After 19 years of embarrassment, it's not much of a reach to imagine Pirates fans are desperate for hope. The readers and writers of this blog are certainly no exception. We all HOPE the Pirates eventually turn it around and become a respectable organization that miraculously has a winning season. A winning season is one that ends with a team having won more games than it lost. I felt the need to elaborate as it has been SO LONG since the Pirates have won more games than they lost over an entire season. I guess I really didn't need to explain that, since the other teams in town manage to have such an occurrence on a fairly consistent basis.
With the recent injury to newly acquired AJ Burnett, many desperate fans have begun to speculate that luck is a driving force behind the Pirates misfortunes. You know, the same AJ Burnett who has had back to back seasons with a 5+ ERA, is 35 years old, and has had Tommy John Surgery. Now, nobody is attributing the entire collapse of the organization to bad luck. That would be foolish. But when a team has been down so long, it is hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel.
The amazing thing is, there are many people who do see that light and think it is not that far away. I have written here before about my astonishment at the number of people who think WE are crazy for thinking a team that hasn't had a winning season in 19 going on 20 seasons is not run properly. There have a been a myriad of excuses to support the current FO team and their actions. Blaming Littlfield and McClatchy is reasonable; they were certainly not making the team any better. Blaming luck because of an injury to a washed up pitcher that probably would have been relegated to the bullpen by September seems ludicrous to me.
Maybe it is my overall bitterness to the 19, going on 20, straight seasons of losing baseball. I can't imagine why.... After all, we are lucky to just have a team. The previous GM sucked. The previous "principal owner" sucked. The current group has obviously done a much better job, judging by losing 390 games the last 4 seasons. That is improvement to some people, I guess.
Maybe I am clearly an idiot for thinking that a team who hasn't won more games than they lost for 19, going on 20, straight seasons is not worthy of praise.
This past NFL season, a handful of struggling teams were "vying" for the top spot in the 2012 draft ( sound familiar?). The coveted prospect they so desperately wanted to acquire is Andrew Luck, the outstanding Stanford quarterback who most believe will be an NFL superstar. Ultimately, the Indianapolis Colts won the "Suck For Luck" Sweepstakes by finishing with the worst record and securing the top spot in the NFL Draft, almost certain to be used on Luck. However, Luck is far from a sure thing.
For 11 straight years ( not including having the #8 pick in 2012), the Bucs have had a Top 11 pick with two #1's, two #2's, and three #4's. They have had top 20 pick every year since 1994. Despite having such high picks over the years, the Bucs have little to show for it, nothing to show if you are looking for a winning season. The Pirates haven't had one of those in 19, going on 20, seasons.
Recently, this was blamed partially on luck as in many years, the "once in a lifetime player" was JUST out of reach for the Bucs. That is impressive, considering they have had 6 top 5 picks in a row. With the #1 pick in 2002, the Bucs took Brian Bullington, who never lived up to the hype of being a #3 starter. They chose him over BJ Upton, Prince Fielder, Zach Greinke, Cole Hamels, Jeff Francoeur, and others. I don't know if you can chalk that up to bad luck.
But that was with a different "principal owner" and GM. Things have changed since then, despite not having the W/L record to prove it. After all, the Pirates haven't had more wins than losses for 19, going on 20, straight losing seasons. Why should the last 4 matter? In the end, it is all just a matter of luck.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Frank the Tank
Where to begin? Saying it has been a long time would be a gross understatement. Plenty has transpired since our last post, both in the world of Pirates baseball and in our personal lives. I found it of little use to post information of the free agent signings this offseason as they were not much of a splash nor an aberration from what we've come to expect from this ballclub. I had a good chuckle over the Bucs taking GI Jones to arbitration over $225K and have little insight on the acquisition of over the hill AJ Burnett.
But I could not ignore the latest PR debacle that has fallen upon the PBC:
Team President Frank Coonelly Arrested for DUI.
Pardon the one sentence paragraph; I swear I'm not trying to ripoff Ron Cook.
Not only was Frank Coonelly arrested for a DUI, his citations also included reckless driving, driving with a revoked or suspended license, and driving the wrong way. This account of activities actually leaves us with more questions than answers. But having ZERO journalistic ability, let alone credentials, unanswered questions is the best I can do right now.
On to the questions. First off, what is the substance behind the "driving with a suspended or revoked license" charge and why was it thrown out? DK's original story on the matter didn't even mention this charge, which I would consider to be an egregious oversight. Even if the charge was dropped, why was it submitted in the first place? Was this not FC's first DUI? Without any further information on the matter, we can only jump to conclusions. For all we know, he may have forgotten to renew his license and it was expired. On the other hand, it;'s possible this wasn't Frank the Tank's first Wrong Way Rodeo on the 279 off ramp.
My next question is another that, will also likely remained unanswered for some time: How the hell did this story go two months without seeing the light of day? I have taken into consideration the fact that the Pirates have secretly extended employees in the past but I also know that there is thing called police blotter. There a number of local outlets that report every arrest made by PD's in the area, especially DUI's. But this story never made print. Did the Pirates PR department squash it or was the Ross PD lax in their reporting?
In my opinion, those are two questions that need answered in order for the fans and public to understand the scope of events. If this was some Joe Lawyer partner of a local law firm, most people wouldn't give a hoot. If it was Stephen Zappala, I would imagine there would be a public outcry for his resignation. I venture to say the Coonelly's status falls somewhere in the middle. While he is not the DA that we trust to put dangerous criminals behind bars to protect us from them, Coonelly is a highly visible public figure working in an office in a ballpark funded by public money. The success of his employer is highly predicated on public goodwill; not only from the players on the field but also the individuals who decide who those players will be and sign their paychecks.
In all honesty, Frank Coonelly seems like a nice guy. But I don't trust him as far I could throw him and considering I'm all of 5'11'' 185 lbs and he's got a good 3 inches and 20+ pounds on me, that wouldn't be a lengthy toss (although still better than the one Barry Lamarr Bonds made on the Day the Franchise Died). FC has never built up any amount of goodwill among the fans of our dreaded ballclub due to his asinine proclamations and outright lies. That is how he earned his original nickname on the Mutiny, one we haven't backed down from even though it is slander to publicly call someone a liar if they hadn't actually lied and a.) the Pirates are not above bullying an outfit like ours and b.) we cannot afford to be sued. Given those facts and circumstances, we still feel safe calling him the Lying Liar but our glossary is certainly going to be adding a new alternative nickname.
Considering those same vital statistics mentioned above, Frank the Tank was not merely driving buzzed. A .16 BAC is not merely a few cocktails or a couple beers over a couple hours. For a guy his size, that's a solid 9-10 drinks, according to this chart: http://www.lcbapps.lcb.state.pa.us/webapp/edu/0.8PercentUPDATE.ASP. He had to be bombed when they pulled him over and he is damn lucky that he did not hurt himself or anybody else.
While the suspended license and the curious delay of the story's release are the two biggest questions right now, I also wonder how DK got this information. I believe DK to be the best sportswriter in Pittsburgh by a long shot, but I do feel that since his transition to the Trib, he has been far too generous to the Pirates. I have yet to read today's column in it's entirety, but it appears that he is a times coming to Coonelly's defense and more or less making excuses for him. In other instances, he is scathing in his criticism of FC's choices and the team's mishanlding of the situation.
But DK's initial report adds another question to the pile, along with whether FC's job should be safe. This is a question that has existed long before this DUI fiasco: Why does the local media seemingly give the Pirates a free pass?
But I could not ignore the latest PR debacle that has fallen upon the PBC:
Team President Frank Coonelly Arrested for DUI.
Pardon the one sentence paragraph; I swear I'm not trying to ripoff Ron Cook.
Not only was Frank Coonelly arrested for a DUI, his citations also included reckless driving, driving with a revoked or suspended license, and driving the wrong way. This account of activities actually leaves us with more questions than answers. But having ZERO journalistic ability, let alone credentials, unanswered questions is the best I can do right now.
On to the questions. First off, what is the substance behind the "driving with a suspended or revoked license" charge and why was it thrown out? DK's original story on the matter didn't even mention this charge, which I would consider to be an egregious oversight. Even if the charge was dropped, why was it submitted in the first place? Was this not FC's first DUI? Without any further information on the matter, we can only jump to conclusions. For all we know, he may have forgotten to renew his license and it was expired. On the other hand, it;'s possible this wasn't Frank the Tank's first Wrong Way Rodeo on the 279 off ramp.
My next question is another that, will also likely remained unanswered for some time: How the hell did this story go two months without seeing the light of day? I have taken into consideration the fact that the Pirates have secretly extended employees in the past but I also know that there is thing called police blotter. There a number of local outlets that report every arrest made by PD's in the area, especially DUI's. But this story never made print. Did the Pirates PR department squash it or was the Ross PD lax in their reporting?
In my opinion, those are two questions that need answered in order for the fans and public to understand the scope of events. If this was some Joe Lawyer partner of a local law firm, most people wouldn't give a hoot. If it was Stephen Zappala, I would imagine there would be a public outcry for his resignation. I venture to say the Coonelly's status falls somewhere in the middle. While he is not the DA that we trust to put dangerous criminals behind bars to protect us from them, Coonelly is a highly visible public figure working in an office in a ballpark funded by public money. The success of his employer is highly predicated on public goodwill; not only from the players on the field but also the individuals who decide who those players will be and sign their paychecks.
In all honesty, Frank Coonelly seems like a nice guy. But I don't trust him as far I could throw him and considering I'm all of 5'11'' 185 lbs and he's got a good 3 inches and 20+ pounds on me, that wouldn't be a lengthy toss (although still better than the one Barry Lamarr Bonds made on the Day the Franchise Died). FC has never built up any amount of goodwill among the fans of our dreaded ballclub due to his asinine proclamations and outright lies. That is how he earned his original nickname on the Mutiny, one we haven't backed down from even though it is slander to publicly call someone a liar if they hadn't actually lied and a.) the Pirates are not above bullying an outfit like ours and b.) we cannot afford to be sued. Given those facts and circumstances, we still feel safe calling him the Lying Liar but our glossary is certainly going to be adding a new alternative nickname.
Considering those same vital statistics mentioned above, Frank the Tank was not merely driving buzzed. A .16 BAC is not merely a few cocktails or a couple beers over a couple hours. For a guy his size, that's a solid 9-10 drinks, according to this chart: http://www.lcbapps.lcb.state.pa.us/webapp/edu/0.8PercentUPDATE.ASP. He had to be bombed when they pulled him over and he is damn lucky that he did not hurt himself or anybody else.
While the suspended license and the curious delay of the story's release are the two biggest questions right now, I also wonder how DK got this information. I believe DK to be the best sportswriter in Pittsburgh by a long shot, but I do feel that since his transition to the Trib, he has been far too generous to the Pirates. I have yet to read today's column in it's entirety, but it appears that he is a times coming to Coonelly's defense and more or less making excuses for him. In other instances, he is scathing in his criticism of FC's choices and the team's mishanlding of the situation.
But DK's initial report adds another question to the pile, along with whether FC's job should be safe. This is a question that has existed long before this DUI fiasco: Why does the local media seemingly give the Pirates a free pass?
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