Doumit: I understand

Doumit: I understand

3:07pm - Monday, August 31st, 2009 by Mark Madden

Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit got benched because he pouted and whined about being a good player on a bad team, a team that's rebuilding for a day by which time he’ll be long gone.

I know – you’ve got to be a pro.

I know – he’s making $2.35 million.

I know – you can’t tank plays under any circumstances.

I know – he’s having a crap year, so who’s he to complain?

But really…do you blame Doumit? I don’t.

We all want to win. More accurately, we all want a chance to win. Can you blame a guy who vents because he’s been in the majors since 2005, has NEVER had a legitimate chance to compete, and every time his team seems on the verge of having a decent roster, all the good players get scattered to the winds EXCEPT HIM? He’s like one of those POWs Rambo found in ‘Nam.

Doumit is 28. He’s not a rookie. He’s not a prospect. He’s in his prime – such as it is – and he feels like he’s wasting it.

I don’t blame Doumit. I applaud him.

At the very least, I understand.

Things are not getting better for the Pirates. How do you lose 21 straight in Milwaukee? The Brewers have never come close to losing 21 straight in Milwaukee, and they play there 81 times per season. Lenny and Squiggy got more accomplished in Milwaukee than the Pirates.

Imagine:

“This is awful baseball. Could there possibly be a more putrid team?”

(The Pirates burst through the clubhouse door)…”HELLO!”

(Apologies if you don’t get that Lenny and Squiggy reference. If you did watch “Laverne & Shirley,” you’re likely laughing out loud. David L. Lander is a lifelong Pirates fan. He’s probably crying, not laughing.)

If you read the Post-Gazette, however, you’d never know the Pirates suck. Instead of bemoaning a 21st straight road loss to the Brewers with the appropriate amount of numb incredulity, beat reporter/cheerleader Dejan Kovacevic instead did a profile of slugging rookie Garrett Jones, who is apparently headed to Cooperstown. To wit:

“He averages a home run every 12.3 at-bats, a pace that would make a Hall of Famer blush.”

I doubt that Jones is making, say, Reggie Jackson blush. In fact, I doubt that Jackson even knows who Garrett Jones is.

There’s no doubt that Jones is having a fine season, or that he’s a legitimate NL Rookie of the Year candidate. But when you lose 21 consecutive games in THE SAME CITY, that’s the story, and it’s not a happy one. Save the feel-good piece on Jones for another day.

Kovacevic is one of the best sports writers in the city. But his blind love for the Pirates is eroding that reputation.

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Comments

Trey

Yes, I do blame Doumit. You're right, he is 28 now. He needs to act like a veteran. He needs to quit hanging on to Freddy and Jack and everyone else - they didn't win with them here. I'd rather watch the young guys lose than injury prone veterans lose.

08/31/2009 3:17pm

Chancebd7

if he threw out a runner ever maybe the pirates could trade him for something decent ....for now hes an injury prone catcher with a weak arm....

08/31/2009 3:24pm

Chancebd7

nobody wants that garbage

08/31/2009 3:24pm

Kenny Powers

newspapers around here are cheerleaders of the buccos. Every rebuilding period, they pimp it up

08/31/2009 3:27pm

Steelers=Champs

Hey McCutchen looked good today. Look for exclusive CY Young article tommorow

08/31/2009 3:35pm

Izzomr

Keep the heat on madden don't let them off the hook

08/31/2009 4:22pm

colbycheese

Whats drive me nuts with the local media is letting the Pirates off the hook for going cheap in the 1st round of the MLB draft. Yes they spent almost 9 million but did they spend it on quality talent. Your not going to rebuild with a bunch of role players. A player like a Tyler Matzek should have been their selection. Selecting 4th overall you have to take the best player available.

08/31/2009 4:49pm

jconley77

weird article that starts by applauding doumit's honesty and ends on berating kovacevic for writing articles that probably are being nudged on him by his editors anyway. cant argue though

08/31/2009 4:59pm

colbycheese

Editors have no say in DK's blog

08/31/2009 5:44pm

I love Mark Madden.. tells it like it is, the Pirates are a joke. Hey why not bench Joggin George, I mean Joggin Lastings...

08/31/2009 5:59pm

Jerkhart66

Lets go Pens!!

08/31/2009 6:32pm

Colbyscheese You are so right on with your post Sure he is doing well in low A ball but was he the best player on the board? Some had him rated in the twenties or even a 2nd rounder. He was drafted because he would easily be signed but everyone wants to overlook that.

08/31/2009 6:33pm

Trey

Nobody's overlooking that. The point is that there wasn't a sure fire pick at that point. There was solid value the whole way through the first round and into the second round, but nobody that really stood out too much. It was smart to take a guy with a high ceiling that would sign at slot value and start playing quickly and then being able to go well above slot value for more high ceiling players like Dodson and Von Rosenberg. It's different than the selection of say, Daniel Moskos under Littlefield, because there was a no brainer in Matt Wieters sitting right there.

08/31/2009 7:38pm

Dutchmen

Mark--you don't know much about baseball--stick to hockey and soccer--Also, Doumit is batting .215, gets injured every year, does not know how to call a game and I would rather see Jaramillo back there. He is better defensively and actually wants to play. I'll stick to reading Dejan. We all know we lost 21 straight in Milwaukee, what else is there to say? YOU right the article big guy. Bad addition to this site, Mark Madden.

08/31/2009 10:53pm

Steelerfan6686

Mark is so stupid. He doesn't know one thing about baseball, and is just siding with the pissed off fans in Pittsburgh that don't know baseball either. He jumps on any bandwagon to be more popular, and then when the pirates have a winning season he will love Neal Huntingdon. And then he takes a shot at DK's reputation when madden was fired from a radio show? He makes me sick to my stomach

08/31/2009 11:28pm

steelerfan you are an idiot thats why madden makes money for talking about sports and you dont

08/31/2009 11:41pm

colbycheese

Marks controversal........That's why he's great at what he does.

08/31/2009 11:51pm

colbycheese

I don't think Marks taking a shot at DK. Calls him one of the best sports writers in the city which he is. Whether it's the editors or not, he does come off as being a fan of the team in some situations.

08/31/2009 11:53pm

buccosin2012

I'm a diehard Pirates fan but this article is hilarious

08/31/2009 11:59pm

buccosin2012

I love the Garret Jones piece

08/31/2009 11:59pm

rkrichter

The last 17 years have eroded the Pirates' name so much that they have to be considered one of the worst franchises of all time. But don't worry, it's turning around, for realz this time.

09/01/2009 9:30am

Blake

"Winning effort in loss" was yesterday's headline. I mean come on, what is the PG a high school newspaper

09/01/2009 3:11pm

idk about the piece on Dejan... Dejan has questioned and voiced his dislike for all the moves neil huntington has made and his PBC blog and all his blog members are true pirates bashers and think neil huntington and coonelly are still the old regime

09/01/2009 6:56pm

↑ previous comments ↑

all you bucs bashers need to get over yourself !!! let them off the hook are you serious? im sure if we kept freddy and jack we would be in the wildcard hunt right now! GET OVER IT ALREADY... and Colbycheese the pirates got alot of quanity and and alot of quality from this draft... Colton Cain, Von Rosenberg, Dodson all solid picks and tough signs these are the kids in 3 years time if they would have went to Texas and all the other D1 schools they would be considered 1st rd talents 2 to 3 years down the road but now the bucs already got them in the system same holds true with Quinton Miller, Robbie Grossman and Jarek Cunningham in last years draft! so you cant fault them and Tony Sanchez isnt chopped liver he was rated the best catcher on the board and thats who they took he was the best at his position the next catcher wasnt drafted until the 2 or 3 rd i believe... have some faith in Neil i think he knows what hes doing

09/01/2009 7:03pm

rkrichter

Results, then I'll start to believe. They don't have to even win anything, just more games than they lose. Until then, it's all the same.

09/02/2009 11:52am

btw123, good insightful post. here's the problem though, every team in the central is better, and each one can run thru a list of good prospects in their farm system as well. I don't know about u, but Milledge doesn't look special to me, about the only stud we have on this team is Cutch...And why didn't the Pirates add to the team in the offseason, this division was up for grabs this year. The Pirates had some talent, add via free agency and trades who knows..But wait, that would add to payroll, and Nutjob wants no part of that. I never thought i would see a Pirates team as bad as the road as the 85 Bucs who went 22-59, this years team may be that... rkrichter- amen, let's see some wins before we praise Neal for anything..

09/03/2009 12:27pm

Gumps83

pnc park really means PATHETIC NUTTING CHUMPS ballpark. i am so sick of trying to defend this hapless franchise. there wiil be many more losing seasons in a row to come before this team can even finish at 81-81. at least there is always the piroghie race to watch. but that is getting a bit old too!!! thanks nuttting keep up the good work! enjoy all the money you are saving each year by fielding the second coming of the bad news bears.

09/04/2009 8:48pm

stengel

It was a MUSt to get rid of the LOSER MENTALITY trapped in the Buccos uni...Jack, Freddy, Gorzo, Snell...and ALL the rest...No more patchword...BLOW IT UP AND REBUILD...so far, ON PAPER...minors are improved and build around AMcCutcheon...promising...ON PAPER, of course!

09/16/2009 12:37pm