| Douglas Benton. 1st August, 2005 - 8:28 pm
 With the recent news of Rafael Palmeiro being suspended for steroids and high priced superstars being tossed around like a morning paper, I thought it was time to take a look at one of the better stories in baseball. The Pittsburgh Pirates are a small market team struggling to stay competitive with the big spenders on the National League, but still run their organization with class and perseverance.
Let’s start at the top with general manager Dave Littlefield, who has held the title of general manager since 2001. Littlefield has never balked to the press about financial burdens that ownership has placed on him and he has never tried to feed the fans a plan that will never come. He has also shown great patience with manager Lloyd McClendon, who is in his fifth year with the club.
While his win-loss numbers won’t back him up, McClendon is one of the best managers in the game and he accomplishes this by getting his teams to play hard and to play the game the right way.
Hopefully McClendon will be rewarded for his patience and hard work with a contract extension that will allow him to see his players grow as a group.
Some of the players that will lead the way for the Pirates in the coming years are outfielders Jason Bay and Chris Duffy, as well as middle infielders Jack Wilson and Jose Castillo. Bay became the first rookie of the year the Pirates have ever had in their history last season and is continuing his growth as one of the best young outfielders in the game. Duffy, Wilson, and Castillo provide great defense up the middle, which will help the young pitchers on the staff grow as well.
While Oliver Perez has been a non-factor this year due to a toe injury, the Pirates have other bright stars that will take the mound in the coming years.
The best of the group is left-hander Zach Duke, who compares favorably to Johan Santana with his delivery and pitching arsenal. Other good arms are right-handers Ian Snell and Kip Wells, with Snell expected to crack the rotation next season.
With such a good group of young talent, I hope the Pirates do the right thing and allow Littlefield and McClendon to see it to fruition. Too many times, teams will go through a long rebuilding process and then fire the guys that took to heat for pulling the franchise through it. Many stories today end in worse fashion than they should. Here’s hoping this story isn’t one of them. |
