News arrived this weekend that the Seattle Mariners had hired Eric Wedge as their manager for 2011. Wedge, and old buddy of GM Neal's from their Indians days, was reported to be the Pirates preferred candidate to replace John Russell.
So, where does this leave our Beloved Buccos? Well, as I see it, they will go one of two ways.
The first way is to hire some retread who has already been fired from at least two other managerial positions. (I once read a theory that said most teams will hire someone who has been fired twice because he is a "sound baseball man." The other side of that theory is that a "sound baseball man" is anyone who has been fired twice.) Now the name that springs to mind from this camp is Ken Macha, or, as the Pittsburgh media refer to him, "Monroeville's Kenny Macha." In addition to being the twice fired sound baseball man, Macha has one other sterling quality: he's "a Pittsburgh guy." I can already hear the PR machine spewing out how Macha will bring a "blue collar ethic" to the Pirates who will bring there "lunch buckets" to work everyday as they scrap and fight their way to the National League pennant. Meanwhile, did you see the note in some paper over the weekend where some of the sports media in Milwaukee talked about the "drab personality" that Macha presented to the media and the public during his tenure in Brewtown. Wow, after three years of JR, that is JUST what is needed at PNC Park, don't you think?
The second and more likely way to the Pirates will go is to hire someone non-entity on the cheap. Now, this may not be a bad thing. In my own memory, people like Chuck Noll, Ben Howland, Jim Leyland, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin were unknowns who turned out OK for their respective teams. However, given the track record of the Pirates over these last 18 years, do you have any confidence that they could luck out like that?
On the bright side, in 2035 we will be able to celebrate the Diamond Anniversary of the Pirates 1960 World Series win over the Yankees!!
I agree Grandstander that we don't want Monroeville's Kenny Macha. Might as well take their chances with a young motivated guy looking for that opportunity. I've read good things about this Bo Porter but it also sounds like he may be the Marlins choice. But the bottom line is that if the Bucs don't somehow improve the starting rotation it will not matter who the manager is. Every year the Pirates always assume their own rotation guys will automatically improve, but that never seems to happen (e.g. Duke, Maholm). But agree, please no old retreads.
ReplyDeleteI love the changing avatars from Loyal Reader Dave!!...or should I say "Robinson's Dave."
ReplyDeleteBob, You know the Pirates will screw this whole process up in one way or the other. Per the Oct. 23 P-G Macha is no longer a candidate. And what does it say when John Gibbons would prefer to be the KC Royals bench coach than take the Pirate's skippers job. I believe the only reason they had Gibbons interviewed was the dreaded 'Rooney Rule'. Porter is an African-American, Tosca is Cuban, and they figured since Gibbons once managed in Toronto, they would cover that country also. Haha. Looks to me like Banister is the choice. He is already under payroll. He is not being pursued by anyone for another job. Although we will be hiring Christmas help here at the Post Office. The players know him. He will be CHEAP. Which must be the bottom line. Keyword there BOTTOM. How much do you think the KC Bench Coach can pull in? Probably more than the Bucco Manager job.
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