Q and A with Kovacevic

[redsrbetter]

Q: Well, Jim Tracy's defense of Jeromy Burnitz for not hustling in the second Diamondbacks game was certainly interesting. Is Tracy's rule going to be that loafing is OK as long as nobody can prove definitively that it cost the Pirates the game?

"We will ... hustle when we think it's really, really important."

If Tracy's players, or at least his veterans, don't have to give 100 percent all the time, do you think the Pirates will sell me tickets for less than 100 percent of face value? It's only fair.

Wilbur Miller of Silver Spring, Md.

KOVACEVIC: Tracy's initial comment on the matter was unexpected, to say the least.

The subject has been covered in detail already, so all I will add is this in an attempt to respond to your Q and a bunch of others on this topic, Wilbur:

When I asked the question about Burnitz's failure to run to first -- one that was based less on Burnitz, by the way, than it was Tracy's oft-stated pledge that effort never would be an option with his teams -- it is highly possible he was caught off guard. It was minutes after the game, and it was in the formal setting of the postgame interview room with all the cameras and stuff going. Before games, the atmosphere tends to be more relaxed, in his office.

That said, the response was what it was.

I asked Tracy two days later what he meant by it, and he declined -- quite emphatically -- to answer.



Q: Good for Burnitz standing up and apologizing.

I've never disliked the guy. I can get frustrated and even dislike players who take their money and take the back seat on the couch. But I never sensed him to be this player. He's roughing it right now, yeah, but he's not quitting.

How many out there cursing him would have the guts to stand in front of everybody and take responsibility?

Lee Pauley of Columbus, Ohio

KOVACEVIC: Burnitz did, indeed, come to Pittsburgh with a reputation as a gamer, an everyday guy.

But, as he seemed to recognize in the apology interview, his failure to run 100 percent came in a fairly conspicuous spot, in front of the home crowd, with the team still in range of winning and, most glaring, followed closely by two other hits.

Burnitz also happens to be a pretty straight shooter, as you might have gathered from some of his other comments -- "Joe High-Paid Free Agent" -- in that interview.

Based on the mail received this week, readers sounded less put off by Burnitz than by the manager's defense.



Q: Will someone please tell Jim Tracy these are the Pittsburgh Pirates and not the L.A. Dodgers?

I know managers bring their own ideas to a team, but to foul up the hitting and pitching mechanics of so many young players is going way too far. These players are not clones of his Dodgers players. They weren't broke, but he tried to fix them, and now they are broke.

Chris Duffy is the perfect example. He had his swing down and his head screwed on straight when Tracy decided he needed to alter his approach at the plate. Now, he's off to Class AAA to get his swing back, while Oliver Perez had to tell the coaches, just like Duffy did, to let him get back to what had worked in the past.
I hate to say it - but it will take an entire season to undo what Tracy has foolishy done.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06137/690635-126.stm

[Witlon]

*sigh*

All of these things make it hard to be a Pirates fan, especially the Perez and Duff stuff.