Sportsfrog.com

…when you read quotes like the following:

“It was a week ago today, fewer than 24 hours after the Pirates had put down a sizzling St. Louis rally in the ninth inning, that catcher Ronny Paulino reflected upon it and offered this surprising tidbit … ‘You know what the key was to that whole inning?’ he said. ‘When David Eckstein got hit by that pitch.’ Say what? Hitting Eckstein — not intentionally — loaded the bases and, ultimately, forced closer Salomon Torres to pitch to Albert Pujols with a one-run lead. ‘Doesn’t matter,’ Paulino said. ‘Eckstein’s the guy you don’t want to face there.’ Others agreed without hesitation, players and coaches alike. ‘Can’t let Eckstein beat you there,’ shortstop Jack Wilson said. OK, so, just to be clear here: The Pirates are happy to duck a 5-foot-7 career .282 hitter to take on the sport’s most imposing hitter? And why, exactly, is this? ‘Because,’ Wilson said. ‘Eckstein’s clutch.’”

Good lord. Two things are immediately clear: (1) Jack Wilson and Ronny Paulino are future ESPN employees and (2) the cult of scrappy knows no bounds.

As for the article in the Pittsburgh Post that contained those kernels of non-genius, it was yet another attempt to figure out if there is such a thing as “clutch”. I guess for the Pirates, “clutch” is opposing players who drive in less than 40 runs a year. Perhaps if they have spent the last 15 years pitching around the David Ecksteins of the world to get to the Albert Pujols’ of the world some of the sustained losing is explained. That, and the horrible collection of talent in Pittsburgh. All of it.

Special thanks to outstanding Swamp newcomer Bapo for the heads up on the above linked article.