By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Thursday was a day and night unlike any other in our little corner of the sports world in a long, long time. Mistakes and presumed mistakes -- past and present -- were everywhere you looked. Let's go right to the scorecard and sort it all out:
• Pirates pitcher Ian Snell's decision to talk his way to the minor leagues? That was a big mistake. There probably have been more immature and erratic athletes in this town, but none comes to mind. You hate to call anyone stupid, but it sure looks to fit in Snell's case.
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Pirates pitcher Ian Snell requested and was granted a demotion earlier this week.
• Pirates general manager Neal Huntington's decision before the 2008 season to sign Snell to a contract that guaranteed him $1.35 million last season, $3 million this season and $4.25 million next season? That was a colossal mistake. Huntington was relatively new on the job, working for a franchise that's so careful with multiyear contracts that it's frequently called cheap, and he gives a big deal to Snell, who was just as immature, erratic and -- sorry -- stupid at the time of the deal? That's no way to keep the position. Certainly, this is one blunder the Pirates' current regime can't blame on Huntington's predecessor, David Littlefield.
• DeJuan Blair's decision to leave Pitt two years early for an NBA career that got off to a tough start when his draft-day experience blew up in his face? That was no mistake, no mistake at all. Blair had no choice but to leave Pitt. You know how it goes in life. Doing the right thing doesn't always work out, at least not initially.
Blair didn't like school. Hey, it's not for everybody. He was Big East Conference Co-Player of the Year last season and was a national Player of the Year finalist, which means another season at Pitt wasn't likely to improve his draft status. He also has two bad knees that probably will end his career prematurely.
All of those were good reasons to go to the NBA, but Blair had another, better reason. "This was a decision to take care of his family," his agent, Happy Walters, said yesterday.
That's not just honorable, it's admirable.
The Blair story still can have a happy ending, even though he wasn't drafted in the first round as he and everyone else thought he would be. Going to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round doesn't have to be the end of the world or his basketball career. Blair still can make a nice living. He's a good kid -- a Pittsburgh kid from The Hill -- who has worked hard to get where he is. He deserves it. He's worth rooting for.
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Former Pitt forward DeJuan Blair left school early to pursue an NBA career.
Unlike Snell.
It's bad enough that Snell approached Huntington and Pirates manager John Russell to suggest he be sent to the minors after yet another horrible start Tuesday night. The reason he gave was priceless: "Too much negativity" directed at him, presumably from the fans and media, but also maybe from the team's management, Russell and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan.
This is a guy you want pitching for you in a big game? Someone who is so mentally weak that he can't block out the "negativity" and rise above it?
Please.
Don't you wish just once that a guy would look in the mirror and realize that he's a big part of the negativity?
Snell was 2-8 with a 5.36 earned run average before his demotion to Class AAA Indianapolis.
How do you spin that into a positive?
Huntington, sounding very disgusted, all but said Snell was uncoachable. "All he wants to do is throw it as hard as he can every pitch."
We've seen the results.
Hideous, just hideous.
It's really hard to imagine Snell pitching for the Pirates again. The bad stats are a big part of that, sure. But a bigger reason is that he quit on the team, which is just about the worst thing any player can do in any sport.
Pittsburgh will grumble, but it can take 2-8 with a 5.36 ERA as long as it believes a guy is trying. What it can't take is a quitter.
If you played on the Pirates, would you want Snell as a teammate?
I don't think they do, either.
All of this puts Huntington in a real tough spot. He has invested almost $9 million in Snell and received nine wins in return -- seven last year and the two this season. It's hard to imagine more wins here coming from Snell anytime soon.
Somewhere, the much-maligned Littlefield must be smiling about how Huntington's investment in Snell is playing out.
Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author
First published on June 27, 2009 at 12:00 am
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