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Monday, February 03, 2003

By Robert Dvorchak, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Brian Giles describes his mood these days with one word: "Chipper."

	Brian Giles: 38 homers, 103 RBIs in 2002. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

While the spirit around the Pirates has been anything but good of late, Giles laughed and joked with ease as spring training draws near because of the players General Manager Dave Littlefield has acquired.

"It goes back to a couple of years ago," Giles said. "Moving into the new ballpark, everybody thought we were going to win a championship. A lot of expectations came with the new place. We just didn't get it done. I think we realized that maybe we were a little further back than where we wanted to be. In 2001, we had 13 or 14 guys go to winter ball at the end of the season. And that's unheard of for a big-league team. That just goes to show you how young we were, and really how far away we are.

"You know that old saying -- you can move into a new house, but if you don't change the furniture, it doesn't mean a thing. We're finally starting to change some pieces. We're giving ourselves better opportunities to win baseball games. It's been a couple of years, and it might be a couple more. It's not going to happen overnight. But obviously, we've added some pieces that make us a more competitive team. We're making progress."

It has been four years since Giles joined the Pirates after being denied the opportunity to play every day with Cleveland. In that time, he has made his mark with the franchise, joining Hall of Famers Ralph Kiner and Willie Stargell as the only Pirates to homer 30 or more times in four consecutive seasons.

But the Pirates haven't had a winning season in those four years, or the six seasons before that, which has generated some conflicted feelings in Giles, who had to dig deep into his closet to find a leather jacket so he could brave the Pittsburgh winter and attended PirateFest over the weekend.

"It's been fun being able to play. But also it's been frustrating not getting to where we want to be. Hopefully, that can turn around here," he said.

What has made Giles cheery has been the acquisition of pitchers such as Jeff Suppan and Matt Herges, and the signings of pitchers Jeff D'Amico, Julian Tavarez, Dennys Reyes and Rolando Arrojo to minor-league deals. Giles said the additions have raised his expectations.

"All of these guys that have been brought in have had success at this level. They know what it's like to win up here, and that's going to help the younger guys who are going to make our team," he said. "Any time you add experience, it makes us a better team."

The Pirates also are better offensively.

Teams might not want to pitch around Giles like they did last season because Randall Simon and Matt Stairs have joined the lineup and Aramis Ramirez has mended fully and dropped 20 pounds.

"It adds more pop to our lineup," said Giles, who last season broke Barry Bonds' franchise record for walks in a season by a left-hander. "With Rammie being hurt last year and really not getting into any kind of a groove, I think teams were more willing to put me on and let him beat them. You hate to blame it on one person, but a lot of our production was down because of Rammie not being 100 percent."

Giles might have to produce this season while playing a different position. If the Pirates don't sign a center fielder or leave the job to Rob Mackowiak and Tony Alvarez, Giles could switch to center from left. Giles said last week he would switch if it helped the team and he's not looking to be traded.

"I signed for five years to win here. I'd like to win here with this group of guys," Giles said. "I think we're adding the pieces that can make us successful. Like I said, we weren't as close as we thought moving into the new ballpark. Hopefully, with some of the additions we made this winter, we'll be a much better team this year."