FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, June 9, 2008
The Pirates chose Vanderbilt University third baseman Pedro Alvarez with the seond pick of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.
AP Photo/Vanderbilt University, John Russell
• Credit the Pirates for doing some things they haven't had the guts to do in the past. Drafting Pedro Alvarez with the second overall pick last week tops on the list. Instead of fishing for an affordable diamond-in-the-rough, they went right after the player Baseball America Magazine pegged as the top one available in the draft. And he's a Scott Boras client to boot meaning negotiations, which could begin as early as today, will be difficult and expensive. If Alvarez winds up not signing and going back to Vanderbilt for his senior season, we may all look at that differently. But would they have dared draft him if they didn't plan on anything up in the first place?
The Pirates also last week sent catcher Ronny Paulino to the minor leagues when Ryan Doumit came off of the disabled list. Raul Chavez has played well, especially defensively and deserved to stay. This is a message to the entire roster that a major league job is not a right, but a privilege and attitude and work ethic should illustrate that.
Pirates starter Phil Dumatrait delivers a pitch during the fourth inning against the Diamondbacks Sunday, June 8, at PNC Park.
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review
And earlier this year the Pirate swallowed the rather large salary of pitcher Matt Morris when they cut him and replaced him with Phil Dumatrait in the rotation. Dumatrait has given the Pirates much more than just innings and he gives them a much better chance at winning than Morris did every fifth day. Don't be so jaded from 15 years of misery that you can't at least see some light at the end of the tunnel at least with the approach of the new administration.
• This fresh from a tremendous attempt at winning the Stanley Cup, it's hard not to want all the Penguin free agents to remain here and sign again. And while that is impossible, I saw enough of Marian Hossa to know that if I were Ray Shero, I would make every attempt to keep him. He is the best two-way player on the team and exorcised some old demons by performing well in the playoffs. Of all those who could leave, his talents would be the hardest to replace.
The Penguins' Marian Hossa sits on the ice after Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final at Mellon Arena. Hossa has said he might take less money to play for a Stanley Cup contender.
Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review file
• Some leftover thoughts from the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
1) The Penguins lost six games total and five of those six were officiated by referees Brad Watson and Marc Joanette.
2) It was fun watching the champagne, t-shirts and hats being wheeled back out of the Detroit locker room after Max Talbot tied game five in the final minute.
3) The Penguins were in the middle of getting shut out for the second straight time in game two in Detroit when a member of the armed forces was introduced to the crowd. Penguin defenseman Hal Gill leaned over the boards and banged his stick in appreciation despite the score. It was Memorial Day.
4) Marc Andre Fleury's spill coming out of the gate in game one really was a sign of things to come.
5) Detroit runs a classy organization.
6) Even though the wrong team won, before the wrecking ball gets to Mellon Arena in a few years, at least one Cup was won on it's ice. It was one of the most historical happenings to take place under the dome.
• I was watching game one of the NBA finals and a soccer game broke out. How can the Celtics' Paul Pierce be carried off the court one minute as though he had stepped on a land mine, and then return relatively unscathed and ready to go a few minutes later? And some chuckleheads compared this to Willis Reed returning from a hip injury suffered earlier in the series to lead the Knicks against the Lakers in game 7 in 1970? Come on!
What a contrast to what we witnessed in the Stanley Cup finals. Ryan Malone came back in the same game after breaking his nose for the second time in the series and was still diving to block shots in the final minute. Sergei Gonchar goes into the boards 35 mph face first and comes back several overtimes later to be one of the heros. And we expect it. Then again hockey players are nuts.
• I'm not sure what bothered me more about the passing of former Steeler Dwight White. The fact that another player from the legendary Steelers Super Bowl era died before his time, or that his time came when he was just a few years older than I.
Guy Junker is the co-host of the Junker and Crow Show, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. weekdays on ESPN Radio1250.
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