Q&A

Typical Q&A fare today, need to pick a direction, will the real Kip Wells please stand up, who are the real fans, etc etc. Dejan also goes heavy on the hockey references, something that drives me batty. No problems with the Pens, or hockey in general, but when I read a column about the Pirates, I don't expect analogies like this:

If you ask me, I would send my fourth-line goon over the boards to deliver a firm slash to the back of the knee.

Too much hockey for me. He ends the column with a question for the readers:

I wonder how those of you who have read this book (Moneyball) feel the Pirates measure up by the "Moneyball" standard, and I would like to hear from you on the subject.

Charlie at the Bucs Dugout immediately goes on the offensive:

Look, comparing Dave Littlefield's program to Billy Beane's is like comparing Sean Connery's "Suck it Trebek" character to Ken Jennings.

OK, so Beane and Littlefield don't have approaches that resemble each other, true. We do pretend to care, with the Gerald Perry hiring revolving around plate discipline and such, but our team is certainly not a disciplined one at the plate. Littlefield is trying to take at least one approach similar to Beane however. He's trying to stockpile pitching. Between Burnett, Van Benschoten, Duke, Snell, Malholm, Bradley, and Bullington will we get our Mulder, Hudson, and Zito? Maybe, maybe not, but then again Haren, Meyer, and Calero might not be Hudson, Mulder, and Zito either. Other than stockpiling pitching though, I agree with Charlie, there's not much similarities (read his whole post).