A New SS for the Pirates? and Dodgers Thoughts

The Angels this week "designated for assignment" (translation: we don't want this guy any more) short stop Brandon Wood. If you are like me, you never heard of Brandon Wood, so here's the skinny on him.

A one time #1 draft pick of the Angels, Wood shot through the Angels system and made it to the big club in 2007, but as often happens with hotshot, can't-miss prospects, things became different in the major leagues (can you say "Chad Hermansen"). With the Angels Wood has managed to play in 173 games in five MLB seasons and put together a career batting average of .168. That is not a misprint. His BA is One-Six-Eight. He has hit 11 home runs and driven in 33 runs in those 173 games. He has walked 13 times, and struck out 153 times.

Reports are that the Pirates will be "all over" Wood as he travels through waivers. Hard to imagine that the Pirates, in looking for a short stop to replace Ronny Cedeno would be able to come up with a player who was actually worse than Cedeno, but it looks like GM Neal is going to do exactly that.

I'll say this for Huntington - he doesn't embarrass easily. He has to know the ridicule that he will face if the Pirates claim this guy and put him in the line-up at PNC Park, but if the reports are accurate, it looks like he's going to do it anyway. It might make us long for the glory days of Brian Bixler at short.

Of course, maybe the theory is that a change of scenery will work wonders for Brandon Wood. On the other hand, that same theory never worked for Chad Hermansen in Chicago, LA or Toronto.

*****
Speaking of L.A. the news that Major League Baseball will be taking over the operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers has to be shocking to long time fans of the game. You would probably not get any arguments if you said that apart from the New York Yankees, the Dodgers, both in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, have been the most important, historical, successful and stable franchises in the history of the sport. That the shaky finances and marital squabbles of the McCorts has brought this franchise to this point is sad to behold.

I made a comment about this on my Facebook page the other day and it elicited a lot of comments. Some were pretty good, like..."why doesn't MLB take over the Pirates"...."as happened with the Expos, maybe MLB will allow the team to move; I hear that Brooklyn needs a team." My own comment was that there are surely some still-bitter old fans in Brooklyn who are now screaming "serves you right."

However, I will leave you with this snippet from LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke on the matter:

"Since buying the team in 2004 with more smug than money, Frank McCourt kept his hands in his pockets while the stadium became a dump, the fan base become dangerously belligerent, and the team became the Pittsburgh Pirates."

Ouch!

Credit Where Credit Is Due

The Grandstander has been assailed in recent weeks for being too judgemental and too hard on GM Neal (the guy who signed Aki Iwamura and thought Neil Walker would make a nice utility man). Well, in deference to those opinions let me jump the gun - I was going to wait until one month of the season had been played to do such an assessment - and give GM Neal props and kudos for the signing of Kevin Correia.

The Grandstander was not the only person to greet the Correia signing with great ennui last winter, but so far the results have been outstanding:

3-1, 2.48 ERA, 1 CG, 29 IP, 12K, 7 BB

If the NL All-Star team was being picked today, Correia would be on it.

So, at this point in the season, put this one in the PLUS column for Neal.

******

Another Pirates thought, and, yes, I know it is early in the season:

After going 1-11 in 2010, after beating the Pirates for over $2 million in arbitration in the off season, after an '11 start that has produced a 7.27 ERA in two starts and 8.2 IP, and after being dispatched for what appears to be a lengthy spell on the DL, I am guessing that Ross Ohlendorf will be a prime candidate to be "designated for assignment" (a la Zach Duke) this coming off-season.

A Poll Question - Participation Needed!!!

With apologies to Facebook and SABR Friend Dan Bonk, I want to propose a question to you. Who is the most disliked figure in Pittsburgh sports history? Dan got the ball rolling by nominating three people: Bob Nutting, Barry Bonds, and Francisco Cabrera.

Personally, I would discount Cabrera. He was just another guy on an opposing team doing his job. I also strike Bonds from the list. While he was never enormously popular during his years as a Pirate, I do not recall him being a truly disliked figure until many years later when his home run totals increased with proportion to his head size.

That leaves Nutting, and he's going to be a hard guy knock from this dubious pedestal.

Some guys receiving votes on Facebook included Kordell Stewart, Neil O'Donnell, and Dave Littlefield.

Anyone else care to make a nomination?

Book Review: "Rawhide Down"

An exciting true story can be every bit as gripping as the best fiction thriller, and this is demonstrated remarkably well in "Rawhide Down, The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan" by Del Quentin Wilber. The book chronicles in great detail the events of March 30, 1981 (has it really been THIRTY years ago?) when total loser and nutcase John Hinckley attempted to kill President Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. The book details how much closer Reagan came to dying than any of us were ever led to believe back in 1981 when the events occurred.

There are several heroes in this tale. Secret Service Agent Jerry Parr instinctively grabbed and shoved the President into the back of his limo, and then made a split second decision that truly saved the President's life. The team of ER docs and nurses and the surgical team at George Washington University Hospital. The others who were wounded (press secretary Jim Brady, a secret service agent, and a DC policeman).

And, of course, Reagan himself. We all remember the stories of Reagan's one liners to the docs ("I hope all you fellows are Republicans") and how he walked on his own power into the ER, but in this book we see that the President was also a seriously wounded, 70 year old man. He collapsed as he walked into the hospital, and was fearful that he was having a difficult time breathing. But he survived and spent time in the recovery room writing notes to the nurses who were attending him. In one note, the ex-actor said "Can we re-write this scene beginning from when I left the hotel?"

A bit more disconcerting was the reactions of those in the government regarding what should be done while the President was unconscious, incapacitated, or if he should die. We all remember Secretary of State Al Haig's complete incomprehension about the constitutional line of Presidential succession. At the time of the shooting, Vice President Bush was in Texas at an official function, and communication between the White House and the VP's airplane was unbelievably primitive. It seemed that the real power rested not with true government officials, i.e., cabinet secretaries, but with appointed people like Chief of Staff Jim Baker and his people, Ed Meese and Mike Deaver.

We all know how the story ends - Reagan recovered, left the hospital in 13 days, and returned to the Oval Office in 26 days. He served two terms, was enormously popular, and history seems to be judging him well. And this book reconfirms one thing that has often been said of him: you may be 180 degrees apart from Ronald Reagan's politics, but it is absolutely impossible to not like, if not love, Ronald Reagan the man. (Cute anecdote: while in New York City once during his acting days, a lady approached him on the street thinking he was actor Ray Milland. Not wanting to disappoint the fan, Reagan played along and signed Milland's name when giving an autograph.)

Good book.

Monday Musings

Thought I'd pass on this very cool picture of Andrew McCutchen's swing that appeared on the PG+ site today. I think it might appear in tomorrow's edition of the Post-Gazette. Now, on to some Monday thoughts.....

• Did I predict that a European golfer would win the Masters? I meant to say that an international golfer would win.


• Still Rory McIlroy was making my prediction look pretty good until he got to the back nine - excuse me, the Second Nine - on Sunday, which as we all know is when the Masters really begins.


• By all accounts, McIlroy is a very decent and good kid, which makes his El Foldo all the more painful. Here's hoping he can bounce back from that.


• How about that finish by winner Charl Schwartzel: 4-2-3-3. That is called grabbing opportunity by the throat and not letting it go.


• It is beginning to look like Jack Nicklaus' standard of 18 majors is not going to fall. Can't see Tiger winning five of these things from this point going forward, despite his strong showing this weekend at The Masters.


• Big news out of PNC Park was the Pittsburgh Police tasering and putting a beatdown on some drunk at Saturday's Pirates game. It is a YouTube sensation (it went viral, as the kids say), although I have not seen it. I wasn't there, I didn't see the video, and I am sure that the cops will end up as the bad guys in this, but a part of me says that no punishment is too severe for obnoxious drunks at sporting events.


• Obnoxious drunks are why I gave up my Steelers tickets eight years ago.


• An interesting observation by a caller to The Fan this morning: with beer going for $7.50 and up at PNC Park, who can afford to get so blasted at a ball game?


• Took in my first Bucco game of the '11 campaign yesterday. After overcoming a 4-0 deficit, it was a tough one to lose. Once again, those dreaded bases on balls killed the team.


• Another first of the season this morning: first round of golf for 2011. Scored a 44 at Clover Hill. For the first round of the year, that's OK, I suppose, but having to mark down a snowman on the ninth hole was most definitely NOT okay.

A Scene from Opening Day

Need to share this item from John Perrotto's Beaver County Times story today about this scene from Opening Day. I'd have loved to have seen this.

Clint Hurdle is still learning the lay of the land in his first season as Pirates' manager. That provided an awkward moment before the home opener Thursday at PNC Park.

Hurdle was walking in the hallway that leads from the clubhouse to the dugout about three hours before game time when he saw Pirates owner Bob Nutting. Hurdle put a bear hug on Nutting. Nutting is not what you would call a huggable guy. The look on his face was priceless as he received what was assuredly his first-ever man hug.

Another Side to Jack Wilson?

In case you missed it, Jack Wilson, beloved by Pirates fans and held as an example of just another GM Neal Salary Dump, shows a heretofore unknown side up in Seattle in this young season. There are two sides to every story, of course, but this one is a bit surprising and disturbing:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/04/09/1619239/mariners-must-rid-themselves-of.html#

On another note, certain readers of this blog will recognize the name of a well-known baseball aficionado from Munhall, PA, Bill Madden. I can remember he always bemoaned whenever a Pirates pitcher walked a lead off hitter. "You never walk the Leading Lady", he would say. Well, I am sure Pappy is spinning in his grave after watching Evan Meek last week and Jose Veras tonight. Lead off walks in the eighth inning of games led to two Pirates defeats on successive Saturdays.

That's baseball, as the saying goes.