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Monday, October 02, 2000 By Paul Meyer, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
The Pirates said goodbye to a stadium and a manager yesterday.
Today, they can begin thinking about next season, their first at PNC Park, and Manager Gene Lamont's successor.
Kevin Young doesn't like fans who boo
They can begin pondering the advice Kevin Young, Jason Kendall and Brian Giles gave them the past week.
Young, Kendall and Giles met with General Manager Cam Bonifay and offered their thoughts about what should be done to improve this team that closed Three Rivers Stadium with an anything-but-pedestrian 10-9 loss to Chicago in front of a sellout throng of 55,351, the largest regular-season home crowd in Pirates history.
"We all have something in common -- Kevin McClatchy, Cam Bonifay, myself -- all of us," Young said. "We do want to win. A lot of people want to win the lottery, but unless you purchase a ticket your chances aren't that good.
"It's kind of the same concept here. We want to win, but we need to know how to go about doing things that make that possible. Thus far, we haven't really done that. A lot of that is due to the situation we're in as an organization. That's basically what we talked about.
"Cam has a tough job because he's strapped financially. There's a lot more pressure to be a general manager when your payroll's around $30 million as opposed to $90 million. We totally understand that, but a lot of stuff we went over had to do with what direction we're going.
"We just wanted to make sure that we have communication with the front office and have them let us know some of the things that are taking place.
"A lot had to do with what takes place on the field, what takes place in the clubhouse, the type of guys we're sending out on the field.
"Normally what happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse, but we're at a point now where we have to acknowledge a lot of things that have taken place.
"Brian Giles wants to win. Jason Kendall wants to win. Jason and I have been affiliated with this organization for a long time, and we haven't won for a long time. We're trying to get over that hump.
"To do that, you've got to make changes -- whether it's in the system or the way we promote guys to the big leagues -- but we have to instill something in these guys that when they get here this is what we're trying to accomplish and this is how you do it, not just, 'Well, we want to win.' But give them the chemistry and the means to go out and do that."
There was a definite feeling in the Pirates' clubhouse this season that not enough was done internally to address negative situations.
"I blame a lot of [that] on myself," Young said. "I think that's my responsibility as a guy who signs on here [long term]. I don't think this year I've done a good job of that, partly because I've been trying to take care of myself physically so I can get out on the field.
"I think [the veterans] understand what our responsibility is. It's just not getting ourselves ready to go out and perform on the field, but it's making sure that everybody, 25 men, when it comes game time that they have the same thing on their minds for the next three hours.
"You can have success when you surround yourself with guys who are pushing each other, and that's where I think we've all missed the boat. Unfortunately people will lose their jobs because of it, but I don't think we pushed each other the way we needed to and held each other accountable the way we needed to in the clubhouse.
"That's our responsibility as players, but you can go a step further and talk about the responsibility of the coaching staff and the manager because they have to reinforce everything that's being done on that point.
"But I don't think I did everything I needed to do to show that and to lead by example every single day and to push people who weren't doing what they needed to do. That's where I think we came up short, but it's not that far away from being changed.
"The biggest thing is that when players like myself, Brian, Jason, Pat Meares, Mike Benjamin, John Vander Wal -- when they push, the guys they're pushing had better be able to respond. If they don't respond, that's where I think the management part comes in. We have to be reinforced. We have to have that backing. We want to get something accomplished, and that's our responsibility."
Young, Kendall and Giles believed part of their responsibility, too, was to chat with Bonifay during the final homestand of Three Rivers Stadium's life.
"I don't think it's something that publicly needs to be known, but it was a long, productive meeting," Giles said of his session.
Kendall also wasn't forthcoming, although it's safe to assume he discussed pitching among other things.
Pitching, among other things, contributed to the Pirates' 93rd loss of this season.
Not long after hometown hero John Wehner capped a four-run rally in the fifth inning with the last home run hit at Three Rivers, giving the Pirates an 8-5 lead, the bullpen began handing the Cubs the game.
The bullpen yielded seven walks, four hits and five runs in four innings.
Still the Pirates had a chance to write an unbelievable ending to Three Rivers' baseball history in the ninth.
Singles by Kendall, Giles and Vander Wal -- the last hit at Three Rivers -- brought the Pirates within 10-9.With two outs and runners on second and third, Wehner stepped to the plate.
The kid from Carrick had an opportunity to write a final chapter that even John R. Tunis couldn't have made up.
"I know the people who know John were thinking, 'This would be unbelievable,'" Lamont said. "I was thinking that, too."
It wasn't to be, though.
Wehner bounced to third on the second pitch from Jamie Arnold, and the game, the season, the stadium and Lamont were done.
"If we'd won the game, it would have been frosting on the cake, but last nights like this are not just about winning games," Lamont said. "You could hear the hum of the crowd, the buzz in the stands, the whole game.
"If we'd won, I don't think people would remember that. They'll remember it was a special night here. Was this a good memory for me? Well ... I won't forget it."
Nor will Lamont forget the ovation he received when he was introduced before the game. His easily was the largest and longest ovation, the fans standing and cheering for at least a minute before Lamont signaled for Adrian Brown to be introduced and "Let's get on with this."
"Heck, you walk out there and hope you don't get booed, and then you get that big ovation. It was neat. I won't forget it.
"I guess I'd like to think the fans appreciated what I tried to get done here. We just didn't quite get it done."
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