Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting understands why fans were upset about his team’s epic late-season collapse.
Heck, Nutting was mad too. So mad, in fact, he needed a full month to cool off before deciding the best way forward.
In the end, when his blood pressure returned to normal, Nutting decided to use a scalpel instead of a hatchet.
“If you’re angry, you count to 10,” Nutting told reporters in an offseason roundtable discussion Tuesday. “If you’re really angry, you count to 100. If you’re incredibly infuriated and frustrated, you wait four weeks.”
Ultimately, Nutting opted to maintain the status quo. Other than hiring former major leaguer Jay Bell as the team’s hitting coach and reassigning first base coach Luis Silverio to senior Latin adviser for minor league operations, he settled on keeping management intact, manager Clint Hurdle and General Manager Neal Huntington included.
Nutting pointed to the arc over the last few years – and not the swoon that sent the Pirates to a 20th straight losing season – as the reason to stay the course. The Pirates were 16 games over .500 in August but faded over the final six weeks to finish 79-83. The end hurt, but Nutting believes the long view shows just how far the franchise has come.
“We considered all kinds of alternatives,” Nutting said. “At the end of the day, the progress that the organization has made – when you look at the seven-game improvement last year, more than
20-game improvement over two years, the rankings of the development system – we do have a much stronger organization than we did.”
Repoz
Posted: November 07, 2012 at 07:22 AM |
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1. YR Misses Reggie Bars Posted: November 07, 2012 at 10:27 AM (#4296710)"And if you're me, you count all your free money, give yourself a nice bonus, and laugh at the poor saps who have to win ballgames to make a profit!"
Of course, the Pirates won more games last year than in any season since 1997, and the leaked financial books show that the Pirates aren't even disbursing enough money to ownership to cover income taxes, but why let the facts get in the way of tired poor-little-me bleating from the richest kids on the block?
With all the TV monies and what not, does any team have to win ballgames to make a profit these days?
Say, wasn't that the first year of Bolshevik Bud's Revenue Stealing scheme? So after 15 years on the teat, you're back where you started. Excelsior!
Shouldn't you be tying Nell to the railroad tracks somewhere?
I would like to apologize to all Pirates fans. Your offense did, indeed, largely consist of Andrew. But the kid pitchers were older than I had remembered them to be, and did come through, your Big Pitcher was great, and you were in serious contention until what looks like a simple lack of depth wore you down.
You've got a couple of position spots to fill, but you have a choice of which ones, because your only untouchable is Andrew. You could easily contend next year, if the ownership puts a bit more money into upgrading the bats. I made a bad prediction. I haven't had to say that about the Pirates in quite some time. Good Luck next year!
- Brock Hanke (Cardinals fan)
Mike Wallace: "C'mon Nutting, admit it! You were every bit as frustrated as the fans, weren't you?"
Nutting: "I ... I ... yes! OK yes! I was disappointed! Is that what you want to hear?"
Next week on 60 Minutes:
Mike Wallace: "Come clean Mr. President ... you have faith in America, don't you?"
Obama (hand in camera): "I don't have time for this, who are you people, get out of here!"
And after the break, Andy Rooney.
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