Name The Last GM You Liked
Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:15 pm
"I don't have to tell you things are bad. You know things are bad. It's a depression." - Howard Beale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwMVMbmQBug
I've been around this board for over a decade. How long? I go back to the "Lloyd Sucks" and "Littlefield Is Clueless" days. There was a time that, off the board, I argued with the long gone GoBucs21, who made the point that part of Dave Littlefield's responsibility was to overcome the failing of ownership to provide the resources to compete.
The Pirates have not won a World Series in 40 years, and have failed to achieve contention in a vast majority of those seasons.
This morning, I went back to the roster of General Managers of The Pittsburgh Pirates. Everyone of them met an inglorious end, save for maybe Syd Thrift, who got shuffled out for standing up to ownership.
We've had Pete "Bozo" Peterson. We've had Syd "You Can't Fire Me I Quit" Thrift. How about Larry "Waiver Wire" Doughty? "Heart Attack" Ted Simmons? "Mad Cam Disease" Bonifay. "Clueless" Dave Littlefield, and now, Neal "Bad Deal" Huntington.
The last GM Pittsburgh that enjoyed general support was Joe L. Brown, who had his hands in 1960 and 1971 titles as GM, and 1979 because he set the table with the talent.
I don't think the next GM, whether he arrives this year, next year, or in two years, will bring any magic wand. He will bring another set of cans to kick down the road. He may buy ownership a couple of years before the cycle repeats again, but rest assured, it will repeat again.
The current baseball economics reward bad performance. If you choose not to compete, your margin for error on players is razor thin if you want to win, but you can still rake in millions for your owner.
This will continue until there is a change at the very top. But there is no motivation for a baseball owner to sell if he continues to profit wildly on his investment.
We can be Mad as Hell, but history shows we will take it. Money will continue to flow, even if it's not "our" money. And should the stars align, we'll come back at the slightest glimpse of hope.
That's the lesson of 40 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwMVMbmQBug
I've been around this board for over a decade. How long? I go back to the "Lloyd Sucks" and "Littlefield Is Clueless" days. There was a time that, off the board, I argued with the long gone GoBucs21, who made the point that part of Dave Littlefield's responsibility was to overcome the failing of ownership to provide the resources to compete.
The Pirates have not won a World Series in 40 years, and have failed to achieve contention in a vast majority of those seasons.
This morning, I went back to the roster of General Managers of The Pittsburgh Pirates. Everyone of them met an inglorious end, save for maybe Syd Thrift, who got shuffled out for standing up to ownership.
We've had Pete "Bozo" Peterson. We've had Syd "You Can't Fire Me I Quit" Thrift. How about Larry "Waiver Wire" Doughty? "Heart Attack" Ted Simmons? "Mad Cam Disease" Bonifay. "Clueless" Dave Littlefield, and now, Neal "Bad Deal" Huntington.
The last GM Pittsburgh that enjoyed general support was Joe L. Brown, who had his hands in 1960 and 1971 titles as GM, and 1979 because he set the table with the talent.
I don't think the next GM, whether he arrives this year, next year, or in two years, will bring any magic wand. He will bring another set of cans to kick down the road. He may buy ownership a couple of years before the cycle repeats again, but rest assured, it will repeat again.
The current baseball economics reward bad performance. If you choose not to compete, your margin for error on players is razor thin if you want to win, but you can still rake in millions for your owner.
This will continue until there is a change at the very top. But there is no motivation for a baseball owner to sell if he continues to profit wildly on his investment.
We can be Mad as Hell, but history shows we will take it. Money will continue to flow, even if it's not "our" money. And should the stars align, we'll come back at the slightest glimpse of hope.
That's the lesson of 40 years.