John Russell

Finally a few words on the recent hires for the Pirates,since we were on hiatus during the official announcements.

I just don't know what to think about the new field boss John Russell.
He was not someone that attracted a lot of attention when he was the Bucco third base coach,so he doesn't gain or lose points there.
And I don't pay much attention to win/loss records in the minors,so that doesn't do much to recommend or denigrate in any way.
Minor league wins and losses have very little to do with managing skills and ones record can vary from month to month let alone year to year.
Lloyd McClendon's no comment on Russell was kind of odd.
Most times when a new hire is announced,the platitudes are rolled out,but rarely a no comment.
Considering Russell coached for McClendon,that tells me that there was some kind of disagreement.
In short-I just don't know and it will be a while before we do.
I realize blogs are for opinions,but there just is not enough data to have one yet..

On the other hand-I am not thrilled with the new scouting director,Greg Smith.
I know on the surface the Detroit improvement looks good,but few of those guys were drafted by Smith.
Other than Justin Verlander (with the second overall pick,you should succeed there),Curtis Granderson and Joel "guitar hero" Zumaya,the guys he brought in were not the players that made the Tigers a contender.
That screams warning to me.
I cannot imagine being worse than Ed Creech in this job,so that is a plus in his favor,but that does not make him a great hire either.

New farm director Kyle Stark is in the position for the first time,but he comes from the Indians organization and they have done an excellent job with their system.
So even though Stark is also an untested commodity,I am a bit more optimistic on his hiring.

So we basically have a bunch of unknowns with little track record to go by except for Greg Smith.
So,I guess we will see how it goes,be open minded and hope for the best.

Bullpen Notes

Sorry to hear about the passing of Joe Nuxhall at the age of 79 due to cancer.
Nuxhall will likely forever hold the record of being the youngest player in the big leagues for his cameo appearance in 1944 at the age of 15.
Nuxhall is fondly remembered for his years in the Reds radio booth and for his years teaming with Marty Brennaman in forming IMO the majors best radio team.
Here is a fond goodbye to "the ol' lefthander"....

Battlin Bob sends us a link to a scale model of Forbes Field at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.
Very detailed and tons of work for Patty Rogers and kudos to her for the excellent reproduction!

The Ashland Arrows battle the Sylvania Southview Cougars tonight in Fremont Ohio for the Region 6 title.
This is the second year in a row for the Arrows to reach the regional finals.
Coverage here tomorrow.

Finally,Watched the Democratic debate last night at work.
We will have an "political" day within the next month with our endorsement and other thoughts.
Until tomorrow.

Photo Credits
Forbes Field-John Heller-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Nuxhall-Topps Cards
Helmets-Ohio Helmet Project