Why didn't the Pirates shut down Zach Duke so he could have ended his year on the high note of his 11-1 almost complete outing last week in PNC Park instead of letting him start a meaningless game in Chicago and end up with a National League high of 16 losses. The Pirates shut down Ohlendorf and others. Why not give Duke the chance to go into the off-season with a positive feeling?

When former Pittsburgh Pirates Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson, Adam LaRoche, John Grabow, Tom Gorzelanny and Nate McClouth were traded, they had to feel an enormous sense of relief. The endless speculation about whether they would remain Pirates ended in July. 

Pirate management explained the trades in straightforward and logical terms. The thirty-ish ex-Pirates were all playing at their career peaks and would never have higher value on the trade market. The philosophy: strike now while the iron is hot!

On its face, adding youth to create winning teams seems indisputable.  But historically, veteran players are crucial too.

I studied the lineups of four major league World Series success stories, three from our Buccos and one from the New York Yankees.

Here’s what I found.

The 1960 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates used the following players in their seventh game victory over the Yankees. Their ages are in parentheses.

Bill Virdon, CF, (29);Dick Groat, SS, (30); Bob Skinner, LF, (30); Rocky Nelson, 1B, (36); Roberto Clemente, RF, (26), Smokey Burgess, C, (33), Joe Christopher, PR (25); Hal Smith, C, (29); Don Hoak, 3B, (32), Bill Mazeroski, 2B (24); Vern Law, SP, (30); Elroy Face, RP, (32); Gino Cimoli, PH, (31); Bob Friend, RP, (30), Harvey Haddix, RP, (35). Average age: 30

In 1971, the champion Pirates were slightly younger.

Here’s the seventh game World Series line up: Dave Cash, 2B, (23); Gene Clines, CF, (25); Roberto Clemente, RF, (37); Bob Robertson, 1B, (25); Manny Sanguillen, C, (27), Willie Stargell, LF, (31); Jose Pagan, 3B, (36), Jackie Hernandez, SS, (31); Steve Blass, P, (30) Average age: 29.5

The 1979 Pirates, also World Series winners, were the oldest---or should I say most experienced?

Omar Moreno, CF, (27); Tim Foli, SS, (29); Dave Parker, RF, (28); Bill Robinson, LF, (36); Willie Stargell, 1B, (39); Bill Madlock, 3B, (28); Steve Nicosia, C, (24); Phil Garner, 2B, (32), Jim Bibby, P, (35); Don Robinson, (32); Manny Sanguillen, (35); Grant Jackson, RP, (37); Kent Tekulve, P, (32) Average: 31.6

Even more compelling is an analysis of the New York Yankees’ World Championship teams that had a never-to-be-matched five consecutive titles from 1949 to 1953.

Twelve players from those Yankees were on all five World Series rosters. Their ages in 1953, the last year of the Yankee string, follow their names.

Hank Bauer, RF, (31); Yogi Berra, C, (30); Bobby Brown, 3B, (30); Jerry Coleman, 2B, (30); Joe Collins, (31); Eddie Lopat, P, (35); Johnny Mize, 1B, (40); Vic Raschi, P, (34); Allie Reynolds, P, (38); Phil Rizzuto, SS, (36); Charlie Silvera, C, (30); Gene Woodling, RF, (31) Average: 33

An important footnote to the Yankees is that the most touted, can’t miss bonus-baby player the team signed during their championship reign was 18-year-old bonus baby first baseman Frank Leja who was supposed to make fans forget about Lou Gehrig. Leja was the Miguel Sano of his day. Yet in parts of three seasons, Leja came to bat only sixteen times and got one hit.

The Leja experiment abruptly ended the Yankees’ youth movement!

As the examples listed above prove, the key to winning baseball is not the players’ ages but their talent. When teams trade away their best players without equally skilled replacements ready to call up, as the Pirates continue to do, they’re left to hope for the best.

As of today, hope is the only thing on the Pirates’ horizon.

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Put yourself in Kevin Hart’s shoes. 

On July 31, Hart’s Chicago Cub record was 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA. For the Pirates, Hart is 1-8 with a 6.92 ERA.

At the time of Hart’s trade, the Cubs were only .5 game out of first place and one game behind in the wild card race. The Cubs were certainly anticipating playing in the post-season and possibly getting to the World Series.

Suddenly, once Hart got the call that he had been banished to Pittsburgh, all that vanished. 

“You’ve been traded to Pittsburgh.”

Imagine the chill those words would send through a young player on a competitive team like the Cubs

Instead of looking forward to playing in October, Hart got the rude awakening that he was joining a team with a 17 year record of uninterrupted losing that has every possibility of reaching 20.

Among the Pirates many big problems is that for those who they may sign over the winter, coming to Pittsburgh is the kiss of death. And for the handful of decent players on the Bucs squad like Zach Duke or Garrett Jones, I venture that every one of them is on bended knees praying for the same fate that blessed Nate McClouth, Jason Bay or even John Grabow/Tom Gorzelanny.

What major league player doesn’t want to play on a competitive team?

Today's 6-5 win Bucco  win over the Los Angeles Dodgers is an excellent example of why in situations where the pitcher in the top  of the ninth  does horribly, as Capps did, but his team wins heroically in the bottom of the ninth, as the Pirates did, the official scorer should have discretion as to who is credited with the win.

That could have been starter Daniel McCutchen who pitched six plus strong innings and kept the Pirates in the game. Or it could have been Joel Hanranhan who shut the Dodgers down in his one relief inning.

But the victory absolutely should not be credited to Capps who almost cost the Pirates the game.

Wednesday night September 23rd at PNC Park I saw major league baseball at its worst.

Consider this: in the top of the ninth inning Cincinnati Reds second string catcher Corky Millier (.149) hit a bloop single off Pirates mop up man Virgil Vasquez (2-5; 6.20 ERA) to score Adam Rosales (.204)

Miller’s RBI put the score at Reds 10 Pirates 2

The Reds twice more before the game mercifully ended (3:10) in a 12-2 rout when Pirate second baseman Luis Cruz (.167) nubbed a ground out.

Even after September calls ups, none of these players belong in the big leagues.

Pirate owner Bob Nutting should consider one of two options after disasters like these.

One, he could take a page from San Francisco Giant history by issuing certificates of achievement to fans who endure nine innings of Pirate baseball.

The Giants once handed out Croix de Candlestick pins (see it here) to fans who stuck it out to the end when their faithful braved nine innings of freezing temperatures and bitter cold winds at Candlestick Park. Read the pin: Veni, Vedi, Vexi (“I came, I saw, I survived)

Nutting wouldn’t even have to print many certificates up. By my count only about 250 diehards remained last night when Cruz dribbled his grounder.

Or better yet, as former San Diego Padre owner Ray Kroc did after a series of embarrassing losses, Nutting could grab the microphone to say: “People of Pittsburgh, I have never seen such stupid ball playing in all my life.”