Bucs get some “love” in the NY Press

With the Pirates 10-7 start, people are starting to notice. Yesterday it was NY Daily News’ baseball columnist Bill Madden. With Madden’s history of being a curmudgeon, seemingly being on the Yankees’ payroll and short sightedness when it comes to player development the complements are somewhat back handed. Let’s take a look at some of the comments he makes:

it would be a stretch to suggest the Pirates may actually have gotten the better of the deal with the Yankees last summer (that also netted them outfielder prospect Jose Tabata).

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that only time will tell. With the way that both Olendorff and Karstens have pitched so far things are looking up. Add to that Jose Tabata and that the Pirates added depth in the minor leagues (something that they desperately needed) it’s a stretch to say that the Yankees got the better of the deal, especially with the way that Marte has pitched for them since the trade and Nady being on the DL.

Here is another fun statement that he makes:

Under the tutelage of new pitching coach Joe Kerrigan (who’s had a checkered reputation everywhere else he’s been), lefties Paul Maholm and Zack Duke seem to finally be attaining the great promise they showed as rookies in 2005.

Has anyone heard about Kerrigan’s “checkered” past? I have only read good things about him on any stop along the way. Where ever he has gone as the pitching coach, he as improved the staff. The only thing that I can think of is that he was once the bullpen coach for the Yankees and there must have been something that happened which Yankee management didn’t like and they told Madden.

I think that most, if not all Pirate fans realize that this year’s team may not get to the playoffs or even to .500 but the new management from Frank Coonley on down is doing the right things on all levels and this is light years ahead of what Dave Littlefield did while he was GM.

The One That Got Away

It looks like the Pirates had their first base coach (and more importantly it seems their infield instructor) lined up in their sights but it looks like negotiations broke off for some reason. My guess is that it had something to do with his wife being ill (it’s briefly mentioned in the article).

It’s a shame that it didn’t work out since it sounds like he could have really been a huge benefit to our infield defense.

I do wish Mrs. Hill a complete recovery from whatever ails her.

Don Long’s Hitting Philosophy

As I mentioned in a post or two yesterday, the Bucs officially announced their new Hitting Coach, Don Long, late of the Phillies minor league system. Here is a bit of Long’s hitting philosophy:

“The thing I’m interested in is connecting with each player and not just go with a blanket technique,” Long said. “That’s a little bit cliched, I know, but you really have to get to know the player. You have to get them to trust what you’re telling them.”

OK, know your player’s weaknesses and strengths and then coach accordingly. Sounds good so far.

“The type of hitter we’re going to try to create is an aggressive but under control hitter,” he (Long) said. “When he steps up to home plate, he’s ready to hit every pitch until his eyes tell him no. He has to see the ball and recognize where it’s going before he actually goes after it. . . . A lot of people are promoting walks in the game, and I believe this philosophy leads to that.”

Interesting since this is a very aggressive hitting team made up of a lot of free swingers. They drew the fewest number of walks last year and I don’t know if things can change all that much with just a new hitting coach. It’s always been my theory that the hitting coach doesn’t really make that big of a difference because the players just go according to their natural tendencies.

I would love to be proven wrong with this theory and I hope that Long can do just that.