McClatchy Keeps Spinning

by Charlie Wilmoth on Jul 7, 2005 4:46 AM EDT in News

Time for a new round of rationalizations. And the world yawns.

"Blame can be put a lot of places," McClatchy said yesterday. "When you're struggling, a lot of people point fingers at the manager, but everybody in the organization has to take some responsibility. That's a broad brush, but if you ask the players if they executed over the last three weeks as well as they wanted, they'd probably tell you they haven't. We have to improve our execution."

I've got to admit, McClatchy's getting better at making twisted logic sound reasonable. Here's how it works: since the Pirates were at .500 three weeks ago, there must not have been anything wrong with the franchise then. Right? And since the Pirates have played badly since then, it's the players' fault because they haven't "executed."

Whether or not the players "executed" in the last three weeks or not, this is not a .500 team, and everyone outside Pittsburgh knew that before the season started. Rather than pointing fingers at the players, who have been about as good as they've been expected to be, McClatchy should be admitting that he hasn't been willing to take the risks necessary to field a competitive team, and that management has made a number of mistakes that have cost them. The players are at fault in the sense that they ultimately play the games, of course. But if you put Homer Simpson in charge of safety at a nuclear plant, then you need to take responsibility when people start catching three-eyed fish.

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McClatchy on display

Good old Kevin deigned to show up last night and was prominently displayed behind home plate all game, talking with the other three gentlemen in his row.

Anything this front office says, including ownership, isn't worth listening to and hearing. Littlefield made similar comments - stating that as good as the team was at the beginning of the month, they can get back there.

But, when a team this bad still draws almost 20,000, the fans encourage this behavior. A team 11 games under .500 does not deserve fan support, and the continued support allows the team to do what it always does - Drive for 75.

There have been a few quotes from Billy Beane flying around this week from AN and ESPN regarding his rebuilding efforts. Basically, he couldn't imagine not putting everything into making the team better - that's what is missing here. Ward starts despite not hitting homers and being a lead weight on defense; Jack Wilson might be a waste as a 4 mil 8th hitter, and there is no earthly reason to carry 3 catchers.

That said, I agree with Charlie's sentiments - the players are playing as you might expect them with a few ups and few downs. And this is a problem I see with a lot of Pirate fans - just because a player is better than what you had, that does not mean that player is good enough to make the team better (Young-Simon-Ward).

by Greg Schuler on Jul 7, 2005 8:10 AM EDT reply actions

It's a Cubs Thing

Those lunatics in Chicago kept coming out to Wrigley for years and years when the Cubs were basically the now-Pirates. If the fans enjoy themselves (and there's much to enjoy), of course they're going to go. It says a lot about Pittsburgh as a baseball town.

Catch-22? I guess.

by psk984 on Jul 8, 2005 3:56 PM EDT reply actions