I posted a version of this in response to a comment about the outfielders.  After finishing it, I decided that despite the fact that periodically we have discussion about how we interact here, another was probably warranted.  Why now?  Because hopes were up, are now back down, and could go right back up if they run the table the next six games.  After eighteen years in the wilderness, that is to be expected.  The product has been some lively discussion and the inevitable trolling, but also some rather disturbing tantrums against players and their advocates by frustrated posters who understandably are tired of our 3.83 run a game offense and alarmed by the fact that the pitchers' arms may all fall off one night.

To be blunt, as Dave Parker famously said back in 1978, opinions are like rear ends:  everybody has one. Discussions go sideways, however,  when unreasonable prejudices make it impossible to evaluate players objectively.  Overbay underproduced, so he is human garbage.  We found out Jones wasn't going to be a regular, which most of us knew, but because someone tried to ride his runaway 2009 horse for two years because we had nothing else, he should now be blamed for that and dismissed as completely useless. Ronny Cedeno was a slug and now people want to keep him next year.  Let's not even start with Doumit, or going back a few years to the unfair and rather mean stuff people dispensed about Craig Wilson.

The only saving grace is that the Fan Posts and comments usually don't read like the game threads, which have become depressing.  The Pirates could do a service by having an event (charity, low contribution, whatever) where posters could meet the players and talk to them.  I would bet anything that the tone here would change overnight if enough people came.   Frankly, knowing that several of the players look in here and read some of the stuff that is written makes me wince in embarrassment.  Yeah, they make a lot of money.  Most are only lucky enough to do so for only a few short years, and then are forgotten and have to make it in the real world, just like everybody else.  I have no problem with objective critiques of players' abilities based on their actual performance.  However, I have no interest in your mind's eye view of a player, which sees all of his strikeouts and bad paths to scorching line drives, and misses his walks, singles and doubles.  I have even less interest in that view when it is presented with the kind of vitriol that in more than a few cases is less harsh than what I've seen thrown at the Norwegian mass killer. Seriously, folks. This is baseball, and while it may seem like life and death, it really isn't.

Although I haven't had a chance to make it to any of the gatherings, I have noticed that the discussions between those who have gone are so much more informative and pleasant than those between anonymous posters.  While we know each others by our handles, we know little to nothing about each other, or about the players we critique daily.  Human interaction is impossible at the level many of us once knew it, for better or worse.  That doesn't mean that we have to jettison the good that came of that different time and place.  Try and remember that the person who you are posting about is a human being with hopes and dreams.  The same is true for the person with whom you are debating.  The community of those who forget that still represents a minority.  After three some years here and six in the overall baseball blogosphere, I fear that minority is growing a bit too much and too fast for my taste.

 

As i watched tonight's game, and my happy pills lost their effectiveness, I started feeling really bad for Neal Huntington. If we had more talent in the system he might have had an easier time making such a deal, and it might even have been justifiable. He is in a very tough position now. He has spent several years restocking the most barren system in modern baseball history, and not enough time has elapsed to determine which of the guys he has drafted are keepers. He’s playing blind poker with limited house money and a stacked deck. The Phillies can afford to make mistakes with a couple of A prospects. The Pirates don’t have that luxury. In many ways, this contention thing has been a miracle for the team and all of us, but it couldn’t come at a worse time for a GM who knows that he isn’t yet close to being able to win deep into the postseason. Hunter Pence is not going to make anywhere near the kind of difference now as the two best prospects in the system will over the long term. If the other team in a deal with the Pirates got what turned out to be two of the top five guys in our system and we got bounced in the first round of the playoffs this year, all of this clamor will be so much caterwauling in a couple of years. I’ll enjoy this season for what it is, but my head tells me we should have been selling this week. While I know the reality is that it would be a mess for the team and the front office, if we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that we are still not there, and need more 20 year olds, not 29 year olds.

They either revolve around impressions without appropriate empirical support, statistical comparisons based on too small sample sizes, excessive statistical parsing or simply dislike of certain players. Let's take an example. We all would probably say that Walker is a better hitter than Jones. And yet in significantly fewer at bats, Jones has two fewer doubles, one fewer triples, the same number of homers and two fewer walks. No one is clamoring for a trade of Walker, and yet most of the board is ready to give away a guy hitting league minim, whose OPS plus just out of a lengthy slump is 109 (Walker's is 120). None of our hitters, except McCutchen, is much better than league average. If you want to pick on Jones, you'd beat be prepared to upgrade the entire lot, folks, because he is almost as productive as a platoon player as most of his compatriots. One more point: watching this game Saturday as I write this demonstrates that none of these quick fixes are useful. We aren't ready to win a playoff spot, and the far gutsier move would be to move Correia and Maholm for some more offense and maybe even pitching. But debates about Jobes, Overbay, a new right fielder, adding Beltran are the sort of misguided quick fix discussions that landed us where we are. We don't have anything resembling Pujols, Holliday, Berkman and Molina.

I came to town Friday and Saturday for the Fantasy Camp reunion weekend, and what a weekend it was. We played a couple of charity games at Boyce Park in Upper St. Clair, with the park folks turning over all of our contributions for field upkeep to Sean Casey's Field of Dreams project across the street. Teke, Blass, Grant Jackson and some other folks from the organization helped out and stayed most of the day. Great fun, and a chance to wear our black jerseys. Saturday was game day at PNC Park. We squared off and played four four inning games with a remarkable 80 out of the 97 January camp participants reuniting. We arrived at 7:00 AM and changed in an auxiliary locker facility two doors down from the Pirates' clubhouse. We then came through the tunnel and climbed a set of stairs, emerging on the left field side of the Pirate dugout. My team was hone team, so we wore the home whites and used the Bucco dugout. I could go on and on about what it felt like to hit a solid single up the middle and run to first, to get a guy on a force out at second on a ball hit to short and nearly get the double play on the throw to first, or to play center and watch another camper hit a ball that one-hopped the left field wall (thought our left fielder was going to swallow his tongue watching the ball fly over his head). I didn't want those four innings to end. We hung around for quite some time in the dugout watching the next teams play. Nobody wanted to leave. We came back at 5:30 and gathered by the Maz statue, and Teke led us onto the warning track at 6:30 for the Fantasy Camp feature on the scoreboard and then individual introductions. We then went to the left field deck where we had food and beverages, watched the win and fireworks and just had a blast altogether. Combined with the experience of watching the Mummy Imhotep match Hamels pitch for pitch from a couple of rows atop the Pirate dugout Friday, I'd say it was a bitchin' weekend.

While Vlad and Charlie were doing a fabulous job getting some answers about the team's future, I spent a glorious week reveling in its past.  I could go on and on, but spending a week playing baseball every day with some terrific guys and meeting the heroes of my youth was one of the most enriching experiences I have ever had.  In fact, my absence was due to work, travel and a serious workout regimen and batting cage time.  By the end of the week, I had an OBP just shy of .700, some key hits, a ton of walks and some pretty bruises, which were well attended to by Brad Henderson, Mike Sandoval and the training staff. The Pirates, especially Kent Tekulve and Joe Billetdeaux, and the team at Pirate City, run a first class operation.  From the clubhouse guys, the trainers and the former players, they make the experience something to remember.  The players could not have been more gracious, more fun or more hilarious. We spent a heck of a lot of time with them, and in several cases developed some potential friendships.  This is something that, if you have the money or a wonderful wife looking for a serious gift opportunity, I would recommend in a heartbeat.  Chatting with Maz and Bill Virdon and listening to stories into the night was just sublime.

Be prepared to be sore, and for some late nights imbibing and listening to unforgettable stories.  Above all, be prepared to be a kid again. I came back with two full uniforms, a bat engraved with my name on it, a photo of me with my terrific teammates and our 1971 player/coaches, a photo with the 1971 players, Teke, Candy and Grant Jackson, autographed by them all, baseball cards of me to come, along with photos and my highlight video.  Can't beat it.  They had what seemed to be a record turnout of 97 players, divided into eight teams.  Some guys have come for ten years running, many for five and more--one of the ten year "men" was a lady, and a terrific player.

Happy to answer questions, as I cannot possibly do justice to a week like this has been.  Next year's theme is the 1992 team, and I plan to return.

Several sources are reporting that the Pirates have signed Diaz for two years. I like this deal. My wife is a Braves fan, and I've seen quite a bit of him the past few years. He gives you right hand pop and some decent glove. He's a real competitor, and I hope we stop there relative to the Braves, though. I want no part of Kenshin Kawakami. He is beyond awful, and we would have been better off keeping Duke.

This according to the Pro Rumors application on my iPhone. I wasn't able to determine the source, but I'll go out on a limb since they haven't been wrong yet. I am delighted, and very pleased they stuck it out and got their man. I've been very impressed with what I've read and wish him all the best. He will have his challenged, to be sure, but he seems to be a resourceful and highly intelligent guy. Good work, Coonington.

Former Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, according to Buster Olney, made a strong impression in his discussions and Olney says he believes Gibbons will get the job. I seriously doubt he has anything firm, but I hope that either Gibbons has learned something since Toronto, or that Olney is wrong. There are all sorts of good managers and coaches waiting for a chance. Maybe I'm dreaming, but I just have to think we can do better than a guy who picks fights with his players. And, Olney may just be guessing. I hope.

UDPATE by Charlie: Rob Biertempfel quotes Gibbons saying he hasn't heard anything since being interviewed, so the idea that he's the front-runner would be news to him.

The lead story in the Pirates' page at P-G has Dejan reporting several internal sources as confirming that Russell will be let go. I liked the Russell hire when it was made, the Coonelly and Huntington hires not at all. I am now tepid to neutral on Coonelly, I feel for Russell and have developed a visceral distaste for Neal Huntington, his style and his instincts. I don't think he was ever up to this job, I don't think he has improved much in a number if critical areas and it bugs me that Russell is taking the hit for this season. DK's highs and lows piece Sunday articulates a number if the things that have bothered me about Huntington, and while Russell is going to take the hit for this now, Huntington probably realizes he is on a short leash. I'm curious to see how he does and what he does from here on. He isn't the worst GM ever (we've been there already), but we could do, and should have done better than Neal Huntington.

The Miami Herald:

Florida Marlins catcher Ronny Paulino has been suspended 50 days by Major League Baseball for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. The suspension begins immediately.

Paulino becomes the first player on the Marlins' 25-man roster to receive a suspension since the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs took effect in 2006.

Paulino, 29, is in his second season with the Marlins and has carried a heavy workload this season due to an injury to catcher John Baker, playing in 91 of the team's 120 games.

To replace Paulino, the Marlins called up catcher Brad Davis from Triple A New Orleans.

http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/bobsmizik/default.aspx This really is beyond the pale. I really recommend taking a few minutes to read it, just because it is so breathtakingly beyond reason. For those of you who don't want to (completely understandable), he begins by speculating about whether or not Russell will be fired despite the coaching changes and the implied vote of confidence flowing from that. He goes on to speculate that, because of the substantial differential between the first pick and the second pick based on the Strasburg/Ackley gap and the Harper/Tailloon gap, Nutting (you knew we were coming to that) would want to step in and compel the hiring of a manager who could win some games (presumably by playing himself, no doubt) so as to ensure that the Pirates lap the Orioles and save the millions that they would have to pay if they drafted Rendon or whomever. Is there any other newspaper in any major league city that hosts such garbage? Yech.

Neal Huntington and John Russell just announced that pitching coach Joe Kerrigan and bench coach Gary Varsho have been let go. Russell said the decision was his. They will be replaced by Ray Searage and Jeff Bannister. It sounds like there were some personal issues and from what Dejan Kovacevic wrote in the P-G, it would appear that those were the overriding considerations. Kovacevic seems to have identified issues of loyalty to Russell. In Kerrigan's case performance is enough to justify the decision. It sounds like he wad focused on matchups more than anything else. I'm happy for Bannister. He's been waiting for a chance for a long time.

No details obviously, but none are needed.  The Pirates now have Chris Resop and Chan Ho Park. I'd guess Steven Jackson and Justin Thomas go down, but none of what we've seen except Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan is going to be terribly missed.  I saw Resop's two awful innings with Atlanta, and they were really, really awful.  Still, small sample sizes and all, so we'll see how he does in his new digs.

UPDATE by Charlie: The Pirates have designated Jackson for assignment and moved Steve Pearce to the 60-day DL to make room for Resop and Park. Park gives the Pirates a bunch of flexibility in that he can pitch for long stretches if needed, but he's a bad pitcher, and his career has been on life support since 2001. He might have a better shot at modest success in the National League, though, since he pitched reasonably well for the Dodgers and Phillies in 2008 and 2009 before flopping with the Yanks. I don't hate the idea of claiming him, but it's nothing to celebrate.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The Braves optioned struggling center fielder Nate McLouth to Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday...General manager Frank Wren told AJC reporter Carroll Rogers that the club has activated Brent Clevlen from his rehabilitation assignment with Gwinnett...Braves manager Bobby Cox held struggling McLouth out of the starting lineup for Sunday’s game before using him as a late replacement. He has failed to produce in his return from the disabled list and done little to show the Braves that he’s the answer for center field down the stretch. They have been keeping a close eye on McLouth as the July 31 trading deadline approaches.

 
This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious. This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious. This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious. This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious. This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious. This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious. This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious.  This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious. This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious. This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious.  This, from rumbunter, is absolutely hilarious:

http://rumbunter.com/2010/06/17/pirates-ban-hillbillies-from-pnc-park/

Basically, it delves into his between the ears issues, his work with the Pirates sports psychologist, and where to from here.  You can see that he has some work to do, and some glimmers of hope as well.  He seems like a very decent guy who is more well rounded than many, more sensitive than most and who is worth working with and waiting for:

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10167/1065893-63.stm

My wife and I just celebrated our second anniversary.  She outdid herself on the gift.  I just learned that I will be attending the 2011 Pirates Fantasy Camp in Bradenton at the end of January.  It is the 40th anniversary of the 1971 world champions, and she knows that team was part of my childhood.  A lifelong Braves fan, she has actually adopted our suffering burden as her own, updates me on games when I'm tied up, drives from DC to Pittsburgh with me, and has been a really fun baseball pal, aside from being the love of my life.

But this?  I am just blown away. I'm 53, in pretty good shape and can still go into a batting cage and hit 80 mph pitches with some authority, as well as turn double plays (played second base from Little League through HS and since in various adult leagues).  Now I get to have Maz teach me (or at least indulge me).

I will plan to write a diary while down there and post it for your amusement.  Thanks for sharing this (voluntarily or otherwise).  We are all children, as if we had any doubt.  And I am married to the most wonderful woman any man could hope to have.