By Dejan Kovacevic | 2:41 a.m. Tuesday
Above is a photo I snapped on PNC Park's closing day last week, hours after the mound and plate were covered for the winter. And that pretty much sums up my feelings today.
So, with the 122nd season in the books, the fourth on my end, a couple orders of business ...
The blog will remain active and moderated and, as per a few readers' suggestions, I will put up some advance-timed daily -- and blank -- posts so that there is a place to comment and that threads do not get too bulky. Not really sure what will happen this offseason beyond the next couple of weeks, but the bosses will adjust accordingly.
As for me, I am "done, done, done," as the daughter put it the other day. Done for the season. I will return, as in the past, the Sunday before the Winter Meetings, in Las Vegas the first week of December.
But, before I power down the laptop and PDA, un-bag the comics and re-string the guitar, before I begin bracing for the best book ever to become a film, before I head to the Strip to sniff the beans from the big roasters at La Prima, before I resume trying to expunge my fourth consecutive Worst Father of the Year award with long walks, street hockey lessons and purchasing of wooden trains, I offer the customary thanks ...
TO the family, for tolerating this.
TO the entire new front office of your club, from Bob Nutting to Frank Coonelly to Neal Huntington, for taking every call, answering every question. When I contacted Coonelly from San Francisco to comment on loss No. 82, he emailed back a 300-word essay. I used two sentences. When I asked Huntington about Byung-Hyun Kim or players being out of shape or Andy LaRoche being exempt from the "no-scholarship" policy, he came back with an answer that was more blunt, more forthright than the question itself. That is going to raise eyebrows at times when some of these guys mis-speak, but ask yourself if you prefer that to what you heard or read previously.
TO John Russell, who, the morning after I took my third jab in a week for an inexplicable bunt he ordered Freddy Sanchez to try, saw me in a hallway, smiled, winked and said, "Jeez, still killing me on that bunt." Told me a lot about him. You did not see it, and neither did I, but the players will attest that he held a rigid hand through a season which, given the horrific pitching, would have driven someone else off a cliff.
TO Gary Varsho, for refusing to speak or even make eye contact with anyone after a loss. Nice to see losses upsetting people.
TO Don Long and the rest of the coaches, who undoubtedly have no idea what to do with themselves today. They are the coal miners of baseball.
TO Jeff Andrews and Lou Frazier, good people and good coaches who will rebound.
TO Kyle Stark, for answering emails from the stands in Lynchburg.
TO Rene Gayo, for having one of those satellite phones that works from a village in Panama.
TO Pittsburgh's shortstop of choice ...
TO Nate McLouth, Paul Maholm and Ryan Doumit, for providing the occasional chance to write something positive and for not at all blinking when reading stuff in the spring about how this should be a breakout season for each.
TO Doumit, specifically, for shouting out my name from across the clubhouse to summon me because he wanted something in the paper. He got his wish, in large, bold letters.
TO traveling secretary Greg Johnson, for getting me out of Houston before Ike hit.
TO Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Jose Bautista, Damaso Marte and other faces here one day, gone the next. When will Pittsburgh again see a player the caliber of Bay?
TO Sanchez, for insisting this past week that I list him as a "disappointment" in my season-ending report. His batting average ranked third in the National League after the All-Star break.
TO Sean Burnett, for providing the best human story of the year. After shoulder and elbow surgeries on the same arm, this kid should not have been able to pick up a grapefruit, much less claw his way back to the majors.
TO Adam LaRoche, for thoughtfulness, honesty and no small amount of levity on every subject.
TO Jeff Karstens, for the season's truly best moment.
TO Matt Capps, John Grabow and Tyler Yates, for talking in good times and bad, not always easy in late relief.
TO Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Zach Duke and way back to Matt Morris, for making this my first season on the beat when not a single starter declined to speak to the media, going 162 for 162.
TO John Van Benschoten, for the reminder of how truly difficult it is just to reach the majors and how extraordinarily frustrating it is for those so close yet seemingly so far. He is heading to Mexico now to keep trying.
TO Jim Trdinich and Dan Hart, one of the most experienced -- and best -- media-relations duos in the game.
TO the many writer colleagues locally and from other outlets, particularly this year to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who finally gets to punch some keys in October.
TO Mary, the elevator operator at Busch Stadium who never forgets a face and is always happy to see you. When spending so much time away from home, such people become so valuable in terms of grounding.
TO the Australian band Pendulum, for recording this insane song called "Propane Nightmares" that dominated the iPod play on the road.
TO my supervisor, Donna Eyring, for ordering me to find out if this whole Alvarez thing was really just about Coonelly vs. Scott Boras. I was wrong. She was right.
TO Boras and other agents, always making sure their players' interests are expressed. These guys get vilified, often with cause, but they work almost as hard as those coaches.
TO Colin Dunlap, for giving you the closest look at the kid, first with his visit to New York and all this week with his baby steps in Bradenton.
TO Jerry Micco, Paul Meyer, our sports desk and especially to our Web people -- Liz Gray, Willa Kindle, Matt Kennedy, Dan Gigler, Jim White, Mike Elek and Pete Zapadka -- for everything you see on this site.
TO you, the readers, the pitchfork-wielding, insane, hapless-in-your-own-way special breed that is wholly responsible for elevating this silly blog that Paul and I did into something that forced our management, after just two months, to start rethinking how we do everything online. (Including these blasted servers!) Your relentless criticism, compliments and, above all, the round-the-clock corrections and suggestions made the job, in a strange way, easier than ever.
And, finally, a special expression of gratitude TO Doug Mientkiewicz, for stubbornly, steadfastly refusing to fit in with what it has meant to be a Pittsburgh Pirate these past 16 years. This illuminated much about the subject matter I cover.
Until Vegas ...
Posted
Sep 30 2008, 02:41 AM
by
Dejan Kovacevic