Interesting that so many weeks ago we had a discussion about money and how it 
can or can't (it can't) buy you a championship and now, Jim Leyland, one of 
the top managers in baseball, finally got fed up and decided to leave the 
Pirates.
Part of the blame for this happening can be attributed to the new ownership 
but the lion's share of the blame is squarely on the heads of the owners that 
approved the sale of the team. Yes, I know that they needed the deal to keep 
the Pirates from moving but they should have gotten a more solid group to run 
the show. I don't fault McClatchy for going back on his promise to increase 
payroll this year (It was to go up by $2 mil, not a lot but enough to retain 
the services of a valuable member or two) because he had no choice after one 
of the investors pulled out. This resulted in an adjustment of next year's 
budget downwards to $18 mil and maybe even as low as $14 mil. With it being 
at $23 mil before the new projections, you can see that it means severe cuts 
in personnel (i.e. Danny Neagle) and if it hits the low figure, the Pirates 
are heading for an even worse time of it than San Diego. First off, I don't 
think that they got as much for their purge as the Padres and secondly, the 
Padres were sold to a far more solid AND committed ownership. Rather than 
worrying about the bottom line, they committed extra funds to rebuilding the 
team and now they're enjoying the fruits of their labor while Pittsburgh 
suffers the loss of a manager that would have stayed on if he saw hope.
I think that baseball needs to get off its duff and sign the damn agreement 
so that some of its clubs can get the revenue it needs but more importantly, 
they should stop operating like the CFL and make sure that SOLID ownership 
gets control of a franchise.
                                    ****
The Devil made him do it: An interesting point from the Dallas Morning News 
is that Paul Molitor's wife is named Linda and his daughter is Blair.:-)
                                    ****
Note to Alan Hess: You're right, Anderson has really sucked with men in 
scoring position (.218 average) but you're wrong about Palmeiro and Alomar. 
It's true that Alomar had a bit of a slump but it was down to just over .300 
during June and July and .328 in August (But his September average is around 
.218). You said that Palmeiro has been consistent but that's not true, 
either. He's been steady but in July, when they needed him the most, he was 
hitting .232.
                                    ****
They're really freaking out in Texas, now that their lead has dwindled from 9 
games. What really gets me is that some of the fans are pointing fingers at 
the guy that they were once trumpeting as the MVP candidate, Juan Gonzales.
                                    ****
I can't think of a time when there were this many teams that could win it 
all. I don't see it as a lock for ANY team and I really think that any of the 
eight that DO make the playoffs will have a legitimate chance at winning the 
World Series.
                                    ****
I think it's funny that sportswriters are taking their shots at today's 
records and bringing up how much better the hitters were back in 1961 because 
the sportswriters back then were berating those very same hitters. The more 
things change, the more they stay the same....
                                    ****
Ok, the WAYBACK machine is in operation (But it only works with players who 
are currently employed). IF you could put together a team (Give you two 
chances, make it one AL and one NL), which players would you pick for the 
starting lineup (8 for the NL both leagues plus a DH for the AL), the bench 
(5 for the AL and 6 for the NL) and pitchers (4 starters and 6 relievers). 
You should confine your picks to where a player played most of his games and 
if a player has done a lot of duty in both leagues (I'll give you 65-35), you 
can cross the lines. Remember, the player that you chose is at the prime of 
his career and not a broken down, has been. People, start your engines (Oops, 
wrong sport).:-)
--- TrekEd 1.00
---------------