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Sunday, October 07, 2001

CHICAGO -- It was supposed to be the season of rebirth, when the opening of new ballpark dovetailed with fielding a contending team in the final year of a five-year plan.

PNC Park's success aside, everything on the field that could go wrong did, producing the franchise's worst performance since 1985. It took the Pirates five years to field a division winner following a 104-loss season 16 years ago, which was muddied even more by the drug trials and the sale of the franchise.

The turnaround from the current misfortunes will hinge to a large extent on the off-season moves of General Manager Dave Littlefield, who wouldn't have been brought in from outside the organization if things hadn't soured so quickly this year.

In the face of every disgruntled fan who muttered the phrase "same old Pirates" this year, however, Manager Lloyd McClendon remains a steadfast voice of optimism, choosing to pull the positives out a season when the Pirates fell to the depths of Tampa Bay. Of course, he's the same person that hitting coach Dave Clark once described as a riverboat gambler, someone who doesn't blink when dealt a bad hand.

"The foundation is there on the field, too. We have some pieces in place," McClendon said as the long season ground to an end. "We just need to get people healthy. We'll take our chances. Give me a full deck and I'll play my poker hand."

There was a point this season when McClendon said that he wouldn't wish this kind of a season on any rookie manager, referring to the injuries to the top three starting pitchers in spring training, losing a fourth starter the second game of the year, losing the starting center field and leadoff hitter, losing his top utility player, losing his right-handed setup pitcher and losing two players acquired in a trade in their second games with the club, among other assorted bumps and bruises that cost 1,275 games lost to injuries.

"We just couldn't overcome injuries of that magnitude," McClendon said. "But we have to pull the positives out of everything. We also found out about some players."

Despite the growing pains that made the games tough to watch at times, McClendon said the Pirates know that Jack Wilson, Dave Williams, Joe Beimel, Craig Wilson and Rob Mackowiak are major-league players.

And through all the losses, McClendon found solace in at least one area.

"I sleep good at night because I know I did everything I can. I'll sleep good this winter because I know I got everything I could out of every one of my players. Those kids in that locker room never gave up. Time and time again, they proved it. I know I've give everything I had, every day."

Missing parts

The biggest challenge McClendon faced all year? He says it came when the Pirates traded Jason Schmidt, John Vander Wal, Mike Williams and Terry Mulholland at the trading deadline, giving up some veteran grit in the short term to try to get better for the long term.

"Other teams were adding. We were subtracting," McClendon said.

It took a while for the team to stabilize again, but it didn't help that Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong were lost for the year after playing just two games with the Pirates.

Former GM Cam Bonifay had been fired and the team was 22 games under .500 when the trades were made.

Staying put

Jason Kendall said all season long he's a catcher who plays the outfield on occasion. That is now official organization policy, which ends any speculation he would shift to a new position to shore up a weak spot, like second base.

Littlefield and McClendon met separately with Kendall last week to settle the matter.

"Jason's going to catch," McClendon said. "Until somebody steps up and we'll be better off, we'll go with what we have, which is an All-Star catcher behind the plate."

Kendall will get some extra work in spring training to sharpen his deficiencies as an outfielder. McClendon said Kendall was placed in the outfield to get a break from catching and because the Pirates' offense lacked punch.

"To me, it's ludicrous to take his bat out of the lineup. You find another way to keep him in there," McClendond said. "We're not good enough to have Jason Kendall's bat out of the lineup 35 times a year. We need to find ways to keep him in there."

Does that mean that Kendall will find some outfield playing time next year too?

"I might stand on my own head if it's going to get us a win," McClendon said.

Highlights

There were some good memories among the several lowlights this season, times like when the Pirates beat Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in the same series after going 0-7 on a road trip. Or when they rallied with two outs and nobody on to score seven runs to beat the Astros on Brian Giles' grand slam against Billy Wagner. Or when they rallied for eight runs in the eighth inning to beat the Twins, 11-8.

But McClendon's personal highlight was the 1-0 complete game shutout Todd Ritchie pitched to complete a sweep of the AL Central Division champion Indians at home when Giles scored from first base on Aramis Ramirez's double.

"I was proud to be a part of that game," McClendon said.