SPORTS DIGEST, 3-11-09

SPORTS DIGEST, 3-11-09

HOLMES BEACH, FLORIDA -The Pittsburgh Pirates are in spring training for the 41st consecutive year in Bradenton, Florida and if we  would ask 10 people of baseball to rank the National League for 2009 my bet would be they would place them dead last.

If I have it right the Pirates are heading for their 16th consecutive losing season. To make it even worse the odds are they will not even play .500 baseball for the season. 

Is there any hope? Is their  a Tampa Bay Rays bug that might bite the Pirates? Is there a miracle blossoming in McKechnie Field during this spring training?

It is a long shot but maybe, just maybe there is a hope. A far out hope. 

Their names are Zack, Ian, Tom and Paul with another name still being sought.  They are the already named pitching starters for the Pirates. They are examples what an organization can produce, homegrown draft picks under the age of 28 and already considered veteran major league pitchers. Williamsport Cutter fans can relate to some of these names because it was in historic Bowman Field where they started their careers.

John Lembo, sportswriter for the Bradenton Herald, has been covering and talking with Zack Duke, Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelaney and Paul Maholm about their attitudes for the coming season. 

Lembo headlined his story of March 3rd with a headline of the Pirates believe starting rotation is ready for the next step. The Herald headline writers added a larger one that says - Now Is The Time.

Duke, who had a much talked about minor league start, told Lembo "I feel like we all have looked in the mirror and decided it is our time to make things happen." 

Pirate fans, like I have been for so many years, are uplifted by those kind of statements while accepting them as hollow until they become true. These still young men have had some major league success but only have to look back to last season in realizing none of the four came even close to lifting the Pirates out of  the deep hole they have been in for these many years. Last season, with limited injuries to any of the four main starters, the Pirates were dead last in the National League in ERA (5.10), hits allowed per game (10.1) and runs allowed per game (5.46). 

Lembo, after giving us those 2008 stats, notes that only Maholm was the closest hurler to winning 10 games. He finished at 9-9 with a team low ERA of 3.71.  As a reward for that effort he was signed to a new 3-year contract. The other three were told, said Lembo, "they would have to earn their next Pirate contract."

There is another part to this story. There are some other arms that are now under Pirate contract who want a starting spot.. Duke told Lembo ," We like our jobs. We realize we have to step up our performances to keep our jobs."

Manager John Russell, in his second year but with a new contract in hand, said, " With what we went through last season there had better be a difference in how they approach things and I think they have come back showing they know that. There is a more sense of urgency, they are more committed to doing things."

We long time Pirate fans would hope these young men can do the pitching job while noting the Pirate brass has not surrounded them with a solid dose of major league help but if the Rays can do it why not the Pirates.

Go Bucs!

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

The WBC opened this past weekend with defending champion Japan on the road someplace in the world. When I looked in the papers to see who they were playing all I saw was there opponent was To Be Announced.  In other first day opener the Netherlands was slated to play in the Dominican Republic while the USA team played their first game versus the Canadian team. Panama squared off against Puerto Rico.

The sports people here in central Florida are not major supporters of this Classic as it does take many professional players away from their team  right in the middle of spring training. 

Spring training fans, most of them "snowbirds" from up north, howl because when they go to  major league games they don't get to see many of the genuine big league players they paid to see. 

On the other hand the Classic teams have many players who once were name major league players. They are using the WBC as a means of doing a good enough job with a hope they can find some major league team that will sign them for the 2009 season. 

MY PAUL HARVEY  STORY

Back when WMPT Radio in South Williamsport was "hot" one of the major star voices heard  there every day was that of Paul Harvey. 

The station had gained a spot doing the Little League World Series each year and the Lefthander was part of that broadcasting deal. 

Real early in that experience it hit my head that bringing ABC Radios prime time news and comment person to South Williamsport for the series week would be a great PR story for the station. Picture it. Mr. Harvey doing his broadcasts out of the MPT studios down on East Central Avenue and then being on hand for the games for some comments. 

So I chose to get this project under way by writing a letter to Mr. Harvey. I never did learn if he ever received my letter but it did not take long for "his people" to get back to me explaining all of the different things 

that would have to be arranged at MPT's expense to have this plan be approved. Included with those technological items was the amount of money Mr. Harvey was to be paid. 

Since this was my idea I chose not share it with the rest of the MPT family. I wanted to surprise them when Mr. Harvey showed up one day at our little location. When I received all that was involved, including that five figure dollar amount just for Mr. Harvey, I hastened to back out on my plan.  

Now you know the rest of that story. 

THAT'S 30