Russell tiny part of Bucs' equation

By Joe Starkey
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Jim Leyland was between drags of a cigarette outside PNC Park a few years ago when the conversation turned to managers.

Specifically, to how much a manager can impact a team's record.

This was before Leyland wound up in Detroit, where the Tigers had conveniently bumped their payroll from $47 million to $82 million in the two years before his arrival. They'd spent nearly $100 million on free agents Magglio Ordonez and Kenny Rogers.

In other words, Motown suddenly was a manager-friendly place.

Leyland had experienced the opposite.

If he'd stayed in Pittsburgh for the 1997 season, for example, instead of quitting with four years left on his contract, he would have presided over a team with a $9 million payroll - or about what Alex Rodriguez makes while eating breakfast.

This isn't football, where coordinators can practically choreograph a game and where emotion plays such a critical role.

"Managing is multiple-choice," Leyland said. "Nobody really knows strategy. I managed a long time, and I can tell you this: When I had good players, I did OK. When I didn't, I wasn't worth a crap."

Which brings us to the newest Pirates manager, John Russell, who was introduced amid a flood of hyperbole Monday at PNC Park.

"Today is a great day for the Pittsburgh Pirates family," general manager Neal Huntington said. "John's positive energy, intense passion for the game and strong managerial experience set him apart from every other potential candidate."

Yeah, well, give him some good players, and Russell might do OK.

Otherwise, refer back to Leyland's last sentence.

Russell is a tiny part of the equation here. The Pirates' next hires - director of scouting, director of player development and the like - are infinitely more important.

Heck, the pitching coach will have more of a direct impact on the team's fortunes (and while we're on the subject, the Pirates' Triple-A pitching coach, Jeff Andrews, would be ideal. He developed the team's promising young pitchers and might be the only man on the planet who can resuscitate Zach Duke's career).

The most important players in all this are Huntington -- who reports directly to team president Frank Coonelly -- and owner Bob Nutting, whose future payrolls will tell us just how committed he is to winning.

The way things have been going for the past decade-and-a-half, Connie Mack couldn't have won here. Leyland sure couldn't. He presided over the first four years of what has become a 15-year losing streak.

Gene Lamont, who'd been the AL Manager of the Year with the White Sox only four years before replacing Leyland, couldn't win here. He lasted four years and was followed by managing novice Lloyd McClendon, who almost made it through five.

Jim Tracy came next. The Pirates paid Tracy $1 million per season, convinced he was going to be the greatest communicator since Ronald Reagan and the fiercest disciplinarian since George S. Patton.

"Effort," Tracy said the day he was hired, "is not an option."

That was before he shrugged off the famous Jeromy Burnitz jog to first base and turned his head every time Ronny Paulino played dead.

Tracy's biggest contribution was reminding us that even if a manager can't help a cause that much, he sure can hurt one. His tenure was marked by a stunning lack of discipline. The least Russell can do is make players accountable for their actions.

But the real issue won't be their attitudes.

It'll be their skills.


Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com