Facing the Indians with an Empty Quiver

The Pirates, as is their practice, the Pirates of Penance sorrowfully notes, found a way to lose the rubber match of their three-game interleague tilt with the Indians Sunday, falling 3-2 in 10 innings when Grady Sizemore, who had struck out four times, singled in the winning run with two out. Mike Gonzales had gotten the first two men out, then collapsed.

Wasted was a decent starting effort from Paul Maholm (one run in 5 1/3 innings, although he labored through 105 pitches). If we're looking for hope, as the Buccin' Ear tries to do, it comes in the form of Maholm's and Zach Duke's respectable starting outings this weekend against a very tough lineup on the road.

The real story of the game -- the state of the Pirates, really--occurred in the ninth inning, when the Pirates had runners on first and second, no one out, and sent up...Jose Hernandez...to bunt.

The coverage in the Post Gazette made much of the fact that Hernandez, who had done well against Indians reliever Bob Wickham in a modest seven career at bats, was asked to bunt. Not surprisingly, Hernandez couldn't pull it off, laying down a poor bunt that resulted in the lead runner (Jeromy Burnitz) getting cut down. The inning ended when Jose Castillo hit into a double play, the result of Ryan Doumit being stranded at first due to Jose's botched effort. The Post Gazette pinpointed this as the turning point of the game.

Well, the real question, from the Buccin' Ear's point of view, is twofold: one, what was Hernandez doing at the plate and two, what was he doing in the stadium?

If there is a poster child for the misguided player personnel policies of the Pirates, it is the presence of Jose Hernandez on the roster. He is 37 years old and had his last decent statistical season in 2002 with Milwaukee when, you might remember, his manager decided to sit him in the season's final game so he wouldn't break the all time single-season strikeout record. (He finished with 188, three better than the previous year's count.) Like his teammate Burnitz, he is a career .250 hitter with a poor career on-base percentage (.312). Most impressive is that during the course of his time in the Bigs, he has struck out over 250 more times than he has gotten a base hit. Well, gee, why wouldn't the Pirates want him on the roster? Who wouldn't want to add another overpaid, over the hill, underachieving player?

By Jim Tracy's own admission, he had Hernandez bunt because, he told the Post Gazette, "If Hernandez swings away and hits into a double play, you kick yourself."

Well, JT has gotten into the swing of managing the Pirates. You send a guy up to the plate with instructions to do the thing that has the least chance of screwing everything up. He noted that he was aware of Hernandez's success against Wickham. His comment, however, also indicates he was aware of another statistic: Jose has grounded into more than 120 double plays in his career.

You have to feel for Tracy. He has so few options that he must feel like a guy dueling Wild Bill Hickock with a pop-gun when he trudges into the dugout each night. His designated hitter Doumit was on first base because he bunted ahead of Hernandez. Quick, somebody name the last DH in the American League to lay down a bunt. But that is what Tracy is reduced to because Doumit can't hit a lick.

At 14-30, the Pirates continue on the fast track to oblivion. We can only hope that the rush to unload the dead wood on the roster begins soon. Does Triple A need another franchise?