MLB's New CBA Is No Help to Small-Market Clubs

Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2011 5:23 PM
By Jonah Keri
http://www.grantland.com/

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 22: (L-R) Major League Baseball Executive Vice President Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Michael Weiner attend a news conference at MLB headquarters on November 22, 2011 in New York City. Selig and Weiner announced a new five-year labor agreement between the MLB and the MLBPA. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Hey, you know that one sports league that keeps stabbing itself in the eye because the parties involved can't look past their own self-interest? Apparently Major League Baseball got jealous.

The terms of MLB's new collective bargaining agreement came out earlier Tuesday. The biggest CBA change places severe restrictions on teams' ability to spend premium dollars on the amateur draft and international signings. So while the deal's cheerleaders trumpet the 21 years of uninterrupted labor peace that we'll have by the end of the five-year deal, baseball risks harming the game in two major ways:

• Smart teams in non-elite markets could fall further behind.

• Premium young athletes could become more motivated to take up basketball, football, soccer … basically any sport that isn't baseball.

For years, the commissioner's office has fought to institute hard slotting in the amateur draft — having teams spend no more than X for the first pick, Y for the second, and so on. Most teams happily ignored those recommendations, since no real repercussions awaited those who defied the league.

Those that stood to benefit the most from draft aggression were lower-revenue clubs. The Pittsburgh Pirates could never hope to compete on the open free-agent market for Albert Pujols' services, with the asking price likely topping $200 million. But the Bucs could land multiple potential stars in the draft by going over slot to reel in the best prospects. Nine years ago, the then-cheapskate Pirates passed on top prospect B.J. Upton in favor of thriftier choice Bryan Bullington, proudly proclaiming Bullington's future as a potential no. 3 starter in the big leagues — as if getting a mid-rotation starter with the no. 1 overall pick was a good thing. That all changed in later years, with the Pirates spending a team-record $11.9 million on 2010 draft picks, then setting a major league record by dropping $17 million this year, including a combined $13 million on way-over-slot picks Gerrit Cole and Josh Bell. For the first time since Barry Bonds bolted two decades ago, you could start to feel good about the Pirates' future.
If you're a Pirates fan, you should feel a lot worse today. The new CBA outlines penalties for going over slot. They are as follows:

• Any team that goes over total recommended slot spending in any one year's draft by up to 5 percent must pay a 75 percent tax on the overage.

• Any team that goes over total recommended slot spending in any one year's draft by 5 to 10 percent must pay a 75 percent tax on the overage and lose its first-round pick in the following year's draft.

• Any team that goes over total recommended slot spending in any one year's draft by 10 to 15 percent must pay a 100 percent tax on the overage and lose its first- and second-round picks in the following year's draft.

• Any team that goes over total recommended slot spending in any one year's draft by more than 15 percent must pay a 100 percent tax on the overage and lose its first-round picks in the next two drafts.

• Any team that goes over total recommended slot spending in any one year's draft by more than 20 percent must absorb the contracts of A.J. Burnett, John Lackey, and Barry Zito.

Even if that last one isn't true, the rest of these penalties will make it much tougher for small-revenue teams like the Pirates to do what everyone always tells them to do to keep up with the big boys: scout, draft, and develop superior talent. This new rule doesn't just affect one or two teams either. As Baseball America's Jim Callis notes, 20 teams outspent total slot recommendations by 16 percent or more this year, meaning two-thirds of MLB teams would have paid 100 percent overage penalties and forfeited two future first-round picks. Throw in a new provision that prevents teams from offering major league contracts to draftees, and these changes figure to dramatically alter the way teams do business.

But wait, there's more. Spending on international signings is now subject to the same harsh penalties. Effective immediately, every team will have $2.9 million to spend in international bonus money, the first step toward what many in the game feel will eventually result in an international draft, which like the amateur draft will transfer more money from the players to the owners. Let's put the $2.9 million figure in context. Per ESPN's Buster Olney, the Rangers spent $17.6 million on international signings in the past year alone. No team does a better job devoting resources — both financial and intellectual — to international scouting and player development than the Rangers. It's a key advantage, built through years of sweat and brainpower that they hoped to build on as they defend their two straight pennants, while competing against the far richer Yankees and Red Sox. The bulk of that advantage has now been wiped out.

Those effects might seem unfair, but both sides know what they're getting. For team owners, it's a chance to spend less for young talent, and thus put more money into their pockets. The few teams that have traditionally avoided spending over slot in the draft will get an added benefit, with rivals becoming more reluctant to outspend them. The Braves, for instance, have long stuck to MLB's slot recommendations. They haven't suffered any major consequences in loss of talent, because more often than not, they simply outscout the rest of baseball. It's no coincidence that Braves president and former GM John Schuerholz was one of the driving forces in hammering out the new draft arrangement. It's certainly possible that other teams could simply get smarter in their talent acquisition and find good players without spending big bucks, the same way shrewd teams do on the trade and free-agent markets. But this was still a viable lower-cost option for cellar-dwelling teams to catch up to the rest of the league that's now been severely curtailed.

The real blame here lies with the Major League Baseball Players Association. After today's press conference, MLB Network's Tom Verducci asked union head Michael Weiner to name his biggest victories from the CBA negotiations. Weiner noted that more players will now become eligible for arbitration sooner, with the Super 2 threshold rising to 22 percent of third-year players who will now come up for arbitration (it was previously 17 percent). Weiner also cited the change in the draft-pick-compensation structure, which will end the practice of stripping high draft picks from teams that sign free agents, except in the case of elite or near-elite players.

As in any negotiation, you have to give something to get something. But what the union gave affects exactly zero percent of its current members, since amateur players can't join the MLBPA. Somehow the union was able to slash the potential earning power of a whole class of players who lack the protection afforded to all those above them. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure in legal terms that qualifies as a whole mess of wrong. Here's hoping some enterprising, young attorney will take up the fight for the many, many high school, college, and international athletes who just got screwed out of a hell of a lot of money.

Of course, those athletes have another alternative: Punt baseball, and go play another sport. Unlike in football or basketball, draftees and international signings in baseball stood to make guaranteed money years before they ever stepped on a major league field. So if an MLB team wanted to persuade a two-sport star to forsake all others in favor of a guaranteed contract and a potential path to the big leagues, that team simply needed to dig into its pockets and make it happen. With that money now restricted, we could see 18-year-old multi-sport stars decide that the long road to the big leagues and the long odds of making it aren't worth giving up other opportunities. The next Grady Sizemore might decide that playing quarterback and being a big man on campus for a powerhouse college is a more attractive path than riding buses all night for Beloit Snappers road trips. At a time when teams are fretting about the overall talent pool and the lack of star players, there's a good chance baseball just made things considerably worse.

The new CBA isn't all bad. An earlier signing deadline for draft picks could get top prospects into the system and on their way to the majors quicker. Realignment will finally result in six divisions with five teams each. The minimum major league salary will rise substantially in the next few years, hitting $500,000 by 2014. Though not everyone will like it, the move toward blood-testing for HGH is one both sides seemed happy to codify. Perhaps best of all, baseball will finally (start to) get its head out of the sand on instant replay, expanding it to include fair/foul plays and plays in which the ball has possibly been trapped by the fielder. It's not a full-on robot-umpire takeover, but it's a good start.
The new CBA does offer some allowances for poorer teams, too. A "competitive balance lottery" kicks in that awards extra draft picks to the lowest-revenue teams in the smallest markets, with the odds of winning one of the six bonus picks after the first round weighted based on lowest winning percentage, and six more bonus picks awarded to leftover teams after the second round. Baseball will also tweak its revenue-sharing system, with the new CBA preventing clubs in the 15 largest markets from receiving revenue-sharing funds by 2016. Most visibly, baseball gets one extra wild-card team per league starting in either 2012 or 2013, thus offering a bit more hope and faith to lesser teams hoping to play into October.

But the new deal, taken as a whole, does more harm than good. The offer to lower-revenue teams likely won't make up for the neutering of draft and international budgets. It won't come close to addressing the gigantic gap between richer and poorer teams' local TV deals, one that's growing rapidly every year. And if fewer available dollars push star athletes away from baseball, that's an inexcusable loss that could have been avoided, if not for the usual bouts of greed.

Baseball can look forward to a full season of games, which is more than the NBA can say right now. Just don't go calling this new agreement a big win for the sport. If you're a baseball fan, you lost a little today. And if you're a fan of a team that's not the Yankees or Red Sox, you lost a lot more.

Jonah Keri's new book, The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First, is a national best-seller. Follow him on Twitter at @JonahKeri.

---

Previously from Jonah Keri:

Mike Matheny's Record Will Be a Product Of Talent, Luck & Definitely Not Mike Matheny
Dan Duquette Has His Hands Full In Baltimore
Here's Why Jonathan Papelbon Isn't Worth $50 Million
Team Continuity Strikes Again with the Minnesota Twins
Cleveland Indians, Worms' No. 1 Enemy
Polarizing Trade For Two Deep Sleepers
Five Tips To Get The Cubs On Track
Canadian Sports Anchor's Kent Brockman Moment
Farewell, Frank: Dodger Faithful Have Reason to Rejoice
Are the Cardinals the Most Unlikely Champions of All Time?

Follow Grantland on Twitter or check out Grantland's Facebook page.
Read more of The Triangle, Grantland's sports blog.
Contact us at triangle@grantland.com

Falling for Pirates' Cole

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Friday, October 21, 2011

Gerrit Cole threw 33 of 53 pitches for strikes against the Scorpions. (Jordan Megenhardt/MLB.com)

MESA, Ariz. — Gerrit Cole climbed the mound under searing 91-degree skies, the Valley of the Sun's red hills making for a fiery backdrop, and somehow he was the one bringing the heat.

That was my first thought when watching the Pirates' No. 1 overall draft pick, the $8 million golden right arm from UCLA, strut his stuff Thursday. In his second Arizona Fall League start, the radar gun showed seven pitches at 100 mph or faster, compared to one in his debut last week. Six pitches reached 100, the other 101. One high offering had the home plate umpire ducking before it popped the catcher's raised mitt.

It was about that time I overheard this from the visitors' dugout in mostly empty Hohokam Park: "You gotta be kiddin' me!"

Which led to my second thought: This isn't something we've seen in Pittsburgh.

The Pirates haven't had a pure strikeout pitcher since Oliver Perez. Even over the course of 125 years, they count Vern Law, Bob Friend and John Candelaria among their very best. None were big strikeout guys, and none is in the Hall of Fame.

That's not to remotely suggest Cole belongs in a discussion with those three. Or any major leaguer, for that matter. He probably is about two years away from his first pitch for the Pirates.

But it is to suggest Cole has a chance — even if that's all it is — to be truly special.

"Honestly, I'm not even looking ahead to next year right now," a sweat-free Cole told me after his three scoreless innings — two hits, a walk and three strikeouts — helped Mesa beat visiting Scottsdale, 4-1. "This is a great experience for me. It's all I'm thinking about, and I'm having fun with it."

OK, but good luck to anyone who watches this young man pitch and tries not to picture his future.

Cole is 21 years old, a filled-out 6 feet 4, 220 pounds, his arm is a cannon, and his delivery is as compact as that of Paul Maholm. His fastball sits at 97-98 mph when it isn't cracking triple digits, he especially impressed scouts yesterday with a dynamic changeup, he showed a good-enough slider, and he even toyed with two cutters that were new to the scouts.

That's natural talent above anything the Pirates have seen in recent memory, even with their recent high-priced amateur acquisitions. Jameson Taillon, the No. 2 overall pick in 2010, has the total package but not that kind of velocity. Stetson Allie can throw 100 mph but is erratic and should end up a reliever. Luis Heredia, still a baby at 17, is flat-out difficult to project.

With Cole, what you see is what you get: He's big, strong, tough and looks ready to go.

It was the poise, though, that stood out for me. This is much more than just some jock rearing back.

The Arizona Fall League provides an annual six-week slate in which each major league team sends at least seven of its best prospects. The caliber of competition could rate as a plus version of Class AA, but it can be far better depending on matchups.

Cole would find a bunch of those yesterday. The top three spots in Scottsdale's lineup were filled by elite prospects who spent part of 2011 in the majors. At leadoff was Mike Trout, the Los Angeles Angels' outfielder who is ranked No. 1 in the sport by Baseball America. Fifth in the order was Washington phenom Bryce Harper, the outfielder who adorned Sports Illustrated's cover at age 16.

Robbie Grossman, the Pirates' outfield prospect leading the league with five home runs and 23 hits, called the Scottsdale card "as close to the majors as you get."

Cole didn't seem moved much. Unlike his first start last week, when he admitted nerves, he attacked each hitter based on a detailed plan, and he moved rhythmically and methodically through it. Against Trout, he went 1-1 by opening with two fastballs and gauged Trout's swing to see he was trying hard to pull. Cole threw a changeup, splintered Trout's bat and got a groundout.

"Yeah, there was a handful of big-league guys over there," Cole said. "You've just got to know what you're dealing with and trust your stuff. A lot of times, you're not going to throw your changeup until they prove they can get to your fastball. But against major league hitters or a lineup like this, you have to keep them off balance with some slow stuff."

For whatever Cole considers slow, his changeup was clocked at 89 mph.

No kiddin'.

A tale of two seasons for Bucs

By John Perrotto
Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
September 30, 2011

MILWAUKEE, WI - SEPTEMBER 27: Neil Walker(notes) #18 of the Pittsburgh Pirates high fives Ronny Cedeno(notes) #5 after scoring during the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on September 27, 2011 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Scott Boehm/Getty Images)

Frank Coonelly said during spring training that it was time for the Pirates to "turn the corner" in 2011.

With the 2011 season now in the books, how does the Pirates club president feel about his team?

"I'll let you be the judge of that," Coonelly said.

OK, here's Judge John's verdict: Hung jury.

On one hand, the season can be considered a success because the Pirates improved by 15 victories over their 57-win debacle of 2010. Arizona and Milwaukee were the only other major-league clubs to raise their win totals by a larger margin and both won division titles.

On the other hand, the season can be considered a failure. The Pirates led the National League Central as late at July 26 then collapsed and finished 24 games behind the Brewers by losing 43 of their last 62 games.

So, the Pirates headed into the off-season as an unknown commodity. Are they ready to contend into September in 2012 or will it still be a few more years before the postseason is a realistic goal?

General manager Neal Huntington, armed with a three-year contract extension through 2014, is bullish on the Buccos.

"Our expectation is we're going to play better baseball for six months next year," Huntington said. "We focus on the process of improving. If we follow the process, the result will take care of itself. We showed a lot of good things for four months. The next step is doing it for six months.

"We had a lot of injuries but not once did you hear (manager) Clint Hurdle or our coaching staff ever talk how broken we were at times. Our team fought and it battled and it was a great learning experience for our young players.

"You look at the center of production in the batting order, the top of the rotation, the back of the bullpen on other teams and almost all have older players than we do in those spots. That presents a challenge but also an opportunity for us to improve."

There were reasons for optimism in 2011.

Center fielder Andrew McCutchen took another step toward becoming a superstar, second baseman Neil Walker built on his fine rookie season, Joel Hanrahan became a lockdown closer and enigmatic Charlie Morton showed signs he might still become an above-average starting pitcher.

Yet the final two months of the season also provide reason for pessimism in 2012. The Pirates of August and September were a long way from respectable.

That dichotomy from the April-July Pirates and the August-September Pirates is what is already setting up 2012 to be an intriguing season, though.

Pirates' free fall historic failure

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Friday, September 23, 2011

PHOENIX, AZ - SEPTEMBER 20: Manager Clint Hurdle of the Pittsburgh Pirates watches from the dugout during the Major League Baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on September 20, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

It's Free Shirt Friday at PNC Park, where the Pirates and Cincinnati Reds open the final homestand of 2011.

Yeah, I called to check.

While our city's sports fans have been immersed in the Steelers' fall and rise, the Penguins' stars back on ice and Pitt's move to the ACC, it's gone almost completely unnoticed that the Pittsburgh Baseball Club has been remastering the art of what it does best: Epic failure.

How else to describe a team that was 53-47 and in first place through 100 games on July 25, only to lose 40 of its past 56 games?

If not epic, then how about historic?

I got to thinking over the past few days — maybe when Charlie Morton was picked off second base, maybe when that pop-up plopped between Alex Presley and Xavier Paul, maybe when the Dodgers pounded the Pirates by a margin that exceeded all but four of the NFL's 14 games that same Sunday — that this free fall out of first place just has to be some sort of record.

Thanks to the wizards at Elias Sports Bureau, I can confirm this morning that it is.

(Cue drumroll.)

In the modern history of Major League Baseball that began in 1900, no team has fared worse than these Pirates after holding first place through 100 games. Actually, no team has even come close. The Pirates' 16-40 record down the stretch makes for a .286 winning percentage. Next-worst was the 1977 Chicago Cubs, who went 60-40 to lead their division through 100 games, then went 21-41 for a .339 winning percentage.

These Pirates went from delight to disgrace before Regis Philbin could break out one chorus of "We Are Family."

And please, let's not talk about how there's been progress.

Sure, the current 69-87 is an upgrade over the pathetic 57-105 last year, but that was expected at the outset. Certainly, much, much more was expected by late July. But the pitching, which carried the team through 100 games with a 3.39 ERA, has a 5.10 ERA since. And the hitting, which has been lousy all along, has a .243 average and a franchise-record 1,251 strikeouts.

That's not progress.

Individually, Jeff Karstens' 3.38 ERA and Joel Hanrahan's 39 saves went above and beyond. Andrew McCutchen's home runs rose from 16 to 23, and Neil Walker and a couple other pitchers were steady. But good luck from there. Of the team's vaunted young core, Jose Tabata couldn't stay on the field, and Pedro Alvarez batted .194, struck out almost as often as a pitcher, then petulantly refused to play winter ball.

That's not progress.

I called earlier this summer for Neal Huntington to be extended as general manager, and I stand by that now that he's had three years added. He has the right plan for a franchise with a smaller revenue base, and he has the right ideas about taking it to the next level.

But Huntington continues to make mistakes with major league acquisitions — Lyle Overbay and Matt Diaz added to a string of expensive position-player failures — and must address why it keeps happening. He can start by firing anyone who has recommended a shortstop to him during the past four years.

I've also applauded the work of Clint Hurdle, and I'll stand by the manager, too. The one positive the Pirates deserve to take from this summer is that they did, to borrow Hurdle's term, "break down barriers." They got to first place. They were shown on national TV. They fed off big crowds. The next time it happens, it won't seem like a circus sideshow, and that's to Hurdle's credit.

But the lack of offense belies Hurdle's background as a hitting coach. If neither he nor actual hitting coach Gregg Ritchie could get anyone to overachieve, hard questions must be asked.

Moreover, for all of Hurdle's hilarity, folksiness and energy — all genuine, all welcome — he's had no more answers down the stretch than anyone else. Ever since that 101st game, this has looked little different than a John Russell team.

Remember that 101st game?

Right. That one. It was the 19-inning loss July 26 in Atlanta, where umpire Jerry Meals' blown call sent the season, symbolically or otherwise, into a tailspin that I'm guessing will carry right through a season-ending spanking next week in Milwaukee.

That whole Miller Park thing hasn't exactly improved, either.

If the Pirates try to convince anyone that 2011 brought progress, they'll need a lot more than free shirts to finish the sale.

First to worst

The Pirates' 16-40 record in the past 56 games marks the worst winning percentage (.286) in Major League Baseball history after a team was in first place through 100 games. Here are the three worst such collapses:

Team: Year — First 100 — Afterward — Pct.

Pirates: 2011 — 53-47 — 16-40 — .286

Chicago Cubs: 1977 — 60-40 — 21-41 — .339

Montreal Expos: 1989 — 59-41 — 22-40 — .355

Source: Elias Sports Bureau

Alvarez Needs to Fulfill Promise

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
September 14, 2011

PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 13: Pedro Alvarez(notes) #24 of the Pittsburgh Pirates gets a hit in the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during the game on September 13, 2011 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Cardinals defeated the Pirates 6-4. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Sometime soon, maybe with Wednesday's matinee at PNC Park, the Pirates will lose their 82nd game, clinch their 19th consecutive losing season and extend a streak that was such a blissful afterthought most of the summer.

It's a shame. Baseball had just begun to be fun again around here when the collapse of the rotation, the continued whiffs at the plate and Jerry Meals' safe call conspired to blow that balloon right out of the sky.

Still, none of that's as big a shame as what's become of Pedro Alvarez.

Remember him?

He's the $6 million bonus baby who was the consensus top prospect in the 2008 draft, the franchise's most exciting power-hitting prospect in a decade. In his first spring training, he was compared aesthetically to a young Willie Stargell by no less an authority than Manny Sanguillen. And once Alvarez rocketed through the minors — 40 home runs in 192 games — those expectations found another notch.

Easy to forget now, isn't it?

Think back to Monday night: It might have been lost in that 6-5 comeback victory, but in the heat of the big eighth-inning rally, manager Clint Hurdle pinch-hit for Alvarez with 5-foot-8, little-engine-that-could Josh Harrison. Alvarez stayed expressionless as he walked down the steps to the dugout, slid the bat back into its hole and took a seat.

I've covered Alvarez since his draft year, and I never imagined I'd see such a scene.

But there he sat, along with his .189 average, three home runs, 15 RBIs, 71 strikeouts and 17 walks in 206 at-bats. He couldn`t hit in his most recent minor-league stint, and he`s 2 for 13 since coming back, though he did hammer a single up the middle as a pinch-hitter in the 6-4 loss Tuesday night.

Talk to the kid, and you wouldn't know anything's amiss.

I asked Alvarez after batting practice yesterday what he might take from this season: "The season's not over. I have to keep working. It's about hard work and optimism."

He hasn't gotten down?

"No."

Not at all?

"It can get to you, obviously. It's not all peachy when things aren't going well. But it's how you bounce back, how you tackle it; that's how you build character. If you don't do that, you just succumb to it. I'm not about that. I'm going to keep grinding."

Does he still believe he can be the elite player so many expected?

"Oh, yeah, absolutely. I have every bit of confidence in the world that I can do that. I know I can. I showed glimpses of it last year.

"Right now, pitchers have me figured out a little more than I have them. It's just a matter of me figuring it out. Once that happens ... let's just say I'm confident. This is the start to a long career."

Maybe that was a gruff exterior, and maybe it wasn't.

Alvarez has more than his share of skeptics, including inside the baseball world. He is criticized for his conditioning and, despite a visibly intense work ethic, for his commitment.

Where Alvarez's weight is concerned, I couldn't care less. Ask Prince Fielder how many flights of steps he runs each day.

The commitment facet, I think, is being put to the test right now.

The Pirates have been urging Alvarez to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic this offseason, and though that's always voluntary, they're being highly reasonable in doing so. Alvarez not only has struggled but also missed two months to a thigh injury. He could use the at-bats, to say the least.

Though management has been telling people that Alvarez is amenable to a Dominican assignment, it sure didn't sound like that in our conversation Tuesday.

"You know, that's something we're still discussing, the organization and myself," Alvarez said. "We haven't really talked yet. So, we'll see how that goes."

He needs to go. There shouldn't even be a discussion.

And the Pirates, in general, need to get better at getting Alvarez's best out of him. This reflects badly on Clint Hurdle, a former hitting coach, and even worse on Gregg Ritchie, the current hitting coach who hasn't gotten the best out of anyone this year. There isn't another power-hitter coming in the Pirates' system, and it's imperative to the current core in Pittsburgh that Alvarez becomes that guy.

It's Pedro or bust, but that choice is still there to be made.

Still more pitches to chase

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Wednesday, August 31, 2011

HOUSTON - AUGUST 30: First baseman Garrett Jones(notes) #46 of the Pittsburgh Pirates can't reach a ground ball during baseball game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on August 30, 2011 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

The Pirates' 19th consecutive losing season is all but sealed, and September will see the Steelers and Penguins in action, burying baseball even deeper in our city's sporting consciousness.

Anyone still remember Michael McKenry's magical blast into the bleachers?

How about just Michael McKenry?

Well, the schedule shows a full month remaining, 27 games from the finale tonight in Houston to the season-ending series in — where else? — Milwaukee.

And yeah, somehow, I still can think of 11 reasonable goals for the rest of 2011:

11. Leave Harrison alone.

No, it won't alter the course of the franchise to give a 5-foot-8 backup infielder a few extra at-bats. But neither will it hurt.

Josh Harrison seldom walks, so he doesn't fit the modern mold of a hitting prospect, but he gets the barrel to the ball. It might be a gapper, might be just a poke, but there's actual contact. That's not a trait to ignore in a lineup that generates so much wind the National Weather Service soon will assign a name.

I propose "Chase."

10. Same with Presley.

These Pirates aren't about to become a Lumber Company, so they might as well try Lightning. The current outfield of Alex Presley, Andrew McCutchen and Jose Tabata just might make up in speed — offense and defense — for what the corner men lack in power.

No need, then, to see much of Ryan Ludwick, Xavier Paul or Matt Diaz.

9. Court Lee.

Yeah, Garrett Jones is hitting with pop, but that comes and goes monthly. The Pirates would welcome having Derrek Lee back as their starting first baseman in 2012, and getting him comfortable at pitcher-friendly PNC Park could help keep him from leaving through free agency.

Have a better idea at first?

8. Consider other keepers.

Paul Maholm and Ryan Doumit have costly 2012 club options that probably won't — and shouldn't — be exercised. But both are amenable to working out longer-term deals, and the Pirates' needs in the rotation and at catcher make discussions a must.

7. Find a shortstop.

The Pirates don't sound intent on bringing back Ronny Cedeno for a third head-scratching season, so there's no risk in trying Chase d'Arnaud or even Brandon Wood.

When the offseason comes, though, help will be needed from the outside. And, given this management's miserable track record with shortstops — they wouldn't recognize Ozzie Smith if he did a backflip on Federal Street — I strongly recommend outsourcing the task.

6. Let Meek inherit the eighth.

It's no coincidence that the Pirates have allowed more runs in the eighth inning than any other, with Evan Meek, their lone All-Star in 2010, shelved all year by shoulder pain. His imminent return to the mound will be a boon to the bullpen well beyond this month.

5. Prod McCutchen to sign.

It's understandable that the Pirates and McCutchen aren't close on an extension, especially if management is low-balling McCutchen as it did with the offer that Tabata stunningly accepted.

But be sure that McCutchen will notice if Neil Walker gets done, especially before season's end. Walker and Tabata then will be due millions in guaranteed money while McCutchen keeps playing for minimum wage in 2012.

4. Draw 2 million.

The Pirates have drawn 1,682,888 to PNC Park for an average crowd of 25,117. They would have to average 24,393 over the final 13 dates to hit 2 million for just the fourth time in the team's 125-year history.

Even coming close would be the statistical achievement of the year.

3. Save some face.

A reader tweeted me this the other day: Through July 25, the Pirates were the best team in the Central Division. Since then, they're the worst.

For all the accolades heaped on Clint Hurdle this year, a September swoon would pile on top of the second-half damage already done, and that should reflect just as badly on the manager.

Let's see if Hurdle can make a difference after his first real taste of managing the Pirates.

2. Get Pedro a visa.

I've maintained all along that nothing mattered more to the Pirates in 2011 than Pedro Alvarez's progression toward becoming a big-time power hitter. That obviously hasn't materialized, but I'll stand by his importance, as well as his character and other intangibles.

For now.

If he blows off the Pirates' reasonable request to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic, I reserve the right to change my mind. With all the time missed to injury and all those swings and misses, there is no viable reason Alvarez should say no.

1. Win in Milwaukee.

Seriously, just once.

Pirates' plunge of epic proportions

By John Perrotto
Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
August 30, 3011

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, center, pulls starting pitcher Jeff Karstens(notes), left, out of the game as catcher Michael McKenry(notes) offers support during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, in St. Louis. The Cardinals won 7-4. (AP)

The Pirates nearly put themselves in the unique position of being buyers and sellers in the same season.

Only one thing has messed it up and it's that nearly all the players the Pirates might trade between now and Wednesday night's deadline for acquiring players who can be eligible for a team's postseason roster are hurt.

Before we get into that, it's morbidly fascinating to look at the historical aspect of the Pirates' freefall from contenders to also-rans.

They were tied for first place in the National League Central on July 25.

Though the Pirates had dropped to 4 1/2 games out by the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, they still had a chance, prompting general manager Neal Huntington to make low-risk trades for Baltimore first baseman Derrek Lee and San Diego outfielder Ryan Ludwick.

However, a 7-3 loss to San Diego on Aug. 7 that ended a 0-7 homestand dropped the Pirates 10 games behind Milwaukee. It took 13 days for the Pirates to drop from first place to a double-digit deficit, fastest in major-league history.

The hole grew to 15 1/2 games following a 5-4 loss to Cincinnati on Aug. 21. The Pirates joined the 1911 St. Louis Browns as the only team to go from first place to 15 games down within 30 days.

The Pirates entered Monday's play 18 games behind the Brewers.

While nothing could top (bottom?) the disappointment of plummeting in the standings at light speed, it just adds to the Pirates' misfortune that they have no one of any real interest to contenders looking to bolster their roster.

Catcher Ryan Doumit, a pending free agent, is the Pirates' best trade chip but it seems unlikely he will be moved as teams rightfully have concerns about his defense.

While some thought the Pirates might try to deal left-hander Paul Maholm, it won't be the case and not just because he is injured. The Pirates haven't officially announced anything yet because they want to make sure the shoulder injury that has Maholm on the disabled list is no more than a strain but they plan to exercise the $9.5 million club option in his contract for 2012.

Lee and Ludwick might have fetched a second-tier or third-tier prospect. However, Lee suffered a broken wrist Aug. 3 when hit by a pitch and Ludwick joined him on the DL last week with back spasms.

Thus, the L&L boys, who have combined to contribute three home runs and 10 RBIs to the pennant push that wasn't, will finish out the season with the Pirates and be spared the indignity of getting dumped twice by non-contenders in one season.

Signing Bell another homer for Huntington

Sunday, August 21, 2011

By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

This was Friday, in the hour before an almost biblical rainfall soaked the North Side, and Pirates general manager Neal Huntington had moved to the shadows of a PNC Park conference room to take in a scene that should and likely will cement his future in Pittsburgh.

Uber agent Scott Boras was perched at a microphone, sweet-swingin' stud schoolboy Josh Bell sat next to him in a Pirates cap, and the air was thick with the smell of a $5 million gamble that a lot of smart people will tell you is no gamble at all.

"You know me," Huntington said of a job status that still doesn't officially extend into 2012. "I control what I can control."

Among all Huntington's hotly debated moves as the top baseball mind in a mostly listless franchise, none has packed the potential electrical wallop of the chain of events that led to this day.

It started with Mike Leuzinger, a Pirates area scout working North Texas and Oklahoma. Leuzinger joined the Pirates in 2004 after 12 years scouting for the Los Angeles Dodgers, for whom he signed a Mr. Matt Kemp.

Kemp, you may have noticed, was hitting .319 before the weekend in a summer that still is projecting to 37 homers and 117 RBIs.

"It would be easy for me to say that I knew Matt Kemp was going to be hitting .320 today with 20-plus homers," Leuzinger was telling me on the phone from Wisconsin. "I had visions of how high he could go, but to see what he's done, I'd be lying [if I said] I knew that would be the case.

"With Josh, I have expectations of him being a very elite player, but I'm not gonna compare him to anyone but Josh Bell, a tremendous young man from a wonderful family. I've been in and out of the homes of many, many players and I can tell you this one is different. He's very intelligent. Very respectful."

They were part of this scene, too, the elegant family, father Earnest, mother Myrtle, sister Joy. One look at them, a couple of sentences exchanged, and you knew the whole don't-draft-me-I'm-going-to-the-University-of-Texas thing was no ruse.

"We're academics," Myrtle was saying about her side of the family. "I'm a professor of management [University of Texas-Arlington] in the school of business. My mother was a professor at Southern University. My sister just got her PhD from UMass, and I've got multiple cousins at the University of North Texas and Johns Hopkins, so, yes, it was important to me that Josh get the best education, but the bottom line for me was what was best for my son."

So it was about the nature of commitment, because commitments come in all sizes. You can commit to eating a healthy lunch for a change, you can commit to a future at the University of Texas, and then you can back up a commitment with $5 million, and that's maybe a whole other kind of commitment.

"I can't tell you how many times I was back and forth," Josh Bell said on his first day in Pittsburgh. "But, when someone has that much faith in a player, you can't turn them down."

When the Pirates started building their draft board this spring, they wound up positioning Bell as the sixth-best player in the entire pool. The whole Texas scold-'em scenario left him available when they were on the clock to start the second round, and Leuzinger's words were still ringing in their ears.

"Mike did what a great area scout does," Huntington said. "He allowed us to believe in the Bells."

Leuzinger surely was gratified that the Pirates would walk out on this limb, and he wasn't surprised by the price, either.

"I didn't know it was going to be $5 million," Leuzinger said. "I didn't even know if he'd take $5 million. But he's a guy who's never been shy about what kind of player he expects to be and wants to do it sooner rather than later."

It's not just Huntington and his staff who think that with Josh Bell and No. 1 pick Gerrit Cole they have two of this draft's top-six talents. This Pirates draft has been described as a landmark haul on seam-head sites web wide.

It's the kind of bold stroke financially and strategically the organization tried to convince Clint Hurdle it was capable of in November.

"Absolutely," the manager said. "And I've been seeing it before this, too, from the acquisitions of Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick; I was copied on every conversation Neal had throughout the whole process, the ones who were hangin' and the ones that fell off. His commitment has been consistent. He's told me who we were and where we're going and how we're gonna get there, and he's stuck to it.

"He's showed me models of how we're doing things against how it was done in the past, and I've just been so impressed with the last three years."

It's time to give Huntington a shot at the next three. Maybe players like Josh Bell can take him from there.

Gene Collier's "Two-Minute Warning" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.

Pirates' Tabata yearns to honor Clemente

By Rob Biertempfel, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Thursday, August 18, 2011

If only for one game, Jose Tabata would like to play right field at PNC Park wearing No. 21 on the back of his Pirates jersey. (Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review)

If only for one game, Jose Tabata would like to play right field at PNC Park wearing No. 21 on the back of his Pirates jersey.

"That's my dream," Tabata said Wednesday.

No Pirates player has worn 21 since Hall of Fame right fielder Roberto Clemente. The team retired the number at the start of the 1973 season, four months after Clemente was killed in a plane crash while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

As Tabata begins the process of becoming at least a part-time right fielder — playing in front of the 21-foot-high Clemente Wall at PNC Park — he wants to honor the man who was his childhood idol.

"My wish is to one day ask (the Clemente) family if I can wear that number for at least one day," Tabata said through interpreter Luis Silverio. "I am so proud to play the same position as my hero."

Tabata was born in Venezuela 15 years after Clemente's death. Like thousands of other Latin American children before and since, Tabata grew up eagerly listening to stories about Clemente.

"My father told me about Clemente when I was 7 years old," Tabata said. "I heard about the type of person he was on and off the field, the way he played the game, the way he respected the game, and how he died trying to help others. That's what made him my hero."

Clemente remains among the most revered players in Pittsburgh sports history. Tabata said his hope to wear No. 21 is not intended as a slight at Clemente's legacy.

"There is only one Roberto. I realize that," Tabata said. "He's my inspiration to keep working hard. At the end of my career, my numbers won't be the same as Clemente's, but at least I was able to do something for the Pittsburgh Pirates."

Tabata made his first major league start in right field Wednesday. He has played 158 games in left field and 15 in center in his career.

"I want to play (in right)," Tabata said. "It's where the team wants me to play, and I will honor that."

Tabata figures to get a lot more time in right, especially when Alex Presley comes off the disabled list.

"Presley is better suited to the gap (in left-center)," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Jose still has the range to go get the ball (in left), but his throwing arm is strong enough for right field."

Hurdle also is impressed that Tabata wants to patrol right field because of Clemente.

"It's very refreshing to see a kid like Jose, who's tied to it — the heritage, the history, the position, all of it," Hurdle said. "It's old school. He wants to play in front of the Clemente Wall."

Pirates cheap? Not anymore

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Gerrit Cole, the overall number one draft pick, signed a minor league deal with an $8 million bonus.

OK, can we now finally, formally move past the stale narrative that the Pirates are cheap?

Never mind that they spent $17 million on the full draft class, the most expensive in the sport's history.

Never mind, even, that they added $5 million to the payroll at the July 31 trade deadline by taking on Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick, making for a grand total of $22 million committed in a 16-day span.

Forget it all for a moment, if only because most of the above was expected.

Not Josh Bell.

I could break down dollars and decimal points all day to illustrate that the Pirates really are putting their cash back into baseball rather their pockets, their Seven Springs ski-lift upgrades or wherever else the conspiracy theories go. But it's so much simpler to point just to Bell, their second-round pick who stunned the baseball community by signing for $5 million.

"We're excited about the whole draft," owner Bob Nutting said Tuesday at PNC Park, "but we're especially happy about that one."

Bell, a 6-foot-3 outfielder out of Dallas Jesuit High School with breathtaking natural power, was ranked No. 6 on the Pirates' board and top-10 on most independent rankings. But Bell made clear he intended to honor his commitment to the University of Texas, and his family penned a letter to all 30 teams asking them not to pick him. His adviser, super-agent Scott Boras, floated through the media that not even $10 million could change Bell's mind.

If you're the Pirates, even if you think Boras is bluffing — and, trust me, there's ample precedent — why take on that headache?

No one would have complained if the Pirates bypassed Bell, just like the 29 teams that were scared off by his letter. In Cole, the Pirates already had a 6-foot-4 flame-throwing stud out of UCLA to add to an arsenal of elite pitching prospects.

And hey, the Pirates could have kept that $5 million for themselves, if only to cover the exact amount wasted on Lyle Overbay this summer.

But they didn't. They spent it.

And, maybe just as telling, they seemed as giddy as schoolchildren yesterday that they did.

Nutting: "Obviously, it's a tremendous day. I couldn't be more pleased."

Team president Frank Coonelly: "It's a great day for all of us."

General manager Neal Huntington: "We're just delighted."

Even manager Clint Hurdle, who has little to do with the draft, caught up with Nutting behind the batting cage and boomed out: "Great job!"

The Nutting ownership has done some dumb things since taking over in 2007, and I've taken pains to point those out: Nutting never should have paid that $20 million in 2008 to cover taxes for the minority owners and converted equity, a move made primarily to protect his stake. He should have been better informed and more aggressive in preventing the Matt Wieters and Miguel Sano fiascos.

But all the seven-figure checks being sent out of 115 Federal St. provide overwhelming evidence that it's well past time to cast aside the caricature of Nutting the Miser and the penny-pinching Pirates.

"Well, I would hope so," Coonelly said. "Bob has demonstrated a great commitment to this franchise."

Still cynical?

Let's look at the broader issue of major-league payroll.

The Milwaukee Brewers, based in a market two-thirds the size of Pittsburgh, have a $90 million payroll that dwarfs the Pirates' $50 million. But what if it could be shown that each team is spending to its means?

The Brewers will outdraw the Pirates by a 3-2 ratio at the gate, and their prices are 44 percent higher, which brings them $25 million more in ticket revenues. From there, estimate that the Brewers are making $5 million more in suites and sponsorships, even if that's probably low.

We're down to a $10 million difference in the teams' ability to spend.

Well, the Pirates just outspent the Brewers by $9 million on the draft — extra money that could have gone into major-league payroll — and our difference is now $1 million.

Finally, Rick Schlesinger, Milwaukee's chief operating officer, told me over the weekend that his team will lose money. That means the Brewers are spending beyond their means.

Are we at zero yet?

Yes, the Pirates need to keep adding to payroll, so they can keep the core of their roster together, so they can have a product that maximizes revenues at PNC Park.

For now, let's turn the page.

Patience with Alvarez will pay off

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Monday, August 15, 2011

MILWAUKEE — If anything torments a follower of the Pirates more than watching them fall apart at Miller Park for five years now, than watching the Brewers' 275-pound first baseman and a relief pitcher beat out infield singles, than watching the tying run stranded after a leadoff triple in the ninth, than watching an unassisted forceout at home plate in the 10th ... OK, well, maybe it doesn't get much worse.

In the summer-long category, though, I'll put watching Pedro Alvarez atop my torment list.

The Pirates' best power-hitting prospect in a decade has become utterly cringe-worthy, whether a pitch or a grounder is headed his way. His average is down to .197 after again going hitless in the Pirates' 2-1 loss Sunday, and his three home runs and 15 RBI seem frozen in time next to those 66-and-counting strikeouts.

Since returning to the Pirates on July 25, he is batting .176 and astoundingly has hit the ball out of the infield only 16 times in 72 plate appearances.

The kid looks terrible.

He is terrible right now.

But those pronouncing Alvarez a bust are ridiculously premature. He's played 150 games in the majors. Seriously, how about at least waiting until he has played a full season before burying him?

One look at that 275-pound first baseman for the Brewers illustrates the potential payoff: Prince Fielder is the heart-of-the-order force found in most contending lineups, owner of 27 home runs, 89 RBI and, just for kicks, a .305 average. He's the kind of thumper many still expect Alvarez to be.

Fielder's advice: Leave Pedro alone.

"What's probably the problem for him is that people are trying to classify him as a power hitter instead of him just being a hitter," Fielder told me this weekend. "You've got to learn how to hit first. Anytime you hear people telling that you're one thing, it puts a little pressure on you because you're trying to be that. Just think about hitting the ball hard. You can't put a GPS on the ball and make it go over the fence. Once he gets that down, he'll be fine."

He had better be. The painful fact for the Pirates is that Alvarez is just too important to the franchise, the only hitter with real power potential at any level of the organization.

Management made a mistake in recalling Alvarez from Triple-A Indianapolis last month, just as some of the latest instruction -- drive outside pitches the opposite way, be more aggressive early in counts -- was resonating. He was batting .365 in 18 games. But he also had dug himself into 0-2 counts in a third of his at-bats, and that should have been a glaring red flag.

This isn't hindsight on my part. I backed management when they kept him down despite fans' howls, and I panned management when, in a move highly unlike general manager Neal Huntington, he promoted a critical piece of the future because of a need with the parent club.

Huntington, to his credit, acknowledges the mistake.

"Some of this is on us," he said.

The Pirates' next move isn't easy. Hearing the brass assess him over the weekend -- "He looks a little like he's lost his way," Huntington said -- it sounds like Alvarez could be headed back to Indianapolis, maybe as early as today. Only 21 games remain on Indianapolis' schedule, but there's a risk he can beat himself down further by staying.

"Obviously, I'm not doing as well as I want," Alvarez said yesterday in an interview he clearly wanted to have about as much as a tooth extraction. "I'm just going to keep trying."

Trying at what?

"Just have good at-bats, whatever that takes."

And his confidence?

"You know, I have every bit of confidence that I'm going to get out of this. I've just to keep with my routine, learn from my coaches and teammates. I know for a fact that it'll turn around."

Call me nuts, but I believe him.

Alvarez hit well enough at Vanderbilt that he richly earned being the No. 2 pick in the 2008 draft. He started slowly at every level of the minors, then dominated every one of those levels. In the majors, too, let's not forget that in 2010 he had 16 home runs and 64 RBI in 95 games, had back-to-back two-homer games and was the National League's Rookie of the Month for September.

Baseball people will swear, no matter the contrary examples, that power hitters arrive late.

"There's some patience involved, some challenges," manager Clint Hurdle said. "If you believe in the player, if you believe in the person, you have to give him the opportunity to work through those."

"He's too good a hitter, and he cares too much," Huntington said. "We believe very strongly in Pedro Alvarez. He'll be fine."

Let's find out.

Pirates manager Hurdle is guided by history

By Bob Cohn, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Sunday, August 14, 2011

While the Pirates were finding different ways to lose, and lose often, manager Clint Hurdle rocked steady to the beat of the same message. His message.

"How you get through (adversity) as an organization and a team is what can define you actually and make you better in the long run," he said last Sunday after a 10th consecutive loss.

This has been a prevailing theme of Hurdle's. And who better to spread it than a brush-cut, slogan-spouting testament to the long run? "There's not much that's been thrown at me that's gonna catch me off guard," he said.

Certainly not a 10-game losing streak, distasteful as it was. Hurdle has dealt with larger issues.

"It's a game," he often says, win or lose.

As the Rockies' manager in 2007, Hurdle guided his club to the World Series a year after it finished 10 games under .500. In his first season with the Pirates, he has overseen a big improvement from last year's 105-loss disaster and kept the team competitive longer than what seemed reasonable.

But before trying to reinvent the Pirates, Hurdle had to reinvent himself.

"I've gone through an obstacle course and come out the other side bigger, stronger and better," he said. "I've learned and lived, on and off the field.

"Usually behind leadership you hope to have good judgment," Hurdle said, sitting at his desk inside PNC Park. "And good judgment's needed in times of adversity. How do you get good judgment? Through experience. And how do you get the experience? Through bad judgment."

Hurdle would know. A recovering alcoholic, he helped sabotage his promising career on the field and lived less than responsibly off it. In many ways, life began at 40.

"There were challenges that were presented to me," said Hurdle, 54, "and some I manufactured on my own."

The journey

Terry Bross, who pitched for Hurdle on three minor league clubs and in the Florida Instructional League, said, "The thing about Clint is because of the journey he's taken, he keeps everything in perspective. I never saw him get too high or too low. He's shouldered a lot in his life. And he does a very good job of sharing it."

While managing the Mets' Jackson (Miss.) affiliate in 1990, Hurdle noticed that Bross pitched better when he was angry. So Hurdle told Bross to rile himself up by stalking around the mound and trying to look intimidating. It wasn't hard. A former St. John's basketball player, Bross stood 6-foot-9.

Hurdle also suggested Bross grow a droopy Fu Manchu mustache, creating a taller version of Al Hrabosky, the colorful reliever and psyche-out artist known as "The Mad Hungarian" and Hurdle's ex-teammate. This would violate the Mets' minor league facial hair policy, but Hurdle got a pass.

Performing the full Hrabosky, Bross set a club saves record and was called up the next year. Although his major league career lasted just 10 games (he also pitched in Japan), he credits Hurdle with helping him get a taste of the big time.

"He's one of the most influential people I've ever been around and one of the best motivators," Bross said. "No matter what you thought you were going through, he always made you think you're better than you are."

Things can change

Twice divorced, Hurdle met Karla Yearick, an accountant from Muncy, Pa., while managing Williamsport for the Mets in 1991. They were married eight years later. Today they have two children: Christian, who is 6, and Madison, who celebrated her ninth birthday at a party last Sunday at PNC Park. Hurdle also has a daughter, Ashley, 26, from a previous marriage.

Maddie, as the family calls Madison, was born with a genetic disorder, Prader-Willi syndrome. Symptoms can vary, but PWS generally causes a chronic feeling of hunger, learning issues, and social and motor deficits. It affects 1 in 12,000-15,000 people.

The family's struggles with the disease have been well-chronicled, and the Hurdles are deeply involved with the national Prader-Willi Association. Clint is a spokesperson. In 2005, he missed several games while managing the Rockies after complications put Maddie in the hospital and things looked scary. He calls Maddie "my angel."

He is supposed to brood about his playing career or bust up the furniture over a losing streak?

"Right now is the time I think I can handle some adversity," he said.

An outfielder and first baseman, Hurdle rose and fell almost at once. He joined the Royals fulltime in 1978 pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the words, "This Year's Phenom." He ended his career as the Mets' bullpen catcher in 1987, a bust to many, even though he played well at times and helped the Royals reach the 1980 World Series.

Reflecting on one particularly rocky time that included rumors he was gay, Hurdle several years ago wryly noted to reporters, "I saw with the snap of finger, things can change. In a period of four weeks I was hurt, separated, divorced and then supposedly a homosexual. It was amazing."

Defining moments

The reinvention of Clint Hurdle has occurred in stages, a telling moment here, some bad judgment there, the occasional epiphany, advice both heeded and ignored. About when he was 30, he said, coming off his second divorce, he took a walk with his dad, Big Clint.

"One of the all-time best walks," Hurdle said, as if ranking them. "He said, 'Life's not fair, boy. You need to get this. You need to listen to me. You don't need to talk. This isn't the time for your questions. Life's not fair. What you do in situations you're handed is gonna dictate how you're gonna live your life and how you're gonna respect your life and what you make of your life."

Hurdle took the message to heart, but the real transformation happened a few years later when he met Karla. "I have reference points for growth," he said. "But she is one of the defining moments of my life."

She made him wait a few years after he proposed.

"I think he had a lot more things to figure out about himself," Karla Hurdle said. "I told him he would never be able to make me happy until he made himself happy."

Hurdle said he told Karla not long ago, "I know how much God loves me by the fact that he brought you into my life."

If Karla is one "defining moment," the other is Maddie. Hurdle's sister, Bobbi Jo, once told a reporter that Maddie took Clint "to a place where he'd never been." He was asked where that place was.

"It's given me the understanding of what unconditional love is all about," he said while in his PNC Park office. "It was a term I thought I had a grasp on. I thought I had a pretty good feeling about it. I didn't."

Karla Hurdle said, "You don't raise your hand to be picked for this; you kind of get elected by God. I don't think we would have gotten to this place in our relationship had we not been given Maddie as this gift.

"When you have someone with special needs, you have to remove yourself from the picture sometimes. They come first. We've accepted this. We know we've been given this awesome platform in baseball, and we can help bring awareness to the syndrome. When you do that you kind of give up a selfish piece of yourself."

Reaching out

Hurdle volunteers that he is still involved with Alcoholics Anonymous, preaches the benefits of therapy and, yes, expresses how much he loves his wife. Such subjects usually go unbroached in baseball. Hurdle doesn't care.

"You've got a broken bone, you go see a bone doctor," he said. "You've got a broken head, you go see a head doctor. You've got a broken heart, you might want to find somebody you can share that with.

"Most people go through things that don't work out, and they only look at how it affected them. I was able to take another step through counseling. All the damage I caused to other people. I never had that side of my life. It was all about me. The sun rose and set on the crack of my (rear) every day."

A large, robust man, Hurdle uses his voice like a musical instrument, changing keys and chords, punching some words hard, drawing out others. He resonates. He can intimidate and enlighten in the same sentence. "He's a very dominant person when he walks into a room," said his former teammate, Jamie Quirk. Hurdle also is fond of slogans that proffer wisdom and advice, like "Multitasking makes me multimediocre," and "Delay is not denial."

Whatever helps.

"I went through dealing with addiction," he said. "I went through two failed marriages and another marriage that has substance and roots, and understanding the collateral damage that I could have caused to others through my drinking and bad relationships.

"I've reached out and gotten some help and gotten some things right. Because I want to. I wanted to be better. I felt my family deserved better, my mom and dad, my sisters, my teammates. Even late in my career. And especially as a coach and a manager."

Just craziness

With the Royals, Hurdle shared a house with veterans George Brett and Quirk. That is, until Brett, who owned the house, kicked out Hurdle. The place came to be known as Animal House.

Hurdle drank heavily, ignoring his family's pleas to stop. During the 1981 strike, he got a job tending bar.

"It was just craziness," said Quirk, now a Houston Astros coach. "Clint was starting to get platooned and knew a lefty was going the next day, so his hours became a little longer at night and George had to go out and play. Not that he went to bed early, either."

Quirk and Hurdle went their separate ways after Hurdle was traded from Kansas City to Cincinnati in late 1981. When Hurdle became Rockies manager in 2002, Quirk called to congratulate his former teammate. The next thing Quirk knew, Hurdle hired him as a coach.

"If you had asked me when we were 25 years old, do you think Clint Hurdle would ever manage in the big leagues, I would absolutely say no," Quirk said. "It would have never entered my mind.

"He was just happy-go-lucky."

Drinking, injuries and attitude helped derail Hurdle's playing career. "He just didn't take care of himself," Quirk said. "And there was a lot of pressure on him."

When Quirk interviewed for the job, "Right away, I could see he was a different guy," he said. "The more I worked with him, the more I could see how intelligent he is."

A life experience

Hurdle said he became a Christian when he was 17, "but I used Jesus as an ATM card for 23 years. I'd go get some Jesus when I needed some Jesus. And there were plenty of times I didn't need it."

Nowadays, Hurdle said he asks God every day to be the best husband, father, friend and manager he can be.

People still send Hurdle the Sports Illustrated and ask him to autograph the cover. He complies.

"It does not bother me," he said. "It's a great reference, or should I say a North Star. Who I used to be. It's a life experience."

More life experiences: The Mets organization fired Hurdle after a shakeup in 1993, even though he was considered a promising young manager. The Rockies fired Hurdle in 2009 less than two years after he led them to their first and only World Series.

It's just a game, Hurdle often says. But don't tell him how important it is to other people, not to mention himself. He is a baseball lifer who plunges headfirst into the job.

Still, at some point you have to get out and towel off. Hurdle likes to read. About 20 books rest on his office desk. In one pile, a Vince Lombardi inspirational tome sits atop Keith Richards' autobiography. Not a surprise; his real passion is music, all types. "I'm all over the joint," he said. He is converting his 10,000 CDs to digital, an ongoing project. He has four iPods.

But family comes first. The Hurdles are moving into their new house in Hampton, where Karla's five-minute rule still applies. Hurdle gets to vent about the game for no longer than that. "Maddie doesn't want to hear about missed cutoff men or three-run homers," he said.

"Kid time," Hurdle said, is always first thing in the morning. Maddie gets up first, and they have breakfast. Then Christian stumbles down "like a college kid."

After a lopsided loss during the streak, Hurdle and Maddie talked about the pierogi race at the stadium and swimming. It wasn't until the next day that he got up, gave Karla a hug and said, "We got slaughtered last night."

Karla laughed. "Yes you did," she said.

There was another game that night.

Photo: Justin Merriman | Tribune-Review

Beating Brewers would be cool

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Friday, August 12, 2011

MILWAUKEE — There's no Eiffel Tower, Golden Gate Bridge or Statue of Liberty. No, the monument of note in this city's center is a bronze statue of "The Fonz," commemorating the iconic sitcom "Happy Days" that was set here. The hair is greased back, the leather jacket loose, both thumbs up in a permanent state of cool.

The Brewers have some of that, too, considering they're one of baseball's hottest teams.

Nyjer Morgan, the former Pirates center fielder who uses the alias "Tony Plush" for no good reason, told me Thursday that he's "cooler than a polar bear's toenail." Prince Fielder, the megaslugging first baseman, accepted my thanks for an interview at the All-Star Game last month by replying, "Cool, baby." Even mustachioed mascot Bernie Brewer, with his 12,432 Twitter followers, is a little cool.

The Pirates?

Eh.

They begin a three-game series Friday night at Miller Park, and I'm sure they would love to douse first-place Milwaukee on the heels of taking two of three in San Francisco from the defending World Series champions.

But, wow, this could have been so much more.

"Aw, man, are you kidding?" Morgan said. "Buccos and Brew Crew with the whole baseball world looking on? It's just kind of a shame what happened over there."

No kidding. If it seems like only a couple of weeks have passed since the Pirates were looking down on Milwaukee in the Central Division, rather than 10 1/2 games upward, that's because, hey, it was! Then the Pirates plunged further and faster out of first place than any team in history and thus arrive in Milwaukee yet again in the role of patsy.

Or is that Potsie?

For those needing a refresher:

» The Pirates have lost 33 of their past 36 at Miller Park, dating to the start of 2007. That includes a 22-game losing streak that was the longest between any teams in baseball since 1969.

» In those 36 games, Pirates pitchers have a 6.61 ERA and have allowed 59 home runs.

» That run would be even worse if not for Ryan Doumit belting ninth-inning home runs on back-to-back days off all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman last season. What were the odds?

» Overall in the past five years, the Pirates are 17-51 against the Brewers, including 0-5 this season.

» The 20-0 loss to the Brewers on April 22, 2010, at PNC Park was the worst in the Pirates' century-plus of existence, and it was part of a four-game run in which Milwaukee outscored them, 53-4.

Whatever you do, don't call this a rivalry. A rivalry takes two.

And maybe that underscores what the Pirates realistically could accomplish this weekend.

Already, Clint Hurdle and his players have blown through obstacles that hadn't been approached in 18 years. They were above .500 for 39 days. They were in first place for a week. They had three All-Stars. They packed people into PNC Park, and they drew enough national attention that poor Fox is now stuck airing the matinee here Saturday.

Time was, the only national press the Pirates could get in Milwaukee was for clubbing human sausages.

This is still different.

This is still a chance to check another item off the Pirates' list, maybe one of the most imposing they face. Let's remember how the Pirates of the 1980s didn't find their stride until they started beating the mouthy New York Mets. Or how the Penguins needed to end that epic 42-game, 15-year drought in Philadelphia. Or how the Steelers' dynasty took off after reversing a 9-32 history with the Cleveland Browns.

Few things are more therapeutic for a perpetual loser than to vanquish a nemesis, especially one that's disliked as much as the Brewers are — hello, Ryan Braun — by many in the Pirates' clubhouse.

Look at it emotionally, courtesy of Doumit: "Yeah, it would be nice to do well against that team. That's an understatement."

Or analytically, courtesy of general manager Neal Huntington: "It's tough to be one of those very good teams if there's anybody taking it to you. If you're 10 games under against one team, you're going to have a hard time being 10 games over .500 overall. I want to see it on the flip side, where we're taking it to somebody instead of them taking it to us."

Yeah, these Pirates would be a game over .500 if they were 5-0 against the Brewers.

Maybe someone can thump that jukebox back to life this weekend

Thanks for the memories

Monday, August 08, 2011

By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

PITTSBURGH - AUGUST 05: Pedro Alvarez(notes) #24 of the Pittsburgh Pirates bare hands a ground ball against the San Diego Padres during the game on August 5, 2011 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Children ran the bases Sunday at PNC Park, as always, hordes of 'em rounding third, three and four abreast, or was that still the Padres?

There are plenty of statistical snapshots out there trying to illustrate the underside of a 10-game Pirates losing streak, but two stand out.

First, consider that Aug. 7, San Diego fielded a lineup that included no player with as many as seven homers, no player with as many as 30 RBIs, but against this Pirates pitching staff, still had scored a franchise-record 28 runs in the two previous games.

Second, the weekend series started with the Pirates slashing 15 hits Friday night and still losing by 10 runs.

"The results aren't what anybody wants, but I'm very confident this staff is growing up before our eyes," manager Clint Hurdle offered after the Pirates finally held 'em to a touchdown in the finale of a lost homestand. "It's all part of the experience. I still believe in our staff. It's through these kinds of challenges that it's gonna make them better, and better quicker."

Hurdle has done an admirable job of keeping his composure even as a staff most expected to fade in the second half instead just sailed off the edge of the earth. Hurdle has described his pitchers as a pitch-to-contact outfit, but no one has pitched to contact like this since the kamikaze pilots.

National media darlings for about 48 hours there at one point, the Pirates now take it back to the road tonight in San Francisco, with an appointment schedule that includes nothing but world champions, Brewers, Cardinals and Reds between now and Aug. 29. Those teams probably will notice the new improved slogan: Your 2011 Pirates, same awful hitting, now with terrible pitching.

Wasn't it just July 28 when actor Michael Keaton was gushing all over the section front in USA Today about how revved up he and Pirates fans coast-to-coast were about this team?

"It doesn't get better than this," said Keaton, a Coraopolis native.

Keaton is now 2 for 2 on conspicuous Pirates observations. He said famously after throwing out an opening day first pitch once that at some point, "somebody's gotta write a check," and now, having identified the season's high point, he's right again. The club is 1-11 since he made that statement.

It was only a week ago this team returned from Philadelphia after a predictably damaging road trip that started in Atlanta, but it took a weeklong nosedive against dysfunctional National League teams Chicago and San Diego to end this season fairly definitively.

"I never thought we'd throw up a donut at home," Hurdle said.

I like the verb choice.

But candidly, now that it's over, I would like to thank the Pirates for a refreshingly interesting summer. Thanks to Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington for taking a shot at the trade deadline by adding major league bats without yanking the rug from the project as a whole. Thanks to Hurdle and his coaching staff, particularly Ray Searage, for keeping a demonstrably dreadful pitching staff competitive for almost two-thirds of a season.

Even with a 10-game losing streak that's more likely to elongate than snap, the Pirates are 54-59. At this point a year ago, they were 39-74.

And obviously, thanks to the players for approaching every game as though they intended to win it despite massive empirical evidence that they likely wouldn't. It was they who made possible the near-unimaginable experience of watching a ballgame on the North Side of Pittsburgh determine who was in first place in late July and having it turn out to be the home team.

That actually happened. We weren't all on acid.

My own exceedingly marginal contribution was in urging the recall of Pedro Alvarez from Indianapolis July 25, and ever since, he has been the worst player on the field, if not the worst in the big leagues.

No need to thank me.

Through Sunday, he had 62 strikeouts and 37 hits and was hitting .206. The three double-plays he hit into Friday night were the main component in the answer to the question "How do you get 15 hits and lose by 10 runs?"

At the same time, a lot of Pirates actually have hit too well and pitched too well to be associated with this 10-game framework in which they have been outscored, 82-37.

"Nobody feels sorry for professional athletes when they deal with adversity; I don't," Hurdle said pointedly Sunday before the game. "You can feel embarrassed, you can feel humiliated, you can feel a lot of things. We are afforded an opportunity to have a lifestyle that's pretty comfortable. To have to deal with on-field adversity, like [playing] 20 games in a row, I got no time for that. I don't.

"Drive around the neighborhood around here Sunday morning, six o'clock, 12 o'clock at night. You want to talk about a game bein' hard vs. life bein' hard? That's the mental toughness part of it that everybody can improve upon as they get older."

Mental toughness is still on the to-do list for this recovering franchise. So is finding better players. But for 95 games, much deeper in the season than anyone could have dreamed, this team had a place among the better teams in baseball.

For people who remember that as the norm, it was darn near wonderful.

Analysis: What happened to Pirates' pitching?

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Monday, August 8, 2011

PITTSBURGH - AUGUST 07: Kevin Correia(notes) #29 of the Pittsburgh Pirates is pulled by manager Clint Hurdle #13 in front of teammate Ryan Doumit(notes) #41 during the game against the San Diego Padres on August 7, 2011 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

So, what went wrong?

The obvious culprit in the Pirates' epic collapse, including the 7-3 loss to San Diego yesterday at PNC Park that extended a losing streak to 10 games, is the pitching that led to their stunning ascent to the top of the Central Division.

And the equally obvious explanation would appear to be fatigue, even if those taking the mound disagree.

"I wouldn't say that at all," Charlie Morton said. "I mean, you always get tired. Baseball's a game of peaks and valleys. But being tired as an excuse? No."

"Hey, I felt like Nolan Ryan last time I went out," Jeff Karstens said of his nine-run blow-up Friday.

Still, the results have been as cruel as the clear correlation: On July 25, the Pirates were 53-47 and in first place, the pitchers owning a 3.17 ERA. Since then, they are 1-12 and 10 games out of the race, the ERA at 6.19 for that span.

Some of that simply must be fatigue, as others in the organization will attest. But dig deeper with some advanced metrics, and it's easy to see there is an element of the Pirates' pitchers having been due some serious comeuppance:

• Through July 25, opponents had a .289 batting average on all balls put in play (BABIP), a statistic that distinguishes how much help a pitcher gets from his defense or from mere good luck. That figure was below the National League median of .295. Since July 25, it's a whopping .349.

• Some aren't even staying in the park. Through July 25, opponents homered on 9.2 percent of all fly balls, right around league average. Since then, they have homered on 15.2 percent, by far the worst such total in the past two weeks.

• The Pirates' pitch-to-contact staff averages just 6.3 strikeouts per nine innings, second lowest in the majors, which puts heavy pressure on the defense and on the pitchers to keep the ball in the ballpark.

• The Pirates have stranded 76 percent of their runners, second-best rate in the league, and that tends to be unsustainable.

"They'd all been so good for so long." general manger Neal Huntington said. "A variety of factors came together at one time and ... well, we've gotten our heads handed to us more often than we'd like."

About a month ago, management met to prepare for this possibility, based on the numbers.

"Our organization deals in a lot of those metrics, and we talked about how we'd pitched for three or four months and the expectancy as we moved forward," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Especially with a pitch-to-contact staff, you expect more contact, so you could anticipate more offense from the opponents. But, to the degree we've seen lately, it's been way more."

It has been 15 home runs in the past six games, one into the Allegheny River and several other moon shots. And even the weak-hitting Padres scored 28 times Friday and Saturday.

"Water finds its own level, as they say," Hurdle said. "If the water is really high, it's going to dip."

Although the pitchers are reluctant to acknowledge fatigue, pitching coach Ray Searage is not. But he doesn't point to arm fatigue.

"What I'm seeing is that our legs are a little bit tired, and that's going to relate to your arm," Searage said. "That's why they call these the dog days of August. We basically laid it all out there for the first three or four months, and you're starting to see that now."

Karstens has been the Pirates' best starter, but he also has stranded an incredible 85 percent of runners, and 17 of his 21 home runs were solo shots. All that boomeranged Friday, when nine of his 10 runners touched home plate and Chase Headley belted a grand slam. Karstens already has exceeded his innings total from last season, though not his pitch count, and he will need to show he can handle a full season.

"That's not an issue at all," Karstens said. "We'll all show that."

Maholm has been next best, but the Padres lit him up for seven runs in 6 2/3 innings Saturday, and his ERA swelled from 3.17 to 3.54. Kevin Correia, after a strong two months won him an All-Star invitation, now has a 4.78 ERA. Morton lost his dynamite sinker sometime in late May and didn't rediscover it until this past Wednesday. And James McDonald has been inconsistent and inefficient.

"This is something we're going to have to learn from," Searage said. "Some of these guys are experiencing this for the first time. My job is to stay positive."

In the bullpen, closer Joel Hanrahan has remained strong -- on those rare occasions he pitches, anyway -- but Jose Veras, Chris Resop and Daniel McCutchen have worn down, perhaps not coincidentally beginning with that 19-inning loss July 26 in Atlanta.

But this has been about the starting pitching, for better or worse, as those in the rotation seem to realize.

"It's on us," Maholm said. "We're the ones who go out there and pitch. We're going through a rough stretch. No one is happy, from the fans to anyone who plays the game. We have to turn it back around."