It should have been Jim Leyland the Pirates introduced this week

Dave Littlefield has done a great job bolstering the Pirates' minor-league system. The Pirates' future appears promising.

However, I cannot help thinking that upper management erred in allowing Jim Leyland -- a man who loves Pittsburgh, has a proven track record and openly stated his [interest in] a blossoming Pirates team -- to wind up the manager of the Detroit Tigers.

Littlefield should have had an offer written and delivered to Leyland in a sealed envelope with typed instructions reading: Open immediately after Pirates season ends or sooner if you want.

Littlefield and [Kevin] McClatchy's indifference toward losing Leyland indicates they want this time to be their era. I am hopeful the Pirates' progress continues despite this monumental upper-management error.

Mental errors are expected from young, developing players. When similar transgressions stem from a team's top execs, fans may object to the taste and stench of what is trickling down on them.

JAMES ROTHAAR
Jacksonville, Fla.

The one that got away

Way to go, Dave Littlefield.

Much like the Yankees let Andy Pettitte slip away, it seems you have done the same thing with Jim Leyland (not to mention the core of former Pirates he would have brought with him) by thinking he always would be waiting for an interview.

He had seen the team and was there in the (front) yard all season. Who could know the team better? What a loss for the young Pirates, the fans and the owners, who could have "padded their pockets" by the increase in Pirates attendance with a lot of franchise history coaching in the dugout.

MARTIN LATTA
Burlington, N.C.

What have the Pirates done?

How could Kevin McClatchy and Dave Littlefield let Jim Leyland go to the Tigers? Why wasn't Leyland called immediately? They ticked him off by not calling him, as is obvious from Leyland's recent comments. How great it would have been to see Leyland guide this young team. What a natural perfect fit it would have been. What were they thinking?

JIM FARERI
Stroudsburg

Now does not equal then

Could the network baseball play-by-play announcers, Post-Gazette writers and everyone else stop comparing postseason statistics for players from the wild-card era to those from before divisional play?

Since the start of the wild-card alignment in 1995, it's possible each year for a team to play as many as 19 postseason games including the divisional series, championship series and World Series. Before divisional play, the only postseason series was the World Series, meaning seven would be the maximum number a team could play.

Example: A big deal is now made over Bernie Williams of the Yankees and his 22 postseason home runs hit in 115 postseason games going into this year. He broke Mickey Mantle's record of 18, which he hit in 65 games in 12 World Series. Williams has hit five home runs in 32 World Series games. If Mantle had played another 7-12 postseason games for each of those 12 seasons, as he would have under the current system, how many more home runs do you think he could have hit? The number would be out of sight.

Bernie Williams is a great player, but to the casual fan this type of comparison makes him look superior to Mantle, which he is not.

RICH ADAMS
Johnstown

A fan is always a fan

After reading the Sports Mailbag for the past couple weeks, I have two words for Pitt "fans" who have bailed out on the team:

Good riddance.

Pitt doesn't need fans like you. It doesn't matter whether you believe Pitt's problems this year stem from Walt Harris, Dave Wannstedt or bad luck -- real fans support the team through thick and thin.

I still proudly wear my Pitt gear. In fact, I wear it when I drive up to the games, and I have to drive through the heart of WVU country to do so.

BRIAN JACKSON
Chesapeake, Ohio

Good work spoiled

A thought occurred to me during [Pitt's game vs.] Rutgers that I would have said was crazy just a month ago. It's taken Dave Wannstedt five games to destroy what it took Walt Harris eight years to build. Pitt's national reputation is right back where it was when Harris was hired. It's not easy being a Pitt fan right now.

MIKE KIRLIN
Austin, Texas