Pirates at Cincinnati, 7:10 p.m. 09-02-08

Is there anything to be read into a healthy Sanchez not playing tonight?

Paul - I really don't remember reading any explanation from John Russell on why Freddy is sitting.

Wonder if Jewett will stay with the organization and why he's not returning as AAA manager.  He had been thought of as a good baseball man and possible future MLB managerial candidate.  Maybe he's looking for a MLB position someplace.

And on the "read between the lines" front, what can be inferred from Jewett not coming back?  

my worst nightmare:

that the brass thinks this is the best team tonite out of our 40, and the starters for opening day 2009.

I really don't see  rivas, or a more mature bixler, or cruz outplaying a physically and mentally healthy wilson and sanchez the next two or three years. just back-ups. I don't see either laroche at the corners either on my line-up, although I am happy to let lil laroche get some more abs.

nyjer may still surprise and seems to have a reasonable post-all star stat sheet. seems to pull everything to the short side in right- he might do better going for the deep center field zones. I think moss is getting a good look and I would like to see him back.

wazzup with indy folks being canned? is jewett the goat for our pitching and hitting woes? must be more there than meets the eye so far.

I think the read between the lines is that the organization is continuing to make widespread changes from top to bottom and back up again.

the way to beat the heat in cincy is to fill your bathtub with ice and then add a case of 7 oz 'little kings', the local brew...or at least that worked in the late 70's when I was there. of course paul can't do that at the ballpark.

Well, the guys ON the field won't feel solely "accountable" with others like Jewett, Muelens, and probably other DL leftovers (scouts?) getting pink-slipped as '08 wraps up.  Now, to pry quality manager(s), coaches, etc. from other organizations, seeing as the top candidates, presumably, are currently employed.  

@Honus Wags -  RE: The Pirate line-up.  Right on!  If non-Buc & non-Reds fans look at tomorrow's box score, they won't have to wonder why these two teams are pulling up the NLC rear.

honus,  I too would like to see what andy can do after he gets over being traded.  He may become a bonified thirdbaseman.  Adam will be playing somewhere else next time.  Remember what the early word on tabata was, not speaking about the attitude thing but read somewheres that if he got serious he could be in the majors sometime next year.  If he hits well over the winter you may see him at AAA as soon as he setablishes himself.

let those who wish to whine do so, I see good things and realize a little more pain may be needed but I think the new guys in town are making good moves.

Nobody denies the Bucs offered perdo the big buck at the time of the draft.  everyone agrees he spoke his acceptance on time to the pirates, thats all we need to know about this concerning how the Bucs handeled the signing.  

The game has no meaning except for fans of the two teams.  Since neither is going anywhere they might as well play a spring training game.  Maybe it will surprise us and actually get some runs.

Jersey Joe, you're right, Lil' LaRoche needs to be at the hot corner throughout the end of the season.  And I am with you, the new guys are doing the right thing with this organization.  They seem to be doing as much as they can.  This is part of being a Pirate fan, throughout this loooong slide.  Having pride to ride it out, being loyal!  Oh-oh, I'm getting sappy.

they must be extremely unhappy with Sanchez for some reason for him to sit as often as he does. They always say he is a healthy scratch. Wonder if NH'S comments the other day were directed at him. Are we going to give up on everyone as soon as they have a bad year?

i think you guys may end up being pleased about cruz ... ive seen him play in altoona this year and if he adjusts to the majors the way he made the AA-AAA adjustment ... noone should have a problem with him being the ss next year with bixler stuck as the utility guy

@ smokey

Look at the way Freddie's been hitting.  JR has a funny way of "rewarding" players after good nights with time off...  See Pearce earlier and Lil' Laroche more recently.

Two pitchers going tonight with records of 5-10 and 4-14.  Both ERAs over 5.  Probably be 0-0 through 7.

AlaskanBucco Fan

in my mind Freddie is an established major leaguer..just put him out there every day and let him go. Its true JR has some funny ways but if I were Freddie I would be just a bit upset

acurve

yeah I think Jack will be the next to go...was kind of hoping that Bay and Wilson would be here for the long term like Bagwell and Biggio

@BadgerBuc  Not sappy at all.  When something hasn't worked for 16 years why not try something new.  The only way for organizations with limited money to improve is to develop young players for most positions.  Current Pirate team has same average age as the Rays and an average age almost two years younger than the Reds and 3 years younger than the Yanks.

So what do they do now, promote the staff from State College to the AAA level?

I think it is a case of the continued house cleaning, time will tell of course.

Count me in with the gang that wants to see Freddy out there. He's played all year with a bad shoulder, but seemed to be learning how to hit through the pain in the second half.

As for Jewett and Co., don't know if he was let go, or made to feel unwanted. But all we fans ever heard was that he was a great baseball man, teacher, coach, and MLB manager in waiting. I'm becoming increasingly unhappy with the way this new Regime has to put their fingers in everything. It's not like they've established a great track record with what they've had their hands in, so far.

@jersey joe,

"let those who wish to whine do so, I see good things and realize a little more pain may be needed but I think the new guys in town are making good moves."

I wish I was Bob Nutting & I wish that there were another 35,000 or so of you out there that wouldn't mind filling my pockets & PNC.

"Nobody denies the Bucs offered perdo the big buck at the time of the draft.  everyone agrees he spoke his acceptance on time to the pirates, thats all we need to know about this concerning how the Bucs handeled the signing. "

uhhh....not sure if you were aware or not that the Bucs started their offering to Pedro @ $5M (at the time of the draft) (a full $1M less than everyone drafted around him & only came up to $6M with a few minutes to go.) They should have really given Pedro whatever he wanted-the bucs had the money, especially with them not signing a #2 in the draft & losing Bay & Nady. This franchise must begin to eek themselves back to some sort of respectability (whether it be on-field or off-field) & if the bucs really cared as much as they said they did about Pedro starting in the minors as early as possible & if Boras truly did counter at $8.5M, they should have said, WE ACCEPT-BUT, NOOOO, once again the bucs played the 'cheapskate' role that they are most accustomed to AND if you look back in some of the statements coming out of the bucs side, even though Boras is the devil, it really appears that FC & NH were 'tampering' with Boras' client & when you bait a guy like Boras, you are going to reap what you sew. As already mentioned by many folks far smarter than myself on this topic, Boras wins no matter the outcome here........

there is that 1st inning run again--behind from the start.

Where I said "put their hands in everything", what I meant was, "put their mark on everything". I know Littlefield didn't get much right. But even a broken clock gets the time right twice a day. Often a new corporate head assumes control, one of the first things he'll do is move headquarters to a "newer", "bigger" (and costlier) building, just to prove he's better than the previous boss. Our new Regime showed restraint in the beginning. But now they're just throwing out any and everything, as if they actually know what they're doing.

A run--the Pirates scored a run as Moss hit hit a homer.  The LaRoche hit a homer (Adam, not Andy).  An offensive explosion!

Best trade ever!

@JAL....It was Andy Laroche that hit the HR, not Adam.  

But both of those were rockets!

DMac--My error--got them mixed up.  I am following the game on the web--no Pirate games on Tv here in Dc except when they play the Nationals.

Wow,  3 through 3.  Somebody get out the firehose.

Snell gave up 2 in 3--if Pirates can trade 3 for 2 the next 6 inning they will break the 10 game losing streak.   3 in 2 is an explosion

Another leadoff walk from Snell. He's thrown the first pitch for a strike on four of 20 batters so far. My goodness he's hard to watch!

Lead-off walks often come back to haunt but so far so good.  

Hell's bells, you people complain about anything and everything. Trent Jewett isn't John McGraw. He's one of the hundreds of interchangeable minor league managers who post lousy records when they have lousy players. You have NO idea what went on this year as  far as his interaction with the new regime. You have NO idea who is going to replace him. So what's the point in crying about it. The new regime will probably make a lot of changes throughout the system this winter. You know why? Because the old way clearly didn't work. Huntington got stuck with a certain amount of status quo last season because he didn't have a lot of time to put things together. After a year on the job, he finally has a chance to create the organization that he wants. Wait and see.

How low can mclouths BA get and still be considered a main peice of this teams future. I still am only seeing one solid month and a straight decline from there.. sorry i dont love him like everyone else

I sure hope one of the organizational changes this coming year is to get our pitchers, especially our power pitchers, to start throwing inside.  Don't kow the value of having power arms if they constantly try to nibble at the outside corner.

@JAL...I was just clarifying.  I understand how hard it is to follow the game on the web.  I didn't mean to sound harsh.  

Adam was robbed though!  I wonder when was the last time two brothers hit homeruns in the same game for the same team?

@Jerm:  Not sure most of love him but this is first year as regular and it has been pretty good.  Among NL Center fielders he is 5th in BA, 2nd in HR, 2nd in RBI, tied for 1st in doubles, 3rd in total hits, and first among all MLB center fielders in fielding average.  He had a very good April with a .3.30 average, 6 HR, and 21 RBI; a solid May with .279 average, 6 HR, 16 RBI,; a very poor June .214e 2 HR and 11 RBI; a solid July with .277, 7 HR , 20 RBI, and lost August but he was ill for part of it. A lot better than recent tries to fill that position.  Maybe he won't repeat such season but if you told someone in spring training they had a CF who hit over 20 HR and average around .270 people would have thought you were crazy.

@DMac--I know that you were clarifying.  I did not take it as harsh. Good question on brothers hitting HR for same team in same game--might be the Giambi brothers with Oakland back around 2000.

@ForbesFielder

The pirates are lucky to have us 'complainers' because it shows that we still care about what happens to the ballclub-apathy is the most dangerous thing that can happen to ANY ballclub or business. If you truly believe DL & company gets fired absent the 'complainers'-I strongly doubt it. The 'complainers' are the only reason why Nutting has any care about what this team does. Absent us, it is 'business as usual'-imagine if Dejan & the other journalists would have been praising this team all this time (over the past 16 years), what do you think would have happened than? Probably 100-loss seasons for the past 16 years.

@JAL: Megaprops to a fan willing to watch his more-than-20-games-under-.500 team on a webfeed. LOL you go boy!

Interesting game--started out looking like a slug fest then settled into  pitchers battle.

I read the post about giving PA big money,but that is a slippery slope.The next year they might have to shell out the same amount.If you get high draft picks and continue to shell out 6-8 mil. you don't leave a very good message to the vets in the majors.I don't know why,but I think PA will sign.Maybe if they had some famous hockey talk to him.Course Boras is so paranoid that'll never happen.I also think Moss could be a real good find.Let mgt have a couple years and who knows?Maybe lightning in a bottle.Bay was not too well thought of when we got him.Nady had Boras for an agent so you know he probably been hard to sign.

Anyone else concerned that Moss may fail a PE test at some point? He has quite a set of arms on him-he kinda reminds me of Andy VanSlyke on Steroids----

Seriously though, he absolutely crushed that Harang offering - that was a Dunn like bomb.......I think he might be ok in the long run-not sure if he puts up JBay type numbers, I think he will do alright.

@photoby--Thank you.  One does what one gotta do :)

Here comes the pen--3 runs probably won't be enough :(

im not denying that he has good power numbers for a center fielder. but he is in the .260s now and thats not all that great.

one thing that i have noticed throughout the year about his fielding is that he is not aggressive at all. I have seen a few throughout the season that prob should have been errors that have not been called but im sure that happens with everyone. but there are alot i have seen that he just does not attempt that he may be able to catch and he always just throws them in to second when he may be able to throw someone else out. I would like to see him take a chance once in a while. i hate hearing fielding this and that because errors are so random it seems. sometimes its called an error sometimes its not.

ForbesFielder,

"Hell's bells" yourself.

"... you people complain about anything and everything. Trent Jewett isn't John McGraw. He's one of the hundreds of interchangeable minor league managers who post lousy records when they have lousy players. You have NO idea what went on this year as far as his interaction with the new regime..."

You know how much we do and don't know? But now YOU know all about Trent Jewett? What don't you know? What would be alright with you that we comment on?

Keep you finger out of my eye and just scroll right on past my post if you don't like it. This forum belongs to all of us, and you don't rule from above.

"If you truly believe DL & company gets fired absent the 'complainers'-I strongly doubt it."

Complaints have more impact when they have a basis in fact.  It was a fact, for instance, that the Pirates drafted badly and punted Latin America under DL.  It's pretty hard to argue that canning Jewett is a bad move.  The three big prospects entrusted to him this year had seasons ranging from mediocre to poor.  I don't see much objective evidence of him doing a good job.

I think the next house cleaning ought to be the scouts

.Seems like i read they kept most of the same scouts that Littleyield had.And we all know he left the minors pretty empty.I never understood why we kept most of them.Present management has been here for only 10 months though.

Jerm--I agree on fielding.  Range and going after balls means a lot.  If you just stand there and catch balls hit right at you the errors will be few but a lot of balls that could have been outs end up as hits.  

As for the batting average--I consider that less important than run production.  The highes BA for a CF in the NL is Matt Kemp's .289.  If several CF were hitting ,340 I might see it differently but even .260 when the highest is .289 is not that bad.  The last time the Pirates had a better season from CF was 2000 when Brian Giles was there.

Well as much as everyone complains about coaches and managers for the pirates and the minor league teams they still will never have a chance to have someone quite as bad at coaching his sport as dave wannstedt. words cannot describe how i feel about him >:-(

true but before the all mighty tracy switched duffy to something he was not comfortable doing he batted .340 for a half season or so.. god do i wish they wouldnt have messed with him. who knows what would have happened with him but i would have loved to see it..

Last year McLouth set a career high in ABs with 329.  Prior to tonights game, McLouth already had 503 ABs.  That's a huge increase.  Its only natural that he would wear down as the season progressed.  This is his first year with any significant playing time.  Couple that with the subtraction of any semblance of protection he had, with Bay and Nady, and its not exactly shocking that he's been scuffling lately.  Of course, his On base and Slugging are both still quite respectable so I don't understand the negativity.  Batting average is far from a definitive make or break stat.  As far as his fielding, Jerm, I'm not sure I follow your complaint.  I have not seen him drop a ball, overthrow a base, and, to the best of my memory, he has never allowed a ball to get by him that shouldn't have.  So what are these 'errors' that haven't been called errors of which you speak?

Jerm--Totally agree on Duffy.  I understand trying to change a pitcher if his motion looks like an injury waiting to happen but if a batter can hit let the batter hit.  There have been some very different swings that have been very successful.

Actually, we don't even know why Jewett left yet. But what we heard consistently was how highly he was regarded. Indy had a bad record this year --the constant shuffling of players from the Pirates on down to Altoona probably had a lot to do with it-- but he still has an overall winning record with the team since he came aboard in 2005.  Baseball America as the International League's "Best Manager Prospect" in after last season. Our new Regime apparently doesn't see him as fit to retain. I can only hope that he's leaving on his own because he sees a better chance for advancement with another team.

Uh... finally. But what do we take from a game like this? Capps' outing?

A win!  At least that's what I think it is--been awhile so not really sure :)

I  agree with Tiiiimmmmmmmmmyyyyyy.His OPS and slugging % are at/near top,he has the most BB  and is about the same size as Sanchez.I have seen a few of his catches on ESPN.He doesn't make excuses.If only we had more like him.He's pretty much old school.

Alexandre: I'll take some hope that Moss could be a bonafide hitter!

Well that is ONE ina row!!!!!

and we have #49 "Mr. Wonderful" Ross Ohlendorf up next!

No you got what i said wrong he hasnt dropped a ball but there a lot that he could have attempted that he could have caught that he just let hit and bounce to him instead of diving for it. and he does not over throw anyone because he does not attempt to throw anyone out. i remember one for sure that bouced off of his wrist that was just called a double and i couldnt believe it wasnt an error because i have seen them called for way more difficult plays. and for the ABs increase that just sounds like another excuse i don't buy that as a reason to fall off.. and with bay and nady leaving sounds like another excuse.. shouldnt a good/great player do good/great regardless? I am a big fan of BA so apparently we do not see eye to eye on that subject. i would much rather have a lineup batting .330 with a few HRs than a lineup batting .260 with a few more HRs

tIIMMMMYYYY : take some of these guys posts with a grain of salt.Cluelesss ! like : Concerned....Moss has a lot better bat speed than Bay,and that is no rip on Bay,he was one of my favorites.JERM : if you missed an earlier thread,not only did Tracy screw up Duffy,Schilling beaning him in a Spring Training game ( I was there,and it was scary ! ) a couple of years ago and knocking him out for 2-3 weeks hurt him badly also.

Longtime reader first time poster….I’ve read so many times on this blog about mgmt being criticized for only offering Pedro 5 million at the start and frankly I just don’t get it. Negotiating 101…You do not make your best offer the first time, Pedro ended up signing for 6 million, right in line with those drafted around him so how is an opening offer of 5 million even the slightest bit out of line? It’s not like if we offered 6 million on day one Pedro\Boras jump were going to jump up and down yippee hooray and hop on the first plane to Pittsburgh…no it would have been more like they would have countered with 9.5 rather than the reported 8.5…maybe even more.  

Believe me I’ll be the first to criticize where criticism is due but complaining about the initial offer just makes it look like you’ll complain about absolutely everything simply because you’re tired of the losing. Duh…we all are.  

Nice win for the Bucco's tonight.

i didnt think the pirates were allowed to be on espn?? i mean unless they are playing someone they love

Timmmyyy:

Good post on McCouth. My sentiments exactly about his little dip. He'll be better for it all next go around.

Congratulations to all! I know it's been a trying time for everyone ... very frustrating ... let's all do a nice, big corporate Bucco Blogger exhale here.

Ready? 1 ... 2... 3 ... There. Alright, Baywatch LaLanne I'm not.

(Anyone realize that Jack LaLanne dude is 93 ... told Katie Couric he couldn't die because it would "ruin his image!")

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. We are WINNERS now, and not WIENERS (yes, G-Man, I know how to spell "wiener" ... it's the schnitzel part that gives me problems!) ... let's move forward.

Go get 'em Dorf!

yes i remember him getting hit in the head then like an idiot schilling said that a major league baseball player should be able to get out of the way or something ridiculous like that saying it was duffys fault.

So McLouth should dive for more balls?  That's what he does wrong?  And when the ball bounces past him and goes to the track and the runner ends up on third then what?  McLouth plays within himself.  He knows he doesn't have a Jose Guillen arm so he doesn't try to do what he can't.  He plays good, fundamental defense.  No, he's not Ken Griffey Jr. in his prime and to expect him to be is naive and ridiculous.   Of course, McLouth does have five outfield assists so...

I'm not sure how to refute the notion that those are excuses.  It cause and effect, simple as that.  As for BA, I'm not even going there.  I'll just say that its a shame that McLouth is doing so poorly that his season is at least as good as/ slightly better than that of the Pirates right fielder in 1960.  If only every player could perform so poorly.

@Baywatch --a win is win is win and by any other name would feel as good.  A 3-2 win at that--the pitchers did a good job.  Some may say it was just the Reds but the Reds have put 9 on the Pirates three times this season.

What's going on here? Snell gives up a lead off homer and doesn't fold like an accordian. Lil La and Moss go deep and Big La is robbed of one. Decent relief pitiching. Maybe this new blood on the team will bring an improved attitude....or did NH send a message with his comments?

yes mclouth should dive for more balls. he should hustle a little more to the ball and he can prob make a lot more plays. i could go out there and have every ball bounce to me and never be charged an error. and if its that he doesnt try to do what he cant then apparently he cant do alot in the field with his arm. when did i say i expect him to be griffey in his prime? and they are excuses.. bay or nady never held the bat for him its just him getting out now compared to getting hits in april. and your last statement might just be the most ridiculous thing i have ever seen. the thing is mclouths season is his best by far and he is batting .270 clemente batted .314 that season.. little did i know we had someone on this team better than possibly the best baseball player of all time.. nice comparison

McLouth: 503ABs  89Runs 136Hits 39 2Bs 3 3Bs 23HRs 77RBI 14SB 54 BB .270 BA .350 OBP .497 SLG 122 OPS+ 250 TBs 93 Runs Created

Clemente (1960): 570ABs 89Runs 179Hits 22 2Bs 6 3Bs 16HRs 94RBI 4SB 39 BB .314 BA .357 OBP .458 SLG 121 OPS+ 261 TBs 87 Runs Created

McLouth's stats are of yesterday and do not include today's game.

Statistics are not opinions, they are facts.  If you can't see that McLouth's season is at least as good, if not better, than Clemente's than there is no point arguing because you are not looking at it with an unbiased, open-minded opinion.  You may wish to reread what I wrote because I never said that McLouth is as good as Clemente was.  What I did say is that McLouth's season, the same one you are disparaging, is very comparable to Clemente's season in '60.  Thus, I ask if you would complain about Clemente's season the same way you have diminished McLouth's?  

Somehow, and not to make light of your athletic prowess, I doubt if you could mirror McLouth's performance.  Otherwise you probably would be out there for one of the thirty major league teams.  

There has been much to be disappointed in this season, in regards to the performance of the Pirates but McLouth is not one of the myriad disasters that they have had to endure this season.    

concerned, some say every bit of the 6m was offered early, so what he accepted.  They offered enough for him to accept, you fail to mention that rahter to say the Bucs did not offer enough, nobody but whiners believes that.

the pirates had the second best draft.  they could not sign their second rounder they chose not to because they were not convinced he was ok.  

tonight I herd another announcer rave at how the ball flies off of Moss's bat.

point is this looks like a pretty sound way to go.  Am I happy a real chance at .500 was missed, sure.  I think we are a better organization with the new guys in town.  

delayed gratification: what every person who has ever coached for the love of the game including those who have been paid to do knows growth is in stages.  we have taken the stage which puts us back a step.  we may very well find ourselves in a better position next year at this time.

you must have missed some of my pirate stories I am a fan.

I am a fan of baseball and the pirates as the ones who play it. the nuttings are doing this, your right for fans like me who understand we were in the worst shape possible organization wide  the yankies could not turn that around overnight.

Forgot this in the first post. To the Post Gazette, Dejan, and Paul This blog has been my favorite place to read about the Buc's in my 19 years as a fan of baseball itself and of course the Pirates. Thank you.

"But all we fans ever heard was that he was a great baseball man, teacher, coach, and MLB manager in waiting."

Yeah but you heard most of that from the former front office which never really could identify and of its short comings.  Granted the previous drafts had left the Pirates talent pretty thing but even in those cases where some potential was emerging going to AAA under Jewett flat-lined many a prospects progress... Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen most recently.

With a couple promising kids likely to make appearances in Indianapolis next year they are probably looking for managers and coaches that are less old school and more in line with their more modern approach to hitting and player development.

Just a tidbit here ... Jose Bautista had a big game for the Blue Jays tonight, going 4 for 5 with a two-run homer in a big 7-5 win over the Twins.

tiiimmmmmmyyyyyyyy you do have a point.You also have done your homework.I am in my 50s and watched Roberto many times( on tv)Roberto was one of the greatest players and greatest men,but I think Nate has had a GREAT you too.He is one of the few good players left and in only his 1st FULL year.Give the man a few kudos.

I said i did not think that mclouths .270 ba was great. Clemente batted .314. If mclouth was batting .314 i wouldnt have brought it up so ur right .270 is the stat i do not like and .314 is one that i would like they are both facts. Yes there are a million things about this baseball team to complain about. i was saying my opinion on a subject that is not brought up ever. i do not care if anyone agrees with me. by saying that i could let every ball just bounce to me i was not saying i was an amazing athlete and belong in the majors i was saying that it is very easy to avoid getting errors so fielding percentage is garbage because i will see one guy go to the ball let it bounce throw it to second and i will see another guy go after that same ball and make the catch 2 out of 3 times and the one time that he doesnt he will get charged with an error. i would rather have the guy with the one error than the guy that doesnt even go after it. and when you said if only everyone could perform so poorly it certainly seemed like you were compairing the 2.

but hey if you want to go complain about the pitching and the old managment like everyone else go ahead im sick of hearing it tho. Mclouth is having an ok season but to hear that he is the future doesnt sit well with me because that talk started after a great april and it has not been anywhere near that since. esp since this is his first full year. The thing you dont understand is that i hope that he does do good. i hope he is the next clemente but i doubt it very seriously. sorry for posting my opinion and hurting your feeling about mclouth

I love this blog.I could never find Pirate fans around Muscatine Iowa.You guys rock.Even the negative ones

Maz - I second that emotion ... At least in Muscatine you're close to God's-Interstate, 80!

And since Baywatch Jr. left for college, I'm the ONLY Bucco fan in Whitehouse, Texas. We got two boys from Whitehouse playing minor league baseball, though, and doing fairly well.

@Bay Watch

  Whitehouse Texas.Is that where George W Bush lives? Just kidding

@Bay Watch

    Smoky Robinson flashback?

"They are probably looking for managers and coaches that are less old school and more in line with their more modern approach to hitting and player development..."

Another clairvoyant.

Regarding the players you cite by name that  "flat-lined(sic)" under Jewett, Walker and McCutchen were both actually improving in the latter part of the season. Walker's power numbers went up, and though his .242 average for the year wasn't so hot, he finished the season reaching safely in 14 of his last 16 games while batting a respectable .283. Probably more encouraging is that McCutchen, who had lost the at-bat patience he was known for early in his career, is said to have regained it. He too finished better than he started. His .283 average is for the whole year. Not blistering, but hardly "flatlining".

And what's this "less old school more modern approach" you're just throwing up against the wall to see if it'll stick? The emphasis on getting deeper into counts, being patient, not chasing after bad pitches that Russell and Long have been preaching is "modern"? Hardly. Neither is the small ball we've seen practiced more and more by the Pirates. It's solid, fundamental, old school.

Jewett has a winning record with Indy, even factoring in this season. And this year saw his players jerked all around by the follies with the major league club. Again, he was Baseball America's "Best Manager Prospect" for his league, going into this season.

jack lalain lives a few doors down from me....on local tv a lot. can still kick most people's borass.

a win! gawd, does that feel good. lets get another. we can at least win the battle for the basement, even if it costs us a draft placement. just seeing starters, relievers, and clutch hitting all at one time- amazing.

I for another, love to see the outfielders flat out. even if they miss once and a while. I have a couple photos of nyjer last year about this time- horizontal, airborn, and ball in glove. that's what it's all about.

Good Morning.  No morning links.  

Had to be on the road last night, trip to Des Moines about 2 hrs south of here.  I'd planned on leaving, but had to put out a fire at work before I took off, so wound up driving home during game time.  Amazingly the weather was right and I was able to pick up the game on WLW out of Cincinnati.  

I've always thought that the best way to watch baseball if you can't be at  the park is on the radio.  TV doesn't do it justice -- too many close-ups.  Meanwhile the game in your mind is often better than what really is happening.  I'm sure that if I see a replay of LaRoche being robbed of his HR it won't match the catch I "saw".  

Combine that with the open road, a spectacular prairie sunset, and the end of losing streak and it was pretty nice evening.  

Jerm

McLouths feilding has been talked about many times on here before.

JHadar

I new link is up if you have not seen it as of yet.

"Regarding the players you cite by name that  "flat-lined(sic)" under Jewett, Walker and McCutchen were both actually improving in the latter part of the season."

This is just part of the nonsense of the "old school" that needs to be purged from the organization ... this absurd notion that the value of player can be judged by a small, selectively culled subset or the most recent part of his overall performance.   Weren't Chris Duffy, Zach Duke and Brad Eldred the most recent players who were going to be building blocks for the future base on a few weeks of performance in the last weeks of the season?  

Still haven't learned, have we?

Neil Walker had his best season in the minors thus far in 2007 at Altoona - improving his hitting across the board; walking 53 times and striking out 73 times in 490 plate appearance and booting his power.  Regardless how he finished 2008 was a significant step backward for Walker and that is a story that's been repeated again and again since Jewett been the manager in Indianapolis.

I never had a chance to see it on here.

Jerm -  I think it was about two weeks ago or so. There was some baseball ranking page and it ranked Nate as the worst center fielder or down near the bottom because of factors such as range and balls played. It stirred up a pretty good debate about his fielding ability.

@JHadar

Sorry to do this to you, because you are a favorite commenter of mine-but, you committed a Yogi-Ism last night:

"I've always thought that the best way to watch baseball if you can't be at  the park is on the radio. "

Only you & Mr. Berra seem to have the ability to 'watch' baseball on the 'radio' :)

Only in fun do i kid :)

Des Moines, often thought of as the epi-center of baseball in America (yet without a major league club) - I sometimes wish that MLB would get back to the 'Barnstorming Days' to give some folks a chance at watching big league baseball in areas often fraught with baseball talent.

It is not your opinion, Jerm, that "hurts my feelings."  It is your ignorance.  But, alas, I feel that that is unlikely to change so there's no point in me continuing this debate, as it shall be fruitless.  To follow your logic Chris Gomez is the second best player on the team, behind Doumit, because his BA is the second highest.  There's just no way for me to argue with that logic.  

Outfielders are never charged with an error when they make a diving attempt.  Errors are charged on overthrows and dropped balls, period.  Thus, your reasoning is extremely flawed.

And Jerm, I was comparing the two players seasons, not there careers.  And no, that talk started after McLouth put together a very respectable three and a half months.  Of course, if you could provide any stories declaring McLouth an important piece to the puzzle after only one month than I would apologize and recant.  However, I don't think you will find any because they never existed.

Tiiimmmmmmmmmyyyyyy - He wasn't saying that BA is the end all. Ease up with the ignorance comments. He was just saying what a lot of people think, that McLouth is a below average center fielder who has hit a wall.

In all this consider the possibility that Jewett - who lobbied strongly for the manager's job after Tracy was canned - decided he had a better chance to crack the ceiling elsewhere. Just sayin'. But normally, when someone "moves on" they have something else lined up first and get the "we wish him well" treatment from mgt. Since this is all on the QT it seems more likely that he got canned, but the truth will probably come out soon anyhow.

I think Jewett was "successful" in past seasons because, like all the levels of the minors, he had teams that Littlefield had stocked with former major league guys on the skids, and once those guys were largely let go this spring, we go from four levels of winners to four levels of bottom feeders. Don't see where that alone is reason to show him the door. Remember that by and large the worst players on the worst teams in the show are by definition better than the best players in AAA.

I think Sheriff Andy and Opie are simply working to fill the organization with the people they prefer - who may themselves be interim people (if I were Russell I wouldn't get too comfortable) and clear out Littlefield's people. That process takes time - you can't just come in and wholesale fire everybody (throwing out the baby with the bathwater would result) but this looks like another step in that process.

Cisco Kid,

Your point that "Andy and Opie" are just probably trying to move in their own people, is precisely the point I was making before I got sidetracked by Forbes Fielder, to whom I say:

Even as you write, "This is just part of the nonsense of the "old school" that needs to be purged from the organization, " you then go on to reinforce MY point. Both Walker and McCutchen have followed the most typical pattern of a prospect making his way up the ladder. They achieve at a lower level, then get promoted. At the  that next level, they're first overmatched. But then, with good instruction they learn to make the ajustments and their performances start to improve.

Any moderately informed baseball fan would recognize this.

I am starting to put 1 & 1 together - remember Dejanaise's little mention about Rich Donnelly coming back to the bucs big league club - my guess is that he takes over for Jewett in Indy, than if JR doesn't workout, Donnelly takes his spot-It is good that even the manager has to look over his shoulder a bit as well.