Buckley? I thought he was killed during that horrible Megalomart explosion.

...hey.

There is some really inane commentary on this hire.

First off, the college coaching pitch count stuff is way overstated. People whine about college coaches letting the kids throw more than 80! Nuts. They treat college ball like its another minor league - no way.

Furthermore, Buckley would be a roving instructor, not a team coach. Its not like he'd even be in a position to work these guys too much.

Long Beach State, as I recall, has an excellent pitcher health record anyways. I can't think of many injuries coming from that program. And who is to say a college coach would coach the exact same way as a pro? The focuses are different, one on winning, one on development.

I think this is an exciting, daring hire and who ever is running this blog is a joker. I really shouldn't even be reading and responding to this..
"Well, those that weren't laughing at Neal Huntington in the industry certainly are roaring now."

Because he hired Buckley? I think not.

"And what makes this hire all that more dubious is that Buckley wasn't even a pitcher in his professional career. Yes, he tossed some innings, but only because his value as a minor league utility player was worthless and he had a live arm. But that didn't work out either. So he went on to coaching."

And Rich Rodriguez and Urban Meyer were walk-on defensive backs, that didn't stop them from becoming great offensive scheme coaches.
Yes it is a little unusual for a pitching coach to have not pitched, but the bottom line is if a guy knows the game, he knows the game.

"A Division I hire. Is this what we've become with Huntington? How brutal is that? "

This mental midget still hasn't actually shown me how he KNOWS this is a bad hire.
Buckley, and Long Beach, have a great track record of scouting and developing teenage arms, I am sure his job in the pros will be very similar.
And what is so wrong on evaluating candidates on their actual merits rather than where they are coming from? Sure those things are related but they are not one in the same.

This blogger seems like just another internet nut job looking to whine about anything a team does and think of himself as the smart one in town.

I really need to stop reading the internet..

Good KOTH reference. That was the cliff-hanger ending of season 1, I believe. I haven't watched it since.

I really need to stop reading the internet..

No, just Jake.

It would have been better to link the Long Beach newspaper article on the hire.

http://www2.presstelegram.com/moresports/ci_7747555

I'm a firm believer in the theory that a pitcher only has so many bullets, and injuries, of the career ending sort, will happen regardless of the training regimen. Of course, over-work will probably hurt a pitcher more than it helps one, but I digress. Good for the Pirates...

"No, just Jake."

Word. He's the Drudge Report of Pirate baseball coverage.

Heh, while making my way through post #3 I soon realized the topic header originally linked to JJ/Sunny's blog! The outrage he sparks is nearly as good as a photo!

Word. He's the Drudge Report of Pirate baseball coverage.

That's an insult to Drudge.

Meanwhile, the Cubs have hired Mrs. O'Leary's co. . . er, Dave Littlefield as a scout.

I really think that for stories like this, where there's only ever going to be one thread about it, we should link to an actual news story, and absolutely not link to some half-baked blog post's biased interpretation of the news stories.

As for Troy Buckley, I've never heard of him before. Definitely a better hire than Troy Neel, Cowboy Troy, or Jeff Buckley.