a lower position in Cleveland. I personally do not believe that it matters much. He's already been an Assistant GM. He has done a little bit of everything at different tiers in an organization. Reading on the Pittsburgh Pirates Website about this hire I came across the following :

"I wish I had an answer for you," Huntington responded. "I will do it respectfully and graciously. I've been on the other side of the equation, with a new executive coming in and wondering what my future held. But I want to make sure the process is thorough, and I want to make sure the process is fair."

Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but it appears as if there is an underlying tone of animosity by Neal Huntington. The above quote was taken from Neal Huntington's response to a time table in which he'll be making decisions on who gets fired. It sounds like when Mark Shapiro brought in another executive, Neal Huntington was ousted in what seems like a less than unprofessional way and he wants to make sure that he he conducts business more professionally.

It will be fun and interesting to see what this new regime of Coonelly and Huntington have in store. they are saying all of the right things and unlike Kevin McClatchy and Dave Littlefield, they appear to have a real plan in place. The execution of this plan is what is going to mater the most.

Can We Get Morgan Out Of The Lineup??

2007-09-20T15:35:00.000-04:00

It is a very well documented fact that Jim Tracy is a moron. With his job on the line (thankfully) he isn't doing anything to change this face. Case in point is playing Nyjer Morgan day after day while players like Nate McLouth and Stephen Pearce sitSo what is the beef with Nyjer Morgan? The guy can't hit. Plain and simple. He's a poor hitter. He is getting a chance to play because he made a couple of nice catches and can run fast. Sounds like other Center Field failures the Pirates have had in the past.

What is inexcusable is how Nate McLouth is being completely overlooked in CF. Not only has Nate McLouth done a good job defensively, he also hits the ball, gets on bass, draws walks and steals bases when he gets his chance to start. McLouth was a big reason for the August splurge by the Pirates that had some idiots believing that this team could compete for a division championship. Unless the Pirates feel that they have gotten enough of a look from Nate McLouth and know what he is capable, the decision to give Morgan all of this playing time is beyond ridiculous.

Today I looked at the starting lineup and saw McLouth, Morgan and Bay starting in the outfield. Here's where we start questioning Jim Tracy's even more. Where the hell is Steve Pearce? The Pirates finally get a kid that can hit .300, and hit for power and they refuse to playhim so guys like Nyjer Morgan can continue producing sub .250 averages and laughable OPS's of 69

Steve Pearce

AB 47 H 14 RBI 5 BB 4 K 7 BA .298 OBP .353 SLG .426 OPS 101

Nyjer Morgan

AB 66 H 16 RBI 3 BB 6 K 13 BA .242 OBP .315 SLG .333 OPS 69

Also look at their fielding and Pearce has been flawless. Granted, Morgan has more range, but Pearce has not played bad defensively at all.

Perhaps they got enough of a look at Pearce to see that he's the better player than Morgan, but why would you start Nate McLouth over Steven Pearce unless you wanted to get Nyjer Morgan more AB's despite the fact that Morgan hits as well as the other Center Fielders the Pirates have pushed out there since Andy Van Slyke. This looks more like Jim Tracy wanting to get Nate McLouth some AB's since he drove in the 2/3 of the Pirates runs the other night but can't let go of Nyjer Morgan because he makes a ncie catch and can run fast.

Plain and simple. Steven Pearce is getting screwed. We won't even talk about Josh Phelps getting completely screwed since he hasn't started in over a week, but Jim Tracy will hurry up and run a bum like Maldanaldo out there. Hey, that Maldanaldo is a great receiver even my Grandmother could hit better than him. All Phelps has done since he's been here is hit .362 in 69 AB's with 5 HR's along with an OPS of 196.

Clear examples of why it won';t be soon enough that Jim Tracy and his entire coaching staff get shipped out here. They are a joke when it comes to in game management. they are a joke when it comes to putting the best talent on the field to win games. They are a joke when it comes to working with the players to make them better. They are a joke in the dug out as Jim Colborn has displayed wonderfully with his poor personality.

There's no excuse for Nyjer Morgan getting all of these starts while players that have shown that they can hit and playing good defensively like Steven Pearce, Nate McLouth and Josh Phelps continue to get either no playing time or less AB's than Morgan.

The New GM Search

2007-09-19T17:15:00.000-04:00

It's an exciting time to be a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. Kevin McClatchy and Dave Littlefield are gone. McClatchy has been replaced by CEO Frank Coonelly who appears to be a pretty solid hire by Bob Nutting. The GM search is on and the one name that is appearing is Tony LaCava. I can't speak for anyone else involved with this Blog but Kipper endorses the hiring of Tony LaCavaSo what makes tony LaCava so appealing? The guy can flat out evaluate talent. If there is one major thing the Pirates organization has been poor in since 1992 it has been talent evaluation. Consider that the Pirates have finished under .500 for 15 years and have drafted high. The Pirates should have churned out more prospects than they have. ven bad teams would have churned out more prospects than the Pirates. The Pirates have been worse than bad in this area. Having someone like LaCava who guys like John Schuerholz - Atlanta Braves GM and Mark Shapiro - Cleveland Indians GM swear by is a good thing. Tony LaCava worked under both of those guys.

There's always that feeling of hesitation because Dave Littlefield was thought of highly when he came from the Florida Marlins organization. It became apparent that Dave Dombrowski was the architect in Florida and Dave Littlefield was likely the guy filling up Dombrowski's cups of coffee. Tony LaCava has gone to a few different organizations and has gotten high marks wherever he has gone. That right there seperates him from Dave Littlefield. Tony LaCava has proven that he hasn't been some GM's coffee vendor since he has been successful whever he has gone.

I have read various thoughts on Message Boards in regards to Tony LaCava. The majority seem to be inf avor of LaCava. A few look at the Toronto Bluejays and are hesitant. Toronto plays in a rough division. If you put Toronto in another division they are likely finishing with a better record. Because the Blue Jays are in a division with the Leagues highest spenders in the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, they get their fair share of loses. Toronto has a nice payroll budget but J.P. Ricciardi is the guy with the ultimate say there and the ultimate plan. Tony LaCava works under him.

I personally endorse Tony LaCava and hope that Bob Nutting and Frank Coonelly choose this guy. It's reported that LaCava wants this job. He's turned down the GM position with the Boston Red Sox, he is a Pittsburgh guy, he knows the history of this franchise and would be vital in helping Frank Coonelly restore the pride back into this organization like Frank Coonelly spoke of in his interviews.

There is also word coming out of Jack Zduriencik who is the Special assistant to the GM in Milwaukee and is their Scouting Director. Zduriencik is another Pittsburgh guy and nobody can say that Milwaukee hasn't been doing things correctly for the past few years. Zduriencik was also the Pittsburgh Pirates Scouting Director from 1991-1993. The Pirates didn't exactly draft well in those years as Jason Kendall and Tony Womack are the only notables from those years. The Pirates also didn't acquire any impact players between 1991 and 1992 in trades and free agency so there are a lot of question marks surrounding Jack Zduriencik.

Will Bob Nutting Spend More Money?

2007-09-08T11:42:00.000-04:00

There appears to be a lot of optimism out there amongst Pirates Fans. Who can blame them, with Dave Littlefield being fired, Kevin McClatchy gone, Jim Tracy and staff of bumbling fools likely on the way out things appear to be looking brighter. Factor in Bary Bonds who will likely retire after this season and the curse of Barry Bonds could be ending as well. With this optimism comes this feeling and belief that Bob Nutting is willing to spend more money

I have listened to stremaed video's of Bob Nuttings press release. I've read every article in the Pittsburgh Pst-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Beaver County Times searching for some sort of implication that Bob Nutting is willing to spend more money next season. I'm not talking about a $5 million increase, we're talking about a payroll budget that is competitive to teams in similar markets as the Pittsburgh Pirates. I haven't found anything to suggest such a thing.

Mike Prisuta from the Pittsburgh Tribune had an article yesterday that talked about Bob Nutting needing to spend more. The following are a couple of quotes from Bob Nutting in regards to payroll;

"I really don't think (payroll) is the only issue," Nutting said. "I think that how effectively we deploy those assets is critically important to our success on the field."

"We can all go back over the past couple of years and look at how dollars have been allocated and re-think, in hindsight," Nutting said. "It's easy to second guess. But I think that effectively deployed we can be much more successful than we are today."

Bob Nutting appears to be more concerned that the budget he has approved for the past few seasons (which has been the same) is spent more wisely and more productively. Bob Nutting wants to see what occurs when his small payroll budget his spent more intelligently. Perhaps this is a wait and see philosophy. Let's see what happens first and then determine how much more is needed to truly compete.

One has to figure that considering how ugly the Pirates organization is in almsot every aspect from the Minor Leagues to South America to national and world wide scouting that a rebuilding plan is goiing to be in place. The Pirates have no blue chip prospects in the minor leagues. Nobody in South America ready to contribute in the minor leagues. The Pirates scouting department has stockpiled the system with poor prospects. Depending on the direction the Pirates choose to go next season, we might not see a payroll increase even if the money is there.

If you take a look at teams like Tampa Bay and Washington they're doing what the Pirates will probably end up doing. Carrying a low payroll budget while they try to build up the minor league system, reshape the organization and prepare for the future. How much money they decide to spend on the Major League roster is going to depend on how far away they believe the Pirates are from contending and also Free Agency. What players are available and if they are a good bargain for what they want and if they can be helpful to the team.

I'm extremely pessimistic about any sort of Payroll increase next season. I believe that Bob Nutting needs to increase payroll to match what other teams in Pittsburgh's market is spending and he might very well be planning to do that. We just might not see it right away considering the state of chaos that this entire organization is in, and the things that are going to be needed to get the Ship sailing again.

I am currently interested more in seeing who is brought in to be the new CEO. Who is brought in to be the new GM. Who and what these people bring into the organization. How these people are going to rebuild this organization. The timetable. Expectations now and in the future. These things will likely shed more light on payroll.

The Barry Bonds Curse

2007-09-07T21:37:00.001-04:00

We all have heard about the Curse of Barry Bonds. Since Barry left the Pirates, the Pirates haven't had a winning season. Well, for some reason with the tides appearing or feeling like they are beginning to change for the Pirates, which is likely coinciding with the Bonds retiring after this season, could the curse of Barry Bonds be starting to peel off this organization?

I suppose that we will find out when Bonds does indeed retire and see what the Pirates do, but all of the irony is starting to fall in place. Yours truly believes in the Curse of Barry Bonds for no other reason than it's something fun to think about. When Barry Bonds retires the Pirates will begin their swing back towards being a respectable franchise again.

Great Day For Pirates Fans!

2007-09-07T15:58:00.000-04:00

Today is a Great Day For Pirates Fans. The best day perhaps since Cam Bonifay was fired. Can you smell the irony? Hopefully the results this time around are better than the last time....After 6 years, Dave Littlefield has finally been fired. Many people could say that Littlefield should've been fired years ago and I would agree with them. What is important is that the worst GM in Baseball and perhaps all of the Major League sports world is now gone from the Pirates. What happens next should be interesting and fun. I hesitate on saying that the next hire couldn't be any worse than Dave Littlefield, but I said those words when Cam Bonifay was fired and we all saw the results.

Ironically Bob Nutting fired Dave Littlefield the morning after the Pirates got smacked around like a rag doll by the St.Louis Cardinals 16-4. A game in which we saw Bryan Bullington get a start and look like Zack Duke's brother. A game in which we saw JVB and Davidson, 2 minor league pitchers making appearances and getting smacked around badly. There's no doubt that this showing by what our are prospects most closest to the major leagues was the final nail in the coffin that Dave Littlefield made for himself years ago.

Bob Nutting believes in the small market system that you build from within. You don't build through Free Agency. Considering that the guy is cheap and this is a small market he is right. Nutting has also bought into the belief that you build around pitching. This likely killed Dave Littlefield as 3 AAA pitchers were brought up and got hit on, scored on and brutally abused.

Some people have questioned why Bob Nutting would approve of the Matt Morris deal when he knew he was going to fire Dave Littlefield. Bob Nutting said in an interview that he made his decision based on months worth of evaluating. This sounds fair. Bob Nutting likely is the guy that approves a budget and let's the guys hired to do the job of spending it, spend it. That is how businesses work. That is why you hire these types of people. Dave Littlefield likely had a $50 Million payroll to start off the season. At the start of the season it was at $38 Million. Littlefield believed all season long, along with his incompetent manager, Jim Tracy that the 2007 Pittsburgh Pirates were playoff contenders. They never gave up on this belief. It also helps explain why Matt Weiters was passed up on by Dave Littlefield. It had to do with money. It wasn't because Bob Nutting wouldn't let Dave Littlefield spend, it was because Dave Littlefield didn't want to spend what he was saving up for trades.

If you look at the Cesar Izturis trade. First it is a desperation move. You don't take on all of that salary if you're not desperate or retarded. Secondly, you don't trade for infield depth at that sort of price if you aren't seriously believing your team is contending for something. The Matt Morris trade is the same thing. Desperation and mental retardation. Dave Littlefield could've signed Jeff Suppan in the offseason for a similar amount of money and didn't. Dave Littlefield was simply pretending to e a GM with a playoff contending team and making moves that a playoff contending GM makes.

In the end, Bob Nutting gave Dave Littlefield a budget to work with and until Dave Littlefield was fired it was his job to spend that money wisely. Dave Littlefield didn't. Bob Nutting likely has seen the results of $15 million that Dave Littlefield spent on 2 players and Dave's days as a Pirates GM were definitely numbered at that point.

So what next? Nobody knows. The Pirates need a new CEO and a new GM. Considering that Bob Nutting has been interviewing CEO candidates, I would expect a new CEO to be hired first. I expect the new CEO and Bob Nutting to interview GM candidates and decide on that. I also would not be surprised if Jim Tracy and his staff is fired at the end of this season. If Bob Nutting doesn't do it, I am sure that a new CEO will or a new GM will. A new GM wants to bring in his own guys. Same thing goes for a new CEO. It appears as if Bob Nutting is clearing the paths for this to occur.

One thing that is a definite FACT is that this will be an interesting, excited and fun Off Season for a change in regards to baseball in Pittsburgh. Presently we're all still hoping against the worst. That hasn't changed, but I personally have more faith in Bob Nutting making a good hire than I did in Kevin McClatchy. McClatchy proved that he was incompetent when it came to hiring the right people. Bob Nutting hasn't had the chance to prove this. Bob Nutting is cheap. He's a profit first type of guy. Let's hope that he can hire the right people.

Pittsburgh Live Message Board Shut Down!!!!

2007-09-07T14:01:00.001-04:00

For All Of Us who post regularly on Pittsburgh Live the board has been shut down for the time being.

Dave Littlefield Fired

2007-09-07T13:28:00.000-04:00

Pirates fire GM Littlefield; interim replacement is Graham

Friday, September 07, 2007

By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

(First published at 11:01 a.m.; updated 11:42)

The Pirates this morning fired general manager Dave Littlefield near the end of his seventh losing season.

He will be replaced on an interim basis by Brian Graham, the team's director of player development.

Littlefield, 47, took the post July 31, 2001, and his teams went a combined 442-581 in his tenure, never approaching .500. That included 67-95 finishes in 2005 and 2006, and the current edition's 61-79 record.

His contract, which was extended on opening day last year, was to run through the 2008 season.

The firing was made by principal owner Bob Nutting, who already had been searching for a new CEO to replace outgoing Kevin McClatchy and now will add the general manager's post to that list.

"After eight months of listening and analyzing the situation, it has become clear that this decision was necessary to move our organization forward," Nutting said. "While there are many bright spots for us to build from, I am not satisfied with the overall performance and progress that has been made. I'm committed to building a successful organization, and this is an important step in that process."

Nutting previously had stated he would wait until after the season to decide the fates of Littlefield and manager Jim Tracy, whose contract also runs through 2008.

"I felt the time was right to announce my decision to ensure that the organization is in the best possible position to attract the very best general manager candidates," Nutting said. "In addition to allowing us more time to search for a replacement, it should allow more time for our new general manager to make the necessary evaluations and staffing decisions."

The firing of Littlefield will not affect the search for CEO, Nutting added. One person will be hired for each post.

"The search process for our new club president has clarified for me that the president and general manager positions are two distinct functions. I believe both individuals must have strong baseball backgrounds. The president will lead the overall day-to-day operations. It is clear, however, that most successful teams also have a strong general manager in place with a single-minded focus on leading the baseball operations."

Littlefield carried the additional title of senior vice president.

Nutting strongly suggested Graham will keep the post only on an interim basis.

"Brian brings years of industry experience and is a tremendous asset to our organization," Nutting said. "I'm confident he will be able to steer our baseball operations forward in the interim."

Graham, 47, has more than 26 years in professional baseball and six in his current post. He also was a major-league coach and, for nine seasons, a minor-league manager in the Cleveland Indians' system.

Littlefield accompanied the Pirates for their four-game series to St. Louis and, according to those close to him, had been behaving as if he were confident he would be back next year. The Pirates flew back to Pittsburgh last night after their 16-4 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, and Littlefield was notified of the decision at roughly 10 a.m.

More details in tomorrow's Post-Gazette.

Barry LAMAR Bonds

2007-08-08T01:16:00.000-04:00

I love the middle name "Lamar". Nothing says Sanford And Son junk collecting like the name "Lamar".

With that out of the way it is time for another Barry Bonds post and opinion. BGK left one hell of a post, but who the heck can't talk about Bonds in some sort of way?

I remember watching Bonds for the first time. I can remember him in the tight 1986 Pirates get up. I can remember him wearing the striped hat in 1986 and yellow batters helmet. I can remember Bary Bonds weighing a buck fifty with the little mustache. What I remember most was watching this guy for the first few times and just having this feeling that this guy was going to be great. It had nothing to do with knowing who is father was. At the time I didn't know that Willie Mays was his Grandfather it was the player on the field. The way he played. The way he hit. You could see it and feel it. In 1986 there wasn't a whole lot to see and feel good about. Much like now. We had poor pitching and poor hitters but there was Barry LAMAR Bonds coming up from the Pirates AAA team in - Hawaii.

Bonds became a great player with the Pirates. We won't discuss his weak ass arm in the playoffs as Sid Bream ran with one leg from 2nd to home to win that game but, Barry Bonds was a great player. Bonds is a Hall Of Fame Player and should be inducted into the H.O.F. not for the tainted Home Run Records but for what he accomplished before he admitted using drugs and Game of Shadows revealed. I also believe that Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson should be in the Hall Of Fame as well for their accomplishments on the field.

So where does this leafe Barry Bonds? A guy that was jealous seeing Sammy
Sosa and Mark McGwire likely using performance enhancing drugs breaking home run records. A guy that wasn't getting any younger having his best power numbers when his game should've clearly declined and was starting to until the 2000 season. A guy that admitted "unknowingly" taking steroids and whose personal trainer wasa busted for them. It leaves what could've been a great career, one of the best of this generation nothing but questions of lies, cheating and illegal use. It leaves Barry Bonds legacy not of one that had a great career who was a great Left Fielder and great hitter and perhaps the biggest asshole in all of sports... It leaves his legacy as a cheater amongst a majority of baseball and sports fans. Barry Bonds had to one up the other drug abusers. He had to get his taste of fame and get his name out there. He had to quickly turn around what was becoming a career in decline as he naturally got older. He had to use Steroids to get the Home Run Records he coveted. The Home Run records he desired. The Home Run records he felt that he was being left out of.

It is almost sad to think back to the 1986 season and remember Barry Bonds as a rookie. To look back and remember the feeling I had when I first watched him play. To remember all of those years Barry Bonds was a Pittsburgh Pirate and to know now that this guy's legacy will be forever tainted because of his greed, arrogance and ignorance. Barry Bonds the personality stepped into his playing career and forever put that career as a big question mark for life.

Bonds used steroids...errr, i mean... Bonds breaks record!

2007-08-08T00:41:00.000-04:00

Well, it happened. Barry Bonds has broken Hank Aaron's home run record. He hit #756 tonight at home against the Washington Nationals.

Here are some things to think about when considering whether or not you will cheer or jeer this moment.

For all you Bonds-huggers out there (people who feel he is unjustly being chastised as the only baseball player who used steroids, and who also believe that MLB is throwing him under the bus) consider this:

people need to understand one thing...The fact that this is Barry Bonds is of little or no importance. Yes, there are probably some Pirate fans who hate Barry for leaving Pittsburgh. Yes, there are probably some people who who hate Barry due to certain run-ins they or their children may have had with him because he is widely regarded as unapproachable.

But the fact is, we all KNOW how wide spread steroids is. You would have a very hard time convincing me that anyone in the general public truly believes that steroids are limited to Bary Bonds alone. The problem is that Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco and Roger Clemens are not about to break what is arguably the most cherished record in all of sports. If they were, they would be going thru the same thing Barry is going thru right now.

Barry Bonds supporters always cry that Barry is being unfairly portrayed as the only person who ever did steroids. He isn't, he just happens to be the only one who did steroids who is about to break one of the greatest records of all time. The thing about Bonds getting so much attention is because there has been about a 7 year leadup to this point. About 6 or 7 years ago people started thinking it was possible for him to break this record and we have been following it the WHOLE TIME. And the steroid controversy happened in the middle of his quest. Not to mention the undeniable evidence supporting all claims that he used steroids. Including, but not limited to...HIS ADMISSION OF USING STEROIDS!

Honestly, If Zach Duke comes back from rehab with an added 5mph to his fastball and he strikes out 21 in his first game back, then the next day he tells a grand Jury he used steroids, will it get the same publicity? No, because it didn't happen over the course of 6 years with a cloud of steroids over his head the whole time, but will it be just as wrong? Yes!

If you like Bonds and don't care that he used steroids to break the record, fine, thats your right. But don't try to convince anyone that he didnt do anything wrong, or that he is being unjustly accused...because it just ain't true.

Q&A With Dave Littlefield

2007-08-03T23:47:00.000-04:00

Pirates fans, now is your opportunity to ask general manager Dave Littlefield your questions.

The Pirates have launched the Dave Littlefield Online Q&A exclusively on pirates.com. Fans can submit questions, and Dave will answer a limited number, posting the responses here at pirates.com on a regular basis.

I like the Matt Morris trade. We got a veteran starter without the long-term contract risk. Why did you make the move now rather than in the offseason?
-- Joe M., Cranberry Twp, Pa.

Ummm. I had some money left over that I was saving for our run for the division and Matt Morris was there for the taking. We're still in it, you know?

Matt Morris eats a lot of innings and won 20-plus game afew years back. Did I mention that Matt Morris won 20-Plus games a few years back? He's a veteran presence that our pitchers really need since Jim Colbourn ain't worth a shit.... Umm, oops did I say that? I love Jim, he's a great guy.

Thanks for being the 3rd person besides the 2 Pirates announcers to like this trade, Joe. You aren't retarded or anything?

What kind of impact do you think Morris will have on young guys like Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny and Paul Maholm?
-- Buddy C., Bethel Park, Pa.

He should have a great impact. Due to the incompetence of Jim Colbourn to teach guys how to pitch... Uhhh, that kind of accidently slipped out huh? Matt Morris will help the young guys and mentor them. He's like having a real pitching coach in the dugout.... Whoops.

Was there a lot of interest in our relievers [prior to the trade deadline], and why did you hold off on making any of those moves?
-- Ron B., Tampa, Fla.

There was a great deal of interest in our relievers, but you see, we're aiming for the Playoffs this season. That was our goal coming in and that is our goal until the end. Don't let our record fool you. With the exception of a couple of bad games after the All-Star Game this team has played very well and I am pleased with the direction we are moving in. We need the 2 or 3 good relievers we have since guys like Jonah Bayliss suck ass... Did I just say the "A" word? My mother is going to kill me. Oh shit... Shit!, did I just say the "S" word? I need a wine cooler.

Is there any chance of seeing Cesar Izturis at second and Freddy Sanchez back at third? I have heard Izturis has some experience at second base.
-- Nate W., East Liverpool, Ohio

The entire Cesar Izturis thing hasn't gone to plan like I wanted. I was actually trying to get rid of Jack Wilson so Cesar could be out starting SS but other teams wanted us to eat some of Jack's contract or didn't understand the value of Jack Wilson and were unwilling to give him up for a couple of good prospects.

Initially I made this trade for Cesar at the request of Jim Colbourn and Jim Tracy. Jim Colbourn hates Jack's guts and has been rumored to sneak into the Clubhouse before the players get there and urinate in Jack Wilson's ball cap and ejaculate in his shoes. Jim Tracy has a perpetual hard on for any Dodgers player that he once coached so this was a no brainer. I have faith in my coaching staff to make great decisions for me. Now I just need to get rid of that Box of Donuts.....errr.... I mean Jack Wilson.

Why was John Van Benschoten sent to Triple-A instead of putting him in the bullpen to work with pitching coach Jim Colborn?
-- Mike B., Doylestown, Ohio

Jim Colbourn doesn't work with our pitchers unless there's nothing wrong with them. If he's not doing that, he spends a lot of time pretending to be a fielding coach.... ummm... I mean helping out the fielding coach and stuff.....

I have recently read that Yoslan Herrera has greatly improved his performance in Double-A. Do you think he will make an impact on the big-league club next season?
-- Bryan C., Sandwich, Mass.

Beats the hell out of me. I don't really plan that long in advance. When next season comes, we'll attack this question. Right now Yuslan is pitching very nicely. I might call and see if we can turn him into a Center Fielder.

Dave Littlefield's Ipod

2007-08-03T21:52:00.000-04:00

I received some great inside information from a reliable source about what songs are in Dave Littlefield's "Favorites" folder on his Ipod

1. It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls

The Song Writer behind this gem.... None other than Paul Shaffer.

2. Macho Man - Village People
3. You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - Sylvester
4. Hold On - Wilson Phillips
5. Take Your Mama Out - Scissor Sisters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzDLeEggMQ8
Words can't describe the singer for the Scissor Sisters

6. Loser - Beck
7. Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band
8. If You're Not here (By My Side) - Menudo

This picture speaks for itself

9. Outside - George Michael

The ONE guy in 1985 that every 13 year old girl wanted but could never have.... EVER

10. I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred
11. You Think You're A Man - Divine

Dave Littlefield's kind of woman.

12. Love Is Love - RuPaul
13. Dancing Queen - Abba
14. Constant Craving - K.D. Lang
15. Homosapien - Pete Shelley
16. Michael - Franz Ferdinand
17. Want One - Rufus Wainwright

Dave Littlefield's kind of man.

19. Bang And Blame - R.E.M.
20. Handsome Devil - The Smiths

An Exorcist?

2007-08-03T08:53:00.000-04:00

Dr. Evil: "The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!"

Bob Smizik wrote one of those 'sad but true' articles today. I won't say much as the article does just fine by itself.

If you look closely at the picture though, I think that's the ghost of Tike Redman in the bed...

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07215/806622-194.stm

Needed: Exorcist for Pirates' woes
Forget about the CEO, what Pirates need most is an exorcist

The most difficult challenge facing the Pirates' next CEO will not be upgrading the team's current talent level or expanding the Latin American base of operation or persuading owner Bob Nutting to increase the payroll significantly.

Those are only secondary issues to what makes the Pirates perennial losers.

The primary and most difficult job for whomever succeeds Kevin McClatchy will be to erase the pervasive culture of losing that has brought down almost everyone who has been connected with the organization for the past 15 years.

The Pirates, understandably, don't know how to win. But that's not the half of it. They don't know how not to lose.

Every season, brave words come out of spring training. Every season, they ring hollow.

Managers, coaches and players join the organization full of confidence and inspired by the belief that they can alter this culture of losing. No one has. And there are legitimate doubts as to whether anyone can.

Good men have tried and failed.

Jim Leyland, arguably the best manager in baseball, had a sense of being overwhelmed by the defeatism that infused the organization and got out with his reputation intact in 1996, but not before four consecutive losing seasons.

Gene Lamont, an astute baseball man and with a previous stint of managerial success with the Chicago White Sox, simply couldn't handle it.

Lloyd McClendon confronted it as well as anyone and, even in the end, seemed to be battling, as opposed to giving in. But fighting the good fight against this foe isn't enough.

We can only imagine what Jim Tracy is thinking. He arrived believing this was a challenge he could handle. He understood the problem was a culture of losing but believed he could create a winning atmosphere. As he nears the two-thirds point of his second season, he's overwhelmed by the immensity of the task. He doesn't say it, but it's clear he never has seen anything like this. He won't leave with his reputation intact and could well follow Lamont and McClendon into a lifetime of coaching, but not managing.

Nor have players been immune from the beating down of steady defeat.

Who was more mentally tough than Jason Kendall? Not many. But even he was trampled by the losing. He arrived in Pittsburgh a rookie with a veteran mind-set and ready to take on the world. He left sullen, bitter and often a bad teammate because he could do nothing to alter the tradition of defeat.

Who thought Jack Wilson would get crushed by this? But he has. Wilson can't wait to get out. Every time the phone rings he's hoping it brings official word of the much-reported trade that will send him to Detroit and the promised land of a winning team and an upbeat atmosphere.

When the Pirates announced their only trade Tuesday, the last day a non-waiver deal could be made, there was one joyous player and 24 unhappy ones. The player smiling, Rajai Davis, had been released from the prison of defeat that is the Pirates' clubhouse. His 24 teammates were left wishing they could join him in departure.

This isn't to suggest the Pirates have a clubhouse of losers. They just have a clubhouse full of players who can't overcome the losing.

The culture of losing does strange things to how the game is played. Is there any other way to explain the team's ridiculous failure to execute the most basic fundamentals? Techniques they should have mastered as Pony Leaguers, if not Little Leaguers, are too often beyond these players. Even Nate McLouth, who for a time looked like a moderately talented player but at least one who knew how to play the game, has succumbed. All of a sudden, McLouth is throwing rainbows to home plate from center field when he has to know that's not how it's done.

The losing just eats away at focus, which is so vitally important to staying sharp at the highest level of baseball.

Players like Kendall and Wilson resisted the losing culture to the end. By all indications Joggin' Ronny Paulino isn't as mentally strong. How else to explain his plunge from rookie-of-the-year candidate to second-season flop. Sure, he might have played over his head in 2006, but that doesn't explain his current steep decline, particularly in catching the ball.

What a jolt this atmosphere must have been to Adam LaRoche. He came from a situation where not just winning but championships were expected to one where defeat is ingrained.

It's not always all downhill. There are peaks, like the current two-game winning streak. But there are far more valleys, like losing 14 of 16 after the All-Star Game. In the end, the tradition of losing prevails and grows stronger.

There's not even a clue as to who Nutting will hire as his new CEO. He needs to be a man familiar with all facets of baseball and sports administration. It also wouldn't hurt if he knew a thing or two about exorcism.

What Can Save The Pirates?

2007-08-02T10:36:00.000-04:00

In the aftermath of Dave Littlefield's Matt Morris trade (If you can call it a trade), I've read various opinions on the reasoning behind this trade. The worst part is that all of the opinions I've read sound like they could be accurate yet all of the are different from each other. Personally I think Dave Littlefield wanted a Veteran Pitcher and had some money left in the bank and snagged up Matt Morris. He did this without thinking long term. He did this without thinking about the money that Morris is due to be had. Littlefield just simply in panic mode made this move to save his rear.

I've given up trying to come up with rational explanations for what Dave Littlefield does. I can understand why murderers murder or why 2 year old kids can sometimes act of out line. I can't understand exactly what sort of retarded hamster is running the wheel in Dave Littlefields head.

Right now, Dave Littlefield is in panic mode. Bob Nutting stated in the media that he won't make a decision on Dave Littlefield and Jim Tracy until after this season. It doesn't matter what type of assurance Bob Nutting gives Dave Littlefield behind closed doors, making a statement like this in the media is in Dave Littlefield's head. Take that and combine it with how horribly the Pirates have been playing since the All-Star Break and Dave Littlefield is scrambling to save his job. Even in panic mode and when it comes to spending over $10 million on a player, Dave Littlefield still can't make a good decision.

I've also read opinions about why Bob Nutting agreed to sign off on this trade. We have to sit back and realize that Bob Nutting although cheap is not Kevin McClatchy. Kevin McClatchy liked to think that he knew baseball and players. That his opinion mattered. Bob Nutting doesn't do this. Nutting is strictly the money guy. He gives Management a specific amount of money they can spend per season and let's them have a go at it. Bob Nutting also has a belief in Dave Littlefield or perhaps the believe is more in Littlefield's scheme of building a team through drafting and the minor leagues, developing pitchers, trading assets to fill in spots and signing key free agents to fill in holes. It all sounds good if you have a competent GM making these decisions. Unfortunately for Bob Nutting he doesn't know any other GM's, since he's been around Dave Littlefield all of this time. It's comfort to a certain degree. Bottom line is that I personally don't think that Bob Nutting cared who was being signed. Dave Littlefield could've shown Bob Nutting that Matt Morris won 22 games in 2001 and that was good enough for a guy who knows very little about baseball like Bob Nutting. As long as the deal fell within budget lines, Bob Nutting doesn't care.

With all of this fun that has occurred we all ask ourselves, "What can save the Pirates"? We all know it starts with new Ownership but that is likely a pipe dream. MLB doesn't seem to care about the Pittsburgh Pirates, local and state officials don't seem to care that this ownership group over the years has a publicly funded stadium that they are reaping benefits from and not fullfilling promises of fielding a competitive team on. Something HUGE will have to occur for Bob Nutting to sell. Considering that we can't get Pirates "fans" to walk out into the concourses for an inning, I don't hold much faith in Bob Nutting selling anytime soon.

What might save us fans is this new CEO hire. Not so much the hire but the interviewing process. There cannot be a competent CEO candidate out there that has a good word to say about Dave Littlefield. I'm sure one of the things that would be discussed during these interviews is dumping Dave Littlefield and the reasons why. Perhaps hearing candidates speaking against Dave Littlefield will open Bob Nuttings eyes (if they're not already opened which I doubt). Bob Nutting won't be able to hire a competent CEO if he throws Dave Littlefield and Jim Tracy on them. That will be a short interview since competent CEO's will likely decline the job. However, the more Bob Nutting hears negatively about Dave Littlefield and the reasons why (which should all be very similar) maybe it will trigger something in Bob Nutting's brain.

Let's face it, Bob Nutting is a penny pincher. He, like most businessmen don't get where they are at if they aren't getting the most bang for their buck. Dave Littlefield has spent money irresponsibly and has made irresponsible trades. Bob Nutting is not getting the most bang for his buck. You need to spend more than Bob Nutting does to field a competitive team year in and year out but you can also field a somewhat competitive team with Nutting's 40-50 million payroll as well, as long as you are spending the money on the right people and in the right places. The wrong places would be Matt Morris, Cesar Izturis, Jack Wilson, Jeromy Burnitz, Joe Randa, Tony Armas Jr., Daniel Moskos. You're talking about $30-40 million right there per year on those players. Anyone out here in the Blog World could spend $30-40 million better than this. We're not even going to talk about drafts either, since Dave Littlefield and Ed Creech have assembled some of the poorest drafts.

Bob Nutting doesn't want to be the guy in charge when the Pirates are tying and breaking a Major Sports record for longest losing tenure next season and the season after. If he thinks he has negative attention now, it will increase 10 fold in the sports world during the next 2 seasons. Bob Nutting has also shown that he doesn't like being questioned and doesn't like negative publicity. He felt the need to issue a crap statement on the day of the June 30th protest. While he spewed the regular Pirates rhetoric, he still stepped up and said something. He also sounded a little irritable when he made his "Don't question by commitment" speech. Businessmen and money men don't like negative publicity. Keeping Dave Littlefield around after this season will get Bob Nutting a lot of negative publicity. He has a huge off season coming up where he must hire a new CEO. The future of the Pirates in the eyes of the fans and the entire sports world hinges on the decisions that Bob Nutting makes this off season. Not firing Dave Littlefield will tell the fans and the sports world exactly what Bob Nutting's plans are and it isn't fielding a competitive team, holding management and decision makers accountable, investing and showing a commitment to winning.

Dave Littlefield, The Dastardly Dealer

2007-08-01T09:17:00.000-04:00

For some strange reason, the Trade Deadline always brings a sense of excitement to the air for baseball fans and Pirates fans. I'm not exactly sure why, as Pirates Fans we get excited about this time of the year. Perhaps it has more to do with the fact that we would like to be like Fans of other teams who have something to look forward, who can feel hope and get excited. It must be a psychological thing because it's not realistic.

Realistic would be knowing that the Trade Deadline, just like the season is met with huge disappointments. If The Pirates aren't dumping a salary or 2, they are trading what 1 or 2 decent players they have for some Bullpen Prospects or mediocre, career minor league position players. Not this season.

Just when you think Dave Littlefield can't top himself in the decision making Department, he goes out and gets veteran pitcher, Matt Morris in a trade with the San Francisco Giants that sends the Giants, outfielder Rajai Davis and a Player To Be Named Later. The kicker of this trade is that Matt Morris is making around or close to $10 million per year. The guy has been on a big decline and is far from being the 20 game winner he was in 2001. Littlefield needed a Veteran pitcher to anchor the staff to start off te season and the Pirates didn't get involved in the spending spree to bring one in. There's also a big difference in a veteran pitcher than can still pitch that costs a few extra million per year than what we're all used to seeing the Pirates spend and a guy like Matt Morris.

This wasn't the only mind boggling move that occurred yesterday. Jack Wilson was supposedly offered in a trade with Detroit for some scrubs as a salary dump move and the trade also ended up involving Damaso Marte if Detroit would take all of Jack Wilson's salary. Detroit ended up declining. It's apparent now, that Dave Littlefield fully intended to trade Jack Wilson, even before he got Cesar Izturis in a trade with the Cubs. The plan was to replace Wilson bt getting Izturis and then finding anyone willing to take Jack Wilson. Dave Littlefield figured it was fool proof. Dave Littlefield ended up being the fool as usual since nobody was willing to deal for Jack Wilson. Now we're on the hook for close to $10 million for 2 short stops for the rest of the season thanks to Dave Littlefield's incompetence.

The other mind boggling move that happened or didn't happen yesterday was the fact that neither of Marte, Torres or Shawn Chacon were traded. Most Pirates fans were ready to willingly accept that these guys would get traded for some chumps and nothing happened. This might have been the best trade of the day for Dave Littlefield. Pirate Fans are better off not having Dave Littlefield make any decisions and/or moves. In some ways we're better with the crap Dave Littlefield has already gotten us in the past years than him upgrading the crap, with new, but not improved crap. It's a catch-22 since all crap is the same but there's no doubt that Dave Littlefield can go out there and find the biggest pile of stench available.

There were also rumors of a Jason Bay trade to the Mets that fell through. I don't know how credible this was and I for one am happy that whatever it was didn't happen. I can see Dave Littlefield giving up Bay for practically nothing.

The sooner Dave Littlefield gets fired the better off we'll all be. This is of course considering that Bob Nutting brings in a good competent CEO that replaces Dave Littlefield and replaces Littlefield with a good competent GM. That's asking for a lot of competence from an organization that has shown nothing but incompetence since 1992.

Ronnie Paulino Catching Clinic

2007-08-01T09:01:00.000-04:00

Pittsburgh catcher, Ronnie Paulino will be putting on a catching clinic for litle leaguers and other fans on August 26th outside of PNC Park. The clinic isn't just for the position of catcher, Ronnie's main desire is to help kids catch balls under pressure and in normal game situations.

"I want to give back to the community and being that I have a pretty good glove, this seemed like the right thing to do", Ronnie Paulino said.

When asked about dealing with adversity when it came to defense, Paulino commented,

"Sometimes you get throws from your teammates that aren't perfect. This happens often enough. You can't catch them all. If you catch all of them, then you are helping promote bad throws and you want your teammates throwing the perfect ball with the perfect speed to you. Sometimes I'll purposely drop a ball to make a point."

This catching clinic is Free and Ronnie will personally be handing out Ronnie Paulino bobblehead leftovers to those in attendance.

"The marketing Department told me that some extras of my bobbleheads and recommended this idea to me. It's a great idea and opportunity for the youngsters. Not only are they getting a Major League clinic on how to catch balls from myself but they are also receiving one of these great bobbleheads", Ronnie finished saying.Type Your Summary Here (Delete this message when you are finished).

Random Thoughts, Trade Deadline Edition

2007-07-31T21:53:00.000-04:00

Well Littlefield just pulled off another eye-roller of a trade. Some thoughts:

-Yes, I'm quite sure that other GM's chuckle and have to compose themselves and hide their giddiness when the secretary says, "It's Dave Littlefield on Line 2".

-They (the Pirates) claimed they didn't have enough money to sign a player like Weiters, who a scout described as the next Johnny Bench, yet they can fork over $5ish million this year and $9.5 million next year for a 33 year-old pitcher who's been in a decline the last few years and only under contract until 2008?

Ridiculous.

The money they're wasting on Morris for less than 1 1/2 years could have gotten them a franchise catcher.

- If they ever come up with a swashbuckling School, I think one of the courses should be Laughing, Then Jumping Off Something.

-Matt Morris is selecting which Pittsburgh bridge he's going to jump off of upon arrival.

-Acquiring Matt Morris is inexcusable.

The last thing the Pirates need is another starter who gives up more than a hit an inning, but they got one in Morris. And unlike their other hittable starters, he's expensive. Morris is in the second season of a three-year, $27 million deal, so unless the Giants are kicking in some cash, he'll take up nearly 20 percent of the Pirates' payroll while contributing little or no value. To make matters worse, Morris has been pitching poorly of late, and he'll no longer get the protection offered by AT&T Park to pitchers with fringy stuff. There's no justification for this trade -- given how low the Pirates' payroll is, they just handicapped themselves for the next two years and it's not like they're making a push for the pennant this year. The Pirates are going nowhere right now, and with this deal, they're not going anywhere in the near future, either.

- Children need encouragement. If a kid gets an answer right, tell him it was a lucky guess. That way he develops a good, lucky feeling.

-We will now pay Morris ($9.5), Jack Wilson ($6 I believe), and Cesar Izturis ($4 I think) roughly $20 million next year. Most likely these 3 turds will make up half of our payroll.

Dave Littlefield screws us again

2007-07-31T18:20:00.000-04:00

Well, the non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone, and once again the Pirates make a move that can only make one ask... "who the F hired this complete moron as our GM?" Dave Littlefield has stuck it to us yet again. In a very strange move that usually only gets made by contenders making a push for the post-season, DL has acquired veteran SP Matt Morris and his $10million per year salary from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Rajai Davis and a PTBNL.

Apparently Dave Littlefield, seeing the writing on the wall, realizes he is going to be fired the day after the season ends, and he decided to burden the Pirates with the same problem he claims he faced when he took the reigns. In the years after Dave Littlefield was hired he immediately began to shed payroll claiming that the Pirates need to free themselves of the burden of the large contracts that they currently had in their system to give them "financial flexibility". Well, after paring the roster down to nothing more than a glorified AAA ball club, DL decided that he was going to burden the next GM with the same problem Cam Bonifay left him.

Not only did DL fail to trade Jack Wilson, a deal that seemed written in stone only 4 hours ago, but he also managed to add $10 mil per year to the payroll for a declining pitcher. Not to mention the $4-5 mil that he took on in the Ceasar Izturis deal.

Pretty much the only thing left for him to do would be to go out and sign Jeromy Burnitz to a 3 year $21 mil contract and Joe Randa to a 4 year $20 mil contract with a player option for a fifth year at $7 mil.

Congratulations Dave Littlefield, I didn't think you could make any more moves that would look dumber than some of your previous moves, but once again, you show us that there is absolutely no limitation on your stupidity.Type Your Summary Here (Delete this message when you are finished).

Combing Baseball for a New CEO?

2007-07-31T11:18:00.000-04:00

Is it me or have we been waiting an awful long time for this great savior of the Pirates, this wonderful new CEO that we (probably foolishly) are trusting Nutting to hire?

This coming weekend will mark the one month anniversary of Nutting beginning his search for the new CEO. I'm sure he's looking far and wide for the best man for the job (please note sarcasm).

My question is, why haven't we heard a single peep from him? What's Nutting doing? How about at least an update as to the interview process? Is that too much to ask?

I'm in the mindset that the new CEO will simply be more business than baseball and us fans yet again have to simply bend over and take it. I think the picture below sums it up nicely.

Trade deadline...

2007-07-30T17:33:00.000-04:00

Twas the night before the trade deadline and all through the Burgh, not a pirate was stirring, not even DL.

Well, its all quiet on the trade front. I haven't really heard anything signifigant to talk about, and I am finding myself happy about this. Do I really trust DL to make a trade that will benefit this ballclub? ... NO! I would rather sit here and talk about all the non-movement than sit here and try to rationalize yet another mind boggling trade from Dave Iknowlittle. I truly believe we are better off hanging our hopes on Bob Nutting actually bringing in a CEO who is smart enough to fire DL and Jim Tracy, than we are holding out hope that DL actually makes a trade that benefits OUR team.

The Pittsburgh Parasite.

2007-07-30T10:06:00.000-04:00

PITTSBURGH—Just two weeks after settling on Dave Littlefield as its next host, a Pittsburgh–area hookworm whose lifecycle depends on the performance of the general manager's digestive system said it is beginning to question Littlefield's ability to stay fresh and produce consistent, quality nutrients on a daily basis.
"It doesn't take much to be a decent host—you just have to sit there, generate a couple cell lines every few minutes, and let me systematically tunnel my way through your internal organs," said the Necator americanus hookworm, a 10-millimeter-long nematode parasite of the Ancylostomatidae family, from Littlefield's small intestine Tuesday.

"I've been trying to suck the life out of Dave, but it's difficult when there's absolutely no life to work with," it added.

The hookworm first came into contact with Littlefield during his usual late night routine, while Littlefield was handling human fecal matter as part of a bizarre fetish. The parasite immediately introduced itself into Littlefield's bloodstream, and underwent a weeklong "feeling-out process" in order to familiarize itself with Littlefield's circulatory system. In the following days, reports began to surface that the hookworm had officially attached itself to Littlefields's intestinal wall for the remainder of its project.

"At the time, Dave seemed like a perfect fit," the hookworm said. "All I was looking for was some new blood—a personality that I could immediately latch onto, someone with a lot of energy that I can really feed off of."

"Also, I figured that, with Littlefield, my telltale symptoms—low-order cognitive impairment, a calloused rash on the palm of his right hand where I penetrated the skin, and mild itching and irritation of the anus—would go virtually unnoticed," it added.

Yet the hookworm would soon express regret for choosing the "first host [it] found," wishing that it had followed its original plan of overseeing a long and more thorough selection process.

According to the hookworm, nearly everything that crosses Littlefield's lips is either bland, disgusting, or completely and utterly tasteless.

"His bodily instincts are way off, he has no idea how to keep the juices flowing smoothly in his digestive tract, and even his best cell material is weak," said the hookworm, who was warned by a tapeworm that tried out Littlefield as a host from 2002 to 2003 that he is "an acquired taste."

"His timing and delivery of antigens seem forced and almost totally random, and he never reacts to any of the simple metabolic waste products I'm constantly feeding him. And they're good, solid metabolic waste products, too," it said.

The hookworm also assailed Littlefield's "predictable" routine.

"Every time I burrow a hole through his stomach lining, I can sense the same tired, worn-out immune-system response coming from a mile away," said the parasite, who was similarly critical of Littlefield's inability to endure three or four hours of host duties "without just falling flat on his face."

"I never thought I would say this, but after having to interact with Dave Littlefield for two months, I long for the days when I was living in human shit," it said.

The parasite, however, hinted that Littlefield would likely "not last very long" as a host, noting that it had perforated Littlefield's lungs, blocked blood flow to his liver, triggered a massive iron deficiency, depressed his immune system, and destroyed blood cells at such a rapid rate that Littlefield is beginning to display early symptoms of aplastic anemia.

"I think it's safe to say that he'll be gone by December," the hookworm said.

Not Even Good Enough To Be Pathetic

2007-07-25T21:51:00.000-04:00

The Pirates stink. There's no argument from anyone about this unless they are mentally retarded but they have taken the word "stink" to an entirely new level.

For half of a season The Pirates had 2 Major League pitchers in their starting rotation - Ian Snell and tom Gorzelanny. Since the All-Star Break both have looked like Paul Maholm and Paul Maholm has looked like tom Gorzelanny.

Tom Gorzelanny made it 2.1 innings today giving up 6 runs. Supposedly Gorzelanny left the game with an injured shoulder. I sure hope so. The only other explanation for this, is that Jim Colbourn got a hold of Gorzo and decided to tinker with his mechanics.

We did get to witness Jim Tracy making his way out of the dugout to argue a call and get thrown out of the game. Jason Bay as showed by various replays clearly caught the ball but Baseballs black and white stripes said no catch. Jim Tracy storms out of the dugout with his pants that look like they're about 3 sizes too small and proceeds to argue with his arms closed. Another Ump comes over and Jim Tracy throws off his hat and starts fuming. Jim Tracy looks like a chicken when he argues. his head bobs more than when he's in Dave Littlefield's office trying to get old bum players he managed. There was some questions as to whether this was an act or not. It is a legit question consider this organization but for Jim Tracy to show any signs of movement and life, it had to be the real deal. Personally I think Ian Snell stole his can of Copenhagen, dumped it and put it back. Tracy was going through nicotine withdrawl and needed to take it out on someone. Either that or he forgot to remove the rubber from his back side this morning and it was irritating him.

I never thought I'd miss Lloyd McClendon but Jim Tracy has made Lloyd look like Danny Murtaugh

That was the most exciting part of the game. Jason Bay hit another Home Run. A little too late we say. If someone can belt a useless Home Run or drive in a useless run it's Jason Bay. Put the game on the line or need production in a clutch situation and Jason Bay turns into a jobber (courtesy of ThePensBlog).

While we're at it, The Pirates have won 1 game since the All-Star Break. They were even given the Houston Astros who they were 6-0 against this season during this time span and they still found a way to lose the series to them. I drank a few Yuenglings during this game and it didn't make a difference. I feel guilty for wasting a few bottles of good beer on a crappy team and game. It feel guilty if the beer was Natty Light or Beast.

The only woman that would wear this lives in a Trailer Park.

In other news, Toronto Blue Jays GM - J.P. Ricciardi tears into Jack Wilson and also squashes the stupid rumors about a trade for Troy Glaus that was likely leaked out of the Pirates Front Office to make it look like they're actually going after good players. Whatever.

Here's what Ricciardi had to say :

“We’d listen on anybody, we’d be foolish not to listen,” he said with the non-waiver deadline just nine days away. “We’re not going to trade Josh Towers for a bag of donuts. I’ve got to get something back who is a very good player for us to say, ‘Hey, we can hang our hat on this guy.’ I don’t need somebody who’s going to come to the big leagues right away, but I’m also committed to winning as many games as I can here and Josh gives us that opportunity.”

“We have no interest in Jack Wilson, absolutely no interest in Jack Wilson. None,” he said. “I have Jack Wilson. I have John McDonald (a light-hitting, good defensive player).”

Jack Wilson is the equivalent of a bag of donuts. Good luck getting value for Jack Wilson, Mr. Littlefield. If a .500/average team thinks this lowly of Jack Wilson, I can only imagine what other teams are thinking. Perhaps one day we won't have an idiot General Manager that over values that hell out of the players he has that have helped contribute to one of the worst streaks of losing in Modern Sports History.

Jack Wilson's Media Day Photo for 2008

I've been arguing on a Pirates Message Board with a few people over the upcoming August 28th Protest. It's been enjoyable. Basically it goers like this... "We think the Protest should be done like this and like that. Anything else means it is doomed for failure. I hope you come back here on August 29th and show your faces". People like this make Bob Nutting proud. Maybe Bob can tie a couple of bobbleheads around their necks and have them do a neighborhood tour promoting PNC Park and Pirates Baseball. The best aspect of all of this is that they continue to blabber on and on and argue but continue to do absolutely nothing to prove that their ideas and plans are superior.

Listen folks, no protest is going to be organized perfectly to suit everyone's ego's. Not everyone is going to agree with how they are done but the protest has one thing in common, it is about Pirates Fans against ownership. It is about us against them. It is about a group of fans showing themselves visually to Bob Nutting and Management. It is about a Group of fans being heard and creating a buzz whether it be negative or positive, it gets talk going. Sometimes you have to look beyond results and look at what something stands for. To continually slam something, and not actively throw out an alternative is a waste of time. Some people just can't let go of their own ego's. It's the same problem the Pirates organization has with Bob Nutting, Dave Littlefield and Jim Tracy and Staff.

This is who I've been arguing with.

Littlefield Inquires About Troy Glaus

2007-07-23T22:16:00.000-04:00

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Pirates GM Dave Littlefield has inquired about Toronto Bluejays Power hitting 3rd baseman Troy Glaus while having preliminary talks about trading Jack Wilson

No doubt that Troy Glaus would be a huge upgrade and I for5 one would welcome him with open arms. Problem here is - Dave Littlefield. It's not like Littlefield has inquired about decent to good players in the past, the problem is that he over values the scrubs that he does have. He also has this imagination that the Pittsburgh Pirates are an organization that good players want to play for. Glaus has a no trade in his contract. He won't waive it to come here. Blame Dave Littlefield for building a poor team year after year. Blame ownership for not opening up payroll and holding Dave Littlefield accountable for making Cam Bonifay look like a decent GM.

Let's get back to Littlefield over valuing players. Jack Wilson is a below average offensive player whose defense has been falling. He's a hard worker but who cares? Results matter more. Toronto is trying to compete for a Playoff spot. I doubt they make the Playoffs, but that's their belief. They're not trading Glaus for Jack Wilson or some "project" pitcher that has either no major league track record or a poor one (Duke, Burnett). The Pirates have few players that are coveted. If you want a good player you need to sweeten the pot. Sweetening the pot is likely to cost Ian Snell. I wouldn't make that move since our Starting Rotation is poor to begin with, with no apparent help coming from the minors. Blame Dave Littlefield.

Its Littlefield's fault that this organization is so depleted of talent. It's Littlefield's fault that in order to trade for a good player he has to give up good players. This in the end creates another hole since the Pirates have no depth to recover from trading a good player. This is one gigantic mess that Dave Littlefield has created. All of this is aided by Ownership being cheap and holding on to a piece of trrash like Dave Littlefield for this long.

Don't expect Dave Littlefield to trade a good young player or 2 for a good player. Dave Littlefield has shown a reluctance in the past to pull the trigger on a trade when it calls for trading away talent. He broke free from that this past winter with the LaRoche trade but he also had viable options to plug holes (Bixler and Capps). He doesn't have that luxury trading pitching and the position players we have aren't that good and have even worse backup options in the minor leagues until guys like Pearce, McCutcheon, Bixler and Walker make it to the big leagues. Those are the guys that are more attractive to other teams than what the Pirates have on the Major League roster. Trade them and you keep creating holes. Thank Dave Littlefield for this mess and if you think Glaus would break his no trade clause to come here then you're dreaming. Littlefield and Ownership has created a League Wide known joke.

Buccos Remain 'Cold as Ice'

2007-07-23T09:14:00.000-04:00

"Cold as ice - you know that you are
Cold as ice - as cold as ice to me
Cold as ice"

The Pirate bats, yet to wakeup from their post All-Star break slumber, were silenced yesterday by Woody Williams (he of the 4-11 record and 5.37 era).

I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that Littlefield brought in Cesar Romero (er I mean Izturis, not the Joker) to ail our needs or the fact that much maligned Adam LaRoche (he of the April batting average of .090) has caught up to perennial All-Star and superstar Jason Bay at a whopping .246. By the way, that .246 average is good enough to be tied for fifth on the team. Sorry, this cat doesn't count Doumit, or Matt Kata for that matter, among the team leaders.

Perhaps the Pirates need to sacrifice a live chicken, a la Pedro Cerrano, to wake up the bats.

Of course, does it really matter Mr. Nutting?

Pirates Still Sinking

2007-07-20T22:26:00.001-04:00

Yup, our wonderful hometown Pittsburgh Pirates dropped their 7th in a row tonight. Do you really need a recap? Nope, didn't think so.

I almost feel better, a little happy, that this game wasn't on tv and I didn't subject myself to watching it.

This season has spiraled out of control and there's still no accountability from the front office or any fire or desire shown by the team. Bay's average is down to .247. LaRoche is up to .240. That's right, Bay is barely ahead of LaRoche. I don't know what to even think about that.

I think the picture I'm adding to this post sums it up.

Fans for Change in PG Mailbag

2007-07-20T09:29:00.000-04:00

Andy, the organizer of the Fans for Change, had a letter published in the online PG's mailbag:

Mr. Nutting, we're watching

In a matter of days, Steelers training camp commences and once again the Pirates will become irrelevant before the month of July is over.

For those that were not familiar with the Fans For Change protest of June 30, the spirit of our protest was to promote pennant contending baseball in Pittsburgh. Most seem to agree that there are problems with how our once-proud baseball team is being run, [but] how fans should display their frustration is a cause for continued debate. Some have opted to form organized groups like Fans For Change and Irate Fans, others have simply opted to stay away from games.

The baseball purists in the region are asking Robert Nutting to step up and hire a top-quality "baseball guy" as his CEO. This new CEO should be given a clean slate to make whatever changes are necessary to turn the Pirates' fortunes.

The organized fan groups are taking hold and will have an impact on season-ticket sales in 2008. These groups will react accordingly to your actions.

Please give us the chance to be supportive. That's all we've been asking for.

ANDY CHOMOS Wexford

Well said Andy.

I know I myself have bought 20 game packages the last few years and, earlier in the year I said

I'd be renewing for sure, although now I'm really considering not.

I ask, "Why should I"?

Say it ain't so Dave

2007-07-20T03:18:00.000-04:00

A Chicago Radio station has leaked a rumor that Zach Duke is the PTBNL in the Izturis deal. Pirate management has denied this, but we all know how much that denial is worth. If this is the case, well...words can't describe how stupid of a move this was, and I don't think I can put into print my feelings on the move. Zach Duke for a guy who will only be here 3 months!?!?!?!?!?!? I'm not going to say anything more...I'm sure you all feel the same way.

Breaking News

2007-07-19T21:55:00.000-04:00

According to Dave Littlefield, The Pittsburgh Pirates made a trade for Cesar Izturis to win a "Championship". Dave Littlefield says that he is open minded in regards to letting go of Jack Wilson and replacing him with Cesar Izturis to do this.

If the Media around here does not jump all of this, they should all be fired as well. What in the blue moon gives Dave Littlefield the confidence to say anything about Championships?

Here's the quote. It's the same one I posted in the Cesar Izturis post :

"Jack's a fine player and he's done a real nice job for us," Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said. "We're very comfortable with Jack, but we're trying to win a championship and we're open-minded about anything."

Newsflash to Dave Littlefield. You're not going to win a Championship. You are the most incompetent General Manager in the Major Leagues. You are a joke. Some would say that you were a waste of your father's sperm. Your draft choices have been horrendous. How have your top pitching prospects turned out? Looks like your stupid idea to convert JVB to a pitcher has been a failure. Burnett is damaged goods. Bullington can crack this awful MLB rotation. Lincoln is to have his mandatory Pirates Dr.Andrews work. You hired one of the most incompetent coaching staffs we've ever witnessed as Pirates Fans.

Dave Littlefield has very few hitting prospects in the minor leagues. He's wasted what little money McClatchy and Nutting have given him on bum Free Agents and this guy is talking about Championships?

How about Dave Littlefield provide a season in which we actually hit .500 or get over that mark before speaking about Championships. Cesar Izturis is a bum. He's not an upgrade over Jack Wilson and will not help this team win a Championship.

If we're lucky, Dave Littlefield will be fired after this season.

Cesar Izturis?

2007-07-19T19:52:00.000-04:00

You've got to be kidding me? Actually this shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Considering that it is a bad move that Jim Tracy entertained Dave Littlefield in "private" for about 45 minutes to make.

I'm fairly certain that there isn't a Pirates Fan out there that believes that this is a good trade. I'll be interested to see what we traded to get this bum. Hopefully considering we got Izturis and cash we didn't trade much, but we're talking about Dave Littlefield, Pearce, Bixler, Walker or McCutcheon could be in the Cubs minor league system by Friday.

Dave Littlefield released a statement saying that this trade had nothing to do with Jack Wilson. I don't if the guy is such an idiot that he actually believes this crap or if he's an even bigger an idiot and expects the Fans and Media to believe this crap. Cesar Izturis released a statement that his chance to play in Chicago was shot and that coming to Pittsburgh gave him a chance to play. He went on about Jim Tracy.

"Jack's a fine player and he's done a real nice job for us," Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said. "We're very comfortable with Jack, but we're trying to win a championship and we're open-minded about anything."

After you read the above and sift through Dave Littlefields "littlespeak" you can see clearly that this move was made to replace Jack Wilson. Saying things like they're :open-minded" while talking about Jack Wilson is all the proof you need.

This purely a move made by Jim Tracy that Dave Littlefield is following through on. If you think it is scary when Dave Littlefield make decisions, you can only imagine how scary it is when Jim Tracy is making Executive decisions. Jim Tracy can't figure out that Ronnie Paulino is a poor excuse for a catcher. He can't figure out that his pitching coach Jim Colbourn is worthless. He can't figure out to teach his team fundamentals. He can't figure out to manage a game. He can't figure out how to create roster cards for games that puts The Team in the best position to win. He can't figure out when it's time to take pitchers out of games (see : Kuwata and the 7 run massacre that Jim Tracy left him in to accept).

Simply put, Jim Tracy has this undying love for Jim Colbourn. He's followed Jim Tracy where ever he goes. He has Jim Tracy's loyalty. Accountability means squat with this organization. It's all based on loyalty and favoritism. This move to trade for Cesar Izturis is all about Jim Colbourn. It's about Jim Tracy having his incompetent coaches back and rubbing Dave Littlefield's nuts for 45 minutes to make this move. It's about Jim Tracy not being able to let go of his Dodgers past which had more to do with the players and their payroll than it did with Jim Tracy and his staff.

Now Jim Tracy has another Dodger on this team. You think that he won't be starting in place of Jack Wilson? Maybe not at first. You have to provide the smoke first. Since Izturis can play 3rd base it's possible that we'll see Cesar filling in for the injured Jose Bautista. It won't be long until he's starting at Shortstop. Fully expect Dave Littlefield to trade Jack Wilson. Just don't expect much in return.

So while management says that this trade was made to win games and win championships, it's really nothing more than giving a really bad coach something he wants since Cesar Izturis isn't an upgrade over Jack Wilson or even Jose Castillo.

Below are some stat comparisons that SkipperRon from the Pghlive message boards posted :

Jack Wilson and Cesar Izturis both have played 6 years in the majors

Jack Wilson has 152 doubles and Cesar Izturis has 111

Jack Wilson has 28 triples and Cesar Izturis has 22

Jack Wilson has 43 homers and Cesar Izturis has 11

Jack Wilson has 280 rbi's and Cesar Izturis has 191

Jack Wilson has 30 steals and has been caught 20 times. Cesar Izturis has 59 steals and been caught 34 times

Jack Wilson has a career average of .265 and Cesar Izturis has one of .259

Jack Wilson has a OBP of .306 to Cesar Izturis' is .295

Jack Wilson has a .368 slg average to Cesar Izturis' is .336

Jacks Wilsons' OPS is .674 to Cesar Izturis' is .631

Jacks fielding average is .976 to Cesars .979

BREAKING NEWS, BUCS ARE SELLERS AT DEADLINE!!!

2007-07-19T15:02:00.000-04:00

Well, it has begun...The annual house cleaning (read: Salary Cleaning) in Pittsburgh. With the acquisition of Jim Tracy's butt buddy Cesar Izturis the Pirates have sent a clear message...pack your bags Jack Wilson. Izturis, a poor man's Jack Wilson with similar offensive offensive numbers (not a typo) and far less defensive ability, was clearly picked up to serve as a cheaper bridge to the Brian Bixler era in Pittsburgh. 15 losing seasons HERE WE COME!!!!

Another thing that can possibly be taken from this move is that management gave the pirates these first two series after the all-star break to determine if they were going to take a stab at mediocrity and try to get to that ellusive 82 win plateau. Well, obviously the pirates gave upper management the excuse they were looking for to become sellers once again. Nice job guys. More money in Nuttings pocket.

It's too bad the pirates can't afford (read: won't pay for) any of the players that actually HELPED Tracy get to those winning seasons in LA.

The Usual Pirates

2007-07-19T08:32:00.001-04:00

It's unfathomable that in the span of one week, the Pirates have completely lost the season. Think about it folks, one week ago today was the day after the All Star Break. There was the slightest bit of hope (even if it was as small a ray of light as when the warden cracked open the door to solitary to talk to Andy in 'Shawshank') that the Pirates would make the second half of the season competitive. It was palpable and anyone who denies it is only kidding themselves. Even watching Sportscenter during the break, the Pirates had snuck up to the first page of the Wild Card Standings in the NL, a place they haven't been in a few years.

Fast forward to one week later and today. The Pirates have just been swept twice, barely competitive in any of the 6 games, the losing streak marks a season high, and 14 games under .500 marks a season low. Talk about a downward spiral. If Bob Nutting was serious about his commitment to winning, this should be unacceptable and changes should be on the horizon.

However, we've come to expect smoke and mirrors from the Pirates. Case in point the team going from a real high to the extreme low in one week's time. We can also add Nutting to that list of smoke and mirrors as I do doubt his will to win.

Verbal Kint said it best when he said, "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that... he is gone."

To paraphrase for us Pirate fans, "The greatest trick the Pirates ever pulled was convincing us that they cared and were a good team. And like that....they're gone."
.

If Rip van Winkle were a Pirate Fan...

2007-07-18T08:34:00.000-04:00

Well, Rip van Winkle sure, but anyone who's been in a coma for the last 15 years (which is basically us Pirate fans), here's a compilation of what we've missed.

http://bugsandcranks.com/pittsburgh-pirates/requiem-for-a-team/

Yes, that's how the "world has turned" and left us behind. It's shocking how much has happened since the Pirates have had a winning season.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to clean the vomit from my desk.

Will The Next Protest Work?

2007-07-17T23:23:00.000-04:00

The Question is, Will the next Protest work? Work for what? Getting Bob Nutting to sell? No. Getting Bob Nutting to fire Dave Littlefield? No. Does it really matter if the protest is this grand success or a failure? No.

I've seen a lot of people out there in the internet world discussing the planned Protest which is August 28th at PNC Park organized by Pirates Fans For Change. There are people who erroneously believe that if this Protest fails then something bad is going to happen. What worse can come from 14 going on 15 straight losing seasons? What's worse than having 14 straight years of High Draft picks turn out to be useless? What's worse than an Ownership Group that refuses to spend on payroll to equal what teams in smaller markets are spending (Milwaukee, Kansas City)? Nothing bad can come from a protest of Pirates Fans going down to PNC Park, wearing Green Shirts, attempting to sit in the same sections as each other and being a vocal and visual presence.

There's a lot of misconceptions out there that a Protest is going to alter the Pirates overnight. There's a lot of misconceptions that a failed Protest will further boost Bob Nuttings inflated ego. Neither are true. If you believe that Protests are going to change the Pirates over night you're living in a dream world. Bob Nutting has this organization set up to succeed without True Pirates Fans. He lures people into PNC Park with one of his 61 promotional nights per season. Sure, attendance is in the lower half of the league, but he's still making money. MLB's revenue sharing gives Bob Nutting money regardless of who the fans are and how many are at the park. If attendance goes down, so does payroll (if you can imagine it being any lower). Bob Nutting is set. Vocal fans making a visual appearance isn't going to simply alter Bob Nuttings motives, it has to be a combination of things which are helped by the presence of a Protest.

The Presence of Protests? Well for one, a Protest alone isn't going to do much. You need more and right now, things seem to be lining up.

1. The team needs to perform badly. (check) The Pirates are performing badly. After tonight they're 13 games under .500.

2. The Front Office/Ownership has to do something stupid and bad. (check) The drafting of Daniel Moskos instead of Matt Weiters due to Bob Nutting refusing to spend money got everything going.

3. Bob Nutting himself. (check) With Kevin McClatchy calling it quits it puts the spotlight directly on Bob Nutting. With the drafting of Moskos, the Pirates failing again this year to be at least average, the Fans For Change Protests and the media ridicule and attention, Bob Nutting has nowhere to hide. Everything he does is going to be over analyzed. The next move he makes had better be a good one.

4. Future Negativity. (check) As it stands now the Pirates will finish the 2007 season under .500 for their 15th straight losing season. Next season they will be attempting to tie the major league record for consecutive losing seasons. This will receive a lot of national attention on it's own.

So what do the Protests have to do with this? It is additional pressure. It is additional media coverage. A Protest alone probably wouldn't amount to much but a Protest that also gets media coverage, a team that is bad, a big hire coming up, all of this comes together to form one big Wall facing Bob Nutting. Bob Nutting deserves to have vocal fans at the game showing their displeasure. It doesn't matter if there's 100 or 1,000 Protesters, they are still disgruntled fans. Fans that haven't been replaced with Junk Collector's going to PNC Park for bobbleheads, fleeces, baseball caps, coins and plates. They're not fans replaced by people who just go to PNC Park to have a nice seat to watch fireworks. They're not fans that go down to PNC Park because McClatchy and Nutting turned PNC Park into Chuck E. Cheese for kids. They are fans that want to see a winning team on the field. Fans that want to see a competitive team and organization. A team that throughout the organization provides hope for the present and future. Basically they are fans that want the complete opposite of what they have been receiving. Bob Nutting deserves to see and hear their presence.

If this or any Protest is viewed as a big failure it doesn't matter. The Spotlight is already on Bob Nutting. The poor Draft started it. The Protest added to it, add to that the media attention the June 30th Protest received and additional media attention locally, regionally and nationally it gained. Kevin McClatchy stepping down as CEO has added to it because Bob Nutting has an important job to fill that will give a clear indication of what direction this franchise is heading. Everything is set up. A failed protest won't mean much because the media is already waiting to see what Bob Nutting does with his CEO hire. They're waiting to see what the payroll will be for this team next season. They're waiting to pounce. Fans should go to PNC Park and be part of something that visually and vocally speaks out against ownership. They should be there to represent True Pirates Fans, not the junk collector's and Firework seat grabbers that have been lured into PNC Park.

So why are people against this protest? People are against it because everyone claims to have a better idea. Problem with this ignorance is that these "better ideas" are useless unless they are put into action. Who said there can only be one type of Protest? Who said that there can only be one group organizing Protests? During the June 30th protest it was rumored that people at PNC Park were booing the Protesters that walked out after the 3rd inning. It's more than likely that these people aren't really Fans of the team, that they just go down to PNC Park for "something to do" for some form of entertainment, to collect junk, watch fireworks. They voiced their opinion towards the Protesters. "Fans" against the protest have much in common with the bobblehead folks.

It sounds pretty cruel to bunch people into categories. Who cares? If you want this team to get better, if you want this franchise to get stronger and provide present and future hope then obviously you don't support Bob Nutting, Dave Littlefield, Jim Tracy, Ed Creech and the rest of them that haven't done anything to improve this team and organization. Regardless of what your "great" ideas are, these Protests fall in line with exactly what you're against.

Some people claim that by going to the games you are enabling Bob Nutting by paying for a ticket and concessions. You are adding money to Bob Nuttings pockets. That doesn't matter. A lot of Pirates fans have been replaced by "casuals". They keep getting replaced each year as the Pirates marketing machine pulls in more and more "casuals" to fill the seats at PNC Park. Go ahead and boycott the games by not going, but sadly you've already been replaced by people that don't care. Boycotts won't make a difference. We all saw at the June 30th protest how many people actually cared enough for change. They simply don't care. They're not there for the team and as Fans, they are there as entertainment spectators and junk collectors. Good luck trying to get enough people to boycott games to make a difference if you can't get enough people to get up out of their seats WHILE they wear green protests shirts to leave for the concession stands for an inning. Bottom line, if people are going to games and you're a fan, take part in a group that is against Ownership and Management. Be visually and vocally present.

Even if you do not plan on taking place in any of the Protests because you don't have a desire to go to the game, live out of town or whatever it may be, if you're against ownership and management and want to see change, then supporting the Protest isn't much to ask for. Amazingly there are those out there that feel the need to complain about everything. It makes you wonder if there's a vagina between their legs because they seem to complain and whine more than women at the Supermarket talking smack on their boyfriends and husbands. If you have a better idea, put it to use. If not, nobody cares what your ideas are because they are just that - Useless Ideas. They become Useful when they are put to action. If you're against Ownership and Management but are still complaining about the Protests, how they are organized, or how they work or what they might create then you are just complaining to complain.

These Protests cannot be a failure. Even if Bob Nutting laughs at them. Even if the media makes jokes about them. Even if "fans" complain about them and their counterparts the Bobblehead fans complain about them, the Protests are doing their job. They are creating attention. Negative attention is still attention and it shines a spotlight on the Organization. Do you think a sports talk show host is going to ridicule a protest without talking about Bob Nutting or some other failing aspect of this team and organization? No. It just all adds up to keeping the Pirates in the media's attention especially during times when Football and Hockey become focal points. You need to create a buzz, you need to keep talk in the media continuous. You don't want Bob Nutting to believe that the bad media has gone away and that he can make whatever decisions he wants without a backlash. These Protests help keep that spotlight on Bob Nutting.

So NO, none of these Protests are going to make Bob Nutting sell. That was never the intent. It's about adding pressure, keeping the spotlight on Bob Nutting and in the end hoping that Bob Nutting and Co. change their tune and become committed to winning. If not, they're already under a microscope and the mounting and continuous pressure from the media and ongoing Protests will usher some sort of change down the road. We just want it to happen sooner. Bob Nutting has the chance to make it happen sooner. These Protests add in helping put pressure on Bob Nutting to make positive changes soon.

IF you're going to take part in these Protests, then that's great. If you're against Ownership and Management and aren't going to take part in these Protests, stop whining and complaining and at least support it. If you claim that a Protest isn't going to be successful while you sit there and complain about it, you're part of the reason why it isn't being successful as you add negativity and bad karma to it.

Ellis Cannon And Paul Alexander Caught

2007-07-17T20:59:00.001-04:00

Inside Sources reveal that FSN's Paul Alexander who was fired by KDKA for being incompetent and Ellis Cannon of 104.7 who should've stayed a lawyer since his sports knowledge rivals a brick were seen leaving Pegasus in Downtown Pittsburgh Saturday Night holding hands. None of this is a surprise to most since it was recent when Joe Starkey was blasting Ellis Cannon for being both an idiot and a shill for the Pittsburgh Pirates ownership. This is when Paul Alexander stepped up and defended his "partner". Too bad that both of them combined share virtually no sports knowledge as they made asses out of themselves while Joe Starkey sat back and enjoyed seeing the 2 little girls whine.

The most interesting aspect of the spotting of Paul Alexander and Ellis Cannon leaving a Gay Bar together is that Paul Alexander was wearing red stiletteo's and Ellis Cannon had a shade of hot pink lipstick on. Patrons of Pegasus said that they noticed what appeared to be a "hickey" on Paul Alexander's neck surrounded by red lipstick. Pirates Owner - Bob Nutting did not leave with the 2 as he was waiting for General Manager - Dave Littlefield to leave the bathroom in which it was reported became a revolving door of patrons as Dave Littlefield stayed inside for over an hour.

Local Plumber Finds Surprise During Housecall

2007-07-17T17:14:00.000-04:00

Local plumber, Pete Papagoftopolous of Biggest Snake in Your Drain Plumbing, Inc., found quite the surprise on a housecall Tuesday morning.

He was called to a residence on Sarah St. on the Southside for a clogged toilet. Upon inspection, Pete saw that there was something deep in the toilet pipes obstructing the flow of water. After using his patented "Big Snake tm", he was shocked to see what the first obstruction was. In the toilet, Mr. Papagoftopolous found Jason Bay's swing and batting average. Said he, "Yeah I mean it didn't surprise me that his batting average and swing were in the toilet, but that it was the actual obstruction struck me as unusual"

After clearing it, the toilet still didn't flush correctly and Pete had to dig deeper. Sure enough, deeper in the toilet he found the rest of the Pirate team. "I knew they were doing bad" he said, "but when things are that deep in the toilet, you know it must be going poorly".

Mr. Papagoftopolous said he was happy to help the woman regain use of her toilet but he's afraid the Pirates will still be in the toilet for the rest of the summer. "Everyone should be aware that the Pirates will be in the toilet for the next couple months. Drano can be used first but if that doesn't work, give me a call".

The final thing that Pete mentioned, and it struck him as odd, was that Ronnie Paulino wasn't found in the toilet with the rest of the team. Mr. Papagoftopolous seems to think that Ronnie Paulino simply isn't stuck in the toilet, he's already at the waste management site.

Bob Nutting's CEO Choices

2007-07-15T20:19:00.001-04:00

When Bob Nutting isn't counting all of the money from Revenue Sharing and Tickets that's going into his bank account he's been looking over some selections given to him for his upcoming CEO hiring. This is an important task for Bob Nutting. Right now he's rightfully so, under a microscope. This decision is going to say a lot about his commitment to winning and the future of this franchise. Luckily for you, The Anti-Nutting has come across a few selections that bob Nutting appears to very high on.

Scrooge McDuck

People told Bob that Scrooge was a cartoon character but Bob Nutting doesn't think that it matters much. "Scrooge has excellent credentials to provide this organization with financial flexibility and have us become a potential World Series competitor. Me and him think along the same lines and have the same visions. His status as a cartoon character is irrelevant. Fans know who Scrooge McDuck is and I think that they'd be excited to have such an icon as CEO of their team".

Cletus "Earl" Vern

Cletus lives in a trailer a few miles down the road from Bob Nuttings estate in West Virginia. Every night it's a family party at Cletus' trailer.

"I believe Cletus would provide this team with the sort of respectability that Fans are looking for. Beyond that, Cletus likes to keep thing "in-house" or in the family and that's very important to me as we try to build this team from within and build a close tight family. Cletus has been married to his sister for 15 years, he has patience and experience".

Word has it that Cletus would be changing the Pierogi Races to Iron City Beer races.

Stephen Stemple

Stephen is an avid baseball fan and a very colorful personality. He's a master at Home Decor and spends his money wisely.

"Stephen is an excellent judge of taste. Me and him have frequented the same bars a few times and had a blast. Stephen would bring a sense of excitement to the team along with overseeing financial thriftiness that a Small Market Franchise like The Pirates needs", Says Bob Nutting.

"I had sssome niccce talksss with Bob the other day. He'sss sssSuper. I told him that I would ssspend wisely but that we needed to overhaul this teamsss image. Piratesss are gross and the colors Black and yellow? Pleasssse those are yuck. I prefer Chartreuse and wine for the color of this team. I would also inssstall track lighting in the Clubhouse for the playerssss along with some comfortable decor." Stephen Sample relied.

Stephen Stemple also added that he was a fan of baseball because baseball players butts look cute in their uniforms. He's also a fan of Latino men and music like Menudo. Pierogi in the Pierogi Races would be replaced with the following: edog, VENOM and Penglose at the Penguins pghlive forum are getting hot thinking of this one..

Penglose

Penglose brings no actual experience, expertise and intelligence to the CEO field. Penglose won an award in 2007 for becoming the first partially brain dead person to reach the age of 50.

"Penglose and I share a lot of common views and opinions", Bob Nutting said. "We both hate the Pittsburgh Penguins. I hate the team personally because they've been making me look bad. It took them 5 years to build a powerhouse and have a solid minor league system while we're on season 15 with a weak MLB team and depleted minor league system. I hate them. Some would say that Penglose wouldn't be an upgrade over Kevin McClatchy since his IQ rivals Dave Littlefield's but I disagree. Penglose would provide us with a lot of gritty, hard hitting Baseball players. They might be on the slower side, resembling statues and not have a lot of talent but we'd be tough on paper."

"What the skirts need to realize is that we don't need wimpy players and flashy guys that hit home runs and drive in runs. We need guys who are tough that could spank me. Speed isn't an issue, because you can't run around toughness. I like men. Big strong men.", Penglose added.

Rumor has it that Penglose is a big fan of Ronnie Paulino's speed. Pierogi's in the Pierogi Races would be replaced by Penglose in a speedo chasing straight men.

Timmy Littlefield

Timmy is Dave Littlefield's newphew. He has down syndrome and is widely regarded as a big upgrade over Dave Littlefield.

"Timmy is an exceptional human being. It would be an adventure with him as CEO since we wouldn't know what to expect next. He would bring intrigue and stability to this franchise", Bob Nutting explained.

"I would fire Uncle Dave. He dumb an smell like poop", Timmy said. "I like progies n at. They're great."

Timmy explained to us that he would add Barney to the Pierogi Races to chase all of the Pierogi's. He's also interested in having Big Bird pitch for the team and Elmo replacing the Pirates Parrot as the teams mascot.

Pirates Drop 3 In A Row

2007-07-15T19:51:00.000-04:00

With the Pirates coming back from the All-Star break and looking pathetic in every aspect in 3 games against the Atlanta Braves, I'm sure some of that optimism that some Pirates Fans were clinging onto for the 2nd half of the season has eroded.It didn't take long for the Pirates to look like The Pirates team from April. No offense, awful pitching, (surprisingly the best performance out of Snell, Gorzelanny and Maholm was Maholm's) and continued incompetent coaching. Have no fear folks, Jim Tracy isn't worried at all.

Jim Tracy states in an interview, "We didn't play very well, but I'm not worried. We'll be fine. Atlanta's a good team and sometimes the ball bounces better for others".

Jason Bay added, "Atlanta's a good team. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other team. I've probably hit 2 balls very well since the beginning of June. Right now all of the teams are really good."

With Ryan Doumit sitting in the dugout, Ronnie Paulino continues to baffle Pirates with performances that make Highschool kids look like annual MLB All-Stars.

One thing is safe to say and that is, DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE. The Pirates are a streaky team. They are made up of a few true MLB caliber players, some young guys with potential and minor leaguers. They are streaky but not good enough to form longer winning streaks than losing streaks. If the Pirates can go 9-4 expect within the next few weeks that they go 4-13. Couple this in with the fact that Jim Tracy could screw up a Tee-Ball team and the odds are stacked against the Pirates.

The one thing that worries me the most were Snell and Gorzelanny's performances. They got hit hard early in their games and if these 2 guys don't have a strong showing in the second half this team is going to be in deep trouble. 100 loses will become an easy prediction.

Recently there's been some news and rumors flying out of the Pirates Clubhouse in between naps before and after the games that Jason Bay is on the search for a new bat. Supposedly he's not been very happy with the results that his old bat is providing and is seeking some new wood. Rumor has it that he's looking for one that has a fatter end on it. Below is a photo of the one he's currently looking into.

New Actions for Change (Protest)

2007-07-11T23:00:00.000-04:00

http://www.piratesfansforchange.com/events.htm

Bob Nutting is preparing to make a critical hire for the CEO slot. We are showing up en mass on August 28th to let Ownership know that our expectations are very high for this critical position. Baseball experience and a commitment to a team payroll well in excess of $50M are prerequisites to this hire. We will not accept a CEO that is merely a lackey for the Nuttings.

FANS FOR CHANGE and IRATES had well over 5,000 participants in the stadium on June 30th. The walk off execution was poor as many walked off after the 2nd inning and others made the personal decision not to walk off. We are done with “walk offs”. We are asking proponents of restoring pennant contending baseball back to Pittsburgh to wear GREEN or IRATEFANS shirts and join us in section 140 on Tuesday August 28th. If section 140 fills up then please join us in the adjacent sections. This game will be against a poor RED’s team that will likely not have a large crowd. This is a perfect opportunity to show the Pirates and the Public that WE ARE TRUE PIRATE FANS and our numbers are strong!

As you buy tickets for this event, please email me at andyc@caracalsemi.com or info@PiratesFansForChange.com and I will have a running total of participants. I’ll start with 5 for my family.

I’m asking you to proactively reach out to disgruntled Pirate Fans. Too many people have expressed their support and wished they were there on June 30th. Get those people to join us on August 28th and we’ll have a bigger crowd than most would think

Remember we accomplished what we did to date with only three weeks of up front effort. Now we have many more talented and spirited people working together. This group grew from nothing and made our voices heard locally and nationally. Now its time to take the next step!

Respectfully,

Andy Chomos

Pirates Fans For Change

Pirates Fans For Change launches Its Website

2007-07-11T19:37:00.000-04:00

The group responsible for the June 30th protest and rally has launched it's Official Website - http://www.piratesfansforchange.com . On behalf of The Anti-Nutting Blog we recommend that all Pirates Fans venture over there and JOIN The PFFC. Andy Chomos has dedicated his time and effort to help in the ultimate cause which is to hold the Ownership of the Pittsburgh Pirates accountable for their actions and make sure that they are aware that there is a vocal crowd out there that isn't pleased with Bobbleheads, Fireworks, Collectors Coins and other hand outs. We want a winner and we want a commitment to winning from either this Ownership or another Owner.

Pirates Fans For Change - http://www.piratesfansforchange.com

Littlefield and Penguins' Shero almost come to blows

2007-07-09T23:23:00.000-04:00

Mounting feelings of resentment, bitterness, and hostility from Pirates’ General Manager Dave Littlefield towards Penguins’ GM Ray Shero almost bubbled over into a physical altercation last night when the two crossed paths at the Grand Course in Station Square. Rumors have been circulating for months that, despite the fact the two barely know one another, Littlefield has had a strong dislike for Shero stemming from the overwhelming support and success he has experienced in his short tenure guiding the Penguins’ franchise.

“He’s really been making me look bad and I’ve kind of gotten sick about hearing about what a great GM he is,” Littlefield said by phone this afternoon.

Witnesses state they saw Shero and Penguins owner Mario Lemieux enjoying a quiet dinner together when Littlefield and an unidentified male companion entered the restaurant and passed by their table. Littlefield stopped and engaged Shero in conversation before appearing to become enraged.

David Friede, a local musician sitting nearby, says, “I saw Littlefield go over to him and shake his hand. The next thing I knew he was waving his hands and screaming ‘You’re making me look like a chump! How dare you!’ If it wasn’t for the guy with Littlefield dragging him off, they would have come to blows.”

All the recent negative publicity he and the Pirates have received lately has apparently finally gotten to Littlefield.

“I can’t take it anymore. I saw him and just snapped,” Littlefield said. “He thinks he’s sooooooo smart. He makes a few good moves and signs a few players and now he’s everyone’s favorite GM in Pittsburgh. It’s not fair.”

Shero certainly has been busy in his short tenure with the team. He has made some shrewd trades and free-agent signings that have taken a team from a Stanley Cup pretender into one of the strongest teams in the NHL. He recently signed superstar in waiting Ryan Whitney to a long-term contract and has apparently convinced Sidney Crosby, widely regarded as the best player in the NHL, to take less money to stay with the Penguins.

“Great, just great,” Littlefield lamented. “Now people will expect me to sign Jason Bay or Freddy Sanchez or make some killer trade. We all know I’m not smart enough to do that though…There’s supposed to be a code amongst Pittsburgh GMs that we don’t show one another up, but I guess he doesn’t know that.”

When reached for comment Shero simply stated, “Is this guy for real?”

Half Season Grades

2007-07-09T22:30:00.000-04:00

This should be fun. Naturally not everyone will agree with grades on players since some people like and dislike players more or less than others. However I'm going to give it a shot

Jim Tracy - F. I already have a bias towards Tracy and think he's a terrible manager. Simply the guy shows no emotion, rarely holds players accountable (Paulino), overmanages some aspects and mismanages others. Tracy appears to be nothing more than someone who fills out roster cards. A 12 year old could do that.

Jason Bay - C. Had one of his worst offensive slumps this year and his defense has regressed this year as well. He used to be "The Man" but hasn't been this season. Power numbers and BA are down. He's on pace for 100+ rbi's but this isn't the same player we've grown accustomed to seeing.

Freddy Sanchez - B. Solid season so far for Freddy. I won't blame his defense since Tracy put him at 2b. Started off slow but also missed Spring Training so that's excusable. He's not hitting like he did last season, but to expect that is unreasonable. Just a solid showing so far.

Xavier Nady - A. The X-Man has exceeded expectations. He's been the teams most consistent hitter this year and has proven that he has some power. A real nice pleasant surprise. Offensive MVP if I had to give that award out. Hopefully it continues.

Chris Duffy - D-. This should be it for Duffy. He hasn't hit well all year, doesn't steal bases enough or is allowed to. Another in a long line of sub-par center fielders we've churned out. Doesn't get an F because he's above average defensively

Adam Laroche - D+. A brutal start to the season. Laroche seemed to strike out almost everytime he was at bat. He's finally started to turn it around. Home Run totals are improving, rbi totals are there. Adam's been excellent defensively which is a nice change from what we've had at that position for years. Hopefully his offense continues to improve. A little too late for this Grade though.

Jack Wilson - D+. Started off the season as the only guy who could hit and then that stopped. One too many brain farts in the field for one of the most vocal members on the team. Isn't earning his paycheck, then again it's questionable that he should be making over $5 million a year. Needs to show more consistency offensively and defensively.

Jose Bautista - B-. Has played excellent 3rd base. Like the rest of this club his hitting is streaky but I thought that Bautisdta would be lucky to hit .260 this season and has stayed above that mark for most of the season. He's right below it currently at .257, but he could make a case for .265-.270 by seasons end. He seems to hit best as a Leadoff hitter. Unfortunately Jim Tracy and his staf of idiots don't see it this way or have the ability to read stat sheets. Needs to show more power. 7 Homers for a 3rd baseman (projected 14 over a full year) is too low.

Ronnie Paulino - F. Just simply brutal. How this guy is still in the lineup is beyond me. Tracy is too comfortable with the Win-Loss stat when Paulino catches, but that stat is inflated since he generally catches all of Snell and Gorzelanny's games. He can't hit, can't play defense, is one of the laziest players I've ever seen. For a big guy, he has no power. Give Doumit a chance to catch Snell and Gorzelanny and see if it's Paulino or not.

Ryan Doumit - A. What more can you ask for out of the guy? He catches, he plays the outfield. He might not be the best at either position but his bat makes up for it. The guy has been fairly consistent all aseason long and kept being benched. Tracy needs to play Doumit as often as possible. You don't keep a consistent hitter on the bench when he could catch or play right field every day. Nady moved to CF or Paulino to back up works for me.

Jose Castillo - Incomplete. The guy hasn't played enough to really give a fair grade to. When he has, his defense IMO has been better than Jack Wilson's at SS. Castillo has always been a disappointment offensively. He should have played more if they plan on trading him and if they don't they're as dumb for not doing it now as they were for not doing it in the off-season. Castillo came to Spring Training in shape and the decision was made before hand. More blunders from the idiots That Run The Pirates.

Nate McLouth - C. As a PH, he's not been very good, but as a starter he's played surprisingly well. He also runs the bases well and does in a limited role what we expected Duffy to do on the base paths.

Rajai Davis - Incomplete. Hasn't played enough to give a fair assessment of. Has shown that he has potential but most likely will see limited playing time/platooning.

Josh Phelps - Incomplete. Hasn't played enough since being here. When he has he has played he either gets a hit or strike outs. In 11 AB's he has 4 hits and 7 strike outs, with 2 walks. If the guy makes contact, he gets on base.

Don Kelly - F. Shouldn't have been on the MLB roster. Was nothing more than a PR ploy by the Front Office to promote a local youngster. Tough to give a kid that shouldn't have been here an F.

Brad Eldred - F. Another guy that shouldn't have been here. It made no sense to bring this guy up to sit on the bench just because he was smacking Home Runs in Spring Training. He wasn't going to be the starter and coming off a big injury should've been playing full time in AAA from the start of the season to help him progress. Eldred likely has little future here but he could be traded and perhaps had he started off in AAA after his decent spring, he might have gotten off to a better start and been worth trading. Another in a long list of blunders by this organization.

Ian Snell - A. What more can you ask for? The guy has a a 2.93 ERA and should have a much better record than 7-5 if he could get run support and Bullpen help. He's cut down his tendency to give up Home Runs and has improved his mental makeup on the mound 100% from last season. These are the guys you like to root for. Snell hates to lose, he's vocal about it and has a chip on his shoulder. He's taken it upon himself to improve and be better and he's succeeded.

Tom Gorzelanny - A. Gorzelanny's M.O. has always been lack of control but he seems to have bettered that this year. Gorzelanny even when he doesn't have his best stuff going for him, still gets the job done. He's a smart pitcher with a great mental make-up that has been consistently good since he came up last season. Another guy like Ian Snell that you can't not root for. Like Snell, Gorzelanny should have more wins than he has but the Bullpen has blown about 3 or 4 big leads that Gorzelanny helped provide.

Zack Duke - F. The guy has struggled since the beginning of the season and was also pretty bad last year. He gives up hit after hit and they're not all little dink hits that luckily land in the field of play like Jim Tracy leads you to believe. Zack Duke gets hit hard and hit often. You don't give up 141 soft or lucky hits in 93.1 innings. He's basically been throwing Batting Practice out there all season long and there hasn't appeared to be anything different in his mechanics, approach etc... to suggest that Jim Colbourn has been attempting to solve Duke's problems. It's also suspect that Colbourn is the one responsible for Duke's downfall.

Paul Maholm - D+. Paul's been as brutal as Zack Duke for most of the first half of this season. It hasn't been until recently that Maholm has turned in some decent performances. You can see that when Maholm has movement on his pitches and isn't trying too hard to locate his pitches, he's pretty effective. Problem with Maholm is that he's inconsistent and with his lack of great pitches and weak fastball, he has to be completely on his game.

Tony Armas Jr. - F-. This guy should never have been signed in the first place. A complete waste of $3 million. If you sit back and think about all of the money that Dave Littlefield has wasted over the years on crappy players and realize that for what he's wasted we could have had a really good player or a couple of decent one's, it really starts to tick you off. Armas Jr. isn't even worth mentioning since he hasn't done anything worth mentioning, except - stink.

John Van Benschoten - C. Except for his last start, JVB has actually been a somewhat effective 4th starter for the Pirates, considering what we were getting from Duke. JVB's biggest issue is control. He throws way too many pitches and too many balls. With an exception of his last outing, JVB has been keeping the Runs against down even if he hasn't been logging a lot of innings, so that in itself is much better than what Duke was giving the team. I don't know if Van Benschoten is a long term guy. His control really needs to improve and seems like he needs more time in the minor leagues. Who knows, maybe he gets off to a good jump after the All-Star break.

Shane Youman - B. Youman has been pretty solid in his couple of starts. I feared for the worst and have been proven wrong. How long Youman can keep this up for is anybody's guess, but so far you can't expect much more for your #5 starter than Youman has provided. Solid.

Matt Capps - A-. Capps has stepped up into the closer's role and has done a great job. Nobody expects him to convert every opportunity, but with the pressures that come along with the role of being a closer, Capps has done well. Despite a period of about a week this year where it seemed like Capps was giving up a run every time he was out there, he's been rock solid for a Bullpen that's been as soft as butter.

John Grabow - D. This guy has completely regressed this year. Grabow is a guy you depend on and he's been far from dependable. Not much else to say except that he's not been very good so far and hopefully something starts clicking for him.

Damaso Marte - A. Marte has been solid in the bullpen all year long. Marte was always the guy that made my stomach churn whenever he would come in to relief with runners on, because you knew he'd give up the hit that would drive them in and then pitch flawlessly afterwards. Now, I'm finding myself praying that Marte comes in. You can't find many faults in a 1.71 ERA.

Shawn Chacon - B+. I really want to give him an A and if someone believes he should be given one, I won't argue. The guy has been a dependable/reliable long reliever this season. After seeing bums like Ryan Vogelsong suck in that role it's nice to see Shawn Chacon doing a great job. He's someone that you can plug into the rotation if need be and get a quality start here and there. You look at his salary and your eyes might bulge out, but for what he's been worth to this team, he's been well worth his salary..... Which means, don't expect to see him here for much longer.

Solomon Torres - C. Started off great and then it all fell apart. This is a guy that eats up innings and maybe it had caught up to him. Perhaps the pressure of being a closer became too much. I'm not really sure, but Torres' days here are numbered after rightfully calling out Dave Litlefield. For that, I gave Torres a C. Any bad PR given to Littlefield especially from players wins me over.

John Wasdin - F. The fact that they keep bringing this guy up and keeping him shows that we have no depth at reliever, poor depth at reliever, incompetence running show or All Of The Above. I'm going to go with All Of The Above. Anytime Wasdin is out there I'm waiting for something bad to happen.

Masumi Kuwata - C. I could give him a higher grade. When Kuwata comes in, in clutch situations he has been pretty effective. The guy's fastball is slower than mine but he knows how to pitch. Problem with Kuwata is that at his age reliability comes into play. He seems to be a guy that needs to be managed effectively to be really effective. Unfortunately Jim Tracy and his staff are here, evidenced by Tracy deciding to keep Kuwata in the other night against the Brewers after Sammy Davis Jr. and his one eye could've seen that Kuwata didn't have it from the get-go, yet Tracy kept him in there to give up hit after hit, run after run and finally a nice big Grand Slam.

McCleary/Sharpless/Kolb/Rogers - F. They've all been bad. You'd think that at least one would've been decent but it seems that as soon as you come up to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jim Tracy and Jim Colbourn feed you a Big Suck Sandwich as a reliever and you are doomed.

It's Official, Nutting Stinks...

2007-07-09T17:30:00.000-04:00

Doing the thorough research that you'd all expect from an upstanding and reputable blog such as this, we now have definite proof of this.

That screen capture is from an old Warner Bros. cartoon starring guess who?

Pepe Le Pew

Yes that's right, as far back as the mid 1900's, folks knew what us Pirate fans have come to know just recently, anything involved with Nutting just plain stinks.

If it turns out that Nutting is French too, that just makes him doubly worse.

Looking back to our glory days

2007-07-09T11:23:00.000-04:00

This is how pathetic we have become.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07190/800338-63.stm

Slow news day for local bucs reporter has him remembering the glory days...when we were 4 games under .500.

Here are some beauties from the article:

"It almost could have been a movie," third baseman Joe Randa said. "It was kind of a misfit group that started believing in each other, guys coming together and gaining each other's trust."

- Yeah Joe, everyone would have flocked to the box office for that one. You guys came together and won 79 games...way to go.

"For some reason, those guys just kind of molded together. It was a good feeling."

- 4 games under .500, it must have been sublime.

Four years removed from their run of three consecutive division championships, the Pirates would retrench. They would take money from payroll and spend it on strengthening the amateur draft, increasing their presence in Latin America and improving the minor-league option.

- Yeah, that has worked out very well for us.

"What's the big deal?" Leyland said a few weeks ago when asked about the '97 Pirates. "I left them a powerhouse."

- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Good one Jim.

The First Half Of The Season

2007-07-09T09:59:00.000-04:00

The First half of the 2007 season has come and gone. There wasn't much difference this season as it was in years past. the Pirates currently find themselves under .500 by 8 games and 9 games out of playoff contention. One thing that Pirates Fans can say is that this might be shaping up to be the most interesting season this team and franchise has been part of in a while...

Interesting you say? Let's start at the Top.

In a bold move and perhaps the boldest, move of Dave Littlefield's tenure, he works out a trade with the Atlanta Braves that sends Pirates closer - Mike Gonzalez and highly regarded minor league SS prospect Brent Lillibridge to Atlanta for Atlanta's left handed power hitting first baseman Adam LaRoche and minor league outfielder Jamie Romak.

Dave Littlefield follows this up with filling the Pirates need for a solid Veteran starting pitcher in acquiring Tony Armas Jr. I'm not sure that there was a sane Pirates Fan around that believe this was a good signing. Especially at the price tag that Armas came with.

The news of LaRoche's signing boosts attendance at Pirates Fest. That's not what's important though, The Pirates released new Friday jerseys and hats. To say that these things are ugly would be an insult to the word "Ugly". The jersey's are RED. The hats have an ugly RED bill on them. They look like something Ronald McDonald would wear. What's wrong with a black jersey with white pinstripes if you want to do somethign different that might actually be well received and sell?

Bob Nutting takes over control of Ownership from Kevin McClatchy. While Nutting had already owned majority stake in the team and McClatchy had about 15%, this move was nothing more than just getting approval from the MLB and putting Bob Nutting into the forefront.

Spring Training had it's up and downs. 1B Brad Eldred shows off his power in Spring Training by basically blasting the seems off of balls in Florida. Freddy Sanchez gets injured. We can thank Jim Tracy for this since it was Tracy's brilliant idea to move the fragile Sanchez to 2nd Base to give Bautista more playing time. A decision ultimately fueled by the organizations displeasure with Jose Castillo. Tom Gorzelanny struggles badly in Spring Training.

The Pirates start the season sweeping the Houston Astros in Houston. I'm sure that this 'caused a collective circle jerk in sections of Pirates Nation. However this was short lived as we dropped the next series to the Cincinnati Reds while the temperatures between that series and the home opener series with the St.Louis Cardinals in which the Pirates were swept in were registering in the 40's.

The Pirates bats struggled badly. So bad that it prompted the media and plenty of Pirates Fans to start demanding hitting coach Jeff Mantos' head and firing. Adam Laroche started off the season practically striking out in every AB. Freddy Sanchez couldn't get a ball to land in open field. Jason Bay looked lost, Ronnie Paulino was settling back into reality after his 2006 campaign. The idea of having Brad Eldred on the MLB roster was definitely stupid since Eldred made Craig Wilson look patient at the plate. Surprisingly enough it was Jack Wilson early on that was hitting well carrying a batting average of close to .300

That pitching staff. The Bullpen started off the season in great form. All of the relievers were doing their jobs and doing them well and then Solomon Torres forgot out to get guys out and throw strikes. Then you have the Starting Rotation. Ian Snell took his 5-Plus ERA from 2006 into the offseason and said that he was going to cut it in half and Tom Gorzelanny proved that Spring Training didn't make a difference to him. Combined, those 2 have been the best duo of pitchers us Fans have seen on a Pirates roster together since the days of Barry Bonds' wearing a Pirates uniform and weighing 180lbs. The rest of the pitching staff stunk. Remember Tony Armas Jr.? Yeah he stunk like expected. Perhaps one of the worst starting pitchers in recent memory. Zack Duke decided to throw Batting Practice in every game and Paul Maholm was trying to imitate Josh Fogg.

The inability of 3/5 of the starting rotation being able to log 5 quality innings, so guys like Armas couldn't even get to the 3rd inning eventually wore down the Bullpen and sent them into a downward spiral.

While all of this is happening Ryan Doumit is hitting everything that crosses the plate. During a time when nobody on the Pirates could hit, Ryan Doumit was. However Jim Tracy decided that it was more important to keep Ronnie Paulino in the lineup. It couldn't have anything to do with Ronnie Paulino hitting the ball because he wasn't and still isn't or that excellent defense he provides since he has a hole in his mitt. For being a big round guy, Paulino let's virtually every ball pass him by. We won't even go into Ronnie running the bases like he has concrete in his cleats and steel boxers on under his pants. Tracy also seemed hell bent to play Chris Duffy in CF. It's not a terrible idea since you have to see what Chris Duffy has, problem is that this took AB's away from the hottest Pirates hitter at the time Ryan Doumit and helped play it's hand in to some loses for the Pirates.

The first half of the season was pretty much more of the same. We saw 7-2 leads turn into loses thanks to Jim Tracy and his brilliant in game management abilities. Tracy is good for leaving relievers in longer than they should be in there when they start getting hit on and scored on. Tracy though will be the first person to use 3 different relievers to get 3 straight outs in an inning. Go figure. Jim Tracy is truly an enigma. He reminds me of my Grandfather. You can't wait to go to Grandpa's house because you'll get whatever you want, whenever you want it for as long as you want. He won't question you or care if you have been good or bad. Instead of spoiling players, Jim Tracy just wants to be your friend. In the end Dave Littlefield hired Fred Rogers to manage the Pirates.

Jim meow Tracy meow meow sucks meow meow!

This all leads us to the 2007 Draft. This is where it completely hits rock bottom for the Pirates. With Bob Nutting taking over for Kevin McClatchy this past winter this was Bob's chance to put his stamp on the team. He stepped up in to the limelight. Many Draft analysts, fans, media and talk show hosts never saw this one coming. With catcher Matt Weiters sitting there for the Pirates to take, this was going to be too easy. Weiters got comparisons to Joe Mauer, was considered a can't miss prospect, a guy to build around, a future All-Star, one of the best prospects in years.

The catch? Scott Boras was his agent. The Pirates have refused to deal with Scott Boras because Boras asks for prices too high for Pirates ownership to even look at. Not that they can't afford it, it's just that they won't spend the money. Weiters was likely to get a somewhere around the ballpark of a $10 Million signing bonus. It was worth it for the player and it was worth it for this franchise and ownership to make a statement. They opted against doing the right thing and chose Daniel Moskos. A college Reliever. He wasn't even the best pitcher available at the time. He's not even a guy that can be seriously turned into a starting pitcher. Heck Moskos' stats aren't even that impressive. Moskos was surely surprised and likely disappointed to be drafted by the Pirates. He's probably marking his calendar now for future arm surgery.

This fueled the media and True Pirates fans to the point where a Fan Protest was organized. When you think about it, it is really a shame that it had taken 14-Plus years for Pirates Fans to organize a protest rally.

The protest was held on Saturday, June 30th. Organizer Andy Chomos arranged for Dock Ellis to appear outside of PNC Park and speak on behalf of the fans as part of a Pre-Game rally. Fans were to wear green shirts to that game and walk out into the concourse area for an inning after the 3rd inning. This caught the attention of various media sources and the talk was great. Local, Regional and National media sources talked about this and started talking about the incompetent ownership and management of this team. This was the greatest success of the Protest Rally. The Protest itself wasn't quite as successful as only a few hundred to a few thousand (depending on what sources you read) walked out. Plenty of Green Shirts stayed in their seats. Those people are idiots as far as I'm concerned. I suppose watching the Pirates beat up on an even worse Washington Nationals team gave some the belief that they were watching the Pirates beat up on someone important.

Which leads us to Kevin McClatchy announcing that he will step down as CEO of The Pirates after the 2007 season. Great news for all Pirates Fans. In the end this could all mean nothing and be nothing more than window dressing, but Kevin McClatchy leaving is good news. If it is window dressing and a smoke screen there will be no arguments about who is pulling the strings and making the decisions since the team is ultimately The Nuttings now. This is Bob Nuttings chance to be an owner that is truly committed to winning and at the same time end up making Kevin McClatchy look real bad. Or Bob Nutting will continue pocketing money like everyone from Forbes to my Grandmother expects. We'll see.

We'll leave this with the Pirates latest on the field achievements. Before the All-Star break, The Pirates defense played at a high level, breaking previous records for string of games not allowing an error. Adam LaRoche remembered how to hit, Xavier Nady the offensive MVP for the Pirates this season continued his tear and the offense has come on big behind excellent pitching where the Starters are averaging around 6 innings with the bullpen rebounding. Winning their last 4 series in a row since being swept by the Los Angeles Angels and registering a record of 9-4 during that span there's a lot of optimism going around...

So where does that lead us? Well, don't get excited about the trade Deadline as long as Dave Litlefield and Ed Creech are still employed. I'm sure it'll give us a lot to Blog about. Don't get excited about the second half of the season. If the first half of this season is any indication - Second half of seasons don't matter. The Pirates F.O. spin machine tried to sell that one during this past off-season and it meant nothing. Another 37-35 finish is unlikely as well. The Pirates are a hot and cold team, one of the streakiest teams in MLB. The players are extremely streaky and the coaching staff seems uninterested in winning just as they seem uninterested in losing. What will be interesting is seeing who Bob Nutting hires as a replacement for Kevin McClatchy. This will top off this season which has been interesting already. If it goes as well as us fans hope, the off-season should be quite exciting and entertaining too.

Right now, just sit back and don't expect much. The Pirates likely won't finish the season above .500.

Jason Bay Gets New Contact Lenses

2007-07-08T22:10:00.000-04:00

Pirates slugger, Jason Bay finally got his new contact lenses Saturday afternoon. The result was instantaneous as Bay hit a homerun, drove in 4 runs and went 2 for 4. This equaled Bay's production for the past 4 weeks, total. Here's what Jason Bay had to say about all of this.

"I haven't been seeing the ball very well lately", Bay said in his post game interview after the Pirates defeated the Chicago Cubs 6-2. "Sometimes I saw 2 or 3 balls being thrown. Sometimes I'd swing, most times I'd just watch them go by since the confusion was too much. I approached Jim (Tracy) about this and he told me not to worry and that I'd be fine."

When asked about how Bay discovered he needed new contact lenses he responded,

"It's strange, I saw my wife the other night and asked her when she got the third breast. That didn't go over very well so I decided to see an Optometrist. Later on I discovered that Freddy Sanchez switched mine and Ronnie Paulino's contact lenses. I guess Freddy wanted to make the All-Star team and with me always being the default member from the Pirates to make the team, he figured this upped his chances".

In other news, Ronnie Paulino is on a mission to find a new catcher's mitt.

"This one isn't working very well", Paulino said, "I told Jimmy (Tracy) about the ineffectiveness of my catcher's mitt and he told me not to worry and that I'd be fine."

After months of trying to find a new catcher's mitt, Paulino still hasn't found a perfect fit.

"I'm still searching for the perfect mitt. Since my hands are fatter than most catcher's, finding a mitt that is comfortable and can automatically catch balls has been a difficult endeavor. I'll find one at some point. Jimmy (Tracy) doesn't seem to be worried and that's all that matters. I bring a lot of other things to this team".

In one other bit of news, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company - Copenhagen has approached Pittsburgh Pirates skipper, Jim Tracy about a possible sponsorship. Information that has leaked out has Jim Tracy appearing in Copenhagen ads that would appear in various Nascar, Guns, Hunting, Fishing, and Tractor Supply magazines for the rights to produce a Jim Tracy bobblehead at Pirates game showcasing Manager Tracy with a huge wad of chew in his bottom lip and a brass spittoon at his feet. Details should be released later.

Do the Pirates Need a Machio?

2007-07-08T20:45:00.000-04:00

The Pirates: Creating Satirical Fodder since 1992. Shouldn't that be our new slogan? In light of this new (and yes downright witty 'Onion' article and others from the 'Onion and Deadspin) we are just easy pickins. Let's look though at the root of why this is. Why do the Pirates lose so much. At the core are simply some of the worst business decisions we've ever seen. In fact, I dare say these decisions rival the worst business decision I've ever seen:

Terry Silver blowing his chance to restore Cobra Kai to greatness with his whole "win a point/lose a point" system in 'The Karate Kid III".

Let's revisit that debacle of business smarts for some perspective on just how bad the Pirates business decisions have been. Terry Silver, the owner and purveyor of many toxic waste dumps in the greater L.A. area in the late 80's had it all. He wanted to help his friend John Kreese rebuild his once proud Cobra Kai dojos. To do that though, he had to dispatch of Daniel (a 30 year old Ralph Machio) once and for all and then Cobra Kai would reclaim their lost respect and be a profitable business again.

Ok, so follow me here. Silver brings in a ringer, Mike Barnes, to beat Daniel's ass in the same tournament he won. Silver even goes so far as to hand out Cobra Kai t-shirts to everyone in attendance (where have we heard this one before?) to drum up support. Now, skipping to the final fight (Which how does the defending champion only have to fight in just the final and not get through the whole tourney to defend his title? That's another beef for another day) it's clear the Barnes is gonna whoop Daniel. Silver though, not content with just winning, which would give him his successful Cobra Kai franchise and more money (the smart move) wants Daniel punished and orders Barnes to "win a point/lose a point", losing a point by illegal, yet painful punches, to Larusso. Yada, yada, yada, Daniel gets lucky and pulls a crap move to beat Barnes and crushes Silver's budding empire in the process.

What does this have to do with the Pirates and what do we learn from this?

First, simply giving away shirts and trinkets does not build loyalty when the fans realize they're backing a loser. Fans would much rather back a winner (Daniel) than a loser (Silver) even if the loser tries to bribe them for their loyalty.

Second, the Pirates need to understand that sound business decisions, often the easiest to make (therefore uncomplicated), often return your investment much easier. Overthinking, and therefore muddying the situation (Freddy not starting last year and playing/paying Randa instead for example). All Silver had to do was have Barnes crush Daniel (and not the "lose a point" garbage) and he'd be living the L.A. high life right now.

So where does this leave us? Do we need a Machio to beat Silver (Nutting)? Perhaps. Maybe though, just maybe, we simply need Nutting to learn from the lessons brought on by the great American film, "The Karate Kid III"...Type Your Summary Here (Delete this message when you are finished).

Pirate Parrot blasts Pirates

2007-07-08T18:54:00.000-04:00

In recent months, Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting and General Manager Dave Littlefield have had the heat turned up on them by fans finally fed up with 14 consecutive losing seasons of baseball. Fans planned a walkout and newspaper and blogspots have been abuzz with criticism and condemnation. Former, and current, players have also come out against the team and Littlefield, going as far as to call the GM “untrustworthy” and a “liar.” However, the most recent to come out against the team and the higher-ups may surprise you—the team’s mascot, the Pirate Parrot.

“I’m fed up,” the team’s mascot since 1979 said over a lunch of birdseed and pierogis last week. “It’s hard to go out there and pump the crowd up when the team stinks so bad.”

It is a mascot’s job to root the team on no matter what, so it might be hard to understand how the Parrot can be so critical. He has always been a fan favorite and is one of the most loyal and recognizable figures in the sports mascot world, so this outpouring speaks volumes to a growing unrest.

“When you have players like Ronnie Paulino and Zach Duke stinking it up every night, and seeming not to care, it’s hard to support that. Hell, Paulino has put on more weight than I did in the early 80’s…And I'd at least run out a ground ball.”

Did the Parrot support the walkout, where fans left their seats after the 3rd inning to protest Bob Nutting’s refusal to commit the team’s profits to the payroll?

“I’ve been asked to defer all questions on that matter to the front office. I’m sorry.”

Despite the non-answer, The Parrot’s beefs with the team don’t stop with the players on the field.

“Dave Littlefield tricked me into signing a long-term contract, for much less than a fair market value. And I really resent him for it. He’s a liar.”

The Parrot could have become a free agent at the end of the 2008 season, but signed a new 20-year contract last summer.

“Pittsburgh is where I started out and where I always want to be. But I could have made a lot more money had I hit the open market. It was Dave’s promise to me that the Pirates would invest in and eventually buy my mascot training school that made me give them such a home town discount. But that promise was never fulfilled.”

The school the Parrot is talking about is a very highly regarded facility in Florida that trains mascots for professional sports teams. It was founded by the Parrot in a joint venture with Mr. Met in 1998. Ironically, Captain Jolly Roger, a Pirate mascot who debuted in 2006, emerged from that school and has stolen much of the Parrot’s thunder as of late.

So where does that leave things?

“I signed a contract, so I’m here. But I don’t like it.

Nuttings New Plan

2007-07-08T12:44:00.000-04:00

Nuttings new plan

PITTSBURGH, PA. -"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

With these 13 words, taken from the Academy Award winning "Network", Bob Nutting kicked off his impromptu press conference yesterday.

It has been seven months now since Bob Nutting replaced Kevin McClatchy as the "face" of the Pittsburgh Pirates management/ownership team. Yesterday he announced his new plan to right this sinking ship. Unsatisfied with the performance of the entire front office (including his own) this season, Nutting says that there is only one solution, one so drastic that Pirate fans will be shocked.

Asked to grade his own performance to date, Nutting responded without hesitation, "A big fat stinkin' F". He added, "This is disgusting. I penny-pinch, I hire people who are 100% incompetent and I give them contract extensions, and I refuse to authorize a $10 million signing bonus for a great prospect. In a nutshell I suck out loud."

This reporter agrees, but what is his new plan to effect change in the Pirates hierarchy and the teams fortunes?

"I am boycotting myself." Nutting said emphatically.

"Today I will wear a green shirt representative of my own greed, and will walk out of the game at the beginning of the 3rd quarter." When informed that baseball has innings and not quarters Nutting replied, "See, see what I mean. I have no business running a baseball franchise. Until I wise up and do what's best for this franchise, for the team and the fans of this team, I will not attend another Pirates game."

We'll soon find out if Bob Nutting is a man of his word.

Coming soon:

After Pirate 1st baseman Adame Laroche's recent tear (including taking 3 of 4 from the Brewers), Commissioner Bud Selig is considering adding ADD medication to MLB's banned substance list.

Top Ten Littlefield lies

2007-07-07T20:35:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week, CJ Nitkowski basically called Dave Littleyield a liar. Here's an exerpt--

".....Unfortunately Dave has a bad reputation among players as well. Before I joined their organization I had heard a lot of bad things about not being able to trust the general manager there. I am an open minded guy and always give someone the benefit of the doubt regardless of what others say about him/her.....They weren't wrong....At the end of the 2006 season I wrote Dave a letter and bullet pointed 10 things he lied to me about since I signed with the Pirates the previous off-season. I titled it "fallacious list"....I looked back at it recently and got a good a laugh, unfortunately all 10 of my points were 100% accurate, that part wasn't funny...." http://myespn.go.com/conversation/story?id=2926264

Those ten lies 'Super' Dave said were not originally published, but I was able to track them down.

10. "These pants are really a size 32."
9. "I don't think Ronnie Paulino has a weight problem."
8. "Sure, we'll buy Salomon's academy."
7. "Bob Nutting is a really swell guy."
6. "I firmly believe Jim Tracy is the right man for the job."
5. "I swear I thought she was 18."
4. "I think this team will be fine with Chris Duffy as our leadoff hitter."
3. "That wasn't me you saw. That must be one damn attractive transvestite though."
2. "I think I'm pretty well respected around the league."
1. "Moskos will be the perfect pick for this team."

Smizik - Remember McClatchy As The Guy Who Saved This Franchise

2007-07-07T10:47:00.000-04:00

Here we go with Bozo The Clown, Bob Smizik to jump on board with his apologetic, butt-kissing B.S. Can this moron ever stay consistent with his opinions? Too bad for Bob Smizik that Kevin McClatchy wasn't the Saint that he's leading us all to believe he was.

Kevin McClatchy had become useless in his role as Pirates CEO. Many would contend that he's been useless since he jumped on board to get PNC Park built. He had no experience to operate this franchise effectively and he got the position as a payoff for organizing the original buyoutFor 12 years his incompetence and mismanagement has made this franchise one of MLB's laughing stocks.

In addition to being incompetent, good ole Kevin:

- Has openly lied to the public.

- Has stolen public funding.

- Helped to create the current ineffective CBA buy selling us out for an All Star Game.

- Sold off any chance of making it to the playoffs now or any time soon.

- Ineptitude caused many of the original investors to leave paving the way for the Nuttings to come in and take over control which led to their milking of MLB’s cash cow for the past 4 years.

At some point I'm going to get really over-annoyed at sports writers and the media saying that Kevin McClatchy had the best interests of this franchise in mind as if that is suppose to make everything alright. People get judged on results. I don't care what their "interests" were. If the results aren't good, their "personal interests" don't mean squat. Perhaps Kevin McClatchy should have used his "best interests" for this franchise and not waited for ever to fire Cam Bonifay or hire Dave Litlefield. Perhaps he should've fired Dave Littlefield a few seasons. The problem with Kevin McClatchy is that he sat back and hoped. You knew he did when you would read his interviews. He always spoke about how he supported this loser or that loser and thought we were always going in the right direction. Maybe the best direction for Kevin McClatchy was one that enabled him to line his pockets with cash while being part of a group that supported mediocrity.

Thanks for buying the Pittsburgh Pirates and keeping them here Kevin. Everything else you've done has been crap.

(Thanks to MrBaseball09)

Poll: 73 Percent Of Pirates Fans Unable To Believe This Shit

2007-07-07T09:50:00.000-04:00

PITTSBURGH, PA. –According to the latest Gallup Poll, conducted Monday and Tuesday of this week, nearly three out of four Pirate Fans can no longer believe this shit.

In addition to the 73 percent of Pirate fans who described this shit as "beyond belief," 9 percent said they could "hardly" believe this shit, with another 5 percent "just barely" believing it. An additional 13 percent said they "couldn't give a flying fuck about the whole goddamn thing."
The poll also found that the Nutting National Shit-Credulity Index (NNSCI) has hit an all-time low, with only 2 percent of Pirate fans describing themselves as "fully confident of [their] capacity to believe this shit."

"The Pirate fans have had to deal with this kind of shit for years," Gallup Organization president Lee Sanderson said, "but now, for the first time, it appears that the vast majority of them just can't fucking believe it anymore."

"In all honesty, who can blame them?" Sanderson added. "Regardless of one's political affiliation, socioeconomic status, religion or just about any other viewpoint, you've got to admit for Pirate fans, the shit that's been going on lately is way out of hand."

In the wake of the poll, many Pirate fans are calling upon ownership to get their shit in gear.
"The Pirate fans have had it up to here with this shitheap," said James Schuerholz, president of the PA.-based Bucco Foundation. "There is a public mandate for the Nuttings and Littlefield to cut this shit out, and it's high time they finally did."

Another disgruntled Pirate fan, Wenatchee, PA, tractor salesman Tom Huard, summed up the sentiments of most Pirate fans when, holding up the sports page of the Post Gazette after yet another Pirate's loss, to friend Benjamin Pritchard, he said, "Jesus, Ben, can you believe this shit?"
"Shit, no," Pritchard replied.

Stolen and edited from TheOnion.

7-6-07 Cubs @ Pirates

2007-07-07T03:10:00.000-04:00

Tonights matchup featured Jason Marquis (6-4) vs Paul Maholm (4-11). Maholm was 3-0 vs the Cubs lifetime entering tonights game

Maholm helped himself early in the bottom of the 2nd tonight when he hit a bases loaded 2 RBI single off Marquis. The top of the third though was another story. A leadoff double by catcher Rob Bowen in the 8 hole led to a sacrifice bunt by Marquis. However, with urging from catcher Ryan Doumit, Maholm fielded the bunt and made a very bad decision by trying to get the runner at third. It didn’t work. With runners on first and Third, Alfonso Soriano came up and hit a deep fly ball to center field Scoring Bowen. Also on the play The Pitcher…yes, the pitcher…tagged up and went from first to second. Marquis would eventually score on a wild pitch that should have easily been stopped by Doumit.

Score tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the 3rd when Freddy Sanchez hit a lead off homer over the left field wall. 2 batters later Xavier Nady Crushed a ball 20 feet over the deepest part of the field traveling approximately 450 feet. Marquis never even bothered to turn around.

Bottom of the 5th inning, Nady gets on first and Doumit crushes a double to the opposite field easily scoring Nady from first. After a Jason Bay pop out, Jose Bautista hits a double scoring Doumit.

Maholm dodged a bullet in the top of the sixth with 2 on and Pagan at bat, Pagan smacks one down the left field line that just missed becoming a 3 run home run. Pagan then grounds out to end the inning.

Headed to the bottom of the sixth still 6-2 Pirates, with sanchez on second and Laroche on first, Nady gets up and crushes a double to left scoring sanchez. 7-2 Pirates headed to the seventh. Maholm got thru the 7th and was due to bat third in the bottom of the 7th. Surprisingly, Tracy allowed Maholm to bat even though he was already over 100 pitches on the night.

Maholm started the 8th by giving up weak singles to the first two batters before Tracy decided to make a managerial decision to take him out. Nice job Tracy, one inning too late. Chacon came on and walked Derek Lee to load the bases with no outs. Aramis Ramirez then hit a sac fly scoring one run. Next Batter Mark DeRosa does the same and scores another run. Both those runs were credited to Maholm…again, Nice job Tracy. Chacon then gets Pagan to end the inning, score now 7-4 Bucs. Nate McLouth hit a book rule double to lead off the bottom of the 8th and scored on a Sanchez double down the left field line.

8-4 Bucs Headed into the 9th. Damaso Marte closed it out for the bucs with a great play by Jack Wilson to snag a blooper into left field and then double up the runner that was on second base.

Paul Maholm got the win, despite Tracy trying his hardest to take it from him, to move to 5-11 on the season and 4-0 all time vs the Cubbies. Jason Marquis took the loss to move to 6-5.

My player of the game is Paul Maholm who went 7 innings with 5 hits and 4 earned runs. Two of which I feel should be credited to Tracy for an absolutely foolish decision to leave Maholm in there in the 8th inning. Xavier Nady gets an Honorable Mention for going 3-4 with a HR and 2 RBI’s. Tracy gets my idiot of the game award for almost screwing up a great performance by his players by leaving Paul Maholm in for too long.

McClatchy stepping down a good thing? I don't think so....

2007-07-07T01:56:00.000-04:00

Anyone dancing in the streets that Kevin McClatchy is stepping down as CEO, don't twist any ankles over your excitement. Good for the Pirates?? Hardly.

Despite the ineptitude of the last decade plus, I firmly believe Kevin McClatchy wanted to win. He was always there, sitting in his Bucco hat behind home plate, rooting the team on. He claimed that, if Pittsburgh built PNC Park, that the Pirates would use the revenue to field a competitive team. He WAS the one who really saved baseball in Pittsburgh. He IS the one we have to thank for still having a team. I do believe that he had the commitment and intention of following through on that promise of spending money and winning. However, once Nutting had to come aboard, McClatchy unfortunately did not have the stake, or the "storied" business history, that his counterpart had in the Pirates. I can't honestly place blame on McClatchy/ Littlefield, without first recognizing how hard Nutting made their job. I believe that McClatchy was always second fiddle to Nutting in this endeavor and never had the balls, nor brains, to overcome Nutting's greed. McClatchy's fingerprint's are certainly over much of the Pirates failures over the last decade. But one certainly has to question what he and Dave Littlefield might have been able to accomplish had it not been for the restrictions imposed by Bob Nutting.

Those who see the change in the Pirates ownership as a sign of positive change, look harder and get ready for things to get worse, before they get better. McClatchy wanted to win. He was just too powerless, or too gutless, to do so. The next CEO will be Nutting's lackey. The will be no debate of drafting a Moskos. No debate of signing a Bay to a long term extension. Nutting will get someone who won't argue or debate him. Why do you think McClatchy stepped down now? Do you think these two were getting along or agreeing? McClatchy could see this Pirate ship needed to be righted. Nutting just couldn't care less as long as he's pocketing his cash. That's why McClatchy's gone.

Do Not Be Fooled

2007-07-06T22:07:00.000-04:00

The BoobleHead Nation will take these last 8 out of 11 as a sign of progress. But do not let the fact Xavier Nady and Adam LaRoche are hitting well insinuate that all of a sudden Dave Littlefield and Bob Nutting are the second coming of Branch Rickey and Charlie Finley. There are still MAJOR problems in the scouting and development divisions (cf: Aramis Ramirez) that will not be hidden by a great run by the Buccos (and would should not discount their great play against the Cubs and Brewers). So Bobblehead Nation go get your little trinkets from Peter Minuit and sit with your heads in your reversible hats while we sail along to another losing season.

Reactions To McClatchy Leaving

2007-07-06T22:01:00.000-04:00

The Associated Press released reactions to Kevin McClatchy leaving. PSI posted it on their website as well. I guess it's no surprise that Fans weren't asked to give a reaction. It sure wouldn't have made for a nice farewell celebration that is of course unless you asked one of thousands of sheep that parade into PNC Park so they can grab their Bobbleheads and seats for fireworks. Kevin McClatchy would get so full of sunshine that he'd crap a drought.

So, let's take a look at these "reactions" and "comments" and add our own.

“Kevin McClatchy saved the Pittsburgh Pirates. He assumed control of the franchise amid considerable turmoil and during the worst economic period in baseball history. Under his direction, the Pirates built one of the true jewels in Major League Baseball, PNC Park, and the Club showcased its terrific city and its magnificent ballpark in memorable fashion at the 2006 All-Star Game. I thank Kevin for his tireless efforts on behalf of the great Pittsburgh franchise.” - Baseball commissioner Bud Selig.

Bud Selig was a bad joke before he made these comments. I'm sure that Bud could care less if Kevin McClatchy called it quits. He apparently doesn't seem to care that Kevin and Bob Nutting have been taking MLB revenue sharing money and tax payer money and pocketing it. Bud apparently only cares that PNC Park was built. Rumor has it that Bud Selig has had affairs with random farm animals.

“Eleven years ago, Kevin McClatchy came to town at a critical time in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates - one that almost saw the team leave or region. Today, the Pirates are firmly rooted here in Pittsburgh and playing in America’s best ballpark thanks to Kevin’s dedication and resolve.” - Allegheny County chief executive Dan Onorato.

Dan Onorato. Another pile of feces that cares only that PNC Park got built. Dan Onorato is good for swinging from everyone's nuts.

“Today is not a great shock to me. Kevin and I have had these discussions going back some time. It really was a mutual decision as we zeroed in on a time. Even though I expected it and I knew it was coming, everyone in the organization is approaching this with a little bit of sadness and a sense of loss, because Kevin has meant so much individually (to the employees) as well as to the franchise.” - Pirates principal owner Bob Nutting on McClatchy’s decision to leave this year.

Translation being that The Nuttings had slowly bought out shares and became majority owners and didn't need Kevin McClatchy's hand in the basket anymore.

“I have no idea is the honest answer. I’m going to get through the next three months, that’s really all I care about, watching this team finish strong. After that if something comes along, time will tell. I love sports and the passion will always be there and will always be there for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I haven’t even thought about it. I wanted to deal with this and get through the next three months and watch this team play better.” - McClatchy on what he will do next.

Nobody really cares. Thanks for buying the team and keeping it here. PNC Park was luck, you've been as useless as Tits on a bull in regards to everything else. Enjoy spending tax payers money that you kept instead of putting it back into payroll.

“By doing this right now, before the All-Star game, it signifies there’s a very important job in major league baseball. It will allow the best candidates to come forward. If I had announced this in October, by the time you get someone hired, your planning sessions, your budget, everything that goes into making up a season (are over). You want to get somebody in place toward the end of this season so they can put their fingerprint on what goes forward.” - McClatchy on why he is announcing the decision now.

I cant wait to see who is brought in. Since the last guys that McClatchy and Nutting chose for an important role with this club were Dave Littlefield and Jim Tracy. A lot of good that's done us. Jim Tracy makes Chuck Tanner look like he's on speed and Dave Littlefield wasn't bright enough to ride the short bus. Let's shoot for a Tifecta!

“We’re going to play better. I’m looking forward to coming back from the All-Star game and watching a much stronger second half. I don’t know where we’re going to end up, but I’m going to enjoy watching us play better.” - McClatchy on what he expects the rest of the season.

If it's a better record than what the Pirates got in the first half, you can bet your life savings that they will milk this into the next season, give Fans and the general public a false sense of hope while keeping payroll under $40-50 million and getting idiot sponsors to make bobbleheads of scrubs like Ronnie Paulino.

“It’s important we get a candidate who can move this franchise forward and move it forward particularly as we look at the won-lost record.” - Nutting on what he seeks in McClatchy’s successor.

Translation being that Bob Nutting will be seeking someone that doesn't question how much money gets spent on payroll and draft picks. Someone that has been around baseball, success doesn't matter much (see : Littlefield, Dave). Someone that they can milk the heck out of as a form of smoke and mirrors to give fans and bobblehead collector's a false sense of hope. Who knows, we might even get a new 5 year plan!

Update

2007-07-06T20:19:00.000-04:00

Apparently there is a Furry convention in town. People who like to dress up like fictional characters... animals. They were making a lot of noise and keeping the Brewers awake. Coincidentally the Cubs have made different arrangements and will not be staying in that hotel this weekend.

OH well, the other story was fun while it lasted.

Brewers Party Hardcore

2007-07-06T13:14:00.000-04:00

Rumor has it that the Pittsburgh Pirates had a little help in their victories over the Brewers. Apparently the Brewers shared a hotel with a group of female porn stars that were in town for a show at one of the area Strip Clubs. The Brewers were reportedly chasing these girls all over the hotel until all hours of the morning. Apparently it got so bad that the Brewers management changed Hotels for the last night. Again, this is a rumor I am hearing, more on this as I get more details.

Kevin McClatchy To Step Down As CEO

2007-07-06T10:33:00.000-04:00

CEO of The Pittsburgh Pirates, Kevin McClatchy has informed the team's employees at PNC Park this morning that he plans to step down at the end of the 2007 season.

Kevin McClatchy as we all know is the guy responsible for buying the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1996 and then slashing payroll to $9 million. He was the first excuse monger. Kevin stated that he needed a new Stadium to remain competitive with other baseball teams. He needed a new Stadium to field a competitive team and to get the revenues needed to field a winner. Kevin got that new Stadium and the winner never happened. He was responsible for hiring Dave Littlefield, who while as General Manager hasn't fielded a team that has gotten to .500.

Who knows what this is actually signaling if it is signaling anything at all. Most of us saw the writing on the wall for Kevin McClatchy when Bob Nutting took over a lot of Kevin McClatchy's prior duties before the 2007 season started. The one question is that if Kevin McClatchy steps down as CEO, is he still part of the shareholders or is he selling off his shares and getting completely out? It is strange that McClatchy who bought the team and organized his group which included Ogden Nutting, Bob Nutting's father who looks like Mr.Burns from The Simpson's, didn't wait around until a sale of a team could be made. The pay out would've been great. I suppose it is safe to assume that McClatchy made his investment back and of course reaped some profits along the way as himself and Scrooge McNutting enjoyed taking Tax payers money and George Steinbrenner's money.

One thing that I can say about Kevin McClatchy is that the guy seemed like he did want to win. He didn't have the knowledge to do so, didn't surrounded himself with intelligent Baseball people and didn't help with the decisions he made (hiring Dave Littlefield and not increasing payroll/keep payroll above a certain number consistently). Bob Nutting on the other hand runs the Pirates strictly as a personal business, not as a Sports Franchise.

Step by Step the dreadful past of the Pirates last 14-Plus seasons keeps getting erased. If only we had an eraser large enough to rid ourselves of Bob Nutting.

3 out of 4 From the Brewers

2007-07-06T01:28:00.000-04:00

Who'd have thought that the Pittsburgh Pirates would've taken 3 out of 4 games from the first place Milwaukee Brewers? Bob Nutting of course didn't as he sits in plush owner's seat counting revenue from all of the Trash Collector's that walk through the gates at PNC Park. However the Pirates showed that they could hang and beat the best of them...

Entering PNC Park for this 4 game home stand against the Brewers it looked bleak. The Pirates didn't have much of a chance. Sure they had their 2 best pitchers going in this series (Snell and Gorzelanny) but that doesn't mean much when the Pirates Bullpen is about as useless as Ronnie Paulino's catcher's mitt. This didn't matter as the Pirates pulled out the series win and actually got strong efforts from all of their starting pitching. With the exception of Brain Dead manager Jim Tracy who looks like he was a cast member in Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video, keeping Kuwata in after he gave up hit after hit, run after run to put the first game out of reach, the Pirates did well.

Speaking of doing well, it looks like Adam Laroche has found his stroke. If you look at his stats, it's pretty amazing that this guy takes 3 months before he starts lighting it up. You'd have thought that somewhere along the line, this habit would've been broken. Nonetheless the guy is smacking Homers, driving runners in, looking slick in the field. He's everything Pirates Fans were expecting in April and didn't get until the end of June. One person who has to be happy is Gomer Pyle... er... General Manager, Dave Littlefield.

Ryan Doumit showed some pop in his bat against the Brewers. Which means Jim Tracy will bench him so we can get some more of Ronnie Paulino's .238 Batting Average and Defense that makes an over-50 Softball league look like Gold Glovers.

Lost at Sea

2007-07-05T23:44:00.000-04:00

Damn you Adam LaRoche. Damn you for coming out of your slump and roping me back into this hopelessly lost season.

I am a die hard Pirates fan. I have been ever since my dad started taking me to games when I was old enough to sit still long enough to last 9 innings. My parents were divorced when I was two and, not knowing how else to relate to me much thereafter, my pops would take me out to ball games a couple times a month in the summer. I'm 31 now and the team in that era was a lot like it is now --pretty pathetic -- but it didn't matter...In those days you could actually bring food into the stadium. My dad would pick me up, we'd hit the Rax (mmmmm, yum!) on the way to the stadium, buy 4 roast beefs and fries, and get a couple seats in the outfield. The Pirates lost more than they won, but I was young and didn't care. Some of my most treasured memories come from those days at Three Rivers. I still have the Jason Thompson homerun ball my dad caught and I have pictures of myself with Chuck Tanner and Tony Pena hanging on my wall.

Damn you Bob Nutting. Don't you know you own one of the greatest sports teams in the world? Why don't you care??

When the Pirates were kicking butt and taking names in the early 90's, I couldn't be happier -- or more crushed when they were ushered out of the playoffs. I don't think I missed more than 10 games in those three years. I kept a scrap book of clippings and game recaps that got unbelievably large. I saved all my paper route, birthday, and Christmas money so I could buy tickets for all the playoff games and World Series, the latter of which I sadly never got to use. There was no better feeling than going to a playoff baseball game in the 'Burgh. I want that feeling again.

Damn you Ronnie Paulino. Have you ever heard of running out a ground ball or the words 'plate discipline'? You're a major leaguer, act like it!

I moved to New York years ago and my love for the Pirates has never wavered -- until this year. I can't and would never, ever be able to root for the Mets or Yankees. Each year I start getting that Pirate fever itch in March and my hope for a great season swells in my heart. I shell out the bucks for the Bucs on the MLB package and watch about 90% of the games a year. I avoid scores on TV's or taxi cabs on nights I'm out so I can go home and watch the game on my DVR. I proudly wear my Pirates hats and Jerseys in front of New Yorkers who love to mock the team we love.....And I'm finally starting to feel like a sucker.

Damn you Abner Doubleday...Damn you for inventing the greatest game in the world.

I can't help loving baseball and loving the Pirates. But this ownership is just ridiculous. The notion that they have a commitment, or intention, to win is laughable. Change needs to happen...NOW. My disappointment in losses has turned to anger and resentment. For the first time, I actually don't care much about coming into town to catch a game. I don't want to go out of my way to put money in their pockets...And if they're losing me, they're losing and have lost other less passionate fans. Pittsburgh needs and deserves an ownership group that will honor the sacred tradition of this franchise.

Give us our team back Bob Nutting! Please!

We're Just Getting Started

2007-07-05T23:31:00.000-04:00

Welcome to The Anti-Nutting. This Blog when it it is completely finalized will be part columns written about the Pirates and the players and part ridiculing and pointing out the incompetence of the Pittsburgh Pirates ownership group. Of course we will also ridicule and point out the incompetence of General Manager - Dave Littlefield and Manager Jim Tracy and the cronies beneath him.

Like Real Pittsburgh Pirates Fans we would like nothing more than to see Bob Nutting and his Ownership Group sell this franchise that they have driven into the ground with lies and greed to someone that is willing to spend money on the actual product on the field and turn this franchise back into a competitive franchise like it once was.

The Anti-Nutting supports all and any measures that are an attempt at making this a realization. We care more about the Real Fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates attempting whatever it may be to attempt to cause change than what the actual outcome is. If any of us had the true answers, the Nuttings would've have sold this franchise a LONG time ago. For now, we are here to crank up the heat, fight the good fight, stick it to the man (or in bob Nutting's case, the sacless wonder) and hope for the best.

Be sure to link us or add us to your favorites/bookmarks. This Blog is just getting off the ground. More content and Bloggers will be added.

Thanks.
Kipper