Maybe the critics were right, these young Pirates aren't major league
material.

They were too old - played too long in the minors

and

They weren't the right kind of players

and

They couldn't do this and couldn't do that

and

They would never win with this team

and,

and

and,

ad
nausem............................................ .....................................


Geeze, maybe they were wrong and maybe they'll continue to be wrong?

Nah, go back to sleep.


CF-

They started to win when they put Burnitz on the bench, a move that was
called for from the first or second week of the season. They started to win
when they left Sanchez in the line up instead of Randa. They started to win
when they sent Duffy back to the minors for an attitude adjustment. They
started to win when the pitching staff started getting out of the first
inning without giving up runs. To win in 2007 they need to dump Burnitz,
find a solid lead off hitter and hire a pitching coach that knows his ass
from a hole in the ground.

It's time for the brainless trust to begin trading the talent to rebuild.


"CandyFan" <candyfan@earthlink.com> wrote in message
news:au11i2tor6dr3stolot3cnr8pncolmlg62@4ax.com...

"CandyFan" <candyfan@earthlink.com> wrote in message
news:au11i2tor6dr3stolot3cnr8pncolmlg62@4ax.com...

They are not too old. Just lead by stupid, greedy people.



They did not win. They played a lower level of team in the 2nd half of the
2nd half.

They went 2-8 their last 10. They sucked any way you cut it.


Next year the slogan will be "We won't" short for "We won't win."


The Pirates will only improve when the useful idiot fans quit going to the
games which might cause twinkle toes McClatchy and the Nutty crew to
actually field a real baseball team.


Chuck

"The Real" Matt Davis wrote:

Finding a first baseman who doesn't make Craig Wilson look like Albert
Pujols is also a good idea.

CandyFan wrote:


Are you joking? You must be because nobody can be this dumb.

The critics were wrong about the team because the Cubs endured an
injury fueled melt down and finished one game worse than the Pirates?
Gimme a break.

Let me break down the reality of the situation for you:

The critics said money was not the major stumbling block for the
organization, poor decision making was. Fact: despite adding nearly 18
million in payroll on veteran players the team failed to gain a single
win over last year's record finishing 65-97 and avoiding a 100 loss
season by only 3 games for a second year in a row.

The critics said signing high priced veteran hitters Burnitz, Casey and
Randa would NOT improve the teams offense and the team had no talent in
the minors to fall back on. Fact: through the first half of the season
the veteran led club had one of the worst offenses in the league and
majors and post All Star Break they worked their way into the WORST
offenses in the league, second worst in the majors avoiding the last
place honors by a mere three runs and were far and away the worst
performing offense in the majors in the second half of the season.

The critics said that the teams obsession with pitching and defense to
the exclusion of offense was a dubious and high risk strategy that
would certainly fail because injuries would grind up much of the young
talent they were counting on and the expectation that late season call
ups would produce at the same level over the course of a season were
unrealistic and the defense was not as good as the front office and
local media would have us believe. Fact: the team saw many of their
top pitching prospects lose time to injury, the pitchers who performed
well at the end of last season struggled most of the year and in the
end the team finished with an ERA HIGHER and gave up more runs overall
than the 2005 Pirates

I hate to tell you this, but the critics were balls on the mark and
nothing the Cubs did or didn't do changes that.

p62c61@gmail.com wrote:


Of course that should be 67-95 for the second year in a row.

"Luv2golf" <youkiddingme@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:HpGdnQh_h-T1mLzYnZ2dnUVZ_qmdnZ2d@comcast.com...

Yeah, like that will happen! Everyone is in love with PNC park. It's a good
give away for corporate seat holders. Send your clients to watch the Pirates
lose!

CandyFan wrote:

True for the most part. If people expect Freddy Sanchez to hit .343
every year, they will be disappointed.

True again. The Pirate slacked power in the worst way and even when the
team did hit the ball, there weren't enough baserunners on to score
runs.

The Pirates were a bad team - period. They barely prevented a 100-loss
season. How this triggers optimism is beyond me.

True again - 65 wins is below .500 (well below). Therefore, the Pirates
are losers - again. And I find it hard to see how they can improve some
20 wins unless radical and major changes are made.

Well, no - most of the critics were dead right.

Take your own advice.

Wow...if a 65 win season gets people this fired up, I can't wait to see
what happens if the Pirates break 75 wins.

As much as I'd like to forget the first 90 games of the season, they
still count. And a lot of questions remain surrounding the Pirates. But
if it makes you feel better that a team can celebrate winning two more
games than it lost over a random period of time, well then, party on.

On 2 Oct 2006 07:52:11 -0700, p62c61@gmail.com wrote:


The Cubs payroll was double the Pirates.

On 2 Oct 2006 13:40:54 -0700, "Greg Schuler" <schuleg@comcast.net>
wrote:

If people expect ANY player to hit .343, they will be
disappointed. I doubt that anyone expects Sanchez to attain that bA
again...ever.
That said, he can play SS or 2B and hit better than your
typical MI. If they put him at one of those positions, it would be a
step in the right direction.

Yeah, they WERE bad, until after the ALL-Star game. They then
attained mediocrity, which may be enough in their division.




It made me feel better that they played above .500 after the
All-Star game. That wasn't random...they made changes like playing
Nady and NOT playing Burnitz. Duffy came back and turned his season
and perhaps his career around. The piching rotation changed. The
bullpen was solid.
Now if only Cuban would buy the Bucs!