The Sports Monitor

Wow. I was truly wrong about this year's Pittsburgh Pirates. A little more than two weeks ago, I though the Bucs were on the right track this season. It took me a little bit of time, but I was there . Again -- wow. I was wrong. Maybe I should have waited a little longer. Then I would have seen this epic collapse coming. The Pirates enter Monday night just two games over .500. I'm not thinking playoffs anymore. I'm not sure they finish with a winning record. Clint Hurdle doesn't have a magic touch. James McDonald isn't anywhere near the pitcher he was in the first half. He doesn't even look like a major league starter at this point. A.J. Burnett hasn't been the stopper either. There was a seven-error game, bad managerial moves (suicide squeeze?) and yesterday's meltdown by minor league pitchers called upon to protect a lead against the Cubs. This has been a complete and utter disaster. The joy of the first four months of the ...

It's Opening Day and I had the misfortune of turning on the Pirates. It's early in the game as I write this, but it's hard to get excited about a team that features Lyle Overbay as its cleanup hitter. So even if he does come through with a game-winning homer, I won't change my mind. I know the Pirates are trying to justify his offseason acquisition, but batting him fourth? The last time I checked, teams put their biggest home-run threat fourth. Overbay is coming off seasons of 20, 16, 15 and 10 homers. And it's not like Overbay had limited action in those seasons. His at-bat totals were: 607, 500, 627 and 476. I know new manager Clint Hurdle is full of energy and is ultra-positive, but this move reeks of something John Russell would do.

I'm often perplexed by the moves made by the Pittsburgh Pirates. I didn't like the hiring of John Russell a couple of seasons ago. It didn't make sense to me for an organization to hire a manager that wasn't good enough to stay on the coaching staff. With the slow-as-molasses approach to hiring a new manager, it appears Clint Hurdle is the front-runner. My guess is the Bucs wait until there are no other managerial vacancies. They can offer Hurdle a take-it or leave-it deal and get a manager on the cheap. In other words, they can get someone no one else wants. Another thing I find troubling: Hurdle makes Jim Tracy look like a genius. Hurdle was fired from the Rockies and Tracy took an underachieving team and made it a winner. Tracy wasn't good enough for the Pirates. Why should we expect Clint Hurdle to be an improvement? Hopefully, Hurdle isn't hired.