By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Only 38 days until training camp in Latrobe!
Time for a confession at the very top: It's absolutely horrible to feel so compelled to deliver that valuable public-service announcement every June. I hate it. It's officially been summer for all of three days, and we already have to look to Steelers camp to get our next big sports fix.
David Zalubowski/Associated Press
Andrew McCutchen follows through with his swing after connecting for a triple to drive in three runs recently against the Rockies.
Obviously, the Pirates aren't going to provide it by competing for a division title or even having a winning season. They're awful again. The proof is in the baseball standings on these pages. They have a 31-38 record and are in last place in the weak National League Central Division.
Awful, just awful.
Thank goodness the Penguins played until June 12 before they lifted the Stanley Cup. To say they eased the annual agony of our dog days of late spring and early summer would be a bit of an understatement.
I'm thinking we can make it.
Only 38 days until Latrobe ...
In some ways, it seems worse than ever with the Pirates with their record 17th consecutive losing season all but inevitable. They open a three-game series tonight at PNC Park against the Cleveland Indians. Plenty of good seats still are available.
How sad is that?
It's true, the Indians stink worse than the Pirates, hard as that is to believe. They are 29-42 in the even weaker American League Central. Their fans no longer have to drive to Pittsburgh to watch them play because they can't get a ticket at the Cleveland ballpark. Plenty of good seats are available there these days, too. There has been speculation manager Eric Wedge soon will be fired.
But it's still Cleveland-Pittsburgh, right? It's still a natural, heated rivalry even if the Steelers have been kicking the Browns' fannies for years, isn't it?
Apparently, that's not enough to ease the paying public's anger and frustration with the Pittsburgh Baseball Club.
Certainly, that anger and frustration is justified.
But it's still sad. As bad as the Pirates are again, they are a little different than their losing teams of the past. At least this club has one player worth the price of a ticket.
Andrew McCutchen.
It's likely fair to assume he won't hit safely in 15 of every 17 games, as he has done since his call-up from the minors June 4. He likely won't continue to hit .333. Advance scouts of opposing teams are working hard as we speak to find the holes in his swing.
"The challenges are definitely coming for him," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said yesterday. "But we think he has the athleticism and intelligence to make the adjustments he's going to have to make."
Huntington cited McCutchen's hard work in the Instructional League last fall, his time with the Pirates in spring training this season, the maturity he showed when they sent him down when he probably deserved to stay with the big club and the effort he put in with the Class AAA Indianapolis Indians. "He's grown up a ton and put himself in a position to succeed," Huntington said.
McCutchen needed every bit of that maturity because he stepped into a tough spot, into a Pirates clubhouse where the players weren't exactly thrilled to see him. It was nothing personal. The players knew McCutchen from the past three spring trainings, liked him and respected his game. It's just that their good friend and teammate, Nate McLouth, was traded to make room for him.
McCutchen, 22, never blinked.
Huntington argued there still are plenty of reasons besides McCutchen to buy a ticket to see the Pirates despite their lousy record. He mentioned Andy LaRoche, Ryan Doumit, Zach Duke, Paul Maholm, Matt Capps and John Grabow. "I would hope fans would still want to come out to watch those guys grow," he said. "They're still going to fight and battle and do everything they can to win that night's game ... we're hoping to end this cycle [of losing] sooner rather than later."
Until that happens -- and who among us doesn't have doubts that it ever will? -- McCutchen figures to be the star attraction. Speed is a beautiful thing, and he has plenty. Five triples in 17 big-league games is a remarkable statistic.
It takes me back to the days of watching Roberto Clemente. There was nothing more exciting to a kid growing up in Beaver Falls than watching The Great One dig for third on a triple, his batting helmet flying off as he rounded second base. That was, what, 45 years ago? It still seems like yesterday.
Please understand: I'm not suggesting McCutchen will be the next Clemente. All I'm saying is it looks like he has a chance to create some lasting memories for the young kids of today.
Surely that beats the memories attached to 17 consecutive years -- and counting -- of losing.
Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author
First published on June 23, 2009 at 12:00 am
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