monessen
Footballguy
While the Pirates have been blown out at times and their team stats are fairly distressing, their overall record as we reach the end of the season's first quarter isn't that bad. John Russell doesn't have the talent to work with that rivals Macha or Piniella do, but his flawed squad plays very hard and few people question Russell's steadiness and decision-making. People may wonder what Charlie Morton is doing in the rotation, but that may have more to do with Neal Huntington's delusional dogmatism than whatever say Russell has. The Bucs are 17-15 in games Morton doesn't pitch.
As this team goes through yet another transitional period, he deserves the right to stick around and oversee what this group can become with some promising call-ups and whatever the Pirates can get in return for some of the underachievers obtained in the past year. When Jim Tracy was canned, he suddenly became a managerial genius in Colorado largely due to the Rockies' talent. If Russell is let go, history could easily repeat should Russell be given a second opportunity somewhere where ownership has assembled a competitive nucleus.
Russell isn't flashy---far from it---but there are a few teams in baseball doing very well with managers who aren't household names.
As this team goes through yet another transitional period, he deserves the right to stick around and oversee what this group can become with some promising call-ups and whatever the Pirates can get in return for some of the underachievers obtained in the past year. When Jim Tracy was canned, he suddenly became a managerial genius in Colorado largely due to the Rockies' talent. If Russell is let go, history could easily repeat should Russell be given a second opportunity somewhere where ownership has assembled a competitive nucleus.
Russell isn't flashy---far from it---but there are a few teams in baseball doing very well with managers who aren't household names.
