Free-Fallin'

The glimmer of hope that the Pirates saw in their doomed 2006 season over the past month has vanished in the wink of an eye over the past four days. With today's -- sigh -- one-run loss in 11 innings to the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks, the team staggered to its fifth consecutive defeat. With the loss, they conclude a homestand as dispiriting as the one before it was uplifting.

Today's loss featured many of the numbingly familiar features that have come to characterize this season: one bad inning from Zach Duke, in which he gave up four runs. He blanked the Rattlers in his other four innings of work; a late comeback (two runs in the eighth to tie the game, but nothing more the rest of the way); seven runners left in scoring position and 13 overall; a deflating failure in the bottom of the ninth (runners on bases loaded, none out, followed by three consecutive strikeouts).

As bad as this loss was, the one Sunday, which on the surface looked like a blowout (8-2), but was anything but, was just as painful. Oliver Perez, matched against former Cy Young winner Johann Santana of the Twins, pitched a beautiful game, but fell victim to "one of those innings" in the eighth, which featured an off-line throw from Jack Wilson on a tough play and a mishandling of a bunt from Perez himself. The result was three unearned runs, which earned OP his ninth loss in 11 decisions. This one, however, unlike some of his others, was not a result of poor pitching; far from it. Indeed, the only bright spot of the game was that he once again gave some reason to hope that he has gotten himself back on track.

A dim spot of the game, and the real subject of this post is yet another ill-advised set of comments from manager Jim Tracy who, the Buccin' Ear has come to believe, is pressing to the point of desperation. He all but came out and blamed Wilson for losing Sunday's game, despite apparently universal agreement from all others that the play that extended the Twins' eighth was extremely difficult to make. Perez, asked about his failure to field the bunt on the next play, blamed himself for not making it. Tracy, however, after criticizing Wilson, fired another shot, saying the inning should have been over anyway. And he wasn't done. He later noted, according to the Post-Gazette, that a team can't make the mistakes it did in Sunday's game and expect to win. There was no doubt who he was talking about.

Well, first of all, very, very few games are won or lost on one play, especially one that occurred with the bases empty and two out. If Tracy is going to play that kind of game with his players, maybe he should start critiquing every at-bat that doesn't result in a hit. One wonders what his reaction will be to Jeromy Burnitz, Freddie Sanchez and Jose Castillo striking out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth today. Off with their heads!

More disturbing is calling out a player on an error of commission rather than omission. The implication of his remark about Wilson is that the shortstop either wasn't hustling or wasn't thinking. Even if that were the case (which no one else believes, apparently), the proper response would be to take the player aside, especially since Wilson is hardly known for not playing hard.

This is not the first instance of finger-pointing that the Buccin' Ear has noted from Tracy. If his goal is to fire up his obviously uptight team (7-21 in one-run games) by putting pressure on them, it doesn't seem to be working. He may, however, be brewing a Buccaneer mutiny.

Well, off to Kansas City for a matchup between the two worst teams in baseball. Call it the MISERY tour (Most Irrelevant Series Ever Released Upon You).