By Dejan Kovacevic | 8 a.m. Thursday
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Q: If the Pirates record the magical 82nd loss at PNC Park, will it be the most historically significant game played at the facility, excluding the All-Star Game, the tag-team no-hitter and the initial opener?
I just thought, with no playoff games ever, it might fit the bill.
Does it seem sad to you that this ballpark could easily go 15 years without seeing a meaningful game?
Steve Voyak of Rogers, Ark.
KOVACEVIC: I would rank them this way, in order of most significant ...
1. The All-Star Game, the only game in PNC history with playoff implications, never mind a genuine buzz related solely to baseball.
2. The inaugural game at PNC in 2001. The opening of any stadium is special and memorable, especially when it is accompanied by another memorable event, as was the passing of Willie Stargell the same day.
3. The 82nd loss this year. Setting records that span all sports of all time, over such a sustained period, that does not happen often.
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Q: Hello, Dejan. The response yesterday from Ryan Doumit's agent was very interesting and welcome in my opinion. Yet it seems there is a contrasting paragraph at the end of the same article: If, as his agent states, Doumit had not been pouting, was giving full effort and was happy to be in Pittsburgh, then what caused the tension to be building up between him and some coaches over recent weeks?
His performance?
That doesn't seem to explain his being benched in the middle of a game, even if you add in throwing a helmet.
I still don't have full understanding of the incident. Maybe that's the way it will remain and should remain. Better to just move on.
Marda Hook of Wexford
KOVACEVIC: Moving on sure seems what Doumit and the Pirates are eager to do.
Suffice it to say that there are many different views on what all led into Doumit's falling out of favor with some, but it is now quite clear that the singular incident that brought the benching was the helmet toss.
Doumit sounds deeply convinced he has played hard through all this, and some on the coaching staff do not see it that way.
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Q: Hey, DK, I just had a question about the performance of some of the Pirates' young players acquired in the Jason Bay trade: This trade could not be seen as anything less than a failure to this point. Craig Hansen was bad, then out for the year. Brandon Moss is a fourth outfielder, with a bad approach at the plate. Andy LaRoche is solid defensively, but is consistently 1 for 4. And Bryan Morris is a head case.
In your experience covering baseball, have you seen a trade that looks worse at this stage, and do you see any hope that Moss becomes a power-hitting corner outfielder, and Laroche starts to hit more than one single a game?
These players had minor league track records of power and consistency, but they have tremendously disappointed. Please tell me they can develop into something other than what they are.
Sam Griffin of Shaler
KOVACEVIC: There is no question the trade looks bad, Sam, on just about every level, not the least of which is - and this is one area few seem to acknowledge, probably because of the acceptance of the idea the Pirates could not afford him - that Bay has proven to be a productive player in Boston. (Though he has slid since the season's start.)
When a team trades its best player -- and that is how most saw Bay at the time -- it simply cannot miss with all four players in the return. One or even two, sure. But all four is way, way too many, and it raises appropriate questions about the Pirates' evaluators who recommended the acquisitions, as well as those who executed this deal with less than seven minutes before the deadline.
Can those players improve?
Sure, anything is possible. But there has been a pretty decent window open for LaRoche and Moss for a while now, and maybe the part that is most disconcerting about both is that their performance levels -- as you seem to suggest -- are very much consistent. Not much high, not much too low, but quite a bit right in the low range.
Hansen sounds as if he would be lucky just to pitch again at this point, and this as the result of a condition no one could have foreseen.
And it is way too early to give up on Morris, though he certainly has gotten off to an awful start in the system.
Now, all that said, it really should be underscored here that the same people who brought you this trade also evaluated and executed the Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte trade that has been very lopsided in the Pirates' favor, especially when one considers the value of starting pitching in the industry. If the Pirates end up with two-fifths of their rotation and a reliable reliever -- to say nothing of an everyday outfielder in Jose Tabata -- that might be enough to counter-balance the above all by itself.
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Q: In the game Tuesday, I noted that Charlie Morton jogged to first on a ball he had bounced up the middle. The Reds' second baseman managed to glove the ball well behind the bag and throw out Morton by 4 or 5 steps.
Why shouldn't pitchers show more hustle?
Pitchers spend so much time running in practice, you would think running out a grounder wouldn't be asking too much.
Bernard Quarrick of Millersville, Md.
KOVACEVIC: I have zero history of excusing a lack of hustle, so take this in that context: Morton was shut down by a hamstring injury immediately upon being promoted by the Pirates, and the training staff has been careful to ensure it is not aggravated. Hamstrings are different than most injuries in that they never fully heal but they can be maintained.
Morton is very much advised not to go bursting down the line when it is not very visibly necessary.
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Q: Since Pedro Alvarez's time on the major league clock doesn't start until he plays a major league game, would there be any reason we would see him in the bigs next year?
This is assuming, of course, that the Pirates are not in contention in July or later. Even if he tears up Class AA or AAA pitching, it seems like next year would be a waste to have him up in Pittsburgh.
Matt Slaba of Wagner, S.D.
KOVACEVIC: Not necessarily, Matt. Remember, that even the very talented players need their Prince Fielder time in the majors, to strike out, to make adjustments at the plate, to learn how to play with a second-deck backdrop at all the stadiums, to get used to crowds much larger than they have seen, etc.
Maybe the Pirates will feel that 2010 is a great time for Alvarez to get all that out of the way and, as a result, be better prepared to star in 2011.
Either that, or they will see him as genuinely ready to take off right away. A lot of that, from what I hear, will depend on the conditioning Alvarez does this offseason. If he comes into next spring training blowing people away with his physique, there might not be any delay at all. The Pirates' evaluators are of the mind he could hit in the majors right now if not for that issue.
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Q: I notice that Yoslan Herrera, pitching at Altoona and Indianapolis, has what appears to be an outstanding record. Do the Pirates consider him still a prospect or a career minor leaguer?
Neal Samuels of New Castle
KOVACEVIC: Herrera is, in fact, 12-1, with a 3.01 ERA, and those are impressive by any fair standard. But that is just about where it ends.
Herrera is 28, and he spent the bulk of this season in Class AA, which will tell you far more about how the Pirates feel about his potential than anything they might say publicly. He also had very modest numbers beyond the record: .268 opponents' batting average in Class AA, 70 strikeouts in 107 2 /3 innings. And, most important by a wide margin, he maddeningly never rediscovered a fastball that was supposed to be clocked at 92-93 mph upon his signing and, actually, never has relied much on the one he does have.
He is a really nice guy who has a great back story in having fled Cuba on a boat, and the Pirates' previous management invested a ton of money - three-year, $1.92 million guaranteed - but the current management clearly expects to see much more than what is there.
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Q: Why do you refer to Garrett Jones as "the Legend"?
Bill Lauer of Gibsonia
KOVACEVIC: Just for fun, Bill. The phrase often used in other forms is that "the legend grows by the day" or something like that, and that pretty much tells the tale, I think, of Jones' remarkable rookie season. Every time one might assume that all these home runs have to end, that somebody will find a hole in his swing, that his numbers have to come down at least to his career minor league levels, he just keeps on hitting.
It has been fun to watch for a lot of people, I would imagine.
Besides, who doesn't miss the era when all baseball players had nicknames such as "Shorty," "Lefty," "Antelope," "Scrap Iron" and that sort of thing?
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Q: I was in town last week for a wedding and had the opportunity to go to the third game of the Phillies series. I always enjoy going to PNC Park, and it was a perfect evening with a perfect ending.
I thought, while sitting there enjoying the view of Downtown, that here we are at the 10-year point of PNC Park, and the years have gone by in a flash. I remember, when I lived near Pittsburgh and attended many, many games at Three Rivers Stadium about how everyone said we needed a new ball park. The revenue stream was the important thing. Well, we all know, the revenue stream hasn't helped and wondered this: Ten years from now, is everyone going to say we need a new ballpark?
Remember, Three Rivers Stadium only lasted 30 years.
David Farone of Bear, Del.
KOVACEVIC: Three reasons why I cannot imagine that happening, David ...
1. The beautiful thing about Camden Yards was that it sent baseball parks in a retro mode, and that sort of thing, in any architectural capacity, tends to outlast the models that take things in a new direction. We love the old, and PNC Park very much fits that mold, despite its many modern amenities.
2. The place is built to last. From the quality of the initial construction - it's all exposed for everyone to see - to the serious maintenance done by Dennis DaPra and his staff, PNC stands above the rest of baseball as much for its upkeep as its design and view. I regularly work in ballparks that have been built much more recently but look much, much older or never adjust with the times. Already, in less than a decade, PNC has seen many upgrades, from a new scoreboard to a new coat of paint this past winter to all kinds of stuff inside the closed areas.
3. People love it. That never was true of Three Rivers Stadium, which closed off the city and was seen as cold and not all that well suited for either of its two sports (though much better for football than baseball). And, as the first participant above noted, imagine what it will be like if there ever is important baseball played at PNC Park.
Ever hear how people talk about that 1978 doubleheader at Three Rivers where the Pirates swept the Phillies and seemed poised to take over the division? They remember walking or running down those old spiral ramps and chanting "Let's Go Bucs!" and they associate it with the place.
What is that memory at PNC?
Not some single-game fluke like the Brian Giles grand slam or the Rob Mackowiak doubleheader, but something truly meaningful that unites a fan base, its team and maybe even its stadium.
Kind of like how we all woke up early one morning to watch this ...
Posted
Sep 03 2009, 08:00 AM
by
Dejan Kovacevic